I did it!

I reached my goal of 40 miles in the month of August.

And what a beautiful morning it was!

Also, guess what?! I don't have to go on cholesterol medication. Doctor Cragun had this app on his phone where he entered my information, and it came out with a result of "only" a 3.5% chance of me having a heart attack in the next 10 years. If it had been 7.5% or higher, he would have put me on meds. I think it helps that I'm seriously trying to get healthy.

Yesterday by the end of the day I still had 500 calories to go as far as eating, according to My Fitness Pal. But I just didn't feel like eating. Today I made up for it. I went more than 1,000 calories over the allotment. Maybe it's because of yesterday. Anyway, I'm not going to worry about it. I was just hungry; what can I say? Oh, yeah. Those s'mores tasted good.

Cholesterol results

The doctor's office called me today with the results on the cholesterol test done last Thursday. Basically my cholesterol has gone up from two months ago when it was checked. It's now 232. Tomorrow's my check-up with the cardiologist, Dr. Cragun and he's going to put me on medication.... I guess the good thing about him putting me on medication is that it'll get it down so I can manage it from there. I'm hoping that Dr. Clark will want to check it again at one of my next monthly appointments and it will have gone down. I guess we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I've been pretty good, I think, to follow the doctor's orders. I've been on a walk each morning since seeing him, including yesterday, when I did a two-mile leisurely walk along one of my favorite trails. I took some nice pictures. And then today I jog-walked 2 1/2 miles with an average pace of just over 18 min per mile.

Remember when I first started on here, I could do a pace of 23-24 minutes per mile? See, I'm making progress.

Also I've been better about what I'm eating. I'm tracking it on the My Fitness Pal app, and I appreciate the extra calories it allows me for exercising each morning. But, besides that, I've been better about avoiding sweets and other simple carbs, as the doctor called them. I know it's only been a few days, but knowing that I'll be reporting to him in a month helps a lot.

I told Dr. Clark that I want to get some of the diagnoses off of my medical chart, such as high cholesterol, obesity, and maybe even depression and anxiety. Maybe that's a big dream, but I think it's possible. Along with the above results of cholesterol, my chart now shows a new diagnosis: "Recurrent Major Depressive Disorder in Partial Remission." Well, I'm trying. The walking is what I need. I'm less than four miles away from my goal of 40 miles by the day after tomorrow. I'm going to make it. And then on Thursday I'll go for a "run" to celebrate.

Here We Go

I had my annual check-up this morning. I asked the doctor to help me be accountable for my weight loss goals. He agreed. He's going to have me come in monthly for the next five to six months. These are my assignments:
1. No snacking between meals unless it's vegetables
2. Two meals have no simple carbs
3. A dessert or simple carb each day is fine, as long as it's with the meal.
4. Walk 7 days a week. The 2 miles a day I'm shooting for is good.
5. Track what I eat and show it next time.
6. And, finally, I have callouses on the bottom of my right foot, so a good arch support in my shoe will help my weight to be more evenly distributed.
My next appointment is in one month, on Monday, September 26. We'll see what happens!

I have lost a little weight. Last time I went in I was 214; now I'm 210. I hope the blood tests show a similar reduction in cholesterol.

So I've increased my walking to two miles a day. Last week I got a bit off track due to going to education week, but I counted my miles there for a couple of days and got over 3 miles each day. By Friday my foot was hurting and I rode the shuttles and didn't track miles. And then it took me a couple of days this week to get myself going again. So yesterday I started again with just over 2 miles. Today I did the same route, but the first 20 minutes counted as my run, and I got the first mile in less than 17 minutes. And then I reset the app to count miles walked, and got over 1.3 additional miles that way. I'm still 12 miles shy of the 40 mile walking goal that I set for August, but I'm sure I can do it. I plan to set a similar goal for September, and then 100 miles for October and November combined.

Also, on August 13 Rae Anna and I did the Salem Days 5K and I completed it in less than an hour. My average walking pace is now usually less than 20 minutes per mile. So that's cool. We've signed up for another 5K on September 9. It's in Draper, and it's a benefit for the refugees. Together we want to complete one 5K each month.

Temple to temple 5K

This morning Rae Anna and I did the Temple to Temple 5K. We walked from the Provo temple downhill 3 miles to the City Center Temple. See the spire of the Provo temple in the background here?


There was a crowd of 15-17,000 people.

And then we got to the start line

Families and kids, strollers and scooters. It was pretty fun.

Missionaries were the volunteers along the route, handing out water and directing the flow.

This old guy decorated up his tricycle like a covered wagon. Pretty cute.

This young guy decorated up his stroller like a covered wagon, and had a horse pulling it in the front.

Sister missionaries were greeting walkers as we went by

Here he is again.

At the end Jim's cousin, Robin, met up with me and we took our picture together. She's been an inspiration to me this past year. As she's gone on a get-healthy journey of walking and eating better, she's lost weight and is looking good.

And here we are at the Provo City Center Temple. We made it!

Rae Anna's husband, Kim, dropped us off at the start, cheered for us along the way, and met us at the end. I appreciate his support!

Goal reached

This past week I met my goal of walking 15 miles. Here are some pictures of some of the lovely mornings around here.

This is a cat in the irrigation field. I imagine it's waiting for the mice to be chased out of their holes by the water so it can pounce.

And here's a nice gaggle of geese on the pond.

And here you have it: Done!

Next goal: 15 miles by the end of the month, or next week.

Chart

This is the chart I'm going to use this week. I'll see how many squares I can fill. I'll post a picture of the chart at the end of the week.

If my scales are right, I may have lost 5 pounds.

I've got 5 of my 15 miles done. One-third of the way there. I missed walking on Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday I did the "run" assignment from Runkeeper, which was to "run" for 1/4 mile, walk 1/4 mile, run 1/4 mile and walk 1/4 mile. When I finished that, I walked another mile to get back home.

Walking and progress

I did it. I completed my third set of 10 miles. Each one has taken me about 12 days to complete.

Now I've set the goal to walk 15 miles by the end of July. I love the beauty of where I live.

This cute little guy was guarding the wagon wheel in someone's yard.

The pond has a lot of trashy scum in it.

The past few days I've been sleeping a lot again. I realized yesterday that part of it is because I hadn't been eating regularly. I was hungry and my energy level was low. I did eat lunch today, so that was good. Haven't had much of a dinner tonight. And the 30-day "Lean" thing is getting to be a bit much. Here's what I think I can handle of it:

1. Drink lots of water

2. Have a hearty breakfast

3. Eat an apple

4. Have some nuts each day

5. No more dairy milk

6. Put a little flax on it.

7. Take a vitamin each day

8. Exercise

9. Eat a salad or a green smoothie each day

And here are things that I think I can incorporate once the previous things are routine:

1. Have a little fun

2. Do something purposeful

3. Meditate

4. Love on yourself
5. Lift weights

The first things are straightforward, check-off-your-list types of things. The second things are more subjective. It reminds me of being able to admit I have a heart problem, but not admit that depression and anxiety are a constant struggle. That's the difference between the first set and the second set. The first seems "fixable." The second seems abstract and open to interpretation. Except the weights. The weights are doable; it'll just take time. I guess that means the rest of it is doable, too.

Day By Day

I've found two books that I'm liking what they teach, and this week I've started doing each of their programs. The first is an eight-week course in meditation. The title of the book is You Are Not Your Pain. I ordered it from Amazon and it came with a CD that has eight ten-minute meditations on it, one for each of the eight weeks. So on Sunday night I started doing the first meditation. You're supposed to do it twice a day for at least six of the seven days each week. I missed last night. Too tired. I missed this morning. Too much commotion. I tried it after lunch. It was good but I was sleepy and my mind wasn't staying focused. I plan to do it again tonight.

The other book is called The Lean: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss by Kathy Freston. It's on the online library on my phone. It is exactly what the title suggests, and it's perfect for me right now. The whole idea is that you "lean" into healthy habits, adding a new one each day for 30 days. I know I may miss a day and need to spend more time on a day here and there, but I feel like this is the answer to my prayer to get healthy before my doctor appointment next month. I know I won't get healthy in a month, but if I do the things this suggests, I'll have a good start, and my hope is that my blood cholesterol levels will have dropped below 200 so I won't have to go on medication. I've already resigned myself that if I do have to go on medication then I'll get over it.

So on Monday I drank lots of water. Yesterday I ate oatmeal with raisins and fresh strawberries and almond milk for breakfast. Today I've done those two things plus eaten an apple. (Actually I've done those three things each of the past three days.) Tomorrow's assignment will be the hardest so far: "Clean out the cupboards, and just for today say no to your poison." But, hey, you know, it's something I've gotta do, and why not start sooner rather than later. What are my poisons? Well, cookies and chips are probably the two biggest. After tomorrow it'll be pretty easy for a few more days again. Day 5 is Go a little nuts; Day 6 is Trade your milk and butter for plant-based versions; Day 7 is Put a little flax on it; Day 8 is Meditation; Day 9 is Switch up your drinks; and then we get to Day 10: Make your lunch without animal products. So that's when I'll have to avoid meat, cheese, milk and eggs for two meals of the day. And it won't be until Day 18 that I have to take them out of dinner, too. Anyway, it'll be good for me.

In the meantime, I'm on my third set of 10 miles as far as walking. I've also signed up to do a beginning running program. I've learned that when I track the program on my phone as a run, it counts toward the run; when I track it as a walk, it counts toward my ten miles. But I only signed up for the running program for one day a week, and my plan is to do it on Fridays. Last week it was 10 minutes long; this week it'll be 12 minutes long. Basically you alternate "steady" (walking fast or trying to jog) with "slow" (walking) in one-minute rotations for the designated time. I did the 12-minute one this morning, but I counted it as my walk rather than the run. I'm to the point now where I can run faster than I can walk, which is a first for me, so that's pretty awesome.

As I'm starting on this road to recovery, and figuring out who I am and where I want to go in life, I've decided to look at some 10-year goals. I'm still thinking about them and I'll share them when I'm ready. I'm wanting to organize my time and increase my study time and service time. I may sign up for some of BYU's continuing education free classes online.

Goals

A week ago I got my cholesterol levels checked. They are as follows:

Cholesterol: 217
LDL: 159
Triglycerides: 95
HDL 39

My goal: Lower cholesterol to less than 200 over the next two months through diet and exercise.
Why? So that when I visit the heart doctor on August 30 he won't put me on cholesterol medication.
What I think will happen: my weight will also drop, and I will gain some much-needed strength and energy.

How:
1. Walk a mile a day
2. Avoid sugars and animal products when possible and focus on eating salads, smoothies, and other plant-based meals.
3. Pray for health and strength and peace each day.
4. Read scriptures each day.
5. Report on here weekly or more often as needed.

I've been walking a mile a day for about two weeks now. I'm on my second 10-mile cumulative goal, having now walked 3 out of the 10 miles I set for a goal. When I first started my walking pace was about a 23-minute mile. Now I'm around a 20- to 21-minute mile.

Yesterday I was tired and my heart was racing and wouldn't calm down until after I took a nap.

My focus right now is on taking care of myself, including lots of rest and nourishment and exercise.

About 3 weeks ago I did the Springville Art City Days 5K with Rae Anna. We took our time and walked the whole thing, completing it in 1 hour 15 minutes. Next month we'll do the Temple to Temple 5K, on July 25, in Provo. Our goal will be to go faster than this first one. Also, I was beat the rest of the day after our 5K.

Also, two days ago was the Huntsman 140. I signed up for the 30 mile bike ride, but I didn't ride it at all. I just didn't feel up to it. Based on how I felt yesterday, from just driving support, it's a good thing I didn't.