Filterless

Woohoo! Finally!

I had a doctor's appointment today to go over my blood work result and check my back after throwing it out of whack on January 17th.  I feel good.  I've been exercising, eating well, and taking my fish oil pills. I was hoping for good news and was not disappointed.

 

First the B12 results.  If you read this blog, you've seen the struggle with this since last July when I developed neurological symptoms and got the initial diagnosis. 

B12 level in July:	B12 level now:
173	522

Yes, I finally hit over 500 where my doctor wanted me. This means that my current dosage is good. I'm happy with this. I'm not so happy with having to do an injection every other week for the rest of my life, but it could be much worse.

 

Now for the cholesterol. I've been getting grief about this for a few years now from my doctor. I don't like taking statins because they mess with my short term memory. I've tried diet before but it never had much effect. My current combination of diet (heavy on the greens) and exercise seems to be helping. So has the 10 lbs I've lost since starting the routine in January. I've also been taking 1,200 mg of fish oil twice a day.

	November 10th results:	January 25th results:	Desired Range:
Total:	247	190	<200
HDL:	36	32	>50
LDL:	158	121	<130
Triglycerides:	267	183	<150

That's a great reduction. I still have some work for the triglycerides and need to get the HDL up to 50, but all in all, it looks okay. I'd worry about the HDL more if my mom didn't have the same troubles with it that haven't been fixed with either diet, exercise or medication.

 

So it was a good appointment. We'll see how it all goes at my next check-up in 6 months. Random note: My fasting glucose dropped to 92 from 96.

 

I've also gotten permission to donate blood at Dragon*Con this year. I might have to take an iron supplement for a week or so ahead of time but it'll be the first time I've been able to donate in years.

How did I not know?

I've never thought of my self as an outcast or outsider.  Yes, I hung around with the outliers in high school but I also hung around with honor students and athletes too.  I guess I thought I fit a little into most of the groups.

This weekend, while I was sick, I got sucked into the Glee marathon on Oxygen.  I'd never actually seen it before. I know.  Bad Maggie.  8 pm just isn't a good TV watching time for me on week nights. As much as I love musical theater and tend to break out into song and dance on my own (remind me to tell you about doing Singing in the Rain across the high school parking lot sometime), I just missed getting into it at the beginning.

Well, during "Never Been Kissed," something Will said to the Beast really struck me.  I believe my precise reaction was, "Fuck, I am one of the outcasts." How I never realized this before is beyond me. Unless, of course, I realized it and then promptly forgot/went into denial.  I guess I never associate geek with outcast. 

By the by, Puck and Kurt are my favorites.  Kurt is too darling for words.

The fitness so far

After a break because of my back injury, I'm back to my workout routine this week. I'm doing the Moderate program (3 songs a day) in Just Dance 2's Just Sweat section. I've added crunches (2 sets of 25), back exercises and stretches to the end of it.

I have to admit. I feel good. I'm not planning on getting back on a scale again until my doctor's appointment next week. I'm not sure what I'm going to see there after the break. Before the break, I had lost 7 lbs between starting on January 1st and my doctor's appointment on January 19th. I hasn't made any difference in how the waistband of my pants fit but they're getting baggy in the ass. Random aside: Why the hell is the ass one of the first places I lose weight? It's annoying.

Tomorrow's project is taking a progress picture and new measurements to update my profile on the Beachbody website.

Dream a little dream

Since I've been on the B12 shots, my dreams have become more vivid and more frequent.  Sometimes to the tune of 3 dreams a night.  I don't always remember them but one of last night's left a mark.

I was in a spa/dressing room like area crowded with people getting ready to do something crafty and underhanded (which is what I get for watching White Collar just before bed).  I was heading to use a curling iron when I got sidetracked by someone.  After brushing my hair, I had these long waves that were slightly poofy.  Heading back over to the curling iron area, a lounging, naked man who looked like Mikey Tuttle from American Chopper stopped me and said, "We spend our lives searching for art and beauty, and here you are, a beautiful work of art."

Dream me decided a curling iron wasn't needed and then I woke up.

Even though it was all a dream, I feel beautiful today.