"The unhealthiest healthy person"

Let me start with-This is NOT what you want to hear from your doctor.

As I'd described in my last post about starting my weight loss journey, I have been working for the last few months to make some positive changes in terms of my weight (and health in general). I don't have the best genes, but I also don't make the best decisions in terms of what I put into my body. I've been doing well tracking my total calories and exercising at least twice a week, but haven't really done much to make sure what I'm eating isn't just low calorie, but high awesomeness.

Luckily, I work for a fantastic employer that runs a program to try to educate their employees about their health risks. One of the ways they do this is by offering a basic health assessment (blood pressure check, free lab draw, etc). So me, the girl who has been working for a bit to improve my health, thought it would be a good idea to get some "baseline" values.

This is what I found:
My average blood pressure over the last month (I've been checking it once or twice a week) is 150/101 ("normal" is 120/80). EEK!
My Cholesterol is 269. It is considered "high risk for heart disease" at over 200.
Moral of the story....Crappers.

 google.com

Now, as many of you know, I am a nurse. Not only am I a nurse, I am a cardiac nurse. There is nothing more disturbing than seeing a young person (someone in their 20s, 30s, or 40s) have a stroke or a significant heart issue. Unfortunately, with those labs and vital signs, I am significantly more likely to be one of those cases.

So...what am I going to do?

After a LONG conversation with my PCP (Primary Care Provider-aka: my regular doctor), we have decided to focus on lifestyle changes and also start me on medication. Now, before you begin a medication (especially young ladies), it is VERY IMPORTANT you have a good conversation with your doc about it. Blood pressure med and cholesterol meds have slews of side effects, and can be very expensive. They also can be unsafe if you plan to get pregnant (which is part of the reason the doctor and I chose the meds for me we did). The decision for us was based on the fact that I have both issues occurring, and that my BP change was pretty sudden (a few months ago I was only slightly above the normal range). In addition to the meds and lifestyle changes, I will be having blood work done and an ultrasound done on my kidneys to see if that is the cause of my BP spike.

For me, I think the meds are a necessary evil at this time. However, I do not like the fact that I currently require not one, but TWO med boxes. So for me, I am going to really, REALLY focus on lifestyle changes. I am going to be a good girl. Well, I've been a good girl, but I am going to be the BEST girl (and still have a life). You guys are going to help hold me to it. Deal? Deal! I am going to track my intake on this blog, and I hope, hope, HOPE that at least one of you can learn something from this journey I will be taking.

So from here on out-this blog will primarily serve as/house:
example recipes/menus (particularly for those who live alone...it is tricky to cook for one!)
sample exercise routines
a place for me to track what I'm doing, and hold myself accountable
...other awesomeness (stress management, home organization, etc)

For those of you who are like me, fairly healthy but apparently NOT healthy, or for those of you who are healthy and want to stay that way: stick with me. Talk with me. Let me know how I can help you and tell me when I'm full of crap.

Anywho-now I am off to the store to get the beginnings of the first few days of food-get excited! I am!

...my fight with weight (and my fun new bracelet)

I have been so fortunate throughout my life to be an athlete. I was the girl who played all the sports in high school, and was even the Health and Fitness Chair for my scholarship hall in college. However, over the last few years, my exercise habits have gradually deteriorated. Working nights made it very hard for me to hit a gym, and I was always exhausted.
I hopped on the scale a couple of months ago, and saw a scary thing: 210 pounds. What?!? Now, I have never been skinny, but I'm comfortable at about 170-180 (I had abs at 160). I decided to pull myself together.
Being single makes cooking difficult...but that is for another post.
Today I shall talk about: My Jawbone UP.

find one here

Now I used to have a FitBit, and I loved that little guy, but he had a terrible habit of falling off of my scrubs pocket, and I just couldn't get the clip to latch to my bra comfortably. The UP has a few advantages (for me, at least). Definitely do some research about what fitness tracker would work best for you, but this is what I've found:

• It's water resistant (I'm a nurse, and I wash my hands ALL the time)
• It is comfortable to wear, and won't fall off without me noticing.
• The user interface is amazing
• I have a HTC One, and this is the only fitness band I've found that will sync well with it (it uses the audio jack instead of the bluetooth, which isn't as cool...but the things with bluetooth don't actually sync with my phone)
• The app syncs with all sorts of other fun apps...like MapMyFitness and MyFitnessPal. 

So, I've had this little guy for a couple of months now, and using all of the resources (and NOT by starving myself) I'm down 12 pounds so far. Woot!

Eating clean

The holidays are officially behind us. Time to start on resolutions! One of my big ones: Eating Healthy! I've found a couple of awesome sites, and after some contemplation, I've decided to follow Jamie Eason's LiveFit Plan. It can be found here:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-introduction.html

She's amazing and breaks down her 12-week program into three easy phases. I'm about to officially start phase 1. I've started some of the basics (meal prep once a week, attempting small meals instead of a few larger ones). I think I'm ready to take the leap! And, to top it off, my awesome mom will be joining me in my journey! Yay her!
The best part about phase 1: NO CARDIO! YES! I participated in an exercise study in college, and had to run for an hour a day 5 days a week. Ever since then, I've not been too keen on the whole cardio thing. 

Tomorrow I will begin cooking for the week. This week, I'll be making:
Cilantro lime shrimp
Talapia and cous cous
loaded baked potatoes
baked egg whites
lemon protein bars
salsa chicken

All of the above recipes are from the awesome site He and she eat clean:
http://www.heandsheeatclean.com/p/the-recipes.html