Weighing in on the cholesterol

This morning, hubby woke me up at 5.30am to get ready for a mandatory health check-up at his workplace. I had been waiting to do a blood test forever just because I was super curious about what my cholesterol levels were. I was pretty sure I was well within the normal range, but it’s good to know anyway. Here are the results of the health check-up:

Weight = 120lbs (117 when I arrived in the US. Nobody believes me when I say I can put on a pound a day.)

Body Fat% = 18% (17% when I arrived. This is not looking good.)

Blood Pressure = 102/72 (Normal)

Cholesterol (total) = 141 (Good)

HDL = 33 (40mg/dL or lower indicates a major risk factor for heart disease. Crap, this is scary.)

Triglycerides = 61 (Normal)

LDL = 96 (100mg/dL or higher indicates a higher risk factor for heart disease. Normal)

Cholesterol Ratio: 4.3 (3.5 or less is desirable. HDL is the culprit in my case.)

Ok, so the truth is that I generally keep my overall fat intake low, which means that I’m inhibiting intake of good fats as well. I will now admit that I have a problem: fatphobia. I think avocadoes, nuts, olive oil, and all other good things will make me fat. I think this comes from years of being overweight and having had tough times getting down to a normal size. Although I have read enough to know that good fats actually help keep the weight down, I can’t bring myself to eat them. That will somehow now need to change.

No sidewalk running for me!

One of the first things I noticed when I got to Milwaukee (this is the city I now live in) was that runners ran on sidewalks. What horrifies me about this is the fact that sidewalks are concrete and considering it is the hardest (and supposedly one of the worst) running surface! Back home in India, we're used to running on the roads, which are of course tarred. I know running on roads seems like a crazy thing to do, but Indian traffic is slow and therefore, safer. I wouldn't consider doing that here.

So my first outdoor run here in the US went something like this:
Map a n'hood route>run on sidewalks>stop at traffic lights>almost get run over>irrirate drivers>limp home

The infamous "leg pain" was back and I had to take 3 whole days off to heal it. Fortunately, I have now discovered the Oak Leaf Trail which is an (more than 94 mi long) asphalt bike trail that is super fabulous to run on! I did a quick 4 mi easy run yesterday along the trail and felt great!

On another note, considering the pain issues I've been dealing with, I think it's time to invest in one of these:

The CW-X Stabilyx. If anyone is using these at the mo, I'd love to hear about what you think of these!
PS: Funny how the crazy weather is the last thing on my mind right now...hmmm

A new beginning

Haven't blogged in a while, a long while. The last few months have been a roller coaster, both physically and emotionally. There is so much to tell. Let me begin by making two very important announcements...

• I am officially a Mrs.!
• I have finally landed on American soil and am here to stay.

So damn excited about this new life! Many stories to tell...