I am a smoker. I would go in for a toothache and be told not to smoke. I have cut down some and I’ve tried to quit cold turkey, but I get pretty irritable. I’ve tried the patch. But I guess it really comes down to having the will power to do it.
I’m a cop and I used to eat a lot of junk food on the road. Over the past year I laid off of all the heavy greasy foods like bacon, cheeseburgers and pizza, and saw a big drop in my cholesterol. I used to be a caffeine freak — coffee and pops all the time. I’m down from 12 pops a day to probably four and I’ve added some
water. But I’m not ready for decaf yet!
I need to come up with an exercise program that fits my schedule and meets my needs. I just got a promotion and I know that it’s an excuse, but the stress level went even higher. It’s not the fact that I don’t get time off when I could exercise — and maybe that’s what I need to do: exercise as a stress reliever. We have weights and stuff in the basement at the department. I just neglect to go down there. I could do it while I’m on duty, but I find myself doing other things. I have good intentions but following through
is tough; I have no one to blame but myself.
I don’t like doctors because I’m afraid they’re going to find something wrong. I know I’m getting to the age where I need to get a full check-up and blood work. I have a history of diabetes, heart disease and cancer in my family. I worry about my future and my family’s future.
I had not been to the doctor in years because it’s more of an expense — I have to save money to do it. I made an appointment with my doctor and it took about a month to get in. But in that month I’d already started losing weight.
It was life-saving; I was in bad shape. I had gained so much weight it even hurt to walk. I was scared when I found out I had diabetes. It scared me into eating healthy and being healthy.
I am very low income and my husband is disabled, so I need to be here to take care of him. We live off his pension. It really helped that the screening and retesting were both free.
The screening made me realize I was in some major trouble. It’s easy to call and make an appointment. Our community health worker is nice and helpful and made me feel good about myself. She recommended lots of things that were very doable. It was comfortable talking to her about it. I felt I could be very honest.
In the past I’d start dieting, then I’d find excuses. I was a comfort eater. I don’t do that anymore. Luckily, I have been able to control my diabetes by losing weight by using the plate method and exercise — I really did not want to go on medication. I was at 200 pounds and now I am 160. I’m still pretty heavy — lots of pounds to lose. But I feel like it’s possible now. My blood work has stayed good.
I must have been in denial because I did not do anything and then went to another screening about six months later. My cholesterol had gone from 225 to 275.
I made an appointment to see my doctor right after the second screening. As soon as I learned my cholesterol was so high, I started thinking, I’ve got chest pains [laughs]. So I went in and saw my doctor and had a full physical and lab work done. Other than the cholesterol, everything was fine. The doctor put me on a cholesterol-lowering pill. It was such a relief and I did not have any more chest pains, so maybe it was all in my head. I have high cholesterol, my arteries are clogged, I’m dying…you know, the mind is a powerful thing. I own my own business and don’t have much time for exercise. I always think: I’ve got to get to work, get to work. I don’t have time to go out for a walk. But I have been forcing myself to get out and walk. I always seem to get the same amount of work done as when I don’t, and it gives me energy throughout the day. I walk two miles a day. When I started, it took me 45 minutes and now it only takes me 25 minutes. I am thinking about increasing to three miles a day. I did make a couple of changes in my diet like cutting out shrimp and drinking two-percent instead of whole milk. So far, I’ve lost about five pounds and I feel better about myself.
I exercise, especially in the summer when I have more time to do outdoor sports. In the winter it’s hard to pay $80 a month for a rec center. I’d rather exercise at a gym, but we don’t have the means for it right now. We have an elliptical machine and an exercise bike in our apartment for the cold weather. Right now the bike serves as a clothes hanger! My wife and I try and do 30 minutes of cardio. We take walks and do stuff outdoors.
I used to drink lots of Gatorade and other energy drinks. Now I know the best thing to drink is water. As far as grocery shopping goes, the reality is that we have to eat using the funds that we have to work with. But now we read labels and that has really helped us to eat better.
I have lost ten pounds and my blood pressure has come down some. I feel better now. I’m not 100 percent, but I am doing my best to follow the suggestions the community health worker gave me. It’s hard though. It’s challenging because in order to be successful you have to watch yourself 100 percent. My wife and I try to help each other.
On the day of the screening, my blood pressure was very high and to my surprise, my cholesterol was high too. The blood pressure initially alarmed me — I was shocked! In regards to the cholesterol, I didn’t realize how high my numbers were…I thought, woah man, pay attention here. I grew up eating a lot of red meat and I don’t anymore…except I’ve got an elk in the freezer. I stopped using so much salt, butter and cheese — things I grew up with. The big thing I cut out is cheese. I’d eat a lot of cheese. I was also slamming two big glasses of orange juice every morning and I’ve cut that out.
I’ve got to get out of the routine of those habits, of those rituals! I think we do things throughout the day without really thinking about it, just going through the motions. I changed my habits immediately. In the morning I eat cereal and blueberries instead of eggs, cheese and bacon. Now I grab a couple of pieces of fruit as I walk out the door. We don’t eat late at night and I don’t eat ice cream when I’m hanging around at night. All these things happened immediately and did not require much of an effort.
I try to do some exercise every day, and I definitely feel it if I don’t. I don’t want to miss too many days!
I think the program is awesome. It’s very beneficial. I think people think they are healthy — but I am not as healthy as I can or should be.
I kind of knew about diet and exercise — I am a physical therapist. It was eye-opening to find that my cholesterol was higher than I thought it would be and my blood pressure was high. I knew that my diet and exercise had not been the best over the past six months to a year or so. I got busy with work and family and let things slide.
One of my goals was to lose some weight and the second goal was to improve my numbers in terms of my blood pressure and cholesterol.
I think just realizing the risk factors and knowing that I have a family and want to be around for a long time helped me make some changes. I started to focus more on quality and quantity of my food intake and have lost about 15 pounds. I’ve also been doing cardio three to four days a week for 40 minutes on a bike, treadmill or Nordic track.
The community health worker gave me the information I needed to make the change. I think offering the free screening, getting the word out, and making sure people know about it is really important.
I don’t really want to take any medication so I have been trying to lower it by myself by exercising a lot, watching my diet and taking fish oil and red yeast rice. Since joining the program, I have cut out red meat, eggs, cheese, ice cream — all the good things. I am practically a vegetarian and eat lots of fruits, veggies and grains. This way of eating keeps the weight off, but it is not much fun for me and I feel hungry all the time.
I don’t think that I am going to be able to lower my cholesterol on my own and wonder if it’s time to talk to my doctor about medication.
I just played basketball and had my first heart attack when I was leaving the gym. So it was an awakening for me saying, buddy, you gotta pay attention.
The second heart attack clearly got my attention. My focus changed when my doctor said that if I did not change some things, I wasn’t going to be around much longer.
I’m 60 years old. I’m sorta’ set in my way. I was overweight, my cholesterol was too high. You know, that’s been the struggle all through the years: not being motivated to the extent to be able to say, okay, now I truly do need to change. I thought I was fairly healthy. I’ve exercised all my life. I’d never been too terribly overweight. I’m a big guy and I carry my weight well. I don’t have a big gut or anything like that. I’ve never smoked.
I have a lot of family history with heart disease but I just thought I was immune to that, so I didn’t think about it. I’ve got five siblings and all of them are in much worse shape than me. They smoke, they drink, all that kind of stuff. And I thought, shoot, I’m a lot better than all of them…but heart disease came to my door, not theirs. I’m the only one of us who has had a heart issue.
Now my health is good. Moderation is the key. As far as diet, I have changed a little bit, but not as much as everyone wants. I have made changes in the kind and amount of food I eat. My wife helps a lot. I could exercise a bit more.