Sometimes It Takes A Scare To Wake You Up

So long my friend

My cell phone rang this morning when I was in the middle of teaching my co-op class.  I glanced at the number and saw that it was the doctor's office so I took the call as I have been waiting to hear the results of my Holter Monitor test.  Instead of being from my doctor's office, it was the hospital calling to set up an echocardiogram test.  What???  I asked her if the test was necessary since I'd already done the 24 hour heart monitoring thing.  She said that it's an ultrasound of my heart, so something different.  I set up an appointment and hung up.

Okay.  I am in the middle of teaching a class.  I can't just stop teaching to sort this all out.  But I must have been rather white when I returned to the living room to finish the class.  All these thoughts were racing through my head.  Why did my doctor order another test?  What did the monitor show?  Is my heart screwed up?  Am I going to have to have heart surgery?  Thank God Hubby talked me out of going with the cheaper but not as good health insurance for next year and instead went for the more expensive, lower copay insurance if I do have to have surgery.

Finally class got over and I immediately called my doctor's office to figure out what was going on.  Turns out my 24 hour results were just as suspected--harmless PVCs.  But since they came on suddenly, my doctor wanted me to do an echocardiogram just to get a baseline measure.  Sure wish the lady who called me in the first place could have told me that and saved me the worry.

All of this drama has made me face the truth--thankfully, my heart is fine.  For now.  But I'm not exactly in the best of shape.  I don't exactly eat a hearth-healthy diet 95% of the time.  In theory, I want to lose weight.  I want to exercise daily.  I want to eat healthy.  But I like junk food, white bread, sitting on the couch, and not exercising.  Doing the right thing for my body is a lot of work and takes a lot of self control and discipline.  So far I've only managed to exercise such discipline for a month or two at a time.  I did the Couch to 5K training, ran the race, and then stopped running.  I eat healthy for a few weeks and then some event happens and I eat bad and then quit.

Today I woke up and decided enough is enough.  My heart is telling me that I can't keep doing this.  I have to take control of my shady discipline now.  No more buying junk at the store, eating junk when we eat out, snitching cookies when I'm at my mom's house.  Over lunch Hubby and I discussed how we can overhaul or breakfasts and lunches--I'm a bagel gal.  I love the sesame seed bagels from Sams Club that are big, soft, and full of calories slathered in butter.  I eat one pretty much every single morning.  Lunches are usually leftovers.

This morning we finished up the last of our bagel supply and I kissed my bagels goodbye and bought eggbeaters (all whites), museli, yogurt and cottage cheese.  I bought lots of salad fixings, whole wheat bread and boneless skinless chicken to grill for sandwiches and as salad toppings.  My produce bins are overflowing.

A friend of mine went in for routine blood work several years ago and came out with a diagnosis of very high cholesterol.  It served as the wake-up call that he needed to totally overhaul his eating habits.  Now his family eats very healthy and his blood work is normal.  I want to be just like him.  For my minor scare to serve as the catalyst I need to prevent me from having a really big scare down the road.

So there's my plan.  Earlier this month I overhauled our dinners and now I'm doing the same to the rest of our meals.  I'm currently working on doing a full menu for the month of December that includes both dinners and a list of breakfast and lunch options so I always have ideas waiting to go when I'm hungry and need inspiration.  I won't go so far as to actually plan specific breakfasts and lunches every day because who knows what I'll be in the mood for at lunch time on December 27.