Make your doctor happy

kw: medicine, doctors

This last year has been a pretty good one for me, including physically. I had my annual physical exam this morning, and my doctor hardly spent any time scolding me. Overall, he was pleased.

While I don't always work out consistently, it is more than before, in other areas I have done well. The primary matters: Eating less but eating better and getting a new pet cat. The results:

• Blood pressure used to average 150/100. Now it is 125/80. No more talk about medication.
• Weight went (on the doctor's scale) from 235 to 205 (107kg to 93kg). Still overweight, but going the right way.
• LDL cholesterol a little down (99 to 95), and HDL holding at a low, but livable 38. A few years ago HDL was 25, which is scarily low.

Starting a year ago, at the doctor's suggestion, I got a blood pressure machine, and used it almost daily for six months. Then I went to weekly. Five months ago we got a kitten (urged, nay coerced, by our son). BP went below 140/95. The next month I began losing weight, on purpose. That gradually brought BP down further. Today's measurement by the nurse was 118/70, but I think that might be a bit off. People are more subjective than BP machines. It made my doctor happy, though.

I lost the weight by the "Chinese proverb method": eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a clerk, and dinner like a pauper. The joke behind the proverb is, kings get up too late to eat breakfast, clerks usually skip lunch, and paupers don't get any dinner. Anyway, I take it at face value, having a substantial breakfast, a slender lunch, and nearly no dinner. That's good for losing 2-4 pounds weekly. Adding back a little more dinner makes it a maintenance diet. I plan to hold in the near-200# range to get used to it, before trying to lose more.

Life is like Tetris: you can keep clearing blocks but eventually one stack will reach the top deck and the game is over. I feel like I've cleared a few layers and given myself some breathing room. Maybe I can't do much about my life span, but I've done something for my health span.