By the Numbers

It's been warm here lately. Not hot enough to stop everything like three weeks ago when we were tying all time records (108!) but warm enough to make any activity uncomfortable - low to mid 90's. There's talk of a cold front coming up from California that will cool things down some and bring the chance of thunderstorms. The rain will be welcome, but the lightening will undoubtably start more forest fires in central Oregon. My boss's parents had to evacuate their home last week when a fire got too close to their community. They were told to leave their houses unlocked so that firefighters wouldn't have to break into any of the houses if they had to fight the fire house to house. They said the evacuated neighberhoods were heavily patrolled. Sure hope so.

But those aren't the numbers I refered to in the title. As you know, I've been on an excercise and healthy, low fat, low sugar, high fiber, high fruit diet since the beginning of the year. I have managed to loose approximately 40 lbs and have the stamina to walk several miles nearly every night of the week. My weight has stabilized very close to what it was when I was in college, when I didn't care about what I ate or what I weighed.

The numbers I refer to come from an annual health screening the company offers. They check your blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol levels. They ask about your life style: smoking, drinking, exercise, amount of sleep, stress reduction and the like. I will get a pamphlet in a couple of weeks with general analysis and places to go to find out more about questions I might have. My appointment was at 3:30 in the afternoon and I had to fast for 8 hours before the cholesterol test. I hadn't eaten since breakfest. Normally I'd have had breakfest, lunch and a couple of snacks by then. I was a little light headed. So, the numbers:

total cholesterol 167
less than 200 is desirable
HDL cholesterol 72
greater than 60 is desirable (this is the "good" one)
cardiac risk ratio 2.3
3.2-3.9 is desirable, higher is considered more of a risk
LDL cholesterol --
less than 100 is good (mine didn't even register)
triglycerides <45
less than 150 is optimal
glucose 89
60 - 110 is considered normal

It sure is nice to get confirmation that you've made some good decisions. Incentive to keep it up.



I just had to brag.....


In other news, Tyfini got her drivers license last Friday. She was in an accident Sunday night. Everyone is ok, it wasn't her fault, but Tabs car will be in the shop for a while. This is what being a parent is all about.......