Went to my cardiologist yesterday and got a thumbs-up. Excellent! He’s taking me gradually off the four drugs I’ve been on for the past two years. Joy! I can now eat what I want. By this, I mean spinach and broccoli and romaine lettuce and other dark leafy greens that perversely I was restricted from due to the meds. Fabulous! But I still need to be vigilant and monitor my heart to make sure it keeps beating correctly.
I’ve posted a couple of times on health, both mental and physical, here and here. While I haven’t been gung-ho super-disciplined about all these changes and habits, there have been a few I’ve done with regularity since my second surgery three months ago that I feel have kept me in good shape. My blood pressure, for instance, was 120 / 80 – perfect, and this measured in a hospital nonetheless! (My BP always rises five to fifteen points just being in a medical facility – it’s common in most people.) And while my heart was beating a little fast, probably due to excitement or anxiety, it was beating normally.
I’ve been coming in to work a few minutes early each day and doing a little meditating in the conference room where I can have some privacy. Just ten or twelve minutes a day of calming my muscles, my heart rate, my thoughts, in a pure quiet environment. Trust me, it does wonders.
My attitude, while not exactly consistently 100% positive, has improved with some willpower, and that too, I believe, has helped me stay healthy. I’m making small efforts to watch less TV, especially the news (perhaps THE worst thing you could watch on television), and to surf the web less, especially news sites. In the car I’ve been listening to a bit more classical (conventional classical music as well as classic rock) instead of listening to talk radio. And it pays off.
Diet-wise I’m eating much, much better. Again, I’m not a full-fledged vegan, but I’ve managed to implement some healthy strategies that will be good for my heart in the long run. For instance, my breakfast is now something like puffed rice or kamut (no chemicals added at all – it’s purely natural) with a teaspoon of cinnamon and soy milk. I eat at least two fruits a day. My soda consumption is down at least by half, and I’ve replaced it with inexpensive bottled water bought by the case at the grocery store. My alcohol consumption, except for three small, teeny incidents, ah-hem, barely compares to the pre-surgery partying LE. I’m striving towards two glasses of red wine once a week on the weekends, but man, a cold beer on a hot summer day is the closest one can get to …
I’ve been doing the workout thing for three-and-a-half weeks consistently. Weightlifting, that is, which I truly dig. Cardio’s just as important, so I need to work that in to my program. Originally I was going to lift Monday-Wednesday-Friday and ride my exercise bike Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, but on my doctor’s advice I’m going to include cardio on the days I lift and rest on the intervening days. Due to the heart regulation medicine I’m still going to be on for another four weeks.
So, at least something’s looking up for me. I got my health back, or rather, I’m almost there to getting it all back. Trust me, if you haven’t been there yourself, your health is one of your most important assets. If you don’t have it, all the money, all the possessions, all the power in the world, that you can have or imagine having, is meaningless.
I’ve posted a couple of times on health, both mental and physical, here and here. While I haven’t been gung-ho super-disciplined about all these changes and habits, there have been a few I’ve done with regularity since my second surgery three months ago that I feel have kept me in good shape. My blood pressure, for instance, was 120 / 80 – perfect, and this measured in a hospital nonetheless! (My BP always rises five to fifteen points just being in a medical facility – it’s common in most people.) And while my heart was beating a little fast, probably due to excitement or anxiety, it was beating normally.
I’ve been coming in to work a few minutes early each day and doing a little meditating in the conference room where I can have some privacy. Just ten or twelve minutes a day of calming my muscles, my heart rate, my thoughts, in a pure quiet environment. Trust me, it does wonders.
My attitude, while not exactly consistently 100% positive, has improved with some willpower, and that too, I believe, has helped me stay healthy. I’m making small efforts to watch less TV, especially the news (perhaps THE worst thing you could watch on television), and to surf the web less, especially news sites. In the car I’ve been listening to a bit more classical (conventional classical music as well as classic rock) instead of listening to talk radio. And it pays off.
Diet-wise I’m eating much, much better. Again, I’m not a full-fledged vegan, but I’ve managed to implement some healthy strategies that will be good for my heart in the long run. For instance, my breakfast is now something like puffed rice or kamut (no chemicals added at all – it’s purely natural) with a teaspoon of cinnamon and soy milk. I eat at least two fruits a day. My soda consumption is down at least by half, and I’ve replaced it with inexpensive bottled water bought by the case at the grocery store. My alcohol consumption, except for three small, teeny incidents, ah-hem, barely compares to the pre-surgery partying LE. I’m striving towards two glasses of red wine once a week on the weekends, but man, a cold beer on a hot summer day is the closest one can get to …
I’ve been doing the workout thing for three-and-a-half weeks consistently. Weightlifting, that is, which I truly dig. Cardio’s just as important, so I need to work that in to my program. Originally I was going to lift Monday-Wednesday-Friday and ride my exercise bike Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, but on my doctor’s advice I’m going to include cardio on the days I lift and rest on the intervening days. Due to the heart regulation medicine I’m still going to be on for another four weeks.
So, at least something’s looking up for me. I got my health back, or rather, I’m almost there to getting it all back. Trust me, if you haven’t been there yourself, your health is one of your most important assets. If you don’t have it, all the money, all the possessions, all the power in the world, that you can have or imagine having, is meaningless.
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