Assessing your health is easy. If you want to really know where you stand know your numbers. This would be the best gift you could give yourself in the New Year. Know them, and if they need work, then you can set goals for 2012 and work on improving them.
1) BMI
Body Mass Index, is much more important to know than your weight. Yet most women know their weight but have no idea what their BMI is. Why? Because weight does not take into consideration factors like your height or where the weight is distributed. Here is the BMI Scale we should all be focusing on:
Healthy BMI Range: 18.5 – 24.9 My goal for 2012 is to get my BMI into the healthy range!
Overweight BMI Range: 25 – 29.9 My BMI is 25.1, I am overweight (Gotta own it people!!!)
Obese BMI Range: 30+ My BMI when I started this journey was 31.3, I was obese
2) Blood Pressure
Read more about what constitutes a Healthy BP here!
I have rocked a pretty healthy blood pressure my whole life, I am proud of my 117/68. BUT I watch it. Your BP can change, especially as you age, and be an important indicator of a bigger problem. Walgreens and Safeway have free BP checkers back by the pharmacy….use them! It’s free and takes less than 5 minutes!
I think even more worrisome than the weight is a high BP means you are aging at an accelerated rate! Ick, who wants to speed that up? No Bueno!
4. Cholesterol
High cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. (I can’t find my print out from last year, but when I get my new ones I will share them, I do know I was in the normal range, but the higher end on my triglycerides, so I expect that to be way down)
- To test your cholesterol levels, you need to see a doctor or someone in the health care field who can administer a simple blood test.
- Don’t worry about memorizing your total cholesterol number, which can be misleading. Instead, memorize the 2 forms it’s carried in: HDL and LDL. Your HDL, the healthy cholesterol, needs to be 50 or better; your LDL, the unhealthy cholesterol, should be under 100. If your numbers do not fall in this range, discuss strategies for lowering your LDL and increasing your HDL with a health care professional. Click here for more on cholesterol.
5. Fasting Blood Sugar
Testing your fasting blood sugar (FBS) measures your risk for diabetes, a chronic disease that can lead to blindness, cardiac disease, kidney failure, nerve problems and an impaired immune system. Diabetes is particularly high in the African American community.
- Your fasting blood sugar number must be measured after an 8-hour fast. Fasting is key since ingesting food—say, a banana an hour beforehand—would raise blood sugar levels and could create a false pre-diabetic or diabetic reading. Your FBS can be determined with a simple blood test or a finger stick test.
- A fasting blood sugar number above 100 is considered pre-diabetic; treatment measures should be discussed with a physician.
6. Vitamin D If you live in the Northern part of the hemisphere I think knowing your Vitamin D is ESSENTIAL! So much new information is coming about about Vitamin D, and all of it seems to point to low levels being a culprit in everything from insomnia and weight-gain, to cancer and debilitating diseases like MS. They want to see your Vit D levels between a 32 and 100. I went in and tested a little over a year ago and was a 24. After a year of taking Vit D supplements and many sunny vacations I re-tested…are you ready for this…at a 27! UGH! That is how hard it can be to maintain a healthy Vit D level in a place where the sun rarely shines. I have just completed 12 weeks on a MASSIVE Vit D dosing of 50K IU once a week…topped off by two weeks in Maui. I will let you know my results when I get them! Fingers crossed!
So seems like a pretty easy New Year’s Resolution to me! Learn your numbers, and if you don’t like them…or they scare you…then fix them! I think our health, being around for our kids, and setting a good example for them can AND SHOULD be a much bigger motivating force than what size jeans you dream of one day zipping up!
OK, back to the fun stuff, more to come!
Happy New Year!
