State of the Weight Wednesday: It’s Time For Your Check-Up

This State of the Weight Wednesday is going to be of the more serious variety because suddenly this desire to get healthy just got real.

Get your check-ups, people. Know your risks. And make healthier living a priority so you’re not facing what I’m facing.

My dad had a heart attack this morning and has already had a triple bypass. He’s currently in surgery having his aorta repaired and a valve replaced.

He’s 47 years old.

I’m suddenly keenly aware of our mortality. My dad? Not a man who gets sick beyond the occasional cold.

But he’s lived his life being a little overweight but not morbidly so, not watching his portions (of probably unhealthy food), and smoking. He’s been on medication for his cholesterol for years. He’s always been deemed healthy by his doctors with a gentle “well, you know, you could lose a few pounds…” tossed his way as he exits the exam room.

There was never a wake-up call. A moment of “Wow. So I better get serious about this.” Until now.

This morning the perfect storm of lifestyle choices and genetics landed him on an operating table after suffering a major heart attack. This morning he had to be resuccitated by CPR and a defibrillator.

Did I mention he’s only 47?

To say that I’m now taking stock of how my choices affect my actual living and breathing is an understatement. And I know I’m not my dad and I don’t have the same issues he had that most likely led to this, but he had no “signs” that this was coming until it came. (I mean, he did. But he didn’t. If that makes sense.)

Last fall we had a health screening for our insurance. My cholesterol was high but since the only other time in my life when my cholesterol has been high was when I was nursing Joshua, I attributed it to that. (My dad is my step dad so his high cholesterol is unrelated to mine.) Now I don’t so much care what the reason was and just want it low and healthy for now and forever.

I don’t want heart disease or a heart attack or diabetes or any other controllable, avoidable issue to take one of us out of this family at all ever but especially well before we’re old and wrinkly and have lived a full life. And knowing that I can do things to lessen our chances means I’m going to do those things.

But I’m quick to excuse a poor choice by saying “it’s just this once…” and then just this once will turn into not making healthy choices at all if I don’t work diligently to make sure that I’m as cognizant of what I put into my mouth as I am about how often I exercise. Exercise can’t be a band-aid. Real, sustainable, life-long changes have to be made.

I mean, to a certain extent, those changes have already begun with SOTWW. We’re living a healthier life because I’m preparing healther meals. We’re exercising. We’re making better choices overall.

And now we understand the risks. We’ve probably always understood the risks. But now we really understand the risks.

So the bright spot of this heavy SOTWW post is that I lost another 2 lbs this week and I’m down to 196.5. The scale is still moving in the correct direction. The rest seems largely unimportant given today’s events.

Weekly Goal: Be more conscious of the choices I make.
Weight Goal: 31 pounds total; 6.5 to go.

What were your successes last week? Setbacks? If you’re blogging your own State of the Weight journey, link up, and visit the other links on the list. If you’re not blogging it, feel free to leave your success and/or setbacks in the comments!