Day 6 -- BFL -- Free Day! Semi-Religious Experience

Its Free Day! I always have problems rationalizing when Free-Day starts. Friday night is so tempting because I am usually going out or ready to unwind from a hectic week. I begin with, well can't free day begin at 6pm on Friday and end at 6pm on Saturday? I sound like a Biblical pharisee making up rules for the Sabbath day, another special day that only comes around once a week. This week I resisted. I sat through dinner and ate a reasonable proportion and watched while everyone else ate strawberry short cake with ice cream. And these are not your spongy cakes from the store. These are the home-made golden-brown, crispy on the outside, moist and some how crumbly, cakes that my wife makes. However, later that night I looked at the clock and it was 12:01 pm. My brain screamed "Its FREE DAY!" I poured the fresh strawberries from the fridge onto one of the beautiful cakes and ate it even without ice cream. It was soooo good. Then this morning I ate a pint of Hagen Daz chocolate ice cream for breakfast. I actually feel sick now. While satiated, I need to remember to tell my self that free day is part of the plan, but stretching its time period out until it envelopes the whole weekend is not. My goal is going to eat what ever I want (I believe that Bill Phillips is right that this is part of the plan) but from the time I wake up in the morning, until I go to bed. I can do this! I also need to monitor my cholesterol. I know that the plan works for helping me loose my hunger pangs, for loosing weight and building muscle, but I need a plan that eventually works to lower my cholesterol too.

Day 5 -- Blood Test Results

I received back the results from my blood tests. My cholesterol levels are horrible. My LDH is 294 (too high!) and my HDL is 33 (too low!), which of course puts my total (272) and ratio (8.2) way off the charts. Just based on that, without my pre-hypertension blood pressure, I am 160% more likely than average to have Chronic Heart Disease. I hope Eating-for-Life can help me bring down my LDH and Training-for-Life can help me bring up my HDL, otherwise I think I will have to go on medication soon to get some help. Blood glucose (i.e., sugar) was at 92, which is normal but a little high for me. Hopefully it will go down. Otherwise, the results were all pretty good and normal. On a more positive note, I LOVE upper body work outs. I always fees strong and health when I am done. Muy macho!

Blood Tests

As part of my health improvement program, I also want a complete set of blood work results. Every year for my annual physical, I found out about my cholesterol, but that is about it. After reading "You, The Owner's Manual", I know that I need to know a lot more about my blood. I need to know my levels of cholesterol (total, LDL, HDL), blood sugar, homocystein, hormones, minerals, kidney and liver functions and disease screening such as PSA for prostate cancer. So I am having my blood work done today. I recommend using Health One Labs (http://healthonelabs.com/user/inside.php) because they offer comprehensive testing at reasonable prices. First, I went to several pharmacies to see if I could test my blood sugar and cholesterol levels myself, and you can. However, the cheapest kits, to test just those two levels, cost about $50 to $60. The Health One Labs comprehensive screen cost $59. Which is by far the best price I found for this type of testing. There are some really cool websites that give more comprehensive testing and an analysis of the results, but these test usually run about $300 (see http://www.yourfuturehealth.com/services_healthprints2.htm). Not in my budget right now, but I am bummed that my testing will not include my hormone levels or a thyroid screening. So my big hope is that not only will I look and feel better by completing the BFL Challenge, but that I will see measurable improvements in the health and real age of my body. I hate needles. So wish me luck!