Excogitate (Part 2)

This second part will about the changes I will start in my life. As I had mentioned before, I have two areas that I want to start changing: my health and my finances. My finances are keeping me "afloat" so I think that I am going to focus on just one change right now. Currently I have quite a few conditions. However, I believe most of these issues can be traced to two causes: being overweight and out of shape. I have seen my osteopath and really there is no excuse why I can't exercise. So what is stopping me? Well, it may be that I am too scared to change. Or it could be that I am not motivated enough.

Well here's something that SHOULD motivate me. I went to the doctor (osteopath) today to have my back looked at. Before the doctor could see me, the medical assistant was worried that my blood pressure and heartbeat weren't right. She informed the doctor that my blood pressure was 90 over 60... in other words, it was abnormally low. My heartbeat also sounded strange. So my doctor mentioned that after fixing my back that he thought I should have an EKG. So after have my back poked, prodded, and manipulated, I had to get "stickered" all over for the EKG. The test revealed that I have a premature ventricular contraction, or PVC. I remembered that another doctor had told me about this years before, but I had forgotten about it. A PVC is basically when an extra heart contraction causes the electrical system of the heart to reset. The difference in my heart is that the extra heartbeat is more pronounced. Also, from what my doctor told me, PVC's rarely happen with patients as young as I am (34). Another tidbit that I read about PVC's is that they are common with high blood pressure, not low blood pressure like I had today.

So what does this event tell me? Well, it tells me that I am already at high risk for heart disease because not only am I overweight, I have high cholesterol and an irregular heart. I'm not a medical professional, but it seems to me that I am a ticking time bomb. Especially since women have a higher chance of getting heart disease at a younger age. I have also heard that in the United States, 1 in 4 women die of heart disease. That's a large percentage.

There are so many women I am aware of that this has affected. My husband's grandmother and mother both died from heart-related causes. My friend's aunt suddenly passed due to heart related causes. And two of these women were in their 30's. I am also in my 30's. Now I KNOW it is time for change.

So, how am I going to change? Slowly and patiently. Now that I have the motivation to change (high-risk of heart disease), I need to make life changes. I need to re-think food. When I had lost weight in the past, I did not think of food as a way to release my emotions; but as a way to fuel my body. Well, I need to get that back. It'll be hard but I just need to keep reminding myself that food is not a hobby, it is just fuel.

This is what I'm going to do to start my change. Of course, it won't be easy, but it'll be worth it when I can live another day. As far as this blog is concerned, I am going to try to talk about various changes a person can make. I may not always talk about my personal life. I may talk about various changes that can be made by a person or people. Whatever I talk about, my hope is that I can keep myself and others motivated to keep change alive.

Mona


“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
― Socrates