It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm sure the few people who came by here to check out my latest musings have long since gotten discouraged. That's okay, though. I was never writing for them anyway.

But shit happens, and sometimes that means wanting people to know what's going on so you can have a support system.

So this blog, which has been private up til now, is going to become public. And I'm making some vows right now that I hope I can get any readers who visit, either intentionally or by stumbling onto this page, to hold me to.

I went to the doctor on Friday for a physical. It had been a few years since my last physical, and at that time the doctor warned me about my cholesterol. For a while I was diligent about trying to exercise more, but I was never as consistent about it as I should have been. I also didn't watch my diet as carefully as I should have.

Well now the news is a lot worse. Not only has my cholesterol gotten worse, but I have diabetes.

So I'm now on three medications:

1. Metformin (aka Glucophage) - to control my blood sugar
2. Crestor - to lower my cholesterol
3. Lisinopril - an ACE inhibitor. The doctor said it's for my kidneys, and that it'll have the added benefit of keeping my blood pressure down.
   

Also, my blood pressure was 151/94. I think that was time-of-day and bad-news related, because two weeks ago it was 124/86, and I think it's always worse at the doctor's office than in real life.

My doctor also gave me referrals for a gastroenterologist (to have a colonoscopy - unrelated to the diabetes, just because I turned 50 this year and it's time), an ophthalmologist (for a diabetes screening, since this disease can damage the eyes), and a diabetic counselor, so I can get started on glucose monitoring and whatever else is necessary to manage the disease.

The good news is the numbers are not frighteningly bad. My doctor thinks I can control this through some lifestyle changes, and I think so too.

The other good news is that I'm HIV-, and my prostate appears to be normal and healthy.

So here are my vows:

1. Serious exercise (walking, bike-riding, elliptical glider, swimming or water aerobics, whatever works) at least five days a week.
2. Weight loss: two pounds a week for the next 25 weeks. That's 50 pounds total.
3. Use this blog to log my progress with entries at least once a week.

So...

On Friday morning when I weighed myself, I was 214 lbs. That's my starting weight.

I walked about 6 miles on Friday, about 3 miles yesterday, and about 4 miles today.

I've already lost some weight in two days, but I'm not going to record it yet because I know the first couple of days are typically more dramatic.

Yesterday at Fred Meyer I took my BP and it was 117/71.

My other goal is to get off all the meds within six months.

That's it for today. I'll be back. I promise.