It wasn't a health "scare," but it was enough to get me to clean up my act

I write these blog posts about a month in advance, so the stuff I say isn't always up to date by the time you read it.

Not that that usually matters in a once-a-week family/parenting blog, where content tends to be evergreen. But as I type this on November 9, I'm interested to see where things stand for me health-wise a month from now.

Unlike many guys my age, I do see the doctor somewhat regularly. But when the calendar flipped to this past October, a full year had gone by since my last physical, and I wasn't in much of a hurry for another one.

There wasn't anything acutely "wrong" with me, but I knew my weight was too high and my diet was fair to middlin', as my dad used to say.

I didn't need a physician to tell me what I already knew.

I know, I know...even if you think you know what the doc is going to say, you still need to go. Just in case.

So I did.

But instead of my primary care provider, I ended up visiting the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine to see one of their docs. We had a good conversation about my history and broad changes I needed to make, and she ordered a comprehensive blood test.

In the meantime, she also set me up with a nutritionist and a health coach, both of whom have turned out to be very helpful.

When the blood test results came back, two things stood out:

• I was quite anemic. I knew this, as my iron levels have been pretty low for the last few years. Every time I show up at a Red Cross blood drive, it's a 50/50 shot whether I'll meet the iron/hemoglobin requirements to donate. I just never thought it was a big deal, so I never brought it up with Amber, my nurse practitioner. Admittedly, not a smart decision.
  
  
• Also, my Lipoprotein A level was high. Very high, actually, at 203. They want you under 125. The thing is, Lipoprotein A isn't like cholesterol or other markers you can influence through diet, exercise, stress management, etc. It's largely genetic, and there's seldom a need to check it again because it stays pretty static throughout your lifetime no matter what you do, at least as far as I understand it.

The anemia can be attributed to a number of things, and I'm undergoing additional lab work to figure out what's causing it.

As for the Lipoprotein A, I don't yet know what it means other than that a high number indicates a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. I'm going to see a preventative cardiologist to ensure my prevention strategy is optimized, which is probably a good thing when you consider I lost my father at 70 and my sister at 56 (my current age), both to heart disease.

Thankfully, I've already made significant changes to my diet. Lots of veggies (especially leafy greens) supported by protein at every meal, healthy fats, probiotic foods, etc. I've also cut down on the frequency with which I snack (no more than 2-3 times a day), and I keep 12+ hours between dinner and breakfast to allow my body more time to digest and heal itself.

Oh, and after years of drinking 3-4 cups of coffee every day, I'm down to one cup in the morning and that's it.

I'll also be working on better sleep and a more comprehensive physical activity routine, along with implementing breathing exercises.

I haven't even mentioned that the first round of blood work also showed that my HDL ("good") cholesterol was low and my LDL ("bad") was a bit high. Or that my A1C indicated I've been inching toward diabetes.

Taken together, all of the numbers brought about some long overdue changes in my routine, which is obviously good.

I'm just not sure what the high Lipoprotein A number will mean over the long term. For the moment, I'm just concentrating on living smart and healthy, one day at a time.

I know I'm not the only middle-aged man who has received a wakeup call like this, but I plan to be in the group that makes permanent positive changes.

I've still got too much to do in this life!

The temptation, when you're trying to be healthy, is to eat the same things over and over, day after day

When I started working with my personal trainer Kirk a month or two ago, he mentioned that I should be eating roughly half my body weight in grams of protein every day.

I weighed a little over 200 pounds at the time, so the goal was about 100 grams of protein a day.

I was actually already getting much closer to this amount than I realized, but because I am so goal-oriented, I immediately leapt into action to ensure I would exceed those 100 grams.

I added Greek yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese (both solid sources of protein) to my diet. I also began drinking a protein shake a day, and I changed out my leafy green lunchtime salads in favor of turkey breast sandwiches.

Mission accomplished. I've probably been averaging 150 grams of protein, which is a good thing when you're regularly strength training and trying to build muscle.

The problem is that, having enjoyed success with this regimen, I'm sticking with it through thick and thin.

My dinners vary, but my breakfast, lunch and snacks are all the same every day.

The food choices are healthy, but I know I need more variety. Consuming essentially the same thing on a daily basis almost inevitably means I'm eventually going to fall short on my intake of certain vitamins and minerals.

Or at least I believe that to be true. I haven't consulted a nutritionist about it.

The point is, healthy eating should not be formulaic eating. I've not gotten sick of anything in my new diet to this point, but I'm also depriving myself of the joy of variety and experimentation.

I will have to fix that.

I just so relish the feeling of accomplishment when I get to check the box on my daily to-do list that says, "Eat 100 grams of protein."

Social isolation is the price I pay for eating sauerkraut and sardines

While I spent much of 2023 eating too much food, I will take some credit for at least eating healthy food.

Most days you can count on me to ingest plenty of fruits and vegetables, some leafy greens at lunch, a lot of whole grains and nuts, and at least a small portion of fish.

There are two downsides to eating healthy like this.

One is that it is expensive and somewhat inconvenient. I make frequent shopping trips just to keep myself stocked with healthy stuff, and I am consistently taken aback by the price of, say, berries. Berries are expensive. So are many other fruits, especially when you buy organic.

But then you ask yourself how much your health is worth, and that admittedly takes some of the sting out of it.

The other drawback is that, in my experience, there are some healthy foods that simply stink. I mean, like, they literally smell.

For example. I try to take in some sort of fermented food every day, either in the form of sauerkraut or kimchi. I like the smell and taste of both, but neither of my housemates agrees.

The same holds true for sardines. When I want to crack open a tin of sardines, I take it out to the garage and stand there with a fork eating it to avoid getting sardine smell in the house.

I do this out of courtesy to Terry and Jack, even though I feel like a smoker huddling in front of an office building getting a nicotine fix.

Ten years ago, I never would have imagined myself a social outcast for wanting to eat tiny fish. I guess when I'm 120 years old and still ticking, I'll have the last laugh.

I'll be standing outside eating sardines, of course, but I'll still be laughing.