So. 2019 has been a most challenging year, which honestly I didn’t expect. Started off quite hopeful that I would be exercising regularly, and getting back to the Keto woe (felt so much better when I was truly watching what I ate, and recording what I ate to keep an eye on my macros). And then the wheels came off and I fell off the wagon for weeks, with no desire to even try to get back on…until I got the blood work results from my 2/28 visit: Total cholesterol way up, 281 if I remember correctly. Triglycerides were way up (had finally gotten them to normal range after 6 months of Keto in 2017, that was amazing to me). 2 types of LDL way up, which had never been a major concern before. So of course my doctor wants to start me on a statin — this is the first time she ever mentioned it even though my cholesterol & triglycerides have often been a bit high the last 10 years or so — I didn’t want to so never picked up the prescription. Retested in June, total cholesterol was down by 40 points, but the “bad” numbers still too high. Retested a couple of weeks ago at my 6-month checkup, numbers about the same: Total 256, Triglycerides 183, CRISK 5.2, HDL 49, VLDL 37, LDL-C 170, non-HDL Chol 207. Not great, but wanted to talk to my Cardiologist first before starting a statin. Saw him yesterday for my yearly checkup, showed him the results and he was a bit concerned, recommended I start Crestor as it apparently has the least side effects. Said if I was serious about trying exercise and diet (he’s fine with Keto, other than wanting me to watch sodium) that I can do that for 3 months, get blood retested and go from there.
What led to my downfall last winter was not dealing with some emotional stuff (mom’s birthday in January, the first anniversary of her death in February) that I thought I had dealt with…but apparently wasn’t the case and went back to old coping strategies which ironically enough I had learned from her growing up. Namely overeating and eating carbage and sitting around too much watching tv or movies 
What’s curious is that I knew what I was doing but didn’t have the energy to care (forgot to mention that the Feb bloodwork indicated my thryroid was really low, so that med got bumped up).
Good news is that I’m feeling better and have been more active since April, and have lost some of the weight that I had regained over the winter…was even able to fit in the shorts that I had worn last year, thank goodness. And did this even though I haven’t been strictly Keto, which shows that exercise does help me “reduce”, lol. Which is fine but the blood work shows the truth of the matter, I must go back to cutting out the wheat, sugar and other carbage to get healthy again…and at 50+ years old that’s more important than ever! Yesterday I did a home A1c test to compare with the once from February, down from 5.8 to 5.6 — which is still scary to me coming from a rampant diabetes history on my dad’s side of the family. So far my fasting glucose has always been 104 or less, so my doctor hasn’t mentioned that yet.
This will be my accountability thread to myself that I have been putting off, thinking it wasn’t needed but since I want to make 2020 “my year” think I will make it a priority, hoping it will keep me motivated and on track. Hoping to start cooking more (fast food and take out are probably my biggest vice, Hola Taco Bell and Chick-Fil-A). With basically 1/2 my current body weight to lose, hoping others that have read this far may have a thing or two to share from their own journey to relate — I love this forum, it has the best people on it!
. Nothing more embarrassing than your husband going through a fresh dryer pile looking for pants or shorts and asking “are these mine or yours?” And he’s not being mean, it is seriously hard to tell sometimes. Last weekend we were enjoying some college football games, and I noticed when they’d talk about the players they often mention their height and weight — at 5’0” and 243 pounds I outweighed many players who are 6’4” and taller! Talk about your wake-up calls, lol. A third thing that just came to mind is that my sister is coming to visit in October and we plan to go to Dollywood while she’s here…and once again I probably won’t fit in the roller coaster seats (I’m a definite pear shape, so that’s my downfall there). I remember posting somewhere on this forum 2 years ago that it was one of my goals to be able to ride any coaster there, so that makes me a bit sad. But instead of eating something, I will take my dog for a walk or do anything else that will take my mind off that “failure” and instead contribute toward reaching the goal of having fun again! Self-sabotage must stop! And my husband saying “just try a bit of x, it won’t hurt” will be ignored as it was in the beginning (June 2017) when I was enjoying successful, gradual weight loss and body reshaping. Not to mention freedom from arthritis pain — have noticed that wheat really triggers the inflammation for me. Will dedicate myself to trying out new recipes and try to ENJOY cooking for the first time in my life…let’s see how this goes.