Salud! To our health!!!

  I had two doctor's appointments between yesterday and today.  Last night I had a routine follow-up with my psychiatrist.  That's right, I said psychiatrist and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I experienced postpartum depression with both children when they each hit 1 year of age.  With Luke, it was pretty obvious shortly after he turned 1 that I was quite sick.  Nervous breakdowns will do that to you.  With Vivi, the subtle symptoms of self-doubt and anxiety started creeping up on me when she turned one but I really, truly ignored them until 6 months later.  Thinking that, with the exception of the two children I cared for everyday, the world would be just fine without me really did not demonstrate a normal thought process.  Thank God there was a part of me that realized that and sought help.  Again.

  I had wanted to avoid Zoloft because of the weight gain I experienced with Luke so I went through 5 months of trying out Prozac (which did nothing) and Nortryptyline.  The Nortryptyline gave me dry mouth, made me more tired, and increased my appetite--all of which interfered with my desire to work out.  No thanks.  I went back to the Zoloft because I knew it worked and I was tired of being sick.  Fast forward 1 1/2 years later to now, and I admitted to my psychiatrist that I simply started forgetting to take my medication about a month ago what with the family's crazy schedules but hadn't really noticed anything amiss.  And, really, since I started running and working out regularly, I felt fine!    Sure, I had my days where irrational thoughts crept up on me or experienced horrible pre-menstrual mood swings.  But I knew that those thoughts and mood swings would pass, and tomorrow would be another day.  My doctor had this genuine look on her face that I appeared to be in a good place.  And she's right.  Physically, I feel stronger but I think that's because I'm a better, more balanced person on the inside.  Natural endorphins do wonders for your mental state and both of us were happy that I was managing just fine without the aid of medication.

  Today, I had my annual physical.  My physician and I reviewed my labwork which showed that my total cholesterol result popped up as being elevated at 242, quite higher than the 200 they want you to keep it below.  But, we went back to my labs from a year and a half ago (during the dark days of depression when I ate everything in sight), and my total cholesterol then was at 281.  I had dropped it nearly 40 points!  My LDL (the bad cholesterol) was elevated but my doctor chalked that up to my family history of high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  Aside from my total cholesterol and LDL, my other labwork was fine.  My triglycerides, glucose, calcium, sodium, liver enzymes, complete blood count were all within normal limits.    Aside from the suggestions of increasing fiber and taking a fish oil supplement, she did not want to prescribe cholesterol medication because what I had been doing was working.  It felt wonderful to have another doctor tell me that I didn't need to resort to a pill to fix things because my lifestyle habits were doing just the trick.

 So later on in the day, I coaxed my son to go riding on his scooter while I ran beside him.  He was engrossed in his Ninjago TV show and was whining that he was tired.  But I got him out there with me, riding along on his maxi kick scooter with me for most of my 3 mile run, even as a small drizzle of rain started falling.  I was so proud of my son in that moment.  He had wanted to turn around earlier on, had fallen off his scooter 1/2 mile into my run and skinned his knee, and was trying to keep up with me on all these inclines that were challenging for his 6-year-old legs.  But he still kept going!  After he realized he went most of the 3 miles with me, he was quite proud of himself for going that distance.  When I asked him if he ever thought he could go 3 miles before he replied "No, but I did it."  He says he'll try to run 3 miles with me sometime.  Although that may not be for awhile, I have all the confidence in the world that he can do it.

Big smiles after running and riding 3 miles together
 (And, yes, that's my favorite lululemon bang buster headband on...again.)

  I'm passing on to Luke and his sister the same genetics that have caused high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes in my family.  So far I have 1 out of 3 of those major medical conditions and I'm doing my best to keep them at bay.  But it's my responsibility to also pass on to my children the healthy habits that they can adopt so they can hopefully avoid those issues altogether.  I fervently hope that I'm leading them by example when they come with me to the gym so I can get a run in, go to a spin class, go to my Crossfit class, do yoga, etc.  In fact, yesterday, when I informed Luke that we were going to go to the gym so Mommy and Daddy could go to their Spin class, he says "It's not really fair that you have to drop us off at the nursery first before you work out."  Even at the tender age of 6 he knows how important exercise is.  I hope that sticks with him and his sister for the rest of their lives.