Making Changes....

About two months ago, my husband went in for his annual physical. Truth be told, the visit was really driven by the fact his refills on his cholesterol medicine ran out. Neither of us expected much more from the visit than a new refill for his medications, so were both taken by surprise to find out that his blood pressure was high, his sugar was borderline high and according to the doctor, he was overweight. He was told he needed to go on a low salt diet modeling a South Beach approach to eating. The doctor wanted him to lose 15 pounds. He was giving him 30 days to try and get his blood pressure down, and then he would start him on blood pressure medicine.

Jimmie

The news hit us particularly hard. His brother had passed away suddenly and without warning of a massive heart attack five years ago. At the time Chuck had a full work-up done including a heart scan and walked away with a good report card. Now five years later, and almost three years post retirement, he had a completely different report card, and not only did it frighten us, but we found ourselves asking, "How did this happen?"

Chuck's lifestyle hadn't seemed to change that much over the years. When he traded his uniform for a suit, he still belonged to two gyms and even had a workout room he took advantage of at his office. But when he started to truly look at his actions through a microscope, he had to acknowledge that when he travelled he tended to miss work-outs. He also tended to eat heavier meals as he often had working dinners out, and he tended to be more stressed.....a bit ironic, since his last job involved being shot at. Since Chuck travelled a lot these small changes combined with age's naturally slowing metabolism was all it took to tilt the see saw in the wrong direction.

We immediately went to the grocery store and started ferreting out low sodium products. When we really started looking at the ingredients for sodium content we were stunned to see just how much sodium was in all of the foods we regularly ate. One of our favorite Sunday treats, chili dogs, was now off the menu (at least on a regular basis). It was quite eye-opening  when we discovered that even the low sodium chili  contained over twice the recommended sodium content. This was going to be a challenge, but to make matters worse, as we looked into the South Beach recommendation, we had to come to terms with the fact that we defined carb addiction. Our pantry was filled with pastas, and I had always modeled our meals after the "one starch, one vegetable, one meat and one bread" approach. If Chuck was going to be successful, I knew I needed to change my habits as well, and that would be a challenge. I could probably live without pasta, but I wasn't sure I could live without potatoes.

So we set out on a different approach to eating about two months ago. We emptied the candy bowl, and filled it with fruit. When my daughter came home to roost and complained, we set a small candy bowl in her room just for her and her friends... out of temptations way. We geared our meals towards meats and vegetables, and we cut out almost all starches and most sweets...I still allow myself a few desserts a week ...you just can't give up everything. We discovered Atkins low carb bars for the afternoon snacks, and they taste surprisingly like candy bars, but I have to admit, they fill you up, not leave you wanting more.

Chuck After

Chuck Before

Chuck made the commitment to working out while on travel and trying to make healthier choices at restaurants as well, and his efforts have paid off. He has lost 25 lbs, lowered his blood pressure and is looking pretty fine. I'm finding that this new approach seems to agree more often than not with my tempermental stomach which has been an added benefit for me. What I've really discovered, however, is the key to success seems to be working together as a supportive team. Making changes hasn't been all that hard because we've been making them together.