Healthy NSV!!! :) :)

So I just had to share this great news with everyone:

My job has a wellness program they started last year and part of that entails getting blood drawn once a year to check all of our basic stats: blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose etc. Last April I didn't get the greatest results. It confirmed what my primary dr had recently told me about my glucose being high but they also said I was obese and my blood pressure was elevated. With that and my overall unhealthy living, it was determined that I had metabolic syndrome. While not a diagnosis for an actual disease, it meant that I had a few characteristics that put me at high risk for diabetes, stroke or heart disease! Mind you, this was a month before my 31st birthday! How could I, at only 30 years old, have put my body through this mess?! I was determined to change!! Long story short, I started watching my sugars and started adding little healthier changes but didn't make a full-out effort until January this year. Also in January, my work started paying everyone $5 for every lb they lose~ so that was extra incentive to get my butt in gear! :laugh: So far I've lost about 25 lbs this year and another 5 lbs over last year. I'm no longer considered obese, only overweight! Yay!! lol I know all of you can understand my happiness about being classified as "overweight"!! :laugh:

...But if that wasn't great enough, I just got the results from my bloodwork done on Thursday:
::drumroll::

Changes from April 2011 to May 2012

---

Cholesterol: was 158- now 142
Triglycerides: was 97- now 61
-and best of all-
Glucose: was 107- now 93~~~That means I'm not pre-diabetic anymore!!!! I'm so happy I could cry!!! :happy: :happy: :happy:

I decided to share this because seeing everyone's progress and success keeps me going. My usual thought is that if someone else can do this, so can I. Today I want to say that if *I* can do this, so can you!

I'm far from perfect but I actually enjoy the fact that I'm still learning. I've come to realize that I've been very clueless when it comes to diet and exercise but I'm getting better. I made a decision to start with small changes and implement new changes little by little and it's paying off! I've truly found something that works for me and that, most importantly, I'll stick with. I've had my fair share of trying to get healthier but always got so gung-ho about being overly healthy that I never stuck with it and ended up far in the other direction. This time I kept the "moderation is key" motto in the back of my mind. I know that if I deny myself something, I'll just want it more AND more of it! I still eat all the foods I've eaten (in smaller portions) but I also added healthier foods and now take the time to make better choices. Yes, I log my food almost everyday and read every single label before I buy but it's because I'm learning how to change my bad habits that I'd built over decades. The funny thing is that I actually enjoy it. I sort of think that logging calories/choosing food is like playing a game. We try to break down our day into smaller pieces that fit into this bigger puzzle. Some days I finish that puzzle perfectly, others I have a few pieces left over and then some days I go crazy flip the puzzle and the pieces fly everywhere! Some people call those cheat days but I just call it a bad day and move on! I didn't gain weight from one day and I won't lose it that way either! Congrats to everyone that made the decision to get healthier, to those somewhere in the middle learning the ropes (and struggling through those darn plateaus!!!!!!!) and to those whose stories I read over and over again for inspiration! Thank you MFP (both the site AND the people) for changing my life!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: