Take Control of Your Health
Don’t rely on Doctor Google. Take control of your health and make the best choices you can now to live a long and healthy life.
I’ve always been health-conscious. That being said, I don’t always necessarily make healthy choices. I do love martinis and chips and salsa and a burger on occasion and cheese, glorious cheese, am I right? I can’t count the hours I spent baking my skin on the beach with baby oil when I didn’t know any better. But I’m not a big sweet eater and I’m definitely that get your teeth cleaned twice a year, get your physical once a year, take your vitamins, get your testing done in a timely manner, and take care of yourself woman.
I lift, I run, I eat healthy most of the time and I wear sunscreen in the middle of the day when the sun is high and strong.
Since I’m in my 50’s I understand that now is the time to make tweaks to my life choices because I still want to be running and lifting and traveling if I’m fortunate enough to live into my 80s or longer.
So in March when I wasn’t feeling my best I started to take stock. First on the list of things to look at was my drinking. I like to drink. I like the taste of it, I like the fizzy bubbles in a flute of champagne. I like the fuzzy buzz I get after a cocktail. I like a good salty dirty martini in a beautifully cut glass. But I’ve had more than a few occasions in the last couple of years where alcohol did not bring out my best self. So I’m looking at that and making choices to be mindful when I do drink.
Next on the list was looking at my workouts. I was burned out mentally and physically after a grueling two years of training to get to Paris. Training in the summer in New York is hard…period. I wasn’t happy running and I wasn’t happy in my body with this 10 extra pounds that have piled on between said drinking above, getting older, and that whole pandemic that we went through. So I asked one of my besties who owns a gym for help with a program. She generously sends me workouts each week and pep talks when I need them. I’m lifting more consistently, walking in the Park most mornings, and feeling stronger and happier. Gotta love that endorphin hit that exercise gives you.
Still feeling a little off and noticing changes in my cycle signaled to me that menopause might be on its way so I bought a few books to educate myself on what’s to come and I made an appointment to get some blood work. I think it’s really important to know stuff like that. I always ask for blood work at my annual but I also think it’s important to be proactive in your health so I got more thorough testing and found out my testosterone is low and prolactin is a little high which could be why my testosterone is low. I also knew from blood work in the fall that my Vit D levels were really low and have been working on that. This retest showed they had risen some but were still low. Now it’s time to make a plan and get all of that back on track.
Even just the small changes I’ve made over the last few months have made big differences in my mood and energy levels. I’m excited and feeling empowered again even though Doctor Google scared the crap out of me when I read high prolactin can be a symptom of a tumor on the pituitary gland. Sometimes I know just enough to be irrational and calamitous. But I reach out to my trusted family and friends and I make an appointment to talk it through my with doc and I take back control of my high-jacked, worst-case scenario, lizard brain.
All this to say, can I encourage you to take control of your health? Be kind to yourself and make the best choices you can today to live a full and healthy life whatever that looks like for you.
