When Golf is Like Cholesterol

So . . . as you know, I enjoy the outdoors. I like to run, bike and am developing a like/enjoyment for swimming. All of these things I seem to be disciplined about especially when I am training for something. As I mentioned earlier, I am in training for the New Orleans 70.3 that will take place April 13th. In my last update, I mentioned what I have been up to but I did not give full disclosure.

Back in mid-December I had my annual physical and went in feeling very smug about being a 50-year-old dude (whom AARP still has not caught up with) in pretty good shape. All of my prior tests, etc had come back pretty good and in fact, really good with the exception of this blasted cholesterol that I cannot seem to overcome. For years, my doctor, Ken Demerjian, whom I really like and respect, has been telling me that heredity is not my friend and that I am just prone to high cholesterol. I would take fish oil, eat oatmeal, blah, blah, blah . . . but every year it would hover around the high side. Until this year. No more hovering. It was over the top (220) and he thought it best I go on a statin. I understood, but said no. I thought maybe I could change some eating behavior and see if I could reduce my cholesterol count more naturally.

#17 TPC Sawgrass

A week later I went to visit my chiropractor, Don Mynster (who I affectionately refer to as my witch doctor) who also does nutrition and explained to him my predicament. He gave me a new eating plan that focuses on eating meat, vegetables and fruit. It eliminates pretty much all bread and sugars other than sugar from fruit. I told him I would try and he said in 3 weeks my cholesterol and triglycerides would be much better. So . . . for three weeks I stuck to the plan. This past week I went in for another blood test and my cholesterol dropped from 220 to 161. I really could not believe it. My triglycerides dropped significantly and I actually increased my good cholesterol (HDL) by 2 points. Too say the least, I was excited and I lost 7 lbs. to boot. Most of that weight came from my belly and love handles.

It is not a crazy strict diet but it requires discipline and moderation. I feel much better too.

So . . . just like golf, the lower my score and the lower the number on my cholesterol count the better. Both take a lot of discipline. Needless to say, I have done a much better job on reducing my cholesterol number than I have my golf score, but there's time to work on that!

What Is Happening?

One thing that has not been happening is me posting to the blog. It seems that about the time I get more disciplined in one area of my life (more about that later) I seem to drop some other things. Writing down my thoughts and meanderings seems to have taken a back seat the last month. I will attempt to do better. We'll see.

Our Christmas and New Year's were wonderful. I had the last couple of weeks of 2012 off from work and we decided that we would not travel during the holiday season. Shelbi and Mark spent about 5 days with us right around Christmas and we thoroughly enjoyed having them here. Of course, they brought Bear, their new dog with them and he is a great addition to their family.

We watched alot of football, enjoyed the company of family and friends and the weather broke a couple of days so I was able to get a couple of outdoor bike rides in and even jumped in the lake with my new wet suit in Dec.

Sondra enjoyed her time off from school and we enjoyed lots of time together. Morgan was on break from school and she and Wil spent a lot of time together. We really did little out of the ordinary together but it was just good  to be together. Sondra has committed to going back to Guatemala with our church in March and is preparing hard for that and very well could be sending you a letter soon asking you to commit to pray for her and the team.

Sondra's mom has been with us since Thanksgiving and she is still in some of the deciding phase of where she thinks she wants to live. She has yet to make plans to sell her house but we are thankful to have her with us and glad she enjoys good health overall. She has few aches and pains but I remind her she is 80 and things are a little different than they used to be in her body.

I committed to a Half-Ironman race scheduled for April 13 in New Orleans so I have very focused on getting the proper amount of swimming, riding and running completed in preparation. So far so good. I love the discipline part of it and have been very focused. Work continues to challenge and there is much to do through World Changers and P2 Missions. It brings great delight to get to partner with churches in sharing the Gospel and I am thankful for the role I get to play in these ministries through LifeWay.

To each of you, I say Happy New Year and look forward to connecting with you this year. Thanks for being a valued influence in my life.