Alright I have some time to catch you up on the rest of my Fitness Assessment day.  I have been helping a friend out with her dogs, she had to  leave for the weekend, so I am the designated dog walker. I realized this has been a great commitment, it made me stay committed to moving  and motivated me to do some extra walking…I think I might volunteer with the Human Society and walk dogs in the mornings… sounds awfully ambitious, humm I will think it through..

OK back on track, as for my Assessment day at LIFEFORCE Medical Institute. I left off at the Dexa Body Scan experience, which was absolutely a fine experience.  No cages, just an easy open bed. I have experienced those MRI’s enclosed in a tube, it was awful. This was simple and the scans were complete in a total of 10 minutes. The only fear was my LU LU Lemons would not hide the fat! 🙁

After the scan I went back to the patient suite,  I started to relax and do a little computer work.  A few minutes later  Susan came to me to ask what I would like to have for lunch and took my order.  After lunch arrived, Susan brought to me a draft of my Comprehensive Health Consultation Scorecard  so that I could  read while eating.

At this point I was not sure of what I was reading except my eyes went straight to my true weight! OMG!!! I thought I was going to have a heart attack right there on the spot! I came in at “156 lbs” ! This is awful news for me, I have always stayed under 140 on my worst days. When  I think back  in 2010 for my sons wedding I was 125lbs, which is ideal for me.

All I could think of is the 6-8 fitness classes I have been teaching all summer, and the 2-3 days a week riding my bike. WOW- I guess I have been the coach way to much. Have I been that bad? I know I have enjoyed  a glass of wine or a beer during this hot- hot summer.  I sat there and went through all my weaknesses and tried to think about what I was doing that would have driven this weight increase. Not eating properly for sure, but  not eating enough?!  Crazy as it seems, my body has been hanging onto everything as if it was not going to get any more food. I have never been a calorie counter, I always found it difficult, so I judge things by my clothes. FACT: you can hide your weight in LU LU Lemon pants, and if this is all you wear, you may never know your clothes don’t fit anymore!

After eating my salad from Cosi’s,  I continued to read the draft of my numbers, which continued to shock me. So glad I did not order the sandwich too.

My Body Fat range is Obese! I  have  32% body fat this is unacceptable! While my muscle mass is sub-optimal, and my bone mass is OK. Again less than the score of excellent is not an option.   I continued on reading the next  item which was waist circumference coming in at  37″, again I had not realized how off track I had become. I am now in a  “high risk” category!

The opposite of  anything I have ever experienced. My resting  heart rate was “66 BPM”,  by all standards this is labeled good,  again this is unacceptable for me as I have always been in the excellent range of “59 BPM” or less.  The more I read the more I saw the decline in my own health. Are  these numbers life threatening? No, not today or this year, however; I am a proactive person for managing my  health and fitness since becoming and instructor in the early 90’s and the scared- straight moment after  my fathers first heart attack.  Now here I am at “50” with declining numbers! ( well 50 in 2 weeks)   Funny this number doesn’t scare me, I have never feared aging.

I also lost some points for my Aerobic and Anaerobic thresholds, which is very concerning to me.   This alone has been my mantra over the years. Anyone who has experienced my fitness classes to those I have personally trained,  know what my training motto is- ” keep you heart happy and fit and your body will follow”.  I introduced interval training to the fountain of youth over the summer.  Interval training on the track at 6AM, warming up first with a few walk laps, then kicking it up on the straight way; again  great  at coaching while letting my own ability’s slide.

Throughout the rest of the scorecard  there where some positive  highlights, like surpassing the ratings for Planks, and balancing,  great something is working!  Still needing to work on flexibility hope to add some Yoga to my weekly goals.

As I continued to review my scorecard, Susan came back to the patient suite to let me know that Dr. Rosenbloom was ready to meet with me. By this time, the doctor had a week to review my blood work from the lab, and he now had the rest of the puzzle, my results of the days testing.

If you are still interested in my results, they are in my next post.  I have chosen to share my story for the main fact that I believe prevention is every-thing and now  I have to practice what I preach for my own health goals.

NQ