Cholesterol, lipoproteins & fats. Oh my!

Got the results of my life insurance blood tests in the mail yesterday. ALL of my levels are good. Every level is within "normal" parameters. So, what is the problem you say?

My freaking cholesterol. My total cholesterol is fine, not high (like I thought it would be). Unfortunately my ratio of HDL to total cholesterol is all wonky. My HDL is too low. HDL is the "good" cholesterol. Basically that means that it is the type of fat molecule that carries the other fats (including "bad" cholesterols) through the blood vessels, which keeps them from sticking to the walls of the vessels where they will cause all sorts of problems (like heart attacks & high blood pressure).

My options?

1. Regular cardio-exercise

2. Weight loss

3. Quit smoking

4. Reduction of fat intake

I already did #3. :) Yay me!

The numbers don't lie. I have some serious work to do.

*sigh*

I guess I better get my fat ass away from this computer and go for a walk.

Yesterday in Song

1. Ice Ice Baby

2.  It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

3. Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

4. Woke Up  This Morning & Got Myself a Beer?  No more like socks.

We are freaking freezing in here.  The furnace died.  It finally gave up.  I woke up to Kel saying "Momma, the air in the vent is cold!"  

Uh oh.  This can't be good.

Sure enough, my furnace was blowing cold air.  There was no flame.  I know because I went and checked.  After all, last year it kept doing the same thing.  The furnace guy showed me the part to clean so I could save myself a $75 service call.  This year I did what he said to do.  It didn't work.  So I turned off the gas, cut the power to the furnace, checked for the smell of gas to be sure it wasn't leaking & tried again.  Nothing.

Turns out all of our temporary fixes are no longer fixing.  So I turned off the furnace at the thermostat, bundled up the kids & took them with me to Calculus class.  They had a snow day.  When we got home it was only 53 degrees inside, even the cats were hiding under the blankets & they have fur coats!  Of course, it was only 27 degrees outside so at least we were above freezing.

Now it is Thursday morning, the kids are out playing in the snow.  It is a snow day for all of us thanks to the 18 inches of snow on the ground.  My new best friend is downstairs installing our new furnace.  I will be going into that over at www.mamacanfixit.blogspot.com if you want to read more details.  :)

I'll keep you posted on the heating situation.  Right now I need to go make some snow angels with my own angels.

Nicotine free

Just a quick health update.

1. I had the flu. Don't ask me if it was H1N1; I have no idea nor do I care.
2. I was tested for nicotine use for my life insurance and finally

I AM NICOTINE FREE!

It is the first time I can say that (honestly) in 20 years. Yay me.

3. We continue to eat more and more veggies and fruits. Tonight's dinner was an all organic frittata made with local red-skinned potatoes, rainbow chard, carrots, onions, garlic and green bell pepper.
4. My chiropractor has fixed my lower back. For the past 2 months I have had no lower back pain. Yay Dr. Scott!

our semi-healthy week

Stuffed zuchini. This was sooooo good. At least, I thought it was good. I used organic carrots, bell pepper, celery & onion from my CSA; which I chopped up into pretty small pieces. I browned (slightly burned) some hormone free beef with the veggies and 3 cloves of garlic. I LOVE garlic and so do the kids. Add a little bit of salt and black pepper, a dash of oregano and stuff a large organic CSA zuchini. Wait, I also tossed in a bit of parmesano-reggiano cheese for the kids. Bake this baby in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes and voila. Although, judging from the picture perhaps I should've either cooked the meat a bit less or had a lower temperature in the oven. But it was still really good. The kids managed to gag it down because they both wanted ice cream for dessert. Darn picky eaters. Aren't these diced vegetables gorgeous?


Thursday we headed to Casa Bonita for dinner and a show. Healthy? Not in any way, shape or form. Fun? Definitely!

This semi-mexican food is greasy, cheesy and not all that great.

Kelen went for the cheeseburger and fries.

The sopaipillas are to die for! And they are unlimited. I believe I had three.




This morning we had our first attempt at green smoothies. I discovered a couple of things.

1. My kids will drink their veggies, even though they won't eat them.

2. I need a better blender.


I kind of experimented with this smoothie and it turned out pretty good. 3 organic bananas, a quart bag of frozen organic strawberries, some Zrii, about 1/2 C organic kefir, about 1/2 C orange juice, 2 stalks of rainbow chard with the leaves, 1/2 TBSP green powder, a splash of sea minerals. Blend it up really good. This is how I decided I need a better blender. I could still see pieces of the leaves in my smoothie. Maybe it's just me but I had trouble drinking my smoothie because I could see the green floaties. Don't get me wrong, it tasted amazing! I couldn't even taste the chard. It's just that I could see it. Apparently I have a very strong connection between my eyes and my stomach and it was very difficult for me to overcome.


I will continue to find new ways to get fresh organic veggies into our meals.

A Real American Hero

Finally caved and took the kids to see the new-ish G.I. Joe movie. I have been waiting for about a month for somebody I know to see the movie & report back to me on its appropriateness for my kids. Well, I got tired of waiting

Clearly

nobody

was

going

to

watch

this

movie.


And much to my surprise...it was ok. Now this is an incredibly cheesy movie; I am not saying it is great cinema, and it is very action-packed. A LOT of violence. It's an army movie so I was expecting that. Lots of car crashes, explosions, ninja fighting (which means a lot of stabbings & throats being cut) but while it was clear what was happening there was no blood spurting across the screen. The only thing scary was a preview for some upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie (I made the kids turn around while it was playing).

My favorite thing about this film though. There was no sex scene! That is important so let me repeat it.

There was no sex scene. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to whomever made this show. I won't let my kids watch Transformers or Ironman because of all of the gratuitous sexual nonsense that fills the screen. While there are tight form-fitting outfits for the women (& some serious cleavage) the men were actually wearing the same thing (minus the cleavage). For once it didn't seem as if the women were incapable of doing their job (being a soldier) because they were too busy traipsing around in 5" heels & teeny skirts. The men & women kick some serious a**, say some cheesy lines (including YO JOE!) & save each others butts more than once.

Museum Free Day

Riding the wild beasties

Playing in the fountain

More summer business :) :)

Eating something german at the Boulder Farmer's Market

Kelen's cabbage summer school project


Pregnant mare at Tio's farm in Greeley


all the kids with Great-Grandma



Visiting Tia in Georgia


Papa & his grandkids


our usual violent Catch Phrase Game


Kelen learning safety during swimming lessons


Kiwi's 1st birthday


Waiting for the 4th of July fireworks