This Week's Big Number: 63

I took a fasting blood test last Thursday, and my primary care physician's robocall (efficient for the PCP, very inefficient for the patient) prompted me repeatedly this last weekend to call in for test results.  No word on A1C yet, but my HDL cholesterol was a whopping 63!  I cannot be happier!  =)  This is UP from 42 and 49 last year.  My LDL continues its downward trend from 117 to 111 (last year) to 109 last week. With a HDL of 63, my veins and arteries are self-scrubbing / spikey-balled-rotor-rooting / auto-cleaning-maintaining themselves nicely.  Triglycerides dropped from 135 last year down to 119 (though the strange spike / trough / spike last year from 142 to 102 then 135 is bizarre).  My PCP's concern with the 119 being being over 100, when put in the big picture, is not so concerning.  Unfortunately, my next face to face PCP appointment is not until just before Father's Day.

"So what did you do to get your HDL to 63?" Eat bacon and organically raised duck eggs, nearly every morning.  Seriously - I am not kidding. Also, I eat artisan cheese and Spanish almonds here and there throughout the day.  Put Stevia in every cup of tea.  One or two figs, or dates or dried apricots a day, and 1 pound of deliciously dark 75% Belgian chocolate every week.  Cognac, Irish Whiskey (a new addition), Cruzan rum, or high quality vodka 4 or so ounces each day.  Avoid carbs, sugars, gluten, most beers, artificial sweeteners (Stevia ain't artificial, it's an organically raised plant, hated by Searle & the FDA), and get off my ass at least once a day to keep my heart moving and work up a sweat via swimming, or poolside yoga, or Arizona gardening, or hiking, or stationary biking, or weight training in a hot garage, with 2100 crunches a week and a third as many extended leg lifts (which only require a smooth flat surface, and no equipment, so it can be done anywhere).

I feel healthier these last 2 years than I've felt in the previous 22 combined.  I used to think I had lived 1/2 my average life span already, but now I think it's another 4 or 5 years away before I reach that theoretical mid-point, and the 2nd half - I anticipate - will be even more enjoyable than the first half.  =)