Outside in

As part of National Diabetes Awareness week, my employer arranged heart health checks for anyone who could spare 10 minutes.

That in itself was interesting.  An external company came on site for the series of free assessments, and even so, the take up rate was quite low. And this floors me; attendance rates at pre-booked appointments were around 50%.  I’d love to analyse this further, but that’s a topic for another day.

When I began this lifestyle change bizzo I took the usual measurements, but didn’t go for the recommended health check.  D’oh!  How I would love those results now for comparison.  I know externally I have changed significantly, but I don’t know the full extent that these changes have had internally, which really, is of significantly more importance.

So how did I measure?

Total Cholesterol:            5.3mmol/l, which is in the ideal range.

HDL Cholesterol:              2.14mmol/l, which is also in the ideal range.

Glucose:                              4.8mmol/l, which gave me a gold star

Type 2 diabetes risk:       4, which is low risk, with all points earned due to being over 45.

Waist circumference:     <80cm is ideal, which wasn’t an issue.

Cardiovascular risk:         <5%  YAY

 

As a non-smoker, very occasional drinker and someone who exercises more than 2.5 hours each week, I am ranked in the top 2% of staff here that took the test.

But my blood pressure.  Gaahhhhh.  It’s a tad on the high side.  Like 151/93 type high.  The body is in shape, but the head clearly needs work!