Boy oh boy. This week I worked my ass off, literally.

This may be a boring post, but it's my blog and I'll post if I want to. Some may relate, others may not. But I feel like talking about this:

All last week I had the flu and didn’t get to any of my kickboxing classes – understandably. I had a fever that lasted 3 days and it took 2 days to sweat it out. Then of course, I had all that other flu-smuck to deal with for four more days. My right gland is still swollen actually. You know, that thing swelled first before anything, and now it’s the last thing to go – damn little infection pocket. But after 9 days of being down for the count, this week I jumped right back into my exercise routine with a vengeance.

Monday – 1-½ hours of kickboxing.
Tuesday – 1 hour of Pilates
Wednesday – 1 hour of kickboxing
Thursday – 2 ½ hours (TWO AND A HALF HOURS) of kickboxing… That was 1 hour of the usual cardio combined with free weights and body sculpting, and then 1-½ hours of proper form punching and kicking the bag (with all the sit-ups and pushups one can endure).

To say the least, I was ExHausTed... Hungry, too.

All this, plus a whole week of my new low fat diet - as I just discovered that my cholesterol is high – can you believe that shit?!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I lost THREE pounds.

WWWUUUWHOOOO. Hey, that’s a major accomplishment for this stubborn body. I have been doing 5 ½ to 6 hours of intense training every week (except for flu week) and not only haven’t I lost a single pound, but I managed to get high cholesterol.

I firmly believe all things happen for a reason. God bless me for being smart enough to go for a check up “just because it was about time”. This is how I discovered my cholesterol was high. But what first looked like just another cruel joke on the life of Amy, could actually be a blessing in disguise...

Perhaps, I have been in denial about my eating habits. I never believed that just because I exercised that I could eat whatever I wanted, but I did firmly believe that I ate healthy foods. The occasional over indulgence in butter on my popcorn, or that extra greasy grilled cheese, or that once in awhile Pizza Hut, couldn’t possibly be bad for me.

Well, guess what?

My blood says differently.

I do eat healthy. I know I do. I am anal about what I consume. But like every human being, I like to reward myself with something that's forbidden in the eyes of nutrition.

I also know that a lot of this high cholesterol thing may come from my genes. Anyone who knows me, knows I have the world’s worst genes and am “very bad breeding stock” as my husband likes to call me. I have this, I have that. Bad eyes, bad teeth, bad colon, you name it, it’s bad. And it would seem now that I have bad cholesterol. Lots of it. What’s new? My brother got all the good stuff while I make a living out of discovering new things wrong with me. The answer at the doctor’s office is always, “it’s just in your genetic makeup”. God. If I hear that one more time…

But that is why I am devoted to being fit. I don’t even want to imagine what I would be like if I didn’t take care of myself. I’m doing all the right things… it takes me three times longer than the average bear to see the results. Where as Earl can just switch to a lighter beer and dropped 10 lbs, I could stop eating all together and would gain 20 lbs.

But things might be a-changing.

A week of not eating any thing with saturated fat higher than 1 gram seems to actually be making a difference on the scale. In the past, I’ve counted calories, weighed food for proper portions, watched my carbs, starved myself, ate 5-6 small meals a day, not eaten after 7pm, watched my sugar, and tried high protein diets. I do not, however, believe in giving up an entire food group. I think we need a little of everything. And I DO NOT believe in magic pills and powders and refuse to put them in my body.

Nope. Now, it’s a low saturated fat diet with cholesterol fighting foods (Cheerios, Oatmeal, whole grain oat foods, lean meat, etc). A handful of protein in the morning, before and after a workout, and then nothing more than a yummy salad at dinner (with extra virgin olive oil). Oh, and an occassional glass (okay, maybe two) of red wine - strickly for medicinal purposes... of course.

And by golly, it’s working. It’s working for weight purposes at least. And by losing weight, that should lower that bad old cholesterol anyway... well, that's what they tell me.

Funny isn't it, how things just work themselves out. One of the concepts of Yoga is to trust in the universe as it will take care of all things. At first I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I have learned to understand it more and more. Don't stress about it, just trust it will all work itself out. I’ve learned to have faith in that perception more and more. It’s definitely true, although it may not always work out the way you expected or wanted it to, but you go on, and you survive, and you become whom you are.

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HERE'S A PS. FOR YA - I just saw one of the people I work with eating his lunch. He was having a calzone. Yesterday, he had a taylor ham & cheese for breakfast, and fried chicken with french fries for lunch. This is the type of food he eats everyday. This is the type of food they all eat in that office - everyday. In fact, none of them ever bring their own lunch. They spend $6-$10 a day on take out. They are all at least 30 lbs overweight, and none of them workout... and I just WONDER what their cholesterol is... Just a thought.

I bet it's lower than mine, cause that's the story of my life.