About a month ago, I had my annual physical That included lab work, blood pressure check, listening to my chest with a stethoscope, etc.
Eleven years ago, my physical was very different, asI was morbidly obese and had hypertension. This year, my blood pressure was 110/68 and my lab work was awesome!
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Brooke Goldner. I have been following her story for years and thought my podcast followers would want to learn more about her.
Dr. Goldner once had lupus, back when she was just 16 years old. Doctors would tell her it would only get worse and would shorten her life. But Dr. Goldner had a positive attitude and never let the diagnosis slow her down.
I get it, change is hard. Sometimes, it may look too daunting of a task to completely change a diet. But, once you go whole food plant based, you begin to realize it’s not a diet but a lifestyle change.
I have a few friends and family members who say they would rather not change and stick with the side effects of the meds. This is completely the opposite of the way I feel. I would rather not have to rely on a pill to keep me going, knowing that the pill is not curing the problem but only masking the symptoms.
If you have high cholesterol, you really have no other options than to go whole food plant based. It’s really the only way to healthfully bring your cholesterol under control.
Recently, I had routine lab work done for a physical. As expected, my cholesterol was awesome! My doctor said it was optimal. According to Dr. Greger, you want a total cholesterol under 150. Most conventional doctors think anything under 200 is OK but I trust Dr. Greger, Dr. Ornish, Dr. Esselstyn and others who advise people to achieve the optimal level.
In a few weeks, it will be exactly ten years since I had my first physical since before college. That one physical altered my life from that moment on.
Many of you know my story, but it seems appropriate to remind my readers of why this appointment was so critical. I was morbidly obese, weighing in at well over 350 pounds. i was not taking care of myself, having neuropathy in my feet, feeing exhausted, having headaches, etc. I knew the doctor would tell me I had health issues and I did not want to know. I was pushed into this physical because the state of Connecticut was requiring it for workers who wanted to have cheaper premiums. I decided to finally face my fears and do the physical.