Health Risk Assessment 2013

As a fat woman who promotes the Health at Every Size® philosophy, just as I enjoy going to the community pool wearing my bikini to show that fat woman can love their bodies and enjoy an active life too, I enjoy attending the Health Risk Assessment at my work to prove to the busybody medical establishment that a fat woman can have healthy numbers, too.

I'm kind of weird that way.  Most people I know dread the day we get our fingers pricked and our cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose measured, our arms pumped to see what our blood pressure measures, our answers taken to questions such as "how many times a week do you exercise at least thirty times a week?" and "how many fruits and vegetables do you consume each day?"

I like to attend these events as living proof to the health insurance industry and the medical establishment that a fat woman can be fit too.  Let's face it.  I put forth an effort to take good care of myself and I like to show off my results.  Yes I do exercise about 280 minutes a week (mostly walking, but some dancing and hiking and vigorous sex thrown in for fun.)  Yes I do eat about five fruits and veggies each day.  And yes, I'm still fat.  Just like my mom and dad are fat.  Just like all four of my grandparents were fat.  Funny that.

Feel free to look away from my Health Numbers Brag if such things make you feel squeamish.  Just because I'm a health nut doesn't mean I think all people should be.  In a way it's another one of my anxieties.  Because really, none of us knows what's going to kill us or when.  We can try to live forever but we flat out won't.  We might as well enjoy life as best we can.  For some of us that means eating a diet of mostly nuts and fruit and flax-seed smoothies because we feel fantastic afterwards.  For others that means diving into the glory of a cupcake because that's what makes them feel fantastic.

One of my fat grandmothers died at age 94.  When my husband and I were going through her things after she passed, we found a freezer full of boxes of Twinkies.  This woman once argued with me that I could not use apple pie as a term for junk food during a game of Scattergories because, come one, it's made with apples!  94 years she lived.  You just never know.

While I was searching for my Health Risk Assessment results from last year, I stumbled upon this blog post I wrote at the time.  I'd like to share it with you again today since it's still so very relevant.  I have to remind myself to not get too caught up in measuring life and to take time to enjoy living it.

But, I am my big fat OCDish self, so here's my annual Health Numbers Brag:


recommended
weight                      222          [fuck you]
cholesterol 189 below 200
HDL (good)   49 50 or higher
nonfasting glucose 92* below 140
blood pressure 112/76 below 120/80
cholesterol ratio 3.9 below 4.0
triglycerides 87 below 150
physical activity 280 (150 minutes or more each week)
Framington score 2% (low risk of developing heart disease during the next ten years = <10%)

*This one I'm especially proud of because I have PCOS and I decided to not take the medication for it and instead limit the refined carbs in my diet and get plenty of exercise...so it seems to be working...my glucose for several years was running a bit high until I made these healthful changes