Debbie - Day 3: blood test

I was up early this morning, skipped the coffee/tea routine and went down to Walgreens to get my blood lipids done.

Walgreens charges $35 for a full cholesterol panel, blood pressure, and height/weight.  This is great for someone who doesn't have health insurance or a primary care doctor.   Quick, easy, inexpensive.  I talked a friend into going with me.

As expected, my numbers came out slightly worse than in January, but were still within the "average range."  (In a country where 50% die of heart disease, is it a good thing to aspire to be average?)

Total Cholesterol 173
HDL 65
LDL 94
Triglycerides 72
Blood pressure 111/72

Total cholesterol and triglycerides were up (wrong direction); LDL was down and HDL was up (right direction.)

Breakfast was my leftover Wheatena cereal with diced prunes, soy milk, maple syrup, tea, and half a pear.  236 calories.

Lunch: Whole wheat spaghetti, about ¾ cup, with marinara, about ¾ cup.  Five little blue potatoes and an ear of corn -- part of yesterday's uneaten dinner.  A large apple and a handful of the freeze dried pineapple.  542 calories.

Dinner was brown rice and homemade curried beans, about two cups total, some celery sticks, and a big bowl of watermelon chunks, about three cups.  425 calories.  I ate at my desk.

I'll have to find my curried beans recipe to share.  This one was made with pigeon peas and chick peas.  Very tasty and filling.

When I got home from the office tonight about 8:30, I was feeling either an allergy attack or a cold coming on.  Maybe I picked up something from one of my many home visits where children are often sick?  I had a cup of tea, but in my discomfort and grumpiness I was feeling a craving for something.  Cookies?  I'm glad there were no cookies in the house.  I might have succumbed.

What I really should have done is cook some greens.

Around 9:30 I had a few crackers and peanut butter, but this did not satisfy.  The scratchy throat and sneezing made me feel like I wanted to eat more, even though I was aware it was not hunger.  By 10:00 I was back rummaging through the cupboards, and settled on a late night bowl of cereal, raisin bran with soy milk.  Not my usual style, even for breakfast.  But that did it.  Excess snacking, a whopping 463 calories!  I went to bed feeling overfull.  Bleah.

At 1,665 calories I was over my daily needs.  However, averaged with yesterday I'm under my 1,300/day.