Background on My Project

Hello! Here is the typical opening blog post where I am explain who I am and what I am doing. The people who would even potentially be reading this already know who I am, but because this is the start to my lifelong dream, I better go through the whole story.

I am in my second year of pharmacy school and I am taking a Lifestyle Modifications course. This course alone has changed where I see my role in pharmacy at least sometime in my career. It is about designing a lifestyle modification program for individuals who have chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, etc. who want to do what they can to optimize the care of their disease and prevent it from getting worse. These modifications involve dietary changes and increased physical activity as well as stress and sleep modification. There are a lot of reasons why people are overweight or obese and it is not as simple as telling someone, "lose weight, eat healthy, and take your medication." I am a firm believer in food addiction, especially specific foods, and I truly believe it will be a lifelong struggle if someone chooses to change the way they eat. There are no quick fixes!

Anyway, stepping away from my soapbox and back to my Lifestyle Modifications course. My professor is a firm believer in "being your own first patient" and since this is what I want to do with my life, I am taking him seriously. Also, if I EVER get the chance to help people do this, I want something they can refer to if they don't believe when I say, "I've done this. It's not easy."

My plan is "simple": exercise 30 minutes at least 5 days a week; follow the Dash Diet; and re-evaluate my stats (below) in 3-4 months. I also plan to address stress and sleep, but let's face it, I'm in the final leg of my second semester of my second year of pharmacy school -- there's a lot of stress and very little sleep.

Here are my baseline stats as of 4-9-12:

Weight: 136.4 lbs.

Pant size: 10

Total cholesterol: 179 mg/dL (normal < 200 mg/dL)

LDL: 88 mg/dL (< 130 mg/dL)

HDL: 75 mg/dL (> 45 mg/dL)

Triglycerides: 80 mg/dL (< 150/dL)

TC/HDL ratio: 2.4 (< 4.5)

Serum Glucose: 88 (< 120 mg/dL fasting)

Blood Pressure: 134/76 (120/80 mmHg)

Today is a research day as far as planning how to fit exercise into my crazy schedule and what kinds of foods I should be eating. Tomorrow will be the first real day on the Dash Diet!