I mentioned that I developed this site as a journal to hold me accountable and keep me motivated to stay on top of hard work and my dedication to fitness and nutrition. Yet today has been a very humbling day for me. I am still obese.
Recently I started a really excessive HIIT program (Beach Body’s Insanity) and I seemed to be having problems with my blood pressure. I awoke a few times last week with a rapid heart rate and my pulse throughout the day was elevated. Usually my pulse is somewhere around 45-50bpm, but lately it’s been in the 70s. I spoke to a few people and I am learning that performing HIIT 6 days a week can actually elevate BP and RHR. The heart is a muscle and if you fall into the chronic cardio issue, you may find that the sorenes you usually get from a hard lifting day is similar to rapid heard rate or HBP from excessive cardio fitness. Especailly HIIT.
Today I made an appointment to see my cardiologist to see what is going on. I asked to see someone else in the practice since my current MD never really gave me the attention an MD probably should for a 30 something with elevated blood pressure. Today was my 10th anniversary of being sentenced to taking meds to correct my blood pressure.
The meeting was terrible. Not the situation I expected. I thought for sure that since the last time I was there I was tipping the scale at 247lbs and out of shape, that seeing me having lost about 40lbs and being able to hold a conversation about nutritive foods and movement he would be proud. Today I am able to run a 10K if I have to, I swing kettle bells, and I love doing sprints. I perform yoga at least twice a week. My diet has been very good for a while now even thought I gained some of my weight back since I kicked the low-fat-high-carb life back in April of last year.
He says “Daniel, you are still morbidly obese. You need to still lose 46 more lbs.”
WTF? Really? Today I weigh about 200 give or take 5lbs. I dropped almost 4 pants sizes in my waist. He wants me to lose 4lbs a month for the next several months in order to rule out that as a cause for my HPB. He also accused me of having sleep apnea and asked me to pursue testing. Those of you that have seen me on Facebook would agree that I am not at my ideal body weight, but 46more lbs? Wow. Have I just been a blob of crap all this time and assumed I was not overweight? I amaze myself that I can walk into any yoga studio and keep up with the pros; I lift heavy and I am really quick on the sprinting movements.
How is this possible? So today he asked me to take a lipid panel (here we go) and to check out my liver. Great, what will be next– statins?
We began to disagree about a few other topics at which he began to beat me up with medical jargon and tossed out a bunch of words to his assistant which I think was in the room to scare me a bit. Not being paranoid, but I once called the manager at that office about 6 months ago and and complained about a few things they did that I felt was in poor taste for a business. Not to mention the person in the room with him I complained about because she never made eye contact with me ever and asked me to remove my shirt a few times. She never addressed me by my name and asked me to pay my co-pay before I even saw anyone there. I am beginning to think this relationship needs to happen with an alternative physician.
Wish me luck.
An alternate opinion would be good but stay primal!!! You will get there!
Daniel,
I assume from your description they’re using BMI for their definition of obesity. BMI is a completely bogus measurement. Far more important are your body fat percentage and actual real health measurements such as triglycerides, liver function, etc. I am 6′ tall and have around 200 pounds of lean body mass. If I weighed 220 pounds (I’m considerably more than that, but it’s been coming down rapidly) I would be considered obese. At 9% body fat.
Here are 10 reasons why BMI is worthless. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439&sc=fb&cc=fp
I hope you find a cardiologist who actually has a clue. Hang in there.
Can’t comment on the medical stuff. But life is too short to be traumatized by your doctor. You have obviously made a number of positive changes in your life. Be proud of those. Keep the positive momentum going. And find a doc who will tell you the hard truths, but in a supportive, humane way. I hope you don’t let this get you down. You’ve done alot of good work. keep it up. If you need to adjust things, do so, but keep the positive mental attitude.
Well, that sounds like a crappy visit. I find it hard to believe that you would fall into the MO category at 200 lbs if you are over 5′5″! I was close to, if not over, 220 lbs about 4 years ago, and using the old school BMI calculator even I (at 6′ and a bit) was not in that class (although up high enough to get myself into a different state!).
I don’t know the details of your workout regime, but from what I know of P90X it may be too much of a good thing. I am no expert, but between what I have read/learned on Mark’s Daily Apple (and other Paleo/Primal blogs) and what I have learned from reading “Body By Science” (balancing breaking down and repairing the body) we need to allow time for our body to rest and heal in between intense workouts. Maybe you need a little more “move slowly, play or rest” and less “X” in your life. Just a thought.
I am trying to follow this same advice myself, and it is sometimes hard to take it easy, but I always feel great the next day when I follow a rest/easy day with a hard workout. Yesterday I just went for a couple of short walks and today had a hard Ashtanga yoga practice that went great because I wasn’t already tired at the start of the practice.
Sounds to me like you need a new cardiology group to work with, nothing wrong with a Lipid Panel if it’s been a year or two, hopefully it will show improvement from your primal lifestyle. Have you been able to decrease BP meds since losing weight and getting in better shape? Do you check your BP at home? If so is it same as at Dr. office?
If you are eating good primal you should keep losing fat (if you need/want too). Percent body fat better than BMI. Of course Mark had problem getting a good BF% measurement. I have a scale that measures %BF, I don’t go by the actual number, more the trend.
Nothing wrong with hard workouts, but may need to back it down a notch and add in an easier day, recovery is important too. Primal Blueprint has the move frequently at slow speed for a reason.
So, how tall are you?
I am 5′ 8″
I am 5′8″ at 167lbs -worked my way down from 180’s (which was a nice beer belly). I still only have some minor ab definition and would estimate I could lose a few more pounds of fat to get to the ‘optimal’ weight for looking cut. I’ve also got some muscle on me so I never expect to be much lower than 155. If you are like me, your frame probably hides the extra weight pretty well.
I am guessing 40 lbs off of 200 lbs for you would be about right. BMI might not work for everyone, but unless you are really well muscled it’s still a good estimate of how much body fat you are probably carrying around. You could also get some tape and measure your waist just a little above your belly button. You want to have a Waist to Height Ratio sub-50% for health. For us that’s a 33 inch waist and under. Good luck, keep it up!
Paleodc: Way to go. Yeah I’ve always had people say to me “you hide it well.” I know for a fact that 40 more lbs would be awesome. Still keeping it up. This nice weather we are are having here in Ohio is getting me on my bike and hiking more!