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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

What a difference a day can make...

I use a very simple & free iPhone app to measure my heart rate, and while it's certainly not a highly calibrated EKG that's been validated by the FDA, it's quite good at showing me when my heart is in A-Fib.

Being in A-Fib is nothing more than the top two sections of my heart being out of sync, they 'flutter'. The bottom two still pump blood & keep me alive, but when the top two flutter, the heart isn't very efficient, I feel tired, and blood can pool in there, potentially causing blood clots that can travel to the brain.

Not good.

So, I take a blood thinner to mitigate the risk of clots (yay! Pills everyday!), and I monitor my heart rate so I can tell if I pop back into A-Fib.

Like I was on Monday. Got zapped (re-booted) Tuesday, and back to normal Wednesday.

...with a stern lecture from my Cardiologist about my caffeine intake, poor sleep habits, and the need to continue loosing weight.

So, I have a caffeine withdrawal headache today (drinking lots of water), and with my heart in good rhythm AND spring weather - I'm planning to get out on the bike trails again.

...and, of course, everyday I recommit & choose to eat for health instead of desire. Some days I'm more successful than others, but I keep making the choice!

Friday, April 15, 2016

Win some / Lose some

Lots of good choices still vastly outweigh the bad choices, but the bad choices keep sneaking in. Gotta fix that, gotta get walking again, gotta get back out on the bike...