From the Editor’s Desk: Healthy Living at 7300 Feet (Premium)

It's been a while since my last health and fitness check-in, but after three months in Mexico, I do have some observations. And while this isn't all that surprising to me, it's clear that the lifestyle we adopt in Mexico City is healthier overall than our lifestyle in Pennsylvania. Which is interesting, given the smog and other issues that are common to big cities.

From a recap perspective, I guess I had lost track of when I started my current health push, but it's been almost two years. In mid-2023, I went to my doctor with the goal of being proactive with my health, that included basic weight loss goals, controlling health metrics like blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, keeping track of my sleep apnea (I've been using a CPAP since 2013), and what was then a growing understanding that I almost certainly have ADHD as well. (I do.)

By the end of 2023, I had lost a significant amount of weight, somewhere over 50 pounds. And then I spent much of 2024 in what I'll call a rough holding pattern. I came back from Mexico in March 2024 lighter than I'd been in decades, which was nice on some level, but I was also curiously gaunt and felt that maybe I'd lost too much weight too quickly. So I course corrected, gained some weight, and then realized I was heading in the wrong direction. By the end of 2024, I was still down dramatically from the weight I'd started at, but even with my weigh-in from one year earlier. So it was a bit of a wash, I guess.

Health isn't just about weight, I know. When we get home in May, I'll be heading back to the doctor and will be getting more blood work done to see where I'm at. But here's what's happened so far this year.
? Off to a bad start
In my last checkup with my doctor, in December, my weight was even with the year-ago check-in, as noted, and my blood pressure and glucose numbers were great. But she brought up cholesterol medication again, as my blood work had shown improvements in that regard, but not as much as she wanted to see. Having read up on this topic a lot, I feel like most doctors misunderstand cholesterol and overemphasize this metric, and my numbers aren't all that bad, really. And I am not a fan of medication, in general, because it treats symptoms without fixing underlying problems.

But I also knew from my research, which she confirmed, that there is no downside to taking cholesterol medication, no negative effects or other worries. Plus, high cholesterol can be genetic. And so I agreed to take medication for cholesterol--a statin called atorvastatin that was previously marketed as Lipitor--in a 20 mg dose, once per day. I will see what impact that's had when I get my blood work done in May, but my long-term goal is to not take this medication if/when my cholesterol goes down.

Everything seemed like it was going fine, but then 2024 got off to a bad start: My doctor informed me she was leaving to go to a different practice, so I had to pick a new doctor, and I have yet to meet...