Thursday, July 12, 2012

Three Things Thursday ...

Epic Blood - To go along with my RMR test last month, I had the most in depth blood work done. On Tuesday, I finally had my follow up appointment to go over the results. And the verdict is in ...

I have epic blood. Like, "my blood work results will kick your blood work results' a**" epicness. Sorry. It's true. (I may have challenged J to a "blood battle")

My cholesterol levels are awesome. (Total - 149, LDL - 48, HDL - 73, Triglycerides - 53. I knew you were wondering.) I have no signs of inflamation/oxidation. My glucose and insulin levels are rock star. My kidneys and liver know how to operate and my electrolytes are on point (Thanks Nuun!)

However, the tests showed that I am a carrier for Factor V Leiden (which increases my risk for venous thromboembolism, blood clots that form in the vein) and that I do not effectively metabolize folic acid. Also, I have a few hormone levels that while still in the normal range, are on the low side. Super interesting stuff.

And while I learned lots of new things about how my body is functioning, I was not at all surprised by two results.

I have crazy low levels of both Vitamin D and Iron, despite heavy supplementation over the last year.

In fact, all of the supplements barely raised my levels from the last time I had blood work done, which makes me think that I also have difficulty effectively metabolizing those nutrients. At this point, I'm not really sure how to rectify this absorption issue.

Epic Fit - Also on Tuesday, I had a professional bike fit on TigerBlood. After nearly two hours, lots of pictures, videos and lasers and numerous tweaks, it's like my bike was made especially for me. It's amazing. Definitely money well spent.

Dinnertime Crazies - I've been trying to focus on spending quality time with the girls while they are out of school. Part of this includes having conversations around the dinner table.

Day in and day out, I try to keep things civilized. It never works. Every single day ends up like this ...

Yes, I constantly question their sanity.

15 comments:

realsarah said...

Are you sure you weren't in my house with my kids in costumes of your kids with that video? Seriously made me lol because that crazy talk is EXACTLY what I hear from my kiddos!

Casey said...

Sweet video!! Did I hear "Caillou face"?!
Way to go on your blood work. I'm due for mine but putting it off. #irresponsible

Kayla said...

Love the video! Your cholesterol levels ARE awesome!:) I really should to get tested for Leidens...it runs in my family but I just haven't gotten tested yet.

Franki said...

My Vitamin D was low for a long time. Really has a huge impact on how you feel--so much more than I think it should!? I was on prescription doses for 6-9 months that finally helped raise mine. That, along with staying on a daily supplement after it went back up to an acceptable level, has made a huge difference for me. I had no idea the impact of Low Vitamin D but glad I got mine taken care of. And I wish I had your cholesterol numbers:-)

Anonymous said...

Hi! I was reading this post and thought you might benefit from a bit of my research on low iron levels - since I have struggled with an iron deficiency since college (probably since before that). I posted about it not too long ago here http://whosrunningthisplaceanyway.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/the-iron-age-and-pregnancy/ in GREAT detail - a bit of a wandering post about how I came to the conclusions I did - but hopefully it will be a help :) I have managed to raise my levels - through no iron supplements and through much different foods than what I was originally using. So go check it out when you get a sec between all your awesome training :) I recently had two more blood tests (I'm in the last month of my pregnancy and have had low platelets so they keep testing my blood) and it's still in the normal range for iron, amazing for me at this point in a pregnancy. Good luck with it!! Oh and I have an oral spray vitamin D supplement from Mercola that I bought for my husband when he was on submarine deployments and used off and on here in England where it's been so gloomy this whole year. Thankfully I don't think that will be a problem when we move back to South Carolina soon!!

Anonymous said...

LOVE the video, reminds me of my little niece and nephew back in Germany. Kids are funny!

Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman said...

So can we call her "Sill" for short? haha Your kids are a non-stop riot (I'm sure in both the good and bad ways).

It's interesting you bring up the bike fit. I've had a couple friends talk about how awesome their fit was. I'm glad TigerBlood is molded to you. I'm still unsure about forking the money over for a fit myself though. Too many other things to get. Ugh!

Amanda@runninghood said...

So fun! Love the video. And love how you are spending this dinner time with them. I think some of the best conversations, family fun, etc. come at the dinner table.

Average Woman Runner said...

My friend just lost a third of her blood during pregnancy (scary shit) and she's been struggling getting her iron levels back up. One thing that has helped is to eat bone marrow. Like get big bones & boil them up, use the broth in soups, whatever. You can find lots of info online and the use of bones seems to border on cultish BUT it can be effective. Worth a try!

Anonymous said...

Hey! Ive been reading your blog for probably at least a year and have commented once or twice. I also have Factor V and it has been more than terrible for my pregancies! So glad you have some awfully cute healthy girls.Glad you got some awnsers! I'll keep uo with you.

Anonymous said...

ah sorry for the mis spellings...not my strong suit ;)

Anonymous said...

omgsh no words to explain how much I loved that! a) he constant "Hey Natalie!", b) Kaden yelling, "I'm the director" (no truer words were every spoken), c) the pirate face. d) the 56 year old face e) your children clearly HATE being in the spotlight f) Kaden telling you to put this on Facebook.

LOVE

Erik Ammon said...

Infectious laughter is a necessity at the dinner table!!

Unknown said...

I've recently started supplementing with calcium fructoborate. Goggle it, there is research that suggests it can help with bit d absorption. I'm taking it because it also helps with arthritis. It's very interesting stuff. Look into it, might help with one of your problems. Not sure about iron levels though

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

Your tests do sound interesting! Although after a childhood filled with monthly blood tests, I'm not sure I want to start all that again. However, I did spend my childhood unable to metabolize most nutrients. I still really dislike taking pills because of that period of my life. It wasn't until I was middle school age when my parents and my doctor (and maybe my body) finally figured out how to use food to help me thrive. I'll be interested in what you learn about rectifing the absortion issues.

Your girls are so funny!