Being healthy vs. losing weight part II

I had to add a part II to my previous post about the importance of getting healthy vs. trying to lose weight.  I went to the 1st Annual PUSH* Health & Fitness Fair today, which was a fabulous and fun event.  It was also informative...for me.  I got my HDL, blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides and was measured for my waist.  All of these tests are used to measure something called Metabolic Syndrome. According to the American Heart Association "the metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. They include:

• Abdominal obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen) [You want a measurement of >40 for men and >35 for women]
• Atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders — high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol — that foster plaque buildups in artery walls) [You want an HDL (good cholesterol) of <40 for men and <50 for women; triglycerides should = 150 but the lower the better.]
• Elevated blood pressure [Optimal = <115/75]
• Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar) [Fasting serum glucose should = 100]
• Prothrombotic state (e.g., high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor–1 in the blood) [did not get info about the last two]
• Proinflammatory state (e.g., elevated C-reactive protein in the blood)

People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it."

Now, I don't know what my numbers were before nine months ago, but I will be calling my doctor this week to find out because I'm almost certain that they are way different and further proof that my transformation is a lot more than external.  My waist is 37 (I'm gonna measure tomorrow cause I know it's actually smaller without clothes and I'll also check what it was when I started....I know it wasn't in the thirties!); my HDL is 50; my glucose is 92 and I had already eaten; my triglycerides...are y'all ready for this?...59!  Now, my blood pressure was actually pretty high....139/101 but we had just finished working out and my blood pressure is never high...that's always been something that has been in control.

But, I'm extremely pleased with what this shows about how I'm changing internally, where it really counts.  Is your program helping you to change the internal you?

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*PUSH Inc. (Push Until Success Happens) is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating children and families in understanding proper nutrition through fitness, healthy diets, and community-based initiatives.