It's Not all its Cracked up to be

For anyone who knows me, it is no secret that except for the first year of my life I have been under weight as a rule of thumb. This has lead to comments like, "I can't wait for you to get fat!" or "You are so lucky you are thin!" While being thin has its upside, like being able to wear the same jeans from 10 years ago even though I have 3 kids and looked like a whale while I was pregnant with the twins. It also allows me to keep an active lifestyle which includes chasing after my 3 kids and walking 2,4 miles a day to collect my oldest from school while pushing 60lbs. up the hill at the same time.

HOWEVER, being thin doesn't mean all of the problems in my life are easily solved. Nor does it mean I DON'T have to watch what I eat! I once told a friend that I would gladly trade her organization skills for my size in clothing. Organizational skills are really much more useful. And despite popular misconception I DO have to watch what I eat. I recently had some blood tests done as part of a check up and had my cholesterol and iron checked as part of this. What I discovered is that, my cholesterol is barely normal, despite the fact that I walk 2.4 miles a day and only eat chicken on the weekend and between 5 people we go through one gallon of milk a week and red meat is only eaten on rare occasion. In other words we eat very little high cholesterol food, but my levels are still average to slightly above. if I were to change even one thing in my diet or quit walking my cholesterol would go through the roof like everyone else in my family.

The other surprise in my tests was that my iron level is basically some where in my toes. My iron level is an 8, basically this is about as low as a person can go as the low end of average is about 60. I have since done some research on the internet and found out that Anaemia, the deficiency of iron, can really have a lot of affects on a person. I always knew that it could make a person tired, but I never really thought about. I always figured I was tired because I had 3 kids close in age. Instead of seeing a doctor or changing my diet, I started drinking strong english tea. Up until this past Sunday I was drinking 3 a day, still tired, horribly unmotivated and unable to get a thing done except on good days. I also discovered it can kill the appetite, which makes sense too. Finally things got so bad my husband made me go to the doctor. I actually had some tests done months ago, but never got the results as my doctor limited her hours, it was in Jerusalem and a general pain in the rump to get there. So last week I went to a local doctor who noticed some missing tests and low and behold, I think I have now solved most of my life's problems. I am now researching high iron recipes and I take a daily multi-vitamin with iron, plus I calculate exactly how many grams of iron are in my food at each meal and I am changing my diet to increase my iron intake. Eating red meat here is really not an option as it is shipped in from Argentina and anything worth eating is way out of our budget. On occasion we do get hamburger that claims to be %100 beef otherwise, it has soy fillers and not so much red meat, which means I am not getting the iron from it. I have made lentil soup and a black and white bean soup this week. I am also eating sunflowers daily and eating 2 cups of oatmeal. I feel a lot better, but it is still going to be a long battle to get my iron level up to anywhere close to normal. And it will be a lifestyle change, but I will do it and stick with it, because it was I need to do to stay health and active. So to all you people who think thin means never having to watch what you eat, I beg to differ.