Recently I received the opportunity to have a plethora of functional –medicine style tests ran courtesy of BLUEPRINT fit by Quest Diagnostics. BluePrint Fit was the daily sponsor for Charity miles about a month ago and I received a promo code to get these tests ran for free. I figured knowing more about your body is always a good thing and these tests would be a great way for me to get a baseline for various things like nutrient levels, how my metabolism works, my hormones and other magical numbers. I didn’t anticipate any numbers coming back outside of the normal range with the exception of a few hormones (I was diagnosed with PCOS about 3 years ago so my hormones can be all over the place sometimes)
Surprisingly my hormone numbers were all within the normal range, but a few other numbers came back that were a bit concerning.
When I was in my mid-20’s my doctor ran a routine blood screening to test things like cholesterol and my triglycerides were extremely high. The assumption was made given my name and fitness level at the time that this was related to recent diet decisions so the doctor brushed it of even though I have a family history of heart disease. The next year when she re-ran the tests my numbers were even higher and I was informed that I needed to take steps to lower my triglycerides otherwise I would probably need to be put on medication (statins) within the next few years.
Shortly after that conversation my husband and I started using Advocare products and learning more about the differences between healthy foods and “Health” foods (I was living on lean cuisines and other high-sodium convenient diet meals for lunch during the week). With these changes my triglyceride levels returned to the normal range where they have remained for the past few years.
Unfortunately it looks like I’m starting to lose my battle with genetics and am going to need to be more cognizant than ever about the types of fat and the amount of sugars I consume in the future. My Blueprint fit results showed that I was borderline high not only for triglycerides but also for LDL (bad) cholesterol, and c-reactive protein (a measure of chronic inflammation that generally correlates to risk of heart disease).
I may have been motivated to do my 30 burpees most days, and to take steps towards being prepared for my first Spartan race before getting these results, but now at less than 4 weeks out I’m not only upping my training game but my diet is going to be on point.
Wish me luck!
PS- I'm considering starting an instagram account...what do you think?
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