HeartFit for Duty

Last month I had the opportunity to become a new patient at HeartFit for Duty. HeartFit for Duty provides in-depth cardiac and metabolic wellness programs and offers advance medical testing for first responders.

Obviously, this stay at home mom is not a first responder but I am married to one, which qualified me to be able to benefit from the abundant medical testing and nutrition counseling that they offer.

I think we all know that when you and your husband are on board with making healthy changes together a positive outcome and the long term success greatly increases.

My Initial Appointment 

Josh and I both saw Megan McCarthy for our appointments. We went on separate days and each of our visits lasted an hour. We went fasted and had our blood drawn, vitals taken, and were then shown to a room where we took a glucose test.

After drinking that lovely liquid sugar, Megan came and went over my medical history and what my goals were moving forward. Because of the history with the autoimmune disorder she added another blood test to my labs, looking for gene mutations. More on this later.

From there I met with the nutritionist and was given a list of what I should and shouldn’t be eating as wells as an exact breakdown of my daily macros. Daily I am now consuming around 1860 calories and eating 15% (70g) carbohydrates, 50% (103g) fat, and 35% (163g) protein. I so appreciated all the information I received that first appointment and before I left I had my blood drawn one last time to retest my glucose level.

The Follow Up Appointment 

Josh and I had our follow up appointment two weeks ago and we went together. This was one month after our initial appointment. Several of the labs are done at Boston Heart and it takes a few weeks to get the results back.

Our follow up appointment lasted an hour (and we had all three kids with us too) and it was so informative! The kids were seriously amazing while we sat in the office with Megan, and Josh and I were so proud of how well they behaved.

She went over every single lab that was done on each of us! I won’t bore you with all the details but here are a few highlights.

• Cholesterol. Both of us have things we need to address in this category. Josh and I both need to increase our Omega 3 (EPA + DHA = Total Omega) to at least 2,000mg/day. I am taking Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega and Josh is taking SFH Fish Oil.
• My vitamin D was super low so I am supplementing with 5,000 IU/day. I am using NOW D-3 5,000 IU.
• I also learned that I have a MTHFR gene mutation. I will now be taking a folate supplement for the rest of my life. This mutation causes inflammation in the body and doesn’t allow for the absorption of folate and other B vitamins. I am taking Pure Encapsulations to supplement this.
• My liver showed inflammation as well and my body is not properly processing sugar. This means ditching the cookies, bread, and other sugar loaded snacks and foods to try and lower my blood glucose levels and also my elevated AST (liver function).

Nutrition and Lifestyle Changes

I have significantly changed up what I have been eating. Here is an example of what I was eating before and what I am now currently eating.

Breakfast

• Before: Rice Cereal (I love this for breakfast!)
• Currently: 2 Scoops of Unflavored Promix Protein Powder, 1/2 Avocado, 1 Tablespoon Almond Butter, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 3-5 drops of liquid Stevia, and Almond Milk blended together.

Lunch

• Before: Whatever the kids were eating.
• Currently: Some sort of salad with 4 ounces of chicken. Lately this has been romaine, tortilla strips, avocado, chicken, and assorted veggies.

Dinner

• Before: Some combination of veggies, brown rice, and chicken.
• Currently: Lots of vegetables and 4 ounces chicken or a lettuce bun burger with a side of bone broth.

Snacks

• Before: Anything and everything. Dried mangos, bananas, apples, fruit snacks, chips, cookies, toast. Mainly anything that has high amounts of carbs.
• Currently: Vega Protein and Greens Shake, Almonds, and drinking lots and lots of water.

I have been exercising more consistently the past several weeks and just recently actually started looking forward to my own workouts again. If you ever feel unmotivated to workout I am right there with you.

Parenting in this season of my life is exhausting and I mean that in the best way possible. After Jesse was born I knew it would take me a few months to figure out our new routine as family so I put zero pressure on myself in regards to exercise. The last five months have been great and I am so glad that I allowed myself time to recover from pregnancy and to adjust to life as a family of five.

Josh and I will go back in 90 days for more labs and to reassess if what we are doing is making a difference for our overall health. I am very grateful to have been able to participate in this with Josh. Thank you HeartFit for Duty for allowing spouses to tag along in your preventive health care program!