NOT A SNAPSHOT, BUT THE FULL PICTURE

In our day to day lives, we regularly get messages that encourage us to exercise and eat a healthier diet. Some of us listen to these messages, some of us are a little slower to take action. Whichever camp you best fit in, we can agree that being healthier carries many benefits for everyone. Better fitness and health carries a wealth of benefits that range from increased strength, stamina to improved body composition and cardiovascular health. Some of the benefits we can readily observe just from a visual inspection and by the feats an individual is able to accomplish.

​

Other benefits may not be observed by the naked eye. To get the full picture, you have to take a look "under the hood" so to speak. This where a visit to your primary care physician comes into play to get your blood work done. In this case, I am referring to have a full metabolic panel completed. Getting your blood work completed can let you know if your efforts are paying off or if changes need to be made. It is the easiest way to get hard data that can't be refuted. Literally, barring any medical error(s), the numbers don't lie.

​

Recently, I had a full metabolic panel performed. For full transparency, I only had this done because I was participating in a research study, and this was the first time in years that I have had my blood work done. While the research study felt poorly designed, getting this blood panel completed and seeing the results made everything worth it. Going to the appointment , I didn't know what to expect. Based on my daily efforts, I had an idea of some of the ranges I hoped to see, but for other numbers, I felt like it was up in the air because I know my food choices aren't always the best. What I did know was that I wanted to use the data, good or bad, as a learning tool and the foundation for how I wanted to make pending health and fitness decisions.

​

The study required 2 visits that were 3 hours each because I had to have blood drawn 2-3 times each visit. (This sucked because I HATE needles) Fast forward to a couple of weeks later. I got my results. My numbers were much better than I expected. Some need to be improved because they are on the low end of good, and others just need to be maintained. I had one metric that was completely negative, but this was because I was getting over a cold that gave a false reading. With this knowledge, I in fact used it to influence some of my nutritional choices as I was taking on the 75Hard Challenge the week following the end of this study.

​

I know I need to do better about first getting a primary care physician (PCP) and secondly having regular visits to the doctor because benefits of staying ahead of any potential issues can't be stressed enough. We can all benefit from knowing more about our internal health. Just because we "feel fine" doesn't mean we are. Take the time to check under the hood every now and again.

#primarycare #pcp #healthandwellness #fitnessandwellness #wellness #fitness #hipowerperformance #maximizeimproveexcel #bloodwork #knowyournumbers #healthiswealth

​