Checking up on myself

Each year, my company sponsors a health risk assessment (HRA). It entails getting your vital statistics checked (height, weight, body fat %, and BMI) as well as a blood draw to check your cholesterol, glucose, triglycerides, etc. There is also a questionnaire to be completed that asks about your lifestyle. Based on both parts, you receive a biometric score. If you fall into the "increase risk" or "high risk" group then you have to complete a health coaching program. For the most part it's a voluntary thing, but they do offer a pay incentive (a small lump sum to be paid in a future pay) if you complete everything (including the health coach part if you fall into that group). I know many people who don't want to do it because they say it's just another way for the insurance companies to have information against you to deny a claim. Even if that's true, wouldn't you want to know where you stand so you can become a healthy person and reduce your risks for many diseases?

Our occupational nurse called me prior to the two dates when the assessments would be offered to let me know that since I was on maternity leave, I didn't have to complete the first part and could just fill out the questionnaire to qualify for completing the HRA. Being only 7 weeks postpartum, my weight, body fat %, and BMI certainly aren't where they were prior to getting pregnant and are higher than I want. So do I take the easy way out or realizing that I am trying to improve my health partake anyway to get a good base to measure my improvement? I decided to do the latter and partake anyway.

On Wednesday, after fasting for 12 hours, I drove down to the Mill to get my measurements and blood drawn. While, I'm not going to say exactly what my measurements are, I will say my BMI is in the overweight range and my body fat % puts me in the obese range. It will be a few weeks until I get the blood results back. I realize that these numbers are higher than if I hadn't been pregnant (the nice nurse was going to write all over my charts that I had just had a baby on 3/15 to be sure that was taken into consideration at the insurance company). This information definitely gives me more motivation to eat healthy and continue to exercise so I get back to being in healthy ranges. My hope is that next year when it's time for the HRA again I will have exceptional numbers and show a huge improvement.