I made a New Year’s resolution to become a vegetarian. Or a mostly vegetarian.
I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but with young children who love meat and don’t have the broadest palates, I think it’s important to feed them protein any way I can get it in them.
Having passed 40, I’ve finally realized that I can no longer eat what I want with impunity. Further, as a doctor, I believe in practicing what I preach, and my legs could no longer straddle the gap between action and rhetoric.
That, and I hit 192 lbs. on the gym scale.
I calculated my own BMI at 26, edging toward 27. I was officially overweight, just like two-thirds of Americans.
I have a sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a whole plate of cookies, a la Ziggy, just so they won’t be there tempting me.
Another rude awakening was my cholesterol. Total 254, LDL 177 (!).
I was in disbelief. When I thought about how I would treat a patient with my numbers, I’d reach right for a prescription pad and start a statin drug (like simvastatin [Zocor] or atorvastatin [Lipitor]).
But like a lot of doctors, I’ve long felt impervious to the maladies that I treat.
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