It all started here. http://alwaysfunkyfresh.wordpress.com/2007/05/09/operation-shrink-a-gut/

OSAG stands for Operation-Shrink-A-Gut.  But it takes too much time to write out that whole Operation yackity yack so I gave it a nickname.

OSAG. Simple right? (and catchy)

It’s not a challenge or anything like that. It’s not a fitness plan where I’m telling you what to do and how to do it. It simply started out as me realizing that I was losing control of my health situation and needed to do something about it. That’s it in a nutshell. Read the link if you want to know more.

So OSAG is about getting healthy because let’s face it, our community, for whatever reason (lack of education, ignorance, the “man”) doesn’t do too well in this area.

One of the things I do every year, regardless of how I feel, is get a physical exam. I put on that flimsy ass gown crap and sit ass out on the damn table while the doc checks me. Sure there are parts of the exam I dread (I’ll let you figure that out) but these are things I need to know. Rounding off the physical is blood work. I get tested for everything. You say I’m paranoid. I say there’s a reason why my job has benefits

I had a physical towards the end of last year and I kind of had a feeling that some of my results would come back elevated. I hadn’t exercised in a while and I had been eating like crap. It’s tough when you travel and you’re running to the airport that has the worse options. Golden arches anyone?

A few weeks ago I got back my results. Just as I expected. Cholesterol was up. In fact, I was in the borderline high risk area with a total number of 220. But the number that shocked me the most was blood pressure. That was up and this is what got me to thinking that damn this hereditary stuff must be kicking in. Both sides of my family have a history of high blood pressure. Although the number (132/86) was somewhat higher than usual (it put me in the prehypertensive category), it was still manageable.  I swear I think my blood pressure was high because I had to deal with the Beltway that day!

My doctor challenged me for 3 weeks that by the time I came for my follow-up appointment to get the numbers lower. And I did. Blood pressure dropped significantly (110/76). Cholesterol slightly but enough to get me on the edge of borderline (200).  I didn’t do a complete overhaul of what I ate. I just changed a few things here and there but I did exercise at least 4 times a week. I go back in 8 weeks for another follow-up. Let’s see what I can do to my numbers then.

But what about motivation Fresh? I start and then I stop. What do you do then? Hell, I wish I had the magic or easy button for that question. It depends on you. Everybody has different motivation. If you want to fit in that swimsuit or jeans that’s sizes smaller than you are now, I say, go buy it. Yup. Go buy it and put it somewhere in your closet as a reminder that’s what you striving for.  Wifey gets Es.sence and when they have those women in there that were over 50 and looking fuggable, I meant fabulous, there was a common thread that other than genes, most of them ate right and exercised.

I heard way too many stories last year of our people dying young and not because of senseless violence but because of health issues. People in their late 20′s and 30′s having strokes and heart attacks. People learning that they are diabetic or even worse, contracting STDs. Are you serious?

Then I heard stories of people losing weight and boyfriends/husbands/family members having negative comments about it. “You betta eat another plate of chitlins to put some meat on them bones”….Healthy to some of our parents and grandparents means eating two plates at dinner. And if your boyfriend is pissed cause you lost weight and your ass isn’t as phat, well, guess you know the real reason why he’s with you.

It’s YOUR body.  You control it.

I’ll be more than happy to share with people anything I’ve learned. I may even put out a few challenges along the way. There are a bunch of OSAG’ers out here in blogland. Ask people for advice. Regardless just take care of yourselves and get healthy! It’s 2008 remember. The year of the take over.