Inspired by watching the CNN documentary
last Monday night,
I set out early the next morning for the lab
in order to find out the level of risk
I was living with. . .or the amount of denial
I was in.
The results were back by 3:
Total Cholesterol: 245
HDL: 72
LDL: 145
Triglycerides: 140
And that's WITH a cholesterol-lowering medicine.
You can look up the guidelines -
suffice to say I flunked the test!
I come from a family that could live on lettuce
and still measure cholesterol in their arteries
with a spatula.
So! I came home and packed up all
the meat and dairy in my fridge
and gave it to a neighbor.
. . .thick cut butcher bacon, pollo asado,
frozen chicken breasts, doz eggs, box of butter. . .
Then I threw out the remaining cows milk.
The next day I bought Rice Dream - Rice Milk
Beverage - for my GF Corn Chex, fresh fruits and dried nuts,
several different grains, spinach, asparagus, more
herbs and spices, three kinds of potatoes, two kinds of
mushrooms, artichokes, two kinds of lettuce, a loaf of
still-warm GF bread, and made a feast for dinner
I will still eat occasional seafood,
eggs in my GF baked foods, and a little olive oil.
In about six months I will retest and we shall see
how I've been doing.
I'll let you know!
If the numbers are not going down sufficiently
I will become a vegan.
If Bill Clinton can do it, so can I.
SO, UMMMM, WHAT'S YOUR
CHOLESTEROL???
Don't let this happen to you!
So, what IS you cholesterol?
Do you know?
Find out!
I am rather cavalier about this issue. There are risk factors we can fiddle with on the margin. But heart disease is one of those conditions controlled primarily by who your grandparents were. (Good grief. The sentiment sounds as if it is right out of a salon conversation in a Jane Austen novel.) I would rather go down with hollandaise on my lips rather than carrot peels.
ReplyDeleteahaha, and you just might! Where shall we scatter your ashes, Steve???
ReplyDeleteActually, you can thwart your familial destiny with diet and exercise. The food is great! But then, Hollandaise hasn't tasted good to me for years. YMMV
Good comment. lol
There is a book called the 5 week cholesterol cure. Tom has cholesterol issues. He followed the guidelines of this book and lowered his cholesterol considerably in a relatively short time. Once his levels were normal away went the both the book and his results. He now relies on meds.
ReplyDeleteBut, the book worked!
buena suerte!
Debi
Funny you should post this. I've been thinking that I need to have my levels tested. I have no idea what they are. We'll be in Mexico for the month of Nov. Getting things checked out is on my to-do list for when we get back.
ReplyDeleteFive Week Cholesterol Cure, I will look for it. Conventional thinking is that treating high cholesterol is a three pronged attack: diet, meds, and exercise. Thanks, Debi!
ReplyDeleteBarb - Hope I inspired you to get tested when you get here. Or there! Good luck, let us know.
I started out at 280 and pulled it down to 130 with meds and diet but it took five years. I live with a vegan wife so anything my sweetie makes for the table is vegan. I eat what I want when I'm cooking or out and about but I blame her for my lower numbers.
ReplyDelete130! omg I could only dream of those numbers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting and sharing your experiences, I am inspired by your comment. The meals and foods I'm eating are awesome and not lacking for taste or satisfaction in any way. Maybe I'll do a follow up post on the diet and maybe your wife would like to contribute a recipe or 2 or do a guest blog on her vegan cooking???
Oh, and one more note: It will be a week tomorrow and my clothes already fit better and I have more energy. . .
ReplyDeleteLunch today was a product called Boca burgers, topped with onion on whole wheat bread, greens mixed with fresh pears and apples from the orchard and a bowl of lima beans from our garden. It is all pretty simple fare, the vegan stuff, spices are important, as with any type of cooking. We never have much problem getting food for Linda in Merida but we eat fresh stuff from the market most meals and of course the fresh bread from Yucatan can keep one alive on its own.
ReplyDeleteOh Norm, you got me excited there for a minute. I used to love Boca Burgers! Sadly, they have been bought by Kraft and now contain wheat gluten. oh well
ReplyDeleteYour meal sounds fabulous! Tonight I will roast baby onions, beets, mushrooms, carrots, spinach, and red cabbage in olive oil, garlic, and balsamic and pour it all over a bed of creamy polenta. Provecho!!!
Yeah, hard NOT to be a veg here in MX.