Lab Results
Well, I have to say I'm pretty pleased with my lab results. I got a 5.4% on my Ha1c, which is .2% lower than 12 weeks ago. And last time I was taking 2000 mg of Metformin a day. This time around I was only taking 500 mg. Maybe by the next go around I won't be taking any. That's one of my goals, anyway.
Corn
I've talked briefly in the past about the paleo (or primal) diet. We were designed to eat meat, vegetables, berries and nuts. When refined grains and sugar were added to our diets, humans as a species started developing problems, like diabetes and heart disease. Study after study has indicated that when these refined grains and sugars are introduced into native diets, populations who've never shown signs of these diseases start getting them at an alarming rate.
When we eat animals, we eat what they eat. So if you feed a cow grass (which we can't digest)—and which is what cows are supposed to eat—we end up getting the benefits of what's in the grass. For example omega-3s and leaner, tastier beef.
If you feed a cow corn, which is the norm now thanks to those horrendously inhumane feedlots all over the Midwest, along with lots of government subsidies for growing the stuff, the cow will eat the corn. But the cow will not be a happy, healthy cow because its digestive system isn't designed to eat grains. So the cow requires lots of antibiotics to combat all the beasties growing in his tummy caused by his diet and his living conditions. When you eat this cow, or drink milk from this cow, you get a dose of antibiotics with every serving, whether you want it or not. Which is why, in many a parents' opinion, girls are getting their periods as 8-year-olds instead of 12 or 13 and young boys may develop breasts. How sick is that?
Now, yes, botanically speaking, corn, wheat, rye and oats are grasses. But we don't eat the leafy green part of the grass and neither does our livestock. When you eat corn and other grains, you're eating the seeds.
Then there are all the weird things that come out of corn as byproducts made in a laboratory somewhere. The worst of which is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This stuff is amazingly cheap to produce and a lot cheaper to use in processed foods than sugar. Remember back in the eighties when Coca Cola came out with New Coke? Well, the new part was that they stopped using cane sugar and switched to HFCS. Candy bars used to actually have sugar in them, too.
Fast forward 20+ years and a good portion of us are twice our normal size now. So as a culture did our diet really get that bad in 20 years or is maybe HFCS to blame for some of it? Personally, I think the stuff's addictive in some form, if my problems with processed foods were anything to go by.
I warned you this was a ramble. I have no clever way to wrap this up. Just something to think about.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
I'm Back…
I do apologize for not keeping the blog updated. I appreciate those of you who, ever optimistic, keep checking back.
While I won't go into any details here because it's not an appropriate place for it, I will say that the last nine months have been exciting because of the changes in my body and health and also difficult because of the problems it caused in my relationship. I have never experienced a break up like this and I had no idea how much it could hurt emotionally and physically. Amazingly, through all of this I've managed to continue to eat healthy, workout 4-5 days a week, try to deal with the situation with as much integrity as I can, and run my business.
I'm Eating Really Well These Days…
Since my last post at the beginning of the month, I've had a chance to eat some of the organic pork and grassfed beef I purchased at the end of May. It's surprised me to discover that I've eaten more of the pork than the beef and I'm now thinking I'll add a half-hog order to my beef order this fall. Regardless of the health benefits I'm getting from eating organic meat, it just tastes better. You can't even imagine how much better unless you try it for yourself.
The farmer's market in my neighborhood started up for the season a couple of weeks ago so I've been able to add pasture-fed chicken eggs directly from the farmer to my diet along with fresh, organic greens, asparagus, etc. The growing season here has been a little strange this year so there's not a lot of variety in the produce yet. I've only been to the grocery store twice since the beginning of June—and I don't miss it.
And Going to the Gym…
On the work out front, I have been working on getting my squats lower. Kristn has let me get away with not getting my butt all the way down where it's supposed to be for a long time, and she challenged me to reduce the weight I was squatting and work instead on flexibility and form. This was a hard one for me because I really like throwing the big numbers on the board where we keep all our stats. But after a few weeks of working on this on my own on our off-training days, with just the 45-lb. barbell, I am seeing the results. I'm getting down further and squatting more weight than I was before. I feel like I have more power to push the weight up when I get a little lower, too. I'm deadlifting more weight, as well. And I'm noticing a difference in the musculature of my upper legs.
And Getting My Bloodwork Done.
Tomorrow I get to have my next Ha1c. It's been 12 weeks since I pulled a 5.6% and since then I've reduced the amount of metformin I take by 75%. My fasting blood sugars are consistently around 80 or so in the morning. It will be interesting to see the results. I'm also getting my vitamin levels tested to make sure I'm getting enough vitamin D3 to offset the lack of sun here in gloomy, gray Seattle.
So that's it for now. I'll be back in a couple of days to share my lab results.
Note: Just a reminder to readers that this blog is about a very specific (and small) part of my life, i.e., learning to beat/live with diabetes, in the hope that it might inspire or help other people.
While I won't go into any details here because it's not an appropriate place for it, I will say that the last nine months have been exciting because of the changes in my body and health and also difficult because of the problems it caused in my relationship. I have never experienced a break up like this and I had no idea how much it could hurt emotionally and physically. Amazingly, through all of this I've managed to continue to eat healthy, workout 4-5 days a week, try to deal with the situation with as much integrity as I can, and run my business.
I'm Eating Really Well These Days…
Since my last post at the beginning of the month, I've had a chance to eat some of the organic pork and grassfed beef I purchased at the end of May. It's surprised me to discover that I've eaten more of the pork than the beef and I'm now thinking I'll add a half-hog order to my beef order this fall. Regardless of the health benefits I'm getting from eating organic meat, it just tastes better. You can't even imagine how much better unless you try it for yourself.
The farmer's market in my neighborhood started up for the season a couple of weeks ago so I've been able to add pasture-fed chicken eggs directly from the farmer to my diet along with fresh, organic greens, asparagus, etc. The growing season here has been a little strange this year so there's not a lot of variety in the produce yet. I've only been to the grocery store twice since the beginning of June—and I don't miss it.
And Going to the Gym…
On the work out front, I have been working on getting my squats lower. Kristn has let me get away with not getting my butt all the way down where it's supposed to be for a long time, and she challenged me to reduce the weight I was squatting and work instead on flexibility and form. This was a hard one for me because I really like throwing the big numbers on the board where we keep all our stats. But after a few weeks of working on this on my own on our off-training days, with just the 45-lb. barbell, I am seeing the results. I'm getting down further and squatting more weight than I was before. I feel like I have more power to push the weight up when I get a little lower, too. I'm deadlifting more weight, as well. And I'm noticing a difference in the musculature of my upper legs.
And Getting My Bloodwork Done.
Tomorrow I get to have my next Ha1c. It's been 12 weeks since I pulled a 5.6% and since then I've reduced the amount of metformin I take by 75%. My fasting blood sugars are consistently around 80 or so in the morning. It will be interesting to see the results. I'm also getting my vitamin levels tested to make sure I'm getting enough vitamin D3 to offset the lack of sun here in gloomy, gray Seattle.
So that's it for now. I'll be back in a couple of days to share my lab results.
Note: Just a reminder to readers that this blog is about a very specific (and small) part of my life, i.e., learning to beat/live with diabetes, in the hope that it might inspire or help other people.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Eating Healthy Can Be Hard On The Wallet
For those of you who already eat a whole food, organic diet, you know how expensive it can get. It can be a little daunting. Personally, I find it really ironic that it costs more to eat unprocessed natural foods than it does to eat the crap that's been heavily processed. But that's what government agricultural subsidies get you.
I've been a little shocked at my grocery bills over the last six months. For the most part I'm just feeding myself and my food bill went up almost 45% when I started eating healthier. Granted, some of this increase is probably due to inflationary influences we're seeing because of higher fuel prices.
When I made the decision to start eating grass-fed beef it was already fall and too late to order a grass-fed steer from a local farm. I have put in my order for next fall. But in the meantime, I've had to purchase meat at the grocery store for anywhere from $8-$15 a pound…or more. I eat about 4 pounds of beef and pork a week, so it gets expensive pretty fast when you're buying meat one cut at a time.
When a friend asked me if I wanted to go in on an order with them from Thundering Hooves in Walla Walla, I jumped at the chance. Last weekend we picked up our order. They have a pickup point in the neighborhood so we didn't actually have to drive to Walla Walla. It's averaging out to about $5/lb. and means the only items I'll need to buy for the rest of the summer are produce and dairy. Both of which I'll be getting at the local farmer's market starting next week. I'm hoping that, averaged out, I'll be able to reduce my grocery bill by at least 20%.
I've never really been someone who stocks up on food, so I'm kind of getting a kick out of opening the freezer and seeing all that meat just waiting for the barbecue. The only thing I've eaten so far is some bacon and it was fabulous. I'm looking forward to eating really well over the next few months—and not having to go to the store every other day.
I've been a little shocked at my grocery bills over the last six months. For the most part I'm just feeding myself and my food bill went up almost 45% when I started eating healthier. Granted, some of this increase is probably due to inflationary influences we're seeing because of higher fuel prices.
When I made the decision to start eating grass-fed beef it was already fall and too late to order a grass-fed steer from a local farm. I have put in my order for next fall. But in the meantime, I've had to purchase meat at the grocery store for anywhere from $8-$15 a pound…or more. I eat about 4 pounds of beef and pork a week, so it gets expensive pretty fast when you're buying meat one cut at a time.
When a friend asked me if I wanted to go in on an order with them from Thundering Hooves in Walla Walla, I jumped at the chance. Last weekend we picked up our order. They have a pickup point in the neighborhood so we didn't actually have to drive to Walla Walla. It's averaging out to about $5/lb. and means the only items I'll need to buy for the rest of the summer are produce and dairy. Both of which I'll be getting at the local farmer's market starting next week. I'm hoping that, averaged out, I'll be able to reduce my grocery bill by at least 20%.
I've never really been someone who stocks up on food, so I'm kind of getting a kick out of opening the freezer and seeing all that meat just waiting for the barbecue. The only thing I've eaten so far is some bacon and it was fabulous. I'm looking forward to eating really well over the next few months—and not having to go to the store every other day.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Rewards
At my heaviest I had completely given up on ever being able to lose weight. And of course, rewards for any success in other parts of my life revolved around food. Going out for dinner, dessert, etc. We all do it. It's important to take pride in the things you're good at and make sure you acknowledge them in some way.
So when I changed my eating habits, I had to change the way I thought about rewarding myself for successes. At one time, many years ago, I had promised myself if I ever lost all the weight I'd get another motorcycle (knowing full well it would probably never happen). With that being said, I present you with my new best friend:
I have over 25,000 miles of riding experience and this is the biggest bike I've ever ridden. It weighs in at 945 lbs. The reason I mention this is that without all the weightlifting I've been doing, along with the eating changes and weight loss, I would not be strong enough or healthy enough to handle this bike. And it's a reward that keeps on giving, because when I get the munchies, or feel overly stressed out, I can go for a ride instead of eating. It's the kind of driving that requires all four limbs and has no built-in cupholders.
Granted, this is on the extreme end of rewards. Most of the time, just feeling good in my own skin is reward enough. But occasionally you have to splurge, right?
So when I changed my eating habits, I had to change the way I thought about rewarding myself for successes. At one time, many years ago, I had promised myself if I ever lost all the weight I'd get another motorcycle (knowing full well it would probably never happen). With that being said, I present you with my new best friend:
I have over 25,000 miles of riding experience and this is the biggest bike I've ever ridden. It weighs in at 945 lbs. The reason I mention this is that without all the weightlifting I've been doing, along with the eating changes and weight loss, I would not be strong enough or healthy enough to handle this bike. And it's a reward that keeps on giving, because when I get the munchies, or feel overly stressed out, I can go for a ride instead of eating. It's the kind of driving that requires all four limbs and has no built-in cupholders.
Granted, this is on the extreme end of rewards. Most of the time, just feeling good in my own skin is reward enough. But occasionally you have to splurge, right?
Saturday, May 24, 2008
I Didn't Mean to be Gone So Long
Sorry about the big gap between posts. Warning: This post is a little more personal than I normally get.
The Personal Stuff
Something I've discovered over the last year or so is that having a good support system for dealing with chronic illness and big dietary and health changes is important. This can come from family, friends, spouse, etc. But you also have to be ready to stick to your guns when you feel like you're not getting the support you need in order to do what you need to do to get and stay healthy.
I've learned a lot about just how important it is to keep eating good food and exercising when the shit hits the fan. I think the reason I've survived the last two weeks is because I take care of my body now. Which controls the depression. Which enables me to get out of bed in the morning and face another day. In the past, emotional trauma would have put me face down in a gallon of ice cream or worse. But eating whole, healthy foods is so part of my life now that it never occurred to me to go there.
I've also discovered how truly lucky I am to have such great friends and family (and I already knew they were pretty cool). I'm so thankful and grateful for the thoughtfulness, caring and time they've shown me over the last couple of weeks.
Eating Out
One of the big challenges in following the new eating plan is eating at restaurants. I like going out for dinner once in a while, but it's a learning process. The first couple of times I went out, I would order a steak, but I was uncomfortable asking for substitutions, so I'd end up leaving all the potatoes, rice, etc. on the plate. I don't like waste and this made me as uncomfortable as asking for substitutions did. But as I've gotten more confident about what I can eat and what I absolutely won't eat, it's gotten a lot easier to ask them to leave the carbs off the plate and double-up on the veggies instead.
I can even find stuff to eat at the local Mexican restaurant where I'm a regular. I got a few funny looks at first, since these guys were used to seeing me eat a lot of food. First thing, push the basket of chips as far away from you as you can. (Eventually, you don't see it anymore.) The trick is to just order the fajita filling, or carne asada, etc. without the tortillas, rice, beans, etc. And frankly, it's plenty of food--just meat and vegetables.
I've only had one incident where my eating plan was a problem. I went to a business function at a small restaurant where the owner was involved in the meeting and had provided free food for everyone. He got very offended when I wouldn't eat anything even after I had explained why. So I've decided that when these meetings are held at the restaurant, I'll decline to participate.
Overall, you can eat out and eat well. Most of the larger chain restaurants post their nutritional information online and it's pretty easy to find. And if you stick to basic fare that doesn't have a lot of sauces and hidden ingredients it's usually pretty easy to gauge what you're eating. Just be aware that the nutritional information that the restaurants provide can be off by quite a bit. There was a just an article about this somewhere this week. I don't remember where I saw it. If I find it, I'll post the link here.
The Personal Stuff
Something I've discovered over the last year or so is that having a good support system for dealing with chronic illness and big dietary and health changes is important. This can come from family, friends, spouse, etc. But you also have to be ready to stick to your guns when you feel like you're not getting the support you need in order to do what you need to do to get and stay healthy.
I've learned a lot about just how important it is to keep eating good food and exercising when the shit hits the fan. I think the reason I've survived the last two weeks is because I take care of my body now. Which controls the depression. Which enables me to get out of bed in the morning and face another day. In the past, emotional trauma would have put me face down in a gallon of ice cream or worse. But eating whole, healthy foods is so part of my life now that it never occurred to me to go there.
I've also discovered how truly lucky I am to have such great friends and family (and I already knew they were pretty cool). I'm so thankful and grateful for the thoughtfulness, caring and time they've shown me over the last couple of weeks.
Eating Out
One of the big challenges in following the new eating plan is eating at restaurants. I like going out for dinner once in a while, but it's a learning process. The first couple of times I went out, I would order a steak, but I was uncomfortable asking for substitutions, so I'd end up leaving all the potatoes, rice, etc. on the plate. I don't like waste and this made me as uncomfortable as asking for substitutions did. But as I've gotten more confident about what I can eat and what I absolutely won't eat, it's gotten a lot easier to ask them to leave the carbs off the plate and double-up on the veggies instead.
I can even find stuff to eat at the local Mexican restaurant where I'm a regular. I got a few funny looks at first, since these guys were used to seeing me eat a lot of food. First thing, push the basket of chips as far away from you as you can. (Eventually, you don't see it anymore.) The trick is to just order the fajita filling, or carne asada, etc. without the tortillas, rice, beans, etc. And frankly, it's plenty of food--just meat and vegetables.
I've only had one incident where my eating plan was a problem. I went to a business function at a small restaurant where the owner was involved in the meeting and had provided free food for everyone. He got very offended when I wouldn't eat anything even after I had explained why. So I've decided that when these meetings are held at the restaurant, I'll decline to participate.
Overall, you can eat out and eat well. Most of the larger chain restaurants post their nutritional information online and it's pretty easy to find. And if you stick to basic fare that doesn't have a lot of sauces and hidden ingredients it's usually pretty easy to gauge what you're eating. Just be aware that the nutritional information that the restaurants provide can be off by quite a bit. There was a just an article about this somewhere this week. I don't remember where I saw it. If I find it, I'll post the link here.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Push-ups Are For Girls, Too.
I'm one of the first generation of lucky girls who got to have full, required PE classes and sports programs from elementary school on thanks to Title IX. And I took full advantage of the opportunities, so I've never been afraid of the gym or the weightlifting room or playing sports.
The thing I hear a lot from older friends is that the gym is too intimidating, or they need to lose weight before they start exercising, or that people will look at them funny because a fat (or old, or out-of-shape, etc.) person is in the gym. But how else are you going to start the process if you don't get moving and using your body?
Outfitting For Your Workout
One of the biggest challenges is finding clothes to work out in because clothing manufacturers seem to think fat women don't exercise—and they're wrong! The Title Nine store is just as guilty of this as other clothiers—and they should know better! (Okay, sorry, small rant. It drives me a little nuts that the store that's supposed to embody all women participating in sports doesn't make anything over a size 14—a small 14 to boot. If this has changed, please let me know.)
Unfortunately, I don't have a good solution. When I was at my heaviest I got a lot of my t-shirts and sweats from Landsend or JMS. Now that I'm coming down in size I can shop at Lucy (they go up to about a size 18).
Pushups
Recently there has been a lot of press about push-ups and their use as a measure of your overall fitness level. (I know some of you have probably just had a bad flashback to the President's Fitness Test we all had to endure every year in junior high and high school.) There are some good, practical things that you can get out of being able to do full push-ups.
There's muscle memory. If you fall, you're instinct is to throw your arms out in front of you. Wouldn't it be nice if you were actually strong enough to stop the fall before your head hit the sidewalk?
And then the ability to get up off the sidewalk once you've broken your fall. The good news is you probably won't be bleeding from anywhere important because you managed to avoid a face plant.
Core strength. Guess what? You don't need to buy an ab coaster or some other ridiculous piece of equipment that eventually becomes a clothes rack. Being able to do 2 or 3 sets of good form push-ups will help tighten up your stomach and back muscles.
Getting started. Kristn started me out with planks, which are basically the "up" position of a full push-up. And she didn't wait until I'd lost weight either. She had me doing these by my 4th training session with her, when I weighed 240 pounds. I could barely hold myself up for 10 seconds at a time. And the planks stayed in the workout—only now it's 90 second holds (and I fear 120 second holds are in my near future). It took a few months before I could do the basic push-up with knees on the ground (instead of toes). Gradually, I added 2 or 3 full push-ups before I dropped to my knees to finish the set. It was really cool the day I did my first full set of 10 "real" push-ups.
You don't have to drop and do 20 on the first day. Start by just training your body to hold you up for 10 seconds at a time. Rest for 30 seconds to a minute. Do it again. Keep your back straight (don't let it sag) and stomach muscles tight. When you feel like you can, lower your body slowly to the floor at the end of your plank. That will start giving you the idea of what a push-up feels like.
Just a reminder that getting your nose to the floor by moving your neck is not a push-up. You need to keep your body in a straight line from your toes to the top of your head and lower your whole body as a unit.
Krista over at stumptuous has a really great step-by-step on how to get to a full push-up.
Goals. I found out a couple weeks ago that Condoleezza can allegedly do 40 push-ups at a time—that lit a fire under me. I tend to lean towards the liberal and it bothers me that this woman can do more push-ups than I can. (I'm not competitive. Nope. Or rational, apparently.) So the goal is to be able to pump out 41 push-ups without stopping by the end of the year. Halfway to goal so far.
The thing I hear a lot from older friends is that the gym is too intimidating, or they need to lose weight before they start exercising, or that people will look at them funny because a fat (or old, or out-of-shape, etc.) person is in the gym. But how else are you going to start the process if you don't get moving and using your body?
Outfitting For Your Workout
One of the biggest challenges is finding clothes to work out in because clothing manufacturers seem to think fat women don't exercise—and they're wrong! The Title Nine store is just as guilty of this as other clothiers—and they should know better! (Okay, sorry, small rant. It drives me a little nuts that the store that's supposed to embody all women participating in sports doesn't make anything over a size 14—a small 14 to boot. If this has changed, please let me know.)
Unfortunately, I don't have a good solution. When I was at my heaviest I got a lot of my t-shirts and sweats from Landsend or JMS. Now that I'm coming down in size I can shop at Lucy (they go up to about a size 18).
Pushups
Recently there has been a lot of press about push-ups and their use as a measure of your overall fitness level. (I know some of you have probably just had a bad flashback to the President's Fitness Test we all had to endure every year in junior high and high school.) There are some good, practical things that you can get out of being able to do full push-ups.
There's muscle memory. If you fall, you're instinct is to throw your arms out in front of you. Wouldn't it be nice if you were actually strong enough to stop the fall before your head hit the sidewalk?
And then the ability to get up off the sidewalk once you've broken your fall. The good news is you probably won't be bleeding from anywhere important because you managed to avoid a face plant.
Core strength. Guess what? You don't need to buy an ab coaster or some other ridiculous piece of equipment that eventually becomes a clothes rack. Being able to do 2 or 3 sets of good form push-ups will help tighten up your stomach and back muscles.
Getting started. Kristn started me out with planks, which are basically the "up" position of a full push-up. And she didn't wait until I'd lost weight either. She had me doing these by my 4th training session with her, when I weighed 240 pounds. I could barely hold myself up for 10 seconds at a time. And the planks stayed in the workout—only now it's 90 second holds (and I fear 120 second holds are in my near future). It took a few months before I could do the basic push-up with knees on the ground (instead of toes). Gradually, I added 2 or 3 full push-ups before I dropped to my knees to finish the set. It was really cool the day I did my first full set of 10 "real" push-ups.
You don't have to drop and do 20 on the first day. Start by just training your body to hold you up for 10 seconds at a time. Rest for 30 seconds to a minute. Do it again. Keep your back straight (don't let it sag) and stomach muscles tight. When you feel like you can, lower your body slowly to the floor at the end of your plank. That will start giving you the idea of what a push-up feels like.
Just a reminder that getting your nose to the floor by moving your neck is not a push-up. You need to keep your body in a straight line from your toes to the top of your head and lower your whole body as a unit.
Krista over at stumptuous has a really great step-by-step on how to get to a full push-up.
Goals. I found out a couple weeks ago that Condoleezza can allegedly do 40 push-ups at a time—that lit a fire under me. I tend to lean towards the liberal and it bothers me that this woman can do more push-ups than I can. (I'm not competitive. Nope. Or rational, apparently.) So the goal is to be able to pump out 41 push-ups without stopping by the end of the year. Halfway to goal so far.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Speaking of Quiche…Cholesterol
The sun finally came out, so I spent most of the day Sunday weeding my garden and looking for the plants that I'd actually planted. I did manage to find most of them. I discovered that being able to squat rather than crawling around in the dirt is a very useful (and fairly new) skill. I also discovered that six hours of squatting while weeding makes one very sore the next day. Especially when the next day is deadlift day at the gym.
Cholesterol
There was a bit of discussion about cholesterol, and how to treat it, in the comments of the last post. I thought I'd talk a little bit about it. Keep in mind that I'm not a physician and you need to decide for yourself what will work for your situation.
When you read the history of all the studies that have been done regarding heart disease, cholesterol, etc., it becomes obvious that a lot of the stuff that the medical profession and the USDA tell us is the “right” way to eat is based more on politics and who was the “popular” researcher at the time than on good science. It can really piss you off when you start thinking about it. Especially if you have a disease that can’t be controlled as a direct result of these accepted studies. Go read chapter one of Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes for a really thorough discussion about this.
Jenny over at Diabetes Update has some interesting things to say about this today. Cholesterol must be the hot topic this week. She talks about lowering your LDL and the affect, or lack of, that statins have on reducing clogged arteries. It's worth a read. Also, check out what she had to say a few posts ago about the link between statins and how they affect insulin sensitivity.
As I've mentioned, when I started all of this back in October, I had fairly high blood sugar readings and high cholesterol. Past doctors have been very pushy about having me take statins and I've always refused to take them. It just never felt like the right thing for me since I've always had an acceptable ratio of LDL to HDL.
And frankly, I don't put much stock in the whole "cholesterol bad" movement. I never really have. I tend to be a little suspicious of all these studies that come out and end up on the evening news as sensationalistic "preliminary findings." This is not where we should be getting our health advice.
That being said, fast forward to my most recent set of labs compared over the last 7 years:
Basically, what you're looking at is the relationship between exercise and cholesterol numbers from 2002 until the last test in November where my diet had radically changed. The two items that are flagged high are barely high.
Now here's the catch: The only thing I stopped eating between 2006 and 2007 were grains, processed foods and sugar. I still eat butter, I've switched to whole milk from 2%, I eat easily a dozen eggs a week, beef or pork almost every day for lunch and/or dinner—and my numbers are going down. I suspect that my next round of bloodwork will prove this out. (I'm as bad as the evening news with the preliminary findings!) Not only did my numbers go down, but so did my weight.
You can take what you want from this. It's strictly anecdotal. But the more I talk to others that have gone this route, and read studies, etc., the more I'm convinced that we need to go back to eating what we were designed to eat—meat, poultry, vegetables, nuts, fruits.
Cholesterol
There was a bit of discussion about cholesterol, and how to treat it, in the comments of the last post. I thought I'd talk a little bit about it. Keep in mind that I'm not a physician and you need to decide for yourself what will work for your situation.
When you read the history of all the studies that have been done regarding heart disease, cholesterol, etc., it becomes obvious that a lot of the stuff that the medical profession and the USDA tell us is the “right” way to eat is based more on politics and who was the “popular” researcher at the time than on good science. It can really piss you off when you start thinking about it. Especially if you have a disease that can’t be controlled as a direct result of these accepted studies. Go read chapter one of Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes for a really thorough discussion about this.
Jenny over at Diabetes Update has some interesting things to say about this today. Cholesterol must be the hot topic this week. She talks about lowering your LDL and the affect, or lack of, that statins have on reducing clogged arteries. It's worth a read. Also, check out what she had to say a few posts ago about the link between statins and how they affect insulin sensitivity.
As I've mentioned, when I started all of this back in October, I had fairly high blood sugar readings and high cholesterol. Past doctors have been very pushy about having me take statins and I've always refused to take them. It just never felt like the right thing for me since I've always had an acceptable ratio of LDL to HDL.
And frankly, I don't put much stock in the whole "cholesterol bad" movement. I never really have. I tend to be a little suspicious of all these studies that come out and end up on the evening news as sensationalistic "preliminary findings." This is not where we should be getting our health advice.
That being said, fast forward to my most recent set of labs compared over the last 7 years:
Basically, what you're looking at is the relationship between exercise and cholesterol numbers from 2002 until the last test in November where my diet had radically changed. The two items that are flagged high are barely high.
Now here's the catch: The only thing I stopped eating between 2006 and 2007 were grains, processed foods and sugar. I still eat butter, I've switched to whole milk from 2%, I eat easily a dozen eggs a week, beef or pork almost every day for lunch and/or dinner—and my numbers are going down. I suspect that my next round of bloodwork will prove this out. (I'm as bad as the evening news with the preliminary findings!) Not only did my numbers go down, but so did my weight.
You can take what you want from this. It's strictly anecdotal. But the more I talk to others that have gone this route, and read studies, etc., the more I'm convinced that we need to go back to eating what we were designed to eat—meat, poultry, vegetables, nuts, fruits.
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