I've got to diet for health!

My triglycerides were so high, they couldn't test my cholesterol
reliably.

I've had a cold for over a week and have been living on campbell's
"healthy request" chicken noodle soup for the good part of the week
(starting last Monday). It's low fat, low chol. low sugar, no msg etc.
That and decaf green tea.

I'm resigned to give up my sirloin bacon cheeseburgers and chicken and
all the high sat. fats and trans. fat (yep, willing to give up butter for
betecol).

I'm just going mad at what I can dish up instead.

My cold is just a head cold, with a full running nose and dry eyes.

I've had some solid food, basically a arnold's whole wheat and premium
tuna fish sandwich with miraclewhip-free each day.

I've hard boiled about 9 eggs and just eat the whites as snack protein,
but then I think about fiber.

Now I find baked beans have lots of fiber and near zero fat and no
cholesterol so that's fiber, except it's got high fructose sugars.

I've got high blood pressure under med control. Then I have to look at
the sodium in everything.

It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

I'm probably a little over-committing to turn on a dime so fast but I
need to save my heart.

I'm 6'5 and 250 pounds. I'm pretty sure most of that is fat even though I
look kinda/sorta trim for my height. It's that LDL clogging my veins that
bothers me most.

Haven't had any alcohol since Superbowl Sunday and just figure on cutting
that out altogether. Probably all for the best.

I'm a total couch potato. I don't feel unhealthy but by most statistics I
am.

Since I've had this cold, I've been way below my caloric intake and all
other food %RDA, but that's more by force than design. I've been taking a
daily multivitamin to keep those levels up and am drinking plenty of
water, but I can't shake this cold.

Surprisingly with all the fluids I've been drinking, I sometimes only pee
once a day. I guess that's the running nose and some dehydration? Other
than that no gastrointestinal problems.

My doctor is a jerk and wants to put me on cholesterol lowering drug like
lipitor but I can't afford it. That and no other nutritional guidance
other than quit drinking.

I'm almost resigned to eating melba toast and baked beans for awhile.

I'm not a veggie person, but I like avocados and bell peppers and pesto
on linguini and potatoes and tomatoes from time to time.

I don't do fast food, just lousy homecooked high fat/carb/chol. dishes.

I joined a gym last year but they just signed me up and let me loose. The
BUMS! Expecting me to pay to learn how to use the equipment
correctly?!?!?

I'll start walking after the winter's over.

I'm about willing to see a nutritionist doctor for help.

Oh, I did Atkins for a year and got down to 195 but my cholesterol just
got worse. I quit and I zoomed to 270 in the next year.

Well, that's a mouthful of a post, I'll agree, so... any advice?

Andy

Andy q wrote in message ...

It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't
have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

Vegetables, fish (especially fatty), lean meat and poultry, nuts and
seeds, fruit, whole grains, legumes, low or non-fat dairy.

Matthew

Just a couple of thoughts, as I need to go eat dinner:

1. Stop whining so much :-). And you're right, you don't need to
suddenly turn into a fanatic; just make gradual improvements.

2. There's no reason you can't walk in the winter.

3. There are some good web resources for learning how to use gym
equipment. Look at http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php (aimed at
women but equally good for men) and http://exrx.net/.

4. As an alternative to lipitor, consider high-dose niacin. It has
similar effects and is far cheaper. (One good source is
http://www.endur.com/index.cfm?fusea...yproduct&id=29.)
It can have similar side effects to lipitor, so you might want to get
a check-up after a few months. Do some googling to read about this.



Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:54:10 -0600, Andy q wrote:

My triglycerides were so high, they couldn't test my cholesterol
reliably.

I've had a cold for over a week and have been living on campbell's
"healthy request" chicken noodle soup for the good part of the week
(starting last Monday). It's low fat, low chol. low sugar, no msg etc.
That and decaf green tea.

I'm resigned to give up my sirloin bacon cheeseburgers and chicken and
all the high sat. fats and trans. fat (yep, willing to give up butter for
betecol).

I'm just going mad at what I can dish up instead.

My cold is just a head cold, with a full running nose and dry eyes.

I wouldn't worry about the head cold. Diet won't help or hurt, and
exercise should be put off until you're better.

In other words, it will either kill you or not, and either way - no
worries! grin

If it looks like something more than a cold, be sure to see your doc -
you might be right.

I've had some solid food, basically a arnold's whole wheat and premium
tuna fish sandwich with miraclewhip-free each day.

I've hard boiled about 9 eggs and just eat the whites as snack protein,
but then I think about fiber.

Unless you have constipation, don't worry about fiber. It doesn't
lower cholesterol or prevent heart attacks or cancer, at all.

Now I find baked beans have lots of fiber and near zero fat and no
cholesterol so that's fiber, except it's got high fructose sugars.

Beans are great since they're a legume - IOW, a veggie.
So no saturated (bad), fat in them.


I've got high blood pressure under med control. Then I have to look at
the sodium in everything.

Unfortunately, Campbell's soups have a LOT of sodium - check your
labels.

It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

I'm probably a little over-committing to turn on a dime so fast but I
need to save my heart.

You need to learn about healthy food choices. Seek out the healthy
recipes online, and some healthy (but simple), cookbooks, would be a
start.


I'm 6'5 and 250 pounds. I'm pretty sure most of that is fat even though I
look kinda/sorta trim for my height. It's that LDL clogging my veins that
bothers me most.

Haven't had any alcohol since Superbowl Sunday and just figure on cutting
that out altogether. Probably all for the best.

It's helpful to limit alcohol. It's just calories with no nutritional
benefit. A tad now and then won't make or break the diet program,
though.


I'm a total couch potato. I don't feel unhealthy but by most statistics I
am.

Since I've had this cold, I've been way below my caloric intake and all
other food %RDA, but that's more by force than design. I've been taking a
daily multivitamin to keep those levels up and am drinking plenty of
water, but I can't shake this cold.

Plenty of water and rest, should help you along. Eating healthy as you
can, won't hurt, either.


Surprisingly with all the fluids I've been drinking, I sometimes only pee
once a day. I guess that's the running nose and some dehydration? Other
than that no gastrointestinal problems.

That's why the doc's want you to drink lots of fluids. Water is best,
but some juices are great also.


My doctor is a jerk and wants to put me on cholesterol lowering drug like
lipitor but I can't afford it. That and no other nutritional guidance
other than quit drinking.

Doc's know drugs. They're not great with nutritional advice, and many
could use a good diet, themselves. Become your own food doctor. Learn
about healthy eating, and good recipes that support that.


I'm almost resigned to eating melba toast and baked beans for awhile.

OK, we won't walk downwind for a while? grin

I'm not a veggie person, but I like avocados and bell peppers and pesto
on linguini and potatoes and tomatoes from time to time.

You can be any kind of person, you set your mind to being. You adapt
and overcome. You're letting your mind feed you the "I can't do it,
I'm not that kind of an eater", storyline.

Cut the crap. You can do it, so get with it. Get a plan going, and
sure, maybe your plan will at times not be comfortable, and maybe
sometimes your plan will have to be changed - but it's a plan, and you
can make it a damn fine one, if you work at it.



I don't do fast food, just lousy homecooked high fat/carb/chol. dishes.

So put a little more effort into your cooking/food preparing. It's not
like you spend all day roller-blading and are too tired, now IS IT?

Your honesty is refreshing. Now ramp up your plan and your attitude.
It will take work - the right diet and exercise, for you, will not
just come up and knock on your door, for you.


I joined a gym last year but they just signed me up and let me loose. The
BUMS! Expecting me to pay to learn how to use the equipment
correctly?!?!?

Gym's are fine, but anything like a 30 minutes non-stop walking 4 or 5
days per week, is enough extra to help a lot with weightloss.


I'll start walking after the winter's over.

There you go!

I'm about willing to see a nutritionist doctor for help.

Good! Get lots of easy, healthy recipes, also. Should be a TON of
stuff on-line, as well.


Oh, I did Atkins for a year and got down to 195 but my cholesterol just
got worse. I quit and I zoomed to 270 in the next year.

Well, that's a mouthful of a post, I'll agree, so... any advice?

Andy

Atkins is not OK for everyone. Throwing the body into ketosis with
very limited carb, is fine for some, but proved dangerous for others.

Don't fret the past - you're here, and know what you need.

Ditch the Wuss attitude ASAP, and get set for a POSITIVE change to
your eating, your percent bodyfat, and regular (preferably aerobic)
exercise. Some strength training is good as well, but aerobic's
advantage is it needs no special gym membership, and get's the heart
rate up, and keeps it up.

If you want more variety, (and who doesn't now and then), remember:
there is NO law against doing push-up's, crunches, leg-lifts, or curls
with a desk chair, even.

Don't play the blame game with insert bad something here. Take
charge of your own healthy lifestyle and MAKE it work! If one thing
doesn't work, just ricochet off that and try something else. Don't
look back - move FORWARD!

Best wishes,

Adak

"Matthew Venhaus" wrote in message
...

Andy q wrote in message ...

It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't
have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

Vegetables, fish (especially fatty), lean meat and poultry, nuts and
seeds, fruit, whole grains, legumes, low or non-fat dairy.


A woman in my WW group lost 10 lbs over the course of 1 year. She was not
really heavy to begin with and wants to lose only 5-8 more lbs. She said
that the biggest change in the course of the year was her blood chemistry
which had gone from dangerously high cholesterol and trigs to a healthy
range. The *only* change she made was in her diet, switching to what you
described above and stopping the fatty meats and dairy that are staples of
her family's diet.

So while some of those numbers are heavily influenced by genetics (I know
mine are), diet most certainly CAN have an influence on them.

My personal experience has always been "normal" cholesterol and high trigs
until my weight loss. Now with my whole grain/healthy fats lifestyle my
trigs are great and my blood chemistry is enviable according to my
physicians.

Nunya B. wrote:
"Matthew Venhaus" wrote in message
...
Andy q wrote in message ...
It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't
have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

Vegetables, fish (especially fatty), lean meat and poultry, nuts and
seeds, fruit, whole grains, legumes, low or non-fat dairy.


A woman in my WW group lost 10 lbs over the course of 1 year. She was not
really heavy to begin with and wants to lose only 5-8 more lbs. She said
that the biggest change in the course of the year was her blood chemistry
which had gone from dangerously high cholesterol and trigs to a healthy
range. The *only* change she made was in her diet, switching to what you
described above and stopping the fatty meats and dairy that are staples of
her family's diet.

So while some of those numbers are heavily influenced by genetics (I know
mine are), diet most certainly CAN have an influence on them.


I think some genetic correlations are misleading. What if a family
typically eats the same foods or shares the same family recipes.
Wouldn't that give them similar cholesterol and trig levels? Is that
solely genetics? They sure would look like genetic tendencies in a study.
--

Cheese

http://cheesensweets.com/contact/cheese

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 09:03:41 -0500, Cheese
wrote:

Nunya B. wrote:
"Matthew Venhaus" wrote in message
...
Andy q wrote in message ...
It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't
have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

Vegetables, fish (especially fatty), lean meat and poultry, nuts and
seeds, fruit, whole grains, legumes, low or non-fat dairy.


A woman in my WW group lost 10 lbs over the course of 1 year. She was not
really heavy to begin with and wants to lose only 5-8 more lbs. She said
that the biggest change in the course of the year was her blood chemistry
which had gone from dangerously high cholesterol and trigs to a healthy
range. The *only* change she made was in her diet, switching to what you
described above and stopping the fatty meats and dairy that are staples of
her family's diet.

So while some of those numbers are heavily influenced by genetics (I know
mine are), diet most certainly CAN have an influence on them.


I think some genetic correlations are misleading. What if a family
typically eats the same foods or shares the same family recipes.
Wouldn't that give them similar cholesterol and trig levels? Is that
solely genetics? They sure would look like genetic tendencies in a study.

I don't know. My mother and brother have very similar profiles --
high good & bad cholesterol and relatively high triglycerides. And
they haven't eaten the same food for many years; he's 56 and she's 90,
and they haven't lived in the same house since my brother went away to
college 38 years ago, and my brother does not prepare his own meals so
isn't using any family recipes. (His wife is an awesome cook!) My
brother is overweight and my mom is underweight, so it's not just
related to that either. (My numbers are lower than theirs, though
they weren't when I was heavy.)

Chris
262/130s/130s
started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004

"Cheese" wrote in message
...
Nunya B. wrote:
"Matthew Venhaus" wrote in message
...
Andy q wrote in message ...
It's like I have to open a 5-numbered combination safe that I don't
have
the combination to, to diet correctly.

Vegetables, fish (especially fatty), lean meat and poultry, nuts and
seeds, fruit, whole grains, legumes, low or non-fat dairy.


A woman in my WW group lost 10 lbs over the course of 1 year. She was
not really heavy to begin with and wants to lose only 5-8 more lbs. She
said that the biggest change in the course of the year was her blood
chemistry which had gone from dangerously high cholesterol and trigs to a
healthy range. The *only* change she made was in her diet, switching to
what you described above and stopping the fatty meats and dairy that are
staples of her family's diet.

So while some of those numbers are heavily influenced by genetics (I know
mine are), diet most certainly CAN have an influence on them.


I think some genetic correlations are misleading. What if a family
typically eats the same foods or shares the same family recipes. Wouldn't
that give them similar cholesterol and trig levels? Is that solely
genetics? They sure would look like genetic tendencies in a study.

Possibly. I'm not the biggest fan of studies since every few years we're
told that what was ok before isn't anymore and then they'll change their
minds again. Plus a lot of it is funded by sources with something specific
to prove to further their agendas.

That said, I've always had "normal" cholesterol (170's-180's) as does my
father, yet both of us were morbidly obese (him as an adult, me all my life)
and ate plenty of fatty food. When I changed my WOE though, the cholesterol
went down to it's present level (130-150). I know in my case it has to do
with liver function. Fatty foods can really wreak havoc on the liver.

I know my father's cholesterol kept going up and he has had some blockage
that had to be dealt with surgically and medically. My 42 year old cousin
on that side of the family just got his first stent and his mom already has
two. My uncle on that side of the family just had one put in at age 70.
With that kind of history plus PCOS, I'm not going to screw around with the
"new" studies or some poster's claims that cholesterol is irrelevant. I'm
very healthy right now (overall, not including athletic injury and reactive
airway disease) and plan to stay that way. I'm sticking to what my Mayo
Clinic cardiologist recommended to keep the odds in my favor.

Ironically, because of this history and the PCOS, a doctor at Mayo Clinic
would like me to participate in a study. If I choose to participate, I'll
be getting all kinds of pretty cool tests and will have to fill out daily
food and activity logs. I'm only hesitant because I may be asked to change
something I'm doing for the purposes of the study and I don't know that I'm
willing to do that.
--
the volleyballchick

Cheese wrote in
:

I think some genetic correlations are misleading. What if a family
typically eats the same foods or shares the same family recipes.
Wouldn't that give them similar cholesterol and trig levels? Is that
solely genetics? They sure would look like genetic tendencies in a
study.


I remember Mom couldn't cook anything when Mom and Pop first got married.
My Pop bought her a two volume set of Gourmet Magazine from 1957-1959.
Mom actually became a gourmet cook.

I on the other hand had an eye operation at age 2, after which Mom and
Pop both claimed I stopped eating everything. The only thing I ate was
bread and butter, spaghetti in butter, plain hamburgers and chicken. Mom
took me to the doctor and the doc said he's getting all the right
proteins, etc., leave him alone. I'm the tallest in generations.

In the meantime, Pop, eating Mom's gourmet cooking started having heart
attacks. Next thing he's on weight watchers and I'm still eating bread
and butter and plain hamburgers.

I didn't eat cheese, eggs (except in pancakes), until I was eighteen and
on my own. A friend in the apartment invited me up to have dinner with
him and his gf. I accepted. They served spaghetti with marinara sauce and
parmesan cheese. I was put off but I couldn't insult them after accepting
the invite. I twirled a forkful and ate it and after swallowing it, a
little bell rang in my head that "I remember liking this flavor". I ate
the rest of the dinner with great gusto.

They invited me up for breakfast and they had homemade bagels already
spread with cream cheese. Again I forced myself and again, "I remember
liking this flavor" and from that point forward, there wasn't a food you
could put in front of me that I wouldn't try and LOVE, except lima beans
and mushrooms. Had my first cheeseburger soon after, with ketchup and it
was heaven. So I started late eating everything, spending 30 years making
up for lost time.

Now I'm not too overweight. If I get down to 210 that'd be fine, I still
have that wardrobe. I just need to pay more attention to cleaning my
arteries of LDL and I can do a mean cobb salad, just rewire the hell out
of it. No bacon, no egg yolk, fat-free cheese. Avocado is good fat so I
can get all my fat calories from that, up to 80 grams a day (not that I'm
going to eat cobb salad everyday).

Pop was raised with chicken cracklings as a kid during the depression
where nothing went to waste. That may be the generic part of my
cholesterol issue. I remember the doc tried to get me on blood pressure
pills when I was 18. I smoked then too. I declined when he said I'd have
to take them forever. Fast-forward 25 years and I went on blood pressure
meds (one-a-day for life) and it's normal.

So I'll take a look at the USDA nutrition database about the suggestions
offered by you folks. That sounds right in a resigned-whiny-kinda/sorta
way.

I have a great produce market just 10 minutes away. I'll have to go shop
there.

OH... the 2 volume Gourmet magazine cookbook volumes I inherited are
officially closed!

Thanks for letting me bend your ears again.

All the best,

Andy

"Matthew Venhaus" wrote in message
...

Chris Braun wrote in message
...

4. As an alternative to lipitor, consider high-dose niacin. It has
similar effects and is far cheaper. (One good source is

http://www.endur.com/index.cfm?fusea...ayproduct&id=2
9.)
It can have similar side effects to lipitor, so you might want to
get
a check-up after a few months. Do some googling to read about this.

IIRC this is contraindicated in those with hypertension, so it would
be best to check with a doctor before beginning this treatment.


High dose niacin also requires monitoring of liver function.
--
the volleyballchick