Last week, as you may recall, I was very upset when my blood work came back and my cholesterol was up 41 points from last year. So today I went back to the doc after recording what I ate for a week to try and figure out why my cholesterol was so high.
Good news is that my doctor couldn’t believe how well I ate. She asked me if it was really true and laughed when I recorded the 5 french fries I had on Friday night. Hey- I was suppose to record it all, right? She said she wasn’t worried because of how much I exercised and wasn’t going to re-do the test, instead we would see where I was next year.
I don’t really like doctors. I mean…they never really listen and this appointment took all of 10 minutes. Not that I needed it to last that long (I am swamped at work), but I always feel like she is rushing out. She also does “smart lipo” and I think that side of her business is taking up too much time. I just wish she would have taken a bit longer to look at what I was eating. She pointed out that I should watch my carrot intake because they contain high amounts of sugar and sent me on my way.
The sugar thing got me thinking…could sugar make my blood pressure go up? After a quick google search I found out that, yes, refined sugar can lower your HDL count and raise your LDL count. Hmmm…maybe all those bites of cookies and licks of frosting have something to do with this?
I did quit drinking coffee because I would add equal to it and then also add vanilla coffee-mate. Not just a bit…a LOT of vanilla coffee-mate!! I probably kicked this habit just before I took my blood test. Now, I don’t eat a ton of sugary stuff, but I would say I eat something sweet at least once a day. It was sooo hard to do the no sugar week and I couldn’t even do that. Maybe I just need to watch myself a bit more?
All of this cholesterol talk got me really wondering where I stand on the “normal” scale. Here is the scale the American Heart Association has for LDL levels: Yikes! I am borderline high.
Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal 100 to 129 mg/dL Near Optimal/ Above Optimal 130 to 159 mg/dL Borderline High 160 to 189 mg/dL High 190 mg/dL and above Very High
My LDL’s are at 145 I am on the borderline and it doesn’t seem as fun as when Madonna sings about it. So what about my HDL? My HDL is at 66.
According to the AHA, “With HDL (good) cholesterol, higher levels are better. Low HDL cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL for men, less than 50 mg/dL for women) puts you at higher risk for heart disease. In the average man, HDL cholesterol levels range from 40 to 50 mg/dL. In the average woman, they range from 50 to 60 mg/dL. An HDL cholesterol of 60 mg/dL or higher gives some protection against heart disease”.
I am at the average HDL levels for a woman. The doc did tell me to start adding more healthy fats like guacamole and to take a fish oil supplement to help raise the HDL’s. I am going to try and cut out processed sugars as much as possible. This means no more bites of cookies or tastes of frosting. If you take a lot of little bites, it just adds up to a big bite…or more!
So, how am I going to do this? I need a plan! If I have a sugar craving I should be eating natural sugars like a peach or apple. I will be making exceptions for special occasions and I am not going to outlaw dark chocolate. I am going to start reading labels of anything extra I add to my food, like salad dressings and ketchup, in order to cut down on them as well. This is going to be my little experiment and then I’ll see where I am next year.
Don’t worry, I’m not gonna go dyin’ on anyone. A less than 200mg cholesterol level is desirable and 200-239 is borderline/high risk. I am on the low scale of the borderline (I’m at 211), so hopefully just a couple little tweaks will get me all desirable again.
Since my last blood work test I did try going vegan and I found that when I did so I was never full and craved more sugar and bread. I am still not eating that much meat or dairy, so maybe I need to up this just a bit as well and that will help quell the sugar cravings. Just something to think about…
If anyone has any tips that they use to beat the sugar cravings, let me know! I am also going to look into the sugar busters diet…has anyone ever done this?
Well, it’s time to get some good fat up into my tummy…avocado enchilada’s here I come!!
No comments:
Post a Comment