Encouragement needed please!

Naybelline

Oatmeal !!

Have they talked to you about lipitor or anything like that yet?

Did they give you a time frame to get it under control with diet and exercise?

They've told me nothing !! just that my test was quite high and to just cut out fats... I was so in shock though I just walked out LOL. not very good with bad news

Naybelline

I've recently been diagnosed with high cholesterol. at 33 years old I never thought I'd have to be dealing with this, but I am! anyone else know much about it? any good recipes you could share. I've got to totally re-train my eating habits Gahhhhh!!

What was your diet like before?

The reason I ask, is that if we have more information about your eating habits then we can help you make adjustments. Which is probably the best thing you can do, as you will be more likely to stick to small changes rather than wiping the slate clean & starting from a blank page.

My diet was really poor, I'm going to be honest, I ate crap. I have been eating properly for the past week. I've cut every thing out totally. It's given me a real kick up the back side

Naybelline

Hi! Welcome to mfp! I am not sure of proper foods to eat for this. I know when I had bloodwork done this past summer, mine was high also. I think just eating lean protein, veggies and fruit should help lower it. Stay away from deep fried food, and high calorie food and you will see a change in your cholesterol and weight!

Hey, thank you!! Yes I've made a start already, it's quite interesting to see what has all the awful fats in it. this site does help loads

Naybelline

Hi, I have never posted on this before (or any other forum for that matter) but didn't want you to go without help!

Foods that are good to eat are high fibre foods, especially Oatmeal and Oatbran, so starting off the day with a bowl of high fibre oat cereal would be a very good place to start.
Although cholesterol is formed with fat you shouldn't avoid all fat as some are good at lowering cholesterol levels. Basically there are 2 types of cholesterol, LDL (the bad kind) and HDL (the good kind). So you need to lower the LDL levels you intake which come from saturated fats (meat sources) and transfatty acids which are often found in ready made meals and snacks. The goods fats are found in things like oily fish and nuts and seeds.
So Salmon with brown rice and lots of veg would be an example of a healthy dinner, and maybe a salad with lean chicken (grilled) and seeds sprinkled on top with an olive oil dressing for lunch.
It is also thought that exercise can help increase your HDL levels so increasing exercise is obviously a good thing.

I hope this helps you, and please post on this in the future to let me know how you get on!

I've been eating a lot of Tuna with salad and taking Omega oil vitamins, I'm not really too keen on fish, but I love Tuna! and I do like cooking with Olive oil.. so will give that a go with the lean chicken also! Thanks for your reply.

Naybelline

I'm also 33 with high cholesterol (since my early 20's). My dr has me on 1000 mg of fish oil twice a day, which I hate. I'm hoping to drop 30-40lbs, which ought to help. Feel free to friend me, if you'd like.

For breakfast, I mix 1/2 cup steel cut oats with a 6 oz container of lite yogurt and let it sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning I add 1/8 cup dried fruit. It's not an egg mcmuffin, but it's not bad, and the oatmeal is supposed to be helpful. I also added 14 almonds (about 85 cals) to my lunch, since that's supposed to help, too.

Losing weight and exercising will help--- but since you're on MFP, I bet you knew that. Best of luck!

ahhhhhh egg mcmuffin !!! LOL yum yum, yes shall miss those a lot! I'm taking the omega fish oils too, it's in a capsule though.
Hmm almonds, never tried those might jazz things up a bit ! thanks

Naybelline

All the previous posts are awesome. and I'd just like to add-- monitor how much cholestrol you're actually intaking. MFP sets your daily limit as 300mg...there's over 400mg in 2 eggs alone. So, just be aware of where it's coming from and work on lowering it from there.

Also, as an aside...don't get offended if people don't respond to your posts right away. They get moved down as newer posts appear; it's nothing intentional! The forums are filled with great information and people do honestly want to help, they just may not see what you've written. Dramatic comments like your follow-up of "guess I'm not going to use the forums anymore" don't make people more likely to comment and try to help...

Good luck with your journey and lowering your cholesterol. It's hard to do, but I know you can do it!

I've cut eggs out all together as some one told me they where bad, who knew?? you'd think they would be good for you!
It's very daunting coming on to new forums where no one knows you and to pluck up the courage to say hi is massive for me having confidence issues! but thanks for your reply.

jrditt

Diet is important with cholesterol but so is exercise! I can't even tell you how many patients I have seen that had a noticeable difference in their cholesterol just by adding some daily exercise. So do both!

Naybelline

I have had familial high cholesterol since I was about 105 lbs. Even eating nothing but raw vegetables and pasta it was around 230. My husband always cooks with olive oil which has actually lowered my cholesterol. I think last year it was around 220. (I was 60 pounds heavier too) My grandpa was on all the pills and they didn't work but he had a juice glass of red wine every evening before dinner. That lowered his around 20-30 points. Oatmeal, cheerios and whole grain oats are also good things to eat. Cardio exercises are a must too! Good luck!

thanks for your reply. Cheerios I'm loving, they're great! Are you from the US? I say that going by your cholesterol numbers, ours here in the UK work the opposite end, mine was 7.7

Naybelline

Hello!
A very good friend of mine had a cholesterol problem and now she doesn't! She lost some weight and started to swim several times a week. You can do it!
My favorite recepie is :

one package of Zataran's yellow rice. One red pepper seeded and cut into strips, chicken breast cut in strips. olive oil

Start to cook rice according to package instructions . Use a pot that will be large enough to hold the rice and chicken and peppers
Place olive oil and peppers in pan, cook on medium until soft.
Add chicken strips, saute until cooked
Place entire contents of pan into rice pot and combine. serve with a salad and low fat fressing.


Good luck!

Wow thanks, sounds very yummy! will try that thank you!

Naybelline

If you can afford it or it's covered by your insurance carrier, I would recommend seeing a registered dietitian. Most will have a master's degree in nutrition or food science and they can help you understand the role food can play in lowering and improving your cholesterol.

Beyond that, some other basic advice I (not a registered dietitian) can offer is monitoring your saturated fat intake, cutting back on red meat, increasing your intake of fish, making small switches like olive oil instead of butter, and cooking from whole (unprocessed) foods.

Lastly, most people will say that you need to cut your fat macro-nutrient intake drastically. While that does need to happen for anyone with high cholesterol, only a registered dietitian can explain to you the best ways to do so. Fat is actually a normal part of a healthy diet -- it help provides energy for the body. Talk to an RD about fat-free foods and see what he/she says about them. I've found that many processed, fat-free foods do have less fat, but they may have more sodium or sugar to adjust for the taste difference removing the fat creates.

Good luck with your condition. We really are all rooting for you.

Thank you for your reply! I will definitely make an appointment with the dietician, wont be till after christmas now though. I've swapped my butter to Benecol. It has plant stanol in it, apparently proven to lower cholesterol, so hopefully I'll see some changes that way too

Naybelline

Brown rice instead of white, cheerios or oatmeal in the morning, wheat pasta, Omega 3 fish oil, just to name a few things Check out www.QuickandHealthy.net. They have quick and healthy recipies and ideas and great tips for reducing fat, cholesterol and sodium. Were all in this thing together. Hang in there, take your health serious, take some time out for you and everything will be ok. You've got support takers on here and support givers. Good luck and many blessings on your journey. ;o)

I don't really care for brown rice, I don't know why, it just tastes strange! I guess that's the pickyness in me oops! I don't mind the pasta change though. Thank you for your reply. will check out the website

vim_n_vigor

I see you have kids. Your cholesterol goes up for about a year after pregnancy and nursing. I don't know how old your children are to know if that could be a factor for you. I see on your profile too that you have medical conditions. Is it possible that medication you are taking for those has a side effect of raising cholesterol?

Naybelline

Oatmeal, Cherrios. A good fish oil supplement, or actual fish in your diet and excercie worked for me. Got my total chol down from 200 to 161 in two months.

That's fantastic, well done !!

Naybelline

I see you have kids. Your cholesterol goes up for about a year after pregnancy and nursing. I don't know how old your children are to know if that could be a factor for you. I see on your profile too that you have medical conditions. Is it possible that medication you are taking for those has a side effect of raising cholesterol?

13 years and 9 years old. I don't take any medication for them, I refuse. I know it's my lifestyle I need to change, I ate lots of fatty foods and I am over weight. I've said for years I wanted to lose it, but never had the will power LOL.... but I got the kick I need now!

Naybelline

Diet is important with cholesterol but so is exercise! I can't even tell you how many patients I have seen that had a noticeable difference in their cholesterol just by adding some daily exercise. So do both!

I can only do so much. I have M.E and Fibromyalgia...I do try though.

daterminedfatburnerX

eat ALOT OF GARLIC you will have it down in no time

Naybelline

eat ALOT OF GARLIC you will have it down in no time

I will thank you !!

dmpizza

Its always good to avoid bad cholesterol, but 33 is young. Have yourself tested again and work out regularly, that helps control it for many people.

MrsCon40

If you don't get your cholesterol under control you could have a heart attack or worse (in my opinion) a stroke.

It's almost always correctable with diet and exercise. If that's not enough motivation to change your eating habits I don't know what we can say that will.

cruiseking

My triglycerides have always been high, and my cholesterol ratio has always been a bit high. I have moved up and down the scale a few times in the range of 60lbs.. When I am thinner, my numbers on cholesterol, and triglycerides improved dramtically. As a point of interest, they were the best when I was doing the Atkins Diet. Who would have thought? Now I have changed to a realistic, sustainable diet, and the numbers are almost where they should be. I attribute the good reports to diet (tons of fruits, veggies, and limited lean protein), and cardio exercise. As my Doctor has warned, the older you get the more important those numbers become. If it cost you "out of pocket" to get re-checked (and you live in the U.S.) you can go to healthcheckusa.com for low cost (like dirt cheap) testing. Make some positive changes in diet and exercise (and weight), and retest again in six months to make sure you are on the right trajectory. Good Luck, and Welcome.