BOOT CAMP CHARLIE ***FALL*** EDITION - Page 6

warriorscholar · 10-17-2007, 10:19 PM

Hey guys,

I am not going to cook up the pizza fries in the freezer. I have a friend who works at a take and bake style pizza place. He gets to bring home the mistakes. And he is always giving them away. Since the other guys who live here aren't low carbing, a few free pizzas are always ending up in the freezer. I stared at that damn thing for a good 30 seconds while the angel and the demon on my shoulders duked it out. It was a near thing, but the angel won.

Cheers,

todunlop · 10-17-2007, 11:33 PM

Adam, good to here the angel won. Keep some legal snacks handy and ready to grab. When you get that urge grab a snack instead. I buy these little smoked meat sticks by the bag. Kinda look like a slim jim but not a greasey. Taste way better too. Keep it up.

grpsurfer · 10-18-2007, 04:35 AM

Back down a pound and a mere pound away from a new VFZ. Took a walk yesterday and might go to the gym tonight. Eating yesterday was good - right around 2K calories and 25 carbs.

Doug - good to see you on the mend. My shoulder is throbbing today. Its days like today that make me want to go out and get this surgery done pronto

Marvin · 10-18-2007, 06:57 AM

Hey guys, glad to see y'all.

The treadmill & weights did not get set up last night (PT confs at school) but hope to tonight. Didn't get any more exercise in as my foot was killing me from the 60 minutes on Tues night and 35 mins on Wed morning. I have plantar fascitis (sp?) and have tried everything short of surgery. Have decided to just pump the ibuprofen/tylenol and live with it as it seems to come and go. It seems to be better the higher and more steady my activity level is, so in a matter of time I should be back there.

Hope everyone has a good day!

Colo Alex · 10-18-2007, 08:10 AM

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the words. The fact that it is still a struggle is frustrating. I guess it will always be tough. Oh well, I can do it.

Better today. Just need to stay on plan for a couple of days and then it will get easy again.

Adam – Way to go with the pizza. Someone in our office brought pizza for everyone yesterday and I left and took a hike so I wouldn’t be tempted. It can be tough.

Grp – You are on a roll now. Great job.

Doug - Sorry about the pain. Hope it gets better soon. One finger typing?? Which finger are you using???!!!

Marvin – Watch that foot pain. Nothing like pain to discourage you from exercising. Take it slow and steady. Glad you are exercising!! Great job.

Ed – Good suggestion on the meat sticks. I like to have one of those on occasion as well. Its good to be prepared for tough situations.

Harley – I’ve always wanted to try pheasant. Let us know how your trip turns out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mack

[ Since we are confessing - I am really a 310 pound woman named Slimmer !]

Mack – You kill me! Hey, I caught that comment on the 2-pound loss. Great job!

Ken – Thanks.

Randy – Give us a little more info (Readers Digest version) about Gary Taubes.

Chris – Keep fighting. Maintaining is OK, just frustrating.

Well guys, I’ll keep hiking and I will stay on plan today!!!

Randy · 10-18-2007, 08:23 AM

Taubes is a science journalist. In 2002 he wrote this article in The New York Times Magazine that caused a firestorm. His attention to detail and research, along with his cool demeanor, have made him a tough target for low-fat proponents.

His new book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories," challenges the questionable science and dogma that gave us the "fat is bad" diatribe that has been pushed down our throats for 30+ years.

If you google his name or the name of his book, you'll find plenty of reviews and interviews about it. But here's an interview from 2004 that's also very good.

2000harley · 10-18-2007, 09:34 AM

Hey Guys, Harley Checking in.

I'm really getting the itch to get out of here and get to the hunting trip. I am attaching photos from the last couple of years. (I'm the one on the right in both pictures)

Eats are going well. Yesterday was my wife's birthday and she wanted pizza from a joint were we used to live. I picked one up and brought it home. I only ate the toppings off (she said it was wasteful, but I stayed the course). I also bought her a small cake, but only she and my son ate it. I stayed away.

Keep Working Hard Gents.

Harley Out

2000harley · 10-18-2007, 09:43 AM

Harley Again.
After posting the pictures, I realized that you may not be able to see the birds real easily, so here is a little better one from a couple years ago with better lighting. (I'm on the left this time)

By the way, phesant tastes WONDERFUL...it's one of the best tasting game birds.

Harley Out (again)

Doug_H · 10-18-2007, 10:45 AM

Harley, good hunting. I love phesant but haven't had it in years since moving to the west coast.

Alex, one finger typing, my fore finger on my right hand. Left handed that I am I can't even lift that hand near the keyboard yet.

Keep going guys, I think it will always be a struggle at times.

Doug

todunlop · 10-18-2007, 02:45 PM

Afternoon Guys,

Staying on plan and off the scale. Making some LC beef stew for dinner. Going to try a few turnips as a potatoe sub..

Doug do you have the pain pump? Kinda looks like a big syringe. Thats what they hooked me up to and I thought it wasn't working until they took it out. Man thank god for pain killers.

Marvin have you tried the duct tape method on them warts yet? Worked for me a few years back. Just cover them up with some good ole grey duct tape and after a week or so it kills them.

Harely good luck in the hunt. Pheasant is rather tasty wish I had a few.

Alex good to hear you didn't fall off the wagon to far and only got a scrape.

Doug_H · 10-18-2007, 03:47 PM

Ed, never had the pump or drain. I'm off the pain pills now just taking ibuprofein.

Tip: Try rutabegas (SP) instead of turnips, they stay more solid and don't get mushie like turnips can. We even use them with pot roast and soups now.

Doug

shiNer45 · 10-18-2007, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colo Alex

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the words. The fact that it is still a struggle is frustrating. I guess it will always be tough. Oh well, I can do it.

Alex think about one thing, remember a time before when you would have lost that struggle or how much easier that struggle is now. I think thats what counts, when you get to goal, the struggles will be there on an everyday basis, because you are not losing weight , but the tools you have obviously learned over the last year are more than half the battle.

Sometimes i think it is easier to be in the losing weight phase, there are clear cut rules, anyways, I think that transition will be an easy one for you.

Slow and steady always wins the race

Anyhow as for me , finished the 2 day training seminar, i did not eat great, actually ate a little crappy, but im going to get back on the horse tomorrow.

Leaving my Mom's in an hour or so, and funny enough we did NOT have ice cream, M&M's etc etc like usual . Seems she wants to lose some weight as well.

Doug, sorry i didnt say earlier, but hope you are feeling well, take it easy and mend up properly.

The rest of you , good job on keeping it up, lets keep it positive in here!

See you tomorrow

grpsurfer · 10-19-2007, 04:58 AM

Friday at last. No changes on the scale today. Still about a pound from my personal best. I am hoping to post some kind of loss this week. I cant believe what a struggle it has been lately from a weight perspective. I'm sticking to the diet and getting regular exercise. Not sure I want to change anything around but I have been hanging around this same weight for weeks.

Big party to go to tonight, but my head is right and I should have no problems.

Harley - good pics, thanks for sharing.

Have a great weekend everyone

epix · 10-19-2007, 07:36 AM

Haven't posted in a few days but things are going good. No cheats at all. Nothing really planned for this weekend so probably just hang out w/ friends and finish some school work.

warriorscholar · 10-19-2007, 08:06 AM

Hey Guys,

Much to my surprise and elation, I'm still towing the line.

Randy - that was a really good article. I think I'm going to check my library to see if the have this guys books.

Harley - Those pheasants look awesome.

Alex - Glad to see you jumped back on so quickly. I know from personal experience that if you don't jump right back on the wagon, you have to wait a really long time for it to roll back around.

Ed - could you post the recipe for the LC beef stew. Its defiantly stew weather here in Wisconsin.

Cheers,

Colo Alex · 10-19-2007, 08:14 AM

Hey Guys,

I got my blood test results back last night and I’m a little perplexed as to what to do now.
My cholesterol is: 217
LDL: 165
HDL: 41
Triglycerides: 56

The suggestions to help lower my cholesterol is the standard:
No more than 4 eggs a week. (I usually eat 2 to 3 a day.)
5 servings of fruit & veggies a day. (I do that now)
Exercise. (I hike for 1 hour 5 days a week and longer on most Saturdays.)
Eat oatmeal and whole grains. (I generally do not eat grains)
Cut back on butter, mayonnaise and other foods that are high in cholesterol. (I eat a lot of them now)
Eat Beef no more than once a week and eat fish at least twice a week. (I pretty much do that now)

So the big dilemma is, I lost weight and have become healthier eating the way I do, but it has caused my cholesterol to go up. So, do I change how I eat and risk weight gain or do I stay the course and leave my cholesterol elevated.

At this point I think I will not panic and just try to lower my intake of cholesterol by lowering my egg intake some, and reducing the butter and mayonnaise I eat and introduce some whole grains on an occasion.

What do you guys think? I have to admit that I really don’t know much about cholesterol and what is considered high, so I will start to do some research on it and see what I can learn.

Hope all is well with you guys. Have a great weekend.

Not quite so Big D · 10-19-2007, 08:18 AM

Good morning men.

Still going good for me. My weight is down to 206 this morning, so I'm pretty happy about that. It's not coming off near as fast as it went on, but I'm making progress.

My back seems to have recovered sufficiently that I'll be able to avoid surgery for now. I still have a disc that's out of place, but it's no longer causing pain. Doc says I need to do two things to fix my back: lose the gut and strengthen my core muscles. The journey goes on...

Alex, I hear you about struggling. I'm in my fourth year of low-carbing, and have had a pretty easy time with it until this past year. The only cheats I had were planned cheats. I never gave in to temptation, and I lost the weight and kept it off pretty easily. This year, though, I've fallen off the wagon over and over and can't seem to stop it. On the bright side, I'm happy that I'm struggling to stay under 200 rather than 250 or 260.

Not quite so Big D · 10-19-2007, 08:32 AM

As a fellow high cholesterol sufferer, I have tried a lot of different approaches. Some OTC things that have worked for me: Flax seed oil, fish oil, and cholest-off. Be sure to spend the extra few bucks and get the enteric coated fish oil (unless you enjoy random tuna tasting burps). That approach helped me drop about 50 points on my total cholesterol. I also found that more higher intensity exercise really upped my HDL.

Changes in my diet (ie. cutting back the eggs and saturated fat) did nothing for me.

Doug_H · 10-19-2007, 10:03 AM

Alex, what were your lipids from the time previous? That would give you something to compare to. You may have already made a substantual drop. With the numbers you have I wouldn't sweat it, just keep doing what you are doing and do another test in six months. Oh by the way it has been proven that eggs do nor raise your levels. It is bogus that what you eat raises your levels.

Find and read the "great cholesterol myth"

Doug

Colo Alex · 10-19-2007, 10:06 AM

Doug - Last time I had a physical was 5+ years ago before surgery and I don't know if they even tested it then. I have a call in to the doc to find out.

Doug_H · 10-19-2007, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colo Alex

Doug - Last time I had a physical was 5+ years ago before surgery and I don't know if they even tested it then. I have a call in to the doc to find out.

Again I would not make any changes at this time and get another test in six months to compare.

Doug

Marvin · 10-19-2007, 10:43 AM

I would agree with Doug H. My father never had a cholesterol above 170 but he's still had two heart attacks from blockage. In his case, I think that high blood pressure and stress was a greater factor.

Also, go read Dr. Atkins (DANDR, 2002)...he talks a lot about cholesterol and how it's improved by LC eating. Without a baseline (before) you can't know whether or not your diet has hindered or helped your readings.

My Mother-in-law had cholesterol readings 300 or above for 20-30 years, and when she was having heart problems later (electrical), they did artery studies and her arteries were as clean as a whistle!!!!!

From what I am hearing, the new wisdom is that the ratio between HDL and LDL is the greater thing to worry about rather than the total number. Your HDL is pretty good, but can be made better by eating monounsaturates like olives/olive oil, avocado, and EFA like flax meal/oil, exercise and continued weight loss. The "ideal" ratio is 1:1, though anything over 50 or so on your HDL is pretty good.

My wife has raised her HDL about 30 points just through regular exercise.

BTW, the reason for the new advice is that they now know that HDL helps to "heal" the places where the LDL cholesterol tends to build up and cause blockages.

And if it were me, and my doctor was insisting on a change, I would use a statin drug before changing off of Low Carb.

Randy · 10-19-2007, 02:17 PM

Hey guys, if you make this with almond flour and coconut oil, would it be OK for low carb?

cluck cluck oink oink

todunlop · 10-19-2007, 10:58 PM

Morning guys,

Could be some action on Mondays weigh in but will wait till the to be sure.

Alex, here's a link from the health/medical board that helped me out with a lot of answers. I take fish oil, flax oil, garlic twice a day and flush free niacin 640mg once a day and it dropped my LDL's and raised my HDL's. Of corse now I'm on a statin but I'm hoping to get off that as soon as possible. The doc,s love the fish oil but think the rest of it is a waste. I know cholesteral went from 256 total to 182 with diet and suppliments.

Adam, here's what I put in it.

1 1/2 lbs stew meat
1/4 cup soy flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 small onoin chopped
1-2 stalks celery chopped
1-2 tsp worstershire sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
3-4 small turnips peeled and cubed
1 carrot sliced
2 cans beef broth
1 package of italian style frozen vegi's (broccoli,cauliflower,beans,and lima bean)

Take the soy flour and seasonings and put in a large plastic bag and shake it up. Put your stew meat in and shake that up. Put some olive oil in the pan and brown the meat. Add the onion,celery and carrot and sautee'. Add the broth tomatoes and simmer for and hour or so till meat is tender. Add the turnip an frozen vegi's and continue to simmer until turnip is done. Adjust salt and pepper. Enjoy. Don't eat it all it one sitting.

warriorscholar · 10-20-2007, 09:10 AM

Hope this helps

LDL Cholesterol Levels

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

An HDL cholesterol of 60 mg/dL or higher gives some protection against heart disease

Your triglyceride level will fall into one of these categories:

Normal: less than 150 mg/dL
Borderline-High: 150–199 mg/dL
High: 200–499 mg/dL
Very High: 500 mg/dL

Every thing I've seen has said that Triglyceride levels are more important to heart health than HDL/LDL numbers.

Cheers,

10-17-2007, 11:33 PM	#152
todunlop Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: North East, CT Posts: 583 Gallery: todunlop Stats: 248/199.8/180 WOE: Atkins Start Date: 1/2/07	Adam, good to here the angel won. Keep some legal snacks handy and ready to grab. When you get that urge grab a snack instead. I buy these little smoked meat sticks by the bag. Kinda look like a slim jim but not a greasey. Taste way better too. Keep it up. Last edited by todunlop : 10-17-2007 at 11:34 PM.

10-18-2007, 04:35 AM	#153
grpsurfer Senior LCF Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: New York Posts: 315 Gallery: grpsurfer Stats: 277/222/180 WOE: Atkins Start Date: 11/27/2006	Thursday Back down a pound and a mere pound away from a new VFZ. Took a walk yesterday and might go to the gym tonight. Eating yesterday was good - right around 2K calories and 25 carbs. Doug - good to see you on the mend. My shoulder is throbbing today. Its days like today that make me want to go out and get this surgery done pronto

10-18-2007, 06:57 AM	#154
Marvin Senior LCF Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bellevue, Nebraska Posts: 520 Gallery: Marvin Stats: WT=395/395/240 WOE: Atkins - The LC Metabolic Advantage! Start Date: Restarted Sept 4, 2008	Hey guys, glad to see y'all. The treadmill & weights did not get set up last night (PT confs at school) but hope to tonight. Didn't get any more exercise in as my foot was killing me from the 60 minutes on Tues night and 35 mins on Wed morning. I have plantar fascitis (sp?) and have tried everything short of surgery. Have decided to just pump the ibuprofen/tylenol and live with it as it seems to come and go. It seems to be better the higher and more steady my activity level is, so in a matter of time I should be back there. Hope everyone has a good day! __________________ Marvin "He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mighty." -Lao-Tzu, 6th Century B.C. Chinese Philosopher.

10-18-2007, 08:23 AM	#156
Randy MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Middle Georgia Posts: 1,937 Gallery: Randy Stats: 277/237/177 WOE: Atkins Start Date: Restart-1/14/08(at 256)--- Member since March '02	Taubes is a science journalist. In 2002 he wrote this article in The New York Times Magazine that caused a firestorm. His attention to detail and research, along with his cool demeanor, have made him a tough target for low-fat proponents. His new book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories," challenges the questionable science and dogma that gave us the "fat is bad" diatribe that has been pushed down our throats for 30+ years. If you google his name or the name of his book, you'll find plenty of reviews and interviews about it. But here's an interview from 2004 that's also very good. __________________ height 5'11" age 50 Proud Sergeant of Boot Camp Charlie

10-18-2007, 02:45 PM	#160
todunlop Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: North East, CT Posts: 583 Gallery: todunlop Stats: 248/199.8/180 WOE: Atkins Start Date: 1/2/07	Afternoon Guys, Staying on plan and off the scale. Making some LC beef stew for dinner. Going to try a few turnips as a potatoe sub.. Doug do you have the pain pump? Kinda looks like a big syringe. Thats what they hooked me up to and I thought it wasn't working until they took it out. Man thank god for pain killers. Marvin have you tried the duct tape method on them warts yet? Worked for me a few years back. Just cover them up with some good ole grey duct tape and after a week or so it kills them. Harely good luck in the hunt. Pheasant is rather tasty wish I had a few. Alex good to hear you didn't fall off the wagon to far and only got a scrape. __________________ "To get what you want, STOP doing what isn't working" -Dennis Weaver- Member of Camp Charlie All time High = 256 Start 1/2/07 = 248 1/1/08 = 210 7/1/08 = 199.8

10-17-2007, 10:19 PM	#151
warriorscholar Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Eau Claire, Wisconsin Posts: 925 Gallery: warriorscholar Stats: 355/290.5/205 6' 2" WOE: DANDR Start Date: July 1st 2007	Hey guys, I am not going to cook up the pizza fries in the freezer. I have a friend who works at a take and bake style pizza place. He gets to bring home the mistakes. And he is always giving them away. Since the other guys who live here aren't low carbing, a few free pizzas are always ending up in the freezer. I stared at that damn thing for a good 30 seconds while the angel and the demon on my shoulders duked it out. It was a near thing, but the angel won. Cheers,

10-18-2007, 09:34 AM	#157
2000harley Senior LCF Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 348 Gallery: 2000harley Stats: 302/239/210 WOE: Atkins	Hey Guys, Harley Checking in. I'm really getting the itch to get out of here and get to the hunting trip. I am attaching photos from the last couple of years. (I'm the one on the right in both pictures) Eats are going well. Yesterday was my wife's birthday and she wanted pizza from a joint were we used to live. I picked one up and brought it home. I only ate the toppings off (she said it was wasteful, but I stayed the course). I also bought her a small cake, but only she and my son ate it. I stayed away. Keep Working Hard Gents. Harley Out

10-18-2007, 09:43 AM	#158
2000harley Senior LCF Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 348 Gallery: 2000harley Stats: 302/239/210 WOE: Atkins	Harley Again. After posting the pictures, I realized that you may not be able to see the birds real easily, so here is a little better one from a couple years ago with better lighting. (I'm on the left this time) By the way, phesant tastes WONDERFUL...it's one of the best tasting game birds. Harley Out (again)

10-18-2007, 10:45 AM	#159
Doug_H Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Gold Bar, Wa Posts: 5,403 Gallery: Doug_H Stats: 265/217/under 205 WOE: Keepin' it simple Start Date: Oct 99	Harley, good hunting. I love phesant but haven't had it in years since moving to the west coast. Alex, one finger typing, my fore finger on my right hand. Left handed that I am I can't even lift that hand near the keyboard yet. Keep going guys, I think it will always be a struggle at times. Doug

10-18-2007, 03:47 PM	#161
Doug_H Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Gold Bar, Wa Posts: 5,403 Gallery: Doug_H Stats: 265/217/under 205 WOE: Keepin' it simple Start Date: Oct 99	Ed, never had the pump or drain. I'm off the pain pills now just taking ibuprofein. Tip: Try rutabegas (SP) instead of turnips, they stay more solid and don't get mushie like turnips can. We even use them with pot roast and soups now. Doug

10-19-2007, 04:58 AM	#163
grpsurfer Senior LCF Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: New York Posts: 315 Gallery: grpsurfer Stats: 277/222/180 WOE: Atkins Start Date: 11/27/2006	Friday Friday at last. No changes on the scale today. Still about a pound from my personal best. I am hoping to post some kind of loss this week. I cant believe what a struggle it has been lately from a weight perspective. I'm sticking to the diet and getting regular exercise. Not sure I want to change anything around but I have been hanging around this same weight for weeks. Big party to go to tonight, but my head is right and I should have no problems. Harley - good pics, thanks for sharing. Have a great weekend everyone

10-19-2007, 07:36 AM	#164
epix MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: SW Michigan Posts: 2,678 Gallery: epix Stats: 426/290(211 low)/175 WOE: Atkins Start Date: July 2004	Haven't posted in a few days but things are going good. No cheats at all. Nothing really planned for this weekend so probably just hang out w/ friends and finish some school work.

10-19-2007, 08:06 AM	#165
warriorscholar Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Eau Claire, Wisconsin Posts: 925 Gallery: warriorscholar Stats: 355/290.5/205 6' 2" WOE: DANDR Start Date: July 1st 2007	Hey Guys, Much to my surprise and elation, I'm still towing the line. Randy - that was a really good article. I think I'm going to check my library to see if the have this guys books. Harley - Those pheasants look awesome. Alex - Glad to see you jumped back on so quickly. I know from personal experience that if you don't jump right back on the wagon, you have to wait a really long time for it to roll back around. Ed - could you post the recipe for the LC beef stew. Its defiantly stew weather here in Wisconsin. Cheers, __________________ Adam - Corporal of Camp Charlie. "The two most common things in the universe are Hydrogen and Magic." "I will move this mountain two pounds at a time." "Im Jeon Moo Tae"…Courage never to retreat in the face of the enemy. - From the Hwa Rang Do code of ethics Mini-goal: 275 by 12/31/08 Goal: 205 by 9/30/09

10-19-2007, 08:14 AM	#166
Colo Alex MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 1,143 Gallery: Colo Alex Stats: 297/217/185 WOE: Eat Right and Exercise!! Start Date: August 2003 - Several Re-starts since!	Hey Guys, I got my blood test results back last night and I’m a little perplexed as to what to do now. My cholesterol is: 217 LDL: 165 HDL: 41 Triglycerides: 56 The suggestions to help lower my cholesterol is the standard: No more than 4 eggs a week. (I usually eat 2 to 3 a day.) 5 servings of fruit & veggies a day. (I do that now) Exercise. (I hike for 1 hour 5 days a week and longer on most Saturdays.) Eat oatmeal and whole grains. (I generally do not eat grains) Cut back on butter, mayonnaise and other foods that are high in cholesterol. (I eat a lot of them now) Eat Beef no more than once a week and eat fish at least twice a week. (I pretty much do that now) So the big dilemma is, I lost weight and have become healthier eating the way I do, but it has caused my cholesterol to go up. So, do I change how I eat and risk weight gain or do I stay the course and leave my cholesterol elevated. At this point I think I will not panic and just try to lower my intake of cholesterol by lowering my egg intake some, and reducing the butter and mayonnaise I eat and introduce some whole grains on an occasion. What do you guys think? I have to admit that I really don’t know much about cholesterol and what is considered high, so I will start to do some research on it and see what I can learn. Hope all is well with you guys. Have a great weekend.

10-19-2007, 08:18 AM	#167
Not quite so Big D Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 402 Gallery: Not quite so Big D Stats: 265/192/190 (6'2") WOE: Atkins Start Date: Original 2/9/04 restart too many times	Good morning men. Still going good for me. My weight is down to 206 this morning, so I'm pretty happy about that. It's not coming off near as fast as it went on, but I'm making progress. My back seems to have recovered sufficiently that I'll be able to avoid surgery for now. I still have a disc that's out of place, but it's no longer causing pain. Doc says I need to do two things to fix my back: lose the gut and strengthen my core muscles. The journey goes on... Alex, I hear you about struggling. I'm in my fourth year of low-carbing, and have had a pretty easy time with it until this past year. The only cheats I had were planned cheats. I never gave in to temptation, and I lost the weight and kept it off pretty easily. This year, though, I've fallen off the wagon over and over and can't seem to stop it. On the bright side, I'm happy that I'm struggling to stay under 200 rather than 250 or 260.

10-19-2007, 08:32 AM	#168
Not quite so Big D Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 402 Gallery: Not quite so Big D Stats: 265/192/190 (6'2") WOE: Atkins Start Date: Original 2/9/04 restart too many times	As a fellow high cholesterol sufferer, I have tried a lot of different approaches. Some OTC things that have worked for me: Flax seed oil, fish oil, and cholest-off. Be sure to spend the extra few bucks and get the enteric coated fish oil (unless you enjoy random tuna tasting burps). That approach helped me drop about 50 points on my total cholesterol. I also found that more higher intensity exercise really upped my HDL. Changes in my diet (ie. cutting back the eggs and saturated fat) did nothing for me.

10-19-2007, 10:03 AM	#169
Doug_H Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Gold Bar, Wa Posts: 5,403 Gallery: Doug_H Stats: 265/217/under 205 WOE: Keepin' it simple Start Date: Oct 99	Alex, what were your lipids from the time previous? That would give you something to compare to. You may have already made a substantual drop. With the numbers you have I wouldn't sweat it, just keep doing what you are doing and do another test in six months. Oh by the way it has been proven that eggs do nor raise your levels. It is bogus that what you eat raises your levels. Find and read the "great cholesterol myth" Doug

10-19-2007, 10:06 AM	#170
Colo Alex MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Western Colorado Posts: 1,143 Gallery: Colo Alex Stats: 297/217/185 WOE: Eat Right and Exercise!! Start Date: August 2003 - Several Re-starts since!	Doug - Last time I had a physical was 5+ years ago before surgery and I don't know if they even tested it then. I have a call in to the doc to find out.

10-19-2007, 10:43 AM	#172
Marvin Senior LCF Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bellevue, Nebraska Posts: 520 Gallery: Marvin Stats: WT=395/395/240 WOE: Atkins - The LC Metabolic Advantage! Start Date: Restarted Sept 4, 2008	I would agree with Doug H. My father never had a cholesterol above 170 but he's still had two heart attacks from blockage. In his case, I think that high blood pressure and stress was a greater factor. Also, go read Dr. Atkins (DANDR, 2002)...he talks a lot about cholesterol and how it's improved by LC eating. Without a baseline (before) you can't know whether or not your diet has hindered or helped your readings. My Mother-in-law had cholesterol readings 300 or above for 20-30 years, and when she was having heart problems later (electrical), they did artery studies and her arteries were as clean as a whistle!!!!! From what I am hearing, the new wisdom is that the ratio between HDL and LDL is the greater thing to worry about rather than the total number. Your HDL is pretty good, but can be made better by eating monounsaturates like olives/olive oil, avocado, and EFA like flax meal/oil, exercise and continued weight loss. The "ideal" ratio is 1:1, though anything over 50 or so on your HDL is pretty good. My wife has raised her HDL about 30 points just through regular exercise. BTW, the reason for the new advice is that they now know that HDL helps to "heal" the places where the LDL cholesterol tends to build up and cause blockages. And if it were me, and my doctor was insisting on a change, I would use a statin drug before changing off of Low Carb.

10-19-2007, 10:58 PM	#174
todunlop Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: North East, CT Posts: 583 Gallery: todunlop Stats: 248/199.8/180 WOE: Atkins Start Date: 1/2/07	Morning guys, Could be some action on Mondays weigh in but will wait till the to be sure. Alex, here's a link from the health/medical board that helped me out with a lot of answers. I take fish oil, flax oil, garlic twice a day and flush free niacin 640mg once a day and it dropped my LDL's and raised my HDL's. Of corse now I'm on a statin but I'm hoping to get off that as soon as possible. The doc,s love the fish oil but think the rest of it is a waste. I know cholesteral went from 256 total to 182 with diet and suppliments. Adam, here's what I put in it. 1 1/2 lbs stew meat 1/4 cup soy flour 1/2 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp thyme 1/4 tsp ground sage 1/4 tsp ground pepper 1 small onoin chopped 1-2 stalks celery chopped 1-2 tsp worstershire sauce 1 can diced tomatoes 3-4 small turnips peeled and cubed 1 carrot sliced 2 cans beef broth 1 package of italian style frozen vegi's (broccoli,cauliflower,beans,and lima bean) Take the soy flour and seasonings and put in a large plastic bag and shake it up. Put your stew meat in and shake that up. Put some olive oil in the pan and brown the meat. Add the onion,celery and carrot and sautee'. Add the broth tomatoes and simmer for and hour or so till meat is tender. Add the turnip an frozen vegi's and continue to simmer until turnip is done. Adjust salt and pepper. Enjoy. Don't eat it all it one sitting.

10-20-2007, 09:10 AM	#175
warriorscholar Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Eau Claire, Wisconsin Posts: 925 Gallery: warriorscholar Stats: 355/290.5/205 6' 2" WOE: DANDR Start Date: July 1st 2007	From the American Heart Association Website Hope this helps LDL Cholesterol Levels 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 An HDL cholesterol of 60 mg/dL or higher gives some protection against heart disease Your triglyceride level will fall into one of these categories: Normal: less than 150 mg/dL Borderline-High: 150–199 mg/dL High: 200–499 mg/dL Very High: 500 mg/dL Every thing I've seen has said that Triglyceride levels are more important to heart health than HDL/LDL numbers. Cheers,

10-21-2007, 06:48 AM	#176
Doug_H Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Gold Bar, Wa Posts: 5,403 Gallery: Doug_H Stats: 265/217/under 205 WOE: Keepin' it simple Start Date: Oct 99