The good news (cholesterol)

My cholesterol numbers came back ... AMAZING results. I only started eating healthier in October and exercising in August, so really this is the effect of only a few months of change.

In July:
Cholesterol: 202
Triglycerides: 94
HDL (good): 37
LDL (bad): 146

In December:
Cholesterol: 153 -- down 49
Triglycerides: 66 -- down 28
HDL (good): 42 -- up 5
LDL (bad): 98 -- down 48

I now am far from high cholesterol and have an "optimum" level of LDL. My HDL is still a bit low from what I've read, but higher than 40 which is good. Yeah!

Yowza! Good for you!

Good for you! Keep it up! I, too had a drop in my cholesterols within months of increaing my activity level (bicycling ~ 40 mi/wk for transpo) - my triglycerides are still high, part familial, part overweight an simple carb consumption. Bad cookie, bad!

Seriously, I am very happy for you , and I hope others are inspired by these results.