Legs

[OakLeaf]

I'm not sure those people are really "letting themselves go," I don't know that they ever had a hold of themselves...

A lot of it I have to blame on the medical establishment, honestly. It seems like every time I've had an injury, from age 16 to relatively recently, the only advice I've ever gotten from doctors is rest, rest, rest. I had to figure it out on my own that after the acute phase was over, resting was making it worse, and that in a lot of cases, if I stopped resting (and maybe made some tweaks in form or strength), the problem would go away entirely.

There are a very, very many people out there who don't exert themselves because it hurts. Many of them have been my clients. I would never advise someone to ignore pain, and I really try not to discount others' pain. Unfortunately, these people have just gotten very bad advice when it comes to dealing with their pain.

[Crankin]

That is all certainly true, Oak. I once went for a walk with a friend, down to a beautiful nature reservation about 2.5 miles from my old house. It was kind of a hot day and my friend brought a large towel, put it around her neck, and then proceeded to wipe the sweat with it and complain and sigh loudly with every step. I thought I was going to kill her.
Emily, I meant the red wine has helped my cholesterol. I also have very high HDL, low LDL, and good triglycerides. But my total is high.... so over the past 2 years I have been tweaking my diet with the red wine, dark chocolate, and more salmon and tuna. Right before I started cycling, my total was 244. I had totally burned out on the exercise I had been doing and had gained almost 20 lbs. I had it down to 220 after a year of riding, and now ten years later it's 208. I really want to get it below 200, even though my doctor has told me my ratio is the best she has ever seen.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, I meant the red wine has helped my cholesterol. I also have very high HDL, low LDL, and good triglycerides. But my total is high.... so over the past 2 years I have been tweaking my diet with the red wine, dark chocolate, and more salmon and tuna. Right before I started cycling, my total was 244. I had totally burned out on the exercise I had been doing and had gained almost 20 lbs. I had it down to 220 after a year of riding, and now ten years later it's 208. I really want to get it below 200, even though my doctor has told me my ratio is the best she has ever seen.

Ooops, sorry I misinterpreted! My doc has also told me my ratio is very impressive. The best it ever was was when I was doing a low-carb diet and eating plenty of meat. Now I eat much less meat and my HDL actually isn't as high as it used to be, but it's still very good. Seems like if your ratio is that good, getting the total down below 200 isn't necessarily needed. Does your doctor think it should be < 200?

[Crankin]

My gyn always tells me I should, but I've had sort of "whatever' opinions from pcp doctors. My gyn is an obsessive tri-athlete who I really like, but there is no way I would try anything other than dietary changes at this point.
I've heard the same thing about the meat/HDL connection. Mine is also a little less lower and I wonder if it's because I've been consciously eating less to get the total down and to maintain wieght. At one point, my HDL was 81.

[emily_in_nc]

I've heard the same thing about the meat/HDL connection. Mine is also a little less lower and I wonder if it's because I've been consciously eating less to get the total down and to maintain wieght. At one point, my HDL was 81.

Heheh, mine was 103 at its peak! Not that high now, but high enough.

[OakLeaf]

Y'know, I just had mine done, and the doctor told me that insurance won't pay for the breakdown unless you're diagnosed with dyslipidemia. So I only got the total cholesterol done, which actually was kind of high at 197. The last time I had it done my HDL was 102 (so you've got me beat Emily ) but I expect it isn't that good now. I had to pretty much cut out soy for other reasons, and I think that was a lot of why it was that high. I'd like to know, but oh well.

[Crankin]

Wow, you 2 are awesome. I have heard of anyone with HDL in the 100's.
Oak, I can't believe your insurance won't pay for the breakdown... what, they would rather have you have a heart attack or a stroke? I could see them limiting it to every X number of years, but geez.

[emily_in_nc]

And how do I make HDL's go > 100? I eat pretty well. What else can I do?

It may not be possible for you - with LDL that low, your ratio is still great, and that's most important. Olive oil, nuts, red wine, fatty fish, and exercise are some of the things I've read that can increase HDL.

Crankin, my HDL is no longer that high -- it was that high when I was doing a low-carb diet. Now it's like 70 something, I believe. Higher than my LDL so still very good, according to my doc. But I sure liked that 103!