<p>Walked into my favorite local cafe for a bottle of salad dressing. I resisted the big peanut butter cookie calling my name.</p>
<p>Brom- in daylight you should be fine picking up the trail at Walnut. I would ask the hotel the best way to get to the trail. I know I have run from the Ritt Square area to the Art Museum and along the trail. You could also walk to the Penn campus (33rd or so) right up Walnut.</p>
<p>I am in Paradise (capital P). Ritz Laguna Niguel on a business trip (a seminar). H came with me. It is so gorgeous. It is killing me that I can’t run here, but I can walk along the beach and paths. Also, the hotel gym overlooks the beach and ocean. I may survive. I am seriously cutting back on food since it’s clear that I’m not going to be burning the calories I’m used to burning. I did well today, even with the planes and airports. Of course, I’m about to head for a wine-tasting and dinner reception. I put some pictures up on facebook for any of you who are (or want to be) my facebook friends.</p>
<p>Well, I thought this would be a toughie. New week of iPod nazi. Same routine as last week, but each exercise in the four supersets increases in time, plus we jump from 2 sets of each to 3 sets, plus no more rest between exercises in each superset – theoretically 12 exercises in each superset with no rest (including three sets of burpees or three sets of jumping jacks). Yeah, right.</p>
<p>I figured I would just skip the final cardio exercise in each superset giving me 60 seconds to recover after ever two exercises. It still kicked me like a rented mule. I actually cramped up during one set of the one-legged stability ball roll-ins. Lunge walk with lateral raises is killer for three 45 second sets. Split squats with a lateral raise arm lift on the opposite side is brutal for some reason.</p>
<p>So, I got through what I had hoped to do, but this workout is doing to take some work.</p>
<p>I finally got my lab results back and I am a little upset. It appears that my cholesterol is borderline high. My total cholesterol is 207 while LDL (bad) is 135 and desirable is under 129. My HDL is low at 46 and they say it should be greater than 60. My triglcerides are very good. What the heck??? I don’t eat any high fat foods, no red meat for over 40 years and my weight has really dropped…about 20 pounds to lose to be normal weight range. sigh…guess it is even more important to lose those last 20 pounds! Since I have been tracking my food on dailyplate I am always under for cholesterol. I am really depressed! Oh…and they said I should exercise more! :eek:</p>
<p>Waaah, I got picked for the jury. The trial is going to last a couple of weeks. I am going to force myself to get up early to get my runs in. I’m not sure I can make myself keep up the strength & core exercises, cause I don’t see that happening at 5:30 AM. </p>
<p>NorthMinn, you are exercising quite a bit now, what are you going to do?</p>
<p>NMinn:</p>
<p>Those numbers aren’t bad. They just want to sell you some highly-profitable cholesterol medicine, so they spend a few billion in marketing dollars to scare the pants off everyone about “high cholesterol”. Spend a few billion more in lobby money to make sure that the government helps scare you. Nah, I’m not cynical!</p>
<p>My cholesterol numbers are higher than that. I actually squeeked into in the “high” range. I made the mistake of having my bloodwork done the morning after I had a 12 ounce filet mignon – my once a month steak in between skinless chicken breast and poached frickin’ haddock. I was so jacked on protein and cholesterol, the doc asked me if I was taking any weight lifting supplements because of my creatine levels! C’est la vie.</p>
<p>As least my “good cholesterol” was high. That’s probably because I drink extra virgin olive oil with a twist, shaken not stirred, for happy hour!</p>
<p>I figure that, after being 70 pounds overweight and smoking for 38 years, if the worst they can find in bloodwork and all the unmentionable poking and prodding they do to an ol’ fat guy during a physical is that my cholesterol is a little high, I should go out and buy a full slab of baby-back ribs, a fine Cuban cigar, and a pitcher of margaritas, and start shouting, “Party Time!”</p>
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<p>That sucks. I always take the option to delay and sign up for the week between Christmas and New Years. No attorney is going to ruin their holidays with a jury trial. They always settle on the court house steps and I go home having done my civic duty once again.</p>
<p>idad…I know that the LDL and total is only borderline but they seemed more concerned about my low HDL. Guess I should also mention my mother and her father died from heart disease. Both of my parents had heart attacks and strokes before they passed away. Guess I will really work on this last phase of weight loss and maintain my workout schedule. Gosh…on one hand the knee surgeon was saying cut back on exercise and now the other doc wants me to keep exercising. I already do cardio for a minimum of 90 minutes a day. Wonder if it makes a difference if it is cardio or weights???</p>
<p>NMINN:</p>
<p>The way I figure it, they have so many marketing scare campaigns going these days that they are going to find something for you to worry about. My attitude is: I’ve quit smoking. I’ve lost 64 pounds. I exercise nearly every day. I don’t drink. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for decades. If I keel over dead doing intervals on the Airdyne tomorrow because my cholesterol is a little high, then so be it. I mean, I know I’m a horrible person for enjoying half n’ half in my coffee, but, honestly…</p>
<p>I don’t really have any good options. I’m eating 1800 calories a day. I can’t really cut that much lower without starting to whittle away at muscle mass and fitness and metabolism. I burn 1700 calories a day lying in bed. I would have to cut out fat and animal protein and my only option for replacing those calories would be carbs. I don’t think that replacing good whole-food protein with bread and pasta and rice and potato carbs would be a “healthy” move in my diet. If I look back over the last nine months, I’d say that my “diet” is working pretty damn well – for an ol’ fat guy.</p>
<p>I’d say that your diet and exercise is working pretty damn well for you, too. I wouldn’t let a borderline cholesterol reading undermine your positive motivation to keep at it.</p>
<p>I agree with idad. I would avoid the meds. You are doing the right things. See how it goes over the next year. I bet your good number will come up with the exercise. My cholesterol was high but when I lost weight a couple of years ago it went down- still not great, but my good number is really high.</p>
<p>The scare campaign marketing works because they know people won’t ask the hard questions. For example, let’s say that I have a 10% chance of having heart disease in the next ten years. Absolute best case, taking cholesterol medication could lower that risk by 30%. So now, I’m at 7% chance versus 10% chance. Or to put it another way. A 93% chance of not having a heart attack versus a 90% chance. Big whup. Especially considering that it’s a completely false premise to consider any of these numbers as being precise. So, I would have to weigh the cost and side effects versus a very small statistical benefit.</p>
<p>When you look at the way pharma distorts the smoking cessation studies to “prove” the “effectiveness” of their products, it’s impossible not to be equally skeptical about all of their claims. It’s not the doctors’ fault. The only data they are given comes directly from the drug companies. Of course, if you are trying to sell cholesterol medicine, you are going to design studies that present “data” that shows high cholesterol will kill you, never mind that many of the people with high cholesterol are “big ol’ fat guys” who drink beer and eat Big Macs and have a whole range of lifestyle health risks.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info and support. I guess it makes me nervous due to family history and my past cerebral hemorrhage. I will have to do some research and learn how to get that good cholesterol up and really be diligent on losing these last pounds. Will just have to keep eating less and moving more!</p>
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<p>I’m no expert, but it appears to me that, to increase “good cholesterol”, we have to… drum roll, please… **eat more fat **in our diets. Specficially, more canola oil, more olive oil, more fatty fish like salmon. Go figure. </p>
<p>Now, they tell us, huh? After convincing a generation of Americans that eating fat is “bad”, the spawn of the devil. Even to the point where touting “fat free” is suppossed to suggest that a bag of Red Twizzlers is a “healthy” snack. This whole fat-free nonsense has probably screwed up the diets of a generation of Americans.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to suspect that heathy eating fashions are like skirt lengths. What goes around come around if you just wait long enough. If I live long enough, I’ll probably get to hear them tout the health benefits of eating a 16-ounce porterhouse steak. I did read that I’m supposed to start drinking more to raise my “good cholesterol”. But, wait, then I’ll put on weight and that will lower my good cholesterol. Damn. I’m so confused. I bet SmithGlaxo has something that will fix me right up for just a couple hundred dollars a month!</p>
<p>It’ll be my luck. Just when I win the battle of “good cholesterol”, my neck will start hurting from the whiplash caused by listening to these back and forth health scares.</p>
<p>Anyway, with a family history and your own history, you probably are in the category of people who should pay attention, but your numbers are hardly alarmingly high especially since you are already doing the single more important things for your health: losing excess weight and exercising.</p>
<p>I have a strong suspicion that, if you controlled for weight and exercise and smoking, you would find that skinny, althletic, non-smokers tend to be at lower risk of coronary disease, without even looking at their cholesterol and blood pressure.</p>
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<p>It is my understanding from my doctors that the protective effects of HDL for women start at 50. So I think they are overstating it a bit. Your cholesterol is a bit high, but not horribly so.</p>
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<p>You don’t need to exercise more, you just need to keep doing what you are doing. “Exercise more” is just the standard advice. It is absolutely true that losing weight will improve your figures.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you concentrate on boosting Omega 3s. I strongly suggest krill oil (a purer, more bio-available type of fish oil). If you also eat things that are high in Omega 3s, things with flax, that will help. Use olive oil and less canola oil, eat almonds, walnuts, and avocadoes. Toasted walnuts are a good addition to a salad.</p>
<p>Thanks Consolation!!! That is exactly the info I am looking for! :)</p>
<p>Bonus walking day. 52 degrees, blue sky, sunshine. Did my little 5k state park walk. I’m finally getting dialed in on the right amount of clothing for these temperatures. Walking is tough because parts of the walk aren’t producing a lot of heat, but then I get my heart rate up on the hills. I’ve been too hot in the polartec base layer, so today I wore a short sleeve tech-t under the Brooks long-sleeve half zip. That was just about perfect. I probably could have gone the reverse and worn the polartec base layer with a short sleeve t-shirt over it. I wore that out trimming shrubs in the mid 40s last week and was just about perfect.</p>
<p>I did wear the little polyester beanie cap since the ol’ fat guy is insulation challenged on top. I also found a pair of Marmot polartec fleece gloves at Marshall’s that are just about perfect. Not wind proof and they would be horrible in the rain, but warm enough and breathable to keep the fingers toasty on these walks. I’m going to get a lot of use out of these things, I can tell. Also perfect for a cold car where you really don’t need the whole ski glove thing, just something to take the chill off until the car warms up. Heck, I may wear 'em watching TV if my hands are cold!</p>
<p>Did my new Mike Boyle stretching/flexibility sequence before the walk. Five minutes. I’m going to make that a daily routine.</p>
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<p>I sure hope so. I wanna look good in my new skinny jeans!</p>
<p>I read a 6 page article in cholesterol meds this summer and a huge number of the important studies were done on people who already had a history of a cardiac incident; there was no info as to whether the same effects applied to those with no cardiac history!</p>
<p>General Annoucement:</p>
<p>I am about done with Crestor (10mg) taking 3-4 a week. The night joint pains are getting bad again. The pain has discouraged me from biking.</p>
<p>Headed for the beach in my new Vibrams as soon as the seminar ended (well, maybe 5 minutes before it ended…) and walked while the sun set and the surfers surfed. It was awesome. (this is me not whining about not being able to run) This morning I did 45 minutes on the elliptical in the Ritz gym. I didn’t like it. It was a Precor elliptical and it felt too “uphill” if you know what I mean. That isn’t the best for me and I don’t find it comfortable. But- I did it. Sitting all day in seminars didn’t feel good either. Bad day for the sit bone.</p>
<p>iPod nazi posted a new freebie 3-exercise ab/core workout today:</p>
<p>[Advanced</a> Six Pack Abs Workout | Yuri Elkaim | Online Fitness Trainer](<a href=“http://www.yurielkaim.com/591/advanced-six-pack-abs-workout/]Advanced”>http://www.yurielkaim.com/591/advanced-six-pack-abs-workout/)</p>
<p>Just a 3 minute video. One of the exercises is “pull-ups” which I can’t try because I don’t have a suitable pull-up bar. But, the other two exercises are awesome. I tried 'em before dinner, just to see if I could even do them. I don’t know how many I could do, but I’ll definitely add these to the list. One of them is basically just holding a stability ball, but I suspect that it gets the muscles burning in very short order.</p>
<p>Check it out if you feel like something new and different.</p>