<p>I can’t say that I enjoyed me run this morning. It is hard when you have lost conditioning and aren’t comfortable. Hills, humidity, hamstring… but I enjoy the fact that I am able to get out there and do it and build the base back. Relax? Not a chance!</p>
<p>Well, I decided it was now or never for running. This may be cheating as far as serious runners are concerned, but we have a small walking “loop” near our house - no hills. So this morning I alternated walking/running around the loop for 30 minutes. I walked last night with H - who got his lab results back yesterday. I think he had his a-ha! moment.</p>
<p>There’s a lady at work that I sometimes run with on the treadmill - she walks and runs and walks and runs - typically five miles. She runs at a ten-minute pace and she’s done it for a long time. I have no doubt that she can run five miles with no problems but she likes to talk a lot and I guess that’s easier if you’re walking.</p>
<p>I’m at Panera Bread right now waiting for my son to finish an interview in the Boston area. He just got started - these things can take two to four hours. I settled in with a Four-Cheese Souffle’. It’s pretty small but it’s 480 calories with a decent nutritional balance. I’m still hungry but this should be good enough until mid-afternoon.</p>
<p>I am hoping to get back into running full-bore - I ran track in high school and cross country in college so this is my way of easing into things. I also feel like I need more exercise than H does right now so am going to double up. </p>
<p>I dug out an old Mediterranean Diet cookbook last night and had H go through and select dishes he thought he would enjoy eating. Anyone have any favorite sites/resources for low-fat, low-cholesterol diets?</p>
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<p>We may be the wrong group for those. Some of us are on high-fat, high-protein diets and those are frequently high in cholesterol.</p>
<p>BTW, I’ve been eating more protein and less fat lately and am trying to go back to higher fat vs protein as I generally feel better and weight-loss is more steady with the older combination. Basically I stopped eating pistachio nuts for a while and my body didn’t like that. I went back to pistachio nuts to get the fat percentage up and my body feels better for it. I really want to add avocados too.</p>
<p>Chintzy- that sounds like a really hard AMT workout. I usually keep it at the lowest levels or else I can’t get fast enough turnover to even remotely resemble running, plus the higher resistance bothers my hamstrings more.</p>
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<p>I assume he got the lipid profile scolding from the doc. Be careful about going overboad with the low fat. What tend to happen on a very low fat diet is that total cholesterol goes down, but good cholesterol (HDL) also goes down and triglycerides (bad) go up as percentages. It’s especially important to eat good fats (olive oils, fish oils, nuts). The guy who did the Stanford study (a life long vegetarian) says that he sometimes has to beg vegetarian low-fat folk to please eat some good fat. It is now believed that the ratios of HDLs and Triglyercides are more predictive than the total cholesterol number, so you don’t ideally want to end up lowering total cholesterol at the expense of horrible ratios.</p>
<p>The way to drop triglycerides quickly is to cut out carbs – especially sugars. Raising HDL requires fish oil, olive oil, etc.</p>
<p>I would recommend a older book by two MDs Michael and Mary Dan Eades:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–in Just Weeks! (9780553380781): Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Protein-Power-High-Protein-Low-Carbohydrate-Health/dp/0553380788/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Protein-Power-High-Protein-Low-Carbohydrate-Health/dp/0553380788/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1)</p>
<p>This one really focuses a lot on their success with rapid changes in patients with very serious cholesterol risk. And, their newest one appears to have pretty comprehensive meal plans and recipes:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle: The Simple Plan to Flatten Your Belly Fast! (9780307450715): Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307450716?ie=UTF8&tag=proteinpowerc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307450716]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307450716?ie=UTF8&tag=proteinpowerc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307450716)</p>
<p>Where I would attack the fat issue is by cutting way back on dairy fat, cheese, and fried foods. I would use some good fat (olive oil) to make saute’d veggies and salad dressings taste fantastic because you are so far ahead of the game if you love eating mountains of that stuff. Simply prepared meat, chicken, and seafood plus tons of veggies and salad is a pretty good baseline dient for fat loss.</p>
<p>Seasonal change in activity is a good idea to continue enjoying exercise. I cannot even walk outside when it is over 70F. Why to force? I will feel tired for the rest of the day while other exercise can increase energy level. I am looking to be very active after my exersice, not feeling drained. I cannot afford to feel no energy, no brain, which I feel after walking in hot weather. Swimming at 6:30am with no beaming sun and kids splashing around is more relaxing and energy producing exercise than swimming in dirty water at 3:30pm after work. Well, swimming is better than anything in a summer, so sometime I do not have a choice on that one. But I am trying to adjust activity/time to have best outcome possible. 6;30am swim produces ton of enenrgy and clear my head. Several others at my work who are actually on a team and swim in a morning year around (inside), indicated the same. But these people swim at much higher speed than me, so they have much more benefits from it. My swim is just some stupid movements in a water that I have taught to myself…but I enjoy it, and this is all that counts.</p>
<p>^^ I’m glad you enjoy it, but I suspect you are getting very little cardiovascular or fitness benefit from it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t OK, good for you mentally and fun, but swimming at a level that benefits your heat and fitness is a pretty intense workout. It is a lot more than just paddling around in the pool. My mother “swam” for years and never put her head in the water. Worked for her, but as far as fitness benefit…nope.</p>
<p>My priority #1 is to enjoy my time no matter what I do and feel very good afterwards. I swim only in a summer, it is definitely the best out of all other exercises on my list, I loose weight and need shorter time to exercise. I know that I am a goof in a water, my own swimmer daughter is laughing at my swimming. I will never stop until I am in a box underground. BTW, according to my extensive physical, including various blood tests…I am physically estimated 20 years younger than my actual age, not to bad for someone very close to retirement age with teenage grandkids and who has been working full time her entire life.</p>
<p>Thanks for the book suggestions, iDad. I’ll try not to go overboard on the low-fat, I had not realized the impact on the ratios. His triglycerides are very high, over 350. LDL is over 150 and HDL is only slightly over 40. Let’s not talk about total cholesterol. I am going on the follow-up appointment. His doctor also suggested a nutritional consult. </p>
<p>H loves fish, so we’ll be eating more of that. Cheese and fried foods are definite problems. I am hoping with a regular eating schedule and no cheese in the house (I don’t cook fried food at home) he’ll have a fighting chance. Sigh.</p>
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<p>Hah. The next time you aren’t comfortable on a run, picture what the ol’ (formerly) fat guy feels like at the end of a jogging interval with a heart rate of 101% of max! I can’t bend over and pant because I’ve got to keep walking, but it is not a pretty sight for a minute or so.</p>
<p>I averaged 80% of my max heart rate for the entire 47 minute hill/walk jog yesterday. Crazy.</p>
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<p>My son called home to ask what was for lunch. My wife answered: corn fritters. I explained that these are carbs laden with fat. When we got home, it was worse: powdered sugar on top. We picked up a few gyros for him on the way home - one today, one tomorrow.</p>
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<p>Some people need to be conked on the head with numbers, not an object. 
My DH was one of them. Losing 30 lb worked well for his numbers (which were not bad, but creeping up, which his doctor thought of as a concern and suggested trying exercise).</p>
<p>I have not been able to run this week at all, and I’m not a happy camper. Graduations, DD’s coming home, work projects… Hopefully, the dust will settle soon and I will be able to continue with my training.</p>
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<p>Smart lady! I believe that is probably the optimum way to use gym cardio equipment. Every study ever done shows more training gains in less time with interval training alternating between high intensity and active recovery periods. The differences are pretty dramatic. </p>
<p>The only thing your friend could probably do better is that after doing the same routine for so long, she probably needs to be cranking up the incline and/or pace during the running segments. The whole concept revolves around the rest periods allowing you to push harder during the work periods.</p>
<p>I think the only conditioning advantage of steady state running, as opposed to walk/jog or jog/run intervals, would be better specific conditioning for steady state running. From the standpoint of general fitness, burning calories, and so forth, there’s probably no reason to ever graduate from a walk/jog (or jog/run) intervals.</p>
<p>Nobody seems to really understand why interval training is so effective. I think it probably has to do with repeated cycling of the heart rate (and oxygen intake) up and down. The abiity to recover your heart rate quickly is known to be a key indicator of fitness and reduced heart attack risk – as in the single best predictor of keeling over dead in the next five years. Interval training specficially trains exactly that mechanism.</p>
<p>[Mike</a> Boyle’s article](<a href=“http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1766.cfm?sd=51]Mike”>http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1766.cfm?sd=51) suggesting the use of heart rate monitoring to adjust the rest intervals to achieve a specific recovery heart rate, rather than guessing with some arbitrary recovery time, is a brilliant contribution to fitness training, IMO. I think that’s the ideal approach to gym cardio equipment. Hard interval. Recover to, say, 65% of max heart rate, another hard interval, recover again, and so forth. If nothing else, it’s not so darn boring.</p>
<p>I think that a lot of it for her is the social aspect. She works out with the same friend three or four days a week. She was in the Manchester race last year and she used the same approach. She really doesn’t need to lose weight but she seems to be into the steady-state thing.</p>
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<p>Triglyceride levels correlate strongly with carbohydrate consumption, not fat. Low carb diets always reduce triglcyerides dramatically. My triglycerides are 41 now – basically off-the-chart low. This is much of what is covered by Dr. Lustig in his sugar article. Triglycerides result from metabolism of sugar in the liver.</p>
<p>Increasing HDL numbers is largely a function of eating “good” fats: fish oils, olive oils, etc. Meat can actually have reasonable amounts, too.</p>
<p>LDL (and therefore total cholesterol) is the number that is going to vary with total fat in the diet. Generally speaking, a low carb/higher fat diet will tend to result in higher LDL numbers, although fat loss could totally offset that tendency. The Drs. Eades point out that when they do a rapid low-carb intervention diet with a patient, they often have to quickly reduce the statin cholesterol and blood pressure medication they are on. But, generally speaking, a low carber can expect low triglycerides, high HDL, and high-ish LDL. It’s not all bad news because lower carb diets produce more of the safe LDL – this correlates predicatbly with low triglycerides and high HDL.</p>
<p>It’s all a bit of a balancing act, because the best diet for your husband will be one that he can live with beyond the immediate motivation of the doctor’s visit. “Being good” only works for so long!</p>
<p>If I were giving him ol’ (formerly) fat guy advice, it would be:</p>
<p>a) Say goodbye to sweetened beverages.</p>
<p>b) Cut out all junk food carbs for now to really kick start the diet.</p>
<p>c) Switch from potatoes and rice to veggies and salad for the time being. </p>
<p>d) No more than one pizza, pasta, or bread meal per week as a weekly splurge.</p>
<p>e) Look for ways to cut out extraneous fat, while focusing the remaining fat consumption on stuff that is good for you (olive oil, fish oil, protein from meat) or that makes salad and veggies taste great. In other words, the “fat” investment in my blue cheese salad dressing makes eating huge salads a very satisfying part of my diet and that’s a real plus. Salads > Pringles!</p>
<p>f) Make the easy obvious changes to get started. Cut 100 calories here. 100 calories there. Have a little olive oil and garlic on your green beans, but don’t have the mashed potatoes.</p>
<p>g) At some point, pick a month and track calories at LiveStrong to really learn what is what. Play it by ear if that would be a help or hindrance at the start.</p>
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<p>That concerns me a bit as H does not have a high carb diet. Not at all. I don’t know how much lower in the carb department he could go. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the good information, iDad.</p>
<p>I went running today and managed to almost double my previous personal best regarding distance! I did .62 miles non-stop today, which is HUGE for me and makes my goal of 1 mile non-stop by the end of the month seem less crazy. I sort of wanted to just keel over by about 5 minutes into it, but I had a good song and I just kept saying “Just get to the end of the song" and I managed it :)</p>
<p>Yoga tomorrow. I’ll need it.</p>
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<p>Well, I think that stored fat trumps everything when it comes to cholesterol numbers. In other words, losing weight is the biggest single step towards better numbers.</p>
<p>Also, you might be surprised by his carb intake. I would be very surprised by any middle aged male packing on signficant weight without wolfing down prodigious amounts of carbs, in beverages or snacks. Those Snapples add up. </p>
<p>It’s just really hard to rack up big caloric surpluses without carbfest snacking. I mean, I eat large amounts of fat, and ridiculous 12 ounce portions of meat for dinners and I can’t get to 2000 calories a day. Fat has a lot of calories, but it’s hard to sit down with a bottle of olive oil and drink the whole thing, like I might if you gave me a bag of Doritos. I remember times when I would have a Doritos, sour gummy worms, and a 16 ounce Pepsi or Snapple in the same evening. If somebody is packing on weight, the calories are coming from somewhere – and dinner probably isn’t the main culprit!</p>