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<p>Your husband should request a VAP test to determine if his LDL is made primarily of the large, fluffy particles (okay) or small dense particles (not so good). Also, what are his HDL/triglyceride numbers? If those are all okay, then he’s just fine and could very well have his cheese from time to time with absolutely no negative impact.</p>
<p>choc - Not sure the bagel thin was the cause of the fire. It may have been overcooking (they cook and burn faster) and/or crumbs flared up at it. But we had actually had 2 bagel thin fires (different weeks)… none ever with other breads.</p>
<p>I eat an egg every single day and have excellent cholesterol numbers. I really think getting exercise and not eating a lot of carbs is why. I also eat bacon three times a week. (4 slices total.)</p>
<p>mathmom, Your post fascinates me. Do you eat the same food every week or is that just a very exact sounding average? :-)</p>
<p>mathmom, I think you’re on to something ;)</p>
<p>One thing I don’t know was addressed, is your sleep. You mentioned that life is very hectic for you. Are you sleeping well, for many hours, restful sleep and through the night? If not, I recommend melatonin, but you really need to know how to use it correctly. You may know this already, but if you haven’t used it before, you have to titrate to find the exact amount that you need. Everyone is different.</p>
<p>First, get a melatonin pill in 1 mg increments that is pure, not loaded with a bunch of who knows what. Start out the first night taking 1 mg. Do that for three nights in a row. It probably will do nothing for you, but some people get crazy wild dreams just on 1 mg, and if you do…melatonin is not for you. After three nights, raise it to 2 mg, take that for three nights and see how it works. Keep raising the dose until it gets the desired effect.</p>
<p>The goal is to have restful sleep, wake up well rested, dream…but not crazy, too intense dreams. You only take enough melatonin to get the desired effect. Personally, I need 2 mg. Three is just a little too much, but if I need a serious night of sleep, I might take that. The great thing is if I wake up in the middle of the night, I go right back to sleep, instead of tossing and turning. It takes about an hour to take effect, and you really should have a good 7-8 hours to sleep or you might feel kind of groggy. I don’t take it when I have to wake up in 5-6 hours.</p>
<p>Sleep is very important for weight loss! Just something to consider, as melatonin is already in your body, it is natural, and as we get older we have less melatonin.</p>
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<p>Is this actually backed up by facts? That some dreams are okay and others are not?</p>
<p>I had a very long series of dreams last night, and for the most part they were crazy and intense. One after another after another, often based in anxiety and worries. </p>
<p>Yet I woke up feeling pretty rested. Don’t know if I can compare to nights where my dreams were “not crazy or intense.” Not saying it’s not true, just wondering if these rather matter of fact statements are actually factual.</p>
<p>“Is this actually backed up by facts? That some dreams are okay and others are not?”</p>
<p>I have no idea, it’s just my interpretation of what the doctor said. It makes sense to me that you don’t want crazy, scary and intense dreams that disturb you for the rest of the day…even if you got a great night of sleep. The first time I took 3mg, I had vivid, intense dreams that I didn’t like at all. It wasn’t worth the sleep. 3mg doesn’t do that to me now. But a guy at my work told me that he just took 1 mg, and had such disturbing psychedelic dreams that he never did it again, he can’t take any melatonin. That is very rare, though.</p>
<p>I just think the point is to get great sleep without too intense dreams, because most people don’t like that. Until I started taking melatonin, I don’t even remember the last time I dreamt. I work a lot of nights, am generally somewhat sleep deprived when I work, so sleep is very precious to me when I can get it. If my husband doesn’t take any, he’ll wake up at 3am and have a hard time falling back asleep. If he takes it, he sleeps on through the night. Now who wouldn’t want that? Especially if you’re trying to lose weight.</p>
<p>I do eat the same breakfasts. It’s because my dh is somewhat OCD. He cooks bacon on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I have one slice on the weekdays, two on Saturday.
When he cooks bacon, I fry my egg in the bacon. I have a poached egg on Sunday. Scrambled eggs the rest of the week. I actually don’t have eggs on Saturday (or just 1/2 a one in dh’s waffles.) Every once in a while I mix it up and soft boil an egg. 
I have half a high fiber English muffin or half a mini bagel with my eggs and I have lots of different kids of jam I put on them.</p>
<p>My lunches and dinners are much more varied.</p>
<p>Interesting about melatonin and dreams. I rarely remember mine.</p>
<p>^^I like yours and your H’s style, mathmom! Maybe I’ll adopt an OCD attitude about my food intake!!
I had an aunt that was a size 0 her entire life, very short in height, too, I’m not sure she ever saw 5’. Well, she ate the same thing for lunch every day of her life, a tuna fish sandwich. She died peacefully in her sleep well into her 90’s. Just sayin’! 
(This same aunt had a favorite saying…“a minute on your lips, forever on your hips”)</p>
<p>I’m certainly not shooting for a size zero, just want the extra 10-12 pounds I’ve gained to come off again! Maybe a food routine each day is in the cards, especially since it will be easier not to have to think too much.</p>
<p>As far as sleep goes, my sleep patterns are fine, especially when the house is cool. Last night was my first restless sleep in awhile, but the AC has been turned off and last night was pretty warm, even with windows open.</p>
<p>For now, I think that eating the same things, at least for breakfasts, seem like the way to go. Since I bought Canadian Bacon and Smoked Salmon and lots of eggs, I’ll begin with that!</p>
<p>If planning ahead and keeping breakfasts similar keeps you on track, then do it! I plan ahead for most of my day of eating - just because it works for me and I pack both my breakfast and lunch for work. When I wake up in the morning, I pretty much know what will be going in my mouth for the day. When it’s part of the plan and when it’s satisfying enough, there is less temptation to stray!</p>
<p>And for the record, I eat an egg MOST days of the week - probably 4 or 5. Soft boiled. :)</p>
<p>Interesting new article about breakfast:</p>
<p><a href=“Myths Surround Breakfast and Weight - The New York Times”>Myths Surround Breakfast and Weight - The New York Times;
<p>This is my experience - after a big breakfast, I’m still just as hungry for lunch (or even hungrier), and I end up eating too much by the end of the day.</p>
<p>You should eat breakfast because the purpose of food is to refuel your body to operate. After an evening and full night without food, you need to (or your body should need to) refuel. Eating should be based on what your body needs, not what it doesn’t need (diet).</p>
<p>One thing that the article did not say was what these people ate for breakfast. A big bowl of cereal and a couple of low fat pastries will fill me up - for about an hour. An omelet with the same number of calories will definitely last much longer than that.</p>
<p>A breakfast (or brunch, or lunch, or dinner!) recipe that I came across today that I thought was appropriate for this thread - low carb, high protein and veggie!</p>
<p>[Recipe</a> Sweet ? Recipe for Broccoli, Ham, and Mozzarella Baked with Eggs](<a href=“http://recipesweet.net/recipe-for-broccoli-ham-and-mozzarella-baked-with-eggs/]Recipe”>http://recipesweet.net/recipe-for-broccoli-ham-and-mozzarella-baked-with-eggs/)</p>
<p>Re #154, that’s why I stopped eating oatmeal for breakfast. I was starved in an hour. I need protein in the morning. My breakfast is under 300 calories even on bacon days. (Well not the Saturday waffles, but the other days.)</p>
<p>A ham, broccoli and mozzarella frittata sounds tasty, and I’m broadminded, but I do think that nitpicky technical rules lawyers might say it wasn’t quite veggie. ;)</p>
<p>I can’t imagine not having breakfast. I would get sick and queasy if I didn’t eat something. I typically either do Greek yogurt and some fruit, or sometimes Special K and a banana, which I recognize will leave me a bit hungrier so I plan accordingly.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, are you a lark or an owl? Owl here. I do try to eat breakfast, but I’m never hungry in the morning and when I eat breakfast, I have to force it down. I can easily go until noon without eating and without wanting to eat.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m either, really.</p>
<p>I find it easy to stop eating at night, though. I can have dinner at 6 pm and when I’m done, I’m done. I’ve never been a late night eater, except if I’m pulling an all-nighter and need to keep up energy.</p>