Right around my birthday in mid October, I had to get a physical for the Foreign Service. When the lab results came back, I was told I had a cholesterol level of 202, which is on the wrong side of high.
Having always received a clean bill of health, I was shocked. But rather than wallow in my self-pity or take some magic pill, I decided to turn the shock into action (I hear that Lipitor has some less than desirable
side effects) and attacked this number with monastic devotion.
*Lipitor also served as the basis for one of the funniest lines morganobrien.com jr. had (which I can't print here), when talking to a certain Bill Laundre at il Cappucino in Sag Harbor, but I digress.
First, I read up on ways to address cholesterol. Checking
WebMD showed that poor diet, lack of exercise and genetics all contribute to raising your number. My family history doesn't have any cases of early heart disease and I was fairly active. The problem was I was eating like crap.
Ugly
I mean, I had Chinese food for lunch every day for like 2 months last summer (I just googled the place I ordered from, and found out it recently had
85 health inspection violations. While I'm not surprised, chalk up another lesson learned). Also, I had a couple Reece's peanut butter cup ice creams a night. Basically, I just didn't really care about what I put into my body and my results show I paid for it.
My research showed that I needed to alter my diet to include:
- Oatmeal
- Cinnamon
- Fruit and Veggies (like blueberries)
- Walnuts
- No Trans Fats
- Few, if any, red meats
- Olive Oil
- Omega 3's
*Interestingly, the cholesterol content on a nutrition label has little impact on raising or lowering your cholesterol.
Thankfully, I'm blessed with a wonderful wife who food shops for the family and was able to meet these dietary needs. Funny thing is she never asked why I wanted oatmeal or walnuts or blueberries. In fact, I didn't tell anyone about my cholesterol challenge, I chose to slay this demon on my own.
So every morning, I've downed the oatmeal. I cut out the Chinese food at lunch, replacing it with omega-3 rich Healthy Choice meals. I've snacked on walnuts and fruit and cut out steaks (except that time at Ruth's Chris in Maui.) I cheated on the diet once a week (Sunday) and that killed the urge throughout most of the following week. Soon, I was in a rhythm and had my diet in check.
As for fitness, over the course of the last 18 months, I've completed 5 triathlons and a handful of road races so I'd consider myself more active than the typical American. That said, I was willing to let workouts slide a little too often for my liking.
Most doctors recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least 4 days a week as part of your TLC plan to lower cholesterol. Moderate intensity means you have increased your heart rate and breathing, but can still carry on a conversation. Examples include easy jogging, brisk walking, bike riding, swimming, and water aerobics. Regular moderate exercise raises good HDL cholesterol. It may also lower bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
To get back on the wagon, I rededicated myself to getting 6 workouts a week (typically 3-4 running/2-3 lifting, incorporating abs, interval training, distance runs and upper and lower body-targeted weightlifting with a little swimming and biking to mix things up).
I really only deviated from my diet and workout regime during the holidays. That said, while eating poorly during Thanksgiving I still had some great runs and swims in Hawaii while resting a ton. And during Christmas, I ate a lot but was willing to forgive myself. It was Christmas after all...
All of this preparation brought me to Wednesday, Feb. 11. I had read that it takes 3-4 months for diet and exercise to kick in and lower my count. So while I happened upon my office's annual health fair, lo and behold there was an on-scene cholesterol exam. So I sat down, the medic pricked my finger, loaded the machine and we waited for the hand-held device to count down three minutes.
After the three minutes (for the last five seconds, the machine beeped), the screen read "Low". So I asked, "what the Hell does that mean?," and was informed that on this specific machine, "Low" meant I had a cholesterol count below 150. Apparently, I shaved more than 50 points off my previous reported cholesterol level!
I recognize that the machine might provide faulty readings (although the test before me registered a 196), so I might do well to get further lab work to get a more accurate reading. That said, I'm pretty thrilled with the results.
*And no, I'm not going to take one of those stress tests in the Times Square subway station that the Scientologists give.
Going forward, I plan to continue to eat well and workout hard. I've got a full dance card for the upcoming triathlon season and want to see if better fuel and more thorough training helps me perform this summer. Likewise, I don't want no high cholesterol. So be sure to return to morganobrien.com for frequent updates.
Labels: Fitness
