Two Three One.

My goal is two two five. (baby steps). . .

About fifteen months ago, I had annual blood work completed. When the results came back, I was called, and told that I had a cholesterol level of 360. Three sixty is what it should be if I am a man in his sixties who eats burgers and fries every day before his heart attack. This was a very alarming situation for me to be in. High cholesterol unfortunately runs in my family, so part of this was maybe hereditary, but obscenely high cholesterol like mine was just plain bad. Normal is under two hundred. Two thirty is high. Then there's 360.

So, I spent two months on Crestor. I don't know anyone else my age who has been placed on a statin drug. Many statins can cause liver damage and muscle weakening, and are considered highly toxic, pregnancy category X, etc. .

After two months, I was down to two thirty. This was super positive, but not a result of my attempts to get healthier, so I was not really comforted. I have spent the last year only consuming beef once a month. I try not to eat cheese unless it is considered dinner with a glass of wine. I greatly cut the amount of alcohol I was consuming, because my triglycerides were high, too, at the time the bloodwork results came back, and alcohol intake contributes to high triglyceride levels. I have lost and kept off the ten pounds from last session, and while I don't feel like I am at an ideal weight, I think I have done some positive things for myself in my attempts to have a 31 year old body and not a sixty year old male body.

I went to the doctor two weeks ago and just got these recent bloodwork results back. My cholesterol is 231. This is still high, but I am very pleased that it has essentially stayed level in the last year. Now I would like to get it lower, because that is just that much healthier. I have been eating oatmeal daily for about two weeks. This is getting seriously old, but I plan to stick to it until I have blood drawn again, hopefully for two months or so. I know that oatmeal alone is not a plan, but it is a good start. (I did just decline an offer for Pizza Hut lunch buffet, too.) I also plan to continue to work on all of my eating habits. I really try to limit beef, full fat dairy items, and I am trying to stay away from all fried items, as well. All of this however, is acceptable in moderation, and avoiding anything altogether is a recipe for failure, I think.

I don't enjoy going to the gym, and it is hard for me to make the time to go during the week. I have started speed walking for 2 miles every day, during work, while it is slow. This is about 30 minutes each afternoon, and it is five days a week, and this is as good as it gets for now. The goal here is just to not be so sedentary.

Anyway, I would really love to be able to get my cholesterol down under two hundred, but that is a two to three year assault, I think. My current goal is 225, because I think that a couple of months of perseverance can make that difference. Then I will reassess.

Do you know your cholesterol level? Maybe it is time to check.