High, high, high | Pad patter 3.1

[IntenseMagic]

I'm starting this one today because I need a little advice and maybe some recommendations . I had a wellness check done a couple of weeks ago and while I went in feeling pretty good about myself, I came out feeling old, fat, and about to die of a heart attack. I'm not overweight, even though I would like to lose about 10 pounds personally, but they told me that my body fat percentage is a little high and I need to turn some of that in to muscle. My blood pressure is great, but my cholesterol and triglycerides were bad. I have really been watching what I eat since then, cut out a lot of carbs, haven't had a soda for about 3 weeks, and started back at the gym. I've lost 4 pounds, but I'm struggling with really good lunch options. I'm mostly doing spinach salads and tuna but I know it's going to get really old. I've looked at tons of stuff online and I'm not really getting anywhere.

Soooo, does anyone have any ideas for me? Anyone else struggle with this??

 

[Tree City]

Oof, that was probably a shock, which isn't fun, especially if you went in thinking you were on the right track!

I've been taking Greek yogurt to work. There are no-sugar-added options. (TBH I have to add some fruit to those, but at least that's "real" sugar instead of processed sugar.) What about chicken and cheese? So you're getting protein (and some fat) but not a lot of carbs? DH grills chicken and I kind of shred it and eat it with a fork and some cheese cubes. It's easy to eat at my desk while grading/doing work.

Good luck finding what works for you!

 

[carrie1977]

Salad get old for me pretty quickly. I have to have a little bit of variety. Here are some of the things I take to work:

1. Costco brand Tortilla Soup...it's pretty tasty. I add some pico de gallo, avocado and brown rice (sometimes).
2. Hard-boiled eggs mixed with 100 calorie pack guacamole - egg salad sandwich
3. greek yogurt with fresh fruit
4. Skinnytaste Turkey Chili
5. Aidell's Teriyaki & Pineapple meatballs (from Costco), brown rice and broccoli

 

[HavaDrPepper]

First off, do these things for you, not because someone makes you feel old, fat and about to die. No suggestions on food though except eat in moderation. I lost 20 pounds once just by working out with a trainer. I did cut down on some foods but I did not cut out those things that everyone said I should. Never gave up my pop. Regular Dr Pepper, never diet either.

Now, my experience with BMI. It is not a true indicator because 95% of the people fall into a range of not normal. It wants people to be skinnier than they need to be.

Cholesterol/triglycerides. Oh boy, I have a long history here. Triglycerides is the easiest one to correct. I once ate several containers of candy pumpkins (it was in October) the weekend before a blood test. Guess what was extremely high. Another time I had eaten a meal/leftovers that I had fixed earlier in the week. It was a potato meal and I tend to eat them every day until they are gone since I am the only one in the house and I don't want them to go bad. Potatoes are starch which break down into sugar in your system. Guess what was high. I found not overeating sugars the week before a blood test will keep the triglycerides at good levels.

Now for the cholesterol. I have had what the "experts" consider high numbers for 30 years. I was not on medicine for at least 7 to 10 of those years. When I did finally go on medication, my numbers did not come down. The doctor had to keep upping my dosage in order to get the numbers into what they consider acceptable range. Guess what. I would get sick all the time not to mention the 20 side effects that showed up from the meds. I got tired of it and went off the meds without the doctor's approval since she wouldn't lower my dosage. Yes, my numbers have gone up, but the side effects have gone away and I don't get sick like I used to. Yes, my cholesterol is over 200 but for me that is where it needs to be. 145 is too low.

I do have a heart issue but then there is heart history in my family. Both grandparents on my father's side had heart issues. My father had heart surgery in 2002 and died of a heart attack in 2016. Many of his siblings have heart issues and several died of heart attacks. I have lots of cousins with heart issues. So I see a cardiologist. Have been for 13 years. Every single one of my EKG's has been normal. I had a heart cath and everything looks fine. But my heart spasmed while he was doing it. I am on a medication to keep that under control and am doing fine. For right now, he is not concerned about my cholesterol numbers being where they are.

So in the long run, don't let them try to scare you because some of the changes they want you to make might just be worse for you personally. We aren't all the same and our bodies aren't all the same yet they try to fit us all into the same box.

(Now off my soapbox). Good luck with whatever you do decide to do for yourself!

 

[rdjrneace]

My suggestion for lunches:

Tuna salad
chicken salad
Greek yogurt
Left over from supper night before

I am also going through some decisions for improving my life and the one thing that I was told is to make sure you get 90 grams of protein a day to keep your body healthy. Don't cut out everything but eat in moderation.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

Oh, Jan, I can SO relate! They always indicate that my BMI is too high. However, I've never had a doctor tell me that -it's just part of the "automatic printout" that the "government" is pushing now. My DD is a MA and she tells me not to worry about it. Again, the doctor has never said anything negative about my BMI. What it does is make you feel old and fat and out of shape.

 

[IntenseMagic]

Oof, that was probably a shock, which isn't fun, especially if you went in thinking you were on the right track!

I've been taking Greek yogurt to work. There are no-sugar-added options. (TBH I have to add some fruit to those, but at least that's "real" sugar instead of processed sugar.) What about chicken and cheese? So you're getting protein (and some fat) but not a lot of carbs? DH grills chicken and I kind of shred it and eat it with a fork and some cheese cubes. It's easy to eat at my desk while grading/doing work.

Good luck finding what works for you!

Thanks, Sara. I picked up some Greek yogurt at work today and some chicken. I am so bad at meal prep. I think that's part of my problem lol. I do really like cheese and chicken, so that's a great option!

 

[IntenseMagic]

Salad get old for me pretty quickly. I have to have a little bit of variety. Here are some of the things I take to work:

1. Costco brand Tortilla Soup...it's pretty tasty. I add some pico de gallo, avocado and brown rice (sometimes).
2. Hard-boiled eggs mixed with 100 calorie pack guacamole - egg salad sandwich
3. greek yogurt with fresh fruit
4. Skinnytaste Turkey Chili
5. Aidell's Teriyaki & Pineapple meatballs (from Costco), brown rice and broccoli

Same here with the salads.
Thanks so much for those fabulous ideas! I'm going to add them all to my list! Maybe I'll get good at this someday haha

 

[IntenseMagic]

First off, do these things for you, not because someone makes you feel old, fat and about to die. No suggestions on food though except eat in moderation. I lost 20 pounds once just by working out with a trainer. I did cut down on some foods but I did not cut out those things that everyone said I should. Never gave up my pop. Regular Dr Pepper, never diet either.

Now, my experience with BMI. It is not a true indicator because 95% of the people fall into a range of not normal. It wants people to be skinnier than they need to be.

Cholesterol/triglycerides. Oh boy, I have a long history here. Triglycerides is the easiest one to correct. I once ate several containers of candy pumpkins (it was in October) the weekend before a blood test. Guess what was extremely high. Another time I had eaten a meal/leftovers that I had fixed earlier in the week. It was a potato meal and I tend to eat them every day until they are gone since I am the only one in the house and I don't want them to go bad. Potatoes are starch which break down into sugar in your system. Guess what was high. I found not overeating sugars the week before a blood test will keep the triglycerides at good levels.

Now for the cholesterol. I have had what the "experts" consider high numbers for 30 years. I was not on medicine for at least 7 to 10 of those years. When I did finally go on medication, my numbers did not come down. The doctor had to keep upping my dosage in order to get the numbers into what they consider acceptable range. Guess what. I would get sick all the time not to mention the 20 side effects that showed up from the meds. I got tired of it and went off the meds without the doctor's approval since she wouldn't lower my dosage. Yes, my numbers have gone up, but the side effects have gone away and I don't get sick like I used to. Yes, my cholesterol is over 200 but for me that is where it needs to be. 145 is too low.

I do have a heart issue but then there is heart history in my family. Both grandparents on my father's side had heart issues. My father had heart surgery in 2002 and died of a heart attack in 2016. Many of his siblings have heart issues and several died of heart attacks. I have lots of cousins with heart issues. So I see a cardiologist. Have been for 13 years. Every single one of my EKG's has been normal. I had a heart cath and everything looks fine. But my heart spasmed while he was doing it. I am on a medication to keep that under control and am doing fine. For right now, he is not concerned about my cholesterol numbers being where they are.

So in the long run, don't let them try to scare you because some of the changes they want you to make might just be worse for you personally. We aren't all the same and our bodies aren't all the same yet they try to fit us all into the same box.

(Now off my soapbox). Good luck with whatever you do decide to do for yourself!

I really do appreciate your soapbox! I really do know I'm not fat and it kind of tickled me a little that the dude would look at 120 pound me and tell me to lose weight.

I will say that the day I had the test I had a Venti Starbucks that morning and a carb-fest lunch including spaghetti and pasta salad right before the test, so I do take it with a grain of salt. I think my concern came from how high the triglycerides were.

I'd really like to avoid meds, so I guess that's why I'd like to try to work on my diet and exercise first. I've always been a really terrible eater. Too much bread, pasta, etc...it has been my staple for almost every meal. So I will admit that I did need to work on it anyway. I'm giving myself grace and allowing myself stuff I like here and there, just not to the extreme I was. My cholesterol has always been high, even in my much younger days. I'm trying to look at it as a push toward just being healthier overall.

Thank you so much for all your valuable information. I really appreciate it!!

 

[IntenseMagic]

My suggestion for lunches:

Tuna salad
chicken salad
Greek yogurt
Left over from supper night before

I am also going through some decisions for improving my life and the one thing that I was told is to make sure you get 90 grams of protein a day to keep your body healthy. Don't cut out everything but eat in moderation.

Protein is where I'm struggling the most, I think. I do great with veggies and fruit for snacks, but getting in enough protein has been more difficult. Thanks for those great ideas! I do leftovers fairly often because I am a terrible meal prepper and that's easy haha.

 

[IntenseMagic]

Oh, Jan, I can SO relate! They always indicate that my BMI is too high. However, I've never had a doctor tell me that -it's just part of the "automatic printout" that the "government" is pushing now. My DD is a MA and she tells me not to worry about it. Again, the doctor has never said anything negative about my BMI. What it does is make you feel old and fat and out of shape.

Yep...stupid machine and it's printout lol
Work started this wellness thing, which is great because it pays cash for doing all these healthy things, but I could have done with out the body scanner thing.

 

[jesskab]

I boil eggs & keep a shaker of Everything but the Bagel at work. 2 eggs in the morning help me a lot! I buy protein every week, marinate, & freeze. Whatever I have, I toss it in the Instant Pot for 15min & dinner is served. Acovado turkey roll-ups & turkey meatballs are my fave go-tos. Good luck my dear. I'm battling sugar numbers at the moment.

 

[AnneofAlamo]

red meats are my killer, I love a steak
my cholesterol numbers are high, no heart disease in my family on either side.
skin cancer and liver (from alcohol, and I don't drink) is what is predominate.
The meds especially Statin for high cholesterol is horrible, bad side effects and causes joint pains.

you can eat salads and chicken for 2 weeks, have another blood test run, and it will be lower...it is that sensitive.

hugs, I love and hate doctors.
and growing old sucks! lbhahaha

 

[bestcee]

Protein is where I'm struggling the most, I think.

I gave up on trying to get protein through food only. That's partially because I can't do fish.

I make myself a smoothie with a protein shake as the base, add fruits, spinach, non-fat Greek yogurt (only no sugar option at my store!), and depending on the fruit I throw in some peanut butter. I can usually get a decent hit of protein, around 60g, from this mashup. Then, chicken, cheese, nuts, etc later makes up the difference to bring me close to my protein goal of 90g.

Beans don't add a ton of protein, but I've started mixing white beans in with pasta dishes. It ups the protein, and the white beans are not noticeable.

Do you like eggs? Homemade egg salad sandwiches are yummy. And pretty easy if you wanted to prep ahead on them. Same with tuna salad sandwiches.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

I thought of something else during my years of experience with cholesterol...

Try being a lover of scrambled eggs and hard boiled eggs during the time period when you were told not to eat them because they weren't good for you and supposedly raised your cholesterol! Thankfully, that has been debunked and I can eat my eggs without feeling guilty. They also have protein, another plus.

@AnneofAlamo, I'm with you. I love a good steak. Favorite meal for me... prime rib and baked potato with a bowl of applesauce instead of salad.

 

[bcgal00]

If you can do a bit of prep, you can make salad in a jar recipes. Store them in the fridge for the week. There are all kinds of variations. Make low carb muffins and loaves. Freeze them in portions. Easy things to fill you up are nuts, plain Greek yogurt or coconut yogurt you can sweeten yourself with stevia, monk fruit, honey, just don’t use white sugar, can add low carb granola, low sugar jam or fruit. Smoothies with protein powder, fruit, almond milk and I add collagen and mct oil but those are optional.

 

[littlekiwi]

Not that I’m doing it now but my plan once I’m working is meal prep on Sunday’s a couple of salads, possibly a soup depending on the weather and an easy breakfast option as well as some snacks. I know if I’m not prepared I’ll waste $$$ and make bad choices.

 

[cookingmylife]

I will say that the day I had the test I had a Venti Starbucks that morning and a carb-fest lunch including spaghetti and pasta salad right before the test, so I do take it with a grain of salt.

I learned this the hard way myself. What you eat in the day or so before these blood tests really matters. I have a friend who does meal prep every sunday and she really has gotten herself healthy. She shops at TraderJoe's each Saturday with a plan and preps on Sunday. She is willing to eat the same lunch all week but it's mostly brown rice, a protein and a veggie and/or salad. We have both found that the serious cutting back or out of most 'whites' - bread, rice and ...gasp..sugar really affect the cholesterol as well as the potential diabetes. It isn't the eggs it's the plain white bread that can get you.

btw, as a teacher I bet you get a lot of exercise up and down stairs and hallways. I notice that the days I volunteer at an elem school. We are all getting older, we may be rounder than we were but don't insult yourself with old, fat and ready to die. You just might have some habit tweaking to do.

 

[IntenseMagic]

I boil eggs & keep a shaker of Everything but the Bagel at work. 2 eggs in the morning help me a lot! I buy protein every week, marinate, & freeze. Whatever I have, I toss it in the Instant Pot for 15min & dinner is served. Acovado turkey roll-ups & turkey meatballs are my fave go-tos. Good luck my dear. I'm battling sugar numbers at the moment.

Boiled eggs are my go-to every morning. Used to be with a slice of toast, but I've cut that out and started having grapefruit with them instead. I do like turkey rolls, just without the avocado...I'm not a fan, but that was one thing they told me I should eat. Maybe I need to give it another chance. Fortunately, my sugar was ok lol
Thanks, Jess!!

 

[IntenseMagic]

red meats are my killer, I love a steak
my cholesterol numbers are high, no heart disease in my family on either side.
skin cancer and liver (from alcohol, and I don't drink) is what is predominate.
The meds especially Statin for high cholesterol is horrible, bad side effects and causes joint pains.

you can eat salads and chicken for 2 weeks, have another blood test run, and it will be lower...it is that sensitive.

hugs, I love and hate doctors.
and growing old sucks! lbhahaha

Yes. Growing old does indeed suck! LOL And yeah, I don't wanna do meds. I want to do this on my own. I don't eat a lot of red meat to begin with, just every now and then, but pasta and bread are my killers. They call me from miles away