I recently had blood work done for insurance. I purposely lost 15 pounds for the weigh in. So, I’m 5’7 180 down from 194. I wear a 32" waist pant and measure 47 at the chest. I work out very heavy on average 4 times a week with mixed in interval training. I dont drink sodas and nearly every thing I eat is home made and I eat 5-6 times a day…
Egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast, left overs for lunch which is usualy a rice and meat something, protien after my WO, dinner, then another shake or a chicken salad at night before bed. now to get down to my questions. My cholesterol was 210 and my tryglicerides were 450…450!!! thats off the chart damn near.
Hi cholesterol runs in my family. so I’m not surprised at the 210 number. but 450??? that would make me think I eat horribly and I dont. hell, I dont even eat fast food. And if I do its chick-fil-a sandwich. The only thing I did was eat a bowl of ice cream the night before the test. But it was 18 hours earlier and that shouldnt be enough to sky rocket that number. I need help guys. that 450 number bothers me. Can any one give me advise??
My mother had high triglyceride levels and went low carb, high fiber for a while and the levels dropped DRAMATICALLY. Not saying that’s necessarily your solution, but it may help you.
We need to know how you eat on average, though, as NewDamage said.
Breakfast at 7:00
egg whites and whole wheat eng muffin or whole wheat eggo. If I dont eat eggs I eat oatmeal or sometime of cereal like fiber one.
Lunch at 11:00.
This is anything from a sandwich made on whole wheat or left overs from the night before. Most of the time there is a pasta or rice from that always with chicken or seafood. We grill or saute everything.
Work out around noon
About 1 ish I take 2 scoops of protein blend with a 1/2 serving of waxy maize or maltodextrin/dextrose mix
3:00 Pm I eat a oatmeal protien bar or the rest of my lunch if there is some.
7:00 dinner. As mentioned above its always a lean meat most of the time with rice or pasta. I try to limit my rice/pasta intake and eat a small portion. steamed veggies of somesort.
A couple of nights a week around 8:00 I will have desert. Like some ice cream or a couple of cookies. only a couple of times though.
10PM. either another protien shake with zero carbs/sugar or a salad with a can of chicken, a few chick peas, and some low fat dressing like newmans sesamie ginger. Lately I have been taking Labradas Lean Gold EFA’s all though about 1/2 the week I forget to take it.
10:30 bed.
Thats it. Thats my schedule 90% of the time. Is my diet truely off so much to make my triglicerides that bad?
a low carb (ie <100gm/day), combined with 20gms of soluble fiber a day, and 1 - 2 tbsp fish oil a day have done wonders for my triglyceride numbers as well as the rest of my cholesterol numbers.
[quote]koffea wrote:
a low carb (ie <100gm/day), combined with 20gms of soluble fiber a day, and 1 - 2 tbsp fish oil a day have done wonders for my triglyceride numbers as well as the rest of my cholesterol numbers.[/quote]
How do you keep your carbs that low and still have enough energy to function? I work full time (even though its a desk job) and have a wife and 2 kids at home. so my schedule is pretty busy until about 8:30 at night. I can cut the carbs some, but not so low I dont have energy.
That’s odd. Triglycerides levels are generally tied to obesity. I have extremely high cholesterol, but low triglycerides (same as my dad). My advice is to do everything you can with diet and exercise before you let them put you on meds.
Good healthy fats, plant sterols, niacin, fiber, moderate alcohol, cardio, ect.(not sure how much these effect triglyceride levels but they should lower total)
They put me on zetia at 22 years old. I lost strength, felt like crap, and my LDL went down, but so did my HDL (ratio didn’t change). Zetia screws with your liver just like the statins do so beware of it too.
I was on Niaspan for a while to, but it got to where I flushed every time I took it so I had to stop.
If you are really worried about the triglycerides it might be worth buying the book and looking into a high fat diet?
I think you can download a condensed version from his website for free. www.metabolicdiet.com
good luck
[quote]speedster00 wrote:
How do you keep your carbs that low and still have enough energy to function? I work full time (even though its a desk job) and have a wife and 2 kids at home. so my schedule is pretty busy until about 8:30 at night. I can cut the carbs some, but not so low I dont have energy.[/quote]
its hard at first but after about 2 or 3 weeks your body adapts fairly well. I still eat a lot of calories, its just that most of them come from healthy fats like olive oil.
I work 2 jobs, have a kid, and a pregnant wife. my energy levels are not through the roof perse, but i do ok. I do fast paced walks every morning and weight lift in the evening.
I agree with the recommendation for a very low carb/high fat/moderate protein diet with tons o’ fiber and FISH OIL.
Shoot for a balance of fats among polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated. Use extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, butter, fish oil, and fat from meats as your fat sources.
Steam the hell outta some broccoli and go to town.
Just as a personal testimony, I eat this way 95% of the time and my triglycerides continue to go DOWN as I get older, lingerng around 49 right now. (triglyceride levels, not age.)
My cholesterol was 280 and triglycerides 2,700 (should have had pancreatitis). Meds didn’t work (muscle soreness). A doctor told me to try lo-carb. Both numbers dropped, especially triglycerides. As far as energy - carbs make me crash so I feel better on a lo-carb diet (<100 g/day).
cholesterol and triglycerides are more related to INSULIN LEVELS then dietary fat. Try going on a low carb higher fat diet, but still get enough veggies, and fruits and your numbers will greatly normalize.
I did that for my mom and all her numbers are in a perfect range!
I read a post in a doctor’s blog that after a large weight loss, hdl often goes down and triglycerides can raise temporarily. They can take up to two months to stabilize. Here was the blog post:
[quote]cirerecrem wrote:
My cholesterol was 280 and triglycerides 2,700 (should have had pancreatitis). Meds didn’t work (muscle soreness). A doctor told me to try lo-carb. [/quote]
Well I just learned something - I would have thought that triglyceride number to be impossible and was going to suggest to the OP he talk with his (or another) doc and also get re-tested to make sure the numbers are accurate. Mistakes or bogus blood test results are not exactly unheard of, so that might still be worth doing.
the above post. Maybe keep eating well, maintain weight for a couple of months and get re0tested?
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
My advice is to do everything you can with diet and exercise before you let them put you on meds.
I was on Niaspan for a while to, but it got to where I flushed every time I took it so I had to stop.[/quote]
Meh…your doc could prescribe Lovaza for high Trigs…which is simply a pharmaceutical grade fish oil…if you have insurance, that means you get something that everyone here would universally agree is beneficial, for a small copay…look at the bright side!
Niaspan is for HDL…it is Niacin…(you mention Niacin is a good supp but bash niaspan…doesn’t make sense…but either way, not what the TS needs for Trigs)
