Cholesterol-Does diet + exercise work?

You know for the past 15 years or so when ever you hear the word Cholesterol you think low fat. A year ago my husband and I decided we needed to go to the doctor for a check up and try to get healthy. My husbands Cholesterol was out of this world. His results were as follows:

Total Cholesterol 380----normal is less then 200
HDL 25 ----normal greater than 40
LDL unable to compute because triglyceride level was too high
Triglycerides 1491........normal is less than 50

The doctor we chose believed that diet and exercise could change a lot of this so he took him off all processed foods for three months. He ate plenty of eggs, beef, poultry etc. Really the only thing he eliminated was processed foods. Three months later he went back and the following were his results

Total cholesterol 205
HDL 31
LDL-still unable to compute because triglyceride level was too high
Triglycerides-671

Well, it had been about a year. He hasn't been perfect, but had eliminated soda completely from his diet and ate little processed foods. He decided to become more disciplined again but wanted a starting point. He went to a different doctor last week. When he came home he spoke of his cholesterol problem being inherent and that he would probably just have to go on medication to control the triglycerides. We got the report in the mail today:

Total Cholesterol - 200
HDL 37
LDL 142
Triglycerides 104....

Doctor's comments: I'm absolutely amazed at how good this is looking. This shows just a tremendous improvement in your numbers. Keep up the good work. I was ready to put you on medications, but you have proved that it can be done with diet and exercise. Way to go!!

Triggers for Fat Burning Hormones

I heard a great presentation a few months ago about the connection between hormones and weight loss. There are a bunch of things which will trigger hormones which will cause weight gain and things you can do which will help you get into fat burning mode. I thought I'd share them with you.

Triggers for Fat Burning Hormones

• Don't skip meals - it keeps your metobolism going when you're eating regularly


• Don't reduce calories - your body will go into starvation mode and store fat


• Don't get hungry


• No sugar


• No refined grains


• Don't eat sugar and protein together


• No overeating


• No caffeine


• Do the right kind of exercise for your body type


• Lower your stress levels


• Get plenty of sleep and get to bed early


• Watch less TV -- it's stressful


• Aid liver function

Any of these things will help with weight loss efforts. Good luck to everyone!