Weigh-Ins are on MONDAYS - Updated July 3, 2017

Surgery Date: October 20, 2009:

Saturday, November 21, 2015

I Can't Figure Out My Recent Blood Test Results

The "why" behind why I do what I do each day.

The "why" behind why I make my careful food choices each day.

The "why" behind why I measure my food portions each day.

The "why" behind why I drink over 100 oz each day.

The "why" behind why I exercise and sweat each day.

What is the "why" I got my LapBand in the first place way back in 2009? MY HEALTH.

Sure, fitting into a certain clothing size is super fun.

Sure, being able to be active and present in my daily life is good. (And not napping at home and watching TV for hours, 'cuz that's what I used to do at 260 lbs. Missing out on life in general)

But for me, the main focus has always been my HEALTH.

Did you know that at 260 lbs, my doctor was talking to me about pre-diabetes and high cholesterol medications?

Every year since I got to my goal weight, I've been doing well with no signs of diabetes and all results at normal levels. Yay me.

So I was extremely surprised when last week I got the results of my annual blood test / lab work.

I really didn't think I could improve on anything from the year before.

Weight maintenance gets pretty boring.

Here are my results.

I have improved my cholesterol results dramatically this past year! Yellow highlights are my newest results from last week and hand written info is from last year's tests:

The only issue is...

I have NO IDEA how I did this.

I haven't changed my diet and food choices in the past few years.

I am doing the same exact type of workouts I've been doing for the past 3+ years.

The only thing that I could guess is that this is a LONG-TERM result of eating WAY less red meat and animal proteins (chicken, beef, pork, etc) over the last 3 years?  Sort of a long term affect of reduced meat eating?


Back story: Three years ago I began my a new job at a vegetarian foods company.

Since employees can buy these vegetarian food items at a reduced price and these vegetarian foods are pre-portioned/frozen/convenient, I have been eating them ALL THE TIME.

It is convenient and cheap for me. Tasty too. That's all.  No other reasons.

Therefore, I eat meat only 2 or 3 times a week in these past 3 years.  Not very often.

Could I now be seeing the long-term benefits of a reduced meat (semi-vegetarian) diet?

Here's what I do know: I am a cholesterol ROCK STAR.

5 comments:

  1. Here's the 2 things that you need to know about those results: your HDL is great and your triglycerides are going down. When this is happening, your health is improving. The other numbers? LDL, total cholesterol are virtually meaningless. Read "Cholesterol Clarity" by Jimmy Moore for the whole story. Great job!

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  2. Since cholesterol is only found in animal foods, I think your hypothesis makes sense. I have been a vegetarian for years, but I do eat dairy.

    You're doing great!

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  3. I have higher cholesterol, but the good kind. I reviewed my small ion mobility panel with my doc and I have super low risk based on my in-depth cholesterol lab work. I'm happy because having good cholesterol keeps me lean and happy during menopause. So does eating animal products- so we are all different. Good luck and as long as you are feeling great and the doc helps with assessing real risk, you can't go too wrong. :)

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    ReplyDelete