Discussion Board

Chol 205
TRIG 193
HDL 55
LDL 111

So with the bloodwork results it's sinking in that I am going to have to adhere much more closely to this WOE. I've pretty much cut out all oil at home but haven't been careful about it when eating out. Nuts are going to have to go, too. And no more coconut ginger soup

I can't remember if flax is recommended to help get cholesterol down? or tea? Or do those things raise it???

Must I cut out the 1/8 cup or less of almond milk with my morning tea because of the fat content?

Also need to walk everyday but omg the heat...gonna have to get up early.

Was telling a best friend about it all this afternoon and I got the usual, "oh, why would you restrict your diet more than you already do? You have to live for today, everyone is going to die of something, and you already eat better than anyone we know! YOu have to allow yourself some pleasures!"

And I realized in that moment that she didn't understand. That she had no concept of why I changed my diet in the first place, had no understanding about my being so sick for so long or why, could not fathom the pain that I have suffered that triggered me to gladly change my ways. It just made me feel really alone and terribly misunderstood.

Anyway, I want those numbers down by the next test Nov 1 so I'm going to have to put some time in with this. After I finish with my pity party I'm going to turn this around and just take it as a challenge!

Posting these MWL guidelines in hope that this will help me stay on track! Highlighted items are things I need to work on. Most difficult for me will be to restrict fruit to two servings a day. I like a lot of variety with fruit and have always used that as my go to snack or when I want something sweet, since I've never been much into cake and such. And darnit, mangos are awesome AND huge this year!

Program outlined in the MWL book, page 60.
1. Eliminate All Animal Foods
2. Eliminate All Oils
3. Eliminate All High Fat Plant Foods: Nuts, Nut Butters, Seeds, Seed Butters, Avocados, Coconut, & Olives.
4. Eliminate All Flour Products
5. Eat Whole Grains and Potatoes
6. Eat Legumes
7. Make Green & Yellow Vegetables One-Half to One-Third of your meal
8. Eat Uncooked Foods
9. Restrict Fresh Fruit to No More Than Two Servings a Day, and Avoid Dried Fruit, Fruit Puree, and Fruit Juice
10. Use Simple Sugar Sparingly

Oh, the mangoes and their siren song...I know what you mean!

Used to go through 3-4 mangoes a day last year, until I realized all that sugar was making me hurt more. I still stay away from them, 'cause I can't stop once I start!

Looks like you have an excellent handle on what to work on, I like how you outlined it in a color-coded list. So easy to refer back to.

I could be wrong, but I think either caffeine OR coffee raises cholesterol, so if it is the caffeine, then maybe the tea. On the other hand, if it is coffee, then scratch that.

I do know that when people are still losing weight from plant-based eating, even if it is just a few pounds, that cholesterol and triglycerides can go up, because your are literally eating up the fat you are burning up.

Blue & Nichole:

The fruit thing is the only hard thing for me and that I will not give up my now 2 tbsp of coconut creamer in my herbal coffee. Fruit is screaming take me home - it smells heavenly at the produce market I frequent, the farmers markets and in my kitchen! Melons, mangos, peaches and plums are juicy luscious right now, but I am being good and realized last night (luckily after I brushed my teeth for bed) I hadn't even had my second helping for the day. I hope I can keep the resolve because this is a hard one for me too!

Good idea on the highlighted MWL list!

hey girls! Dunno why but I somehow missed your posts on THursday! Thanks as always for the support!

I've been off the coffee for several weeks now. Back on tea. But just 1 or 2 cups, that's the only caffeine I get. I'm going to look online for a good organic decaf black tea, as I'm really not ready to give up that morning ritual! I think most of the tweaking needs to be done in the eating out, avocado, and nut departments. But it's doable. I just need to be more careful.

I drove to a nearby town this evening to go to a larger grocery for my weekly shopping. was excited to find some things not usually available to me at my home market--radicchio, boston lettuce, curly mustard greens, and some premium canned tomatoes on sale. Figs, too, as a treat, but did good as the only other fruit I bought were a few small bananas and also green apples for my morning green smoothie. I passed up pluots, plums, mangos, cherries, etc etc. The reduced fruit thing is going to take some adjusting too, I really have a hard time wrapping my mind around their not being good for my diet!

Oh, wait! I forgot I also got a watermelon! Because I found a recipe for tomato watermelon gazpacho that sounds too yummy to pass up!

Don't know why but I wandered into the meat section. Actually picked up a package of lamb chops and imagined how I would cook them! Then I got a vision in my mind of a white lamb, soft and fluffy. Set the package down and went directly to check out.

OMG, that soup sounds really interesting. If it comes out good, please would you post it?

I am proud of you for putting the lamb chops back!! My best friend is so close to being vegan. She did the whole camping trip vegan and while I was at her house cooked that way for us too - but she can not give up lamb or yogurt. Well, I guess I should also mention that her husband is the SADdest of them all - in all respects.

Anyway, I tired to get her to picture lambs frolicking in a springtime meadow. Trust me this image comes right out of my childhood when my grandparents were sheep ranching! It sure works for me - but no go for her.

Still -- good FOR YOU -- you are completely there - except you touched it

bahahha well at least I didn't smell it, or lick it

Funny i think it was this thread that I read yesterday that helped trigger that image in my mind!
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31260

Today was a disaster...started off badly b/c I didn't have the veggies prepared the night before for my green smoothie. That's always a recipe for disaster.

b- Amy's frozen vegan shepherd's pie (not as bad as it sounds @ 160 cal and 4 grams of fat, could be worse, right?!) 2 new potatoes w/ bbq sauce, 2 cups coffee w/ almond milk, 1 cup teecino
s- brown rice cake with low sugar jelly
l- veggie sushi, miso soup, green salad with asian dressing
d- fresh coconut

It all felt all wrong but I couldn't help myself. The good news is I DO know what feels RIGHT. So I hope tomorrow goes something like this:

green smoothie
oatmeal w/ flax and banana
sweet potato w/ broccoli
veggie stix
steamed veggies and brown rice

THAT is the kind of day that I KNOW makes me feel good!

Hey blue - Really for a disaster, according to you, it doesn't seem too bad at all. Not like sin food leapt out and devastated the whole program.

I almost had a disaster day too. I was prepared but had a bad day and was tired to boot. Driving by the local store I heard the B&J's calling me - but I hung tight and dashed home for a banana. I think I am going to make sure I carry fruit in the car on Mondays from now on!!!

I usually think of myself as NOT an emotional eater but today was whack from beginning to end and I almost let it derail me. Well it was until I put a ton of meditation on it and a good dinner

When did you start trying the teccino? I see that there was real coffee - but looks like you opted to correct course a little. Real coffee is a goners for me - it's the sleep disorder part - it just won't sleep with any and I do think it adds some to the pain load.

Good to see you plot out your game plan for tomorrow. I need to follow your good example - but I end up winging it. Then again everything is the same for me except dinner. I just don't have your adventurous talents in the kitchen......just yet

Last summer, I had my cholesterol tested and it had gone up again. This happens when I do not stick to the healthy plant-based diet. It spurred me into action and I lowered it 59 points in 12 weeks by making the following changes:

*Returned to no added oil, plant-based eating
*Completely quit the coffee (again)
*Quit having so many sweet desserts
*Dropped the last of the fatty foods like almonds and regular (vegan) salad dressing
*Concentrated on eating more potatoes, starches, and lots of vegetables
*Started exercising again

'Course after I got it down to a reasonable level, I slowly slipped off the path again (that darned slippery slope) and it went back up by about 20 points. That is currently in the process of being corrected (again ).

Blue, I agree with Michelle - not so much a disaster as a slight detour that you are fully aware of!

Blue and Michelle - it took me forever to get used to having to plan anything, forget about fudgin' EVERYTHING - not a natural-born planner, me! But it is true, it does help so much. I feel like a total control freak now, but I plan as much as I can in advance, even though I get ribbed a lot for it by family and friends.

Chile, how interesting to see how much dietary choices change cholesterol levels! I am going to mention this to my Mom.

Nicoles, mine seems to be extremely responsive to bad food. For instance, I know it was down to 184 last September. I got off track during the holidays and it lasted through spring. I started getting back on track in late spring. For June and July, I was eating very well with only a few exceptions: 1 bad meal out, 2 times going through the Costco sample stations and eating pretty much everything offered ( ), and a few soy decaf coffees.

When my cholesterol was tested recently, it was back up to 205. I thought it would have recovered faster from the winter/spring splurge but it didn't. Another difference is my exercise has been severely limited in the past 5-6 weeks by pain, so the exercise may be an important component of lowering it, too, at least for me.

I am back on track now and hope to soon get this (and the source of the pain) under control.

Michelle
I have tinkered here and there with Teecino, tried both the single serving bags and brewing the loose grind, but it is just missing something! I've been sleeping badly this week and that is when I want COFFEE, which just sets me up for bad sleep all over again, same as you.

I'm in a funk these days with work, so much going on there, too much to do. Seems I have a hard time concentrating on my diet when the stress piles up at work. So maybe I do have some emotional eating tendencies, not that I go gorge myself on anythng really bad but that I don't make the wisest choices that I know make me feel the best.

Chile
THANK YOU for sharing your experience with the bloodwork and letting me know that it is still possible to gain control of this with some diligence. For some reason in this funk I've got myself thinking that all has been for naught (sp?? lol) so why try harder. Even tho I know that isn't true! I made my PAIN go away with this WOE, if that was possible then anything is possible!!
What kind of pain are you having?? Has it been helped with diet?

Nicole, not a natural born planner here either! far from it! But learning from early mistakes, I have gotten so much better. And I do good for a while. Then I slip and fall and get all confused wondering why I can't find anything to eat! I try to keep structure, but being single and living alone, my schedule gets thrown out of whack easily. I need a plant-based boyfriend to cook for, or at least a SAD one to convert! But then I imagine there would be too many lentil loafs and bean patties w/ mashed taters and vegan gravy and such and my weight would go back up!

One of my best friends who is dealing with RA is coming to stay for a night or two this weekend. She's bought the Starch SOlution and is making plans to buy a Vitamix but hasn't made any changes yet. I'm looking forward to planning some very good meals to win her over to this WOE and wouldn't it be wonderful if I sent her home with a degree or two lower pain?

See, I just need a project lol

Glad to help inspire you to try again.

Re the pain, I'm not ready to share publicly yet. I will after I see if treatment (and diet) helps.