Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

This week my cholesterol dropped a lot about 40, but not triglycerides. Chol: 124 Tri: 168. My diet was good, but exercise not so much. I didn't have any regular bread, but have had a lot of rye bread the last couple of days, maybe I need to drop that and see. I made a lentil loaf and then sandwiches with it. Chrisv

This week I was looking for high iron foods for a family member, and so made molasses cookies from Esseltyns book. They were very good, but of course have flour and sugar. Then on Mother's Day we went to a brunch. I thought there would be oatmeal, but it was a give-your-mom-a-heart-attack type of place. No oatmeal or cereal, no pancakes, just crepes with cheese inside. I had salad, fruit and lots of greasy potatoes and had a great time and didn't worry about it. The last part of the week I stuck to eating right.

My tri's are 130 and total chol 143. So not bad for this week.

Chrisv

This journal is turning into sort of a confessional, I was out of town and went to a restaurant hungry and unprepared, and had a seriously high fat lunch. They had sweet potato chips, and I have been trying baked sweet potato fries and chips at home. They are good, but not crisp. Probably haven't that high a %fat meal in 4 years.

So the only good thing was I then went to the gym and tried to burn off some of the sludge from my blood. It upset my stomach a little. One thing I am realizing from this journal is that every week seems to bring some food challenge: out of town, family meal, restaurant visit, social occasion. I also had to bring cookies to an event this week, and made more of Essletyn's molasses cookies. And we really don't do a lot of social things.

So this week, tri 137 and total 128. I was expecting worse.

The trend continues, went to a buffet-style banquet for DD. They had dry salad and potatoes and veggies with fat, could have been worse. We also went to an Indian restaurant. Now my weight is up by 1 lb. so I am eating low calorie density until it drops back down. Eating this way (McD) makes it easier, or maybe just possible to lose weight.

My numbers are holding, total 134, tri 125.

Since starting this journal, my triglycerides have stayed below 200, and mostly below 150 . Before journaling but on McD, they would be mostly above 150, and off and on above 200. Lower would be nice, but it is working.

Since starting the journal, my TC has been below 150 except 2 weeks. Before it was usually higher 160-170 typically. I did not expect this, all the changes were aimed at tri's, but it is a bonus.

I may change something, to see what happens, not sure what to change. First I wil go with lower cal density to keep my weight stable.

Chris

I didn't post last week, we had house guests. This week my TC/HDL ratio hit a new low, I guess summer gardening and hiking are good exercise. TC: 121 TRI: 119 I am still a pound over my usual weight, so I will keep my calorie density low and see what happens. Chrisv

I am so impressed with your progress. How are you able to get your cholesterol numbers checked so often?

Hi, there are several ways to get your blood numbers checked. If you can look online for labs near your location, there are some you can make an appointment for a blood test, and they give you the report, no doctors involved, not sure about the cost. They usually have a web site with the cost and different tests available.

I use a CardioChek meter, which you can buy on amazon and other online places for $80-100, additional test strips are a few dollars each.

Chrisv

Hi Chrisv,

I don't know if your the same or not but my trig's go up if I use any flour products like I've seen you mention doing in your journal. You might check and see if not eating the breads help you out.

Hi Rosey, bread does raise my tri, so I limit it. It would be interesting to see if cutting it out totally would lower tri significantly. The next two weeks are vacation, so not a good time for a new experiment.

This week, tc= 144 tri=107. I need to do some planning so I can make it through vacation with good results. Part of it will be camping, and I have some soup mixes from Harmony House.

Chrisv

After vacation my numbers were up a bit, TC 150 and Tri 193. So I thought some time at home and back to normal eating habits they would be down again. Instead they are up, TC 160 and Tri 240.

Frustrating because I don't know why it didn't drop again, I guess I should journal food for a while. Too much fruit? bread? The coffee I had when no tea was available? Too few veggies? That salad dressing? Also I am traveling the next three days and attending a wedding reception, which is going to be difficult to plan ahead for, the last one I attended was a buffet which helped.

Kind of back to square one, but I should be able to get back on track, it worked before. Chrisv

Back from the trip and my numbers are improved, TC 144 Tri 119. This is confusing, because I did eat a lot of bread this trip, my meals were:
oatmeal and a banana for brkfast
subway sandwich, portabella mushroom burger, rice and salad, black bean burger, veggie wrap, no-cheese pizza, pasta

So most lunches and dinners were restaurant meals with non-whole grain bread. I didn't snack much at all since there wasn't food around between meals. I don't know what made a difference, but nice to be back to better numbers. Chrisv

sounds like some good choices

I was visiting a relative and tried to keep my diet on track, but numbers are not great tri = 183 total = 152. Also I have gained a few pounds over the summer, and a corolary to "you are what you eat" is "you weigh what you eat ." Also I have mouth sores, something that has happened occasionally my whole life, but not lately, seems to be a b vitamin deficiency and maybe stress.

I just haven't been home for long blocks of time and there seem to be a lot of 'occasions.' I started journaling what I eat, but got sidetracked, I will be home this week. Chrisv