A Different Kind of Diet Plan...

[apnic]

Hi WISHers -
I've been lurking around here for a bit and I'm wondering if I can get some help over here. My situation is a little different - here's the background:
I am 24 (will be 25 next month), my weight is well within normal range for my height, and for the most part I eat a healthy diet. However, for the second year in a row, my cholesterol screening has come back very high - my level is 309, in fact. It's up 15 points since last year. It's purely genetic - my dad had a heart attack at the age of 49 and his dad had his first heart attack in his 30s. So, it's a trait passed down through his side of the family. I'm on a three-month round of Pravachol and I'm really praying that it will help lower my levels, but I do know that if there isn't a difference after three months, my doctor will not continue the regimen.
Now here are my questions:
I'm trying very hard to stick to the high-fiber, low-sodium, low sat fat foods. It gets a bit tough sometimes, as I'm sure many of you can attest to that in your own diets. I'm just not feeling full and can't resist snacking - even though I snack on things like Whole Wheat & Bran Chex, Mini Wheats, air-popped popcorn and Jell-O. As a result, my calorie intake is too high for someone in my situation.
Is anyone else having to stick to a similar diet to lower your cholesterol? I'm a routine-oriented person, so having an actual mapped-out meal plan would work best for me. My doctor gave me general recommendations as far as what foods are good/bad, but nothing too specific. Is there any advice that any of you can give me? Also, I will be at WDW next week - any advice on the counter/quick stop places to eat? I won't be eating in real restaurants (except California Grill - my first time) so I'll need to figure out what's best for me from the counter-service places.
Thank you so much - it's so nice to see everyone supportive of each other - you guys and gals have a really great thing going on over here.
-AP

 

[MelanieC]

I am on Weight Watchers, and I agree that if I don't choose the right foods I can be hungry all the time. You really need to research which foods that are low in fat, high in fiber and allow you to eat a ton of them for the calories. For instance beans are excellent, they fill you up etc. What foods give you the most bang for your buck.

The nice thing about WW's is that it allows you to see how many points you have for your day's worth of food. It's up to you to spend those points wisely. The more filling something is, the better off I am.

Also, have you talked to your doctor about carbs and how they can affect your cholesterol? I have been reading alot lately, and some of the principles of the South Beach Diet could help you. South Beach focuses on Low fat protien and cheeses.
Carbs can affect the way you crave certain foods. If you eat alot of carbs to stay away from your fats you may be causing your body to crave food all day long, and thereby never really allowing yourself to fill full. By learning what foods to eat with the carbs, you can allow your body to digest your carbs slower and keep you fuller longer. Also, by not eating carbs for snacks, it keeps your body digesting it longer and allowing you not to crave things in between meals. Keeping your blood sugar more even all day long. You can still get tons of carbs from veggies and fruit. Limit your processed foods.
Also, watch your processed products that you buy for words in the ingredients like partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated. They are taking fats and adding atoms to make them firm at room temperature so the product lasts longer. These are your Transfats (the ones in the news lately). These are worse than saturated fats. They can be in products that even say 0 saturated fats.

Hope some of this can help. I think that reading and reading till you understand why and how your food affects your cholesterol is a good thing. Good luck!

Melanie

 

[LKS]

I agree that you might want to read the South Beach Diet book. It's by cardiologist Agatson and he developed it primarily to help his patients improve their blood chemistry, and supposedly only later became a weight loss trend. My cholesterol tends to be on the high side too, which is why I prefer this approach for dieting. We'll see if it helps the next time I donate blood (they always check total cholesterol at our local blood bank.)

 

[apnic]

I never payed attention to my carb intake - thank you very much for that advice. I didn't even tink about the carb load in my snacks or otherwise, so that's definitely research that I will be doing today.
I do try to stick to low cal foods - I can eat an entire bowl of corn, spinach, or broccoli for lunch or dinner and the calorie count doesn't even reach 100. But I think that gives me room for more snacks, since I have more calories to "work with" after eating dinner.
Thank you so much for your help so far - it's exactly why I chose to ask you guys and gals!
-AP

 

[TigH]

Just wanted to say good luck to you! I wish I had some good advice for you, but I have no idea how to handle the cholesterol deal! Sounds like you got some great words of wisdom already though! Good luck and I hope you are able to get this under control and stay healthy!!!

 

[dizneegirl]

You might also want to take a look at the book "Atkins for Life". It's the maintenance phase of the Atkins diet... a low-carb lifestyle you can really live with.

I would agree that lowering your carbs could probably help your cholesterol levels a lot.

 

[jfulcer]

Considering the fact I would say you life really depends on it, it might be good to see a dietician about your specific needs. My dad has some problems with Diabetes, etc.. and his doctor referred him to a dietician to help him with his diet. Insurance even covered it. It helped him to figure out what kinda of foods he could and could not eat.

Good luck!

 

[apnic]

Great advice - I am trying my best to "wing it" since I don't have health insurance (thank you very much company layoffs ) but perhaps I could see what is offered at some local community centers or libraries. A dietician would be best for specific meal plans. I know that I have to stay away from red meats and eggs and to dramatically increase my fish intake - good thing I like fish.
I really do appreciate all of your help - it really is good to see a group working together and being there for each other the way that you guys and gals are.
-AP