How much can you "fix" bad bloodwork numbers in 7 weeks?

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I just got the results of some bloodwork today, and they were not good... High cholesterol, high tryglycerides, and hi A1C.

I have a physical set up for mid December.

I asked for another lab slip to have it done again the week before my physical.

I admit that I have been lax on diet and exercise, but after hearing my numbers today, I was pretty scared. So, I will start right now, on changing those.

But can a difference be seen in 6 or 7 weeks?

 

[WDSearcher]

Yes ... absolutely. Cut down on fat grams, drink more water, limit sugar and add more fiber and you'll be amazed at how drastic of a change you can get in that amount of time. That's more than enough time to make a difference. (Add a little exercise in there too!)

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Yes ... absolutely. Cut down on fat grams, drink more water, limit sugar and add more fiber and you'll be amazed at how drastic of a change you can get in that amount of time. That's more than enough time to make a difference. (Add a little exercise in there too!)

I'm headed out for a 2 mile walk right now....

 

[WDSearcher]

Pace yourself, though. This first week you'll be all gung-ho and then by next week, you'll be tired of the new "regime". Ramp up slowly or it'll be 7 weeks later before you know it and you'll have done nothing! (Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything ... )

 

[minkydog]

Yes ... absolutely. Cut down on fat grams, drink more water, limit sugar and add more fiber and you'll be amazed at how drastic of a change you can get in that amount of time. That's more than enough time to make a difference. (Add a little exercise in there too!)

I just want to second this advice. You have a lot more control over those numbers than you might think. Even so, you may find that some medications are in order when you get rechecked. So don't be discouraged if that happens. I have high trigs and type 2 diabetes. With diet and medication I'm seen my triglycerides go from a critical 483 to a normal 143. Over the past year I've been limiting my carbs and calories and I've lost 55 lbs and gotten the blood sugar under control. Nothing like a life threatening chronic illlnes to make you get serious about your health in a hurry

 

[agnes!]

The key is consistency.

*Don't just walk 2 miles today, walk a mile (or even two!) every day.
*Don't just cut back on sweets this week, cut back until January 1st.
*Don't just kind-of/sort-of mentally keep track of what you eat. For a whole *week*, keep a food diary. Write down every single food or liquid that you ingest and write down the portion sizes. Writing down '1 serving oatmeal' is a lot different than writing down '1 large bowl of oatmeal with butter and honey'. It's amazing what keeping track will do to your intake!

Good luck - growing older is not for sissies!
agnes!

 

[Bilberry]

Cholesterol numbers can be changed quickly - within weeks. Sometimes though it can take up to a year, as with the case with HDL cholesterol. I've seen this cardiologist blog about time and cholesterol changes with his patients at:

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/

Keep in mind that cholesterol is just one theory as to the cause of heart disease. There are over 300 believed to be causes for the condition. Thought Dr Eades had a nice article the other week explaining how the cholesterol theory came into vogue and why it is one of the most popular ones today.

"You Bet Your Life: An Epilogue to the Cholesterol Story"

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/...ur-life-an-epilogue-to-the-cholesterol-story/

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

I just want to second this advice. You have a lot more control over those numbers than you might think. Even so, you may find that some medications are in order when you get rechecked. So don't be discouraged if that happens. I have high trigs and type 2 diabetes. With diet and medication I'm seen my triglycerides go from a critical 483 to a normal 143. Over the past year I've been limiting my carbs and calories and I've lost 55 lbs and gotten the blood sugar under control. Nothing like a life threatening chronic illlnes to make you get serious about your health in a hurry

I'm there... diabetic and on meds. Lately I have been eating way too many dumb carbs. White bread mostly.... and rice.

 

[okeydokey]

Too much Barbeque?

Yes you sure can make some real changes in 7 weeks. It's a hard time to do with the holidays coming, but it is doable. Good luck.

 

[kayla87]

Exercise! I think you'll be amazed at what adding exercise can do to your bloodwork results. Even just going from no exercise to 30 minutes of exercise a day can make a world of difference

I second the "pace yourself" advice for exercise as well as changes to your diet. Be conscientious about what you eat, but don't implement changes that you know you can't sustain over the long term.

 

[trip]

Did your Dr. recommend medicine for your high cholesterol?

 

[shortbun]

I'm headed out for a 2 mile walk right now....

That's great. A1C/sugar levels are often controllable by exersize, hydration with water and low glycemic diet. High fiber when you do eat carbs and low fat meats. Steel cut oatmeal in the morning satifies high fiber carbs and food that lowers cholesterol. My aunt works for an oncologist. When they have blood pressure patients on cancer meds, they have them substitute garlique
for the blood pressure meds. The exersize and weight loss will help all the stuff too. Even a 10 pound loss effects this stuff. If you are overweight, try to lose 10%, ie. if you weigh 200lbs, lose 20 as fast as you can.

 

[denisenh]

do not eat simple carbohydrates at all, at least not for a few months. bread, pasta, potato, sugar, rice. all of it makes people fat and unhealthy. this will help bring your triglycerides down as well as your blood sugars.

if you feel up to it, skip meat. no one needs it.

eat lots of fresh fruit and veggies. eat beans. use smart balance buttery spread. take fish oil capsules. eat nuts and seeds.

have oatmeal with cinnamon. cinnamon helps lower your blood sugar. high blood sugars kill you slowly over time by destroying you piece by piece.

eat fresh fruit with protein. like apple slices with walnuts...add cinnamon.

make big salads topped with greek olives and feta cheese (reasonable amount) and a healthy dressing with lots of flavor. add some avacado chunks. its so sexy and it will make you that way too.

if you need a bit of pasta have a few pieces with a nice homemade vegetable topping.

yesterday i sauteed garlic onions red green and yellow pepper in a bit of water added diced fresh tomatos olive oil and about 2 cups of shredded carrots and some spices. let it simmer for a long while until it looked good, added water and a bit more olive oil at some point. it was nice and thick with substance, not weak and runny.

put on some nice music while you cook and eat...make it a whole mind / body experience. spanish guitar, violin, nora jones, most instumentals are nice.
look out the window at the beautiful world. better yet, put one foot in front of the other and go right out the door and keep going until you are halfway there, then turn around and go back.
you don't need money and things... a few vegtables and good thoughts.

 

[tlbwriter]

Read the Oct 19 entry: http://julia.typepad.com/

 

[minkydog]

do not eat simple carbohydrates at all, at least not for a few months. bread, pasta, potato, sugar, rice. all of it makes people fat and unhealthy. this will help bring your triglycerides down as well as your blood sugars.

I was about to post the same thing. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta. I am a starchy carb eater. At least I *was*, until last year. I have plan carefully if I'm going to eat bread or dressing or a baked potato, even beans, because they'l run my sugar up. And oatmeal? No way. For me, old-fashioned oatmeal will put me in the high 190s for HOURS. IN fact, I can eat 1 cup Frosted mini-wheats and be in the 80s 2 hours later. Every body is different, OP. You might want to keep a food diary for a few weeks so you can see exactly what you're eating. Test your Blood sugar first thing in the morning, and 2hrs after every meal and snack so you can see how your blood sugar is reacting. Some foods will trigger you and while others may not. I try to have some protein with every meal because it helps me stay full feeling.

BEst of luck to you. IT's hard going into the holiday season, but you can do it. You don't have to give up everything, but you have to be mindful of what you're eating. Keep track of it. I think you'll be surprised (and empowered!) by what you find out.

 

[bumbershoot]

cinnamon helps lower your blood sugar

I liked denisenh's whole post, but that, especially. Just like all natural things, it might not work this well on everyone, but cinnamon is like a miracle-worker on hubby's blood sugar.


a1c looks back at the last, hmm, 3 months (or something like that) of blood sugar, so don't expect HUGE changes in that, but you can definitely start on it.

Hubby gets labwork done every few months, and it's really interesting watching everything change.


He gets his best results when he's tracking everything; he likes using sparkpeople.com for it. Liked the weight watchers online thing too, but that costs money and sparkpeople is free!

 

[tvguy]

I had blood work done on the orders of one doctor on a Monday, without fasting, and my cholesterol and blood sugar were high. My primary care doctor called the next day, Tuesday, and couldn't understand why this doctor ordered choleterol and blood sugar tests in the first place....and if he did, why he didn't have me fast for 12 hours.
I fasted for 12 hours, and blood drawn on Wednesday, and everything was normal. 2 days, and that big a difference.

 

[tlbwriter]

I had blood work done on the orders of one doctor on a Monday, without fasting, and my cholesterol and blood sugar were high. My primary care doctor called the next day, Tuesday, and couldn't understand why this doctor ordered choleterol and blood sugar tests in the first place....and if he did, why he didn't have me fast for 12 hours.
I fasted for 12 hours, and blood drawn on Wednesday, and everything was normal. 2 days, and that big a difference.

That's not because of diet, that's because fasting bloodwork is different from non-fasting bloodwork.

 

[Big Cuddly Bear]

Interestingly enough, I found out that I had actually lost 31 pounds in the last 14 months. I rejoined WW, and was shocked when they said I had lost 26 pounds ( that was Thursday )... I lost another 5 since then... Eating well, and walking every single day. Waled for an hour today.

On the big plus side, my blood sugars have already shown that they are coming down... like 50 points on average.

 

[Muushka]

I liked denisenh's whole post, but that, especially. Just like all natural things, it might not work this well on everyone, but cinnamon is like a miracle-worker on hubby's blood sugar.


a1c looks back at the last, hmm, 3 months (or something like that) of blood sugar, so don't expect HUGE changes in that, but you can definitely start on it.

Hubby gets labwork done every few months, and it's really interesting watching everything change.


He gets his best results when he's tracking everything; he likes using sparkpeople.com for it. Liked the weight watchers online thing too, but that costs money and sparkpeople is free!

Yup, A1C is how your body's blood sugar is over a 90 day period. So no big change in that.

I had blood work done on the orders of one doctor on a Monday, without fasting, and my cholesterol and blood sugar were high. My primary care doctor called the next day, Tuesday, and couldn't understand why this doctor ordered choleterol and blood sugar tests in the first place....and if he did, why he didn't have me fast for 12 hours.
I fasted for 12 hours, and blood drawn on Wednesday, and everything was normal. 2 days, and that big a difference.

Cholesterol does not need to be fasting, the triglycerides do. And the sugar too, as you mentioned.