[FindingJackie]

I got some bad news at the doctor's office. I went in for a check up my blood pressure (which still SUCKS even with the recent med adjustment). Well, he realized he has not done any labs in alike 18 months. Because I sneakily ask for the last appt of the of day so I know he won't ask for blood.

They took the blood about a week and half ago (still have the bruise to show for it, too). Yesterday, I realized I had a message on the answering machine that my husband must have checked and saved but didn't tell me it was there. Well, it was the dr's office. My cholesterol is 346 and my triglycerides are 399. So, now I'm considering dumping Weight Watchers.. It's a good program but I don't think it will help get these numbers down.

I've been doing some research online for a new diet to deal with this numbers... I don't want any more meds and the doc said I get 3 months to pull them down or I get drugs..

I think I'm going to need some software to keep up with what I'm doing. Anyone got any suggestions?

Feel free to add any advise on the diet, too.. I need all the help I can get.

[gatsby]

i'm not sure what you want the software to do but if it's to track your cals and nutrients and all that then you can use fitday online for free, or you can order it to install. a few other people and i use a programme called dietpower that is very good.
they don't tell what to eat but give you the stats on what you did eat. or you could put in what you are planning on eating and see what that looks like.

good luck
gen

[Sheila53]

The cardiologist I saw told me to combine the South Beach Diet with Weight Watchers, which I am currently on, to help reduce the cholesterol and triglyceride numbers. I was pleasantly surprised when WW came out with the Core plan recently, which is a lot like combining South Beach with Weight Watchers. The goal is to get you eating healthy, unprocessed food and reduce the number of refined carbohydrates. I believe the refined carbs are the culprit in keeping your triglycerides high.

If you haven't tried the Core plan at WW, I encourage you to do so. The Core forum here at 3FC is a great resource for any questions you might have. I'd also be happy to answer any questions.

[artist]

Hi Jackie

Sorry you had bad news......at least you have some time now to do something about it. I was diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance/pre-diabetes last November......I lost around 30 lbs, and last May my blood sugar level was normal....so believe me it will be worth it!

I'm with Sheila on the basic approach......I eat lots of low-fat protein, fruit, veggies, and I only eat low GI carbs, and not a huge amount of those. I don't eat processed food, or 'junk' food, and I exercise regularly.

Most important thing is to find an approach which suits who you are, and suits your lifestyle. Actually what I do sounds a lot like the WW Core programme - there is a lot of healthy food which I eat freely, and some food which I eat sparingly as 'treats'. I eat every 3 hours or so, and I make sure I have plenty of healthy food in the house, and healthy snacks to hand when I am in the office/out and about. I don't journal, and I don't 'count' much, and I don't plan much either......which is probably a bit unusual, but it suits me!

You can do this, and it will be worth it!

[heather_dw]

ok, dumb question, but what is the difference between the carbs, and which foods containt he bad ones and which ones contain good carbs??

[nelie]

I'll second and third what others have said. The South Beach Diet (designed by a cardiologist) has good principles for lowering your cholesterol. Basically eating low saturated fat and low glycemic index foods and not eating processed foods. Also, exercising regularly will reduce your cholesterol. You also eat a lot of fiber, legumes and whole wheat/whole grain foods which are naturally cholesterol lowering items.

[lessofsarahtolove]

Wow, sounds like I'm on the South Beach Diet, too! Who knew?? It (and also that WW Core program) sounds exactly like what I do too! It's so obviously the healthiest way to eat, I can't imagine giving your body better fuel. Like Claire, I make sure to eat 5-6 times a day, and embrace low-glycemic carbs almost exclusively. I know I'll live like this for the rest of my life, and I'm very happy about that.

I'm really sorry to hear of your news, Jackie. In answer to your question regarding software, I'm with Gen about the benefits of DietPower -- this software is excellent. It's not just a vehicle for logging your foods and exercise; it is a strong nutritional resource which provides a lot of information on nutritional sources and more. I used FitDay, and I like this so much more. It's not free, however; the online version of FitDay is. DietPower is free to try for the first 2 weeks, then I think it's around $40-45 dollars. There really are a lot of great features, but I won't go into it all here in case you're not interested. If you want to know more, I'd be happy to tell you -- just let me know!

Best to you, Jackie -- let me know if I can be of any help.

[jiffypop]

heather.. the glycemic index is designed to give us an idea of how quickly [relatively] carbs affect blood sugar and how quickly it drops. the idea is to have a relatively slow increase followed by a relatively slow decrease, and to avoid spikes.

IN GENERAL [and all this is affected by lots of factors, including how you combine foods], the less processed the carb, the lower the glycemic index. another way to say it is that the more you have to chew it, the lower the GI.

this means fresh apples are lower GI than applesauce. brown rice over white rice. whole grain bread over mushy white bread. whole fruit not juice. processed carbs like chips literally melt in your mouth - the enzymes to digest these are actually IN YOUR MOUTH as well as your stomach. this means that they get into your blood fast, and cause insulin and glucose spikes.

so FOR ME.. this works out to eating fruit with a little cheese. wasa crackers with lf cheese and sliced cucumbers. adding salsa to everything [mostly because i think it's yummy]. and eating veggies with everything, since they're mostly fiber and water and slow the absorption of everything i eat.

but we all gotta find the right combination for ourselves.

[Jen]

I can't say as I know much about diet and heart disease specifically but I used to read Prevention magazine a lot and remember there was a Dr. Dean Ornish (I went on Yahoo to remember what his last name was) and he has a diet program that is for reducing heart disease. I'm sure you can find lots of info on the internet. It sounds like it might be very restrictive but if you have a 3 month deadline before you start meds you might want to do something like this to improve your cholesterol and triglycerides.

[nelie]

Just to elaborate a little more on heather's question...

Generally what are considered "good carbs" are ones that are absorbed into the body more slowly and thus are low on the glycemic index. The "bad carbs" are ones that are absorbed very quickly into the body and very high on the glycemic index, thus causing a huge spike in insulin which results in carb craving rollercoaster. They also tend to have no to little nutritional value. Fruits though are one of the things that have a higher glycemic index value but when mixed with a protein/fat (like low fat cheese) can have a lesser effect on the body.

I'll admit that I don't eat very many carbs but when I do eat them, they are the low glycemic index ones and I tend to eat them in the morning. I also eat 6 times a day to help keep my metabolism up.

[lessofsarahtolove]

Originally Posted by nelie

Fruits though are one of the things that have a higher glycemic index value but when mixed with a protein/fat (like low fat cheese) can have a lesser effect on the body.

Generally speaking, the tropical fruits are higher on the GI scale, although there are exceptions, like grapefruit. Also mixing with an acid like lemon or vinegar can also significantly slow down the absorption.

Also, the higher the fiber content of the carb, the better, as the fiber slows the absorption as well, ie. 100% stone ground whole wheat bread over white. Following a low-glycemic diet isn't as simple as cutting out all the white stuff, as al dente pasta and basmati rice are low-glycemic, for example.

I follow a low-glycemic (and low fat and low-sodium) diet because I want to ward off heart disease and diabetes; it is recommended for both diabetics and people who are at risk for heart disease, as well as folks who want to lose weight healthily. For more info on low GI, go here.

[heather_dw]

Jackie,

I have high blood pressure adn I am trying to baby step my way into this eating plan. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/ it is supposed to be good for your heart. I would definitely check it out. You can find more info if y ou do a search for Dash diet.

Thank you gals for all the carb info. Dangit, i thought i was doing good eating apples,..LOL

[nelie]

Heather, don't beat yourself up about apples. Apples are one of the best fruits to eat, they are full of vitamins and fiber. All fruits have natural sugars in them and some people, like myself, are following a diet plan that watch natural and added sugars very carefully. If you were given the choice of apples, apple sauce or apple juice, an apple would definitely be the best choice of the 3.

[heather_dw]

yeah, plus as hubby points out, its better than stuff i would have eaten in the past, and better than processed sugar.

[Goddess Jessica]

I'm going to go with Jen here. 3 months to reduce your cholestrol is a short amount of time. I have Reversing Heart Disease By Dr. Dean Ornish and it is an amazing book. The program is super strict but it's all about getting you out of danger as quickly as possible. Pop into the bookstore and just read the chapter about the medical sciene behind it and it'll convert you. It's all low-fat and low-protein, so you should go into it with that on your mind.