[65X65]

Originally Posted by JLUS

Wonder if any of you who have high cholesterol have come off your meds with success on IP?

I take Lipitor (started about 3 years ago) and my number since then has always been between 105 and 120. (before I was around 220).

Two months into IP I decided to stop taking Lipitor as I have read a great deal about how statins can elevate blood sugars. I am Type II Diabetic and am looking to IP to make great strides in that area. After a few month on IP and 20 lbs dropped I still didn’t see my sugars down where I thought they would be which is why I decided to take out the Lipitor. Since then, my blood sugars before meals are regularly in the low 90s which I am happy with.

My thought in stopping the med was that on IP, I am not eating any dairy and only lean meats, so there shouldn’t be much of an issue with cholesterol from what I am eating. I eat lean beef about 2x week and otherwise stick to chicken and pork and salmon maybe every 10 days.

My bloodwork with the medication and after 1 month on IP was 115 (where it always is), but after 4 months on IP (and 2+ months w/o medication) my cholesterol came in at 198! I was QUITE surprised! I will go back on the meds and watch my sugars. Hopefully now that I am down 30+, they will remain in the lower range regardless of the med.

I suppose I could be one of those people who naturally have high cholesterol, not just from what I eat, but as part of my genetics (family members also had high cholesterol).

Any thoughts or stories to share??

Hi Laurie,
Few thoughts on the cholesterol for you, since you asked. It's great you have read and had concerns about the effect statins have on your blood glucose. However; elevated cholesterol is not just a reflection of your current diet. There are some strong genetic components and your own family history as you indicated. If some of them have elevated cholesterol and are even normal weight you may have a family predisposition. Compound that tendency with a diet that is not cardiac friendly and even a slight weight problem... you create a really bad picture. Stopping any Rx with out medical advice and something like lipitor with out proper guidance is risky, so am glad you had it checked and got back on track fairly fast! There is also some evidence in the literature that statins may actually do the same thing in the brain and head for those blood vessels that it does for the heart. Eliminates plaque buildup! That indicates some lessening of the tendency for alzheimers. A bonus! Two for one!! Get your arteries and blood vessels under control with this and you are doing yourself and your family an act of love and caring for the future. We have a son in law (40+) who is a long distance runner and his chol level was well over 250 before starting statins. Yet, he has always been thin, very diet and health conscious and a daily runner (7-10 miles) since his early teens. He really had a hard time mentally getting over the hump to start taking Rx because he thought of himself as so super healthy and fit, but now has two babies age 2 and 6 months...so he got his mind over the hump pretty fast thinking about their young family! Let your Dr know you'd like to not be overly dependent on pills, and reduce or eliminate any meds you can...or you are at least interested in going to a less aggressive treatment plan if the weight loss impacts things positively enough that it is safe to do so. Depending on what you take it will require monitoring and some tweaking by your physician to make sure the doses are right. Another reason we all need to keep our Docs in the loop on what is happening health-wise once we start to take control of our weight. There are other factors too that are best if taken into account by your Dr...a whole lot of things make up an individual total cholesterol picture:triglycerides, HDL, LDL VLD.
In good health, Best wishes...and congratulations for WANTING to be more in control!

[kileymed13]

Originally Posted by Balanced Life

Hi! I am new to IP but my husban does it and has done well. Over the last 4-5 years I have lost over 60 lbs and am now down to the last 20. I am extremely active ( runner, triathlete) but have to have rotator cuff surgery in a few weeks. I hope to use IP over the next 6+ weeks to prep for my surgery and during recovery since I cannot be as active as I normally would be during that time. I do have a soy allergy, so I am a bit anxious to see how it will pan out. Officially starting Monday but had Chicken Pottage for lunch and a bar for a snack today. Lean protein and veggies is always my dinner so no big change there. I also seem to be I tolerant of Splenda but planning on tolerating it for 6 weeks. Hoping to at least jump start the last 20 lbs. Whenever I google IP I get this website so it seems like a good idea to join.

My husband started IP when he tore his Achilles in February. He is also a triathlete and was hoping to do quite a few races this year. I would make sure you speak with your surgeon, his had no issue at all with him staying on IP before and after. He lost the difficult last 15 and has recovered well. He did decrease his exercise a ton while in recovery and as he increased exercise he increased his intake and eventually came off IP but stayed on a ketogenic diet.

Best of luck, I hope everything goes well. It can be difficult to "slow down" when you are used to pushing your body. Take care of yourself and use this time to fine tune things. There is a lot of info out there on high performance athletes and ketogenic diets (not IP), it may be worth looking in to.

[lisa32989]

IP was originally designed for off-season and injured athletes.

Great book on ketosis & exercise
The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance by Volek and Phinney

Low carb diets are fantastic for reducing inflammation and would AID healing!
Unfortunately, most MDs don't really understand low carb

[SuzieV]

Originally Posted by lisa32989

IP was originally designed for off-season and injured athletes.

Great book on ketosis & exercise
The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance by Volek and Phinney

Low carb diets are fantastic for reducing inflammation and would AID healing!
Unfortunately, most MDs don't really understand low carb

Lisa, you amaze me with all your knowledge! Can't wait to read the book mentioned above.

[lisa32989]

Originally Posted by SuzieV

Lisa, you amaze me with all your knowledge! Can't wait to read the book mentioned above.

I've learned from the best.
I've read many books and websites from low carb experts, plus there have been many smart cookies here!

[Alamo girl]

I know from personal experience that I have less inflammation on this program than on any other. Being a veteran of 20+ surgeries to rebuild a body that was mangled by a boat prop, I am amazed at how much better my joints and muscles feel eating in this manner.

[dak1lls]

Originally Posted by lisa32989

Hangdog
Our friends are our family of choice. In some ways a loss like this can be MORE painful. Be sure to take care of you! You know she's watching and wishes only health and happiness for you.

Lisa, what a perfect way to sum up what friends mean to us. My best friend and i referred to one another as sisters and said that we were better than blood family because we had picked one another.

Hangdog, i lost my best friend on February 17th. The loss is devastating to me. I am utterly heartbroken. She had battled cancer for just under a year and a half, but declined rapidly in a matter of days, very suddenly. I tear up at the thought of her and still haven't reached a point where i can think of her without doing so. I was truly blessed to have her as my friend for the 30 years I knew her. My thoughts are with you. I also feel my friend is with me every day and "talk" to her often.

Good luck to everyone for the remainder of the weekend on staying OP!

[JLUS]

65x65 THANK YOU for your very thoughtful response. I think I pretty much have my proof that my cholesterol numbers are more a product of my genetics than my diet, though my new and healthier ways are WAY better for me for many other reasons too!! (My numbgers for HDL/LDL and Triglicerides are good ones too when I keep my total cholesterol down and were even still good when off the meds!)

Back on the Lipitor and will continue to watch my blood sugar and hope to see it eeek its way down even a little more!

Thanks!

[Croschick]

Starting week 3, so far so good. Started to get discouraged by all the posts of people losing +8 lbs in a week. Week 1, lost 3. Week 2, lost 1.5. Better to lose than gain. Know I can't rush it but am wondering if I am not following program correctly. Will discuss with coach on Fri WI.

[Lolo70]

Originally Posted by JLUS

Wonder if any of you who have high cholesterol have come off your meds with success on IP?

I take Lipitor (started about 3 years ago) and my number since then has always been between 105 and 120. (before I was around 220).

Two months into IP I decided to stop taking Lipitor as I have read a great deal about how statins can elevate blood sugars. I am Type II Diabetic and am looking to IP to make great strides in that area. After a few month on IP and 20 lbs dropped I still didn’t see my sugars down where I thought they would be which is why I decided to take out the Lipitor. Since then, my blood sugars before meals are regularly in the low 90s which I am happy with.

My thought in stopping the med was that on IP, I am not eating any dairy and only lean meats, so there shouldn’t be much of an issue with cholesterol from what I am eating. I eat lean beef about 2x week and otherwise stick to chicken and pork and salmon maybe every 10 days.

My bloodwork with the medication and after 1 month on IP was 115 (where it always is), but after 4 months on IP (and 2+ months w/o medication) my cholesterol came in at 198! I was QUITE surprised! I will go back on the meds and watch my sugars. Hopefully now that I am down 30+, they will remain in the lower range regardless of the med.

I suppose I could be one of those people who naturally have high cholesterol, not just from what I eat, but as part of my genetics (family members also had high cholesterol).

Any thoughts or stories to share??

You may want to google "low T3 syndrome". Essentially in a number of people low carb diets can affect the generation of active thyroid hormones and create hormone imbalances. One symptom of it is that LDL levels skyrocket. You may want to do a full thyroid panel and make sure your thyroid hormones are normal. Taking statins would help with LDL levels only as they would not correct thyroid problems.

[Beanie Mommy]

Originally Posted by Croschick

Starting week 3, so far so good. Started to get discouraged by all the posts of people losing +8 lbs in a week. Week 1, lost 3. Week 2, lost 1.5. Better to lose than gain. Know I can't rush it but am wondering if I am not following program correctly. Will discuss with coach on Fri WI.

Don't be discouraged by other's losses. Most of us have a longer way ahead of us than you, so you probably shouldn't expect crazy losses. Age, medication, % lean body mass, TOM, etc are all crazy factors that will make your weight loss journey unique. Make sure you follow the program exactly and get in ALL your food, including the oil and supplements. Don't exercise as that will make you stall.

From my experience this diet works exactly as expected over the long run. I did it for about 6 months last year, and I had tons of weeks with meager losses and even minor gains. My average loss over those months was about 3.4 per week, but I started at 269, my most hated number! As the months went by I learned to adjust my expectations from 4+ lbs a week to 1.5-2 lbs as my weight went closer toward my goal.

My toughest challenge is my water with gains around the dreaded TOM. I end up with very small losses or sometimes even gains then.

My point is - this is your journey, and you have to set the right expectations for yourself. It's a good idea to talk to your coach and see which of your unique individual factors might not give you the results you expected.

Best of luck!

[meinola]

Since I started IP on Thursday, I thought I would have the dreaded Day 3 symptoms over the weekend, but other than a bit of lethargy on Sunday, still felt pretty good. Had a NSV Saturday night; I was volunteering at an event with free food and booze and didn't touch a thing. Brought my dinner with me and ate OP at the event. Was really proud of not slipping up.

[SongofJoy]

I love this group of sharing...Way to go, meinola!