I'm having a major pity party. Please tell me I'm being overly dramatic.

First I was drifting blissfully along, counting calories, feeling pretty good and definitely feeling like this was sustainable.

Then the weight loss stalled. I have PCOS, so for my weight loss efforts I need to restrict carbs. I cut out grains and restricted fruit. I kicked my heels at it but a couple weeks in I'm doing just fine. I can deal with this.

Now I find my cholesterol is 242 (should be under 200) after losing almost 50 lbs! Sadly, I have no baseline. I am a big believer in doing this by diet and exercise if I can. I am avoiding medication if I can. So I decided, fine, I'll go vegetarian, eating fish only.

I just pulled out my yogurt with walnuts. It has 10 grams of cholesterol!!!


What the heck can I eat? Vegetables, beans and fish. This is not sustainable and I'm not a happy camper.

Honestly, I think you should just keep doing what you are doing until you get rechecked in a few months. Your cholesterol could have been a lot higher and what you are doing is just fine to get it down. You just don't know.

So, my personal opinion, don't freak out yet. In 3 months, get another check and see where it is at.

First of all *hugs* You are trying so very hard to do just the right things and I know exactly how that feels.

Second of all... sometimes high cholesteral is genetic! There is NOTHING you can do about it! My other mother eats like a freaking rabbit (veggie soups, tiny bits of protein, fruits, very little carbs) and has for YEARS in an attempt to get it down... and she CAN'T! It's genetic. For her she HAS to be on drugs to control it. Maybe that is what is going on in your case?

I really hope that you can find something that is sustainable and healthy for you.... what about continuing with your lower carb lifestyle (not vegetarian) for another month and seeing what happens with your numbers?

I agree, don't go vegetarian just yet. Eat lower fat proteins: chicken breast, lots of different kinds of fish, turkey, extra lean beef or pork maybe once a week, tofu, egg whites, and nonfat dairy. Eat your yogurt IMO... it doesn't contain enough cholesterol to worry about, but you can always check labels and get a nonfat one next time you shop!

Change of diet is always tough... try not to do too much at once.

Ah, the reality check I was seeking. Thanks much guys! You're all right. I have no baseline, so who knows but that my number was even worse before. Maybe it's coming down and I don't realize it.

And logically I know it could be genetic. My husband's is. But...urgh...I'm just too stubborn to accept it.

I was not expecting high cholesterol. I was hyper focused on the blood sugar and I'm THRILLED with that reading.

I think the light and fit dannon yogurt doesn't have any cholesterol. Just an idea if you want to try a different yogurt. I eat them.

You need some cholesterol a day for your body to function normally so don't cut it totally out. I have PCOS, and I have been losing weight and eating carbs. I guess it affects people differently.

Maybe you should visit a dietitian or a doctor who can recommend what to eat based on your needs? Do you know what your cholesterol was before? It may have been a LOT higher. It takes time for everything to improve, so maybe just keep monitoring your cholesterol levels?

I hope you find something that works and is delicious to follow.

I actually had a subcutaneous blood clot a year and a half ago. Can that be caused by high cholesterol does anyone know? If so, I can't believe no doctor ever ordered blood work for me.

I'm more in shock that they don't do it at your yearly physical. Every year since I turned 21 and started my physicals I had blood work done. maybe it is a doctor's preference? who knows!

Right there with you. Not me, DH. He has cut his cholesterol consumption back dramatically and is going for a recheck in six months. His doctor told him to focus on exercise over the next six months, he added in the diet changes on his own. We also want to avoid meds for him.

We do meat free at home several days per week, sometimes every day if we are looking towards a high cholesterol event. We are doing a lot of salad, pasta with veggies in the sauce, veggie stir fry over rice, morningstar farm and boca products, potatoes.. We limit cheese and have gotten protein enhanced fat free milk (Hood). We got him an unflavored whey protein that he mixes with vanilla soy to boost the protein in the absence of meat. Skim milk has <5 mg of cholesterol per cup, higher fat milks increase cholesterol total. So yogurt is going to have some, as it is is made with milk. We buy Greek yogurt for DH now, it seems to have less more often, also has more protein. Watch the fish - some is good, but there are others with 70+ mg of cholesterol per serving. Also, some farm raised fish are sometimes higher in cholesterol due their own diet. We were stunned at how much cholesterol is in shrimp... turkey breast is 55mg per 4 ounce serving, I think chicken breast is as well.

The American Heart Association recommends only eating 4 ounces of meat per day, and a sub 300 mg cholesterol diet I believe, sub 200mg to reduce? Don't quote me on that, you can find the stats on their website.

Now, after all that being said, I would say keep up your exercise and calorie counting, try to control excessive cholesterol and get a recheck in three months to get a better baseline to compare. Don't freak out. It is totally manageable. I've been doing it for a while now.

My friend started using a product called Benecol Smart Chews that is supposed to reduce your cholesterol. She has gone done 40pts. I am going to try it. Maybe it will help you too.

http://www.benecolusa.com/

Another suggestion would be to increase your exercise, if possible. I know you already exercise but don't know how much. Studies have shown that exercise (and plenty of it) have more of an effect on PCOS than diet, and it's also fantastic for improving cholesterol levels. You probably need at least 60 minutes, preferably 90 minutes daily.

I agree that veggies, beans, and fish isn't sustainable. Don't forget to include your whole grains, they are a good source of nutrition and should not be excluded even if you have PCOS. You'll be able to increase your variety of meals, and make it much easier to live with.

Good luck

Eliana, you have been doing great with your weight loss - even with PCOS. I agree with others that you shouldn't drastically change your plan at this point. You haven't been limiting carbs for long, and making another change on top of that won't tell you what diet change affected your cholesterol numbers when you get them checked again. I can't remember - as far as carbs go - have you tried substituting higher quality carbs? When I cook, I only use brown rice, quinoa, or sometimes couscous (whole wheat - not the boxed mixes). These carbs don't spike your blood sugar the way simple carbs like white rice and white bread do. I found this article about fiber and what it does when I did a search a couple months ago - one of its functions is to carry cholesterol out of the body. There is also a good article about the top 5 foods to lower cholesterol.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fiber/NU00033
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002

Also, cholesterol is affected by genetics. My DH has a elevated cholesterol level, and he's a lot closer to a healthy weight than I am. My "skinny" sister has high cholesterol, and she has a really healthy diet. I am still obese, and my cholesterol is normal - go figure.

Maybe instead of going vegetarian (unless you really want to) just make sure that you add some cholesterol lowering foods and then see how your levels are in a few months?

I hope this helps - you're doing great, and are such an inspiration!

My bil, who is a doctor, and fit as a fiddle has high cholesterol. He also eats way healthy and exercises regularly. It is hereditary for him. I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in....

My google skills have failed me, and I’m not finding the right stuff. But my recollection is that a lot of current science says there’s not much correlation between eating foods that are high in cholesterol and having high serum cholesterol levels; the correlation instead comes more from eating foods that are high in saturated fats. So to cut serum cholesterol, cutting back on foods that contain cholesterol isn’t going to do much, but reducing fat probably will. (Of course, as we all know, nutritional science is far from exact, and contradictory studies come out all the time. And since I can’t find the articles I thought I’d read, maybe I’m misremembering in a significant way.) For Eliana, given your weight-loss success, I would think that your cholesterol has already come down a lot, but you just don’t have the baseline number to confirm that.

I heard a segment about red yeast rice on the People’s Pharmacy a couple weeks ago. It's a natural product that has some of the same cholesterol-lowering chemical found in the statin drugs like Lipitor. It seems to work well to reduce cholesterol and doesn’t cause the muscle problems that the statins sometimes do. I still can't posts links yet (I'm a hard-core lurker, but infrequent poster), but a search for red yeast rice on the People's Pharmacy website will eventually get you to an abstract of a fairly recent study that found it to be effective. Click on the 6/19/09 Heath Headlines search result to find the link to the abstract.

First of all a BIG BIG *HUG* for you. I feel your pain I also have PCOS and it's taken me AGES to figure out how I can and can't eat.

Second of all- you have to eat cholesterol each day. I know that sounds counterintuitive but there is good and bad (as I'm sure you know). It is important to your diet because it's used for producing cell membranes and some hormones, and serves other needed bodily functions.

Now are you doing any tracking online of what you are eating? Sparkpeople.com allows you to track other nutrients (I'm not sure about the other online trackers) so you can track that there.

300 mg is the max daily recommended- so I'd aim for at least 200 and definitely no more than 300 mg a day. Reading online it recommends 200 mg for people trying to lower cholesterol.

Fill up on good cholesterol foods like avocado, olive oil, almonds, fish, walnuts, etc.

Here's a little thing I found:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002

Good luck