Well, the effects of my extra weight and poor eating habits have just been made 10000% more real. Today I got the results of my blood work from my anual physical. I have always has excellent numbers; but today, I found out that I have slightly high LDL (bad cholesterol) and not enough HDL (good cholesterol. This blood was taken on October 5th, before I started cal. counting. Hopefully by losing some weight, the numbers have started to turn around at this point. My doc said that it could also be an indicator for pre-diabetes. I'm so upset. I want to be here for a long time for my sweet little girl

So my question is this: Have any of you girls ever had to deal with something like this? If so, how do you raise the good cholesterol and lower the bad kind? Any input would be great. Thanks y'all.

Regular exercise helps keep my bloodwork in check. It's amazing that something as simple as walking can do that. Of course losing some weight and watching the kinds of food you eat will help, too.

physical activity will help raise the HDL number and lower the LDL. Also, switching to whole grains from processed, and eating foods high in Omega 3's like flax seed, salmon, walnuts and so on. Also, watching your intake of saturated fats and subsituting Monounsaturate Fats instead (like canola oil and olive oil) can help.

I had lost 160 pounds before I had any blood work done. My LDL was borderline and this was with a diet change and exercise. I cut out egg yolks (I was eating 2 whole eggs a day) and my LDL went down 17 points.

Why is it a indicator of diabetes? My cholesterol has always been on the high end of normal. It's considered normal, but as my grandmother has heart disease I am at a higher risk.

The last time I had it checked it was still like this and I had been vegan for 3 months.

Your blood cholesterol is related to your saturated fat intake - saturated fats are in things like meat, dairy, hydrogentated oils, palm oil, butter, margarine, packaged foods. Raising the good should help lower the bad cholesterol as it "sweeps" it away. You should eat things high in unsaturated fars, like fatty fish, avacados, nuts, vegetables, olive oil.

You can also lower cholesterol by increasing your soluable fiber level. This is why oatmeal can lower cholesterol - however a serving of oatmeal doesn't even have the recommended 3 grams of soluable fiber. Try adding some oat bran to it. Also, apples can help and there is a juice (the Naked Blue Machine) that has a ton of soluable fiber in it if you would rather drink that.

Eating good fats like olive oil and avocado help, exercise helps, also eat more fiber from beans and fruits and veggies.

My numbers were TERRIBLE when I started- I think my cholesterol was 230ish. I mean it ALL was bad, after a few months of dieting and exercising all my numbers are great.

I went on the Metabolic Research Plan and went from a size 24-12 between Aug09 to Jan09. But more importantly, as I am a Type 2 diabetic, all my numbers, including my A1C went into a normal range. My last A1C is at 5.8. This is my real victory!

So between a great high protein, low carb, low sodium, no sugar diet and daily walking, it all turned around. And I feel like I dropped 20 years. Woo Hoo. You can do it!

So, I am still working on this and recognize it as a life change. But I am so much happier!

Thanks guys, I feel a little better now. At least I can do something about those numbers. Do any of y'all take an omega 3 supplement?

I try to take a dha/epa supplement, its supposed to be better than omega 3s. I'm vegetarain so I don't eat fish - I take an algae derived supplement.

Hi gracesmomma, I know bad bloodwork can be disappointing and depressing. But think of it at as a starting point, and perhaps use it as motivation for the days where that carrot stick just isn't going to cut it. You've already started down the right road by fixing your eating habits, and when you go see your doctor again next year (or whenever), to recheck that bloodwork you will be so proud of yourself for sticking with the plan and the numbers will be down. Don't lose hope!

As for the omegas, I take a multi vitamin, vit E, fish oil and flax seed oil.

I know that all of this probably sounded really frightening, and I think Docs design it that way. The thing is that losing weight and continuing on this road will probably make a HUGE difference in your results next time.

To help the good cholesterol, my Doc told me to start exercising and drinking more red wine. My big eye opener from the doctor was my diabetes. That freaked me out because diabetes is responsible for all sorts of health problems, and I know people who have died, or are desperately struggling because of diabetes. (skinny and overweight alike)

I am not yet a calorie counter, but seriously considering it, and that's how I came to be here today. From what I can see, it would be an advantage in a lot of ways, you just need to be more careful on the type of calories. I now include more nuts eat more vegetables, and limit more carbs in general. I don't drink juice, but try to eat the fruit I want to drink.

wildflower - An "indicator" of pre-diabetes means when she did her blood work, she probably had a blood glucose level was elevated. Sometimes it is just a freak reading, but if a doctor is concerned they may order more tests to be sure. I don't think it is tied to the cholesterol specifically, but glucose is often included in the "full physical" bloodwork. Hope that helps.
- No, not a professional, but I just went through this a few months ago.

My LDL/HDL improved dramatically by losing weight, walking more and eating I suppose what would be called an old-fashioned 'balanced diet' - no processed stuff, low GI carbs but now low-carb, which had sent all my bloodwork sky-high.