Almost 2 years ago, when I decided to change my lifestyle, one of the reasons for doing so was my blood pressure and cholesterol. My blood pressure was high and my cholesterol numbers were horrible. My total cholesterol was close to 300 (the norm is below 200), my LDL, the bad cholesterol, was way too high and my HDL, the good cholesterol, was way too low. Horrible, horrible numbers all the way around. At that time my doctor wanted to put me on cholesterol-lowering drugs, but I refused to take them. I wanted to try and get my cholesterol down on my own. Also, talk about MORE horrible numbers, my triglycerides (blood fats) were over 800 . They're supposed to be below 150.

So I started my new lifestyle, getting more activity and eating healthy foods. A few months later I went back and had my cholesterol checked again. Still not great, my good cholesterol was still too low, but I had at least cut my trigs in half, they were now around 400.

A couple more checks, still not perfect, but the numbers were slowly coming down.

Well I just got my recent cholesterol test results back in the mail and here are my new numbers, thanks to my new lifestyle......

Total Cholesterol: 192
LDL (bad cholesterol): 107 <--- still could be a little bit lower, but it's not as high as it used to be.
HDL (good cholesterol): 61 (used to be as low as 35-40, which is too low) 50-60 is considered optimal.
Triglycerides: 120!!!!!

I did it I did it I did it. Without having to resort to drugs.

Also my blood pressure is now normal



Just wanted to share, I'm happy.

YAY!!!!!!!! Congrats! You must feel so proud of yourself that you did it without meds!! keep it up girl!!!!!

My gawd, looking at my weight stats and what my numbers used to be, I was a walking timebomb!

Thank you so much

Whoo hoo, indeed! You rock! What a great payoff for all your hard work!

Aren't those numbers more gratifying than the last few pounds??

well done!

Great job! You are an inspiration.
How long did it take you to get to the 139?
What size where you when you were 220?
I have gotten down to about a 22.

Yes, it certainly is

lol, yes. It definitely helps

It took me almost 2 years. I started in June of 2004. However, I hit 139 in early March and have been stuck there ever since, lol.

And you know, I honestly don't know what size I was. Because I always bought my clothes 3 times bigger than I needed them. Everything was XXXL.

See to me that's what it's all about. Nice clothes, being fitter that's all really great, but it's the changes and chances and opportunities that we are giving our bodies that really mean so much.

Well done you!!! : to us slow losers!!!

This is so true. Because like I said above, I was basically a walking timebomb. I even used to have chest pains that would wake me up in the middle of the night.

Having low HDL and high LDL is a baaaaaaad combination. Because LDL that's too high and HDL that's too low are both risk factors for coronary artery disease. That and my BP was too high. I'm really truthfully surprised I never had a heart attack.

Thanks for the positive words

It's great you are so aware. There is so much in the media about breast cancer etc, that people aren't aware that heart disease is the biggest killer of women. And it's preventable. Not totally of course, but there are certainly things we can do to reduce our risk.

My grandmother died of heart disease. She had angina for years, and no one really helped her with diet and exercise, or otherwise perhaps she would have celebrated a few more birthdays, she died at 79.

Congrats, Linda! very inspirational.

taking drugs is scary. I really want to get to the point where I feel that much healthier.

Congratulations, that is amazing! Just imagine how many more years of life you have rewarded yourself with - and a HEALTHY life! That is a HUGE accomplishment. You should go treat yourself to a spa day.