Newbe

[wannabefitforever]

Hi - Am a wee bit nervous about posting but I've just received results of cholesterol test and am horrified to find it at 7.1 - hence deciding I must do something positive. Having Googled cholesterol results uk, this website was one of the first to come up so here I am! Starting right now! Having read lots of the posts here it looks like a really friendly place to be and I'm hoping to become one of the community

[EllaMidlands]

Hi, welcome. Sorry to hear about your cholesterol - have they given you medication or will you just be getting it down through healthy choices? I hope you find the forum friendly and helpful.

[wannabefitforever in reply to EllaMidlands]

Not sure what will happen just yet - got the results from the doctor's secretary today and had to make an appointment to see him which will be Friday morning ... I'd rather try and get it down through healthy choices first although I'm not sure if he will let me do that coz it is a tad high... Thank you for the welcome

[wannabefitforever in reply to EllaMidlands]

The doc was great, happy that I have decided to up my game with health and fitness and has said come back in three months for repeat bloods to see where I'm up to so am on my way!!!

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome, wannabefitforever

Take a look at the Pinned posts section to the right of your screen (bottom if you're using a mobile), read the Welcome Newbie thread, then move through to the challenges, where we hope you'll find at least one that will appeal to you.

Move down to the Topics, to find a variety of threads, collated into specific topics for ease of access and we ask that you also 'file' your own threads, so that others won't miss your important news.

Take a look at the 12 week plan, as a lot of people have been successful with it, making sure to enter your details into the BMI calculator, to get a calorie allowance tailored to your personal requirements. Don't forget to take your starting measurements and a 'before' picture, as they can be very motivating on days that the scales refuse to co-operate.

We run daily weigh-in's and you'd be very welcome to join us. The threads can always be found in the Events section, to the right of the home page, bottom on a mobile.

We've found that to get the best out of this community, we need to be active on the forum, as it's where we exchange information, get motivation and inspiration and make friends. We hope that you'll join us here, regularly, too.

It's only left for me to wish you well on your journey

[Hidden]

Hi wannabefitforever , no need to be nervous you have come to the right place for help and support everyone here is so friendly and helpful if you have any question just ask there's always someone about that will help good luck

[wannabefitforever in reply to Hidden]

Thank you - I AM nervous - I'm not used to sharing my woes and am used to hiding everything behind a smile and a don't care attitude but actually I do care and it's hard to admit. However, I'm looking forward to getting involved in a new lifestyle and a new group so fingers crossed!!

[Minniewinny 5 stone Maintainer]

Hi wannabefitforever I love your name. You are already part of this community- so welcome..

Wishing you a good visit on Friday, I have the same sort of results from time to time, but keep it in check by food choices. Wishing you good choices going forwards.

Cheering you on your new journey 🎉🎉🎉

[wannabefitforever in reply to Minniewinny]

Thank you! Have already started by cutting out butter, chocolate and wine - half way there already!!! Made my own hummus this morning and am looking forward to that with veg sticks for lunch! Feeling weirdly healthier immediately!! The doc was great, happy that I have decided to up my game with health and fitness and has said come back in three months for repeat bloods to see how I'm getting on

[Minniewinny 5 stone Maintainer in reply to wannabefitforever]

Sounds like a sensible Dr.. Well done for being pro-active

[wannabefitforever in reply to Minniewinny]

Thank you - and yes he is - I have a lot of time for him and take notice of what he says! How is your journey going?

[Minniewinny 5 stone Maintainer in reply to wannabefitforever]

Slow, but moving forwards. We have heart trouble in our family, so I have to keep a check on it, it's under control by diet. I cut out prawns and fatty foods, but I love fruit & veggies. I cook from scratch apart from bread, I don't make that! Limited space in my tiny kitchen!

Have a great week ahead.

[Fran182716]

Hi wannabefitforever, I was also told my cholesterol is high ( 7.6 ) last week. There is another healthunlocked forum called cholesterol support and people there who advise. I've tried to do some research but there's a lot of conflicting advice. The standard medical advice is to avoid saturated fats, but more recently this has been argued that sugar and simple carbs are to blame, and that the seed oils which are supposed to be healthier than saturated fats like butter aren't because they become toxic when heated in cooking. My GP suggested the Mediterranean diet, but I've found it quite exhausting to be honest trying to work out the best way forward and what I've come up with is this

Sugar and processed white carbs don't add anything healthy to your diet so it makes sense for me to continue to avoid them

The jury's still out on saturated fat and blood cholesterol but I'm concerned about cooking with oils so I'll just eat lots of veg and salad, very little fried food and continue to eat cheese and eggs but in smaller quantities whilst increasing foods known to have heart healthy fats like oily fish and avocados.

It makes sense to look at cardiovascular risk as a whole ( most GPs do this now) rather than just cholesterol so I figure I don't smoke, rarely drink, and I can help my overall risk by looking at ways to get enough exercise and sleep and reduce stress and weight (2 stone need to go).

Hope this is some help to you too 😀

[wannabefitforever]

Hi Fran182716 ... Thank you for the reply ... I've done much the same and come up with equally conflicting advice! I'm going back to basics and only cooking fresh (or frozen!) food from scratch, with lots of veg and some fruit (not that fussed about fruit, I prefer veg....) and am using a tiny amount of olive oil if absolutely needed rather than being free and easy with it like I have been before!

I'm also cutting back on bread and carbs in general but have got some wholemeal pittas and wraps to put in the freezer coz I know I can't give up everything, and I've given up chocolate and wine! Plus I don't want to feel like I'm banned from anything coz I've been down the diet route so many times before so this time I just want to be eating healthily

And like you I've started eating more salmon, mackerel and avocados and am still eating eggs - I don't eat that much cheese but yesterday made some hummus which I love, and which turned out really well amazingly enough! Lunch was loads of veg sticks and hummus - tasted really fresh and made me feel ten times better!

Now need to get exercising regularly - fingers crossed this coming week I will get back to the gym and keep going regularly ... and I actually think I might manage to make the whole thing work this time - the cholesterol thing was a bit of a wake-up call! I have 3 stone to lose, 3lbs gone since Wednesday so am off to a good start!

Thanks again for your reply - yes it does help hugely - thank you

[Fran182716 in reply to wannabefitforever]

Sounds like we have a similar plan to tackle this! Your hummus idea set me thinking, I love it but don't buy it because the amount of garlic doesn't agree with my tummy, so I've got some chickpeas and tahini to make my own, good for lunches at work this week . Would be interested in your results at 3 months as I'm not being retested till 6 months 😀

[Penel]

Cutting out the sugar and refined /processed carbs is definitely the best idea, according to modern advice. Keeping some healthy fat in your diet is important to make sure your body can absorb things like fat soluble vitamins. Some people do decide they have to go very low fat, for example if they have had a heart attack or if their high cholesterol is genetic.

Along with exercise the other major recommendation is to be sure that you are eating pleny of high fibre foods, particularly lots of vegetables.

Hope the diet works for you.