I'd like to tell you guys a story

About three years ago, I had my cholesterol checked at a "health fair" at work (Finger Prick). The reading I got from the machine only said "HIGH"... which was unusual since it usually gives numbers. The nurse checked the other results and the highest result was 278... so I kind of freaked. At that time I ate a healthy diet of fast food, beer, cafeteria food...etc.

I had it checked at my doctor and I don't recall the numbers but they placed me on Zocor. Zocor was super expensive and after taking it for two months, I stopped taking it because it made my side hurt... and my wallet. I decided it was time to stop eating that Fast Food and start eating "right" (Who knows what eating right is anymore)

It was a low-fat high-carb diet. I decided at that time to get my lazy butt away from the computer and start jogging, riding my bicycle and working out. I put that membership to Bally's to good use. I was out of shape at 200 pounds and knew I had a long way to go to get back into shape. Jogging was difficult. I would walk a little, jog a little, walk again when I was out of breath, caught my breath and starting jogging, walk, jog. Within weeks, I noticed I was going further and further and by the end of the month, I accomplished a feat that I don't think I ever did before... I jogged a complete 3 miles!

I had gone from 200 pounds to 165 pounds and with the "Chase Corporate Challenge" coming up (3-1/2 mile run/jog/walk) I was phsyc'ed. I was pumped the first mile and probably jogged faster than I should have, I conked out about the 2nd mile, walked for a few minutes and got jogging again. I finished 3-1/2 miles in 34 minutes....about the time it took me to jog 3 miles. I was psych'ed, I was going to jog in any race that was up and coming....

My body was amazing. I was eating salads, tuna, veggie wraps, veggie pizza's and hardly any meat whatsoever.

I think the 3-1/2 mile race was the pinnicle as... after that day I hardly jogged, I was in such good shape, I decided to have my first killer steak (coincidentally the day after the steak I was super full of energy) and since then, I have gone back to my chunky days...

During that time I never had my Cholesterol checked again but I sure wish I had. I have always looked for a diet that I could maintain myself and the high carb-low fat diet was not it.... of course it probably would have helped if I continued going to the gym and jogging.

Atkins intriques me. A friend got me on a Soy Lecithin kick, I was eating oatmeal in the morning...etc and in my research I found a good combination of Mono Unsaturated and Poly Unsaturated fats were great but I didn't want to start playing games with my health.

I've been reading about Atkins and here's my take. Prior to going on adkins, your body will burn carbohydrates first before it burns fat. If you don't burn off those carbs... they will turn to fat, Since fat stores are not burned but you are accumulating more fat/weight. Atkin's is changing how your body operates. Since there are hardly any carbs to burn, it is now going to the secondary source of energy, which is fat. You are teaching your body to burn fat.

I guess my skepticism is with the cholesterol. How does adkins work with cholesterol? Since it's now burning fat, is it now burning off or processing cholesterol better?

If I had one word of advice to anyone looking to diet, it would be to start a regiment of exercise. Since it has been like 3 years since I jogged seriously, I know it's going to take a whole lot of walking before I can get back to jogging. I know I will feel like giving up here and there but you got to keep at it.

Sorry for babbling but I wanted to tell my story and get *your* story too. Input appreciated.

-Dave

Dave,
My doctor and I had a 30 minute conversation about this way of eating before I started it. He told me that he had read all the research and was highly repeat highly recommending it to me. My cholesterol is high and I expressed this concern to him and told him about a friend of mine who started the eating plan and her's even went higher. What he told me was.......Your body will cleanse of the impurities ie....possible acne, diarrhea, constipation, etc. and cholesterol will more than likely go UP! but, stick to it and everything will level off and the cholesterol will lower on its own. In the mean time I am to have the blood work done and again see him with a repeat in three months.

I have been on the eating plan for 2 weeks now and have lost 15% of my total goal. I have had NO problems following the plan. I don't feel hungry or have very many cravings. The first 4 days are the hardest BUT it is so easy after that.

I think what it boils down to is.....IS this the way of eating for the rest of your life for you? My doctor told me to have the mind set that I will work this plan as a life time healthy choice.

You will find people for this way of eating and people who are totally opposed. Try it for 2 weeks and make your own decision. I personally love it.

Good luck to you. Hope this helps.

I see I already gave away my incognito name

I've only been on Atkins for about a week but so far so good. The toughest part had been the bread, the occasional ice cream. Going from 24-48 oz of water to 36-72+ oz per day. I miss my large coffee with milk and 3 sugars, my pasta and pizza
Generally I have made my water with a splash of lemon and fruitpunch but after reading the label on the fruitpunch and seeing the sugars in it, I have switched to just a splash of lemon.... But I have been able to go for the gusto with flank, skirt steak, tuna.

I have lost some weight (not that I'm too concerned with weight) and yesterday I started in Ketosis... this morning I didn't have ketosis breath but in the past hour, ketosis breath has come back.

So far, I'm pretty amazed. I'm hoping to make a doctors appointment in about a month to get all my levels checked...something I should have done before hand but... well you know

In any case, It's a beautiful day out today and I think I will get some walking in early.

-Ned...err Dave

DaveNed,

My family has a history of high cholesterol. When I was in my mid 20's my cholesterol was towards the upper end of the normal range. Three years ago I had it tested at a routine checkup (it hadn't been tested for almost 20 years at that point). I had been eating low fat-high carb at that time, and went on an almost no-fat regimen for three days prior to testing (per dr's orders). It was elevated (226) but the doctor never said anything or recommended any dietary change.

Last summer, with a new doctor, I had my cholesterol tested again. I had been on the Atkins WOE for two months prior to the test, and had lost 15 lbs. It was only raised by 5 mg, to 231.

But now for THE REST OF THE STORY.....

Component / Mar-00 / Aug-02 / Normal range
Total Cholesterol / 226 / 231 / < 200
HDL (the good stuff) / 57 / 75 / > 34
LDL (the bad stuff) / 144 / 145 / 0-130
CHOL/HDL Ratio / 3.96 / 3.08 / < 4.45
Triglycerides / 127 / 54 / < 200

So you see here that low fat did nothing to lower my cholesterol or my LDL (low density cholesterol), but a high fat/low carb regimen has increased my "good" cholesterol and improved my cholesterol/HDL ratio, and greatly lowered my triglycerides.

I go back again next month, and will be curious to see what has happened to my blood levels. I hope that my LDL or my total cholesterol numbers go down, but this new doctor says that as long as I work out and get plenty of exercise that the numbers are nothing to worry about, especially since the triglycerides are so low.

So while eating high fat seems to be counterintuitive, especially when one has an elevated cholesterol, it at worst will keep the blood levels the same, while improving the good cholesterol and lowering triglycerides.

And as far as missing the bread.... well, I'm of Italian descent, and bread and pasta have always played a major part in my diet. Giving up those was tough at first, but now I don't miss them much. I am careful not to keep any in the house so I don't break down and binge during weak moments, though (I live alone except when my teenage sons spend their week here). Also, the Atkins bread, while not a good loaf of Italian bread, makes a good substitute when I absolutely must have a tuna salad sandwich or toast.

Good luck!

Joan

Hi Ned,

I hear your story and know it too well. I had good cholestorol levels the one time I got them checked so thats not what encouraged me to run. I started running to lose weight, and it worked, I got in really good shape by running and increasing my running gradually to 55 min 5 days a week, I had been going to the gym for a year before that, but sticking with stairmaster and the bike then precor. Working out on the precor or bike just wasnt challenging my body consistently. Initially to lose I just lowered my calories to about 900 a day and did that running routine. I lost a great deal in a short time.
Then I kept running and ate whatever I wanted. Kept the weight off without counting anything.
Then a really horrible thing happened to me, and I had to stop everything while I recovered. My face wasnt allowed to sweat or even go in the sun for a better part of a year.
Obviously, I stopped running. Weight came on- had to cancel gym membership. And ended up where I am today, just doing Atkins and bike riding, knowing all the while what will work for me is the running and wanting to get the gym membership back. Budget just wont allow it but I plan on getting in there as soon as it does.
Good for you for the walking to start off. It is easy to injure and re injure when the weight is greater, I am hoping to get in good enough shape to run so that by the time I get access to a treadmill I can go for it..
I think Atkins is a good way to get there, and drinking water should come naturally this time of year as we have hit the Dog Days and will be sweating just walking down the block!
Good Luck!

Screeeeeetch!!!LOL Un-used carbohydrates do not turn into fat, no more than lead turns into gold. They are both unrelated fuels. Carbs are easier to burn and are burned first. Fats are more difficult for the body to burn and will be stored if there are carbs to burn. This is necessary to keep in mind when there is any activity to be done such as exercise. The body needs that instant supply of carbs when you are working out and there is good advice about this on the exercise forums. The body also burns fats but it is not accustomed to this since we fed it a constant supply of carbohydrates for years. I don't know the exact process but it seems to me that once the body "re-learns" burning of fats, cholesterol will follow thru.


Black57

>>Screeeeeetch!!!LOL<<
I was always under the impression that if sugar is not burned, the body turns it into fat as I was under the impression that if you don't burn off those carbs, the body changes them to sugar and if not burned, the body turns them into fat. If this is not the case, I was sadly misinformed somewhere down the line

So... Carbs are just stored in the body? And your body uses that as a primary source of fuel. If the Carbs are not burned, the body will not burn the fat...right? Atkin's is removing the carbs, the 20 or so carbs we get a day will be burned quickly and then the body will turn to fat as an energy source... right?

Sorry, I'm just one of those people who need to know what the heck is going on in my body.

Thanks

No, carbs and fats are chemically different. Carbs and sugars are chemically the same. When you read the contents on the package of an item, the fats and carbs are listed seperately. However, carbs and sugars are listed together. Carbohydrates become sugar once the body processes them. Carbohydrates, sugar, fiber etc cannot be stored as fat. Fat is stored when it is not burned or used, but it only comes from fat.

Now you are getting it, if there is less carbohydrates to burn, the body will use its fat stores. The body stores fat for survival purposes. If it thinks that it is going to starve it will hang on to the fat to survive. Therefore you must be careful and eat enough calories and carbs so that the body doesn't think that it is starving.

Black57

NeDave,

You may be right in being concerned about what this diet could do to your choleterol levels. However, many (most?) people who go on this diet for mosr then 2 months are people who are dagerously obese and being very obese is so much more dangerous then 10-20 points of cholesterol for a period of a year or so.
Being obese screws up your hormon levels, Insulin (yeah a hormon) levels, you joints, your heart, danger od stroks, diabetes, depression, quality of life, need I go on?
So, I, and many like me, took a calculated risk to go on the diet. Being 285+lb was very bad for me, my hormon level were low, I couldn't go anwhere or do anything physical, my insulin levels were going like an extreme ride at SixFlags, and I was on my way to being dead in a few years. And it is a horrible way to die.

So I said to my self: reaserch says that you cholesterol "may not go up" if you go on Atkins, and if they are wrong, it will go up for one year, thats all... and during that year I will lose 90lb and just by doing that my cholesterol will drop, and my testosteron will go up (helps for lowering cholesterol), and my blood pressure will go down, and my insulin will calm down, and my joints will work better, and Ill be able to see my toes and my d&ck without a mirror... I think I will take the risk and go on atkins.

Any diet you go on to lose weight is not good for you. You putting your body through stress because your body doesn't want to give up the fat. so if you need to lose 10lb you may chose one plan, and if you need to lose 100lb you may chose another..

But this is MHO, and it may not apply to other people...