banshee
03-21-2006, 02:35 PM
On the old board, I used to post an "anniversary" thread in this forum, both as a celebration of another year following PP, and as a reflection on the past year. I'm a bit late this year, as the old board went down before my anniversary (Dec 1st), and I decided to wait for my annual cholesterol tests before posting in the new forum.
Anyway, it has now been just over 3 years (almost 3.5 years!) of strictly following the principles of Protein Power. The last year has had some successes as I finally started to incorporate exercise into my lifestyle, and some challenges, as I had some health issues that led to a diagnosis of asthma :mad:, and started a new job :). While I love the new job and it's taking my career in a direction I want to go, the first year of any new job is always a bit stressful as you try to fit into a new work culture and dynamic.
First, for the success: I got my cholesterol test results today, and it looks really good. :D
March 2006:
Total: 170
HDL: 60
LDL: 85
Trig: 127
Here are the results from previous years:
March 2005:
Total: 182
HDL: 60
LDL: 110
Trig: 61October 2003:
Total: 179
HDL: 60
LDL: 94
Trig: 127May 1997:
Total: 190
Trig: 219Total and LDL are the lowest ever since starting this WOL. HDL is staying constant at 60. The triglyceride results are confusing me a bit, since they were 127 in Oct 2003, excited me when they went down to 61 in March of 2005, but are now back up to 127 :confused:. I know that trig numbers tend to plummet on PP, and can change quickly, which makes me wonder if they can also rise suddenly in response to a single higher carb day? In any case, my numbers are all in the "normal" range and my ratios are all excellent as well. I'm pleased that the trend over the last 3 years has continued in the direction of better cholesterol numbers. I'll be curious to see what change, if any, will occur next year after a full year of consistent resistance training. I'd love to see my HDL bump up a bit, even if it's already at an "excellent" level at 60.
I really wish I knew what my cholesterol numbers were before PP. I do know that my total cholesterol was 190 and my Trigs were at least 219, but my doctor had never done the complete lipid panel before. (I say at least 219 because that test was done before I went strictly low-fat after my gallbladder was removed, and I suspect that my trigs had gotten even higher on the low fat/high carb diet the doctor put me on.)
They say that it takes a certain number of days (21?) to form a new habit, but I think for some "habits", like bad eating habits, it can take a lot longer. My first two attempts at low carb failed after 8 months. I was very strict and followed the plan religiously, but just couldn't make it a habit, even after that long on plan. I was sabotoged by my sweet tooth, which never went away. Cravings and temptation were a constant struggle during the 8 months each time, and eventually did me in.
I finally learned how to bake low-carb desserts that I can enjoy, and that allow me to "feed" the cravings and avoid temptation. Even then, it took me about a year before I could easily pass by the sugary temptations at work and at friends/relatives. And even now, 3 years later, I still get cravings if I skip my own low-carb indulgences. If there weren't so many great recipes out there waiting to be tried, and low-carb chocolates readily available in the stores, I'd probably still be having a hard time avoiding the sugar. For me, "real" sugar is very much an addiction. It may sound cliched, but for me, there is no such thing as "just one bite" of something with real sugar, just as there is no such thing as "just one drink" to an alcoholic. As an example, at our company holiday party this year, they had lemon bars. I thought to myself, I've been maintaining for over 2 years now, and I haven't had a lemon bar in over 3 years, I'll just eat one. 6 lemon bars later, I managed to curb my wayward fingers. (It helped that they had started clearing away the trays!) So even though I have made a habit of eating well, real sugar can still derail me.
I guess that's it for now. My new year is all about controlling my allergies/asthma, exercising (mostly resistance training, with as much aerobics as my asthma can stand as I try to build endurance,) and continuing on plan. I'm also working on helping my husband try to get on an exercise and supplement program, and hopefully cconvince him to reduce his carb levels even further. (He still eats 'real' bread in the form of hamburger and hot dog buns, along with the occasional croissant or roll when we eat out. He's never been a big sugar eater, so thankfully that hasn't been an issue, but getting him to cut out the white flour has been tough...)
Something for those still in the weight loss phase to remember - maintenance is an ongoing committment, and an ongoing challenge, but it is also enjoyable because you have "reached your goal". However, you often find that the original goal has changed, or that you want to add to it. For me, achieving my original size goal was a tremendous accomplishment, but now I've added a fitness goal to my list. I want to be able to enjoy the health I've gained, and to do that, I need to get my body to where I can go hiking with friends, or skiing and scuba diving with my husband, or playing with my nieces without feeling like an "old person". I had too many years of sitting on the sidelines because I was too overweight and unhealthy, and I don't want to ever be that person again!
Anyway, it has now been just over 3 years (almost 3.5 years!) of strictly following the principles of Protein Power. The last year has had some successes as I finally started to incorporate exercise into my lifestyle, and some challenges, as I had some health issues that led to a diagnosis of asthma :mad:, and started a new job :). While I love the new job and it's taking my career in a direction I want to go, the first year of any new job is always a bit stressful as you try to fit into a new work culture and dynamic.
First, for the success: I got my cholesterol test results today, and it looks really good. :D
March 2006:
Total: 170
HDL: 60
LDL: 85
Trig: 127
Here are the results from previous years:
March 2005:
Total: 182
HDL: 60
LDL: 110
Trig: 61October 2003:
Total: 179
HDL: 60
LDL: 94
Trig: 127May 1997:
Total: 190
Trig: 219Total and LDL are the lowest ever since starting this WOL. HDL is staying constant at 60. The triglyceride results are confusing me a bit, since they were 127 in Oct 2003, excited me when they went down to 61 in March of 2005, but are now back up to 127 :confused:. I know that trig numbers tend to plummet on PP, and can change quickly, which makes me wonder if they can also rise suddenly in response to a single higher carb day? In any case, my numbers are all in the "normal" range and my ratios are all excellent as well. I'm pleased that the trend over the last 3 years has continued in the direction of better cholesterol numbers. I'll be curious to see what change, if any, will occur next year after a full year of consistent resistance training. I'd love to see my HDL bump up a bit, even if it's already at an "excellent" level at 60.
I really wish I knew what my cholesterol numbers were before PP. I do know that my total cholesterol was 190 and my Trigs were at least 219, but my doctor had never done the complete lipid panel before. (I say at least 219 because that test was done before I went strictly low-fat after my gallbladder was removed, and I suspect that my trigs had gotten even higher on the low fat/high carb diet the doctor put me on.)
They say that it takes a certain number of days (21?) to form a new habit, but I think for some "habits", like bad eating habits, it can take a lot longer. My first two attempts at low carb failed after 8 months. I was very strict and followed the plan religiously, but just couldn't make it a habit, even after that long on plan. I was sabotoged by my sweet tooth, which never went away. Cravings and temptation were a constant struggle during the 8 months each time, and eventually did me in.
I finally learned how to bake low-carb desserts that I can enjoy, and that allow me to "feed" the cravings and avoid temptation. Even then, it took me about a year before I could easily pass by the sugary temptations at work and at friends/relatives. And even now, 3 years later, I still get cravings if I skip my own low-carb indulgences. If there weren't so many great recipes out there waiting to be tried, and low-carb chocolates readily available in the stores, I'd probably still be having a hard time avoiding the sugar. For me, "real" sugar is very much an addiction. It may sound cliched, but for me, there is no such thing as "just one bite" of something with real sugar, just as there is no such thing as "just one drink" to an alcoholic. As an example, at our company holiday party this year, they had lemon bars. I thought to myself, I've been maintaining for over 2 years now, and I haven't had a lemon bar in over 3 years, I'll just eat one. 6 lemon bars later, I managed to curb my wayward fingers. (It helped that they had started clearing away the trays!) So even though I have made a habit of eating well, real sugar can still derail me.
I guess that's it for now. My new year is all about controlling my allergies/asthma, exercising (mostly resistance training, with as much aerobics as my asthma can stand as I try to build endurance,) and continuing on plan. I'm also working on helping my husband try to get on an exercise and supplement program, and hopefully cconvince him to reduce his carb levels even further. (He still eats 'real' bread in the form of hamburger and hot dog buns, along with the occasional croissant or roll when we eat out. He's never been a big sugar eater, so thankfully that hasn't been an issue, but getting him to cut out the white flour has been tough...)
Something for those still in the weight loss phase to remember - maintenance is an ongoing committment, and an ongoing challenge, but it is also enjoyable because you have "reached your goal". However, you often find that the original goal has changed, or that you want to add to it. For me, achieving my original size goal was a tremendous accomplishment, but now I've added a fitness goal to my list. I want to be able to enjoy the health I've gained, and to do that, I need to get my body to where I can go hiking with friends, or skiing and scuba diving with my husband, or playing with my nieces without feeling like an "old person". I had too many years of sitting on the sidelines because I was too overweight and unhealthy, and I don't want to ever be that person again!