My new bloodwork profile

[Parisienne]

My first post on this forum, back in November, was about the annoying and worrying tendency of my TTL Chol, LDL and Trig numbers to increase.

Thanks to your advice, I kept on eating the same way but I added some physical activity which was something very new for me.
In January, I joined the marvellous Forum Movers & Shakers under close and wonderful supervision of Shadow. I would like to thank her and everybody at M&S - it is much easier to be on track with all of you:exclamation::exclamation:.

…………………………..10 Sept. 04….5 April 07……..09 Nov. 07……..11 March 08
Kg/lbs…………………65 /143…………59.3/130…………57.5 /126.7………59.8/131.8
Trig (g/l)…………….. 1.21……………..0.73……………….1.08………………….0.93 ………. (0.40 - 1.40)
TTL Chol (g/l)……….2.04…………….2.43……………….. 2.92………………..2.37 ……… (1.60 - 2.20)
HDL (g/l)……………….?................?................... 0.68………………..0.69 ………. (0.4 - 1.00)
LDL (g/l)…………………?................?................... 2.02…………… ..1.49 .……… (< 1.60)
TTL Ch/HDL………….? …………………? …………………….. 4.2 ………………3.43 ………. (< 4)
LDL/HDL..............? …………….….? …………………….. 2.9 ……………… 2.1 ………… (< 3)
Trig/HDL………………?.................? …………………….. 1.5 ……………… 1.3 ……….. (< 1.8)

As you can see, my only issue is with the scale numbers: with my little frame I would rather imagine myself at 125-126 lbs but since the beginning of December I stay in the range of 130 – 132 lbs. I tried (almost) everything, even one week of Thin So Fast (the best result was 130) and – honestly - I can’t understand anything. Most days (5 of 7) I stay at 30-40 ECC and on Fridays and Saturdays it goes up to 50-60. Comparing my notes from August to November, I eat in exactly the same way, yet I simply cannot arrive at 126 again. My DH thinks 130 is my normal, healthy weight which I should accept but I would like to be rather on the safe side. It scares me a bit knowing that Purim in March and Pesach in April are coming and it is hard period for low-carbing :jawDrop: …

Thank you for any insights.

[maxlharris]

Way to go Adina. Tout va bien.

The weight will probably take the longest to come off. But 5 kilos is still 5 kilos. Congrats.

[Parisienne]

Merci beaucoup, Max:)!!

I will have to remain vigiliant during the festival time. Though, but doable!!

[Karole]

Good results on the blood work, Adina !! Especially the ldl numbers.

I was just wondering if going up to the 50-60 carbs each week end could be keeping you from losing weight faster. All week long you are at the recommended amount for losing , then 2 days of higher carbs and your body might have to shift out of fat burning mode into carb burning mode.

You might see if keeping to the 30-40 carbs daily for 2 or 3 weeks , with no additional carbs on the week end would cause you to lose a bit more. Might be worth it to experiment.

What ever you try, keep going , you have been a great inspiration to us too, at Mand S. We're all pulling for you.

[Parisienne]

Thank you, Karole! I have to try but it is really difficult to limit myself to just 40 g from Friday till Saturday. I will have to make some calculations and adjust my menu because definitely it is worth trying.

And with my results: can you believe that because of the TTL Cho number I have a note that there is a moderate risk to be watched closely? Just because of my high HDL number, I guess :jawDrop:. Never mind.

[laughingW]

Adina, you mentioned having a small frame. Have you had your bodyfat tested? Some people can have small frames and still be really heavy. Like they have bones of gold or lead. African Americans, Scots and Irish can be like this.

I have one friend who was an elite track athlete at a Big Ten school, and she was "overweight" according to her height and the team's standards. So they made her get her bodyfat tested before going on a weight-reducing diet. When they tested her bodyfat she was only 5% which is hugely small for a woman. but she had a very strong frame.

The charts and stuff are for the middle of the bell curve and if you are dense inside it can make you feel too heavy when in fact your husband is right and you are done with your recomposition!!

[maxlharris]

The charts and stuff are for the middle of the bell curve and if you are dense inside it can make you feel too heavy when in fact your husband is right and you are done with your recomposition!!

To start: A Fun Fact: 18% of Americans believe they are in the top 1% of earners. (source: Gallup Poll)

By definition: Most people are in the middle of the bell curve. A track athlete has very little in common with most people.

By stuff explained in "Stumbling on Happiness": Many people, erroneously believe, that they are at the tail end of the bell curve. It's not entirely unrelated to cognitive dissonance. See Mike Eades' current blog (http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/book-reviews/mistakes-were-made-but-not-by-me/) for a good explanation of that. The short version is: you feel healthy (you don't know that you couldn't feel any better). But the scale tells you something. You cannot accept that number AND the way you are feeling. This is very uncomfortable. So, you must have lead bones (which wouldn't be very useful, as lead and gold are both well known for their malleability, not something you look for in structural material). Or you have a lot of dense muscle. Something to alleviate the pressure between the facts and your beliefs.

I'm not saying there aren't people with extremely dense bones. Or heavy muscles. I'm just suggesting that a lot of the people who THINK they have top 1% muscle or bone density probably have average bone and muscle density and perhaps tightly packed fat cells or a lot of water, or something else making them heavier than they feel.

Not saying that Parisienne or anyone is in either group. Just that, in all likelihood, we are all somewhere in the big part of the bell curve.

[laughingW]

All true. Perhaps a question on dense weight is not the first place to start - I didn't ask about what is seen in the mirror. But the other two things I would look at besides the scale, is bodyfat % and clothing size.

However for women, especially exercising women who don't eat processed foods, what I've seen at other forums is that they end up having more scale weight than they ever imagined. This is much more common than ending up with less scale weight.

I know people at the T-Tapp forum for instance who are 20 pounds heavier than the middle of what the charts say for their height, and are in their smallest clothes ever. Not rare individuals either - that program works to increase muscle density everywhere and that's what women are reporting. Not the elite track lady.

Just a thought about what kind of women the charts based their data on. All ages, including elderly with small muscles? If one comes from a stocky family or who has always been athletic or who has been fat (and built up strong bones for that) then it's something to consider.

[maxlharris]

Sigh.

If there are a bunch of old people with skinny muscles in the sample, sure. They would move the bottom tail of the curve. But you don't hear a lot from people at the bottom of the curve. You never hear people say, my BMI is really low, but it's just because my bones are light. Maybe it's because it's not a true normal distribution. It's only bounded on one side (clearly, you cannot have a 0 BMI... you'd have to weight 0, and no one weighs 0, meanwhile, there's a small contingent of people out there on iron bed frames, going 800+ lbs / 5-6 feet of height... I suppose there is an upper bound, like what the earth's crust will support, but I don't think anyone has gotten there yet). Don't have the desire to explain why I noted that 18% of americans think they are in the top 1% of earners (other than there are probably 18% of people who think they just have such dense bones and muscles that they're off the chart).

For Parisienne, you know if you want to lose or not. You know if you are really muscular or not. Monsieur Pesage will move pour vous, remuera avec le temps. (mon francais est triste).

[Parisienne]

Adina, Protein Power Forums - Reply to Topic (http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=61100)you mentioned having a small frame. Have you had your bodyfat tested?

Laughing, thank you for your thoughts. I had an evening course yesterday so I can react only now. It's Friday, so I have to be short.
No, I haven't had my body fat tested by a professional, just did some measures by my own. I don't remember numbers at the moment, unfortunately.
I don't think I have a lot of muscles, after all I've just started working out and I am an absolute beginner (ask Shadow):lol::lol:.
I would probably agree on the assumption of having 'heavy bones' (sorry, Max;)) as it would be a nice excuse, but then, a few months ago I saw 57kg/125.6lb and even 56.8kg/125.2lb (after a tough form of gastroenteritis in Nov. 07) on the scale. So it is possible.
I don't know what is my 'ideal weight' (I was a plumpy child - thank you Mum;) - and then a 'plumpy teenager' - thank you myself;)) but I know that even after one week in my parents' house I put easily 4 lb on. And it is scary. And I prefer to be around 126 lb when it happens (next visit in April). Psychological stuff, I'm afraid:).
Thank you again.

[Parisienne]

For Parisienne, you know if you want to lose or not. You know if you are really muscular or not. Monsieur Pesage will move pour vous, remuera avec le temps. (mon francais est triste).

Thanks, Max. Yes, I want to lose and -well, alas - I don't think the excess is muscular:redface:.
J'aime beaucoup votre 'Monsieur Pesage', vraiment!!
And thank you for giving me some hope. After all, Paris ne s'est pas fait en un jour:D.

[maxlharris]

En les Etats, c'est Roma qui ne s'est pas fait en un jour. Mais, c'est vrai du tout le monde.

I apologize in advance for any butchery of le Francais. It's been, er, 15 years since last I spoke with any regularity. And I didn't go to that class very often :evil:

[laughingW]

I don't know what is my 'ideal weight' (I was a plumpy child - thank you Mum;) - and then a 'plumpy teenager' - thank you myself;)) but I know that even after one week in my parents' house I put easily 4 lb on. And it is scary. And I prefer to be around 126 lb when it happens (next visit in April). Psychological stuff, I'm afraid:).
Thank you again.
Fair enough. Good luck and all that. You might gain some muscle now, just what you needed to mix up your calculations, LOL

I know what you mean about the parents. My dad was a great bread baker and my DD said to me after a visit: "I can tell how good the bread is, by how little of it you eat." It is a carb-o-rama!

Everybody says the last few pounds is the hardest. Maybe it's happening but so subtly that it's hard to see giant changes on the scale. I will hope for a whoosh for you. :)