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Why I’m Not Worried About High Cholesterol

Shelley

Back in January of 2020, after my annual physical appointment, I drove home from the clinic feeling weird. Not sick yet, that came a week or so later (aka, when I think I had the original C Virus).

Isn’t it strange that the antibody test costs $150 (or so) and has to be ordered and isn’t recommended, but the PCR test is recommended and is free?

Things that make me wonder…

I thought back to the appointment I had just left from. As I entered the house I told Mr. what the doctor had said. I hadn’t taken any het (aka, heat) for my health. In fact, my doctor told me I was perfect for my age. She did look me over in an exam gown to verify so. I thankfully didn’t have to have the pelvic exam since after the age of 55 you don’t have to do those yearly. Especially if you’re not into things that cause those issues down there.

My health record indicates that I am a middle-class gal who has been married for 30+ years. Yeah, so, that makes me a heterosexual woman who should though get Hep-C blood draw she said. I hadn’t fasted that morning, so I told her I do lab work next year.

I felt strange about the whole appointment. Was I really perfect for my age? I had gained about 8 pounds from the previous year. And I was retaining some water on my ankles after standing all day. My mom was diabetic, obese, and had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and dementia. She’d be the perfect target for viruses. She died way too young at the age of 70. Her poor health was a role model for me of what not to do.

Fast forward to the end of that month of my exam, and the whole C-19 plan started to roll out and I began to think more about health risks for both myself and Mr. It was well known that diabetes, obesity, heart disease, etc., are the diseases that put people at the greatest risk.

So I (we) started the journey to learn about those hot topics and how to reverse them naturally. I hoped that the next year when I’d go for blood work, not only would I not have a positive Hep-C, but my blood work would show that I was extra healthy.

Entered into our lives were hours and hours of research by reading and YouTube surfing. These are my favorite books, still are.

And Mr. learned to give up his favorite carbs along with me. He originally said, “I can’t and won’t give up my carbs!”

No more beer, no more DASH diet meals, no more carb-loaded side dishes became our way of eating. And you know what, we don’t even crave them and they taste yucky when on a rare occasion we eat some. So if you’re one of those “I can’t ever give up my carbs.” kind of peeps. I say to you, “Never say never.” And you can even eat pizza for breakfast!

And now…I’m guessing after I reveal to you my lab work, I’ll take some het from those who will say, “I knew her cholesterol had to change after eating all that fat and meat!!”

Keto Pizza Omelet by Dietdoctor.com

Just look at these satiating, delicious, and glorious meals Mr. has made for us. We are rarely hungry. Our bodies use up the fat for energy. And apparently, it’s making us healthier in the process!

And, how do I know that? My blood work indicates my heart is in excellent protective status. That’s what my report from the clinic says, “Your cholesterol shows an excellent HDL!” What is most important is the understanding of the Cholesterol Ratio. Under 3.5 is healthy!

I know for me that if my doctor doesn’t give me het and doesn’t require me to take medications, I’m on the right track too! Healthline has a great article to help you learn more about cholesterol ratios.

Hot damn – I tip my hat off to the man celebrating “inseminating person/father’s day”, aka, Mr. and his cooking yet again. In our low-carb, healthy fat eating kitchen hut in the Midwest, we’ve hit on a healthy lifestyle that has protected us from Covid-19 and has made our hearts the healthiest they’ve been for decades. Plus, check out my improved fasting glucose – I’m positive that I don’t have diabetes either. (Note ** I had fasted 24 hours prior to the tests.)

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hat/het/hit/hot/hut.” Choose one, choose ’em all, put ’em in your post. Enjoy!

PS – Have you studied your cholesterol ratio? Did your doctor tell you about it or did you research it on your own? Did your cholesterol go up when you started keto? Did you see my major typo on the photos?! Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! xoxoxo

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

76 thoughts on “Why I’m Not Worried About High Cholesterol”

        1. You’re welcome! I remember when I first saw your posts and thought how clever it was that we could virtually share a drink at the bar with you every Saturday. 🙂

    1. Yes, we’ve been pleasantly surprised. We’ve experimented a lot during the last 18 months. The dietdoctor.com has great free recipes. We’re always happy with them. The pizza was SO delicious.
      Thank you – you too – we’re finally getting a soaking rain, it’ll be nice to watch it fall. 🙂

          2. Yay – that’s great news, I hope it stayed mild. We did end up getting more rain and the soy beans in the field look a tad more happy this morning!

  5. Congrats on your health report, Shelley! I applaude your husband for giving up his favourite carbs, something I seriously need to do. That pizza/omlette looks so delicious!

    1. Thanks, John – I think you’d really like the meals and you wouldn’t miss the carbs either. Mr. couldn’t believe it would be possible, but he’s done it and he loved carbs!

      1. Wow. I know I’d love them, your husband does a fantastic job cooking too! Can you recommend a website or book to point me in the right direction?

  6. you have some good TRUTH here and may this splash into the world and hope folks who are stuck in the lie and delusions –

          1. I sometimes just cut and paste them from other bloggers – like here are two more from Cindy!! ❤️❣️

      3. I also found that if you use windows and windows keyboard press the windows button plus the period button to get emojis 🙂 🙂

        1. Thanks for being the guy with hot tips today!
          Okay, I’m going to try that now. ❤💕😍🤣😜🐱‍👤👌 IT WORKED – thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ❥💕💚

      2. hey again – just thought of your post because the has and I were doing some small house projects this weekend – and he usually has his earbuds with his podcast going and I asked him to put it through the speaker so I could hear (once in a while he does that and I enjoy the small takeaways even though his podcast list is not what I want every day – hahah)
        so anyhow, Joe Rogan Experience was on and I was excited – the snippets from that podcast over the years has been very cool
        I also know many a folks who have gotten though traffic hours with the help of that podcast (and some would just say It is one of the most podcasts right ow)
        well my my goodness was disappointed
        after about an hour my husband even turned it off (the closet he was painting was done at that time as well) but he asked me, “Am I hearing this wrong or are they promoting this prescription drug?”

        we then chatted about it (all a few hours ago)
        and what made me think of your post was because of one of the boos you had in your photo
        the “fat as fuel” title caught my attention – because that is at the heart of what “keto” s suppose to be about
        not sure if we have to give it a name – like keto – paleo – etc
        but it is about being a “fat burner and not a sugar burner
        and if someone is using carbs as their fuel source (as you adeptly noted with your sharing abut food changes) – well you get hungry every few hours (my husband calls it hangry)
        anyhow, Joe Rogan then said he grabs a pice of fruit after his morning workouts.
        what? more than one workout? and why go for fruit – then it dawned on me – he is a high cardio carb eater stll????

        I was just surprised because I know Mark Sisson (from mark’s daily apple and I would say a great example of how being a fat Bruner can make you healthier ad ‘hard to kill’)
        and not that fruit it bad –
        but sugar is sugar and if it is consumed daily and in high amounts people cannot become a fat Bruner – it takes months to change this – a long time at least
        anyhow, we did not finish the podcast (episode 1670 with David Sinclair) but I am still shaking my head at the way the episode seemed to be promoting Sinclair’s product (send a swab in every tree months) and had such mixed messages
        I know Rogan does not claim to be an expert and he was (I guess) super cool to note that Fauci and others had quoted his show a while back – so he can do whatever he wants with his show – but it felt like I was listening to one big ad – or an agenda to give Sinclair the Joe Rogan bump.
        —
        anyhow, maybe Joe Rogan needs to read this post and check out a few books from your list

        because learning more about really tapping not healthy fats as a fuel source is what allows people to do intermittent fasting – and in the episode today they were all over the place with topics and Sinclair even noted the tips of eating less or skipping a meal and then said it takes weeks to get sed to that – um no, it could take months and it could be dangerous for diabetics to skip meals – so not sure what they were doing mentioning that – and then a sugar burner will have a hard time going a day without food because the glucose source as fuel is not going to last like fat as fuel
        ***sigh***
        was so disappointed in that episode
        —
        thanks for letting me share that

        1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hadn’t heard that episode. I tend to ditch the podcasts that are always advertising. I understand that they need to do that to survive on the platform, but still, like you said, it can be a turnoff.
          You’re absolutely right – you can’t be both a fat and a sugar burner to lose weight. There are many takes on the diet. From Dr. Lustig who advocates for no sugar, but he does support a whole foods approach. In his mind (The Hacking of the American Mind is an awesome read) the problem is the processed food industry and the sugar addictions. I agree.
          The low-carb approach with healthy fats is what has been working for us. We went clean keto and started burning ketos within 6 weeks. We’ve started to reintroduce some once or twice a week in the form of low glycemic fruits. We always eat a 1/2 of an avocado each day (or almost every day). We can fast for up to 32 hours without being hungry or hangry. We’ve tried just blowing it all for a meal and feel miserable afterwards. My blood sugars spike and hang out there for a longer time than Mr.s do.
          The brain is comfortable using glucose for fuel, yet it can and often time prefers fat for fuel. Amy’s book in the pile does a great job of explaining that and how the sugar we’ve eaten over the years actually can cause Alzheimer’s. We should all be scared of that. Those who recommend the Mediterranean diet are on a better target for helping the brain versus the DASH diet.
          It’s fascinating information to me. We’re still learning, but it’s a battle with what is main stream teaching about food and the stores/companies/pharma etc. don’t support healthy living really, there’s no $ in it for them, right?
          Thanks again for sharing – I’ll avoid listening to that podcast!
          Congrats on getting the painting done!!
          xoxox

          1. this was such a great reply – and I also heard that fats and good oils help chelate “heavy metals” from the body – which is another thing to prevent dementia –
            oh so much good stuff to chat about nd congrats on being able to go 32 hours without being hangry

          2. Thank you, I agree it’s been fun to share this information with you. Dementia has many causes, and the vascular version is 100% preventable. But it takes a person to be willing to change their diet and lifestyle. Unfortunately it is not a ‘preventable’ condition for insurance coverage, so you have to have it to be treated. I could go on forever… more in another post I suspect!
            Yes, 32 hours is really doable – in fact we weren’t even sure we wanted to eat that early, but it fit our schedule. Sipping on sea salt flavored water is a wonderful trick for making the fast easy.
            Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

          3. the sipping of the sea salt water is a great tip – I know so many folks that use all natural sea salt for so many helps.
            for example, one health coach guy walks around with the all natural Celtic salt (about 3$ from Whole Foods) and puts a tiny bit under his tongue for electrolytes – and I do that now too during busy seasons
            and just heard a lady share that if her blood pressure drops too low – one of the things she does is takes a tiny pinch of all natural salt on the tongue
            and the problem is that the typical salt folks use (the brand with the girl and her umbrella) is stripped down and then maybe they iodine
            but all natural salts can have more than 100 race elements and all kinds of healthy helps.
            sigh
            you are so right – we could go on forever and I am not even going to get started about the healthcare system in this country and what insurance views as preventable or as a help.
            the Bottom line is that the United States has one of the most expensive (overpriced for decades now and goes unchecked) with some of the most unhealthy people in the world.
            the palliative care – the ignoring of common sense (like anyone with a so-called auto immune disorder needs to rebuild the terrain and must get off sugar – but nobody tells them that) and my husband has what he cals the unholy trinity of “food”
            the bad oils (industrial oils like canola and vegetable) – the grains that wreak havoc in the gut and overall body function and the sugars that we are so accustomed to using and even joking about – like someone saying “I need my sugar fix” –
            and if folks only know what sugar does to the immune system and then if a person has an unhealthy terrain – the sugar then feeds the pathogens and adds more problems

            whew
            sorry to rant but this post was dear to my heart

          4. Well said, Yvette – I agree with you on all accounts! We’ve been directed down the wrong path health-wise in so many ways, and supported by those who say they’re telling/selling it to us for our good. Sugar is bad, salt is good. Seed oils are bad, healthy oils are good, etc…! More to come!
            ❥💕💚❥💕💚❥💕💚❥💕💚

  7. Great job. I handled the possible increased cholesterol by not using quite as many fats on KETO as I am allowed. Still lost weight and the cholesterol ratios were great. It is possible to be a healthy old person!

    1. Thank you, Janet. You were one of the original inspirations for me and Mr. to give this a try. That’s great feedback on what you’ve tried and found to work for you. Yes, you’re right, you can be healthy at any age!!

  8. Congrats all around! I basically eat the Mediterranean diet, but have slacked a bit the past couple of years. With exercise as well, due to working from home and the gym closing. When my cholesterol went up when tested early this year, that kind of kicked me back into gear. Although I’m not back at the gym, I’m walking and eating much better. I’ve lost about 15 pounds this year (10 to go). My cholesterol is better, but I need to get my HDL back up. I’m on a mission now 😊 Thank you for some additional inspiration!

    1. Thank you, Lisa. Down in Florida it’s easier to find fresh veggies that work well on the Mediterranean diet compared to Wisconsin. You’re not alone in the slack factor of the last two years. If only the messaging would’ve been to ‘exercise and eat well’ instead of stay home and shelter. Our state is starting to share more healthy messages. And the gyms are open too. YAY. I’m glad you’re getting back on track and I have a hunch you’ll succeed. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  9. That’s great for both of you Shelley. You should be proud. The pizza looks incredible and I’d jump out of bed in the morning if that awaited me … the oatmeal is great, but the pizza does call my name. I have not had a physical in over ten years and intended to do it this year, but am wavering now due to the Delta variant even though I’ve had both vaccines. I will go for sure in 2023 … I do eat pretty healthy, but that doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement.

    1. Thanks, Linda – we do enjoy the pizza in the morning.
      I ditched the physical idea – it was bad enough just going to the clinic for the lab draw.
      All of your exercise helps you stay healthy! Like you said, there’s always room for improvement for all of us.

      1. I wanted to reach over and grab a piece. The walking regimen is the best thing I ever done for myself, but yes, there is room for improvement. I wanted to learn yoga and the tape I ordered from Amazon right after the new year has still not been opened yet. I told myself that “the Winter months is a perfect time to learn how to do yoga.”

        1. Yes, walking is a wonderful and safe exercise. Yoga is good for flexibility too, so hopefully you’ll get to use the video when you’re ready to.

          1. I am going to start in Winter on the yoga video. A fellow blogger recommended it to me after I fell in the snowbank (stepped into air like a dummy) and had a difficult time getting back up and then muscles were sore. I have to get on the stick with a lot of things. Work and its many, many issues wipes me out sometimes.

          2. Flexibility as we age is very important. A fall can stop us in our tracks, literally. Mr. almost fell last spring, jarred his lower back and it radiated into his legs, it took a long time for him to recover. Still has days that make it hard to walk. Gotta keep moving though!
            Sorry to hear work is such a struggle. It can be tiring. I hope this coming long weekend will give you a nice break to recharge!

          3. Yes, it is – I have to use that yoga tape … in the Winter I do promise myself. I do walk, but I sit too much as well. I get up and move around, but it is still being parked here for work, then afterward for e-mail and/or mostly catching up on WordPress. I am looking forward to being off. I did some housework this weekend and sorted a lot of photos for upcoming posts. An entire month’s worth of pictures. If it’s nice I go out as I assume it could be crummy many weekends like it was a few years ago.

          4. You’re an excellent prioritizer, I’m positive you’ll figure it all out.
            Wow – a month’s worth of posts……………impressive!

          5. I am glad to be ahead Shelley. I really need to get some things done in and around the house. For two years, I have had a small painting project (trim around the side door as it’s been peeling at the bottom) and the weather has kept me from doing it … little projects that just keep piling up as I trot merrily out the door every weekend on long jaunts. By the end of the week, I have a devil may care attitude and am ready for “me” time. So, now I’ll take a little breather and just walk at my regular park … I can walk my six miles in 1/3 of the time spent meandering and stopping (you know how that is) … by Labor Day, I’m ready to go again. I sure hope it’s a little cooler by then.

          6. Sounds like a wonderful plan!
            Our to-do-list never ends, it just keeps growing.
            We’re getting better at imperfection as we age.

  11. My last blood tests all came back as average and I have been average every time for once. I like being average 😁😁

  12. Wow–so much good info here, even in the comments. I expect I’ll have to make some adjustments to my diet, post menopause; but for now so long as I maintain my weight feel good and have good numbers, I feel I’m doing OK.

    Here’s a WordPress question for you–or maybe it’s just my new laptop? Though I’m following your blog–and lots of others–it sometimes has me enter my email, name, and website. It lets me “like” but then when I click on the WordPress icon to comment–ugh, it just gets stalled or something. Maybe it’s because I’m on a different browser? Got a new MacBook and of course proceeded to spill white wine on it and hurt the screen. First time I’ve ever spilled on my computer. Other than that, in OH on vacay and can’t complain!

    Hope you’re enjoying summer so far, Shelley!

    1. Yes, so much fun information to share/read. I hope that people do pay attention to their scores and their weight – two great indicators of overall health and well-being. We ate differently for so long and it eventually caught up with us. Glad a diet change can reverse the harm my bags of Tostitos washed down with hoppy beer did to me ;-)!
      I could be wrong, but I’m guessing that it’s a login issue for you. Or it could be a browser too? Oh, dear, wine only helps us write when it’s not spilled 😜. I have noticed that some bloggers had issues with connecting to their gravatar since WP updated. That may be part of the problem too?
      Yay for vacay time – it’s been fun seeing your photos on Instagram. Relax, drink wine, read books, and enjoy the sights with the kiddos!
      I’m so happy to hear from you – yes, summer going well. Will get to see my girls in July!
      Take care! xoxo

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