Much better so "they" say. Personally, I feel like rot some days. LOL!
I keep hoping that one day I can feel like my old self.
One good thing, the foods I'm finding that are low cholesterol and low fat aren't that bad. Of course, I've had to give up my favorites, but I did manage to save brownies! Yep Little Debbie has them without fat OR cholesterol! I can get my chocolate fix really easily with them.
Our food bill has gone up 100% with the "healthy" stuff, but the money we're saving by not buying cigarets is going towards that.
posted on May 9, 2001 06:53:22 PM new
mtnmama - I am sure your doctor has made it clear that some fat is essential in the diet, but the right kind is far better. Let me share a favorite with you. My wife and I often follow the Italian custom if not using butter or margerine - not even the "healthier" ones but we pour good olive oil in a saucer at each place and put a pinch of basil /oregano /hot pepper flakes and fresh ground black pepper into it. We then dip a little on each piece of bread we rip off and it beats the daylights out of butter.
My blood chemistry is so good it drives the doc nuts because he can't get his anywhere close.
When we have salad I just use lemon juice. I like it better than dressing. Sometimes I salt my salad with a pinch of popcorn salt I admit but I can get away with it. Not everyone can tolerate ANY extra sodium. I never salt anything to cook it. Even when a recipie calls for it.
I'm on a low fat, low cholesterol diet, not a no fat diet. There isn't any such animal. Have you noticed the labels lately? If there's little or no fat, there's a ton of sodium! Just can't win in store bought goods.
We don't use anything but olive oil to cook with. I haven't tried it as a "dip" because I don't quite like the taste "raw." But it is a healthier choice. We've been using it for several years. I have two kinds, the light and the extra virgin (which is green in color). I like the extra virgin a lot better, but as I said, we only use it for cooking purposes.
Funny thing is I was raised on a cardiac diet! No added salt, no added fat or anything. When my sister's husband to be came to the house for dinner, he had to ask for a salt shaker. Mom had not one in the house! I didn't use salt until I got married and even then I don't add salt to my food. I cook without it too. I was always "fat" conscious. I never ate the skin from chicken or turkey, never eat the fat on meats. How I wound up like this I'll never know. It has to be hereditary I'm sure. Even my cholesterol wasn't that high! And if anything, I'm underweight!
The only thing I was guilty of was chocolate and I never read the labels on that good food group until recently. I stay out of the candy aisle now. Chocolate isn't your friend at all. It's the worst enemy we have. One candy bar has over 22% saturated fat! That's way too much.
posted on May 10, 2001 03:42:36 PM new
Mtnmama, I hope you have lots of baseline blood data about your cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL. Low fat (high carb) diets in some people cause higher cholesterol.
I have been on Atkins for several years now. My cholesterol is 148, good cholesterol is nearly 100 (unheard of) bad cholesterol is 35( also nearly unheard of). At any rate, I eat lots of fish, real butter, real oils, NO trans fats or hydrogenated oils, I eat sometimes as many as 4 eggs a day and beef but confine carbohydrates to 50 grams a day, which is not very much.
Ask your doctor to do regular blood panels to chack your progress. Not everyone thrives on a lowfat high carb diet.
Thanks for your concern, but they will be doing just that. I'm one month yesterday post open heart surgery with a triple bypass after having a near fatal heart attack as well as having my main artery pierced by the cardiac cath doc on the table. Guaranteed, they have plenty of baseline blood levels as well as up to date ones and will continue to get them monthly.
The surgeon, the cardiologist, the dietician at the heart institute all say low fat, low cholesterol. They did not say anything about carbs at all. As a matter of fact, carbs didn't even enter into the conversations or the books I was sent home with to read. I find though that most carbs are in sweets.I limit my sweets so that's not a problem, but carbs do provide energy and that's what I need right now as they sent me home terribly anemic (which I wasn't prior) due to the loss of blood. I think I'm well taken care of by these folks that I'll be seeing for the rest of my life at least one time a month.
I personally don't believe in the Atkins diet. A friend of mine is on it and hasn't lost one pound in a year. She's losing her emotional balance though and has gall bladder and kidney problems from it.
Good news for me is the new diets contain meats you can safely eat as well as certain foods that weren't on previously.
4 eggs a day is not good for anyone, no matter how you view it. Eggs contain a lot of cholesterol and you have to consider the baked goods (even bread) you may eat that are made with eggs when looking at how many you're really eating.
I don't know how old you are, but I'm 54 and it took this long for those eggs and real butter, etc to consume me, instead of the other way around. Be very careful of what you do when you're young in the way of diet, cause it comes back at you with a vengence. (sp?)
[ edited by mtnmama on May 10, 2001 07:36 PM ]
