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I had thought of many other titles for this series of entries. How to lower your cholesterol in 100 days. How to lose weight while eating more. There were many other ways to title this.
At age 65, I made some remarkable changes in my life and the results have been so significant that I feel compelled and almost duty bound to share.
In this post and those to follow I will share how I quickly lowered my LDL cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, my weight and blood pressure. I will also share how I have dramatically increased my flexibility, strength, balance, range of motion and reduced pain throughout my body.
If somebody would have told me this was possible, I would have laughed. I am 6’1″ (and shrinking) and had weighed between 190 and 200 pounds for almost my entire adult life. There were one or two times where I was above 210, but I almost never dropped below 190. I thought I was in good health and in good shape. I had qualified for and run the Boston Marathon at just over 190 pounds. I was very fit. It was almost impossible for me to drop below 190, even when trying. My blood pressure and cholesterol levels have always been within the healthy range, so I had not been concerned about that. My exercise level has always been high. I would estimate that for the last few decades I have exercised on average at least one hour per day. Of course I trained more when running marathons. I have done a variety of exercises, favoring aerobic exercises such as running, bicycling, swimming, hiking, walking and so on. In my mid 50s I had back surgery, so running was eliminated. I miss that. That story can wait for another post. So…I was fit and healthy in my mind. At age 64 I went on a mission to become more muscular and started lifting weights a lot at the local YMCA. My muscles grew, my body looked firmer. I was eating a ton of protein. Meats, eggs, etc…thinking that it was what I needed to gain and maintain muscle in my 60s. It felt good!
When I turned 65, I went in for my Medicare well-check and for the first time in my life, my LDL cholesterol was a little high. I will include a table with my data at some point. I was concerned as that was a new thing for me. I asked the doctor about it and she mentioned that people with higher LDL often take statins.
Driving home, I quickly decided that I would do whatever it took to avoid having to take medication. I have seven year-old twins and two older children that are 26 and 30 as well as a much younger wife that I need to be healthy for.
I read up on how to lower LDL. Losing weight had not even crossed my mind as I knew I had been in a steady state virtually forever and I did not feel like I could exercise more without injuring myself.
I quickly learned about all of the foods that could help me lower LDL cholesterol. Many of the same foods seemed to have anti-inflammatory properties as well. I will go into how I changed my nutritional intake in a follow-up post as it will be a long entry.
I will also discuss my exercise regimen (for strength, flexibility, range of motion, balance, endurance), my motivation (my why?), the power of habit (and routine), and the effectiveness of goal setting.
To keep you interested I will share that within 94 days, my LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels had dropped by between 25-33%. My weight had dropped by 15 pounds (now more than 25 pounds) and my blood pressure lowered significantly. I will share the specific data. Stay tuned….this is a remarkable story.
Next up, I will detail what I found when researching how to lower LDL cholesterol.
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