Norahsbed Banter Thread.....

[Norahsbed]

Check out this site, Norahsbed...might put your mind at ease about the HDL/LDL stuff.

http://www.heartmdinstitute.com/health-topics/cholesterol/399-worried-about-cholesterol

Thanks, not really worried as mine is way lower than some family members and about 150 lower than my high in my early 30's? Just kinda makes me mad, that all this BS about proper diet and exercise is a way to a healthy heart and body and normal blood levels. If it really worked my cholesterol level should have dropped 20-30 points. It didn't and short of going vegan (which I will not do) or taking statins (which I will not do) I'll just live with it. I'll keep exercising but may just not think so much about what I eat.

 

[RUCRAYZE]

Thanks, not really worried as mine is way lower than some family members and about 150 lower than my high in my early 30's? Just kinda makes me mad, that all this BS about proper diet and exercise is a way to a healthy heart and body and normal blood levels. If it really worked my cholesterol level should have dropped 20-30 points. It didn't and short of going vegan (which I will not do) or taking statins (which I will not do) I'll just live with it. I'll keep exercising but may just not think so much about what I eat.

"just live with it" sounds quite limiting. Why bother changing your lifestyle in the first place? If you might buy into the notion that statins or diet change might promote better health, which appears to be one of your goals and understanding.
I have no problem understanding taking meds. "THEY" have nor is their research, nor is it possible to measure interactions between medicaions, or for that matter what the side effects intervention(s) have to the individual.
However, it is very clear that a plant based diet can and does have positive effects.
I suggest "the China Syndrome " in which the research is well documented-
just a quick one
Norway had, and still has a very high insidents with cholesterol (meat and cheese?)
During WW2 when Germany "conquered" Norway, the commandeered cattle for their troops, and for 3-4 yrs the incidents of heart disease declined, AND after the war went back up. It's a tough detailed read.
Try "Forks over Knives" the book, or check out the DVD.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

Good morning everyone! Just a quick update on a few things.
1. I maintained my weight and actually lost a pound over the holiday season, despite the fact we didn't go to the gym between Dec.23 and Jan.5, although I did walk on the treadmill at home.
2. Went to the Dr. On Friday, wt.130 (fully clothed) ht.5'2" (yes I regained my lost .5", so inversion tables seem to work), BP-100/64 (this dropped a few points). Bad news my cholesterol went up(which sucks) now it only went up 14 and 6 of that was HDLs (good cholesterol, mine was a little low and now within normal range) but it pushed me from normal range (under 200) to elevated (over 200). Would someone please explain to me, how in the world did this happen! I lost 30lbs., exercise 5 days a week, eat right, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, limited lean red meat and eggs, added fish to my diet, plenty of fiber, I only use good oils and fats in cooking. So WTF is the point! When my diet sucked, I was over weight, didn't exercise at all, it was lower! A1C is not back yet so don't know if that went down or not.
3. With the news of the Elio production delay, we decided to buy a used vehicle. So on Saturday we bought a 2011 Subaru Legacy AWD,(I paid about $1400 below book, before taxes and dealer handling, so add those in and it's just under $100, over book) Not the most fuel efficent vehicle out there but better than my truck and with AWD will handle better on snow and ice than my 2WD truck. With 18+ months before the Elios are in my driveway, we have plenty of time to replenish the vehicle savings account.

If I weren't a moderator I'd start a thread about what car did you end up buying while waiting out the Elio delays?

 

[Norahsbed]

If I weren't a moderator I'd start a thread about what car did you end up buying while waiting out the Elio delays?

Why not start it anyway!
Our reasoning for the purchase was,
1. keeping the mileage down on the truck, saving it for retirement travel
2. Getting better mpg than the truck, for running around and going to the gym (even with the lower gas prices)
3. Vehicle that handles better on snow and ice, (truck is 2WD)
4. Backup vehicle, if one breaks down or needs service (I'm the one without a vehicle, when one goes in the shop)
If the Elio production had started late this year, we would have held off but with the new production start being as much as 18 months away (mid 2016) we felt it made sense to start our savings now. For about $4000 more we could have purchased a new small base vehicle, ( Spark or Versa ) greatly depleting our vehicle fund but we decided to go used saving 4 thousand, in case something changed with EM. We still have enough left in savings to cover our base Elio's at about $7500 each. (Not including tax and license.) Over the next 18 months we'll continue to add to savings, to cover options we want and taxes.

 

[Norahsbed]

"just live with it" sounds quite limiting. Why bother changing your lifestyle in the first place? If you might buy into the notion that statins or diet change might promote better health, which appears to be one of your goals and understanding.
I have no problem understanding taking meds. "THEY" have nor is their research, nor is it possible to measure interactions between medicaions, or for that matter what the side effects intervention(s) have to the individual.
However, it is very clear that a plant based diet can and does have positive effects.
I suggest "the China Syndrome " in which the research is well documented-
just a quick one
Norway had, and still has a very high insidents with cholesterol (meat and cheese?)
During WW2 when Germany "conquered" Norway, the commandeered cattle for their troops, and for 3-4 yrs the incidents of heart disease declined, AND after the war went back up. It's a tough detailed read.
Try "Forks over Knives" the book, or check out the DVD.

The main reasons for the life style changes were,
1. Loose weight because of Arthritis in hips (extra weight put strain on them) and pre diabetic diagnosis
2. Exercise to strengthen hip and abdominal muscles (in case I ever need hip replacement)
3. Changed diet to help control pre diabetes diagnosis and lose the extra weight
Lowering my cholesterol was not part of the agenda, raising my HDLs was (which I succeeded at) however if you read anything on a balanced diet and exercise programs one of the advantages is supposed to be lower cholesterol and blood sugar. It didn't happen! My A1C only dropped .02 and cholesterol went up 14 points. So other than portion control or calorie counting, what I was eating before my diet change, compared to what I eat now, showed little difference in over all blood chemistry. So why should I limit the foods I eat, (other than portion control or calorie counting) when it has made no difference in blood chemistry. At this point I'm not a canadate for statins (cholesterol isn't high enough to warrant meds) and I like meat to much to give it up. I'll continue to exercise because of the difference it has made in the pain in my hips. I haven't taken a pain medication for months.

I will also try a different approach to exercise to try and lower my A1C. An article sent to me by the Mayo Clinic states that they have found 15-30 minutes of exercise, like walking, 30 minutes after a meal, keeps your blood sugar from spiking and helps in keeping your A1C in check. I'll give that a try over the next 90 days and then have my A1C rechecked. If that dosent work, then medication is the only answer.

 

[wheaters]

I need to lose a few pounds now. I'll cut down on the carbs and get a bit more exercise.

Meanwhile, I'm driving my little G10 engined Suzuki Swift on a daily basis (nearest thing you can get to an Elio, I suppose - an Elio is much like a Mk2 Swift narrowed down). It suits the cold frosty weather and slippery roads much better than my heavy BMW 330D and so far I've saved putting 5,000 miles on that car. I noticed yesterday that the new brake discs on the Beemer are showing faint signs of rust. I will take it out and warm it up later, just so it doesn't feel neglected.

Going out to have root canal treatment on my troublesome tooth later today. Deep joy!

 

[Jim H]

I need to lose a few pounds now. I'll cut down on the carbs and get a bit more exercise.

Meanwhile, I'm driving my little G10 engined Suzuki Swift on a daily basis (nearest thing you can get to an Elio, I suppose - an Elio is much like a Mk2 Swift narrowed down). It suits the cold frosty weather and slippery roads much better than my heavy BMW 330D and so far I've saved putting 5,000 miles on that car. I noticed yesterday that the new brake discs on the Beemer are showing faint signs of rust. I will take it out and warm it up later, just so it doesn't feel neglected.

Going out to have root canal treatment on my troublesome tooth later today. Deep joy!

Reserving an Elio will relieve you of a few "pounds"..........LOL

 

[wheaters]

Reserving an Elio will relieve you of a few "pounds"..........LOL

Yes, and I may well reserve one, but I need to see proof that I could actually use it here first.

If Mr. Elio would like to send me one on approval I'd certainly volunteer to put it through the MSVA test for him.

 

[Norahsbed]

Hey everyone, I'm back! Did you miss me? I'm sure some of you have but others are saying to themselves,"Crap, she's back!" I have spent the last month or so taking care of my Mom, while my sister ( who lives with mom ) was helping her daughter move from Denver to Seattle.

I've put 4500 miles on the Subaru in the last month, which is almost what I budgeted the yearly mileage to be. Up to Moorhead, MN back to Arvada, CO back to Moorhead and back home to Arvada again. FYI to speed demons - South Dakota raised their interstate speed limit to 80 MPH on April 1st. Moorhead to Arvada this time was 13 hours and 10 minutes. ( my personal best ) That included 7 construction zones and 2 pit stops. When I first moved to Colorado in the early 80's, it took over 18 hours at 55 mph to get home.

We ran up to the Family farm near Fertile, MN to see how things wintered over. No damage to the buildings but lost several large branches off trees and of course one was laying across the driveway. Thank goodness in was small enough to drag out of the way. Lots of Deer activity in the yard (scat everywhere) and we saw several areas just inside the woods where they have been sleeping. Should be a good year for deer hunting this fall. Didn't see the Eagles but it's still to early for them to be nesting. Planning another trip up in about 4 weeks to help my brother clean out the downed branches and trees in the woods.

On May 3rd I will be tobacco free for 3 months. That may not sound like much but I've been a smoker for more than 45 years and have never made it past 5 weeks without giving up and smoking again. I've used blu e-cigs and nicotine lozenges. I have pretty much given up on the e-cigs as they make me want a cigarette and you can't break the hand to mouth action using them. Now I've started cutting back on the number of lozenges per day to cut the nicotine habit. That may take awhile, as I have become more addicted to nicotine from using them but they are still better than smoking.

Now I have to catch up on 5 weeks of reading what I've missed!

 

[JEBar]

welcome back indeed .... congrats on kicking the habit