Today's email from my doctor, on top of my (perfectly normal) mammogram results, read:

"Your cholesterol is much improved compared to last year. Your chemistry panel, glucose, liver enzymes are normal."

While most people would celebrate with a "whoo hoo! and a plate of cookies, I'm not satisfied.

While my HDL is over 50 and my HDL to LDL ratio is perfect, my LDL is a bit too high and my triglycerides are hovering around 200 -- at least 50 points too high.

Y'know what causes high triglycerides? Carbs. 

I like to think that I eat pretty darn healthfully but I do tend to veer toward the sweet side of the flavor spectrum. I eat far more fruit than vegetables and I love fruity yogurt and fro-yo.

So my latest eating project is to rethink my snacking. Over the past year or so I've been using more and more plain Greek yogurt adorned with a teaspoon or so of honey or maybe some dried fruit. I think I'll be sticking with the plain for the time being. I'll grab more salads and stuff more spinach into my smoothies instead of bananas.

I follow Dr. Melina Jampolis on Facebook and -- perfect timing -- she's running a Cholesterol Reduction Challenge this month. So I printed out her guidelines and in 60 days I'll get my blood rechecked to see how I turned things around. These are her guidelines:

1. Aim for at least 25 grams of fiber per day.
2. Eat at least 1 ounce of nuts or seeds daily.
3. Eat at least 1 serving of the following daily: oats, barley, beans or psyllium.
4. Eat at least 1 serving of fruit high in soluble fiber per day (apples, pears, berries)
5. Go meatless at least once a week, more often if you can.
6. Aim for at least 2 cups of colorful vegetables each day.
7. Cut back on saturated fat (red meat, butter, cheese) and sugar as much as you can.
8. Make the majority of your grains whole grains.
9. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. If you skip a day, do more the next day.

If you want to improve your numbers, you can still take part -- just go to her Cholesterol Reduction Challenge page. Oh, did I mention that there are cash prizes? You can win anywhere from $50 to $250.

This post isn't sponsored or anything -- I just happened upon Dr. Melina's challenge at the perfect time.

Related articles

Diet Tips to Reduce High Triglycerides

Simple Ways to Boost Your Good Cholesterol

How much healthier can I get in 2 weeks?

Avocado Benefits and the Reasons You Should be Eating Them.

Triglycerides and Your Heart Health

Posting this because you should never settle for anything. Fight the good fight to get what you want, even if that fight is a pain in the butt. You never know when things are going to click.

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha ... I feel your pain. No, I didn't get hit in the face by a football, but my nose has been getting in the way of my workouts the past week or so.

I don't know if it's the change in humidity or a sinus infection or what, but I've been having nosebleeds a few times a week now and IT'S GETTING OLD. (Yes, I'm getting it looked at tomorrow, right after my mammogram. Multitasking!)

I haven't been aggravating the situation so my workouts have basically been walking and more walking, when I don't feel like someone's hitting me in the face with a sledgehammer. I was reading up on what not to do and two of the suggestions were:

• "Don't lift anything heavy."
• "Don't bend over."

Kinda rules out strength training, huh?

To get around this, I think I'm going to switch to resistance bands until I can get my nose cauterized or something. (I feel like a hockey player.)

In other weight-loss news, my favorite two pairs of jeans are looking mighty baggy in the midsection and I may have to retire them. There is some serious tightening up going on in my core and those jeans are not doing me any favors. They're also extremely comfortable (probably because they are basically floating around me now.)

That problem I can deal with.

Today, I'm officially lower than I've been since the mid-'90s. Couple weeks ago, I was 234.6 but then the scale jumped up and I've been working to get back to that spot and now I'm there.

But now I have an ally looking out for me and my stats -- my Retrofit advisor, who looks at my exercise stats, my meal logs and my weigh-ins. 

She asks me questions throughout the week and keeps me on the straight and narrow, which is way better than winging it on my own. 

She suggests things to do during the week, like adding veggies to my turkey meatloaf recipe or getting caught up on workouts. I really appreciate the extra set of eyes.

I've been getting caught up on doctor's appointments this week, which cut into my exercise time (I know, bad excuse!). Yesterday I did the routine bloodwork thing, which always makes me nervous. Because no matter how often I exercise or how healthy I eat, I know that age and weight can do nasty things to a person. 

My Fitbloggin' pal Hank Hanna writes at the blog The Business of Losing Weight, and today he has a great post about his victory:

My kids will never know me as unhealthy dad.

I started this weight loss journey for many, many reasons. And the benefits to my health, attitude and life have been innumerable. But they ALL fail in comparison to the benefit that my kids are getting from this. They are getting a healthy father who is demonstrating a healthy lifestyle to them. And that is how kids learn. By watching what we do as parents.

You can read the rest of the post HERE.

 

Katy Perry's "Roar" is stuck in my head. It's probably too slow for a real workout song but I like the empowering vibe.