Cholesterol 101

I recently had some blood taken for my yearly checkup at the doctor. Today I received the results from my blood tests in the mail...and I have HIGH CHOLESTEROL. What the heck?

The tests read like this:
CHOL: 249
LDL: Optimal range=below 130, your levels=104mg/dl
HDL: Optimal ranges=above 40, your level=145mg/dl
Triglecerides: Optimal ranges: below 200, your level=68mg/dl

Depending on your risk factors, if healthy eating and exercise don't work after about 3 months, we might want to recheck your cholesterol levels to see if medicine may be required...(then there was a sheet attached telling me to follow the food guide pyramid).

Now, I don't know how much the average person knows about cholesterol, but if I hadn't taken a couple classes where I learned total cholesterol=HDL+LDL and a total cholesterol level over 200mg/dl was above the optimal range, I would have no clue why I was being given cholesterol lowering tips. The chart made it look like I was in good shape! But the fact of the matter is, even though my "good" cholesterol (HDL) is high and "bad" cholesterol (LDL) is low, I still don't need all that sludge floating around in my body.

So why did I get the dr. note? Why is cholesterol so bad? My pamphlet didn't tell me. If I were to write a pamphlet on cholesterol for patients, it would be much more informative:

Most people know that high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. What most people don't know is WHY. There are 4 key players in the cholesterol level game:
LDL (BAD cholesterol)
HDL (GOOD cholesterol)
Total cholesterol (HDL+LDL)
Triglycerides (free floating fat)

LDL, which stands for low density lipoprotein is especially dangerous. It carries fat throughout our bodies and can injure our arteries, causing the arteries to form scar tissue and restrict blood flow, putting you at risk of high blood pressure and possibly a blood clot. Triglycerides have a similar role. That is why you want LDL and triglycerides to be low. On the other hand, HDL (high desity lipprotein) is the "good" guy, carrying cholesterol away from the body and to the liver, where it can help with digestion. That is why you want HDL to be high. You also want less cholesterol over all in your blood. Higher cholesterol levels mean more little balls of fat in your blood stream. This fat can clog your arteries and lead to blood clots. If those clots are near your heart, you could have a heart attack. If they occur near the brain, a stroke could happen. Therefore, it is important to keep these in check!

There are a number of factors that influence cholesterol levels, some of which you can control, and some of which you cannot:

You can control
-diet: cholesterol levels increase with diets high in saturated and trans fat and low in fiber
-physical activity: sedentary individuals are more at risk
-smoking: smoking increases cholesterol levels

You cannot control
-genetics: your family tree determines, to some extent, you cholesterol levels.

So what can you do?
1. eat soluble fiber found in oats (cheerios!), barley, nuts, flax seeds, apples, and carrots: Fiber binds to fat in the intestines, lowering total cholesterol
2. Eat monounsaturated fat found in olive oil and avocado: decreases LDL and increases HDL
3. Eat polyunsaturated fat found in cabnola oil, nuts, seeds, and fish oil: decreases total cholesterol
4. decrease saturated fats from animal sources and tropical oils like coconut and palm: helps lower LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol
5. decrease fast food and convenience foods (saturated and trans fats): helps lower LDL , triglycerides, and total cholesterol
6. Decrease cholesterol intake (this isn't quite as important as fat intake, but it's still a factor) found in eggs, meats, shellfish, and dairy: helps lower LDL, triglycerides, and total cholesterol.
7. Drink some wine (increases HDL)
8. Exercise: 30 minutes per day 5 days per week helps increase HDL and lower LDL.
9. Don't smoke : lowers total cholesterol
10. Hire a mad scientist to alter your DNA if you have a family hx of heart disease (just kidding)

So in a nutshell, eat a diet rich in minimally processed whole grains, fruits and veggies and low in meat and processed foods. Exercise regularly, don't smoke, and if you drink, go for red wine!

So there you have it. cholesterol 101. Stay tuned for my action plan to keep my triglycerides and LDL low and decrease my total cholesterol!

First Run of the Year

I just finished my first run of 2010. It was 2.5 miles on dark, icy streets and 15 degrees...and I loved every minute of it!

Just before Christmas, I dropped a ski on my foot and sprained it so badly I was on painkillers and limping around for 3 weeks! What a way to start the new year. A week in sunny Florida with workouts restricted to the exercise room and March marathon plans down the toilet.

But even though I was a grouchy little ball of fire for the first few days, I have to say that I've developed a new outlook on exercise during this cross training period. Perhaps it was my sister's influence (I got to spend a lot of time with her in Florida, and was inspired by her training at the gym: she performs exercises on nautilus machines and bosu balls as if she is in some sort of professional exercise video....her form is flawless!)...or, perhaps it was studying for my personal trainer course. Whatever the reason, I've started to think not only about "performance", but overall fitness for health and well-being.

As an athlete, I've always been guilty of doing whatever exercise I think will get me stronger and faster without respecting my body's internal signals or thinking about long term impact on health. I will run 80 miles a week but have "no time" to stretch. I will squeeze in an extra 1/2 workout after dinner but sacrifice a much needed half hour of sleep. But over the past three weeks, instead of thinking what workouts would make me fastest at running once I got back on the roads, I chose my workouts based on how my body felt. Some days my body wanted to do yoga. Other days it wanted to row fast or bike for a long, steady hour or two. And last Sunday, it asked me nicely to lie on the couch all day. So I did. And I'm feeling better than ever.

There are 4 Components to overall physical fitness: Cardiovascular Fitness, Muscular Fitness (muscular endurance and muscle strength), flexibility, and body composition. I think I am feeling so good lately because I have been paying attention to the four components of physical fitness by working a variety of muscle groups through different activities, paying more attention to strengthening and stretching as well as number of hours spent logging miles, and have been fueling and resting my body to provide for optimal body composition.

I am feeliong quite content with my current outlook and habits, and was absolutely ecstatic to get out on the road and run for a little whole this evening. I love to run. I love the way it feels. I love how sharp my mind is afterwards. I love the conversations I have with myself or others on runs. But I am willing to be patient with it this time. I WILL race a marathon this year. It won't be in March, but it will happen in 2010. I have the feeling I will approach it a little differently this time, with a little more respect for my body.

No matter what your goals are (performance or simply a long healthy life), try to remember how important it is to listen to your internal cues, and make sure to incorporate some (even if it is just a few minutes a couple days a week) of each of the four components of physical fitness in your training program each week. Your body will thank you :-)

Decade Resolutions!

My father, sister and I were discussing the turn of the decade (and yes, it may not be PC to say that 2010 is the start of a new decade, but that's how I see it, so I'm going with it!)... I decided to take some time to post about the highlights and lowlights of the past decade, as well as some aspirations for the next decade!

Last decade:
2000-2009 was defininitely great in a lot of ways. I became a lot closer with my sister and dad. I met Michael, love of my life, and his wonderful family who welcomed me with open arms. I earned my high school diploma, my bachelors degree, and my PhD. I learned to row, and proceeded to compete in rowing at the division 1 level for 4 years and coach for 2 years. I met a great group of men and women through rowing who I am confident will always be considered my "best friends". I ran some races faster than I ever thought I could. I joined the Greater Springfield Harriers and formed a lot of running friendships. I got a great job at Holyoke Community College and sincerely look forward to work each day. I coached some wonderful teams of rowers who are fun and inspiring.

Of course great things are sometimes accompanied by great loss. I lost my beautiful mother to cancer. I paid dearly for abusing my body in high school and college by suffering a string of bone related sports injuries. I literally got kicked out of my own home by a man who "Just didn't love me any more". I switched advisors and topics for my dissertation 3 times! I struggled through my first two years of teaching as I tried to navigate this series of personal catastrophes.

All in all, I feel very blessed for this great life I have fallen in to. What I am most thankful for this past decade is my friends and family who have been there to laugh with me and cry with me and act as crutches for me when I was about to fall (both literally and figuratively!). My one and only regret of the decade is that I spent so much time working on improving myself intellectually and physically that I sometimes failed to show people how much I cared about them or help others move towards their potential as well as I could have.

Helping others improve has always given me more personal satisfaction than improving myself. I believe my true purpose is to help others reach their full physical, career, and life potential in my role as a coach, teacher, and couselor. In the next decade, I plan on living according to this paradigm.

So, as I look towards 2010-2019, I aspire to:
1. Focus on activities that relate to helping people discover and work towards their potential
2. Make an effort each day to tell someone in my life how much I appreciate him/her
3. Take risks, get out of my "comfort zone" in my personal and professional endeavors

These, of course, are not "SMART" goals, but some aspirations of how I want to live the next ten years! I'm not quite ready for the specifics :-)

Take some time to reflect on your successes in the past decade about your goals and/or aspirations for the next. It really solidifies how far you have come and helps you look forward to how much farther you can go!