nothing to do with age.. but

my cholesterol was high 256 last year nad 258 this year.. HDL was 73. LDL should be less than 130 my was 170. So, I'm on a low carb diet! Wel because I was eating lots of vegetables and fruits! Really! Yes, but I was eating lots of high carbohydrate fruits like mangos, bananas, papaya and lots of smoothies with them and lots of energy drinks.

I know I can do this with a low carb diet because I have in the past! December 1999 was higher than 258 and in eight months got it down to 180.. of course then too I dropped 20 pounds. This time around only need to lose about nine pounds. I would love to see a weight of 119 again. Today I weight 127. Hey! I run, swim, do yoga, bicycle in warm weather..but probably will begin riding at the gym soon! Wonder what I'm waiting for? Maybe tomorrow I will for a bit! Today I ran for 90 minutes.

Then in 2005 my cholesterol was 215 <200 so that is not really bad! I was very thin then about 117... one day I reached 115 and I wasn't even trying.. I just had no appetite (a break-up).

I can do it again! I am doing the 55 grams of carbs per day which is the maintenace plan of the High Protein diet! Actually I don't really count carbs I only try to eat low carb fruits and vegetables. Wow! I had a think slice of pear today and it seemed so sweet! I love what I am eating! I feel wonderful! I sleep better! My gut is happy!

I had intestional gas galore eating all those sugars and high carbs! I was in misery! I felt so much better within one day after I began the high protein low carb diet. Yes! I flipped the nutrition pyramid upside down and put protein on top! Then low carbs below and no breads or grains yet. I could eat a little brown rice.

The Protein Power book has a wonderful pancake recipe with rice flour, cottage cheese, cream cheese, wheat germ, baking powder, egg and I'm sure something else I'm leaving out. I haven't had it for a long time...a few years now! But, it's wonderfully tasty and I can use low carb syrup.

Okay here's the Fluffy Pancakes Recipe that serves 2:
2 Extra-large eggs
1/4 cup of cottage cheese
2 Tablespoons cream cheese
pinch of NutraSweet or Equal or Splenda
3 tablespoons wheat germ
1 Tablespoons rice flour or Wondra
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of baking soda

Whip the eggs in a food processor or by hand until frothy. Add the cheeses andbeat until smooth. Add a little artifical sweetener. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse to blend. Gently scrape the batter into a small bowl. Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle with a little butter as needed and when it's hot spoon the batter onto the griddle - about 10 pancakes. Cook over a medium heat until the edges of the cakes are set and large bubbles appear across the surface, about 1 minute. Carefully flip them and cook for half as long as on the first side or until golden. Serve on heated plates, with a drizzle of dietetic maple syrup or berry syrup and a couple of breakfast link sausages or crisp bacon (about 2 grams protein).

Pancakes do not particularly well so if only making them for yourself, cut the recipe in half.

Read the book "Protein Power" it's stuff full of dietary nutrition information!

So wish me luck! I'll be fine! Oh, and I'm running okay now.. only took me a couple of days to switch from carbs/sugar for energy to protein.

I read somewhere that our bodies make cholesterol and increases that production if we do not get enough in our diets.. Interesting! Something doctor's don't tell you maybe? The sheet they handed me was saying eat lots of vegetable, fruit, grain, bread heavy and protein light! Imagine!

My running buddy who is a physical therapist told me that sugar causes inflamation! And see now doctors want to give people with "normal" cholesterol statins - go figure. Well, great for sales! They claim that if C R Protein is high (indicating inflamation) then statins are good for lowering and maintaining. But no one tells you that too many carbs are NOT good for you instead they say more fruits and vegetables and eat them all day long. Well, I must admit I did have some candy, bread, and sometimes cookies too! In other words I was eating what ever I wanted too!

Do you know that never in my life have I been able to eat whatever I want too! And people are surprised at that because I am thin! I wear that I eat just like anybody else. So that's it!

And once more I know that I am doing right by me.. and I can honestly say I do not miss the sweets at all! It's funny how quickly I get use to NOT eating sweets and if I should eat something sweet right now, it would seem "too" sweet! Yes, our bodies are magical.. treat them right and they treat you right!