I have a much awaited doctor appointment coming up on February 4th. For the most part, my doctor had no concerns at my last appointment in February 2021, except me continuing to lose weight and my white blood cell count was elevated.
I really was anxious to find out how my cholesterol has held up through the keto diet. I did blood work on Tuesday to prepare for my appointment this week and got the results back today with one major concern.
First let's look at this years and last years results:
02/2022 02/2021
Total Cholesterol 177 181
LDL 125 116
HDL 37 45
Triglycerides 62 102
Ratio 4.8 4.02
As you can see my LDL itself went up very little and my total cholesterol is actually down! My best result is my triglycerides which is now 62. Well below the recommended 100.Under 70 is recommended, so even better!
My major concern here is my HDL. It totally went in the wrong direction. My HDL was in the 20's in my 20's so it is at least not back to being that bad. BUT, I've worked hard to raise my HDL over the years. I've had it in the 50's at one point. Although the more I read, the more I see that it should really be 60 or higher. So the fact that it has dropped instead of going up is a bit of a concern for me.
But I have to confess, I do think I know why my HDL has fallen. First, I have been relying on McDonalds breakfast sandwiches & cheeseburgers too often for my lunch and breakfast lately. You figure I eat a lot less calories these days so if I'm having McDonald's for breakfast and lunch some days, that is a huge percent of my daily calories. I also read that even just a few artificial trans fats can effect my HDL. I do know the cheeseburgers do contain trans fats. Very little, but I now know it doesn't take much to effect my HDL.
I found this great article on how I can increase my HDL:
9 Ways To Increase Your HDL Cholesterol Levels
Second, I have not been doing any cardio exercise to speak of for the last few months. I know exercise is a great way to increase HDL. It's funny because my family and I have talked about reinstating our gym membership yesterday. Then I found out my HDL numbers this morning! I think that's good incentive to get out and exercise more!
There are many things I am doing to help my HDL including losing weight, eating coconut and olive oils and following a keto diet. The thing is, I can't be lazy about it and I need to start bringing my breakfast and lunch to work! It doesn't mean I have to eliminate McDonald's completely. I just plan to not have breakfast there very often anymore. There is 1/2 trans fat in the Sausage Egg McMuffin that I love so much. Because I know there are 1.5 trans fats or more in their burgers, I will be eliminating them from my diet completely. But even with breakfast, I am going to try to avoid eating there as much as possible and only make it an occasional treat.
My whole purpose of this diet was to get rid of as much processed foods from my diet as I could and get healthy. I really haven't done that when it comes to eating out at McDonald's. It's always been easy and I know the calories because they have all that information online. So using it while dieting has always been an option I liked. BUT, I need to keep trans fats and processed foods out of my diet as much as possible. That is the only way I will truly get healthy!
My Two Goals ~
To try to get more healthier fats in my diet.
To exercise at least 3 times a week.
I see my doctor on Friday to discuss my cholesterol and also inform her that I am doing a Keto Diet. Hopefully it all goes well and she likes my plan for trying to raise my HDL. Stay tuned....
