Saturday, March 7, 2015

I got fat again, how will I lower my cholesterol?

It has been quite some time since I started this blog because I had high cholesterol. The key ways I used to lower my cholesterol are below:

Juicing

I kept it up for a good few months. It is an extremely healthy way low improve health because you drink a glass full of raw vegetables with a piece of fruit.

Just one apple covers the taste up of seemingly horrible sounding vegetables like spinach, carrots, beetroot and many more.

I used to mix in some root veggies like carrot and beetroot, with one or more watery veggies like cucumber and tomato. Then add one apple for teh sugar which makes everything taste fine.

The downside is that it is a lot of messing around, expense and hassle. So I eventually gave up as I expect many will do. I just used a cheap juicer so I recommend doing that first to see if you stick with it. I might of had the cheapest juicer in the world.

Garlic

I swallowed whole pieces of garlic with very big gulps of water. Only try this with small bulbs of garlic. A few times they nearly got stuck in my throat. I found that cutting up larger pieces made them more likely to stick in my throat because of the sharp edges.

Instead of the potentially dangerous option of swallowing whole cloves of garlic, you can buy supplements. Also I started to cook with it more. Plus I bought some roughly ground already fried garlic to add to dishes and sprinkle over rice (very tasty).

Quit Smoking


I eventually quit smoking almost 9 months ago. It was easier than expected and I have documented this in a separate blog which started as a way to try and smoke more healthily and then turned into a successful quit smoking journal.

The problem is that i have replaced smoking with eating sugar, specifically candy. So it is time to look at lowering my cholesterol again because I am eating candy far too much.

My new plan to lower cholesterol (and waistline)

This time I am travelling, don't have a juicer, don't want to swallow whole cloves of garlic, and would like to do things in a common sense way that I can continue with forever. Swallowing whole cloves of garlic was just a quick stop-gap way of lowering cholesterol.

The new plan is to quit sugar unless it is brown and in moderation. So I have switched from a full teaspoon in my tea to half a teaspoon and it must be brown. White sugar is bad, just like white bread.

1. So when possible I now eat just sugar free candy or gum. I have already begun eating fruit more than before which contains "better" sugar. Cutting down on sugar, especially white sugar is a big deal. Honey is a wonderful replacement too and I have used that for bland fruit and wheat bread toast.

2. I am going to cycle as my primary mode of transport. Also try and take up a sport. Basically get more exercise. My feet are currently sore from a long walk this morning for example.

3. I have already cut down on fatty foods e.g. I haven't had a donut in months and I am more likely to cut off the fat on meat now too.

It is as simple as that. Less sugar, less fat and more exercise. For long term control of cholesterol a healthy lifestyle is the right solution in my opinion.