51M 6'2" SW: 231 CW: 193 GW: 194
In December, I had my wake-up call. Cholesterol was legit high. My doctor wrote a note about my blood tests saying that I should take statins. After the initial shock, my first and immediate reaction was no way, I have spent time in a Mediterranean country, and know how to follow that diet, and how to prepare meals properly. So, I wrote back and told my doctor that I would prefer to try diet and activity changes first and to see how much that would help. She agreed and told me to re-test at the 6-month mark.
My first act was to take a hard look at what I really was eating. As I mentioned above, I pay attention to my diet - or thought that I did. What I found, though, is that I had allowed a number of little things to creep up on me. Way too many calorie-dense late-night snacks, way too many processed and cured cold cuts, not knowing when to stop eating and pushing past the point of feeling full, and not getting proper proportions of fruit and vegetables, especially fruit. And there was way too much saturated fat lurking in some of the things I ate.
So, I cut a number of things first for the saturated fat content, which ultimately threw me back to following my former Mediterranean eating habits with some additions (such as avocadoes and salmon, which both are a real lifesaver). I also increased the proportions of vegetables and whole grains relative to everything else, and shifted to more fish and less meat. For snacks, I resorted carrots and hummus, as well as nuts. I detest the store-bought hummus varieties, but learned early on from an Arab friend that you can make great hummus in no time if you just purchase tahini and canned chickpea paste separately, then mix that up with lemon juice, garlic, a bit of olive oil and whatever spices you like. It takes all of five minutes to whip up a batch that tastes great and has great texture.
Another thing that made a huge difference with having high school-aged children was the realization that I could brown-bag both breakfast and lunch, and defer eating breakfast to around 8:30 in the morning, at my office rather than at home while in a hurry. I now spend about 15 minutes in the morning putting together oatmeal and reduced-fat milk, or Greek yoghurt, with chia seeds, plenty of frozen and/or fresh fruit, and nuts. And by the time I get into office, it's just soft and warm enough that it tastes good, and I can eat it at leisure, rather than having to rush to get the kids out the door. It also keeps me full for long enough that I don't crave any snacks before lunch.
I won't lie, the beginning was rough. But the initial time on the edge of being hungy helped me re-learn the difference between actually being hungry and just comfort eating. I've also lurked in this forum, and picked up a great number of tips, thanks everyone! (Especially the one about eating large quantities of vegetables at virtually no calorie hit.) It got easier after a few weeks, and it felt like these changes were sustainable.
Weight loss had not even been my goal in this. I checked the scale more out of curiosity, and noticed that the changes were enough to have me drop about 2 pounds per week, give or take. Although the beginning was completely incidental, by about a month in, I added weight as another goal. My first one was to get rid of the "Covid-20" pounds, and when I got close to that, I set a BMI under 25 as my next goal. That took a bit longer, until late May, and things seem to have stabilized, but I'm right at where I wanted to be, so ...
The other thing I looked at, also for the cholesterol, was increasing activity. I have some knee issues, so I can't do high-impact sports. We have an elliptical at home, thanks to my wife, but I hate working out on it. Instead, I started with two other things: (1) I occasionally got off a metro stop early to work, which means a brisk 35-min walk to my office; (2) I threw some VR rhythm games in the mix (Beat Saber & Synth Rider). These two things were fun and got me into the habit of doing cardio workouts.
Then, in February, through continued lurking in the forum, I thought that I needed to add some resistance training to the mix. Luckily, my workplace offered a water aerobics class right at that time, and I jumped at the chance of doing something low-impact that didn't require a gym membership. It's been a major boon for me - aside from endurance, my core and leg strength has improved by leaps and bounds, and that in turn also has made cycling fun again. Nowadays, I spend probably around 300 minutes per week doing some form of moderate-intensity exercise, including but not limited to occasionally cycling to work (23 miles one way with some major climbs), water aerobics, walking, bodyweight exercises and even the hated elliptical (which isn't so bad with improved endurance). One specific lesson I've learned in all this is to block off time in my calendar for exercise. That time can't be touched by my coworkers, any more than time for recurring work commitments can be touched. It's liberating to just say no to specific time blocks. The payoff, in any case, has been much more energy and productivity, so no one is complaining.
I've had a number of NSVs along the way, but the big one came this week with the six-month follow-up blood work and the doctor's appointment. My lipid panel was much better than I had dared hope for, with all cholesterol values being back to normal, total cholesterol dropping by 99 points, and LDL and triglycerides dropping by almost 50% each. My ALT values, which had been elevated for years, also dropped by 50% and are now squarely back in the normal range. I feel better than I have in years. The doctor complimented me and told me that she hasn't seen an improvement this big through lifestyle changes before. Oh, and my acid reflux also is gone. Poof. No medications for this anymore.
I really appreciate the wisdom of this forum. It's been invaluable even though I haven't contributed actively. Thank you and good luck on your own journeys.
