"You are what you eat'! This adage couldn't be truer and I very recently witnessed a very compelling testimony of this. After my kids and I left to India, for about four weeks DH cut out rice, sugar and bread completely and stuck to a diet of different kids of vegetable and fruit salads most of the time. Salad dressings were used minimally and even cheese was not included. He has been eating oatmeal regularly for breakfast for the last couple of years. Barring a couple of work lunches, he followed this regimen quite strictly. He worked most of the time and didn't exercise. At the end of the four weeks he got his blood work done and the results were stellar. His total cholesterol and all other parameters- LDL, HDL, VLDL which had been not so great in the past, were all now spectacular, I couldn't be happier. In particular triglycerides ( healthy range < 150) which had been almost 350 previously had dropped down to 105.
The day after his blood draw, he went for a week long official trip to the east coast. During this time, most of his meals were with coworkers and he could not adhere to his diet rules of the past month. Soon after he traveled to India and ate to his heart's content for two weeks. Half the time we ate at restaurants and even home meals were mostly special occasion fare- sweets, fried snacks and delicacies were the staple for 2 weeks. For two days we stayed at a resort where we had sumptuous buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As we were talking about how much we have been eating and what an assault we've dealt on our stomachs, DH kept exclaiming that his weight and cholesterol numbers may all have been sabotaged by this endless feasting. I replied saying , 'Why don't you just go get your blood work done again? If 4 weeks of careful eating can produce wonderful results, let's just see what 3 - 4 weeks of binge eating can bring!'. He initially dismissed it but actually went ahead. It was exactly one month since the previous time he got his tests done. As expected most numbers had moved south in varying amounts from the initial healthy figures. The triglycerides had shot up to a shocking 210 from 105. Without undermining the importance of physical activity, it was really eye popping to see the immediate effects that diet can have on one's health. That refined, processed food, sugary treats, white rice and white bread, oily salty snacks can wreak absolute havoc on one's system in such a short time, taking the triglyceride numbers up by a whooping 100 points was astounding to me. Whether good results can be gotten in as short a time as four weeks or not for most folks, worsening one's numbers is neither too hard nor does it take much time. Now I am scared as hell to go have my numbers tested!
The day after his blood draw, he went for a week long official trip to the east coast. During this time, most of his meals were with coworkers and he could not adhere to his diet rules of the past month. Soon after he traveled to India and ate to his heart's content for two weeks. Half the time we ate at restaurants and even home meals were mostly special occasion fare- sweets, fried snacks and delicacies were the staple for 2 weeks. For two days we stayed at a resort where we had sumptuous buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
As we were talking about how much we have been eating and what an assault we've dealt on our stomachs, DH kept exclaiming that his weight and cholesterol numbers may all have been sabotaged by this endless feasting. I replied saying , 'Why don't you just go get your blood work done again? If 4 weeks of careful eating can produce wonderful results, let's just see what 3 - 4 weeks of binge eating can bring!'. He initially dismissed it but actually went ahead. It was exactly one month since the previous time he got his tests done. As expected most numbers had moved south in varying amounts from the initial healthy figures. The triglycerides had shot up to a shocking 210 from 105. Without undermining the importance of physical activity, it was really eye popping to see the immediate effects that diet can have on one's health. That refined, processed food, sugary treats, white rice and white bread, oily salty snacks can wreak absolute havoc on one's system in such a short time, taking the triglyceride numbers up by a whooping 100 points was astounding to me. Whether good results can be gotten in as short a time as four weeks or not for most folks, worsening one's numbers is neither too hard nor does it take much time. Now I am scared as hell to go have my numbers tested!
Good to hear from you! And boy..those statistics are scary. I'm sure once hubby gets back to his old regimen he will see improvement.
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