When Nate and I met, I was 5’ 5” and weighed 187 pounds, too much for me. But I was a college senior in charge of my own menu for the first time, happily living on the “Three C’s” (Cake, Cookies and Candy).
There was only one problem. I was picking up weight like a snowman being rolled on a good packing day. Nothing fit right, and I felt like an inflated balloon.
It was the sixties, and a brand new dieting idea had just arrived: Metrecal, a flavored liquid touted as “a meal in a can.” A little bit of will power and lots of Metrecal, and they said the weight would fall away like fur off a shedding dog. So several friends and I suffered through multiple cans of Metrecal every day while studying and attending classes, then spent our evenings rewarding our self-control by driving the neon lights: McDonalds, Mister Donut, 31 Flavors and Burger King.
Then I met Nate, and as fate would have it, he liked chubby! Although Twiggy was the reed-thin beauty standard of the day, Nate was more of a Rembrandt man. He believed women should be soft and round, everything the late sixties world said was unattractive. I was a blessed woman, probably the only bride in the country who didn’t go on a diet before her wedding.
Throughout our marriage Nate held true to his position. Because I moved through seven pregnancies, I was fat a great deal of the time. He liked that. When I’d work hard to slim down afterwards he’d say, “Aren’t you getting too thin? Why don’t you put on a few pounds?”
What’s the proper attitude toward weight gain and loss? After a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, I can honestly say the only wise goal is to eat healthy. For me that doesn’t taste as good as the Three C’s. The fact that “healthy” is always the right choice is pretty hard to swallow.
Last week I went to the doctor for an annual physical. After listening to a reprimand (“You’re 14 years late on your colonoscopy”), I successfully opted out of an EKG and several other routine tests but agreed to a blood draw for a general health panel. Friday the doctor called with results. Everything was fine except my cholesterol count, much too high.
“This could get serious,” he warned. “Plaque causes strokes or heart attacks.” He quizzed me about any changes I’d made in my eating habits over the last two years, since my count had been good back then. I couldn’t think of a thing.
Then it hit me: rice cakes and peanut butter. In the last two years I’ve become an addict, enjoying four or five of them for every breakfast, occasional lunches and sporadic dinners. There’s nothing wrong with rice cakes. Its the multiple tablespoons of PB that have done me in.
So here I am, once again faced with that biblical principle of doing the right dietary thing. “Three months,” the doctor said. “Drop ten points each month, and we’ll re-test you in June. If you’re not down by 30, it’s medicine for you.”
So today’s been rough. Breaking a bad habit isn’t easy. What do they say… six weeks? Ouch. But our girls made a good point over the weekend. “Mom, if something happened to you so soon after Papa, that would be really bad.”
And of course they’re right. They did their part to help me get started by carting off the two giant jars of Jif I’d just purchased. I do want to act wisely and eat healthy, and I’m determined to drop 30 cholesterol points by June. More importantly, I want to live according to scriptural principles, in this case, moderation.
”If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.” (Proverbs 25:16)
(Would honey on a rice cake be bad for cholesterol?)
Hi, Anonymous from yesterday’s blog…
I appreciate your comment after the “Testing… Testing…” blog post, and I answered your question in a comment I posted there. Look for it at the end of the other comments. It begins with “Hi, there…” and I hope you can find it! If not, leave me another comment!
Just a word of encouragement. I didn’t know if proper eating would reduce my cholesterol number, but it dropped 60 points in about a year, so I didn’t have to be on medicine. Exercise helped too. However, it’s a day-to-day challenge and submission to what God desires for me!
I’m under conviction now, Margaret. My cabinet holds a 28oz jar of Extra Crunchy Jiff. It is great with the “healthy” granolas. Oh me…..
Thanks for your openess.
OH NO! I can’t believe your rice cake snacks have to be monitored now. I always thought they were so healthy…. I guess it’s that PB though!
You gave me a scale for Christmas one year…. Hmmmmm……
Ummmm . . . would 25% reduced fat peanut butter be OK???? I also am and Extra Crunchy Jiff fan (I don’t that much of it), but someone told me about reduced fat (12 g fat as opposed to 16 for regular) and it’s good too. Cholesterol diet question — are egg yolks ACTUALLY bad for your cholesterol? I’ve read conflicting things. Some people get white egg omelets but I’m thinking that just doesn’t sound good!
OOPS – that was supposed to say — I don’t EAT that much of it.
Oh Margaret, try some sesame tahini with a little honey, or some almond butter! They’re both yummy and heart healthy. Or if you like a savory snack, try spreading some hummus on your rice cake. I’m now a homemade hummus addict, but the only fat in it is from olive oil which is actually good for lowering LDL cholesterol (the bad kind).
Sorry you have to change such a tasty habit! I’ll be praying for you to get a great number in June.
Increase your fiber to like 30 grams a day, and lower your net carbs … it’s not easy to get that much fiber, but it’s quite possible(a good book about this is The F Factor). Combined with exercise, it’s the best way to lower cholesterol. 🙂 Unfortunately, rice cakes have little fiber and a relatively high net carb count … good luck!! 🙂
my cholesterol PLUMMETED following the diet in Fit Fot life…mostly fruits and vegetables, and lots of them, no need to be hungry
Yeah, me too…try making your own OATMEAL CAKES….add dried unsulfered fruit and honey for sweetness, or fresh fruit and nuts as a hot cereal….yummy!! good for your heart, very filling…very nutritious!!
Blessings
I too have very high cholestrol and do take medication but am also aware of what I put in my mouth and do some walking every day. No diet or exercise would bring my numbers to where they should be–some genetics going on. 187 when you met Nate. I remember those days on Belden and I can’t believe you weighed that much. You look thin in all your pictures which is what we strive for right???? Blessings to you. Love, Martha
Try Meryl”s regime, garlic, cholestof, omega 3, Dad and Duane are on it and it’s bee working for b=oth of them. With the walking you do you should be in great shape soon.
Also they’re eating oatmeal most mornings for breakfast
Hi Margaret,
You are so tiny, it’s hard to believe you were ever the result of 3C eating.
Looks like you’re getting lots of good advice here- my cholesterol has always been about 160… until this year, and it shot up 60 points. 🙁
So I’m also reworking my diet and getting back to good old habits as I kind of got sloppy, though some of this is just plain genetics and aging. But I’m a purist,too, and want to avoid medication as long as I can. For absolute sure, you will lower your levels with oatmeal, as many mornings as you can tolerate it. I like it best made in the pot over the stove… and I do use honey for sweetener, and also toss in blueberries or whatever fruit is available. Lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of fiber, fish oil pill to raise the good cholesterol (HDL) and offset the ratio of bad LDL to good HDL. You can remember that because you want the bad stuff LDL to be low and the good stuff, HDL to be high. I’m sure your doctor gave you the list of good stuff to eat and bad stuff to avoid.
Aren’t you glad that someday soon you have a glorified body coming your way? I’m sure the food of heaven will be perfectly delicious and perfectly good to suit that new you!
Raising my glass of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil to you,
Terry
Ha! I love how many comments you’re getting on this post. Just remember mom, you don’t have to give up your rice cakes and pb completely. Just avoid having 4 or 5 for breakfast and few more for snacks every single day. 🙂 Love you!
So cute all the comments filled with such a variety of advices! As always, it has blessed me reading your blog. But this time not only made me smile but it was right on for me! I was diagnosed with diabetes, high cholesterol and triglycerides (did I spell it right? Scary word!) 18 months ago. My numbers were in the 500 hundreds 🙁 I succeeded lowering them except the glucose. I don´t have a sweet tooth but I love carbs and I am one of those people who eats too much honey (in my case condensed milk with a spoon in one sitting…oh! didn´t I just say I don´t have a sweet tooth?) or too much cheese and bread, too much chicken and rice and I could live of pasta…oh well! The proverb was right one for me…and your daughter´s comment definitely has convicted me…I wonder if the 6 weeks to break all my bad habits will be consecutive ???
Try Red Yeast Rice…and oatmeal. 🙂 Dave’s cholesterol was in the high 230’s and he started on red yeast rice in capsule form. He last reading was 205 and going down!
Our folk eat loads of porridge and they say the oats are good for reducing cholesterol. We often get their remains and it sure tastes good.
Share a bowl with Jack.
We’ll make sure you try some in England…if you want!
Can’t wait to see you.
All things in moderation. Switch your PB to the organic which has to be stirred up and/or alternate with 1 Tbls. almond butter. My cholesterol has slowly been reduced by reducing portions of the fattening stuff or replacing it with tasty alternatives. I drink alot of water with the clear Benefiber mixed in it, can even mix some in with your coffee. There is no extra taste or gumminess in the drink. A good epa gel cap of 1200mg and niacin flush free will reduce it quickly also. My snacks have been a whole apple, 1/4 cup of walnuts (high in epa), a few homemade oatmeal cookies or rice cake with almond/organic pb. They have satisfied the need and taste good too. All the above comments are some good ones to try. I have found some healthy oatmeal recipies to where I actually like it. Beware of the low fat stuff which may be loaded with sugar instead. Cooking with xylitol sugar is a good substitute and kills the candida yeast bacteria overgrowth which feeds on the craving for sweets and carbs. May the Lord bless you with wisdom and discernment for finding what is good for your body chemistry and restore it to good balance without the meds.
Great day in the morning! This is hilarious! (Glad to know I wasn’t the only chubby bride with a saint for a husband, or the only one a decade overdue on a colonoscopy…funny how there is just never QUITE enough time to fit that in!)
Let me add my pithy bit of high end foodie wisdom…I believe what is called for here is eye of newt and leg of lamb, tooth of hound and pound of sand…:) That ought to take care of that overdue colonoscopy AND send those numbers back to the basement where they belong!
(And where the emergency supply of PB is stored:)
Couldn’t let this discussion end without mentioning Shel’s tried and true remedy: APPLE CIDER VINGAR. It flushes that bad stuff right out. Add to juice or tea. Doesn’t take much, just steady use.
Margaret, subscribe (free) to mercola.com and get the real info on cholesterol, fat, and sugar. You’ll find out there, that the sweet honey is as big a threat to your heart health as the peanut butter. Sorry about the new challenge.
(mercola.com is the “most visited natural health site on the internet”)