Hospitals and Gyms

My father was scheduled to have surgery at Stanford Hospital on Friday, and the surgery was supposed to last 6 to 6 1/2 hours, so I made sure to bring a good long book. This is a textbook, I enjoy reading textbooks on training because I know I will be reading about scientifically proven methodology, not something that once worked for some fitness model and is now "the best method" as stated in a woman's magazine.

William J. Kraemer and Steven J Fleck are two of the world's leading experts on strength training. Although at times some of the parts of the book are rather dry (it is required reading after all), the parts are important to understand training as a whole.

Thursday prior to the surgery we were meeting with many of the surgeons (we met 4 of the 6 anesthesiologists!) and I was having a conversation with one about ...steroids. We were sitting around waiting for technicians to perform tests for my father and this fellow hung around to chat.

I was telling him how great my cholesterol levels were and how high my HDL is, he countered saying that women have the benefit of estrogen to keep their HDL levels high. I told him how my physician insisted on checking my levels all the time, to be sure my supplements weren't "tainted". Steroids will screw up your cholesterol. He agreed and he said this: "male bodybuilders have horrible HDL levels".

Now he didn't say "some" so in his mind all bodybuilders take steroids. Just a little tid bit of information as to the world's perceptions of bodybuilders.

But that was Thursday, as we pre-registered (sort of like a race) and met all the physicians, it would be a fairly involved procedure, actually, two of them.

So, on Friday as I sat in the surgery waiting area, I couldn't read or think, they had a live band playing blues! Here is the flyer for the band:

Now I thought that was very nice to have live music, but it seemed rather odd to me to have a loud band blasting music as people waited for their loved ones to come out of surgery. Rather over the top wouldn't you say? My brother called me from Barcelona and I had to walk all the way to the end of the corridor just to get out of range of this howling band.

Stepping back to the morning.....I had arrived there at 5:00 am and stayed with my father until they took him away at 7:15 so I thought I would zip back home and go to the gym, shower then go back to the hospital.

I arrived at the gym at 8:00 and had never seen it so crowded, I don't typically come at that hour and on a week day to boot. I noticed an awful lot of finely coiffed and dressed ladies, a gal I see in the early mornings calls them the LTL (Ladies That Lunch) and I was dumbfounded by the amount of plastic surgery I could see.

Hmm, I didn't seem to fit in very well, especially with the bulging biceps and skimpy workout clothes, I got more than my share of looks. But, several waves later and lots of" Hey your late!" "What are you doing here at this hour?" and I felt better, I just got into my training, it was back and biceps day.

I finished my training and walked out to go home to shower and get back to the hospital and what do I see in the parking lot? This and I started laughing out loud:

My gym has hot coffee in the rain and free valet parking! What a riot!  I asked the attendants if I could take this and they scrambled out of the way.

As I got in my car, still laughing about the valet parking, I realized it's not just my gym, it's my community, it's my world.

Even though I make fun of my world, I realize I am very lucky to be able to do the things I want, I live in a great community and am surrounded by wonderful people and I have a multitude of opportunities.

The world, no matter how silly or frivolous, is my oyster.

Cholesterol

 Image via Wikipedia

I have a physical every single year and my Doctor does blood work for just about everything under the sun. He even says he looks for steroids because supplements are not regulated, and there have been cases where people are buying products that are contaminated...

Right, or he thinks I am taking them! ha!

He checks my cholesterol as high cholesterol is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Thyroid disease also runs in my family, so I am careful about having that monitored annually also. He was interested in Vitamin D deficiency this time because I wear sunscreen everyday after having skin cancer....


He is also very interested in my diet, my exercise, everything. He likes to say that I am a very unique specimen, I take that as a compliment.

I got a call form my Doctor's nurse the other day and she was dumbfounded. She said my numbers get better every year!

She said my total cholesterol is 118 and my HDL is 52, now that is something to celebrate!

Just what does the HDL do?  HDL cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol, appears to scour the walls of blood vessels, cleaning out excess cholesterol. It then carries that excess cholesterol -- which otherwise might have been used to make the "plaques" that cause coronary artery disease -- back to the liver for processing. So when they measure a person's HDL cholesterol level, they seem to be measuring how vigorously his or her blood vessels are being "scrubbed" free of cholesterol.

So what do I do that ensure my cholesterol level is so low?

It's mainly my diet.

I eat oatmeal, oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol. Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, apples, pears, barley and prunes.

I eat fish and take lots of fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids) Eating fatty fish can be heart-healthy because of its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce your blood pressure and risk of developing blood clots.
Image via Wikipedia
I eat nuts, mainly natural peanut butter. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts can reduce blood cholesterol. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts also help keep blood vessels healthy.

I cook with olive oil. Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol but leave your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched.
 
I avoid saturated fats and trans fats. I eat lean poultry, beef and avoid cheese and dairy.

I exercise every single day and include aerobic activity regularly. I do not smoke, I don't drink much, although studies seem to indicate that one or two glasses of alcohol a day (and NO more) may help to increase HDL levels, but do nothing for lowering LDL.

The problem with using alcohol as a method of increasing HDL, is that most people just don't stop with two drinks, plus, you absolutely cannot be successful on a fat losing diet if you are drinking, it just won't work.

I enjoy my diet, it's a diet for life.

Long Live Kristy!

Fats and Cholesterol

David cut this picture out of his New Yorker magazine for me and said I needed to use it in my blog, I bet he was even munching on a piece of bacon as he did it too.

We all hear about "fats". Avoid fats so you don't get fat, but eat "good fats' to be healthy...well what is the deal and what is a good fat, what is a bad fat and what is the difference?

I hear people tell me all the time that they cannot eat certain foods (such as shrimp or eggs) because they are high in cholesterol, but does dietary cholesterol raise your own cholesterol?

I have compiled this from a few different sources, but I think it sums it all up in a fairly easy to understand manner.

Value of Fat
Fats are required by the body for creating hormones, for the feeling of fullness after eating and for long-lasting energy. Unsaturated fats, which are found in foods like olive oil, fish, seeds and nuts, can lower the risk of heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Saturated Fat
Saturated fat is the unhealthy type of fat which is found in foods that come from animals--milk, cheese and butter, beef and pork, for example.

Vegetarians and vegans consume no saturated fat in their diet, since plants do not contain saturated fats. The Mayo Clinic states that saturated fat can clog the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack. Many low carb diets, such as Atkins, have suggested in the past that dieters consume saturated fats, but most now insist that dieters consume more "good fats."

Saturated fats increase bad cholesterol (LDL), which can cause heart disease and certain types of cancer. It is important in order to keep your heart healthy to limit your intake of saturated fats.

Hydrogenated Fats (trans-fats).
Hydrogenated fats are man-made, but they take on many of the traits of saturated fats. They are specifically re-engineered to stay hard at room temperature.

You can find hydrogenated fats in sweets and cookies, which you should not be eating on your diet; however, you can also find it in any margarine products, so it is important to check the ingredient labels on food products before you purchase them.

Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy compound that is naturally made by the human body to help build and protect cell membranes. Cholesterol acts as a precursor for hormones like estrogen and testosterone. Since cholesterol is made by the body, humans don't need to eat foods with cholesterol. Yet foods like eggs, cheese, butter and meats all contain cholesterol.

Serum Cholesterol
There are two different types of cholesterol levels in the blood. HDL cholesterol, which stands for high density lipoprotein, is a healthy type of cholesterol which transports unhealthy cholesterol away from the heart. The American Heart Association states that LDL cholesterol, or low density lipoprotein, causes fatty deposits on the arteries and can lead to heart attacks. Many people try to limit their serum cholesterol, or cholesterol in the blood. While it is often thought eating foods with cholesterol raises cholesterol in the blood, the Mayo Clinic states that foods with saturated fat raise cholesterol the most.

Saturated Fat and Cholesterol
The Mayo Clinic states that while cholesterol is not a form of fat, it is a compound found in foods high in saturated fat. So dietary fat and dietary cholesterol are found in many of the same foods, and foods with fats can raise cholesterol in the blood.

Monounsaturated fats.
Monounsaturated fats are natural fats that lower "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and prevent "good" cholesterol (HDL) from getting lower. You will encounter a lot of monounsaturated fats in the form of canola oil, olive oil, peanut oil, and nuts.

Not only are these sources carb-free or low carb, but most of them are also high in protein, promote good heart health, and may reduce the risk of some cancers.

Polyunsaturated fats.
Polyunsaturated fats are also natural fats. They come in two major groupings: Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. You can find Omega-3 in most types of fatty fish, such as salmon and trout; Omega-6 fatty acids can be found in most seed oils.

Omega fatty acids help to reduce bad cholesterol, promote brain health, and reduce incidence of sudden death from heart attacks.

To sum this all up, eat fish, seeds, nuts, canola oil, peanut butter, olive oil.

Just remember that because they are fats, they are higher in calories, so you have to limit them to keep your daily caloric intake at the correct level. So when eating a fatty fish, you may eat a smaller portion, use some oil but use canola or olive. Eat some avocado in your salad, have a spoon of peanut butter.

Eat the good fats. They taste good and are good for you!