When it comes to learning how you can become healthier, you should check your cholesterol levels as you will want to check your body’s levels of fat called triglycerides. You will find that cholesterol and triglyceride are both lipids in your
body that will help your body to survive. If you don’t try to maintain healthy levels of fats, you can potentially be at risk for a heart attack and/or stroke. It is best to check with your doctor about your cholesterol levels in order for you to stay healthy and in an effort to protect your heart from damage. Ask your doctor about your triglyceride levels and whether a cholesterol diet is necessary for your situation.

Triglycerides are tested as part of your cholesterol test which happens to follow the good and bad cholesterol levels.

Medical research has only recently been started on the effects of triglycerides in the blood stream. At this stage it appears that lower levels of triglycerides are better for your body. However, it is not yet apparent if they are contributing or if they are a symptom to the problems of high LDL cholesterol.

Research and studies are still being done on this type of problem, however there are doctors who aren’t quite sure on how to recommend treatment for the triglyceride levels.  Most of the time, lowering high LDL cholesterol and raising low HDL cholesterol brings levels back into a normal range with no additional work.

You will find that there are some special cases where the higher levels are being treated in patients. A normal reading of triglyceride is lower than 150 therefore you will find that anything above 150 is considered to be high and if you are over 500, then levels are extremely high and could be dangerous to your health.

Most patients that are being treated for high triglyceride also suffer from syndrome X. The syndrome X is a genetic default that will cause you to have high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, also hypertension. You may also have
abnormal blood clotting and issues with insulin.

This is the reason why patients with the syndrome X are at high risk for heart attack. High levels can easily be treated if you lose some weight and exercise. You may also need to be prescribed medication, although, a diet could be just as helpful. If you think you may suffer from the syndrome X, then you will want to learn more about your levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

You can do that by talking to your doctor. Your doctor will prescribe a simple blood test which will measure the lipids in your blood. You will also want to talk to your doctor about changing habits in your diet and creating some important exercise routines in order that you can live healthy. A cholesterol diet is not the end of the world, it is the beginning of a healthy life. Your heart needs to stay fit and happy, don’t delay your visit to your doctor any longer – get your levels checked.

Regards,

Cathy Tambeau
Founder of Manage Your Body and Mind

When you pick up the menu, start by skipping over the drink section. Although you may be tempted to enjoy a beer or mixed beverage with your dinner, these usually have many empty calories, which are not good for your body. The exception to this rule would be wine, especially red wine, if you have a single glass you will be fine and you can actually help prevent heart disease when ingesting red wine in small doses.

Also skip over the appetizer menu, unless it’s to order a side salad. The appetizers at restaurants are usually high-fat foods that are not meant to fill you up and can in fact make you crave even more high fat foods. Examples of these are mozzarella sticks, potato skins, and wings. Instead, simply focus on your main course or, if you must indulge, share a single serving with the entire table of people.

Healthy Eating Plan

When choosing your main dish, it is of course important that you look at the ingredients of the dish. Anything with cream sauces or high-fat meats should be avoided, and pass up the potatoes or onion rings. Instead order side dishes like vegetables.

Remember that portion is everything:

• Order off of the lunch menu whenever you can – portions are usually smaller.
• If the order is bigger than anticipated, don’t overeat,ask for a doggie bag right away.
• Split your meal in half from the start so that you are not tempted to eat the entire portion, which may be enough for two or three portions.

At the end of your meal, skip over the desert menu, just like you did with the appetizers. Again, you can share a single desert with the entire table if you feel compelled to order something, or split your portion in half. Many fancy desserts at restaurants have more calories than your entire meal, so keep this in mind before you flag down the waitress to put in an order! Of course, on special occasions, it’s alright to cheat a little, but overall a healthy eating plan requires lots of will power and resisting temptation around you.

Keep in tune with our blog there is lots more to come!

Regards,

Cathy Tambeau

Parties are a major source of peer pressure, especially with alcohol. Remember that alcohol contains approx 200 calories in just one drink. As an example if you were to drink one beer every night you would be adding over 1000 calories to your diet each week. Imagine if you had several beers in one evening – that is a pile of calories!

Healthy Eating Tips and Peer Pressure

When you go to a party, people might be pressuring you to have a drink and relax, and it can be difficult to say no when they are constantly trying to convince you to have a drink with them. If you would rather not have any drinks let people know you would rather not drink alcohol, see if there is juice,water or diet pop at the party. Tell people you are the designated driver, people won’t want you to drink and, in fact, they will probably make sure you get non-alcoholic drinks. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Another time when you may feel pressured to eat is at work when the boss orders lunch for everyone at a meeting or when you have to visit a client. Instead of giving in to temptation, politely decline the food by letting your boss know in advance. If you would prefer to order lunch with everyone else make sure you order a meal that is healthy and split the portion in half so you have a meal for tomorrow’s lunch as well.

Baby showers, weddings, birthday parties, and other special events can also wreak havoc on your diet, even if you are good at resisting temptation on your own. When someone hands you a piece of cake and won’t take no for an answer, it can be difficult to know what to say!  Here, little white lies might be appropriate. For instance, saying that your stomach was upset earlier in the day will convince a person that you don’t want to eat at the moment.

Remember, however, that while refusing bad foods is fine, you should be eating good foods. If you do not, dangerous eating habits and disorders can develop, which will give you, your friends, and your doctor a real reason to worry. It’s ok to say no to peer pressure, but don’t say no to food in general – Healthy Eating Tips need to be headed for you to enjoy an abundant, healthy life.

We will continue to bring you a ton of information on various health related issues.

Regards,

Cathy Tambeau