il Duce wrote:Had my first physical in 10 years last week. I stand about 5'9" and currently weigh 214. Doctor wants me to lose 20 pounds and say I should lose 50. With my stocky frame and huge legs I'm not sure how much of me would be left if I lost 50 pounds. Blood test came back showing high cholesterol and triglycerides triple what they should be. None of this is really a surprise as my diet kinda sucks.
I guess what I want to know is first of all, "what the hell are triglycerides?" and what are some low cholesterol snacking options? because I LOVE snacks.
My doctor once wrote "eat less pies"
My recommendation is to not worry about low cholesterol, or triglycerides so much, it's mostly just eat things are lower in fat, or cut back on alcohol. The bigger thing is to just eat less in general, or increase your physical activity to match your intake. I'm all about CICO, and religiously track everything I eat/do in myfitnesspal.
About a year ago, I was up around 280 (I really hate typing that) on my 6'3" frame. I found a calorie limit that was something I felt I could comfortably live with, and then increased my walking/elliptical to make sure I burned more than that. I managed to hit 195 in January, and have pretty much stuck around that. In my last physical, every thing was in the normal/excellent range.
It could be bullshit, but my assumption is just losing weight makes everything work better. You feel better, you naturally have more energy to move around, and it all just begins a snowball effect of health. When I had to actually log my intake, I saw that I could have a chocolate thing for 450 kcal, or I could eat half a pound of chicken. At that point, I'll take the chicken. I still eat snacks (particularly dark chocolate, god that is good), but making logging part of my daily routine makes it easier to keep it under control.
Anyways, stuff I "snack" on:
Small Dark Chocolates like Dove
Those mini rice cakes from Aldi's
String Cheese / Babybel's
Kirkland Protein Bars (when I'm tired and need something, 190kcal, 20g of protein)
Fudge Bars (there's tons of lowcal ones)
Boom Chicka Pop Popcorn
Jerky (although the sodium is just terrible so I try to avoid)
Sorry for the rambling, this kind of stuff has become a major part of my life.
TL;DR - It's easier for me to just focus on eating less of everything by logging it in an app, than trying to eat less of one type of thing, then all the other numbers sort of fall into place.