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Episode 2821:
Dr. Monali Y. Desai delves into the surprising possibility of cholesterol levels rising temporarily during weight loss, especially on high-fat diets, while providing reassurance that most studies show weight loss generally improves cholesterol levels. Her second piece offers a realistic, 7-day plan to transition back into healthy eating after indulgent periods, emphasizing small, manageable changes for long-term success.
Read along with the original article(s) here: http://www.ifwewerefamily.com/losing-weight-cholesterol-increase/ & http://www.ifwewerefamily.com/start-eating-healthy/
Quotes to ponder:
"Stop eating when you stop feeling hungry, which is NOT the same thing as when you feel full."
"The ideal healthy meal is 50% vegetables, 25% healthy proteins, and 25% whole grain carbs."
"It’s easy to think that you’re going to go from eating unhealthy and suddenly you’re going to start eating healthy again. But in reality, it’s hard to make such a dramatic change."
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[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily. Can Losing Weight Make Your Cholesterol Go Up AND 3 Simple Tips to Start Eating Healthy Again?
[00:00:09] Both by Dr. Monali Y. Desai of IfWeWereFamily.com and I'm Dr. Neal, your very own personal narrator.
[00:00:16] Hello there, happy Saturday. I hope your weekend is off to a great start and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or OHD,
[00:00:24] where I act as your narrator of popular health and fitness blogs and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.
[00:00:30] Now don't forget, we have a bunch of shows covering a bunch of different topics. Just search for Optimal Living Daily in any podcast app to find all of them.
[00:00:39] And with that, I'm going to keep this intro nice and short, so let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.
[00:00:49] Can Losing Weight Make Your Cholesterol Go Up by Dr. Monali Y. Desai of IfWeWereFamily.com
[00:00:57] Why is your cholesterol going up? Recently, I've seen some weight loss experts and doctors say that it's normal for your bad cholesterol to go up temporarily when you lose weight.
[00:01:08] Now this could happen if you're on a ketogenic or similar low-carb, high-fat diet.
[00:01:14] Now I did some research to see if there are any studies to support this.
[00:01:18] Only a couple of small studies show that your bad cholesterol going up could be normal for some people.
[00:01:24] But most large studies show that when people lose weight, their bad cholesterol levels go down.
[00:01:30] And this is what you'd expect because as people lose weight, they're eating healthier and exercising.
[00:01:36] So why is this important to you?
[00:01:39] The reason this could be important is if your bad cholesterol levels are going up, even temporarily,
[00:01:45] you could be potentially forming cholesterol buildup or blockages in the arteries of your heart.
[00:01:52] The blood tests that check for cholesterol levels are okay,
[00:01:55] but sadly are not the best way to tell if there are cholesterol blockages or buildups forming in or around your heart.
[00:02:04] The best way would be to undergo testing that looks at the arteries of your heart.
[00:02:08] These are tests like a cardiac catheterization, a cardiac CT, or even a calcium score.
[00:02:15] But these are not routine tests for most people.
[00:02:18] So your doctor probably won't order these unless you're at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease
[00:02:23] or unless you have other health problems.
[00:02:26] So given that you probably aren't going to get any of those specific tests anytime soon,
[00:02:31] we do have to rely on your blood cholesterol.
[00:02:35] Yo-yo dieting may lead to your cholesterol levels bouncing up and down.
[00:02:39] And again, when they're up, you may be at risk for forming cholesterol buildup or blockages in the arteries of your heart.
[00:02:46] Over the long term, this may increase your risk of having a heart attack.
[00:02:50] So what should you do?
[00:02:51] If you haven't had your cholesterol checked recently and you've maybe been yo-yo dieting a bit,
[00:02:57] it's definitely worth checking at least once.
[00:03:00] Especially again, if you change the way you're eating or are trying a new diet,
[00:03:04] or if you haven't changed anything, get your cholesterol checked at least once a year.
[00:03:10] You just want to make sure that you're not doing anything that's negatively affecting your cholesterol levels.
[00:03:48] All of this makes it harder to get back into the habit of eating healthy.
[00:03:53] So, here are three tips to help you get back into the habit.
[00:03:57] Tip number one.
[00:03:59] Stop eating when you stop feeling hungry.
[00:04:02] Stop eating when you stop feeling hungry.
[00:04:05] Which is not the same thing as when you feel full.
[00:04:08] If you're eating until you feel full, you're probably overeating.
[00:04:12] You may have gotten out of the habit of doing this during a holiday or while on vacation
[00:04:17] because there were a lot of new foods or lots of treats to try.
[00:04:21] And you probably wanted to try everything.
[00:04:23] And then you ended up overeating.
[00:04:25] And then you got used to that feeling.
[00:04:28] To get back into the habit of eating healthy,
[00:04:30] remember to stop eating when you stop feeling hungry.
[00:04:34] Tip number two.
[00:04:36] Plan things to look forward to besides eating.
[00:04:39] Plan other things to do inside and outside of the house so that, in the moment,
[00:04:44] you don't get bored and end up eating instead.
[00:04:47] Some ideas for what you could plan instead are find a new board game to get into,
[00:04:52] binge watch a show on Netflix,
[00:04:53] or go all Marie Kondo and organize your house.
[00:04:57] Try to plan even the food that you're going to order for delivery
[00:05:00] because you may think you're going to go grocery shopping and get something healthy,
[00:05:04] but then you end up ordering delivery because the day got away from you.
[00:05:08] If you plan it in advance, then you can plan to make healthier food delivery choices.
[00:05:14] And tip number three.
[00:05:15] The seven-day transition.
[00:05:18] It's easy to think that you're going to go from eating unhealthy
[00:05:21] and suddenly you're going to start eating healthy again.
[00:05:24] But in reality, it's hard to make such dramatic change.
[00:05:27] Instead, try a seven-day transition.
[00:05:30] That can make it easier to start eating healthy again.
[00:05:34] For example, on days one and two, like Monday and Tuesday,
[00:05:38] you can eat a healthy breakfast
[00:05:40] and then not worry as much about your lunch, dinner, and any snacks in between.
[00:05:45] Then on days three and four, like Wednesday and Thursday,
[00:05:48] you eat a healthy breakfast and a healthy lunch
[00:05:51] and not worry as much about dinner and snacks.
[00:05:54] On days five and six, like Friday and Saturday,
[00:05:58] you eat a healthy breakfast, a healthy lunch, and a healthy dinner,
[00:06:02] but don't stress about the snacks.
[00:06:04] And then finally on day seven, like Sunday,
[00:06:07] you transition to a healthy breakfast, a healthy lunch,
[00:06:11] a healthy dinner, and nutritious snacks.
[00:06:14] The ideal healthy meal.
[00:06:16] A balanced, nutritious meal is ideally one that is 50% vegetables,
[00:06:22] 25% healthy proteins, and 25% whole grain carbs with a side of fruit.
[00:06:28] I usually recommend one cheat day or three cheat meals a week as well,
[00:06:33] but you can skip it the week you're trying to get back into the habit of eating healthy.
[00:06:37] Transitioning back to eating healthy over a week makes it easier
[00:06:41] and frankly less depressing.
[00:06:42] But this also means you have to plan when you're going out to eat.
[00:06:46] Try to go to places that actually have fruits and vegetables as sides and appetizers
[00:06:51] so that you could realistically get in those fruits and vegetables.
[00:06:54] Also, try to avoid folks that may guilt trip or peer pressure you into eating unhealthy again.
[00:07:00] It's essential that you get back into the habit of eating healthy as soon as possible.
[00:07:04] Then, once you get back into the habit of eating healthy,
[00:07:08] you can go back to hanging out with them.
[00:07:14] You just listened to the posts titled,
[00:07:16] Can Losing Weight Make Your Cholesterol Go Up?
[00:07:19] and Three Simple Tips to Start Eating Healthy Again,
[00:07:23] both by Dr. Manali Y. Desai of ifwewerefamily.com.
[00:07:27] And I'll be right back with my commentary.
[00:07:30] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.
[00:07:32] I really like Dr. Desai's seven-day approach to getting back to a healthy eating pattern.
[00:07:37] It sounds so much less intimidating than coming back from a vacation
[00:07:41] and having to go back to eating perfectly right away.
[00:07:44] I always say that small wins can lead to big changes.
[00:07:48] And this is a great example.
[00:07:50] Start on day one with just one nutritious meal and ignore everything else.
[00:07:55] That one change could be enough to make you feel better about getting back on track.
[00:08:00] It starts to build up your confidence again.
[00:08:03] Day two, you do the same thing.
[00:08:05] Day three, you build up just a bit more confidence by adding another nutritious meal.
[00:08:11] You know how the rest goes.
[00:08:12] So, come on.
[00:08:14] You've got this.
[00:08:15] All right, that'll do it for today.
[00:08:17] I hope you're having a wonderful weekend if you're listening in real time.
[00:08:20] And don't forget, I'll be back here tomorrow for our Sunday show
[00:08:23] and where your optimal life awaits.
[00:08:25] Now I'm going to go to a next meeting.
[00:08:25] Let's see.
[00:08:25] Thank you.