Living with high cholesterol

A little more than 2 weeks out of my first 5km race (up in the air now thanks to a newly acquired tendon injury) and nearly four months since I first got the diagnosis, I’m now at a point where I feel ready to talk about what things have changed, what’s stayed the same, and where to next.

I’ve written before about my dietary and exercise changes in brief, but it’s now time to break everything down. A quick note: I haven’t been tested yet to see where my cholesterol is at, so I can’t say with any scientific confidence what the results are, so everything herein is strictly off gut-feel alone.

The first thing to note is just how substantial my diet has changed. I’ve not written up any new recipes over the last little while, but I have developed several that have become house main-stays and are on heavy rotation these days. So what does that actually look like?

1. Plants, and lots of them

My diet is now very much plant based and it’s not unusual for me to go either a whole day, or a string of whole days, without touching meat. I still eat dairy — cottage cheese has become king due to its low saturated fat content — and have eggs every now and then (mainly when I’m on the road, breakfasts can be hard), but for the most part we’re now a plant-based household.

2. Grains, lots and lots of grains.

Brown rice, quinoa, wholemeal couscous, have all taken up residence along with lentils and other legumes. My bread is a dark rye with whole grains, my breakfast at home, more often than not, is porridge with a little bit of raw sugar and cinnamon. Protein and carbs from these sources are great at ensuring you feel full and making lower calorie, nutrient dense dinners has become a pretty easy task.

3. Greens… they’re everywhere.

I was never a big eater of green veg as a kid, and even into my twenties I didn’t eat a lot of greens — whether it was salads or other green veg. About a decade ago, that started to change and since my diagnosis, this has taken a new twist. Kale, rocket and spinach are salad and stir-fry staples, cucumber and asparagus are my go-to salad veg of choice, peas are the ultimate veg and can be used in all kinds of different dishes, and even veg that I would never eat (zucchini comes to mind here) is being eaten without a care. In all honesty, some I still don’t like, but I just don’t care anymore. Being picky, especially with menu choices when on the road (which I’ve done a ton since July), isn’t conducive to looking after myself. So now I just go with the flow. Leafy greens are a great source of iron as well.

4. Fats are not the devil

But I’ve had to tread carefully here. Mono and polyunsaturated fats from plant sources are great — saturated and trans fats are avoided (in the case of trans fat, avoided completely where possible). Olive and canola oils for cooking, olive oils for salads, and small amounts of avocado (which, again, I’ve previously avoided but now am ok with) provide all the fats I need. I don’t eat anything deep-fried anymore, and most fast-food is simply off the menu entirely.

5. Animal proteins are an occasional food, not an every night food.

Fish and chicken are predominately the only animal proteins I regularly eat. Lean pork steaks on occasion, but that’s about it. I’ve had lamb on less than half a dozen occasions, and beef I think just the once. Barramundi and salmon have come back in vogue big time and chicken breast in stir-frys and currys (that are also loaded with veg in order to use less meat) and that’s really it. If I had to put a figure on it, maybe only three or four days in any given week feature meat in some description. The most surprising thing out of this: I don’t miss it, not one iota. Because…

6. Cheat meals are ok… just don’t go back to old habits.

I use my time on the road to have the occasional cheat meal — potato gnocchi with a lamb ragu for lunch, or pizza with our sales reps when visiting trade customers — these are fine. I just can’t make a habit out of it. So what tends to happen is when I’m on the road I avoid the hotel buffet breakfast and find a cafe with some kind of ‘green bowl’ for breakfast, use lunch as the excuse for a cheat meal (they tend to be smaller portions than dinner anyway), then try to find a restaurant or pub with a menu that gives me enough options so that I can have my main meal back on track without imposing on those I’m eating with. I tend to gravitate towards vego or vegan options, just because it’s easier. I’m more likely to find something I’m not going to be conflicted about, and given my regular diet at home anyway, these meals tend to taste pretty darn good to me now. When you make the mental adjustment to not *needing* to have animal protein every meal, the next parts are easy.

It’s odd to be writing this whilst I’m sitting on my couch nursing a tendon injury caused by running on hard surfaces (footpaths) on my trip to Canberra earlier this week, but I find running one of the most enjoyable things I do every week.

I try to get out and do a run three times a week, I’ve done as much as five and as few as one, but I still get out every week.

When I started this, I couldn’t run a row of our Semillon block (180m) without needing to stop at the end of it. Three months later, I’ve completed two 5km Parkruns, a few 3-ish km runs, some lighter 2–2.5km runs through the vineyard and even punched out 4kms in Canberra (before the injury) shortly after arriving in town, despite feeling exhausted from driving nearly 6 hours; all in the space of about three weeks.

I’m supposed to be competing in a 5km race in Armidale in two weeks (fully sanctioned by Athletics NSW), but the injury recovery will determine if I run or not. I’ll be disappointed if I have to pull out.

When I first started this, I gave myself an obtainable target of 5km in 45 minutes for that race. Last weekend I completed a 5km Parkrun in 30 minutes and 15 seconds. Now, if I run over 30 minutes in this race (presuming I make it to the start line), I’m going to be pissed. My stretch target is 25 minutes, shaving a minute off my km pace is a huge ask so I’m not expecting to break it, but I want to really push myself.

I’ve entered my first race for next year already with the aim being to complete four 5km races and one 10km race throughout the year. After that, I’d like to push to do a half marathon, but I’m not setting any targets for that.

I will say this — the joy I get from running was completely unexpected. Runner’s endorphins are a real thing and when I completed my first 5km and realised that I was close to 30 minutes (that first run was in 30:51), the elation I felt on the drive home was both insane and completely surprising. Regardless of what happens from here on the injury front, I’m confident that I’ll be a runner for a while yet.

I’ve lost about 7 kilograms since I started doing all this in July. That slow, controlled, weight loss is exactly where I want it to be. I’m still technically overweight, and I still have far too much belly fat, but progress is good and the encouragement you get from that cannot be discounted.

My body composition is changing and I’ve noticed most of the weight loss is noticeable in my face and neck, on my arms and my legs. Ideally, I’ll drop another 7 or so kilos and then start thinking about strength training to compliment my running.

Generally, I feel a lot healthier and have a ton more energy than I have had for a number of years. Am I at the point I want to be at? Not yet, but this was always a marathon and not a sprint — it was about making changes to the lifestyle that were easy to become habit forming, so the yo-yo effect of dieting doesn’t become a reality.

Ultimately, I want to get to a point where I’m not taking medication everyday and the changes we’ve made already become the norm, and not something that feels like a short-term fix.

The early signs are good, and the results so far are positive — but this is just what is working for me. And whilst I can’t be sure if it’ll work for anyone else, I will say that the principles contained are pretty universal.

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