High Sierra Topix

Annual physical today, and the doc looked over my blood lipids panel.
He said my HDL and LDL numbers were not good.
We discussed options, and he said get out and walk more, and eat more fish for a start, and see if that helps your numbers.

So there we have it. The doc ordered me to do more backcountry fishing. Wife no longer can object to my trips -- doctors orders!

Gee, honey, I would love to go clothes shopping with you, but the doctor ordered me to backpack to a wilderness lake...

I have been pushing the diabetic numbers every year for a while now. I found out that a week in the mountains eating dehydrated food and walking my butt off puts me well into the normal range. I figure it's problem solved but my wife doesn't appreciated my methods so much.

When backpacking, I generally manage to drop one pound per day for every day away from home. Now, half of that is simple dehydration, so that comes right back one I am drinking more fluids. Still, I'll see several pounds of reduction.

I used to have moderately high total cholesterol (too much bad cholesterol and too little good cholesterol). Then that got corrected. Statin drugs reduced the bad stuff, and the good stuff was improved with more olive oil and fish oil supplements in my diet. Now my total cholesterol is at the low end of normal.

My understanding is that a lot of it is genetic- some people are able to control with diet and exercise, others not so much. Let's hope you are in the group that diet/exercise works. And even if it does not, you have a good excuse for more backpacking. Just keep the saturated fats down in your back food; nuts, olive oil, seeds-good; bacon, sausage, cheese-not so much. I have a friend who brings a half liter of extra virgin olive oil and drinks right out of the bottle.

Really not sure the impact of cholesterol. Mine is incredibly low. But I have 4 stents. My wife has really high cholesterol but no issues! As Daisy and my docs say--genetics!