Nature Made Cholestoff

Do any of you remember the commercial that was out a while back regarding a cholesterol medicine that stated something to the effect that you get your Cholesterol from Uncle Ned or Fried Chicken...well they used cute rhymes that I can't remember now. I am a great example of what genetics can do to someone even though it may not look like there is anything wrong from the outside. I have been battling rising cholesterol issues for some time and today was my D-Day to see where my levels were after a 3 month stint. Now I am not saying that my levels are such that I should be taking medicine, at least not yet, but I have been concerned at the rising levels, even when I am eating healthy (rabbit food for lunch as J-Mom says) and a healthy breakfast. My meal with the most cholesterol of the day is dinner. So where does this all come from? Well I hate to point fingers, but it comes from my mother's side of the genetic tree. Again, you would never know it in looking at the very petite woman that my mother is, but she has the same issues as I and works hard to control it without medicine. I have been trying to do the same thing, as I really do not want to be on medicine for this. So what have I been doing...well, I have been eating a healthy breakfast and lunch. My exercise routine has gone out the window unfortunately since Diva-PJ was born. The other new thing that I have been doing over the last 3 months was that I have been taking a new product from Nature Made called CholestOff. This product uses plant stanols to limit the amount of Cholesterol that binds to your intestine walls (thus getting absorbed into your bloodstream). For optimal results you have to take 2 capsules 15-30 minutes prior to breakfast and dinner. The website for the product states that you can take them with your meal, but you will not have the same results. I started to use this after my mother (who has higher levels than I) decided to try this so that she would not have to be medicated and at her next check her levels had substantially decreased...to the extent that her Physician stated "whatever you are doing, keep doing it." Hearing this made me decide to try it myself and I am hoping (as you can guess) for similar results. I have found this product to be easy enough to take and there is no unpleasant taste or aftertaste, and I have had no side effects (though I don't think there should be any). The only problem that I sometimes had was remembering to take the medicine prior to the meal. You truly have to consciously think about taking the medicine and plan ahead of time when your meal actually will be so that you take it in enough time. Also, I will state that the product is not the cheapest, but the way I look at it, if I have to pay a bit more for a natural way to cut my cholesterol, so be it. Also, I have come to find that you can get this product at some of the drug store chains (Walgreens & CVS) at buy 1, get 1....so you can definitely stock up every now and again. Beyond this, once you start buying Nature Made vitamins/products, you can start collecting points that can be redeemed for coupons for money off, so the price altogether can be decreased. I should have the results of my test within a few days so I will have to let everyone know if this experiment was successful or not, but I tend to be uber-optomist, so I am certain that the experiment was successful! I thought I would leave this post today with a few additional links for your information on how you can manage your cholesterol:

• Discovery Health



• Keeping Cholesterol Under Control



• Natural Ways to Lower Bad Cholesterol, Boost The Good, Improve Your HDL Factor and Get Healthy



• Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally



• Natural Ways to Reduce Your Cholesterol 

So how else have you worked to control your cholestrol issues?

UPDATE
Ok... I promised the results so here they are... may I have a drum roll please!
January
Cholesterol - 232
Triglycerides - 77
LDL - 139
HDL - 83
Ratio - 2.8
July
Cholesterol - 207!
Triglycerides - 54
LDL - 116
HDL - 77
Ratio - 2.7


So what does this all mean??? Well..it means that the CholestOff definitely worked, and that if I keep it up and if I start exercising more regularly, that maybe I can get the levels below 200! The only thing I did not like to see was that my HDL lowered and the my Triglycerides went up...go figure!

Total Cranberry Crunch Cereal

On Monday I received a free sample of Total Cranberry Crunch Cereal and was quite excited to try it! I have enjoyed Total in the past because it it quite a nutritious cereal as well as good tasting (the two can by synonymous!). In looking into this a bit more I found some interesting things about Total. Over at Associated Content, one of their reviewers did an extensive study/article of Total versus Special K in regards to overall health value and promotion of weight loss and identified Total as the overall winner. I also found it interesting in that even Wikipedia has a page for Total with general information about the brand. I also have always like cranberries and cranberry juice, so when I got this it was the best of two worlds. So when I tried it, it definitely lived up to expectation. It tasted great, didn't get soggy and "crunchless" after being in milk for a short period of time. Also the cranberries, though dehydrated held quite a bit of flavor. Overall I would encourage you all to try this out if given the chance!

My family are Disney fanatics. Well maybe fanatic is too harsh a word, but we do enjoy Disney films as well as the Disney World experience. I gained this love for Disney especially from my Mom who planted the bug in me from a young age. As Diva-J has grown we have allowed her to experience Disney as well...watching movies, going to the parks. Back in November J-Mom and I went to see Enchanted in the movie theatre while we were visiting my family down in Florida (A rare treat). We loved the movie so much, when my birthday rolled around, I received the movie as a present. We didn't know how a 3.5 year old would take to this movie but were pleasantly surprised to find that Diva-J loved the movie. So much so, she now is singingthe songs around the house and of course wanting to dress up like Giselle. What I loved most about this movie was the fact that they weave a tapestry of majic for young and old alike and within this majic you can see that they have incorporated some of the best of many of the classic princess movies throughout the film. So if you haven't seen this movie, I whole heartedly give this a two Diva Dad thumbs up! Rent it today!

Great Grilling Give-Away

Over at Moms Take on Things, Deb is giving away a great summer grilling pack from Roseda Beef. The contest includes:

• 20 Steakburgers and buns to share with friends and family
• A Roseda spatula
• A Meat 101 kit, packed with info and tips on choosing and cooking the best cuts of meat for your taste

I encourage you all to go over and check this out!

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On a different note....

If any of you are parents out there - just ran across a great blog I wanted to share... I reviewed it here - http://dadofdivas.blogspot.com/2008/07/great-dad-blog-discovering-dad.html