High Cholesterol

Yup, apparently I have high cholesterol, according to my doctor anyways. It's not so high that I should be worried, but I do need to start watching my food intake a little more closely. My doctor was a bit puzzled that a mid-thirties, healthy female should have high cholesterol, but fact are facts. Fortunately, my levels are just above the maximum healthy levels, so I'm pretty confident that I can get them back down to normal.

From this site, I found some screening criteria for high cholesterol, and I suppose I do fall into a risk category:

If any of the following apply to you, talk to your doctor about having your cholesterol tested:

• You are a woman over the age of 50. - Nope
  
• You are a man over the age of 40. - Nope
  
• You have cardiovascular disease. (You have angina, have had a heart attack, coronary bypass surgery, a stroke, angioplasty, atherosclerosis or peripheral vascular disease). - Nope
  
• You have diabetes. - Nope
  
• You have a first-degree relative (i.e. mother, father, sister or brother) with heart disease or high cholesterol. - Yup

Also talk to your doctor if you have two or more of the following:

• You are overweight. The best way to determine if you are "overweight" is by calculating your Body Mass Index (BMI), or by measuring the fat around the waist (abdominal obesity). The waist circumference should be less than 102 cm for most men, and less than 88 cm for most women. - Nope
  
• You are physically inactive: You perform less than 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three times per week or less than 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day. - Nope, I go to the gym about 3-4 times per week
  
• You smoke. - Yuck. Nope.
  
• You drink excessively. Moderate alcohol use - up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people is not harmful for most adults. (A standard drink is one 12-ounce bottle of beer or wine cooler, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits). - Nope, not a drinker
  
• You have high blood pressure. - Nope, normal.

So this is going to be a bit interesting. Before, I more or less ate what I wanted to eat, although I never ate a lot most of the time. I exercise. I have a fairly healthy diet. Okay, I eat a bit of junk, more than I should, but I don't think it's that bad. And except for one question, I responded negative to everything. So I think I'm fairly healthy.

Yet I still have high cholesterol. I sort of suspect that it maybe somewhat genetic. However, that's not a good enough excuse for me not to watch my diet a bit more.

Sigh.