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[Sir Papa Smurph]

Ok, so I go to the doctor last week for the results of some blood work and he tells me that I have "Metabolic Syndrome" and if I want to live to be 50 ( not that far off ) that I have to
1) Take these pills ( Zocor )
2) Stop smoking
3) Exercise
4) go on the "Atkins Diet"

Now I have been paying attention to my fat intake for a long time ( not doing anything about it, just paying attention to it ) and now he says I can have all the fat and protein that I can manage but no or almost no carbs. Now unless you have been on this diet I doubt that you know that it is almost impossible to not eat carbs. I tried to go 20 grams a day like somebody on the net said, but that was equal to about 7 potato chips or 4 pretzel sticks a day. Completely impossible. I have no problem with steak brushed with garlic, charbroiled and topped with a pat of butter, but this is impractical for lunch. So here I am asking you all for suggestions of what to eat. I am hungry and I can't seem to eat anything. Today for lunch and snacks I had 3 bananas, 2 apples, a Jar of planters peanuts (40g carbs) and 2 liters of diet coke. I am sorry to tell you that this is not enough to get me thru a 14 hour work day.

HELP..............
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[Eaving]

First and foremost I would say second opinion time here Papa Smurph.
Other than certain specific cases I generally think the 'cut all of something out of your diet' plans are a bad idea. There is a reason they have that food pyramid they taught us from a very young age, you actually need a bit of everything. Whats the specific problem hes trying to deal with? I mean if hes suggesting Atkins you obviously dont have a problem with your cholesterol. The last time my wife and I were seriously doing a diet we were on the 'Abs' diet which basically came down to pay attention to what you eat and dont be stupid. It was relatively low carb but it didnt try and pretend Carbs were the worlds evils, just wanted you to pay attention to what you were stuffing your face with.
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[Tenebra]

You need to go to a dietologist. The dietologist will make you a diet for your body's needs so that you will not feel hungry and you lose weight. It mostly depends on the combination of foods.
It is impossible to go without carbs, body needs carbon! Carbon is the basis for everything in our body!
Some general suggestions:

1. Stop drinking any coke or other sodas, even diet ones. They do the most damage to the body. Drink water and lots of it. Water helps in breaking down fat.
2. Stop eating junk food totally.
3. Try to eat at predetermined hours and not at any time you feel hungry.
4. Use olive oil. We use olive oil for frying, salads etc. It is the most healthy oil you can get.
5. Avoid fried food as much as you can. Especially french fries. Potatoes are much better boiled (with oil and lemon, or oil and vinegar) or roasted.
6. Incorporate more fruit and vegetables in your diet. Instead of having french fries with your meat, have a salad or boiled potatoes or corn or peas or a small combination of those.
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[KWSN - Sir Brian C.......]

Sir Papa

I think Tenebra's right....

you should seek dietitian's help on this...


after looking on th internet it appears you want a low-cholesterol diat... which the atkins is definately not...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolic%20syndrome/DS00522

http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/cholesterol/a/metsynx.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome
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[mohrorless]

I agree with all of the above! Get another opinion. You may simply need a change of diet and exercise (yes exercise).

It's not easy, I know - I'm doing it myself. The hardes part of the exercise is getting to the gym. Once I get there, I'm ok. It's the same with everone here at work. Don't want to go, but once they go they are ok.

You can do it! We're all behind you!
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Plus

[Cohiba]

There are many other much better healthier diets. Biggest conntention of this story is they were not truely following the atkins but some other diets that seem to work.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20070306/clash-of-the-weight-loss-titans

Now put the potato chip, soda, or other snack foods down and go for a walk a long walk..

Just walking say a mile a day and watching what you eat will be a good start heck i've lost 15lbs granted its been over a 6 month period.. But its better than my divorce diet where I lost 20lbs in a month.Well technically if we include the wife I lost 300lbs.
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[Sir Papa Smurph]

Thank you all for your advice but I think I need to clarify. Metabolic Syndrome is... Bear with me as I don't remember the exact numbers.....Ok my cholesterol is about 300, my good cholesterol is low about 25 I think. and the rest is bad cholesterol which is way too high. Also my triglicerides are Way Way too high and my sugar is screwed up somehow. Dr. said that if he did not know me he would have thought I was 500 Lbs and never got off the couch. ( I am 6 ft 195 lbs ). Apparently this puts me at a super high risk for heart attack and also type 2 diabetes, In this case the culprit is carbs not fat. I cut out as many carbs as I could starting last thursday and I must say that by sunday night I was actually feeling much better. It is now Thurs, so a week, and I feel pretty good accept the fact I can't find anything to eat during the day. I used to be tired all the time. I went to work tired, I got off tired I came home tired, and I went to bed and got up tired. No amount of sleep could help and I swear that I feel better now and it has been less than a week. I also am down to 1/2 a pack of smokes ( I smoked 2 1/2 to 3 a day last week) and I am starting to smell things again. ( not always a good thing ). Anyway I just thought that maybe some body could help with snacks and a packed lunch as I can't eat anything at a fast food place or in a sub shop or truck stop. Even granola bars are too many carbs. And since I am quitting smoking as well I need something to munch on that won't give me a Heart Attack.....


Ps: he actually said an Atkins type of diet. Just cut out the carbs as they are the thing that are Killing me. and exercise is next on the list. But I work about 14 hours a day and I need to make time for it.
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a.k.a. Licentious of Borg.........Resistance Really is Futile.......
and a Really Hoopy Frood who always knows where his Towel is...

[Fart in your gen direxion]

No sane doctor would ever recommend the Atkins diet or anything resembling it. Especially to a patient with already high cholesterol(dangerously so it seems).

[Fart in your gen direxion]

No sane doctor would ever recommend the Atkins diet or anything resembling it. Especially to a patient with already high cholesterol(dangerously so it seems). Go on Atkins and you're cholesterol could exceed 800, you'd have a stroke within a month most likely.

[mohrorless]

[alpha_fruit]

[mohrorless]

[JerWA]

While I'm no dietitian, I can say with fair assurity that you cannot remove anything entirely from your diet. It's all there for a reason. Even things like fat have a purpose (some vitamins can only be absorbed by the body when there is fat present for example).

Exercise is the cure-all for me. I've just accepted that my eating habits are horrible, and not likely to change much. I just need to be able to work out (which I rather enjoy) to keep things in balance. Unfortunately, being in a new place and hard pressed for money I don't have much to work with at the moment and I need to do something about that soon.
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[jonnyv]

"zOMG! Atkins is evil! It will bring on the Apocalypse!"

Getting a second opinion is sound advice for any medical decision beyond "put this cream on your athlete's foot." Definitely get one. From a doctor. I'm pretty sure none of us are qualified to render such an opinion.

Now, assuming the second opinion concurs, can we get Papa Smurph some ideas for low-carb foods that are good for snacks and lunch? So far, the only good suggestion I've seen is celery, some nuts, chicken, and fish. Carrots are out as they have a fair amount of sugar in them. Not sure about cherry tomatoes, but they might be out too.
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[A Shrubbery]

Peanut butter
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[Sir Papa Smurph]

Well, some very good ideas and some a little less. And while I do appreciate the "get a second opinion" advice I did do a little internet research and I find that with Metabolic Syndrome the evil thing is carbs. Some people say that only refined carbs are bad and others say all carbs are bad. But the one constant is Carbs = Evil. It seams that when I eat them my body dumps insulin into my blood and burns them way too fast and that makes my sugar levels drop. This seems to set up some system whereby the triglycerides and cholesterol go FUBAR. Anyway today I bought some Beef and Buffalo Jerky like sticks for snacks ( $10 a bag ) and a small antipasto salad. That was not bad, and I only had a cigarette every 2 hours, so that is 5 so far today. As far as Zocor vs Lipitor I will get more blood work in 6 weeks to see if it is working, I am also up to 200 mg of Niacin a day.

Oh and I don't need to loose weight ( well maybe 10 lbs ) this is purely to reduce the risk of heart attack. A friend of mine works at the Dr.'s office and he told her "he is a heart attack waiting to happen".

PS: I used to take every opportunity to take a nap at work and today I sat with nothing to do for 5 hours and it never crossed my mind. I really do feel better already. I believe that the carb reduction is helping.
_________________
a.k.a. Licentious of Borg.........Resistance Really is Futile.......
and a Really Hoopy Frood who always knows where his Towel is...

[mohrorless]

[Ironheart]

Look for Turkey Jerky (lower cholesterol) and, in my own experience, the baby carrots/celery snacks do help both for the low carb snack and the cig substitute (also down to about 5/day)
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[Tenebra]

I actually have stopped smoking. It's about 3 months and I've only smoked 2-3 ciggies since that time. Was trying to quit since last Summer. Arrived to a point where I was down to 3-5 cigarettes per day, so I stopped altogether.
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[JerWA]

In the last 8 months I've gone from 2 1/2-3 packs a day down to right around 1 pack a day. Happened because we can't smoke inside the house where we live now hehe.
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