PharmD

I started cycling in 2009 after getting some alarming news about my cholesterol levels. My LDL was 199 and HDL was 39. Pretty crappy numbers for a guy in his mid-20s. I was a little overweight, but not a ton - 5'10" and 185 lbs. Recently had a test done for life insurance - My LDL is now 95 and my HDL is 54. As a pharmacist, I thought this was pretty cool. It's pretty rare to get this much of a drop in cholesterol, even with maximum dosages of medication. I was able to do it without medication and just exercise. Although, it has been a lot of work compared to taking a pill once a day - it has definitely been worth it!

BillyD

Outstanding! Now adjust your diet and you'll be good from here on in.

coasting 

That kind of big drop in cholesterol is only really doable with exercise and diet. pills help some but not a whole lot and is worthless if the lifestyle sucks.

PharmD

I've also lost 25 pounds - so I am down to 160. I'm sure that helps too, but I am still too fat for this sport. I've worked on the diet too. I have to calorie count - I have the metabolism of a snail.

coasting 

So is this going to turn into a peeing contest? If not, I'll make it one.

Total cholesterol of 143...sorry dont have the ldl hdl to hand.

Blood pressure in the 110s/60s

resting heart rate in the upper 40s to low 50s.

Element GT

Nice work

Long Tom

Funny thing to say to a pharmacist but-- screw pills. Americans are total pansies; nobody wants to do any work; they just want a magic pill to take.

The human body is made to MOVE. Congrats to you for taking the right road (groan) here. The human body WANTS to be in balance and will self-correct the vast majority of the time if the individual is willing to put in the effort. Find your healthy "center" WITHOUT systemic drugs, then be very, very wary of taking magic pills because they will knock you away from that center. Finding it again may or may not ever happen. People get in these cycles where they take a pill for this, then another for that, then another to combat the side effects... pretty soon they don't even know what direction is up; they lose sight of their natural, healthy balance point. And doctors will be worse than useless in helping find it again; they are programmed to think in terms of fixing things that are broken, NOT helping people find the place where their body is naturally in balance. So they write scrips for more pills. The pharmaceutical industry loves it; they are selling some PILLS, yo! But there's absolute health "carnage" happening as a result.

So say I.

YOJiMBO20

I'm jealous. Mine is upper 50s to low 60s. A few weeks ago I checked and it was in the 70s. Scared me for a little until it dropped down.