You conceded too quickly. Why? I provided no proof that my neighbor is not an elf. Would I even know an elf if I saw one?

Are you in league with these elves? Helping them infiltrate the countryside. What is their agenda? What was in that pie!?!

That's deep.

How am I supposed to know who is an expert if they don't identify themselves and present their credentials?

The link you speak about IS well established, but it is not a universal truth. It is established as a statistical probability. For each parameter like LDL or triglycerides there is a mean improvement and a standard deviation. If the results for me are not satisfactory improvement, i.e. my results are around the third or fourth standard deviation BELOW the mean, then an attractive AVERAGE result doesn't matter a whole lot to me. But just as important, the statistical nature of the beast means that there are lots of folks for whom the results are not particularly satisfactory. But drugs offer another form of attack on the problem which has its own set of probable results. Somehow diet and exercise have acquired a respectability (at least on the 41) probably because they entail dedication and sacrifice. Drugs are too easy a solution to be well regarded by enthusiasts of a sport which is based on suffering. Nevertheless it would be folly to eschew the drug therapies if those are the only ones that work for you. No wanting to be foolish, I subscribe to the solution which is effective for me and recommend it to others whom it MAY also help. I just ask that before you dismiss drugs for any therapy for which they have been demonstrated uniquely effective, you consider the needs of those who depend on them.

We have a few hillclimb TTs around here. I missed both of the close ones already, though. This hill climb is coming up but too far south for me. I think it's mass start, though, not TT style, not sure. Probably too short a hill for @Heathpack.

Mt Ashland Hill Climb Bike Race

Damned if I do. Damned if I don't.

Well, I did my first group ride with the fast boys, 30 miles & about 1400 feet climbing. Monday night is their slow ride, but for me it was a fast ride. Heading out of town is a slight uphill for maybe 8 miles and it was into a headwind, it took me a little while to figure out to stay in the pack, I don't usually ride like that. Thank god for red lights, lol.

Once out of town, we headed out into a local canyon. Not much of a climb but I still was the last one, at least I stayed in the vicinity of two other newbies. By the end, I was only second-to-last. Yay!

But even being the slow one, I had a good ride for me & a fun time. I was the only woman there and everyone was pretty nice to me. If I could manage it with my work schedule, I'd do this ride every week, it would make me faster for sure. :)

Yes.

Road kill getting you down?

Don't have a yellow Lemond to cheer you up?

Put on a nice luau shirt and hibiscus print surf short and instant happiness will be yours.

No, just trying to train more efficiently. Plus you know I like to gadget up.

You're at a bit of a disadvantage because you're new here. When I find myself in that situation, I try not to make definitive pronouncements on subjects in which I am not an expert.

I don't think anyone is telling you that you should give up your meds and nobody is denying the existence of people who cannot control their lipid profile with improved lifestyles.

I would, however, argue that medication should be a last resort or, if possible, a temporary stopgap until lifestyle changes can work their magic. I had been on lopid for several years when a new physician looked at where I'd been and how far I'd come in lifestyle changes and recommended I drop the drugs and watch the numbers. Turned out to be great advice.

...I, too, make excellent pies. It has to do with your technique, as well as your choice of flour and fat for the crust. I am no elf, but am a girlie-man.

It took me well over a year of experimenting to come up with what i consider an acceptable whole wheat pie crust. It is delicious. #girliemenrule

...I feel relatively confident in making the statement that while statins for lowering cholesterol numbers are well documented as working,
they do have significant statistical risk for increasing potential for diabetes and have been linked to an also not statistically insignificant
percentage of muscle disorder/damage (ot to mention liver issues).

What is much less clear is whether the decline in rates of mortality are as significant as the blood numbers, and whether the actual
decrease in cholesterol as the culprit is the mechanism, or whether something else is going on.

I know that my brother-in-law, a pharmacist cursed with high cholesterol from bad genetics, goes back and forth on his use of statins.

He is waaaay more personally invested in the issue than I, who somehow hit the cholesterol genetics lottery.

...he does not usually eat my pies, which is a real shame. :(

Didn't mean to start a debate.

cartoon network is weird at night.

Great...we are onto drugs for chronic illness.

i have been at a blood pressure and lipid level of outstanding for a while and i attribute it to good eating, good excercise and drugs. however the drugs that have a terrible effect on me are the bp ones and they are the ones that i see i can do without. if i stick to a clean vegan diet for one week, my bp drops like a stone. if i eat dirty and take the drugs, the bp still shoots up so lifestyle is the only sustainanable way to control my bp.

for a week now i have been eating dirty. too many client dinners. i feel sluggish and heavy.

Velo Vol has deeper yearnings.

You're using the wrong flour.

She obviously uses the right flour.

You really need to sit in a corner and watch what happens and who people are here in this thread. It's not the normal 41.

I did talk with the ortho nurses up here and they say it has gotten much better with smaller incisions.

Always a sign of psychiatric danger when referring to oneself in the 3rd person.

Your going to do it aren't you, give me an infraction.

Running is bad, mmmkay
You never hear, cycling amuck :p

Diet and exercise, do make a difference.
Wait what do I know I'm just a reformed carnivore, turned vegan.
My doctor, who is qualified, said "what ever you are doing, keep it up" , after my last check up.
Weight loss, lower blood pressure, lower resting pulse, lower cholesterol and triglycerides, but what do I know I'm just a stupid mechanic.
Pirk

Personally, I really dislike the morning when you discover that you need to do laundry.

I know everyone is different, but for me, the discovery comes in the form of uncomfortable underwear. You reach into the drawer, paw around empty air, and finally grasp something designed by a French sadist, that your spouse got for you for some evil reason. I, for one, am going to do laundry tonight.

#harrumph

Dietary changes are very likely to lower high triglycerides.

But we believe the real bad actor is LDL cholesterol. Most of which is made by your body. Diet and exercise can often lower it some but if major reductions are needed, drugs are usually required.

your individual results may vary.