A few months ago, if you’d asked me whether all the walking, food changes, supplements, medication adjustments, and questionable health experiments were making any difference, I probably would have shrugged and said, “Ask me again when I stop feeling like a stressed-out raccoon who accidentally drank battery acid.”
Because that’s the thing about health journeys. Most days, you don’t feel the progress.
You still have bad days. You still have migraines. You still get random stress alerts from your fitness watch while you’re sitting quietly at work minding your own business. You still look in the mirror and see the same person you’ve always seen.
But then the lab results come back.
And suddenly there is proof.
The Big Picture
My most recent cholesterol panel came back, and for the first time in a while I felt like I was looking at evidence instead of hope.
Current numbers:
- Total Cholesterol: ~173
- HDL (“good” cholesterol): ~36
- Triglycerides: ~106
- LDL (“bad” cholesterol): ~114
- Non-HDL: ~137
- Cholesterol/HDL Ratio: ~4.8
For those who have been following along, I have familial high cholesterol. That means genetics are involved. It’s not simply a matter of eating a salad and going for a walk. My body has always seemed determined to manufacture cholesterol like it’s preparing for a nationwide shortage.
That’s why these improvements mean so much to me.
Total Cholesterol: Huge Win
This one honestly surprised me.
Back in January my total cholesterol was around 225.
Today it’s approximately 173.
That’s a drop of more than 50 points.
Not five points.
Not “within the margin of error.”
More than fifty.
When you’ve spent years fighting your own genetics, seeing a number move that much feels a little like winning a fistfight against a hurricane.
Something is working.
The walking is helping.
The food changes are helping.
The weight loss efforts are helping.
The medication is helping.
And yes, I suspect at least some credit belongs to my newest health obsession.
We’ll get to the liquid dirt in a minute.
LDL: The Number I’ve Been Chasing
If you’ve ever had high cholesterol, you know LDL is usually the villain in the story.
Mine dropped from roughly 154 in January to about 114 now.
That’s around a 40-point improvement.
For someone with familial cholesterol issues, that’s a pretty big deal.
Is it perfect?
No.
I’d still like to see it lower.
My doctor would probably like to see it lower too.
But when I compare where I am today to where I was five months ago, it’s impossible not to feel encouraged.
Progress is progress.
Triglycerides: Looking Great
These have been behaving themselves pretty nicely.
Current triglycerides are around 106.
Comfortably within range.
Considering I used to treat carbohydrates like they were a competitive sport, I’m pretty happy about that.
Walking every day, cutting back on some of the junk, and paying more attention to what goes into my body appears to be paying off here.
It’s not glamorous.
Nobody makes motivational movies about choosing the healthier lunch.
But apparently it works.
HDL: The Stubborn One
Every health journey has that one number that refuses to cooperate.
For me, that’s HDL.
My HDL currently sits around 36.
Ideally I’d like it over 50.
This is the cholesterol equivalent of that one weed in the garden that keeps coming back no matter what you do.
The good news is that exercise, strength training, and continued weight loss can all help improve it over time.
So while I’m not thrilled with this number, I’m also not panicking about it.
We’re a work in progress over here.
Cholesterol Ratio
My cholesterol-to-HDL ratio is currently around 4.8.
The goal is under 5.
So technically, this one squeaked in under the wire.
I’ll take it.
I’ve learned that celebrating small victories matters.
If all you ever focus on is the finish line, you’ll miss the hundreds of little wins that got you there.
What Impresses Me Most
When I compare January to June, the changes become impossible to ignore.
January:
- Total Cholesterol: ~225
- LDL: ~154
- Non-HDL: ~175
June:
- Total Cholesterol: ~173
- LDL: ~114
- Non-HDL: ~137
Those aren’t random fluctuations.
Those are sustained improvements.
Those are numbers that reflect months of effort.
And that’s important because there were plenty of days during those months when I felt like nothing was changing.
The Question I’d Ask
If you’re reading this and you’re dealing with familial cholesterol like I am, don’t get discouraged if progress feels slow.
Sometimes we work twice as hard for half the results.
That doesn’t mean the work isn’t worth doing.
Keep asking questions.
Keep working with your doctor.
Keep making improvements wherever you can.
Most importantly, don’t let one disappointing lab result convince you that your efforts don’t matter.
Because eventually those efforts stack up.
My Take
If you had told me six months ago that I’d be excited over a cholesterol report, I would have laughed.
But here we are.
The scale isn’t always cooperative.
My stress watch still thinks I’m being chased by rabid alligators when I’m actually sitting at a desk.
My genetics remain deeply committed to keeping things interesting.
And yet the numbers are moving in the right direction.
As for what’s helping?
The walking.
The healthier choices.
The weight-loss efforts.
The determination to keep going.
And possibly, just possibly, the daily glass of beet juice.
Now, beet juice tastes exactly like what I imagine would happen if you liquefied a flower bed and strained it through a gym sock.
I have affectionately renamed it Liquid Dirt™.
But whether it’s helping my cholesterol, my blood pressure, my circulation, or simply reminding me how committed I am to this process, it has become part of the routine.
The lesson here is simple:
Keep going.
The progress you’re looking for may be happening long before you can feel it.
Sometimes the proof shows up in the numbers first.
And just in case anyone needs to hear these things….
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