Hey guys,
A few days back I got some shocking news which I’m going to share with you today.
Around 10 months ago I signed up for a blood testing service Thriva.
I did this to understand more of my general levels of vitamins, minerals, and hormones present in my system.
One of the somewhat shocking outcomes for me has been to discover that I’ve got high cholesterol for someone of my background and age.
Not high enough to warrant being on blood thinners…
But high enough to demonstrate that I need to start making some significant changes in my diet.
It’s crazy, right?
Crazy to discover that as someone who runs marathons (or rather used to – I’ve not run one in over a year) I’ve got high cholesterol.
But here are some of the discoveries I’ve made since getting the news that has sent me reeling –
Cholesterol doesn’t discriminate based on the way you actually look.
So you can still look thin, even look like you’re in shape – even train regularly…and still have high cholesterol.
Let’s first begin by explaining what cholesterol is.
I googled the definition and this is what I got –
‘Listen to pronunciation. (koh-LES-teh-rol) A waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and found in the blood and in all cells of the body. Cholesterol is important for good health and is needed for making cell walls, tissues, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acid’
So there you go…and when you get too much of it in your body, particularly around your heart and your other organs…well that shit is bad for you.
In my case – I eat a mountain of unhealthy food in the form of Deliveroo orders basically.
That can be Nando’s, Sushi or otherwise. There’s lots more that I eat outside of that. I’ve begun talking to my accountability coach and we’ve decided that I’ll take pictures each time I eat anything bad.
I originally said it’ll be when I eat anything from Deliveroo – but I realised that’s only a proportion of the crap I put into my body.
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So this is the kicker then…
Once you’ve got a build-up of high cholesterol it’s damn difficult to get rid of. It’s something that is a byproduct of eating fatty and highly processed foods.
There’s also (in combination with this) some other contributing factors –
Lockdown came in and my long-distance running stopped pretty much.
I did take up running coaching – but the distance at which I run has shrunk. I haven’t done more than half marathon distance for over a month – let alone marathon distance.
With this in mind – I think I’m going to aim to put some bookings into the diary so that it can help chip away at the cholesterol issues I’ve got.
I also want this to serve as a warning for anyone who thinks that just because they train (in whatever form – cardiovascularly or resistance training) – that it doesn’t mean you can’t get high cholesterol.
Cholesterol (as per my googling of it) – doesn’t discriminate based upon body, body fat, shape, or size.
That’s crazy, right? But it’s fact.
You can have low body fat but high cholesterol lol.
Well…I have high body fat as well because I’m over 10%…so I’ve got so much I need to change.
Covid and the fact that I started my company 4 years ago mean I spend 10+ hours per day sitting down – which is absolutely no good for me.
Furthermore, my takeaway consumption and general quality of food intake took a massive drop when I moved out of my parents’ place and started cooking (or not) for myself.
For those of you who are realing a little bit from reading this – I’d highly recommend just doing as many tests as you can to check for…well anything…
You never know what’s hiding dormant waiting to come and get you when you get older.
And being 35, I’m beginning to think more and more about my mortality and the road ahead now than I ever have before.
The sooner you take time to take a Thriva or any other type of blood test – the sooner you can do something about it!.
