Get Ready for Extreme Makeoverfor The Fat Lady AND Her Blog!

I got a wake-up call last week. I learned that my cholesterol reading is 278. My weight is back up to 248 and that also needs to come DOWN!

The doctor wants me to take Lipitor, a cholesterol reducing drug but I have decided to pursue another plan of action for the time being. I am gong to commence a 60-day plan to reduce my cholesterol naturally by 20%.If that plan works, I will continue the plan in 60-day increments and check my blood levels at the end of each of those periods. Here is the plan:

1. I will exercise for TWO HOURS each day for five days a week, concentrating on low-impact aerobic workouts.
2. I will be highly intentional about each morsel of food that I place in my mouth with thought about the nutritional consequences of each bite.
3. I will check in daily on The FAT Lady Blog and commence a blog makeover at the same time.
4. I will add large measures of prickly pear to my diet. There is much discussion about the cholesterol reducing properties of the prickly pear in books and scientific research. This appears on Care2.com:

"A daily dose of 5 to 9 grams per day of prickly pear fruit pectin may be effective in the prevention or reversal of a hypocholesterolemic condition, though some studies showed that lower doses of 2.50 g of prickly pear pectin demonstrated effectiveness.

"Bulk: The average-sized fruit contains approximately 3.60 g of dietary fiber. Eating 3 fruits per day would double the minimum treatment requirement. This dosage would then not only help to satisfy daily vitamin and mineral nutritional requirements, but would also serve up a healthy dose of flavonoids."