Cholesterol Countdown
Diet Do-Over
After his fortieth birthday, Paul La Mar went for his annual medical checkup. He expected bad news; having successfully lowered his cholesterol before through diet and exercise, he'd gradually stopped running and lived mainly on deli food. At 5'10", his weight had crept up to 190 pounds. More worrying, his cholesterol had skyrocketed to 362 and his triglycerides to 1,376. His doctor's prognosis: Paul needed medication to lower his blood lipid levels. "I'm already on medication for hypertension, and I don't want to be on more medication or a heart disease statistic," Paul says.