Susie's story

Heart UK helped me change my lifestyle and my life

''HEART UK’s website information is my bible, and it has helped me to change my life.

Having kidney disease and an underactive thyroid, I was having my yearly blood test which picked up that I had high cholesterol – total score 7.9. I was told over the phone by a trainee GP. I was terrified I was heading for a heart attack or stroke. 

He advised that I should start taking statins immediately which I did having read up about them first.  It turns out I am one of the few people who are statin intolerant, so I have been referred to an endocrinologist to find out which medication might suit me.

It was during this time that I was became determined to take the full approach of lowering my cholesterol via lifestyle changes as well which is what I'd like to share with you in my story. 

After carefully reading everything on HEART UK’s website, I made all the necessary changes I could to my diet. It was a learning curve what to eat and how to cook differently, but HEART UK’s recipes and nutrition advice helped so much.   I cut out dairy, red meat, processed food and reduced my sugar intake. I ate salads, pulses, beans, wholemeal products, vegetables, porridge, seeds fruit, chicken, turkey and foods fortified with plant sterols.

At the same time, I increased my physical activity to improve my heart and lung health. I took up running again a year ago, returned to park run and gradually built up to do a 5K run which I found difficult, but steadily it became a habit and I progressed to 10K. I also took up boxing which is a full body workout. My instructor is so inspiring, and I love the social element of the classes. When I hit the punch bag, I imagine it to be my bad cholesterol clogging up my arteries!

I calculated my calories to be in deficit and kept a food diary. After three months I had lost a stone in weight, gone from a size 10-12 to size 8-10 and my cholesterol level had come down to 5.2.

My husband and the whole family got behind me in making this possible. We figured that if I had a stroke, it would impact on the whole family, so why not join in and help me.  

I would say that as a busy woman all my life, this is the first time when I have really put myself first and it radically changed my life. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but I have quite surprised myself!

I am so thankful to HEART UK for providing the reliable information I needed and helping me to make the appropriate lifestyle changes to manage my cholesterol''.