The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Better For You.

I am 23 years old, and I am worried about my husband's cholesterol.

Doesn't sound right, does it? Not to me at least. Nope, this is something people should have to worry about later on in life. All those Honey Nut Cheerio commercials talking about lowering cholesterol are about middle-aged men! Not 25- year-olds.

We have to have yearly screenings at work to get health benefits, and you get an extra discount if your spouse gets one as well. So Eric had his cholesterol tested and it was sky high. Seeing as how his father and his grandfather are both on medication for their cholesterol, he realized that it was something he had to take care of now.

Which means, unfortunately for us, a lifestyle change. Ugh. Don't you hate that? Changing your whole life?? I love to cook, I love to cook delicious, fattening meals and desserts. And, more importantly, I love eating all that stuff as well. And now, well, according to my husband, I'm not allowed to.

So here I am, all of 23 years old, reading every label on everything I pick up at the store to see which is better (not cheaper!), buying egg substitute (didn't know you could actually "replace" eggs!) and wheat germ (are you really supposed to put anything in your body with the name "germ?"), scrounging around for recipes that actually taste good and are good for you (do they even exist?), and sending him to the doctor to make sure he isn't actually going to keel over any second due to clogged up arteries (thanks to his wonderful wife who has been feeding him nothing but heart-killing food for the last two years!).

And, I've had to learn at thing or two about LDLs, HDLs, and triglycerides. Which are bad, which are good, how to lower the bad and raise the good. If you've ever seen a picture of cholesterol building up in an artery, it's not a pretty sight. The more bad food you put into your body, the worse it gets. As amazing as all of that stuff tastes, it leaves behind something that puts your health at major risk. The idea that there is so much cholesterol in your body that it makes it difficult for your blood, essentially your very life, to run through you is a very scary idea.

Paul knew the same was true of our spiritual lives. When we decide to put in junk, it builds up so much it makes it hard for Christ to flow through us. It leaves behind very little room for Him. It may be appealing, and we may excuse it in our minds not to be harmful, but its effects can be devastating. That's why he writes in Philippians 4:8 -

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things."

And that makes for one healthy heart.

Emily