How to improve perfection or the story of my annual health check
Today I feel like I want to complain, but, if you listen to me, learn your lesson and do the right stuff in order to prevent the bad consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. So, long story short, I had my annual health check with my doctor, and there are three issues to address.
Asthma and allergies. This one is tricky, but basically, every winter, when it gets too cold, my airways constrict and less air reaches my lungs. I do not have enough oxygen, which resulted in my body getting tired quicker. This is something that I need to address every cold season, from the time I was 14. Not a major issue yet. During the warm weather, 9 months a year, I have no issues and everything is fine.
Thyroid overactive - well this is kept under control with some dodgy medicine called Carbimazole, seems to be stabilized, with a minimal dosage taken every other day. Tried to push it every third day, but didn't work, so I am back at it every other day. Genetic stuff called thyrotoxicosis, a 2% chance if you are female, and a 0.2% chance if you are male, well lucky me, thanks grandma for your gift. Except for the fact that the drug controlling the condition got some interesting side effects, and that will be that at any moment can basically shut down the white cell production and get your immunity to zero. Seems that I am tolerating this one well and we had no problems until now.
Diet and various problems: Diabetes is a major risk, as both mum and dad got it, and both sets of grandparents too (except maternal grandma). I could say that my family is "the history" of diabetes, and I would not be wrong. Uncles with major diabetes complications, and much more, are in to complete the main picture. Now, as a teenager, and for some time after, I kind of overdid it, eating and drinking quite a lot of sugary stuff. And probably from the moment I reached 30, I was at risk, and the latest blood tests related to the Haemoglobin A1c are quite challenging, as values under 42mmol/mol are normal, and an average of 48 means that your diabetes is under control. Well, I got 42, and that means that I am knocking at the door.
Already knew that little bit, and in the last 2 months, I reduced sweets and completely eliminated any sugary, fizzy, caffeinated drink. So, obviously, I ate more meat and dairy, and, the irony, now the blood sugar is quite good, but the cholesterol is high-ish, especially the triglycerides, but then, I tend to have more warm cooked meals in the winter, and less veg and fruits, as they are not in season. So now, on top of the sugary stuff, I need to deal with the fat issue. Fat is good, and fat is bad, but you need to learn about which is which (word of advice if it is tasty and you like it, probably it is a bad fat - or as somebody said on Reddit: knowledge is power, France is bacon). I know, I am getting distracted once more. So, basically, my doctor is thinking that I should eat less red meat and more fish, I tend to have more of those vegetarian options anyway, but apparently, all that veggie burger, veggie sausage, veggie bacon and so got their own problems, as too many wild cards (chemicals, taste enhancers, color and so) are used to make them edible. Fruits and veg should be the staple meal, and I can give it a try, to see how are my readings and numbers 6 months from now.
My problem with this is that I do not smoke, I do not drink alcohol without reason (well - once or twice per year at some birthdays and stuff), and I try to go to the gym up to 3 times a week or at least train in some way. I walk a lot, and still, my BMI is slightly above 25 (upper limit for healthy). And then the GP (general practitioner) is telling me that the way to sort out cholesterol is to do regular exercise (I do), lose weight (I am currently doing this, went down from 91 kg to 82 kg), cut down saturated fat (fast food, red meat, fatty meat) and replace them with unsaturated fats (fish?), do not smoke (I never did), and drink alcohol in moderation (I always do). And he told me that, if this is still an issue, one year from now I may start to take statins.
Diabetes prevention is basically the same stuff, as in being active, with a twist on diet (controlling the carbohydrate amount and the rest of it). So, while I got some good results on the genetic lottery, seems that I also drew some short straws. And the idea is, deal with it, George. How healthy can get my healthy lifestyle? I still got 5 years until I turn 50, for God's sake. As I was writing about it a few days ago, willpower alone cannot deal with this kind of change, and while is not ideal, I need to adopt them and transform them into habits, so they can be done effortlessly.
For any tips, tricks or advice, feel free to leave a message for me in the comments area.
And now, it is time to get ready, and go to buy some fruits and veg, so, that's all for today, see you again tomorrow!
George