Yesterday (Friday), I got at 4:30am as I had a presentation to work on and I had a doctor's appointment at 6:30am. This doctor's appointment was a lot different from any others I have ever had. Though my regular doctor is a really nice person, this Doctor (Dr. Perkins) was just super nice. He was genuinely interested in my well-being. On average, doctors probably spend 20-30 minutes on a patient. Dr. Perkins seemed to have spend quite some time looking through the results of all the previous tests before meeting me.
Blood pressure: My blood pressure was 100/71 which is pretty good. My mother and sister have lower blood pressure as well, though my dad has slightly elevated BP. Goal is to keep it here for life. I am supposed to avoid excess salt, avoid fats and work out to achieve this.
Blood Chemistries: My total cholesterol was 173 which is good. But, HDL is 34 a little less than the minimum expected. I need to boost HDL to 50. Triglycerides were sitting pretty at 118. LDL was 115 - could be better if they were < 100. Glucose was normal at 93. Low-fat balanced diet, reducing body weight and physical activity will help.
Cancer: My risk of various cancers are low. Eating cabbage family veggies, high fiber foods, foods high in vitamins A & C, healthy weight will help keep the risks low.
Diabetes: I have mild risk of diabetes because uncles from my father's and mother's side have Type II diabetes. Controlling weight should help.
Stress and Depression: I scored low on both of these (which is good). These were based on a questionnaire I had filled out at the very beginning. Sleep (7 or 8 hours), diet, exercise, time management, a sense of humor, learning to say no and learning to relax are tips to be aware of.
Nutrition: I scored "Fair" and have quite some room for improvement in this area. Lots of tips here. I am sure you have heard them all. I am sure that when I meet my dietician - these will be re-iterated. I will cover each in detail the.
Safety: I scored average on this test. Emergency preparedness was pointed out as the biggest area of improvement. I was shocked to hear that more people are injured by smoke inhalation than by other injuries, when there is a volcano!
Prevention: I scored average here. Tips include ensuring I get a medical check-up every year. Ensure that one gets testicular, rectal and prostrate tests annually as well.
Cardiovascular: The maximum oxygen consumption (ml/kg-min) during the treadmill test was 38 which is poor. 13 out of 20 males in my age range would have done better. I am sure I will get tons of cardio exercises.
Bicep Strength: was poor at 46 lbs. I need to be do some strength training exercises as well.
Flexibility: As I mentioned before, I am not flexible at all. In the Sit and Reach test - I was able to move on 6.3 in. I need to stretch. I have a card deck on stretching which I will be opening up today :)
Body age: My body age is 10-15 years more than my chronological age and the doctor promised me that it would 10-15 years lesser at the end of the program.
After looking at my family's health history, the doctor had come to some of the above conclusions. I was so impressed that he had all of their health profiles in memory. I could reduce Arthritis risk by taking Omega-3 capsules twice a day and in general take a multi-vitamin a day.
BMI seems to be a very rough guide. Come to think of a high-jumper and a line-backer are measured on the same scale. It just does not make sense now. I am a stocky person. So, instead of shooting for the standard 23-25 BMI range, I am going for something like 27. My weight goal is 160 lbs (which is how much I weighed at 21). It is funny that the weight loss seems more like a side-effect to good health than a goal in itself.
I meet this really nice person (also happens to be the doctor), every 5 weeks from now on. I am pigging out this week on foods I will have to avoid starting next week.
Resources:
Just wanted to say Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteMurali and I joined a yoga class yesterday. The teacher comes home at an unearthly hour of 05:30am.
My main interest in joining the class is to loose weight but for Murali, he hopes yoga will help his sciatica pain.
We have a bet at home as to whether I can quit eating junk faster or Murali can quit smoking! I am hoping we both win it.
I think the credit for getting me to do something about my weight goes to you. I have been motivated to do something ever since you told me about the program. So Thank you and good luck!.
-Lux
It's great to see you all jazzed up. I hope Murali's back pain subsides with the Yoga. It's a permanent change. Let's all get reformed!
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