I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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pre65
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#271 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by pre65 »

On Ebay, you can get all 3 "lean in 15" books in PDF format for £1. :shock:

Does not seem right to me.
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#272 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by jack »

Cressy Snr wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2017 9:36 amShe's dropped four dress sizes, and I've gone from a 38 to a 32 inch waist. Haven't been a 32 since the late 70s. Sugar has been lowered substantially, as have the carbs. We now do 33% fat, 33% carbs and 33% protein.
That's completely brilliant.

Dropping waist size is really really hard - I used to be a 33, then 34 and now 36" - not been a 33 for 25 years or so....

However, I'm back at 102kg & 194cm, so SWMBO has put me on a regime - first session was from 06:00 to 07:00 this morning with a psychopathic sadistic oirish rugby coach. Circuit training hell...

At the end of it I felt light-headed, was sweating like a pig (EH? Pigs don't sweat) and wanted to up chuck (though that might have had a bit to do with having gone out last night...).

Got two months of the initial onslaught, 3 to 4 times a week, by which time my core fitness should be much improved. Also swimming a mile twice or more times a week (been doing that bit for a while (but doesn't get me into the aerobic zone). First week is pretty easy (Lordy Lordy!) to minimize damage.

Further, I've cut out having a proper supper mid-week as we have super lunches provided at work and I really don't need two big meals a day (breakfast is Greek yogurt & blueberries plus Special K or similar + cup of tea). Also given up the cappuccinos and lattes. Never eaten much bread/chips/biscuits/etc.

Target is to drop at least 1" and possibly 2" from the waist and 5 to 7kg weight, even given that I'll muscle up a bit as this progresses. That's up to 7 bags of sugar I'm carrying around at the moment...
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andrew Ivimey
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#273 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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This is all 'anecdotal' i.e. not statisticaly significant i.e. but it is significant to me. I've been looking back over this thread. It is interesting.

(Whether or not Senor C and wife's progress is actually good I don't know, but it sounds very impressive and I applaud their endeavours muchly)

Facts and figures when available are thought provoking and I'm not sure if I am adding useful to the debate but I will try.

This on the day that South Korean women have been told that, statistically, they can live till 92 average. (Mean, mode or.... should look it up - still this is a beacon/flag, wake up call etc etc etc) Can't help thinking that South Korea, like Japan caricature of 'wotheyeat' is fish and rice'.

Last autumn I was feeling very good about having lost weight, was cycling up to 50mile a session without feeling in any sense ill, things were tightening up, one waist size down and hadn't taken a blood pressure pill nor a statin for over two years... then the winter set in

I was still drinking half a bottle of wine a night (long term average) - this was my constant.

In January I decided on an MOT so showed my GP that my blood pressure was higher than average (very easy to set up), explained about my lack of medication - (my old GP has retired - this chap looked all of 25!) I went for blood tests and returned with a full profile that the youngDoc described as 'athletic' except for my cholesterol (HDL & LDL) which had gone back up to significantly high. Athletic and Andrew are words that are not to be found in the same sentence unless a negative is strongly indicated, nevertheless it was interesting to plough through the details of me 'bloods'. erm.... it does look rather good and comparing liver function over the last few years and my intake of red wine... well that too looks very positive.

Smell a rat???? well I'm sceptical. Indeed, in part because I have a fairly expensive and reliably calibrated blood pressure machine I can easily re-check as often as my growing neurosis could wish. YoungDoc had wired me up for 24hours anyway and my average daily blood pressure looks wonderful too (including sleep - I like sleep - I try to get a lot of it)

And I have proved to myself that alcohol in my daily regime ( i.e. up to half a bottle a day) actually reduces my blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic by up to 10 units) - what does this mean??? to me, it means that so far I have got away with it. (I still could be 'an alcoholic' (there are a few definitions of this concept though) and I am well aware just how much I enjoy a good red wine - Indeed I tried a Barolo yesterday and was very impressed, just that it's fucking expensive so out of my reach, tbh. I digress)

I could fill in all the fields in the Heart Age NHS website thing mentioned a page or so back on this thread. My heart ago is 74... That's 11 years more than I am. I could reduce it by diet... I eat fruit, oats, veg. low fat dairy, gave up cheese a few months ago, have just come off six weeks without alcohol (very interesting in itself), a little chicken and, and I start to get woolly ... and thoughftul.

Oh yes and of course by reducing my cholesterol - YoungDoc and I have agreed a few more months of just adjusting my lifestyle before return to Statins even though I have said, three times in large letters that I have no side effects whatsoever from (Simva)statins and would actually be happy to resume (then I can go back to cream cakes, sausages, bacon and other disgusting excess). He says I must wait for the starting gun.

The websoftware also says I could live to 80 with a 10% chance of heart attack or stroke. My dad started that shenanigans when he was 63 (my age!) and has had many strokes since, a pace maker and has had chronic low blood pressure all his measured life. (My blood pressure comes from my mother's side??)

As I type I have given up on exercise - this MUST (can) change and oh yes, I admit, I am drinking very strong coffee and lots of it but oh I love the stuff - even I think its too much and I am sure my heartrate is asufferin' as a consequence. I do sleep well at night as I cram in the coffee in the morning.

So, to draw this to a close - my tale is only mine yet I believe the software is useful to provoke thought and from thought provoke action. I like to think I'm good at 'science' and so my method tries only to vary one factor at a time, measure it, repeat it, record it and move on to another. Exercise has to be good for me - agreed. And gulp! okay I'll do something about the coffee. Trouble is, back in the office (when I still worked) my generous de-caff real coffee was notoriously strong enough (slightly chewy) for perking up the people!

Oh yes and giving up work has been very good for my mental and physical health. It is with great reluctance I return to a hospital clinic preferring to make peripatetic visits to homes and care homes; a very interesting change from having spent a lifetime working with children to now working with (v)senior citizens - this too is a very fertile place for thoughts and observations.

Okay, I'll cut down on the wine, get the exercise thing going again and the coffeeee dammit, I'll do something about that too but you know the bit where Bilbo fully intends to leave the ring on the mantelpiece and he finds that somehow its back in his waistcoat pocketses...

Onwards! best of health, good luck!
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#274 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by jack »

On the cholesterol thing, I used to have a combined value of 6.5, most of which was, unfortunately, LDL.

However this is genetic - I have a pretty low cholesterol diet - I eat little dairy and generally my diet is excellent (though too large).

If I lower my cholesterol input, my body simply makes more - most of my family have this issue.

The only tablet I take is 10mg of Atorvastatin - my combined cholesterol value is now 3.1 - a huge improvement :)

Good thing is I have few other risk factors - I'm reasonably fit (and getting fitter), have never smoked (God forbid!) and drink very little (normally).

Probably get hit by a bus, now :(
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pre65
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#275 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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I've just got back from my yearly review with the Doctor.

She says my blood pressure is slightly higher than she would like, and could I monitor said blood pressure at home for a week and inform her of the result.

So, can anyone name a reliable, but not horrendously expensive, home use blood pressure tester ?

Any suggestions or recommendations welcome.
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#276 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by jack »

pre65 wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:49 amSo, can anyone name a reliable, but not horrendously expensive, home use blood pressure tester ?
Depending on your political leaning, Tony Blair or Nigel Farage?
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#277 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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jack wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:50 am
pre65 wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:49 amSo, can anyone name a reliable, but not horrendously expensive, home use blood pressure tester ?
Depending on your political leaning, Tony Blair or Nigel Farage?
Tony (wanker) Blair would be far too expensive. :shock:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

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#278 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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As for a blood pressure machine - what's the one your GP uses? More and more GPs now have given up on the old trusty pump up ones, preferring just the thing you can get in Boots for around £75. I asked one practice manager (not my own GP!) if she had her BP machines calibrated regularly. She rather stuffily replied, 'Yes!'. Fair enough.

So how much? see above - you get what you pay for and how important is it to you? I calibrated mine by taking it into my hospital and checking it against several clinical BP machines in three departments - overkill? Perhaps but a friend and colleague of mine and I had fun trying blood pressure according to the book and in ways that weren't quite in medical text books.

Off the counter my Boots' Braun was and continues to be accurate compared to clinical BP machines in daily use. So I'll continue to trust it.
Philosophers have only interpreted the world - the point, however, is to change it. No it isn't ... maybe we should leave it alone for a while.
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#279 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke

G-Popz THE easy listening connoisseur. (Philip)
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#280 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by andrew Ivimey »

Indeed! It looks very similar. Mine's a 6200 and twas £99 reduced to £75. It appears that Braun is always being discounted by £20 or so in Boots.

As you can see it gives systolic, diastolic and heart rate. This is useful and for me, hots the spot.
Philosophers have only interpreted the world - the point, however, is to change it. No it isn't ... maybe we should leave it alone for a while.
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pre65
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#281 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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I've just ordered a BP6200 @ £65 inc post.

Thanks for the recommendation. :D
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#282 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by Ali Tait »

I always seem to suffer from "white coat syndrome" when it comes to BP, it's always around 130-140 over 70ish at the docs. When I measure at home, it's usually around 115/60 odd.
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#283 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by Nick »

She says my blood pressure is slightly higher than she would like
You may be misunderstanding her statement. She may have heard of your taste in music.
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pre65
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#284 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

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Nick wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2017 12:39 pm
She says my blood pressure is slightly higher than she would like
You may be misunderstanding her statement. She may have heard of your taste in music.
Could be Nick. :lol:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

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#285 Re: I'm Officially a Fat Bastard

Post by Cressy Snr »

Well according to the conventional wisdom that has been the bible for the past twenty years, my diet and that of my wife is completely wrong, in terms of the low fat mantra that has been shoved at us, yet neither of us has ever felt better.

It is now almost eight months since either of us had even the slightest episode of stomach ache, indigestion, or heartburn. Bowels are regular as clockwork.

We eat NO "low in fat" or "fat-free" products of any kind. All our cheese, milk, natural yoghurt is full-fat.
We use Country Life butter; no low fat spreads of any sort. Any cream used in recipes is single or double, depending on the recipe.

Meat is eaten three times a week and is usually chicken, or turkey, with the occasional bit of minced beef.

Fish three times a week is oily, fatty salmon, sea bass, tuna etc.

Eggs such as pancakes, omelettes on the other day.

We have an egg for breakfast in some form or another most mornings, boiled, scrambled or as part of a protein pancake recipe, that contains bananas, eggs, protein powder and is eaten with a topping of natural yogurt and forest fruits.
Porridge or muesli is also on our breakfast menu, no corn flakes, sugar puffs, rice krispies, or fruit juice.

Snacks are usually apples or satsumas, the apples, being eaten usually with a dollop of peanut butter.
Most of our dietary sugar comes from the fruit we eat on a daily basis, no refined sugar of any kind. We have either a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup to sweeten slightly the natural yogurt. That's it in terms of sugar intake.

Every main meal is accompanied by plenty of vegetables, including spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, beetroot, olives, peppers, tomatoes. These work to bulk out the meals and provide dietary fibre to keep one ....ahem....regular.

Nuts are a regular part of our diet and get snacked on most of the time.
Nuts include brazils, walnuts, almonds, plus the aforementioned peanut butter.
Anything we fry is fried in coconut oil, no vegetable oil.
Dressings are olive oil or balsamic vinegar usually, no ketchup or brown sauce except with the very occasional bacon butties :wink:

Somehow, quite unintentionally we seem to have dropped spuds, pasta and rice from our diet. TBH we don't miss them.
Bread is also much reduced and any sandwiches we have are on those little medium sliced loaves that you always see pensioners buying.

We eat virtually no processed convenience foods whatsoever. Everything is cooked from the raw ingredients, like your granny used to do, so no burgers or anything like that.

I used to suffer horribly from dry skin on my legs, particularly on the lower legs. That has now cleared up completely. I had crepe backs of hands, again gone.
Joints that used to ache now move a lot more freely and though I still get back pain from an old injury, that is significantly down as well.
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