Quitting makes me gain weight. I'm not using that an excuse for not doing so, but since I cut down to a 1-2 packs a week, I've definitely gained weight.

Skip the weights, swim and walk, cut wheat, sugar, and dairy out of your diet, no red meat - just fish and chicken, lots of greens, one glass of red wine a day, olive oil instead of chemical butter substitues, no fake sugar, NO SODA of any kind - especially diet, no smoking, no fried foods, lots of H2O, take lecithin and vitimin E, one 54mg aspirin a day and call me in the morning. :)

Seriously, you can fix it, but it takes more than knocking off on the twinkies. I did it, and it wasn't so bad. I became a sushi fiend. I dropped my BP very quickly. It is a lifestyle change. China will get you off to a great start. I wager you drop 20 lbs on the trip.

F the weight, quitting the smokes will do more for your BP and heart than being fat will hurt it. Get in the pool and swim if your bad knee does not allow walking or biking

Rick...welcome! To those pissed off about the pesky calendar changes! Man, how I hate being old...I sometimes wonder if it's better than a dirt nap...but only sometimes. ;)

They are not kidding with the warnings on the side of the pack, the "serious health problems" one, not the "low birth weight" one

Rick,

I would definitely get your blood-work done when you can to see where your sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. are at. There is a guy at JC Lincoln who is a master with the needle if you need a lab/blood-work referral. Just don't go to LabCorp or the like, as most of them either have no clue what they are doing, or just don't care.

BMI is complete and utter horse*****, here is the definition...

"Body Mass Index (BMI) - A formula to determine obesity calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in meters."

So, it is an extremely general, almost totally meaningless number that is used way beyond its level of accuracy and usefulness.

Both my wife and I are technically obese by BMI standards, my wife is 150 cm tall, 66kg (that's 5 feet tall, 147 pounds), but she is Japanese, built solidly, very muscular (***all over I might add as my braille anatomy has determined**) and everyone thinks of her as "slim, trim and healthy. But her doctor says she is obese and needs to lose....get this .... 25 lbs to be healthy. Complete crap, if she lost that amount of weight she'd be unhealthy as all get out.....

Anyway, much better to do fat measurements (immersion or pinch tests) and go from there. My fat percentage is higher than I'd like, but I am working on it...it is currently 22% and I'd like to see it under 20%. But every time I start a major workout effort I gain weight and lose body fat....I am now 190 cm and 116kg - BMI of around 31....

Anyway, ignore the BMI, watch the diet, exercise regularly and you'll be fine...

Dennis

I got a second MMR shot today and it felt like getting a cigarette crushed on the back of my arm. I wasn't expecting to even notice it and I yelped a little.

Doc wants me to have bloodwork done before I come in next time and to bring the results with me. He wrote up a big list of stuff to have checked for. I don't think it was LabCorp.

Yeah, warning sign #1: If the tech (anyone drawing blood, inserting IV, etc.) starts "tapping" your forearm to raise a vein, run away! :eek: :D

Also, you should be able to get your labwork done anywhere you want. Not only where your GP tells you. It's just that not many think to go directly to the Hospital to get it done, and instead end up going to places like LabCorp, etc. which are like livestock processing centers. If you need that referral, give me a call when you get back. ;)

Since you're house sitting for me, I think I'll talk to you before then.

Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

I'd listen to Slo-Bob & Dennis. The BMI thing is a crock of ****. At 66, I'm 5'10, 172 lb. & 19% bodyfat. According to to the BMI chart, I'm borderline overweight.
Also people are sometimes predisposed to things. My cholesterol has been very high since I first had it checked in my early 30's (282). Diet, exercise & medication (Mevacor) didn't affect it at all & it went up to 320. With a current medication, it's down to around 230, so I'm happy. Some things are a result of age. My BP has crept up in the last few years.
I quit smoking in my late 20's, because I decided was a dirty, filthy habit, and I didn't want to be a slave to anything. Not interested in drinking except for an occasional beer, glass of wine or Southern Comfort. After trying a lot of healthy habit things, I decided in the end the best philosophy is just "everything in moderation."

Except the smokes. Get rid of those and you're numbers will improve quickly.

I am not a MD, but I can tell you, the high blood pressure comes from the smokes and the weight. The weight comes from eating and drinking too much. You are pretty heavy in that recent picture posted.

Quit smoking and eat less (like in total calorie intake). Sounds like you exercise enough - however, I would back that up with a heart rate monitor set on calorie count.

If you compare yourself to the wrecks in the waiting room, you are fooling yourself. You need to compare yourself to the people that don't go to the doctor. Compare yourself to that marathon picture. There is no reason you can not get back to that - not with running, but as mentioned above with swimming or with cycling.

Finally, the guys are right, you are getting old. This has very bad effects o the body, i.e. you can not eat as much as you used to w/o gaining weight. This is the time now to pay attention to your health. I have buddies in their late 30s and early 40s that don't watch themselves well, and they are falling apart at an alarming rate.

Good Luck!

George

at my previous work, they once offered free healthchecks by a company appointed dokter..

so me and a friend/coworker went for the fun of it ( day off)

i was a non sports doing heavy drinker and smoker
he was a rugby player who happens to run 10-15 km on his lunch breaks, every day.



So the dokter for me comes up with "all good"
and writes my mate up for being obese, on the grounds that his bmi is over the scale

muscles weigh more then fat does... the dr could'nt have known, as he was a fat fekkker that weighed more then both of us...

so my mate went to HR to complain (he's english, he'll use any excuse to take the mick out of some situation and rant about it), about him being offended by being called a fatty now (we did call him fatty ever since)... Took HR 4 whole weeks to come up with a PC answer that said nothing at all :D

bmi is bs, simple as that

This bmi talk aroused my curiosity, chart says 21.6 for me. I guess i could start eating dessert.
Jim

the formula for the calculation of BMI (Body Mass Index) is (weight in pounds x 703) ÷ (height in inches)2 = BMI. For example, for a person who is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 290 lbs., that calculation is (290 lbs. x 703) ÷ (75 x 75) = 36.24 BMI. A BMI of 30 is considered obese; any result higher than 40 is considered “extreme obesity.”

Hmmm, healthy during Clinton's presidency, and eight years later :(. Need I even say it? It's Bu... Seriously Rick, it's probably just "father time" creeping up on ya, and sometimes we just can't do "the things we used to do". You seem like a VERY determined, strong willed person. Why not go to China, enjoy yourself to the max, and have your LAST cigarette while there? Don't leave any behind here, and the plane trip home will be your "beginning of the beginning". As I alluded to in another thread, I like to have a cig along with a beer (been doing that since college, fortunately I don't drink beer like I used to), and then I want one BAD, but I'm going to do the same. Drop 20 lbs or so too (simply eating a bit less each meal works for me), and you'll be well on your way. Good luck!

ps: Want to make a friendly wager if you choose to do as I suggest? I've always found it REALLY easy to quit...it's not starting back that's the hard part :). Once you return, first one of us to "fall off the wagon" owes the other a bottle of their favorite beverage...I'm game if you are! Maybe the online, public wager will help us both succeed indefinitely.

I find that the less I go to the doctor, the more healthy I feel.:D

Start eating oat meal with flax oil every day. It's one of if not THE best natural way to help improve BP and cholesterol levels. You have to eat it every day though. Overall, your diet is going to be the biggest thing you can control to have positive and or negative effects.