It's not New Years Eve, typically the time when most people get health-kicks started. However, a couple of things happened in the last week prompting me to begin this quest for better health:
Firstly, it was my birthday two days ago, and I’m now on the wrong side of fifty; an age at which people tend to diverge into one of two groups, related to health:
a) The relatively healthy: Those with continuing good health and an associated active and enjoyable lifestyle - often well into the 80’s and 90’s
or
b) The not very healthy: Those with progressively worsening health and an accumulating numbers of medications and age-related illnesses (ie. heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis/fractures, obesity, poor mobility, sleep problems, fatigue, dementia, depression).
My own father had a heart attack in his 50’s which required a coronary stent. Fortunately, he used the experience as a wake-up call to change his lifestyle and adopt healthier habits, and he’s now going strong in his early 80’s: An inspiring example of the benefit of healthy lifestyle changes even after serious medical events.
However, the divergence of health pathways, in people over 50, is further supported by a recent conversation I had with an old friend. My friend is a professor of medicine, specialising in oncology, and she was telling me that she wants to arrange a reunion for our university classmates within the next year.
‘Why the big rush for a reunion now?’ I asked her.
“Because this is the age (over 50) we’ll find that our friends and colleagues begin to ‘fall off the perch’,” she said. For anyone not familiar with the expression ‘fall of the perch’; it means ‘to die’.
I think the specific event which prompted her rush for the reunion was a sad phone conversation she had a few weeks earlier. She had phoned an old university friend, who she hadn’t seen for a number of years, as she’d heard the friend was in Adelaide from her rural O&G practice. However, when she phoned, the friend’s husband answered and explained that his wife was very ill in hospital with terminal cancer. She was only 50 years old, but she would have no more coffees with anyone.
Unfortunately, my friend has witnessed many similar stories with her patients around this age.
Unfortunately, my friend has witnessed many similar stories with her patients around this age.
And I know from my own experience, as a medical doctor over the last 28 years, that she’s right. I’ve seen the acceleration in aging and age-related illnesses from around 50 - especially noticeable in people who don’t actively work to maintain their health or who engage in unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, and over-eating.
Obviously, genes play a big part in our health and longevity. However, most physical conditions are a mixture of nature and nurture: genes and lifestyle: We can’t change our genes but we can do something about the way we choose to live. It’s a choice. It’s not easy, I know, to change our entrenched bad habits. But small steps and a positive attitude that any healthy changes will be be good for us is a good start.
The second thing which occurred in the last week, prompting my decision to start a healthier lifestyle, was a little more related to vanity, I’m ashamed to admit; my new driver's license photo arrived in the mail. It was awful. I had quite liked the last license photo ... but that was taken ten years ago.
Do I really look like that?! I wondered, shocked when I first saw it: Pasty face, tired expression, dull staring eyes, no vitality. Old. Well, at least middle-aged. And not healthy or happy or growing old gracefully, or - more importantly - in good health.
The photo seemed to indicate that I was heading into a future where my health may become a serious problem. If I continued as I was, what would the next few years be like? I could have a future filled with hospital appointments rather than adventures overseas. Sadly, an old joke came to mind: If you look like your passport photo, you’re too sick to travel.
I didn’t look well. And I knew it wasn’t just the photo. The photo looked the way I felt: Tired, flat, no vitality. Old. Older than I am, anyway. Older than many of my healthy patients who have decades on me.
It was a wake-up call.
Fortunately, not as serious as the wake-up call my father had, at my age, when he had his heart-attack. Still, it had the same effect:
I realised that I can no longer get away with putting no effort into staying healthy. I don’t expect myself to run marathons and join an Olympic team. I just need to force myself to put in a bit of effort to do some of the things which I know - and we all know - will benefit my health. Those things we know but don’t do. Or maybe we plan to do them tomorrow ... or next week ... or at the start of the New Year with our resolutions - which we then abandon by January 3rd.
Fortunately, not as serious as the wake-up call my father had, at my age, when he had his heart-attack. Still, it had the same effect:
I realised that I can no longer get away with putting no effort into staying healthy. I don’t expect myself to run marathons and join an Olympic team. I just need to force myself to put in a bit of effort to do some of the things which I know - and we all know - will benefit my health. Those things we know but don’t do. Or maybe we plan to do them tomorrow ... or next week ... or at the start of the New Year with our resolutions - which we then abandon by January 3rd.
So, what are some of the health related things which we all know but don't bother with?
Well, to start with a few vegetables and fruit everyday: In Australia, the recommendation is five serves vegetables and two serves of fruit each day.
Also, a bit of regular exercise: At least thirty minutes each day.
Sufficient sleep: For me that’s eight hours, not the six hour or less I struggle to manage now.
Stress management is also important - something like regular meditation or mindfulness.
Social connection with friends and family: I need to prioritise more time with the people close to me; such as more sit-down meals at the table, where we don’t rush to leave after eating, and more games of table-tennis on our new table.
Well, to start with a few vegetables and fruit everyday: In Australia, the recommendation is five serves vegetables and two serves of fruit each day.
Also, a bit of regular exercise: At least thirty minutes each day.
Sufficient sleep: For me that’s eight hours, not the six hour or less I struggle to manage now.
Stress management is also important - something like regular meditation or mindfulness.
Social connection with friends and family: I need to prioritise more time with the people close to me; such as more sit-down meals at the table, where we don’t rush to leave after eating, and more games of table-tennis on our new table.
There are other things which are linked to health which I also remember and focus on over the next twelve in my healthy new pathway leading into the new year of 2019: An obvious reverse of the usual starting on New Year’s day. But when you realise something needs to be done, why not start as soon as possible.
So, I will start on my ‘better health’ journey now. Today.
I know that I will fail along the way. I know there will be days where I slip up badly, but I won’t let myself say, ‘What the hell!’ and give up. In stead I’ll behave in an ‘anti-fragile’ way - which means grow stronger from my mistakes. Learn from them and do better with practice.
Also, I’m not planning to ‘win’ anything. I’m not looking to be attractive for selfies or to lose any weight (I’m slim, already). I just want to follow in the path of some of my lovely patients in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s who are still travelling the world and building schools for children in Africa (80’s); riding their bikes hundreds of miles across Holland(late 70’s), swimming kilometers in the ocean and rivers in competitions (mid-70’s); teaching students how to paint and creating great art-works in the USA for museums (70’s) … and so many other things, as many of my patients have done and still do! They’re an inspiration. I want to follow the path they’re taking into older age. So, I might also ask my patients, over the next twelve weeks, what ideas they can share with me regarding a healthy lifestyle and aging well.
Anyone reading this who would like to try some of the things I discuss and follow some of the things I discuss, please do. What have you got to lose. And you might be inspired by the way I fail so many times but get up and carry on. Also, don’t worry if you’re starting from a place of very poor health. So am I.
My current ‘you-are-here’ point on my own health-map is as follows:
1. Diet:
I currently eat junk food all through the day. Every day. For me, it’s a ‘good’ day for eating if I consume even a single serve of fruit OR vegetable. I often jokingly say: ‘I’m so hungry, I could eat a vegetable!’ Sadly, I’m almost never that hungry. Mostly, I eat a stack of the 'only-sometimes-food': chocolate, ice-cream, cake, biscuits, chips.
I once worked out that, by definition, I’m what McDonald’s would call a 'super-heavy-user', meaning I go to Macca’s at least four times each week. Actually, that is something I have cut back on. That’s a lifestyle change I’ve made. And, now I think about, it’s something I just don’t do anymore and I don’t miss it; inspiring for future lifestyle changes: once they’ve become a routing, it becomes much easier to follow. I now only go to Macca’s about once a week. Also, I’m not over weight, as I said. I weigh 51kg (BMI: 19). But, I think what I do is eat junk food and nothing else. A diet full of empty calories, if not too many calories.
The fact I don’t tend to put on weight is also related to an established ‘good habit’ I have of NEVER dieting. Diets make people fat. (I’ll explain that more fully during these blogs). However, that doesn’t make me healthy. Not one bit! I may be slim but I don’t feel terribly well: I’m tired, flat, unmotivated, and lacking all the vitamins and anti-oxidants which slow aging and age-related illnesses. So, I still need to change my diet in a major way!
Another ‘good habit’ I have established over the last year, now that I think about it, is that I have stopped buying sugar (sucrose) processed food when I shop for groceries. I do eat sugar everyday, just not much at home. I buy sugary-food on the way to work, driving home from work, at coffee shops on my days off, or at work.
You see, this lifestyle change happened after I read some books, recommended to me by a friend, written by David Gillespie - regarding cutting out sugar from the diet. He advised consuming no sugar, but I compromised by reducing my sugar intake. He made a good argument, but I settled for a compromise. Any positive change is still a good thing. Also, that way I never crave sugary treats, as I get to eat them every day, albeit less of them.
This has also resulted in a major reduction in my grocery bills each week (I save at least $200/week) as I used to buy loads of ice-cream, cakes, biscuits, lollies, chocolates. And, with this simple change, my husbands liver function tests (LFT’s) have returned to normal (he has steatohepatitis, or‘fatty liver’, related to metabolic syndrome). See! Changes, once established, are so easy to continue, if they’re not too extreme, that you can continue them without even noticing it. And the benefits help your health and your budget (not to mention less doctor bills).
2. Exercise:
I do effectively no exercise, if you don't include simply traipsing around the house or out to the car. I do go to work three days a week, but in my job I mostly sit or stand. In my hospital days, as a paediatric registrar, I walked miles every day around the hospital, up and down steps, across park lands in the city from the car park to work. But that was all almost 20 years ago.
I do own a treadmill. It cost me $2000 about eight years ago. I finally took it out of the box only one year ago. I know, terrible! And, I've only used it about four times since we extracted it from the box and put it together. However, I have managed, during those four episodes, to injure myself. I sprained my plantar fascia while truing to jog. A few years ago I had a serious sprain on my achilles tendon while trying to jog on a treadmill. So, OK. It’s walking on the treadmill from now on. That’s fine. It’s still exercise and walking is less stressful for the joints.
I also own an exercise bike, which I bought about a year ago. Like the treadmill, I’ve used it about four times. I think those times were on the same days as I used the treadmill. Fortunately, no injuries with the bike yet.
3. Stress management:
I don't know what to put here. I have a fairly stressful life, like most people. Life is stressful: I have four children. I work. I have a mortgage. One of my children has a serious chronic illness where she’s in and out of hospital constantly. I can’t change any of those things. But I can change how I react to them and how I cope.
In the past, I have learned a number of stress management skills and I do these everyday, which is probably why I’m mostly happy and enjoying my life - even though I’m tired and lazy.
I utilise a number of techniques to manage the stress of daily living: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), spirituality, work-life balance, problem-solving techniques. So, this area I can discuss over the next twelve weeks to demonstrate how these things can be used easily and with great effect.
However, I will also add some meditation to my weekly getting-healthy-to-do-list. Ideally, I will meditate daily; however, if I can get manage three or four times a week, I’ll be pleased.
Also, I will make an effort to engage in more mindfulness activities: gardening, hiking, kayaking (we own six kayaks but haven’t used any of them in over a year), walking, listening to music.
Stress plays a large part in aging and illness. Stress shortens telomeres on chromosomes which results in an acceleration of the illnesses associated with aging. So, activities which reduce stress are crucial to aging well and promoting health. I’ll discuss this more in the series of blogs.
4. A good night's sleep:
Eight hours sleep is what I need but virtually never get. This would explain some of my chronic tiredness.
A lack of sleep is not good for your health,and it’s been found that a lack of sleep is linked to over-eating and obesity.
My family and I have been on a number of holidays this year, and when we've gone away and lived for a time without television or computer screens, I get to bed earlier, sleep better, and sleep longer - and, with this, I feel ten times better. Younger. More energetic. More enthusiastic. I get some of that vitality back - which was so obviously missing the recent horrible photo.
It’s on these short-holidays that I realise I’m chronically tired and getting insufficient sleep.
I already know one reason for this: I go to bed too late. Simple as that. I sit on my computer watching movies or youtube and the blue computer screen before bed further disrupts my sleep.
Also, on the subject of computer screens, excessive computer viewing is associated with macular degeneration and age-related blindness. I’ll discuss that during my blogs - as well as the suggested ways to reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration associated with computer use.
5. Fun:
Life should be a balance: Yin/Yang: Seriousness/fun. Life’s too short to not enjoy yourself!
And, laughter is good for your health; plus, it improves the quality of your life - not just the length.
So, what do I find fun but do too infrequently?
Actually, it’s fun to even think about what is fun to do! It reminds of my childhood, before life got Oh-so-serious.
So, here’s a few ideas: Table tennis. Swimming. Hiking. Playing computer games with the kids. Billiards. Watching comedies and dramas. Reading novels. Cooking with my 15 year old daughter - and even my 18 year old son (I could teach him. That would be fun). Playing badminton with my husband at a local gym, like we used to do in our 20’s. Building a garden (we moved to this new house two years ago and still I have gotten around to putting in a garden! A bit like the treadmill in the box for seven years. Lethargy).
Also, I think with practice, I'll get better at discovering fun things to do. My list will grow.
So, how much fun is enough fun?
At least daily, I think. I need to schedule that in. How awful that I even had to remind myself to ‘schedule in some fun into my life.’ Awful. I must have become way too serious sometime in the last half century.
The new 'fun memories' will be wonderful to file away and remember on some rainy day when I’m hopefully climbing some mountain on my 100th birthday!
So, having fun is good for your health, so on my get-healthy-list it goes. Great!
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I think for now, those will be the areas I will focus on over the next three months.
I’ll record how I'm going weekly in the twelve part blog series. I’ll discuss all the things I know about health, as a doctor with 28 years experience (although I don’t actually follow most of it - until now). And I’ll discuss some of the difficulties I encounter in changing my lifestyle, and how I overcome them - or the compromise I reach. And, I’ll write about how my life changes: The way I look. My energy levels. How I feel. How well I can focus. How many of the long-forgotten-projects I know accomplish (like building a garden around a house we’ve lived in for two years and still only have weeds. Although we did put in some paving and grass. Just no garden.)
I’ll even take some photo’s along the way to show some of the lovely places around Adelaide in which I’ll be improving my health in what I think will be mostly an enjoyable prospective social experiment/project.
It won’t be easy. I know that. Habits are hard to change. I’ll slip up. Many times. But it might be interesting. I’ll learn things which I don’t even know that I don’t know. The unknown that becomes known by trying new things and taking the path less travelled.
Then, on New Years Eve 2018, I’ll reflect back and review my new place in the world. What changed? What did I learn? Was it worth it? Was it as hard as I imagine - or even harder?
So, here goes; I’ll write again in a week.
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