Ok, serious bidness for once. No jokes today.[1]
I'm nearing my mid-30's, and generally consider myself to be in good, albeit not great shape. I pretty much have long lived with the ethos that I can eat whatever I want as long as I work out enough to equalize it. This has worked fairly well for me to date. I typically work out 3-4 times a week, doing mostly cardio. My eating habits are so-so. I generally will eat better at home than work, but when I'm on the road, as I frequently am with my Day Job, this regimen falls completely out of balance. Logging 55-60 hour weeks, while trying my best not to C.Y.I.N. and knock somebody the eff' out is pretty stressful stuff and leaves little energy for hitting the hotel exercise room by the end of the day. That's more or less been my lifestyle since I entered the real world.
Like any responsible adult, I have a regular physician I see twice year to check my vitals. This routine has always been the same for as long as I can recall: they check me, give me a generally clean bill of health, and send me on my way till the next time. But my most recent check-in a couple of months ago was a bit different. After the nurse checked me out, the Doc came in with a somber look on his face. And that's when I knew something was wrong.
In short, I had pre-hypertension. Not anything borderline fatal, but higher than what they'd seen in past visits. I didn't think much of this, till my Doc recommended I see a cardiologist. You know, a real doctor. A specialist. This was suddenly serious business.
A week later, the cardiologist checked me out, and asked me a million and one questions about my lifestyle and what might have lead to my sudden spike in blood pressure. In the end, while I'd love to blame my maladies on George Bush, Hillary Clinton, vocoders, or Fox News, reality is the culprits were far simpler: sodium and age.
I know I do a lot of joking on this site, but for me, this whole episode showed the importance of paying greater attention to your health as you age. Simply put, I can't get away with doing the same stuff I've been doing. Had I not been going to the doctor on a regular basis, and worse yet, had I not had the health insurance to get the specialized attention I needed, who knows how this story might have ended. If I hadn't identified my blood pressure as an issue that needed to be controlled, I could have eventually had some catastrophic circumstances, mainly because cardiovascular issues seldom are accompanied by notable symptoms. This is precisely why people drop dead each and every day with no prior warning. My situation obviously wasn't anywhere near that dire, but I learned my lesson nonetheless.
With a wife and child to support, I found out rather quickly that your health is something you can't fool around with. It's the one thing that money can't really buy if you think about it.
This story, of course, has a happy ending. I mean, I am blogging about it after all. The doctor recommended some very basic, yet permanent lifestyle changes that I needed to make part of my everyday routine. This mean not adding extra salt to anything, cutting down on fried and/or frozen foods, no fast foods, water instead of soda, mixing in more weights with my cardio workouts, and monitoring my blood pressure on a regular basis. I'm proud to say that I've lowered my blood pressure back to a very normal systolic/diastolic reading in just 6 weeks by making these minor changes in the way I do things. I even dropped 5 unnecessary pounds in the process. And honestly, it wasn't even all that hard.
This post wasn't really meant to do anything other than get you guys to think, and consider your health if it's something you might typically take for granted as I used to. If you don't have a regular physician, ask a friend and find one. If you've got a friend or loved one who you know is slackin' on getting him/herself checked out, checkout the Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day website and find out ways to make it happen.
Whatever you do, treat your body good before it's too late.[2]
Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day [HealthLink]
American Heart Association Website
[1] I'll resume these tomorrow of course.
[2] This has been an AB.com Public Service Announcement, sponsored by Gregory Abbott's Greatest Hits, now on iTunes, CD, and 8-Track.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Matters Of The Heart. Literally.
Tags Popped: AB Instant Classics, Bloggy Style, You Must Learn
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+1, and for God's sake, everyone reading this stop eating Fast Food! That stuff will kill you.
Great post Average Bro! I recently cut out sugar and focused my diet more on high quality protein and carbs. I finally realized after almost 30 years that sugar (and foods that turn into sugar quickly) was the cause of my breakouts. Excercise helped along with medication, but I still got breakouts. Now, I do all that and I eat foods with a low Glycemic Index and I keep away from sugar. There was a dramatic improvement in my skin. It usually takes some sort of "scare" - a not so good doctor's visit or a horrible breakout - to make you take a hard look at your health. Best of all when you see the improvement in your body it's hard to go back to your bad ways.
Good luck with your health!
I forgot to add re cutting out sugar, my overall health improved - no need to take advil for the monthly cramps and other things.
AB> Some heart felt advice...
For three years I worked in Corporate America. I was pushing 12-16 hour days. I also was driving 1 hour each way, and getting less than 8 hours sleep. Days would bleed together. I eventually had an nervous breakdown and had to go on sick leave. My BP was racing at stroke levels. (Systolic even reached 200 at one point.)
I'm still taking meds years after the fact. I know how you feel. Trying to grind, being responsible, living a good lifstyle and trying to survive.
But take it from a man who should be dead: No job is worth dying for, because they will keep moving long after you are gone. I wish you the best, and I hope your plans for better health pan out.
EG
Make sure you also consider having your colon and prostrate checked out. Cool post, I'm going to check out my physician pretty soon.
I think at any age you should REALLY stay away from fried foods, extra salt, fast foods and sodas.
I'm sorry, there's no reason why people should feed infants processed food from McDonalds - the food is not cheap! Excersizing regularly should be part of your regular routine, and that doesn't mean going to the gym.
^EG, job stress kills many people very slowly over the years. Many people are too preoccupied with many responsibilities to notice that they're sacrificing their general health. This overweight brother at my job recently fainted with some dizzy spells - high blood pressure. Working 12-hour shift making 90-100k is great but don't neglect health.
I won't suggest becoming vegetarian or vegan but really consider adding more fresh vegetables and fruits into your diet. And consider using herbal teas instead many prescription drugs that weaken your immune system. Ain't nothing like your health and natural whole foods works wonders!
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