Topic: Today I'm buying myself a treat.

[Touti]

After 2 weeks of being careful what I eat, reducing salt, fat and not taking any alcohol I bought myself a beer...............................and I have to say it's the best beer I've had 

I know, nobody gives a damn but I thought I'd share this wonderful moment in my life anyway 

[addicted2dvd]

Cheers Eric! 

[Achim]

After 2 weeks of being careful what I eat, reducing salt, fat and not taking any alcohol I bought myself a beer...............................and I have to say it's the best beer I've had 

I know, nobody gives a damn but I thought I'd share this wonderful moment in my life anyway 

I give more of a damn than you imagine. It's nice to see there is an upside to having to cut out all the good things (most of the time).

I received my blood test results today (basic ones, had to do it for work reeasons) and I have several values too high, like cholesterol, BMI and two or three others. Not sure yet what I should change, but one recommendation I found was to reduce rice-intake; I live in Taiwan, don't they know?

[lovemunkey187]

but one recommendation I found was to reduce rice-intake; I live in Taiwan, don't they know?

 

[Touti]

Not sure yet what I should change, but one recommendation I found was to reduce rice-intake; I live in Taiwan, don't they know?

How brilliant.


For me it's the blood pressure.  Two years ago after having suffered a few months from a pain in the manhood that wouldn't go away I went to see a doctor.  Before anything they did the basic checkups on me and my blood pressure was at 220/130.  I've been on medication since to control it.  I had promised myself I wouldn't take 4 pills a day for the rest of my life but then didn't do anything about it.

Now I've decided it's time I start taking better care of myself so I'm changing a few things in the way I eat to cut on sodium and also cut my alcohol consumption, I'm no alcoholic but I was drinking more wine and beer than I should have.

There was a surprising news in the medias 2 weeks ago saying that products sold in Canada contain 3 to 4 times more sodium than the very same product from the same company in other countries.  So the past 2 weeks I've been a good consumer, reading nutritional information on everything I buy to take the less salty, cooking instead of buying processed food and drinking no more than 1 de-alcoolized beer a day.

My real beer last night was the best I've ever had  

[Kathy]

If you are interested, vitamin and herbal supplements can play an important role in getting and staying healthy. You don't have to go crazy but research shows that most people would benefit greatly from daily fish oil and vitamin D. Check with your doctor to see if these could help and to find out the correct dosages right for you. And, it couldn't hurt to take a daily multivitamin if your diet is not the best.

[Touti]

Thanks Kathy, maybe I'll talk to her about it next time I see her.  It's a difficult situation because I'm part of the 40%+ people in Montreal who don't have a regular doctor.  It's been quite a problem here in Quebec for the last 15 years or so.  I have to go in a private clinic which is expensive and whenever the doctor and I talk about a healthier diet and weight loss she tries to push me to go see their nutritionist which I don't want to pay for.  We pay a lots of taxes in Quebec for our social services so when you see 35%-40% of your pay check taken away every week it doesn't leave much to pay for private practice at 300$/hr.

[Kathy]

Ouch. I would talk to your pharmacist then. They are an excellent resource and let you know the basics. They can also let you know if there is any interaction with any medication you are on.

[Najemikon]

Much as I loathe to say it, this is a situation where the NHS really shows its worth. It moves slow, but you get the same doctor most of the time and specialists cost nothing.

[Touti]

I'm assuming NHS means National Health System.........we have that which is why I pay 35%-40% taxes on my income but the problem is that there's not enough doctors.  We can either go to no-appointment emergency clinics, wait 12 hours and not necessarily see the same doctor again or, we can try to get a regular family doctors but in Montreal most will tell you that they're full and don't take more patients.

There's three reasons for this.

1: Specialists make much more money than family doctors so most new doctors want to get into a specialty.
2: The government is trying (failing miserably) to control the cost so after a certain point doctors get paid only 75% of the price for each medical act.  This is another disadvantage for family doctors because not only they made less than specialists but they don't even get paid 100% all the time.
3: Many doctors do office and hospital work so there often is 6 or 7 doctors working in the same office but there's only 2 on site at any time.

[Najemikon]

Sounds like we share a lot of issues. Maybe because our NHS has to cover a smaller area it's a bit more reliable for everyday stuff, but there are horrendous problems and my family have often been at the sharp end. Widely speaking though, we suffer a "postcode lottery" in this country. For instance my postcode begins NG because I live in Nottingham, but I've very close to the boundary with Derbyshire (DE). It isn't unheard of for one person suffering an expensive illness to get treatment while his neighbour will be refused, just because his area is handled by a different authority even though he might live literally next door.

The NHS is a good idea in very bad shape at the moment. I know Obama has caused a row by suggesting America could adopt similar and he held up the UK as an example of how it works. How it should work, maybe! Certainly it isn't "evil" as some of his opponents have suggested...

[Touti]

The way I see it society has two option.

1: No NHS, the rich gets good health care and the poor gets none.
2: NHS, no difference between rich and poor, they both get the same crappy service.

[DJ Doena]

In germany we have a mixture of this. Basically everyone has health insurance, there are only a very few who have none. But once you earn enough money or if you are a freelancer you can switch from the public insurance to the private insurance and from now on every doctor will treat you like a king, because they get more money for the same diagnosis/treatment from your insurance company now (even though you also pay less fees to your insurance company -> There's a lot of friction loss in the public health care system)

[lovemunkey187]

For me it's the blood pressure.  Two years ago after having suffered a few months from a pain in the manhood that wouldn't go away I went to see a doctor.  Before anything they did the basic checkups on me and my blood pressure was at 220/130.  I've been on medication since to control it.  I had promised myself I wouldn't take 4 pills a day for the rest of my life but then didn't do anything about it.

Now I've decided it's time I start taking better care of myself so I'm changing a few things in the way I eat to cut on sodium and also cut my alcohol consumption, I'm no alcoholic but I was drinking more wine and beer than I should have.

There was a surprising news in the medias 2 weeks ago saying that products sold in Canada contain 3 to 4 times more sodium than the very same product from the same company in other countries.  So the past 2 weeks I've been a good consumer, reading nutritional information on everything I buy to take the less salty, cooking instead of buying processed food and drinking no more than 1 de-alcoolized beer a day.

I wasn't advised to do anything about my health by medical advice, something in me just clicked and decided that it was time to get off my expanding behind, so I joined a gym.
2 years ago when I started going to the gym I was 19st 8lbs (275lbs - 124.7kg) with a body fat count of 29.7% and today I weighed myself and I was 15st (210lbs - 95.2kg) .
Okay so I have been going to the gym at least 5 times a week and pushed myself really hard, but the exercise isn't the whole story.  As someone far more knowledgable than I said - Exercise is King, Nutrition is Queen and together they make a Kingdom.

You don't need to go crazy with your diet and deny yourself everything - this just makes you crave it far more. And as you've already declared when you do have that beer or whatever, it tastes A-frakkin-mazing. Moderation is the key.

I will say hugely important is to drink plenty of water (drink about 6 litres a day). Eat regularily but remember that you don't need to pile that plate full of everything from the buffet.
If anyone wants any tips from a none qualified gymaddict and I will do my best to give you safe and sound help.

[Najemikon]

Well, talk about perfect timing for this topic. Remember I told you about postcode lottery? On the news tonight I heard about a local man who is just about blind. They have attempted three cornea transplants and his body has rejected all of them. Now his specialist has told him about a drug that would hopefully help them stabilise another transplant and rescue sight in one eye at least. He's only 40 and this could be a massive help.

But the bastards at the local Primary Care Trust who hold the NHS purse strings for this area say no. Just like that. His doctors say yes, his specialist says yes, but the accountant says no. It would cost about £10k apparently and out of the five people who have had the drug for the same purpose, four had complete success.

You're more likely to get a sex-change on the bloody NHS than something essential like this.