The Health, Diet and Exercise Thread

[Glasseye]

5 minutes ago, galenkia said:

Gutted, went 189 consecutive days hitting my app calorie goal, and the other day I was 5 calories short but didn’t realize until the next day as I’d have done a few trips up and down stairs.

 

Iv'e gained 2 kilos that past month, but it is all muscle. 

 

Not bragging but it just goes to show.... watch the beltline not the scale.

[Golfingboy]

This was the most I’ve walked in a long long time…..took a bus/train to the island where the Grand Prix is held, a shuttle to the casino around 8 pm. Waited for my spot, played until 1 am, and said “f—k it, beautiful evening 15C but humid” and walked all the way Downtown where I grabbed McDonald’s and the first train at 5:30. Too bad the day changed at midnight, otherwise I would have had a 20K

Dropped a few $, was totally card dead, but an enjoyable evening nonetheless. Beautiful views around the Old Port at night- wonderful would have only been a 1/4 mile swim but I took the long way around. And oh yeah, the shuttle takes the actual racetrack….WTF? Just as I accidentally took it with Dad’s Pontiac way back in 1996. I won’t tell Verstappen 😂

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Golfingboy

[Glasseye]

This vid is pretty good, if you can get through it.

 

I typically avoid trans fats whenever possible. I use canola oil or olive oil in the kitchen. 

I love butter, but this guy makes a good point. Grass fed is hugely better for you. I will be switching to grass fed butter from now on, even though I will be cringing a bit when at the cashiers.

 

 

[Golfingboy]

4 hours ago, Glasseye said:

This vid is pretty good, if you can get through it.

 

I typically avoid trans fats whenever possible. I use canola oil or olive oil in the kitchen. 

I love butter, but this guy makes a good point. Grass fed is hugely better for you. I will be switching to grass fed butter from now on, even though I will be cringing a bit when at the cashiers.

 

 

I always thought butter was evil, but apparently it’s not so bad for us, a natural fat. I’m hearing margarine and canola/peanut oils ARE very bad, in cooking once they heat up. Olive and coconut oil much better options

But you know what? I was grossly overweight for a decade, and then once I lost 65 pounds I got all my issues from Long COVID I assume. I’m just put on close to 10 more, sitting around 252-115 KG…..and set pretty much a new record for steps, from 7 pm-9PM the following night was 30,000 in 26 hours. Best I’ve felt in a while….maybe my body likes the extra cushion? Anyway I’m 47.5, very few of us will make 100 or even 95…..it’s great to have a healthy lifestyle, but how many years are you really buying yourself doing it all perfect? Not many, genetics and plain good luck are more important 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Golfingboy

[Jambo]

Visited the Royal Hospital in Edinburgh today for my pre-op meeting with the Consultant and his team who will carry out my hip replacement operation scheduled for the 15th September.

Very nice guy who explained the procedure and asked if I had any questions.

"Yes", says I   "Will I be having a posterior or anterior operation?"

"Whose been watching U-tube videos?" says Mr W with a laugh.

Apparently it is going to be the posterior approach and he and his team left and I commenced being given a full evaluation ending with an ECG which showed I apparently have an extra beat of which I have no "symptoms" and was blissfully unaware. Nobody seemed at all alarmed and it does not affect my operation. My daughter subsequently informed me that my Granddaughter has the same so maybe it is hereditary?

Halfway through all these tests the door opens and Mr  W shoves his head through the door.

"Had a cancellation for Tuesday. Do you want it?

"Oh, yes please." says I

"I thought you would say that!" says Mr W with a laugh.

Home now and going into overdrive with everything I now have to do with 3 days to go.🤣

[boydeste]

34 minutes ago, Jambo said:

Visited the Royal Hospital in Edinburgh today for my pre-op meeting with the Consultant and his team who will carry out my hip replacement operation scheduled for the 15th September.

Very nice guy who explained the procedure and asked if I had any questions.

"Yes", says I   "Will I be having a posterior or anterior operation?"

"Whose been watching U-tube videos?" says Mr W with a laugh.

Apparently it is going to be the posterior approach and he and his team left and I commenced being given a full evaluation ending with an ECG which showed I apparently have an extra beat of which I have no "symptoms" and was blissfully unaware. Nobody seemed at all alarmed and it does not affect my operation. My daughter subsequently informed me that my Granddaughter has the same so maybe it is hereditary?

Halfway through all these tests the door opens and Mr  W shoves his head through the door.

"Had a cancellation for Tuesday. Do you want it?

"Oh, yes please." says I

"I thought you would say that!" says Mr W with a laugh.

Home now and going into overdrive with everything I now have to do with 3 days to go.🤣

That's fantastic news Dan. 

Good luck.

[Krapow]

2 hours ago, Jambo said:

Visited the Royal Hospital in Edinburgh today for my pre-op meeting with the Consultant and his team who will carry out my hip replacement operation scheduled for the 15th September.

Very nice guy who explained the procedure and asked if I had any questions.

"Yes", says I   "Will I be having a posterior or anterior operation?"

"Whose been watching U-tube videos?" says Mr W with a laugh.

Apparently it is going to be the posterior approach and he and his team left and I commenced being given a full evaluation ending with an ECG which showed I apparently have an extra beat of which I have no "symptoms" and was blissfully unaware. Nobody seemed at all alarmed and it does not affect my operation. My daughter subsequently informed me that my Granddaughter has the same so maybe it is hereditary?

Halfway through all these tests the door opens and Mr  W shoves his head through the door.

"Had a cancellation for Tuesday. Do you want it?

"Oh, yes please." says I

"I thought you would say that!" says Mr W with a laugh.

Home now and going into overdrive with everything I now have to do with 3 days to go.🤣

Just think of all that chocolate you've to catch up on once it's done 

[fygjam]

10 hours ago, Jambo said:

ending with an ECG which showed I apparently have an extra beat of which I have no "symptoms" and was blissfully unaware. Nobody seemed at all alarmed and it does not affect my operation. My daughter subsequently informed me that my Granddaughter has the same so maybe it is hereditary?

Premature ventricular contraction (PVC) is a common form of arrhythmia especially amongst old farts. Also known as an extra beat, skipped beat, dropped beat etc.

A normal heart beat starts in the sinoatrial (SA) node, a group of cells in the right atrium and often referred to as the heart's "natural pacemaker". It starts the contraction of the atria transferring blood from the atria to the ventricles. It is seen on an ECG as the P wave.

As well as the atria contracting, the beat is sent via a bundle of nerve fibres to the atrioventricular (AV) node. After a small delay this is passed to the cells of the ventricles causing them to contract squishing the blood to the lungs and rest of the body. This is seen on an ECG as the QRS complex. It also gives rise to the lub-dub so favoured in suspense movies. The interval between R waves, the big upwards pointing spike, is what determines your heart rate (R/R interval). With a normal heart beat there is a small delay after the QRS complex then the cells of the ventricles repolarize, seen as the T wave.

Rogue cells in the ventricle can generate a QRS complex without a preceding P wave. This is known as a PVC.

See the ECG snippet below taken with my Galaxy Watch 5 of my own ticker. It shows 2 normal heart beats, a PVC then 2 more normal heart beats.

Time is represented by the X axis. The time from the R wave of the last good heart beat and the PVC is so short the the PVC may not be noticed. But the interval between the R wave of the good heart beat before the PVC and the R wave following the PVC is much longer than normal which is why it is also known as a missed beat etc even though it's actually an extra beat, the PVC.

The treatment for PVC is ablation where they stick tubes and wires from an incision in your groin up to your heart and burn (with RF energy) or freeze the rogue cells. Most people just ignore it.

Why are the waves known as P, Q, R, S and T? Because A-O were already in use when it came to naming them, nothing more.

Why is a full ECG known as a twelve lead ECG when there are only 10 wires?

[Jambo]

5 hours ago, fygjam said:

Premature ventricular contraction (PVC) is a common form of arrhythmia especially amongst old farts. Also known as an extra beat, skipped beat, dropped beat etc.

A normal heart beat starts in the sinoatrial (SA) node, a group of cells in the right atrium and often referred to as the heart's "natural pacemaker". It starts the contraction of the atria transferring blood from the atria to the ventricles. It is seen on an ECG as the P wave.

As well as the atria contracting, the beat is sent via a bundle of nerve fibres to the atrioventricular (AV) node. After a small delay this is passed to the cells of the ventricles causing them to contract squishing the blood to the lungs and rest of the body. This is seen on an ECG as the QRS complex. It also gives rise to the lub-dub so favoured in suspense movies. The interval between R waves, the big upwards pointing spike, is what determines your heart rate (R/R interval). With a normal heart beat there is a small delay after the QRS complex then the cells of the ventricles repolarize, seen as the T wave.

Rogue cells in the ventricle can generate a QRS complex without a preceding P wave. This is known as a PVC.

See the ECG snippet below taken with my Galaxy Watch 5 of my own ticker. It shows 2 normal heart beats, a PVC then 2 more normal heart beats.

Time is represented by the X axis. The time from the R wave of the last good heart beat and the PVC is so short the the PVC may not be noticed. But the interval between the R wave of the good heart beat before the PVC and the R wave following the PVC is much longer than normal which is why it is also known as a missed beat etc even though it's actually an extra beat, the PVC.

The treatment for PVC is ablation where they stick tubes and wires from an incision in your groin up to your heart and burn (with RF energy) or freeze the rogue cells. Most people just ignore it.

Why are the waves known as P, Q, R, S and T? Because A-O were already in use when it came to naming them, nothing more.

Why is a full ECG known as a twelve lead ECG when there are only 10 wires?

I knew that. 🤣

[lazarus]

Fyi...

. . .

What makes ultra-processed foods so bad for your health?
They are calorie-rich, nutrient-poor and hard to stop eating

https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/08/07/what-makes-ultra-processed-foods-so-bad-for-your-health

Food shopping has become a dangerous pursuit. Nutritional horrors lurk on every shelf. Ready-meals are packed with salt and preservatives, breakfast cereals are sweeter than chocolate bars, and processed meats are packed with nitrite-preservatives, which can form harmful compounds when cooked. A new term is catching on to describe these nutritional bad guys: ultra-processed foods (UPFs). In his new book, “Ultra-Processed People”, Chris van Tulleken, a doctor and television presenter, argues that UPFs dominate the food supply in rich countries, and are also creeping into diets in low- and middle-income countries. As they proliferate, so do concerns about their effects on human health. Just how bad are UPFs, and what do they do to us?

The concept of UPFs was devised by Carlos Monteiro, a Brazilian scientist, in 2009. His team of nutritionists observed that although people in Brazil were buying less sugar and oil, rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes were rising. That was because they were instead eating more sugar, fats and additives in packaged snacks and pre-made meals. In response, Mr Monteiro proposed a food classification system to take into account the degree of processing involved in the food supply.

Processing can make healthy foods unhealthy: fruit, for instance, goes from healthy to unhealthy as it is desiccated, squeezed or sweetened. Mr Monteiro’s system, called Nova, puts foods into four “buckets”: unprocessed and minimally processed foods; processed culinary ingredients; processed foods; and ultra-processed foods. This allows more fine-grained distinction between different degrees of processing. Thus staples such as rice, oil or flour, which all require minimal processing for consumption, do not belong in the same category as a Twinkie.

UPFs often go through many sophisticated industrial processes. That does not make them all unhealthy by default—a soya-based meat substitute can be part of a balanced meal—but the frequent consumption of UPFs causes a constellation of issues. Most contain a blend of artificial ingredients, plenty of salt and sugar, and few nutrients. Arguably, some UPFs are more akin to industrial products than food.

By dialing up their flavours and palatability, UPFs are engineered to be easier to eat in large amounts than whole foods (try leaving crisps at the bottom of the packet). The extent of the problem was revealed in 2019 by researchers at the National Institutes of Health in America who sequestered volunteers and offered two groups as much food as they wanted. Over a fortnight those on an ultra-processed diet ate some 500 more calories each day, roughly equivalent to a McDonald’s Big Mac, leading them to gain weight; those on the unprocessed diet ate less and slimmed down.

Eating UPFs has also been linked to poor health more broadly. Another study in 2019 found an association between intake of UPFs and overall risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which affect the brain, such as strokes. Another recent study showed that eating fewer UPFs was linked with lower risk of a number of cancers. A UPF-heavy diet also seems to affect the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria that contribute to health in a range of ways. These sorts of association studies cannot prove causality. Randomised-controlled trials would be ideal, but more ambitious tests may not be ethically possible given the suspected deleterious effect of these kinds of diets. That said, there is plenty of evidence linking many ingredients in UPFs, such as sugar, salt, refined carbohydrates and saturated fats, to negative health outcomes.

Yet UPFs are cheap, tasty and abundant, and for those on a tight budget or on specific diets, such as vegan, there are often few available alternatives. It is possible to eat well by selecting the right UPFs, such as whole-grain cereals, which are often fortified. Government scientists at the American government’s Agricultural Research Service showed it was possible to build a healthy diet with 91% of calories from selected UPFs. But Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, criticised the study, saying the researchers had a conflict of interest through their links to the food industry. Better stay vigilant in those treacherous supermarket aisles.

. . .

 

[Glasseye]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/04/well/move/elaine-lalanne-fitness-exercise.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

 

At 97, the First Lady of Fitness Is Still Shaping the Industry

Elaine LaLanne — who revolutionized modern exercise alongside her husband, Jack — is a model for aging well.

• Share full article
• 494
•  

 

 

 

 

By Danielle Friedman

Photographs by Michael Tyrone Delaney

Sept. 4, 2023Updated 7:06 p.m. ET

Sign up for the Well newsletter, for Times subscribers only.  Essential news and guidance to live your healthiest life. Try it for 4 weeks.

Elaine LaLanne’s morning exercises often begin before she’s even out of bed. Lying on top of the covers, she does two-dozen jackknifes. At the bathroom sink, she does incline push-ups. After she dresses and applies her makeup, she heads to her home gym, where she walks uphill on a treadmill for a few minutes and does lat pull-downs on a machine.

“Twenty minutes a day gets me on my way,” she said at her home on the Central Coast of California.

But her biggest daily feat of strength, she says, happens above her shoulders. At 97 years old, Ms. LaLanne reminds herself each morning, “You have to believe you can.” She said that belief had not only kept her physically active through injuries and emotional obstacles, it had also helped her to live the life of someone decades younger. “Everything starts in the mind,” she said.

Ms. LaLanne’s habit of speaking in aphorisms (“It’s not a problem, it’s an experience”; “You do the best you can with the equipment you have”) is a product of a lifetime of trying to inspire people to move more and better themselves. For nearly six decades, she was both wife and business partner to the television personality Jack LaLanne, who is widely considered the father of the modern fitness movement, and whose exercise show ran for 34 years, from 1951 to 1985.

“She was the guiding force behind Jack,” said Rick Hersh, Ms. LaLanne’s talent agent for more than 40 years.

 

 

While Jack was a natural showman — he rose to fame performing acrobatics on Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach in the 1930s — Elaine preferred to work behind the scenes, supporting him and managing their sprawling entertainment and entrepreneurial empire, which included not only a TV show but dozens of fitness gadgets, food products and supplements, as well as a gym chain with more than 100 locations nationwide.

Since Jack’s death in 2011, however, Elaine (whom friends call LaLa) has quietly cultivated a following all her own. She still runs her family’s remaining business, BeFit Enterprises — which sells archival videos and memorabilia and licenses the LaLanne name — from a ranch nestled among dusty hills and livestock.

She has published two books in the last four years and is developing both a documentary and a feature film with Mark Wahlberg, who has signed on to play Jack. And longtime fitness industry power players — the 1990s home workout queen Denise Austin, the Tae Bo guru Billy Blanks, the bodybuilding legend Lou Ferrigno — seek her counsel on navigating life and business.

“She’s almost like a second mom to me,” Mr. Ferrigno said.

In July, at the annual conference of the Idea Health and Fitness Association, Ms. LaLanne walked the halls with a smile and a shiny new walker as a steady stream of toned, Lycra-clad fitness professionals stopped her for selfies. For more than a decade, she has presented the Jack LaLanne Award, an industry lifetime achievement prize given to fitness personalities promoting health and exercise in the media.

Editors’ Picks

Our Best Labor Day Recipes

A Furniture Shop’s Bland Facade Conceals a Trove of Tennis History

Stream These Great Movies Before They Leave Netflix in September

 

“A lot of our members come for her,” said Amy Thompson, the chief executive of Idea. “We may have to change the name to the Elaine LaLanne Award.”

 

 

Image

 

Jack LaLanne is widely seen as the father of the modern fitness movement. Elaine preferred to work behind the scenes. “I helped him to help people to help themselves,” she said.

 

 

 

Image

 

Ms. LaLanne still works out every day, doing a few minutes on a treadmill, incline push-ups and lat pulls. “Twenty minutes a day gets me on my way,” she said.

 

 

 

Image

 

The LaLannes changed the way that many Americans view aging by highlighting the importance of keeping your body active.

 

 

 

Image

 

Elaine played an outsize role in Jack’s vast media and merchandising endeavors. “I didn’t think of myself as a woman,” she said. “I didn’t think of myself as a man. I just thought of myself as a businessperson.”

 

 

After all, in 1926, when Ms. LaLanne was born, few Americans made exercising a part of their daily lives, said Shelly McKenzie, an independent scholar and the author of “Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America.” Nearly a century later, Ms. LaLanne is a “testament to the efficacy of a lifelong exercise habit,” Dr. McKenzie said — and perhaps even more important, the power of choosing how you want older age to look and feel.

‘I don’t want to be old when I’m old.’

Raised in Minneapolis, Elaine dreamed of a career in entertainment. In the mid-1940s, she went west to San Francisco, where she worked her way into the nascent medium of television, eventually becoming a producer and co-host of a live daily variety show, which was rare in an era when few women in the medium moved beyond secretarial roles. By the early 1950s, she had become a local celebrity, whom one reporter called “the sweetheart of San Francisco television.”

 

A divorced single mother with a demanding job, Elaine, then 27, smoked cigarettes, ate candy bars for lunch and, like most Americans of the time, didn’t devote much thought to exercise and nutrition.

 

 

Then one day in 1951, the press agent for a local bodybuilder and gym owner called the studio and said her client could do push-ups on air for an entire show. Sure enough, Jack LaLanne pulled it off, lifting and lowering his 5-foot-6-inch frame through a full 90-minute program while the hosts carried on as usual.

Soon after they met, Jack walked over to Elaine’s desk at the studio and chided her for eating a doughnut and smoking. “She blew him off, literally, taking a gratuitous bite of her doughnut and puffing cigarette smoke in his face,” the fitness historian Ben Pollack wrote in 2018.

But in time, she fell not only for him, but for his beliefs about eating whole foods and exercising — which he adapted from the early-20th-century lifestyle celebrity Paul Bragg, and which he credited for transforming him from a sickly youth to a bodybuilder. It got her thinking, “I don’t want to be old when I’m old.”

With Elaine’s television background and Jack’s charisma, the LaLanne star rose. Jack’s appearance on Elaine’s show eventually led to his own live show on the same network and then “The Jack LaLanne Show,” in Los Angeles, which became the first national series devoted to diet and exercise. As Jack was getting settled in Hollywood, Elaine would host his Bay Area show and give lectures across the state about healthy living.

She also began running the business details of product development and licensing deals that presaged the modern personality-driven fitness market — including a Jack LaLanne bathroom scale, a “Glamour Stretcher” resistance band and vitamins.

 

 

But she was most known for her appearances in front of the camera as a co-host.

“I was always looking for role models,” said Jan Todd, a pioneer in women’s powerlifting and interim chair of the department of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Austin. “I grew up before Title IX passed. Mom didn’t go to a gym.” Dr. Todd found inspiration in Ms. LaLanne, who, with her blond bob and cheerful disposition, made building muscle seem acceptable for women.

 

 

Image

 

Ms. LaLanne said that stretching is an important part of her daily exercise routine. She has had several falls in the last decade, but her strength and her work ethic have helped her recover after each.

 

 

In retrospect, not all the LaLannes’ messages promoted health. To watch early episodes is to watch contemporary diet culture being born, promoting a thin body ideal and presenting fat as a problem to be conquered, Dr. McKenzie said. They coined and popularized catchphrases including “10 seconds on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.”

Ms. LaLanne stands by these messages, saying they were giving viewers tools and confidence to achieve their goal. But she acknowledged that “it’s better” now that there is a diversity of body sizes on TV.

With her ever-present smile and her fondness for catchphrases, Ms. LaLanne’s positivity could easily be mistaken for naïveté. But her sunny outlook is hard won, most profoundly as a result of May 24, 1973, when her 21-year-old daughter from her first marriage, Janet, died in a car accident. The night she learned her child had been killed, she said, she was faced with a choice: Fall apart or push through.

 

 

She thought to herself, “Janet, if she can see you up there, she would never want to see me cry,” Ms. LaLanne said, choosing her words carefully. “I mean, I can’t — she’s gone, I can’t do anything about it. Can’t bring her back.”

The woman who had preached the gospel of changing your life knew this was one thing she could never change. She managed her grief the way she approached everything else — by hurling forward, she said, and by training her brain, like a muscle, to focus not on her loss but on the joy her daughter had brought her when she was alive.

‘If you don’t move, you become immovable.’

The LaLannes’ greatest legacy, Dr. Todd said, may be “showing us the value of exercise in relation to aging.”

As he got older, Jack would perform media stunts on his birthday. At 70, he towed a flotilla of 70 rowboats filled with 70 people during a mile-long swim. Elaine began writing books about moving through middle age, with titles like “Fitness After 50” and “Dynastride!”

While people who worked closely with the LaLannes say that she was the backbone of the empire, Elaine herself sidesteps credit for her role in building it. When nudged to highlight her achievements, she quickly changes the subject to something else — usually Jack — or falls back into her signature aphorisms (“It takes two to tango,” “A one-man band is good, but more in the band makes it better”). Even her emails show up as “Jack LaLanne.”

 

 

 

Image

 

Ms. LaLanne said that her life has been built on the importance of positive thinking. In the same way she trains her muscles, she said, she has trained her mind to look for silver linings almost by force of will.

 

 

Ms. LaLanne said she had slowed down since turning 92. She has also fallen several times over the last decade. But the physical strength she gained at the gym helped her get back on her feet, she said.

Along with her daily exercises, Elaine devotes time to stretching and hanging from a pull-up bar, letting her body hang loose like a rag doll. She uses the same workout equipment that she and Jack used for most of their lives, including weight machines Jack designed in the 1930s and a treadmill the couple purchased in the early 1970s.

“You have to move,” she said. “If you don’t move, you become immovable.”

 

Danielle Friedman i

[KWA]

I hope no-one quotes that ^^^. 😉

 

[Horizondave]

Just before I went on my Greek holiday ( towards end of July), I was around 14 stones and 4 lbs. When I was on holiday I indulged far more than I expected, but then again, I was on holiday.

Probably came back around 14 stones 8lbs (didn't check but knew a few pounds had been added). Anyhow, been hitting the long walks again and have slowly but surely eaten into the weight.

Today, I am 13 stones 13 pounds which is a milestone in itself, first time I have been below 14 stone since I had my heart operation. Really happy because that is also below 90 kilos (just less than 88.5).

I have found with dieting that I don't eat as much (don't want to eat as much) but it is likely the lack of alcohol is having an effect also on the weight loss.  My doctor told me that the heart tablets I take will muck with my metabolism, so I have had to work real hard to get to the weight I am at.

My BMI still says I am obese although very close to the healthy line now. 

I am also on notch 6 of the belt that I started on notch 2 when 15 stones 10lbs. Happy days.

To everybody here, knocking off the pounds and staying healthy, well done.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Horizondave

[Butch]

My bloody shoulder is hurting, my back is in and out of spasm like the weather, my knees giving me grief and oddly, one side of my melon (temporary and I know why)  is more swollen than the other. Like the elephant man but not as good looking and with fewer girlfriends.

Ever since turning the big 5-0 my physical state has diminished to a shadow of myself.

I'm walking more these days. Brilliant for mental health and general feeling of well being. When running, I concentrate too much on distance and breathing, when walking, I don't care and my mind just tunes in to whatever it wants. 5km+ a day and the benefits are huge, I mean massive. So big I can't stress them enough. So big in fact that I don't really want to stop, so very often I don't. Give it a try, it works for @Golfingboy, quite well in fact but I can't match his efforts just yet.

Couple that with a relatively sensible diet, carefully avoiding UPF's (Ultra processed foods - with the exception of Wine and beer which are fermented ingredients  :) . and the benefit is measurable. My demeanour has gone from a man of of somewhat intemperate disposition into being so chilled that I think if I was anymore laid back I'd be horizontal.

I also avoid tablets, anyone else do this? I don't mean your ED stuff, I mean like Aspirin and the like. I diet control my reflux and avoid the omeprozole, so instead of tea and coffee at night it's herbal. No issues.

I avoid Pastry , the "C"'s (Coca cola ((all sodas)), chocolate, chips*, cookies, cheese, cream, curries, chinese food, and high carbs) *Chips as in UK crisps, US potato chips and UK chips as in US French fries)

Be interesting to hear any tips from boardies that might work as time goes on.

[Horizondave]

20 minutes ago, Butch said:

My bloody shoulder is hurting, my back is in and out of spasm like the weather, my knees giving me grief and oddly, one side of my melon (temporary and I know why)  is more swollen than the other. Like the elephant man but not as good looking and with fewer girlfriends.

Ever since turning the big 5-0 my physical state has diminished to a shadow of myself.

I'm walking more these days. Brilliant for mental health and general feeling of well being. When running, I concentrate too much on distance and breathing, when walking, I don't care and my mind just tunes in to whatever it wants. 5km+ a day and the benefits are huge, I mean massive. So big I can't stress them enough. So big in fact that I don't really want to stop, so very often I don't. Give it a try, it works for @Golfingboy, quite well in fact but I can't match his efforts just yet.

Couple that with a relatively sensible diet, carefully avoiding UPF's (Ultra processed foods - with the exception of Wine and beer which are fermented ingredients  :) . and the benefit is measurable. My demeanour has gone from a man of of somewhat intemperate disposition into being so chilled that I think if I was anymore laid back I'd be horizontal.

I also avoid tablets, anyone else do this? I don't mean your ED stuff, I mean like Aspirin and the like. I diet control my reflux and avoid the omeprozole, so instead of tea and coffee at night it's herbal. No issues.

I avoid Pastry , the "C"'s (Coca cola ((all sodas)), chocolate, chips*, cookies, cheese, cream, curries, chinese food, and high carbs) *Chips as in UK crisps, US potato chips and UK chips as in US French fries)

Be interesting to hear any tips from boardies that might work as time goes on.

My breakfast is basically oats or muesli (no added sugar) with Greek yoghurt, fruit and chia seeds. Fills me up such that I just have an apple and orange at lunchtime (mainly during the stop during my walks). I eat fish, chicken, tuna, lean meat at night with veg. Drink plenty of tea with skimmed milk and always drink plenty of water.

I have also started buying those protein heavy yoghurts, presently got one with 55 grams of protein although can take 2 meals to use up.

I have upped my protein, dropped the carbs dramatically (mostly in morning) but don't stay away from good fats. 

Also keep away from snacks except for Ryvita with cottage cheese or smashed avocado on Wholemeal bagels. I also eat a lot of chicken bites (about 15 grams of protein with little fat).

Like you, I love the walking, my average for the last 30 days has been around 11000 steps a day which is about 5.5 miles. Dropped the alcohol right down to less than a pint a week, actually don't think about needing it. 

Today on my walk, I was alone on the top of a ridge with just cows and sheep as companions. It was a beautiful day and I felt so positive, it is great for mental stress, that and some good music playing works for me.

It is difficult to start a fitness/diet regime, but sticking at it brings results, and I am now not afraid to look in the mirror. I might even get called a sexy man when In Hua Hin in 10 days lol

[coxyhog]

On 8/31/2023 at 5:08 PM, Jambo said:

Visited the Royal Hospital in Edinburgh today for my pre-op meeting with the Consultant and his team who will carry out my hip replacement operation scheduled for the 15th September.

Very nice guy who explained the procedure and asked if I had any questions.

"Yes", says I   "Will I be having a posterior or anterior operation?"

"Whose been watching U-tube videos?" says Mr W with a laugh.

Apparently it is going to be the posterior approach and he and his team left and I commenced being given a full evaluation ending with an ECG which showed I apparently have an extra beat of which I have no "symptoms" and was blissfully unaware. Nobody seemed at all alarmed and it does not affect my operation. My daughter subsequently informed me that my Granddaughter has the same so maybe it is hereditary?

Halfway through all these tests the door opens and Mr  W shoves his head through the door.

"Had a cancellation for Tuesday. Do you want it?

"Oh, yes please." says I

"I thought you would say that!" says Mr W with a laugh.

Home now and going into overdrive with everything I now have to do with 3 days to go.🤣

There's an old guy who lives in the next street to me who I have a chat with occasionally when our paths cross.

Saw him a while ago & he was on a zimmer frame & I thought that he was on his way out.

Not so,I bumped into him the other day & he was walking slowly down a steep hill using two sticks but looked so much better.

He said he's just had his second hip replacement and is gradually getting his mobility back.

I thought he was in his 70's but the guy is 84 and is as sharp as a knife.

[boydeste]

Oops

Edited September 7, 2023 by boydeste

[boydeste]

@Jambo

I believe Dan had his op on Tuesday. Hopefully all went well and he will be posting back here very soon with a positive outcome. 

[Jambo]

3 hours ago, boydeste said:

@Jambo

I believe Dan had his op on Tuesday. Hopefully all went well and he will be posting back here very soon with a positive outcome. 

All good I am pleased to say after a shaky start.

I woke up at 04:00 needing a pee which is a nightly occurrence for me and decided as my alarm had been set for 04:30 I might as well get ready. I was quite literally sitting on the toilet attempting a dump when all the lights go out.........power cut. I had to wash and dress, which is not easy with my bad hip, by two nightlights.

 I get all hot and bothered wondering how I am going to get down to my daughter's car with no lift working when the power returns.

Arrived at the Hospital at 07:15 as requested and learn from my surgeon that I am number three in the bus queue. That translated to the operation commencing at about 1:30 by spinal injection but I missed it all because they slipped a sedative into the line going into my arm.

Spent a while in the recovery room then up to my final room that I shared with one other guy. I am told by several different medical staff that I am really lucky because I am in one of only two rooms that serve decent food from an impressive menu.

This is me at about 6:30 pm on operation day after I had already walked round the be using a zimmer and changed into my bed clothes. They do that to hopefully ensure no blood clots.

    

 

Wednesday was lots of tests, questions and medication. The lady Physiotherapist  had me walk across the room using a zimmer and seemed quite impressed.

"Do you thinks you can walk down the hallway just using two sticks?"

"Sure" says I because thanks to the opioid meds I am feeling no pain.

I go down.

I come back.

I walk up the stairs and down again.

"Congratulations Mr Danny you have passed your post Op walking tests.

Later on my second and last day in hospital the meds wear off and I have pain but NOT the pain from a f***d up hip. My pain is that associated with quite major surgery and is very different.

My daughter collected me at 6:30 on day two and I was back home in 45 minutes.

Amazing - all completed in two days.

I feel tired today and not up to doing my exercises. I will religiously start those tomorrow. Post operative downer I imagine.

Looking good for the future.

[Jambo]

3 hours ago, boydeste said:

@Jambo

I believe Dan had his op on Tuesday. Hopefully all went well and he will be posting back here very soon with a positive outcome. 

Somehow my post in reply is out of sink a few posts above.  😄

[boydeste]

9 minutes ago, Jambo said:

Somehow my post in reply is out of sink a few posts above.  😄

Don't worry, one of mine did that earlier, I logged off and back in again and it appeared at the bottom like yours has for me.

Chuffed it all went well for ya. Amazing what they do these days. 

Thanks for updating us.

Onwards and upwards.

Edit, this one did that too, but when I came back to the topic it was at the end as it should. 

@tommy dee

Maybe we have a clitch, started today after the forum seemed to be down for a short while. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by boydeste

[Zeb]

4 hours ago, Jambo said:

"Congratulations Mr Danny you have passed your post Op walking tests.

Looking good for the future.

Excellent news. 😋

[Golfingboy]

I think I found the secret to easily getting my steps in…..wake up before noon! Uncle took me out to the same breakfast buffet at the Fairmont again, he said to be at the train station 9 am sharp. We ate well, talked a bit outside while he chomped on a cigar, then split up when he had to meet the wife. I walked a mile in the other direction, switched trains twice, and grabbed a bus home…..the tracks are being re-done so even though I jumped over the loose gravel at 8 am, coming home I got off a stop early and walked from there……it all counts fellas! 
 

Starting to think I’m just a lazy c—t and the medicine has done its job, and my lack of exercise is why I feel so tired. Realistically though, I know damn well I haven’t aged 20 years in 15 months and this COVID really messed me up without killing me. Gained some weight, but still down 85 pounds from my peak, that on itself should have me jumping out of bed every day- but it’s just not happening. We will see……

[Pumpuynarak]

6 hours ago, Jambo said:

All good I am pleased to say after a shaky start.

I woke up at 04:00 needing a pee which is a nightly occurrence for me and decided as my alarm had been set for 04:30 I might as well get ready. I was quite literally sitting on the toilet attempting a dump when all the lights go out.........power cut. I had to wash and dress, which is not easy with my bad hip, by two nightlights.

 I get all hot and bothered wondering how I am going to get down to my daughter's car with no lift working when the power returns.

Arrived at the Hospital at 07:15 as requested and learn from my surgeon that I am number three in the bus queue. That translated to the operation commencing at about 1:30 by spinal injection but I missed it all because they slipped a sedative into the line going into my arm.

Spent a while in the recovery room then up to my final room that I shared with one other guy. I am told by several different medical staff that I am really lucky because I am in one of only two rooms that serve decent food from an impressive menu.

This is me at about 6:30 pm on operation day after I had already walked round the be using a zimmer and changed into my bed clothes. They do that to hopefully ensure no blood clots.

    

 

Wednesday was lots of tests, questions and medication. The lady Physiotherapist  had me walk across the room using a zimmer and seemed quite impressed.

"Do you thinks you can walk down the hallway just using two sticks?"

"Sure" says I because thanks to the opioid meds I am feeling no pain.

I go down.

I come back.

I walk up the stairs and down again.

"Congratulations Mr Danny you have passed your post Op walking tests.

Later on my second and last day in hospital the meds wear off and I have pain but NOT the pain from a f***d up hip. My pain is that associated with quite major surgery and is very different.

My daughter collected me at 6:30 on day two and I was back home in 45 minutes.

Amazing - all completed in two days.

I feel tired today and not up to doing my exercises. I will religiously start those tomorrow. Post operative downer I imagine.

Looking good for the future.

All the very best @Jambo for a quick and complete recovery 👍

[Pumpuynarak]

Just now, Pumpuynarak said:

All the very best @Jambo for a quick and complete recovery 👍

WTF is happening here ? this post has appeared in the middle of wednesday's posts