Back to work with a bump on Friday morning having got home shortly before midnight. Do you sometimes feel like you need a holiday to get over a holiday? I’m sure I do! Luckily there’s a bank holiday to look forward to. I opened my inbox of 365 unread emails and sighed.
I would like to bring your attention to a new section on the member’s site. Every week I receive emails from members who have done something great. ‘Great’ can look different for different people of course. Some have lost weight, some have started a new exercise program, some have got their blood pressure checked, found it to be high and now are working on fixing it. Each email I receive however makes me smile. This whole member-thing has come about a bit by accident, so the idea that it is inspiring people to make positive change in their lives is frankly amazing. Whilst it puts a smile on my face however, I wanted to see if I could help put a smile on others’ faces too. The new section, which you can see here is a place where members can post their own challenges and success stories. I will moderate them (ie approve them before uploading) and they can be anonymised if you like.
I often tell my patients that it is much easier to let yourself down than someone else; being accountable to another person is a proven method of increasing the likelihood of a positive behaviour change sticking. My hope is therefore that if members let me know of something they are trying to achieve and it gets posted on my website that they are more likely to be successful. Remember this is only for coastal cardiology members, and from all the emails I receive I think you are a fairly like-minded bunch (and doubt you would be members otherwise – you clearly have an interest in health and well-being). I look forward to hearing from you.
Going back to a ‘normal’ diet is interesting: I have eaten curry daily for 2 weeks (mostly vegetarian and fish), but I have also eaten an enormous quantity of different fruit and vegetables. The variety on offer was so impressive. I simply don’t think that is achievable in the UK, at least not for me. However one place where Sri Lankans really struggle is their sugar consumption which is incredibly high. Somewhat unsurprisingly therefore, diabetes and heart disease are very high on their list of health concerns, and speaking to people there waiting lists for heart procedures are also incredibly long. It was quite noticeable that many people carried a lot of weight around their middle. We know that fat distribution is an important part of health risk. Fat accumulating in particular around abdominal organs is a bad sign – the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome escalates considerably. It’s one reason why a genuine waist to height ratio may be a better marker of risk than body mass index.
I hate to admit it but I am really going to miss the breakfasts. Typically at home I will have granola, berries and kefir for breakfast every day. The last 2 weeks have had similarities – fruit and yoghurt, but I have consistently topped it up with eggs, pancakes, croissants, waffles… you get the picture. I’ve eaten dessert every day also.
I mention this because I sometimes get the impression that people think I live a perfect lifestyle and I do not. I do try and be consistent when at home, but this is an example of healthy realism that I can certainly pig out on holiday. Life is for enjoying after all, but trying to get it right most of the time is key.
Back to my usual diet now, back to the weights and cycling. In fact, after my bike ride yesterday I genuinely felt euphoric to have really pushed myself to the max, it was a feeling I have missed.