Mar 30 2007
Practical Advice
From the champuru health & fitness blog:
Today, I went in for a routine physical to ensure that my body is in decent shape to endure my upcoming surgery. My regular primary care physician was on vacation, so I opted to make an appointment with another family care doctor at the same clinic. Seated before a wall-mounted flat panel, the doctor queried me about my family medical history, current medications and past and present maladies.
His computer did a quick calculation of my BMI and found it to be 23.6.
* Underweight = <18.5
* Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
* Overweight = 25-29.9
* Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
As you can see, 23.6 puts me in the “normal weight” category — but I am pushing the upper limits. So, I asked him, what can I do to stop the upward creep toward the overweight category? Here’s what he said:
1. Exercise 4-6 times a week for 30 minutes.
2. Eat 5 meals a day. A hearty breakfast (never skip), snack, lunch, snack, and a light dinner eaten as early as possible.
3. Start eating whole grains: whole wheat bread, brown rice. If you eat white rice, try not to eat it for dinner.
He mentioned that exercise is even more important than following a strict diet. Incorporating exercise into your schedule is the best thing you can do for your health to avoid preventable ailments such as heart disease and diabetes.
None of this is new, but knowing it is one thing, applying it is another. How are you doing with incorporating these changes into your lifestyle?
Oh, and to follow up on my previous post about appearing to have lost weight? I suppose it was all a clever optical illusion, since my weight has not changed since my last visit to the doctor a few months ago. But let’s look at the bright side: at least I haven’t gained any weight since then.
“It’s the day you came back from Iraq,” she grinned from ear-to-ear. Undoubtedly, one of the happiest days in all of our lives. Hubby’s safe return from a year-long deployment to a warzone is certainly an event to celebrate. It’s been two years since.
