Fat and Unhealthy bastards.

[samsiam]

I did not see a health forum here...if one exists and powers to be wish to move it, please do so.


Just for informations sake and anyone else out there having some health issues.....here is my last 6 months story.


I never considered myself to be overweight, a little fat in the gut area perhaps, happens when you become an old bastard....nor unhealthy....unfit yes.

So, 6 months ago I was taken back when visiting a doc for a blood test in relation to sweet smelling and tasting urine...guess how i knew i tasted sweet ??...anyway, doc said I was obese....now bugger me, I wanted to slap her, not because she told me I was obese...but for being so stupid to think it and say it.

At 50yo, 180cm tall and at that time 83.5kg....I pretty sure I was not in the obese range.

Anyway, the reason for the visit was for blood tests for blood sugar and while at it, other cholesterol stuff.

The result was everything was high, blood sugar in the range of getting towards diabetic if nothing done about it and high blood pressure, bad cholesterol etc etc.

So I said I wanted a diet solution, not a medication one as I hate medication and rarely take it.

I changed my diet completely immediately and as a result from a 3 month test after the first one....everything was down, still a ways to go, but significantly down with enough incentive to continue along the same path.

Result is, my eating habits have changed for the better, cravings for bad foods gone, cravings for good food increased tenfold....which is a good thing, because if it was a chore, I most likely would not continue on it....energy levels up.

This was all due to diet...my exercise regime is sporadic, I hate exercising for exercise sake.....but have a small routine I sporadically do, but not often enough, need more self control in this area.

If anyone is interested in the levels and what foods I changed, stopped and eat now....just ask, happy to provide.

By the way...in 3 months went from the 83.5kg to 77kgs.....so not a fat bastard anymore....but think I lost it all in me legs...skinny little buggers they are now, need to lose more stomach muscle...think its muscle.

 

[Markit]

Well done and keep up the good attempt. How is it with booze?

 

[samsiam]

^ Thats the million dollar question.

I guess I am lucky in that I do not drink a lot, do not need to sit down and have a drink every day or evening...and I do not drink beer....gave that up a long time ago when headaches kicked in almost instantly on one glass....although could have been the formaldehyde in Singha beer.

But...over that 3 months and this last 6 months, it included xmas, new year and one 40th birthday party...all sloshed, but with gin or whiskey only....maybe a little herb......and in this last 3 months...2 big nights in Bangkok and a double kids birthday party till 3am.

So, not missing out, not gone religious, but not silly with it either.

 

[Smoke]

great work

I was dianosed as diabetic type 2 when I had a deep cut in my leg not heal . my BG was about 800:icon_eek: got it under control in the hospital in 5 days with meds .
did the rest at home with eating salad and bland chicken till i was in the steady 110's.

here i eat rice, potatoes, pasta ,noodles in moderation with little or no affect on my bg level . it only gets affected when i drink many many bintangs lol. A scotch or 3 does not affect it .

i do daily treadmill walking along with short doggy walks

keep up the good work

 

[spicyayam]

If anyone is interested in the levels and what foods I changed, stopped and eat now....just ask, happy to provide.

I am sure many people would be interested to know.

 

[gunn_parker]

Yes what is your diet like now?

 

[samsiam]

ok....6 months ago and then at a test 3 months later..

BP 160/100 .... 130/75 (this is at hospital, at home now each morning it is 120/70ish
Blood Sugar 109.... 104
LDL 181.... 134
Weight 83.5..... 77.

So...while still high little bit, thing is it is on a good downward trend I hope...shall test again in about 2 weeks and see how its going.

One problem is the HDL (good cholesterol) is down quite a bit.


Basically food wise I had already cut out sugar and salt in anything some time ago...so in addition to this, we also tell at restaurants NO salt, sugar or msg in anything.

I cut out ALL white rice, white bread, white pasta and pretty much any processed foods.

Cut out any deep fried foods, no oils used for anything other than Virgin Olive oil.

I rarely ever drank coke, sodas etc, so there was no problem cutting that rubbish out.

Things like chocolate that I love and a few other things like that, I simply reduced to a tenth of what I would have had before, no junk.

Now, after about 3 weeks from memory, no cravings have ever come for any of that kind of food, even things I used to love (and still have from time to time but rimmed down, like lamb, steak and pasta) I do not have cravings for. Used to have a huge bowl of wifes outstanding pasat, have not had, nor desired it for several months and now if I do have it, when she cooks it, it will be wholegrain pasta and probably 1/3 of what I used to eat of it.

I drink a lot of water, herbal/chinese teas and such.

A lot more fish, salmon a lot, tuna, barramundi and some other local stuff, all in curries, steamed or grilled.

Only eat a really dark brown nutty rice now.

As an example of food that I have now grown to really like and favour....last 2 nights for dinner I had tuna salad made up of a whole can of tuna, fresh salad leaves from friends garden, tomatoes, capsicum, cucumber, beetroot slices, pickled onions, half avocado, almonds, pecan nuts and sometimes a little cheese, sprinkled with lime juice, cracked pepper and a sprinkle of apple cider vinegar....delicious.

For lunch each day I usually have 4 or 5 dry biscuits, really nutty ones, covered in mashed avocado, lime juice, beetroot, pickles, seeded mustard sometimes and tomatoes....awesome.

For breakfast I have made my own Muesli....toasted oats rolled in half a cup of honey and olive oil, whole almonds, pecans, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, bran, flax seeds, add dried fruit cranberries, green sultanas, add fresh fruit whole banana and either a kiwi or apple slices and then throw in a tub of natural yogurt.....outstanding.

And honestly, I go to bed now looking forward to breakfast.

I still have my favourite toast with my son on weekends at least once...thats wholegrain rye bread cooked in a pan coated with olive oil and sprinkled with cracked pepper and the only time I ever add a little tiny dash of salt.

So i am not missing out on any foods, if i feel like lamb chops, i will have them, just not the fatty tail anymore...same same steak, cut off the fat and make sure lean, no chicken skins or fat, also we try to buy village chickens, not wholesale grown ones...same eggs.

I will eat an omelette on toast at a hotel for breakfast following some muesli, but always leave the cheese out and make sure not cooked in oil.


The biggest obstacle is starting...i found my tastes changed for the better after about 3 weeks...so forge through it and when you do, you will notice yourself paying much more attention to what you eat and stopping the rubbish because you realise it is full of shit mostly.

 

[Markit]

That will be expensive when/if you move to Bali there Sam. Forget lamb. Beetroot-hard to get and the stuff for you Muesli will also be a challenge.

 

[samsiam]

Would like some comparison prices to here for a few things...but doubt there are many housewives on here that do the shopping and know all the current prices of stuff.

A lot of the stuff I mention is also not so cheap here...we also have import taxes...wine used to be circa 300%....not that I had wine in my recipes.

 

[Smoke]

wine used to be circa 300%....not that I had wine in my recipes.

but a good red wine is good for cholesteral but in modertion

 

[samsiam]

^...yes read all about that...tis a shame I do not like wine or I would have a cellar by now.

 

[Joe Writeson]

That will be expensive when/if you move to Bali there Sam. Forget lamb. Beetroot-hard to get and the stuff for you Muesli will also be a challenge.

... I wonder, has anyone ever tried growing Beetroot on Bali, I know of course it is not a commercial prospect, but does anyone run a small market garden selling produce to ...ooops NOt selling as illegal without the correct docs....growing produce and 'donating' it to friends who 'donate' towards running costs?

A few years back an Aussie started one up on Batam and he was doing really well until the plod turned up for their 'cigarette money'....

 

[samsiam]

No reason why cannot be grown and should be a market for it with all the Aussies about.

It grows here, in fact found a ton of it up north last xmas.

The local bakery...Swiss precision...brings in it in a jar, costs a bit..but I like it and one of the few luxuries I buy.

I usually live on Thai food by the way....

 

[danissy]

Great advice thanks Samsiam.

How does coconut milk fit in with your diet, pretty common in Thai cuisine
isn't it?

 

[samsiam]

^ coconut milk we only ever have in a curry....which is not that often for that specific curry, maybe once every 6 weeks or so, but then thinking about it we have not had one this year yet.

I have coconut oil which I add to things now, but milk never was a huge ingredient in our food at home.

 

[no.idea]

I must live in a different world to many of you. I can buy beetroot with no hassle at all. ( I love it when I have roasted it for 20 minutes.). I just went into the kitchen and checked, fresh beetroot is 38,000 a kilo.
It also easy to put into jars as Samsiam has mentioned. Zucchini and gherkins are other that are easy to pickle.
I have cheese, salami, asparagus, dates and all sorts of things in the kitchen as well. I like to stuff the dates with soft cheese, wrap them in bacon and bake for 20 minutes.
Radishes of course are a different problem in our area. I have trouble sourcing those.
I drink 30 Bintangs a day and have no trouble with any of the health issues mentioned above. Of course my brain is fried but I meet a new person in the mirror every morning.

 

[Markit]

If you are after radishes try Daikon - the large white dildo like root:

Peel em grate em and add some salt, pepper a dash of vinegar and oil and its a side fit for king. Of course if you want "just" radish then peel them and slice them thin with some salt you won't know the difference.

 

[samsiam]

How about avocados...how much do they cost ?

 

[ronb]

... I wonder, has anyone ever tried growing Beetroot on Bali, I know of course it is not a commercial prospect, but does anyone run a small market garden selling produce to ...ooops NOt selling as illegal without the correct docs....growing produce and 'donating' it to friends who 'donate' towards running costs?

A few years back an Aussie started one up on Batam and he was doing really well until the plod turned up for their 'cigarette money'....

Beetroot is readily available in the Bedugul market - so it grows around there, no problem. Don't know about closer to sea-level.

 

[Markit]

Beetroot is grown on Bali as Ron says. It is commonly only used for ceremonies to do with children and not sure if the Balinese know you can eat them too. Price is high and it's hard to find ones that haven't got worms or other critters already living in them - no.idea likes meat with his veg.

Avocados are readily available in both versions Hass and the other light green ones but unfortunately in my experience largely tasteless and watery that's why they tend to appear as a drink or smoothy.