Health Is My Thing!: stroke

Fat, 43 and Heading for a Stroke

There are numerous background reasons why I have found it difficult to control my weight, but a fundamental truth is staring me in the face: I’m hugely overweight (pushing 19 stone) for my height (5 ft 10 inches), I have high cholesterol and there is a history of heart problems in my family. Throw into the mix that I’m at an age where it represents a big risk to my health and it would seem that I am in the last chance saloon for sorting it out before irreparable damage is done.

Willpower...Oh I Remember Having That

Since turning 16, I seem to have got progressively bigger with every passing year. What I would call ‘weight creep’ has slowly but surely piled on the pounds over the years. Just a little over-eating every day, week, month and year all adds up and here I am, 27 years later, around 7 stone heavier than I was as a teenager.

I have tried to address my weight problems all of my adult life and, at times, I have succeeded. Twice during that time, I have managed to drop around 3 stone in weight by controlling my saturated fat, using Weightwatchers’ program. However, every time, within a few months, it all went back on again, plus a little bit more for good measure. This has slowly eroded my willpower to the point now, where I am almost unable to make it past the first day or two of a diet without cheating.

I love Food

I would like to say at this point, that I like eating. Of that, there is no doubt, but this shouldn’t mean that I must be condemned to a life of ill health and badly fitting T-shirts! I happen to think that life would be a whole lot duller if I had to forever ditch the foods that have got me to this point, but like with everything, it’s all about moderation. This, is where I struggle.

Kitchen Grazing

In our house, I cook the food for everyone. This is my primary source of unnecessary eating and weight gain. Whilst making food for the family, I eat a piece of bread here, a cake there and then end up only eating a little dinner. Consequently, later that evening….yep, you guessed it...I end up eating again.

Whilst it is easy to see that this is totally the wrong way to do things, changing it is much harder than you’d think. Especially when I seemingly lack the willpower to get going with it.

The Worry of Cholesterol

The dangers of high cholesterol is constant worry to me. I know what ultimately happens if you don’t sort it out and despite the obvious consequences, I find it terribly hard to change my lifestyle to bring it down.

I was first alerted that I needed my cholesterol levels checking a few years ago, during a visit to the opticians. Expecting the usual “yes Mr Crawley, your eyesight is a little worse than last time” as the worst case scenario, I was disturbed to be told “You have signs of cholesterol buildup in your retina!”

I went to the GP, I was told I was hovering around the 6.5-7.0 level and that I would need to take steps to bring it down.

I tried Statins for a few weeks, but the side effects were terrible and so I stopped taking them. I told myself that I would sort it out naturally...a promise that I failed to deliver on.

So, fastforward to now. I found out recently that my cholesterol levels haven’t come down and I am starting to see a few tiny deposits around my eyelids, a major sign that my cholesterol needs to come down and fast!

Where Now?

Well, I refuse to give up. If not for me, then for my partner, Louisa, whom I want to grow old (ok...older) with and for my 7 year old daughter, Ruby, who I want to watch grow into the beautiful, talented woman, I know she’s going to be.

So, time for a change I think. I have used other Forever living products before, like shampoo, toothpaste and aloe drinking gel, but this time, I am going to be using Forever meal replacement milkshakes to help me lose weight and bring down my LDL cholesterol.

Tomorrow will be the big ‘Weigh-in’ and the start of my journey to health and happiness. I hope you can join me on that journey.