Posts Tagged ‘BMI’

Welcome to all the readers who have found Saving Alan through the Sunday Age article today (Jan 17, 2010). The article on Page 2 is titled “Super sized desperate to get things into proportion‘ and covers a bit of how I have gone about losing 43 kilos so far.

Amongst the many things that didn’t get mentioned there are two things that I have found to be very importnt to my success so far and they are;

1. Counseling - understanding what is going on, how I feel and think about myself and starting to get some strategies for change. I am of the very firm belief that in a large proportion of obesity cases the mental health aspect is the underlying disease, not simply the issue of being overweight.
2. Bikram Yoga – a low impact yet intense exercise that has been integral on a number of fronts. Firstly to get me moving without putting too much joint strain, providing the opportunity for the mind to be still (meditation) and gaining a great support network without being judged (unlike the feeling I get in a gym).

One more thing, the cartoon The Age decided to put within the article is a prime example of the ridicule that obese people get all the time. I am not overly offended by it, but it does highlight the stupidity of our media at times just being damn inconsiderate to the plight of the obese and holding them up for ridicule. The outcome of stupidity and deliberate ridicule feel the same. What a shame for a serious article to be diminished by a lack of thought from an editor or sub-editor.

If you’d like to follow my story as it unfolds, connect via Facebook as well as subscribing to the RSS feed on this page.

So here I sit on NYE 2009, just an hour to go until the new year comes and with it more hopes and dreams that I need to find ways of turning into realities. I’m not sure if I am ready, but I wasn’t really ready 11 months ago when I et out on this journey.

It’s been a pretty amazing year by anyone’s standards, here are some of the highlights and lowlights of the year and stories that made it into the 130+ blog posts during 2009.

• Launched Saving Alan, sharing my journey through a blog and social media.
• Appeared on Channel 7 News in January 2009 regarding obesity and genetic research.
• Having a fitness age of 80 and a BMI of over 50 putting me in the “Super Obese” category. (BMI now 37)
• Reducing my risk of heart disease substantially.
• Running a fundraiser for the victims of the vic bushfires with a couple of other local bands and raising over $3,500 in one night
• Lost 40+ kilos from a starting weight of 158 kilograms.
• Sponsorship of $6,400+ for Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.
• Become a Yogi, loving Bikram Yoga and going on average 2-3 times a week.
• Cooking, skill improved and filmed 8 Cooking with Al sessions, more to come next year.
• Reconnection with old friends and colleagues.
• Generosity, love and support of family and friends.
• Putting myself first sometimes more often.
• Better understanding of what makes me tick and why I make certain choices.
• I like myself a whole lot more.
• Temptations – the failures and the successes, both equally as important.
• On air interview with Richard Stubbs on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne in May.
• Part of Perfect Gift For a Man book for the Inspire Foundation.
• Featured in an article in Sun-Herald on December 13.
• Story coming on Channel 7’s Today Tonight.
• Openly discussing depression and my darkest moments publicly for the first time.
• Started a new band  (a second one)
• Axed from original band of 7 years for personal reasons that they wouldn’t share – don’t you love 30+ year so called friendships.
• Resigned from new band – now selling one of two drum kits.

The key thing was a happy year with lots of time spent with my son. Most of ll I m in a much better and healthier place than this time last year and I have so many wonderful people to thank, which I will, but at another time. It’s getting late, I’m tired and I want to make the 8am Yoga class and set my intent for 2010.

I am enjoying the journey with all it’s highs and lows and twists and turns and look forward to 2010 as an absolute breakthrough year.

I’ll share resolutions / targets with you in the New Year.

Meanwhile have a safe and happy New Year.

On Monday I visited the Health Heart Clinic run by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute to get another check up see what the changes I have been able to benefit from physically during the Saving Alan project. At the last visit in September I had reduced my risk of Heart disease substantially, but this time wasn’t as good a picture.

Not bad though, considering my weight and that i still smoke, my bloods etc are all good, it just seemed that the blood pressure was up a little – probably due to my stupidity in having a cigarette just before going in, we smokers are playing with loaded guns – and we know it.

My next visit will be late May 2010, and I am confident that the moles will be gone by then and I should be below 100 kilos, so we will see the pendulum swing back.

Here are the comparative results from my visits so far, click to see a larger version;

Smoker: If I stopped smoking then I would get my overall risk factor cut by half to 3.5%, which is low but higher than what it could be.

Systolic Blood Pressure: was up this visit, we think it could have been th influence of a cigarette, I’ll make sure next time there are no smokes

Diastolic Blood Pressure: This is the pressure coming in to the heart, it remains good if not excellent.

TC (Total Cholesterol); Well within the healthy normal range

HDL (Good Cholesterol): Still needs to come up a bit, but my diet has been a bit off lately so if I get with it we’ll see an upward move..

LDL (Bad Cholesterol): All good here

Triglycerides: Nice and low

Glucose: have I mentioned that I am indestructible?

Weight: Heading in the right direction.

Body Mass Index (BMI): Down to 37.2 – and I used to over the 50 mark.

Waist circumference: Another 30cm to go.

Heart Health: Risk factor has dropped from 9% to 7% a low risk to have a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years. My target absolute risk is 2.5% and I am 2.8 times more likely than a person with a low risk profile to have said event, down from 3.6x.

Diabetes Health: My risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 years is High, and with this risk level I have a 1 in 7 chance. This hasn’t moved since the start, so weight and waist circumference are the two big indicators here..

The Heart Clinic is based at the Alfred Hospital in Commercial Road, Prahran (between Punt and St.Kilda Roads) and you can call them on 03 9076 3398 to organise your own check up. The first time you go takes about 40 minutes and all it consists of is a questionnaire, blood pressure and a blood test. The blood test is cool compared to what I have been used to, instead of taking a syringe to you and extracting a heap of blood, they just prick the end of a finger  and take  small amount of blood through a tiny little straw .. it just runs up there on its own.

Then they analyse the blood in a little machine and that provides results on cholesterols, triglycerides and glucose levels. These combined with blood pressure, weight, body mass index, waist measurement, age and whether you’re a smoker all combine to provide a risk factor.

So give Jan or Liz a call now, it’s free and the information is worth knowing before you end up in the Alfred proper.

Last month I went in for my second last visit to the Healthy Hearts Clinic to get a status update.

Only one more to go on the 30th of November, the change you will see is quite substantial, wither though I have been battling getting the weight off – it has really slowed down, my health has improved dramatically. Most noticeably my risk of a cardiovascular event has declined 55%, over half than when I started. So this illustrates it’s the health aspect more so than the weight that is important. Mind you I still totally intend to drop the full 70 kilo target and give up the cigarettes which will really have further impact.

Here are the comparative results from my visits so far;

Smoker: If I stopped smoking then I would get my overall risk factor cut by half to 2, which is below average for someone of my age.

Systolic Blood Pressure: All good

Diastolic Blood Pressure: This is the pressure coming in to the heart, it remains good if not excellent.

TC (Total Cholesterol); Have reduced by 35.3%, and it is well within the healthy normal range

HDL (Good Cholesterol): Here’s the impact of the changes in my diet, I am now aroundr the 1.0 mark, regarded as the healthy benchmark.

LDL (Bad Cholesterol): Down to an unmeasurable level, how good is that..

Triglycerides: Too low to measure, great outcome.

Glucose: Sitting right in the healthy range..

Weight: have been through a rough period, just not getting the food right, but I’ll get there.

Body Mass Index (BMI): Down 18.2% – not sure if I will ever get to 25.

Waist circumference: Down 15.4% or 23cm. By my weekly measurements I got to 40cm off, but over the past 4 weeks have added 10cm although this will come off very quickly.

Heart Health: Risk factor has dropped from 9% to 4% a low risk to have a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years. My target absolute risk is 2.5% and I am 1.6 times more likely than a person with a low risk profile to have said event, down from 3.6x.

Diabetes Health: My risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 years is High, and with this risk level I have a 1 in 7 chance. I’d like to see this drop considerably over the next 4 months.

So I am heading in the right direction to be around to see grandchildren and enjoy all life has to offer.

The Heart Clinic is based at the Alfred Hospital in Commercial Road, Prahran (between Punt and St.Kilda Roads) and you can call them on 03 9076 3398 to organise your own check up. The first time you go takes about 40 minutes and all it consists of is a questionnaire, blood pressure and a blood test. The blood test is cool compared to what I have been used to, instead of taking a syringe to you and extracting a heap of blood, they just prick the end of a finger  and take  small amount of blood through a tiny little straw .. it just runs up there on its own.

Then they analyse the blood in a little machine and that provides results on cholesterols, triglycerides and glucose levels. These combined with blood pressure, weight, body mass index, waist measurement, age and whether you’re a smoker all combine to provide a risk factor.

So give Jan or Liz a call now, it’s free and the information is worth knowing before you end up in the Alfred proper.

Sometimes it’s really hard to find time to get things done, whether it be cleaning, cooking, exercising, bills paid (don’t ask) or getting a blog written. So if I go missing for a day or two it just means the schedule is a bit crowded and I am struggling to juggle all of my commitments.

Last Wednesday I visited the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute ‘Healthy Hearts Clinic’ for a risk assessment. This is something everyone should do to get a clear picture of their own personal standing. I am going to share mine with you all and the changes since I went the very first time two weeks into SavingAlan on February 13.

The Heart Clinic is based at the Alfred Hospital in Commercial Road, Prahran (between Punt and St.Kilda Roads) and you can call them on 03 9076 3398 to organise your own check up. The first time you go takes about 40 minutes and all it consists of is a questionnaire, blood pressure and a blood test. The blood test is cool compared to what I have been used to, instead of taking a syringe to you and extracting a heap of blood, they just prick the end of a finger  and take  small amount of blood through a tiny little straw .. it just runs up there on its own.

Blood Pressure and a little prick on the end of my finger

Then they whack (a medical term) the blood into a little machine, see below, and that provides the analysis of cholesterols, triglycerides and glucose levels. These combined with blood pressure, weight, body mass index, waist measurement, age and whether you’re a smoker all combine to provide a risk factor.

Theft and analysis

So here are my results and the changes that I have been able to affect since the start of the SavingAlan project.

Age: I became a year older in between the two tests.

Smoker: Yes, if stopped smoking it would cut my risk factor by half, is that a good enough reason to give up? Of course, but the again being 100 kilos 20 year ago was a good reason to lose weight too. I’ll get there.

Systolic Blood Pressure: My reading increased which was sort of bizarre (mind you I walked to the clinic whereas the first time I drove), but no reason to freak out, if it is up again next time (mid July) then we’ll look into it. But as my personal surgeon commented – “nothing to worry about there mate”

Diastolic Blood Pressure: This is the pressure coming in to the heart, and all is damn good here. This is what I mentioned to Richard Stubbs last week, that everytime I went to the doctor and got bloods done they came back fine – hence I was indestructible!

TC (Total Cholesterol); have been able to get a really good decline and am smack in the healthy range.

HDL (Good Cholesterol): Not as high as it could be, with the increase in exercise and eating ell, we should see this continue to improve to get above the 1 mark.

LDL (Bad Cholesterol): have been able to make a great impact on this and get it down to a healthy range from well above. A reduction of 36% in the space of three and a half months. A fantastic improvement.

Triglycerides: Has improved, but wasn’t really a worry in the first test.

Glucose: Has come down a little and I continue to  sit within the healthy range.

Weight: Down 28.5 kilos between the two tests.

Body Mass Index (BMI): Have been able to reduce 14.4%, still a long way to go to get into th healhty range – not sure if I will ever get to 25.

Waist circumference: 149cm reduced to 135 cm, I must have been bloated because my official measurements takn each Fridy morning shows a change from 150cm to 130cm. Either way you look at it there has been massive change and the healthy target is 94cm, so still a long way to go.

Heart Health: Risk factor has dropped from 9% to 8%, but I still needs  bit of work. I am regarded as a mild rick to have a cardiovasuclar event in the next 5 years. My absolute risk is 2.5%, which hasn’t changed between tests. I am 3.2 times more likely than a person with a low risk profile to have said event, don from 3.6x.

Diabetes Health: My risk of devloping type 2 diabetes within 5 years is High, and with this risk level I have a 1 in 7 chance.

So there you have my results, while I started off pretty well, in just 3 and a half months I have been able to reduce the likelyhood of heart problems, but there is still plenty of work to do to get out of the woods so to speak.

Please, make the time to go and get a risk assessment done for yourself, don’t wait to become a victim of heart disease or diabetes befoe doing something about it.

I just finished reading a story that I picked up off a link in Twitter, and it justifies my efforts now versus waiting for some time later in life to get the weight off.

The gist of my understanding is that if you have high rick of heart disease in mid life, and then proceed to lose weight later in life you tend to lose muscle as well, and end up being at a higher rick of premature death and illness. The study was done in Finland and is featured here on Medical News Today. The thing I want is quality of life, if I die younger than planned at least my quality will be improved, versus remaining overweight, living longer but struggling and just surviving – there’s just no sense in that.

One of the great things about the program I have developed is that not only do I burn fat, but slowly build the muscle up and so I wont end up with large slabs of skin hanging off me when I get to my weight target.

Earlier this year my father turned 80, and along with the family we gathered and celebrated, as families do.

In the back of my mind I kept looking at Dad, he was pretty much fully recovered from a hip operation and he’s a pretty spritely, wondering how I was going to get around at his age. I could see a wheelchair, or maybe one of those cool scooters, and an oxygen mask – not a very positive outlook. But if I didn’t start this change, maybe that’s exactly what I was looking forward to.

In May of last year, on impulse, I decided to join the local gym where my brother is a member.Thinking that I’d get his support, meet some people he knows and basically make that environment less confronting. For a larger person a gym is a place full of fear and dread and a constant reminder of what a weak bastard you are. It’s full of fit and healthy people, it’s not designed for people like me. All the fit people look you up and down, as though to ask “what the hell are you doing here? It’s way too late pal”

I didn’t start SavingAlan until February of this year, so I took advantage of the delays (read: procrastination) to take less care of myself than before and added another 10 kilos in the 7 months. The only reason I know my weight then was that I took a fitness test with Vanessa (personal trainer) and she set up a program for me. As part of the outcomes of that test is that Vanessa put the details into a database to measure me up against others, and provides me with a rating based on age .. so you see what I am getting at right?

Here are the outcomes;

SavingAlan's Fitness Age & Ratings

It’s pretty sad that at the age of 46, my physical fitness is rated as 80 years old. So you can see clearly the importance of getting SavingAlan started and implemening real change.

At the end of May I’ll do an update for comparison sake.

Not my age but my BMI (Body Mass Index).

My BMI is 50.43 based on a height of 177cm and weight of 158kilos.

According to Wikipedia this makes me Super Obese, now I know I am super and I know I am obese but…

Normal is a BMI of 18.5 to 25 which means I would need to be 80 kilos and under .. unlikely in my lifetime, if I end up between 80 and 85 I’ll be pretty satisfied and would have minimised my risks dramatically.

Interesting journey.