Eating like a Cretin
Well, Cretan actually... as in someone from Crete. I had a health check up the week before last. He took a blood sample to get a full spectrum of what's "under my hood". Last Saturday I went to his office again to discuss the results. I'm pretty healthy. No diabetes, anemia, or blood-born viruses. And I finally know what my blood-group is (A Positive). My bad cholesterol is low, my white/red blood cell ratio is good, blood-pressure is healthily low. However, my good cholesterol is a bit too low and my cardiovascular "risk factor" is 1.9 points higher than it should be. So he advised that I jog or walk more often and that I adopt the "Cretense regime" (as he called it)... the Mediterranean diet: lots of fish, olive oil, vegetables, little meat, no cheese unless it is goat cheese, etc. Great, more reasons to feel guilty about those "pleasure foods".

We eat pretty healthily already, though. Hardly ever eat red meat, have a salad for dinner at least two times a week, don't eat a lot of bread, no soft drinks, no fast food, one health-beer per day. Still, I am trying to change my eating habits a little bit. Definitely going to add more fruits, vegetables, olive oil, yoghurt, etc. I don't believe in cloistering yourself from "naughty" foods, but I do believe in moderation. And I think we do pretty well on that count. Our new rule is to eat healthier at home and at work, but enjoy ourselves when we go out to eat (which is not very often).

On the exercise side of things, I'm starting small. I've been leaving for work about 20 minutes earlier than usual so I can take the long way to where I catch my ride. I try to take the stairs at work as much as possible and I've actually gotten some of my colleagues to do the same. That's how I have to do it, anyway. Ease into it.

My problem is that I really can't get into walking or jogging for the exercise. First of all, I absolutely detest running and my knees agree with me. As for walking, I have issues with doing it when there is not a tangible "goal" that I'm moving towards. That is, walking from point A to point B because I need to do something at point B versus walking from point A to point A because I need the exercise. That's why I was thinking it would be good for me if we had a dog...

Dog that needs to poop + human with a leash = exercise.

-RP-