Design for Life
Exercise – Diet –– Life
The health programme that I set out in this short article is based on detailed information I was given and practices and habits I learned and was encouraged to acquire by a number of health professionals - doctors, nurses, physios, and trainers - in the health and lifestyle classes I attended from 2017 onwards. I have also taken notes from the anxiety classes I attended early in 2020. I learned from the people who were the mechanics of body and mind. The advice I was given from all these sources converged around the same conclusions. I distilled the essence of the information I was given to formulate a clear health programme in terms of diet and exercise. This is far from being a comprehensive account. I have left most of the detailed explanations of the physiological and psychological processes out to focus on what needs to be done to get fit and healthy. But there are solid - medically valid - reasons behind all of the choices that are made here. I listened and learned in my classes.
For years I had complained to certain family members and the odd friend and acquaintance about having a cold nose. I even invited people to touch it. They didn't notice any difference. It felt cold to me. What I should have done is to have raised the issue with a medical professional, someone who would have some idea as to what the problem might be and be able to check. I came to learn the importance of blood flow. My diabetic nurses would check fingers, toes, and feet and explain why, advising me of the signs I needed to be aware of. Had I been better informed when it came to monitoring my body and, importantly, had I been more concerned to raise issues of circulation with those qualified to act, I would have been spared a near fatal heart attack in December 2016. Looking back, in light of the classes I attended and the information I was given, the signs of what was to come were there at least five years earlier. The body serves as an early warning system. I'd had the warnings, but didn't act on them. You learn the hard way to pay attention, read the signals, and take proper and effective action. And you learn also that you can take control of your health and be proactive.
I'm coming at this from a background of a serious heart attack and diabetes. This was, in origin, a recovery programme. That said, I have always been fairly fit, able to walk long distances at a time as well as do a few hundred press-ups of some description. I still say that my health conditions came from anxiety issues which, in turn, stemmed from as yet undiagnosed problems. Events are underway in that direction, so we shall see. This programme is not for beginners. I use 4kg dumbbells. In cardiac rehab, we used 1kg, with the real tough guys going to 2kg. Likewise, I do 80 of each exercise. In cardiac rehab, each exercise would be for one minute only, before moving to the next. We would also perform a lengthy warm-up exercise, walking around the room, stretching arms in various ways. And we would also wind down. So to do these exercises there is a need for a modicum of health in the first place. I worked up to this after six months in recovery.
Likewise using the exercise bike. I do 30 minutes at 15km per hour. My health coach was most impressed. In cardiac rehab, we only did one minute in the first circuit, then one minute in the second. And nothing like 15kmph. The rule is not to push yourself. You need to breath harder, but not hard. The first signs of stress or pain and you stop. I started off doing 10 minutes at 12km and then moved on up.
These exercises are for the indoors. In addition to these, there are activities in the great outdoors. I can hike and ramble for miles. I was taught in cardiac rehab to walk at least 30 minutes a day. If you work, get up early in the morning and walk. I complained about rain, cold, and bad weather, only to be told, curtly, not to be a wimp. There is no link between colds and wet and cold weather. I was also told that if I didn't do this 30 minute walk or exercise, then all of the dietary changes I may make would be negated. So get out and walk. I now live in wonderful Wales, with scenery inviting me out to walk in all directions. I must have walked 100 miles in the past two or three weeks. I hike uphill too. It feels good to be outdoors and it does your heart and soul good too.
Exercise
Dumbbells – a thirty minute programme – perform 80 of each whilst moving your feet on the spot
Biceps curl (arms up and down, bend at the elbow)
Alternated Biceps Curl (as above, just taking turns between left and right)
Shoulder Press (arms raised in the air, up and down)
Alternated Shoulder Press (as above, left and right in alternate turns)
Lateral Raise (arms at the side holding the dumbbells then raised parallel to the shoulder and then down and back again)
Triceps Kickback (bend forwards and move arms like a skier, feel the tension in the top back of the shoulder)
Alternating Side Stretches (stretch down left and right in turns; don't move on the spot on this one, unless you want to look like a penguin)
Upright Row (pull the dumbbells up and down in front of your body, in a rowing action)
Cross Body Hammer Curl (right hand dumbbell moved to left shoulder then left hand dumbbell moved to the right x 80)
Goblet Squat (holding the dumbbells squat up and down. If you are feeling really fit, then stand and raise the dumbbells over your head before squatting again)
We need a diagram here, although you could look them up.
We used to do a minute of each of these in one circuit, before doing them again in another circuit. I have adapted them for a fuller programme that goes to a fitness level well beyond recovery.
! would be careful doing the squats with weights as these put too much stress on the knee. I suffered with serious knee pain for a month or more recently and I believe it was as a result of going hell-for-leather on the Goblet Squat. Which underlines the lesson - don't push too hard. Be careful when doing any exercise. It should all come nice and easy, with just enough pressure to get you breathing quicker and the heart beating faster. At the moment, I am trying squats without weights. It may also be a good idea to halve the numbers and go slow. Pain and injury was my own fault for going at the exercise like a steam train, doing the whole 80 in one go without pause. Break it up.
Exercise Bike – 30 minutes on the exercise bike at 30km per hour. That’s 15km. Every one in five minutes should be done with intensity. That's for me, having built up to that level from modest beginnings. I started with 10 minutes at just over 24kmph. You can vary time and speed to your own needs. Sometimes I do 10 minutes of high intensity, sometimes 20. It depends. I would do 30 minutes at least 4 times a week.
DIET
Make wise health choices for breakfast, dinner, main meal, treats, snacks, afters, and drinks.
Basically fruit and vegetables.
A fruit salad – chopped fruit with fruit juice and Greek yoghurt - can serve anywhere.
Breakfast
Porridge, oatmeal (contains the amino acid L-arginine, beneficial for improving blood flow, loaded with soluble fiber and complex carbs, zinc, folate), wheat germ (contains vitamin E, helps keep your blood from clotting)
Salad
Beetroot (high in nitrates, which open up blood vessels and increase blood flow), olive oil (an omega-3, fatty-acid-filled oil and is to be used instead of fatty dressings), tomatoes (bursting with beneficial components like potassium, vitamin C, and most importantly, lycopene, which is key to increasing blood flow),
Anytime
Eggs (rich in the mega vitamin B6, which drives up testosterone, and is high in protein which helps stamina); garlic and onion (contains the compound allicin, which helps thin the blood, relax the arteries, and in turn, improve the circulation).
Main Meal
Broccoli (its vitamin C content boosts blood circulation); brussels sprouts (high in indole-3-carbinol, making testosterone more dominate in the body); carrots (packed with vitamin A, which helps regulate the synthesis of progesterone, (I am looking up what that entails)); potatoes (source of potassium, a nutrient which boosts circulation, which keeps blood flowing); spinach (contains iron and increases circulation); kale (contains an omega-3 fatty acid called alpha linolenic-acid; very high in nutrients and very low in calories, kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods in existence); shitake mushrooms (source of vitamin D); teff (builds muscles, amps production of testosterone, and also contains iron which helps prevent fatigue and promotes stamina.)
Chilies and hot sauce (contain the chemical capsaicin, which stimulates nerve endings, and raises heart rate, raises testosterone levels).
White fish (cod) (an essential lean source of protein, high in magnesium, which helps with testosterone production).
Fruit salad and ‘snacks’ and ‘afters’
Apples; avocados (filled with juicy, omega-3 fatty acids), bananas (contain a special enzyme called bromelain, which delivers a blood-thinning effect, also high potassium content, which is crucial for blood circulation); black raspberries; cherries (contain anthocyanins, which prevent plaque from building up in the arteries, allows for optimal blood flow); cranberries (high in Vitamin C and high in vitamin B which helps reduces stress levels. Pour them into your porridge); grapes (a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps balance fluids in your body. Potassium can help bring down high blood pressure and lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Black grapes are much higher in antioxidants than green or red grapes); pomegranate (high in potassium, which helps regulate healthy blood pressure), strawberries (contains Vitamin C); watermelon (contains lycopene, which helps relax blood vessels and increase blood transmission).
Greek yoghurt (high in potassium, which improves circulation, but also helps regulate sodium in the body, raises stamina).
Celery (has a combination of Vitamin E, magnesium, niacin, potassium, and zinc, which all boost stamina, and contain arginine, an amino acid that expands blood vessels); figs (high in iron, fiber, potassium, and magnesium).
Brazil nuts (source of selenium, imperative for essential things, eat a handful a day), cashew nuts (source of zinc, a testosterone booster, lowest fat content of any nut), pine nuts (contains high amounts of zinc, helps increase testosterone, boosts blood flow); peanuts (one of the most nutrient-dense, affordable snacks, contains ample amounts of protein, fiber, and healthy monounsaturated fats, cholesterol-free, contains the amino acid I-arginine, which helps relax and widen blood vessels, thus increasing blood flow throughout the body); peanut butter (l-arginine is carried over to the spread, improving blood circulation); walnuts (for their omega-3 fatty acid content, keeping artery walls free of plaque, allowing adequate blood flow).
Dark chocolate (contains a compound called tyramine, increases dopamine levels in the brain—aka the “pleasure hormone,” your stress levels are lower, your libido is higher, cocoa also increases blood flow and relaxes blood vessels).
Drinks
Ginger (contributes to healthy blood flow, add it to tea); honey (pour over some fruit or into your coffee, contains a mineral called boron, which helps regulate testosterone and increase stamina); red wine (good for your cholesterol, contains both nitric oxide, which helps relax the arteries and increase blood flow, and the compound quercetin, which helps block the enzyme that triggers your body to push out testosterone); coffee (burns off fat, acts as a stimulant in the body, and helps increase circulation); green tea (contains catechins, which blast away belly fat and speed the liver's capacity for turning fat into energy, catechins cause blood vessel cells to release nitric oxide, which increases the size of the blood vessels, leading to improved blood flow).
LIFE
Participate in the community, join activities, volunteer, get a job, be enthusiastic, find people to amuse and entertain and do things with. I’ve made a good start – I’ve found the local football club and have started to attend games.
Things I learned from my anxiety classes:
practice mindfulness; live in the moment, shut the rest out.
practice breathing techniques. We were taught the 3-5 technique, breathing in for 3 seconds and breathing out for 5. It had already been established that I was fairly fit (Provoked by warnings of the effects of stress on the body I had boasted about hiking mountains (whilst saying nothing about complaining all the way up them, not to mention falling down them) - so I was taught the 7-11 technique. Breath in for 7 seconds and then breath out for 11 seconds. The important thing is to make sure that you are doing the deep diaphragmatic breathing as opposed to the shallower lung breathing. This requires that you breath deep down into your stomach so that your diaphragm is moving down and pushing your stomach with each breath you take.
One final point: Yoga and/or Tai-Chi. For some reason, I missed these classes during cardiac rehab. Which came as some relief to me. Because I really struggle to follow verbal commands and instructions. I'm none too clever on written ones for that matter. There are many good things to be taken from these disciplines. But that will have to wait for another day for me. I'm not great at these things. Maybe, one day, I'll add something I can use. I probably ought to. Personally, I'd prefer to go with a jolly song that will have me bouncing around. Like this one by Ottowan, "Hands Up (Give Me Your Heart)." "God I hate this song," the cardiac nurse in charge said as soon as it came on as we were going through our paces. She promptly put her hands down as we all put ours up and continued grooving round the gym in a circle. She probably hears this song every day. I wouldn't mind. I like a jolly tune.
"Let me be your Romeo, your wonder boy,
And your super champ.
Let me take you to the milky way.
On a holiday (On a holiday)
On second thoughts, maybe not. Another day, perhaps (how soon is now?)
One final point - stay hydrated: drink water. Hydration is important for your overall health. So try to get about two litres of water a day. I always forget this one. I need a nice water bottle. I've been meaning to get one from the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Charity, £3.99.
And learn the ways in which your body is a barometer of overall health. And monitor and report. I speak here in generalisations. My fuller document goes into specifics here. This shorter document gets right down to the essentials when it comes to practice.
A Typical Day
This is how I see a typical day going. The diet and exercise can be filled in around this framework
Breakfast - morning
Porridge, with bananas or other fruit, cranberries, black raspberries.
Coffee. Maybe put honey in the coffee or the porridge. Or just eat with bread.
Exercise - midday
Kegel exercises
Water
Dinner – 1-30pm
Cheese salad, green vegetables, beetroot, olive oil.
Green tea
Exercise – 3pm
30 minutes on the exercise bike
Break – 4pm
Water
A cup of coffee
Tea – 5-30pm
Water
Main Meal
Green vegetables with potatoes – veg sausage
Stir fry vegetables with hot sauce – veg sausage
Nut roast with potatoes
A cup of green tea
Fruit salad
Nuts for nibbles during the day – a handful
Exercise – 8-30pm
Dumbbell exercises
Kegel exercises
Break – 9pm
Water
A cup or coffee
Night – 1am
Snack
Sandwich
Cup of tea
Oh, and seriously cut down pies, pastries, cake, and biscuits. That's what I did in 2017 and 2018 and it worked wonders.