Little Things that Irk You: Episode V

[Dogg Thang]

Both count. I have high cholesterol and I'm generally really unfit and I remember talking to a doctor and then a dietitian about them when I once had a cholesterol spike and I was a couple of stone heavier than I am now (quite a few years ago). Both of them said the exact same thing - regular exercise is massively important for overall health, especially keeping things like your heart healthy. But it will never make up for an unhealthy diet. Changing your eating habits will have a much more dramatic effect on your body. Both are important.

Funny you guys are reminding me about it because I have become so aware lately just how little exercise I now get. I have always been unfit - that is my default state of being. But I have been doing so much of my work at home in the last year or so and I am basically tied to my computer and don't even have to walk anywhere. I really have to change that for the sake of my health.

[Darwock]

Don't drink, don't smoke. I do enjoy my fried foods though. The job is massively stressful, and that is likely a factor, but in terms of things I can easily change - that isn't one of them. I'll give the diet a go until Xmas and if nothing improves I'll try other things. To exercise regularly I need energy I don't currently have when I get home.

[nakamura]

Stress. It's absolutely huge and seems to be a real issue in Japan.

[Wools]

Funny you guys are reminding me about it because I have become so aware lately just how little exercise I now get. I have always been unfit - that is my default state of being. But I have been doing so much of my work at home in the last year or so and I am basically tied to my computer and don't even have to walk anywhere. I really have to change that for the sake of my health.

Go and do it!

Whether it's getting into running, going for a walk on your lunch break, making a point of going on a Sunday morning run with your favourite music or podcast, it makes such a positive effect on you when you start getting out to get fit.

If there's one thing I could of told my 18 year old self, is that anyone can start running or exercising and it makes you value yourself so much more.

[noobish hat]

I wasn't asking about alcohol, just what do you drink in general.

[Dogg Thang]

Go and do it!

Yep, I need to. Finding it really hard to get the time but I need to just do it.

[JazzFunk]

Lacklustre boiled sweets irk me. No, they fnark me. That's even worse. I have a penchant for Yorkshire Mixture. Maxons Yorkshire Mixture, to be precise, fruity and tangy and generally lovely providing there aren't too many humbugs (ffs). So I get a bag of Dobsons Yorkshire Mixture. Malformed and no tang at all. Just pure, untangy sugar boiled into crap shapes. I wanna give 'em to the ants.

[fuse]

I can definitely relate; not just to the hypertension but to the irk around what's actually in your control. The familial side of things is unfortunate and completely unavoidable, and I would agree that reducing stress is not necessarily in someone's hands without the capability to support whatever changes are needed. I can imagine with little'uns that's even more difficult.

Not to scare you, but in terms of being tired I would suggest that could easily be a consequence just as much as a cause. You're doing the right thing in trying to go down the lifestyle/diet route to improve things, but have they not offered you any kind of support from a medical perspective too? Based on your BP you would almost certainly be pushed into ACE inhibitors were you under care of the NHS.

[The Moleman]

I'm the same with poor quality pick 'n mix or when it's been out too long, teeth shattering foam bananas really piss me off.

[pentarou]

Had an interview at a company for a software development position, all goes well and check back with the recruiter a week later to find out if there are any updates. Turns out the company I interviewed at couldn't get their budget approved so they couldn't afford to hire me even though they wanted to offer me the job. Hilarious.

[Darwock]

I wasn't asking about alcohol, just what do you drink in general.

I did have a bit of a cola addiction, was drinking a can a day, but I knocked that on the head a couple of months ago. If that's had a positive effect it's not showing yet. At work we only drink green tea/barley tea/milk, at home I've been drinking water and fruit juice. The fruit juice is off limits now.

have they not offered you any kind of support from a medical perspective too? Based on your BP you would almost certainly be pushed into ACE inhibitors were you under care of the NHS.

Reliable doctors are hard to find. My ex-regular doctor diagnosed chicken pox as an allergy to my bed. The last guy was like 85 years old, and when confronted with my numbers he was on the case like Sherlock Holmes - his line of questioning went something like "when did you come to Japan? Where do you live? Can you use chopsticks?"

I have on occasion been told that meds may be necessary but that I am too young for that step (as once on them you can't come off)

[randombs]

I'd argue that, even if being active at school doesn't necessarily equate to being healthy, I think it really helps. As soon as I got an office job my belly made up for lost time. Now I hide in the server room and stand and work.

I don't know how your school runs but at one of my schools I had to eat school lunch because I ate with the kids. At the other one we ate in the staff room so I guess I could've eaten what I wanted but I'm sure I would've got called out about it.

I guess you can do a semi-paleo diet! I haven't tried anything that drastic but we're adjusting our diet here and cut down on salt, oil, etc. No more convenience store onigiri, for example.

Turns out the company I interviewed at couldn't get their budget approved so they couldn't afford to hire me even though they wanted to offer me the job. Hilarious.

That happens sometimes. At my recruiting job we were told to confirm with companies if the budget had been approved or not.

[Darwock]

It's a kindergarten, not a primary school or above, so it basically equates to manual labour with teaching on the side. And yeah, every day was kyuushoku with the kids - which I thought would be making me more healthy, but all the evidence says otherwise.

I am going to go with the philosophy that a large percentage of Paleo dieters in the world are probably being fed non-kosher things without their knowledge, and just roll with it - it's so hard to live in a city and know exactly where the food you buy came from.

Wish I was back home in Orkney tbh.

[randombs]

Manual labour sounds about right!

I always thought school dinners would be ok because they're for children but I'm wary now, having learned a thing or two in the meantime.

And yeah, my philosophy with things like health and diet is if I'm doing better than yesterday then that's good. Even if you can't go 100% paleo, what you can do might help you feel better.

And wow, Orkney! Beautiful place.

[Dogg Thang]

Got a 'People You May Know' box on LinkedIn that contained my dad, who has been dead for four years now. I went through the form on their site and got his account closed but it bothered me all the same. The form asked me where he last worked (I guess for verification purposes) and, actually, I didn't know. We didn't speak much. A shame, really.

But then I have always used that as a motivator to be the best dad I can be to my two girls so positive things come from it.