Is it possible to turn your health around with lifestyle changes?

[topsy22]

I haven't been looking after myself over the past few years. My diet is appalling, I regularly go over my alcohol units per week, I don't exercise and I vape.

No excuses but since having my youngest dc life is hard work and there just isn't any time for the gym. I do walk a lot. I'm massively sleep deprived and I've been seeking comfort in caffeine, carbs, booze and vapes. The idea of salads and workouts just feel beyond me right now. As a consequence I'm overweight, my face is bloated and lined and more importantly I'm totally unfit. I realised the other day in a shopping centre that I was breathless from walking up the stairs. I get occasional chest pain and always feel tired, sluggish and bloated.

I know I need to make changes but I guess what I'm wondering is if any damage to my health can be reversed by improving my lifestyle - exercising more. Cutting out booze and junk food. Eating more nutrients and getting my vitamins etc? Has anyone managed to do this and did you feel better? I'm 39.

This may be good advice, but it’s also the most difficult change. I haven’t cracked it yet. I’d say change one is enough water

Hmm… I don’t think drinking loads of water on its own will make loads of difference if you drink heavily. Drinking water is great but if you are hammering the booze it’s going to take the edge off thar but not really make a positive impact.

I have to say I think if you are boozing and vaping those are the first and most important things to tackle. These are both things which will potentially have a big negative impact. I would focus on kicking these into touch before you deal with the more marginal stuff. You will automatically feel healthier for dealing with these things anyway which will kick start the process.

I wouldn't kick the exercise down the road. With that, start really small. A short walk daily, consistently, every day. Build up to more as the more you do it the easier it will get. Even round the block, endless studies show even small efforts at consistent walking help hugely. Is there a friend who could join you to do this? If not, stick headphones on and take yourself.

You won't regret in a year what you start today.

Slow and steady wins the race. It's a marathon not a sprint. You really don't see immediate improvements. It takes time of lots of little "wins", eat a bit less, eat more healthily, do a bit more exercise, and keep doing that and it's the snowball effect. Like I said above, took me roughly 20 years to lose a third of my weight - but the effect is almost miraculous when I look at myself now compared with 20 years ago and compare how I feel today with how I felt back then. It's ALL about good habits - as the days, weeks, months, years pass by, those "little wins" become baked in as a kind of muscle memory. The behavioural aspect is just as important as manic calorie counting and far better than going from one gimmick diet plan to another.

Absolutely. You don’t have to make massive changes either. Stop with the drinking and vaping and get more fresh air. You don’t have to completely change your diet and start running marathons.

I stopped drinking at 42 with chronic health conditions. Just from that alone, I lost a stone without trying. I had more energy so I became more active and ate better. I look younger than I did back when I was still drinking and feeling awful and my health condition is better managed to the extent that I rarely think about it now.

Yep, that's what did it for me. It's a cliche but get off the bus a stop earlier, walk to the carriage at the end of the railway platform instead of the one by the entrance, walk down the road to the shop for the bottle of milk instead of driving, mow your own lawn instead of getting a gardener to do it, take the stairs at work instead of the lift, park at the far corner of the supermarket car park instead of by the doors, park in a further away car park than the one next to your workplace.

Little changes but often.

I took it to more extremes after the first few years. Moved my office from the nearby town to a rented office at the other end of our village, so I walk to/from work every day instead of taking the car - it's a mile away. Those miles add up!

Bought a standing desk for walk, so not only burning calories and building muscles when stood instead of sitting all day, but when you're already stood up, you're more inclined to walk about the office more, i.e. go to the copier every time you need to copy something, rather than building up a pile and doing several at one, same with going to the file room for a file one at a time instead of getting several at once, etc. Lots of little things.

I built it up and now walk a minimum of 10,000 steps per day, which isn't bad for a traditional "sit down all day" office based job! Not just building it up around your existing life, but changing aspects of your life to make walking more possible (i.e. in my case moving my office location which I know is extreme).

you absolutely can and it doesn’t need to involve taking up cross fit. There’s a book called Atomic Habits, it’s well worth a read/ listen. It’s about the power of developing small habits. Eating more protein, drinking a glass of water with every meal, doing a home work from YouTube.

Yes, it's always possible and realising things should change is the first step. I gave up vaping at the start of this year and I feel so much better! I did it in sync with joining the gym and I now feel much healthier and am able to workout in a way I've never managed before. Ending vaping was difficult, especially as my DP vapes and wasn't ready to give up so I am still surrounded by it but it has been totally worth it and feels like such as huge achievement.

I did it cold turkey, but I'd probably recommend getting some stop smoking aids if possible to help with the nicotine withdrawal symptoms - in the end it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and it has been really empowering to see how vaping wasn't actually helping me deal with stress and anxiety - in fact, it was only exacerbating it in my case.

Oh and my other tip is to try and increase the amount of fibre in your diet! For me, this has made such a difference. I feel a lot less hungry and whereas before I was having a lot of abdominal discomfort, I now feel a lot better. My tips are to do things like changing white bread for the best quality wholegrain option you can, and making fresh vegetables a significant part of your evening meal. Things like quinoa instead of rice, and lentil flour pasta instead of normal pasta are also 'easy' swaps in my case. I've lost a fair amount of weight without feeling like I've been trying.

why not book a wellness check with your GP?

there was a news item last week about rolling them out to the workplace, and everyone being eligible at 40, so an appointment to discuss your weight and drinking and general health concerns seems reasonable.