Tradie Brother is hopeless in some ways. He is your atypical Aussie male. He won't go to the doctor for basic health checks. He hasn't been to dentist for years. He drinks and smokes far too much. His diet his heavily meat based. He recently said on telephone to me, that he does not care if he dies at an early age as he considers he has had a good life. That was somewhat challenging to hear.
His older brother, ABI Brother, is the opposite,with a strong focus on fitness and diet and sees his doctor regularly, as required.
My dyke sister is a large lass but it is all muscle. She is incredibly fit from walks, swims, surfs and cycling. Yet she has the most immediate medical problems.
I go to the doctor regularly and take my blood pressure, cholesterol controlling, low dose aspirin and vitamin D and fish oil supplement as ordered
My diet is quite good, but I am unfit and need to drink less, yet I don't feel compelled to do anything about drinking less and exercising more. There is a lot of things I want to stay alive to see and do things I haven't done, but I am a bit like Tradie Brother. I am not sure I care too much. It might be nice to live to be one hundred years old, but I am not sure that it is for me.
I don't see the point in living to be a hundred unless there is quality of life there. You may have noticed how I am hell bent on getting through my bucket list in record time just in case.
ReplyDeleteYes Fun60. New York, tick. If we are to be sensible, a healthy lifestyle will lead to quality of life in old age.
Deleteoh yes Fun60 - no bucket list, just do all the things in life you are drawn to, as the news every night tells us of so many people who expected to get home that night and did not.
ReplyDeletesnap Highriser. I just posted on the COAG health report to govt about rampant obesity. The line in the sane for that is BMI30 which is about 80 kilos weight for people who are 168 cms tall (or 5 ft 7 inches). As is obvious from the streets, most people are way over that, including many Fed MPs.
Tradie brother has not figured out that 'death by poor living' isn't neat, the slow decay is vile and messy - backache (half the country, esp tradies), arthritis ditto and incurable, bad hearing (everyone I know with a hearing aid hates to wear it, so no point going down that road for this victim of too much rock n roll), poor eyesight (where are my glasses!), gum disease, etc etc.
My tested BP and Cholesterol are perfect despite historically eating a great deal of delicious poison, but my friend whose tests are off the scale on both, has always lived on steamed vegetables. go figure. Your poor sis.
and drinking? Wine is always "for medicinal purposes" - salut.
Well Ann, you have had such an interesting life, but remained the observer and photo taker of Melbourne's and Sydney's music history, and not a participant in drinking and drug taking. Did I mention I came down in the last shower?
DeleteAt least I worry about how much I drink. Tradie Brother does not.
Well I hope you are all dry now because I have only ever had one joint and never smoked a ciggie in my entire long life. ever. LSD just one time, although it was so strong the flashbacks have lasted 40 years.
DeleteExcessive drinking causes an enlarged liver then pissing blood. Google some images and show him on your computer. he will be cured.
Ok, most people who have led interesting lives such as yourself found the temptations great.
Deleteoh drat, you know I meant 'line in the sand'.
ReplyDeletehere is where you can calculate your Body Mass Index Good luck.
My doctor did my BMI. He said it was good. It is nonsense. I have the dangerous fat gut of a middle aged male.
DeleteMaybe he did it with the height in kilos and the weight in inches?
Deleteremember that Paul Hogan vicious detective character The Gut? oh no not The Gut!
"Tradie Brother is hopeless in some ways. He is your atypical Aussie male. He won't go to the doctor for basic health checks. He hasn't been to dentist for years". Hopeless perhaps but atypical, no!
ReplyDeleteAustralian men don't go to doctors and dentists unless a] they have bubonic plaque or worse, or b] their wives make the appointment, put them in the car and sit through the appointment with them *sigh*
Hels, even if one's husband is involved in medical practices?
DeleteConfession time. I overeat all the wrong foods. Digging my grave with my teeth, but hey, I do look after my teeth. Sometimes when people open their mouth I feel ill - don't know how they can stand it. On the other hand, for [pre flouride] baby boomers, looking after one's teeth can be hideously expensive.
ReplyDeleteAnn, I suspect genes have as much to do with health as lifestyle. B1 drinks and fags constantly as well as overeating and being a workaholic. He convinced himself long ago that as all the males of my mother's generation died of cerebral haemorrhage in their late 50s early 60s, he may as well enjoy himself. Heart attack at 48.
One Aunt died of pulmonary fibrosis, and Aunty in Frangers has pf as well - after battles with TB and removal of one lung. Both were the only siblings to never have smoked a cigarette.
TO and her sister are both obsessively fit and careful eaters. Both have battles with heart disease.
Good point about death by poor living, though. Might have to go and comfort myself.
FC, I am pleased to hear you have clean and sharp teeth to dig your grave.
DeleteMaybe the date of your death is set when you are born? No, that is silly. But I wonder if it isn't indirectly. Your genes dictate your lifestyle choices which dictate when you die. But the genes might also dictate that in spite of your lifestyle choices, you will live to a certain age.
I'm with you, I don't want to live a long life if there's no quality to go with it. I hear stories here sometimes about elderly relatives who have been bedridden for years, unable to speak or look after their most basic needs. They're being kept alive by meds and intravenous feeding.
ReplyDeleteMedical technology has done much to improve our health but I think sometimes there's too much focus on quantity. What's the point of being alive if you can't enjoy it?
Wombat, would it have been an easy death for Toshi's mum to have died when she crossed the road when there was a car coming? I see really really old women in Prahran who totter along with really small steps. I wonder, is this a life?
Deleteno. now that I am doing it, I realise it is caused by back/hip pain. small steps hurt less. With a walking stick regular steps can be achieved, and with the handle to lean on, vast lawns can be mowed, but generally, I am walking like a geisha these days.
DeleteFrom tomorrow I'm starting..'my body is a temple' not a dustbin :) how much do you want to bet TB will live till 100 !
ReplyDeleteIt is possible Grace, but unlikely. I too am turning over a new leaf. Get fit now.
ReplyDeleteI try, after my health scare/s I feel more inclined to look after my poor body. But sometimes I get very lazy!
ReplyDeleteLaziness and apathy Fen, which is because when you are feeling well, you don't feel the need.
DeleteI take a few supplements which help with pain such as joint formula and krill Oil - swear by high doses Vit C but like you I'm not too careful but apart from the obvious - losing my life's partner I am happy most of the time and I think that this is a big help. I have no regrets at all about my life and I live in the present usually and if I went tomorrow my only sadness would be that my daughters and I would be separated - thats about it
ReplyDeleteMC, I don't take krill because I am concerned that there will not be enough for whales to eat, though I have never heard anything about it.
DeleteIt is good to be able to say you have no regrets.