What Junk Food Does To You

Happen to see this post What Junk Food Does To You in Asiaone.com.

Look at how pretty some of these ladies were before...

Well, just be cautious of what you eat because you will become what you eat.


I also got a shock to see myself in this video that I took in March 2010. I could not believe I was that size.

Well, I am glad I am like this now.

Comprehensive Health Screening Report - Victor Lee

Chinese New Year is coming to an end. Over the past 2 weeks, I have honestly been eating a fair bit of new year goodies. Nevertheless, I am very happy with my latest medical report that finally arrived and I am excited to share my 'improvements'.

First off, this is my 2010 January comprehensive health screening report.

As you can see from the report, my cholestrol level is high especially my LDL Cholestrol, which is bad cholestrol in short. As for my liver profile, SGPT/ALT is also beyond healthy level. My Uric Acid is also way above normal level and I was experiencing pain at both my hands whenever I consume alcohol (even a small can of beer). All other health results are normal except my high cholestrol level, high SGPT/ALT and my uric acid reading.

What does this mean?

Firstly, your blood cholestrol level has a lot to do with the chances of getting heart disease. High blood cholestrol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. The higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having a heart attack. When there is too much cholesterol (a fat-like substance) in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, the arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked. Blood carries oxygen to the heart and when oxygen cannot reach the heart, you will suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely blocked out, you will suffer a heart attack.

High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware of the risks that they are facing. LDL (bad) cholestrol is the main responsibility of cholestrol buildup and blockage in the arteries. It is therefore extremely important to be aware of your LDL cholestrol level and to ensure it is within the acceptable range. This table shows the LDL cholestrol level and category.


LDL Cholesterol Level     LDL-Cholesterol Category
Less than 100 mg/dL          Optimal
100-129 mg/dL                    Near optimal/above optimal
130-159 mg/dL                    Borderline high
160-189 mg/dL                    High
190 mg/dL and above          Very high

In general, the higher your LDL level and the more risk factors you have (other than LDL), the greater your chances of developing heart disease or having a heart attack.

Next, we move on to my liver profile. Everything seems normal except for SGPT/ALT.

Alanine transaminase (ALT) , also called Serum Glutamic Pyruvate Transaminase (SGPT) is an enzyme present in hepatocytes (liver cells). When a cell is damaged, it leaks this enzyme into the blood, where it is measured. ALT rises dramatically in acute liver damage, such as viral hepatitis or paracetamol (acetaminophen) overdose. Elevations are often measured in multiples of the upper limit of normal (ULN). Normal values:5 - 40 IU/L.

Simply put, a high level of SGPT/ALT may indicate that the liver can be suffering damage. When a liver does not perform its functions well, it brings about many of the symptoms or problems associated with hepatitis.

Third thing I am concerned about is my Uric Acid level. Uric acid is a potent antioxidant and thus can protect cells from DNA damage. In our blood, for example, uric acid serves as an antioxidant and helps prevent damage to our blood vessel linings, so a continual supply of uric acid is important for protecting our blood vessels.

However, people who overproduce uric acid or under excrete it, may experience gout. In severe cases a person may fall into both categories, causing severe gout attacks over and over again. I am not particularly sure if I have suffered gout in the past but I am certain that for a few years in the past, I was not able to drink any alcohol. Whenever I consumed alcohol, my arms would be in pain for at least 12 to 18 hours. Even a small can of beer will cause me so much pain that it just wasn't worth it.

Luckily for me, after completing the weight management program, things changed. This year, I had another comprehensive health screening and the results are as follow:

If you compare my LDL cholestrol score, it dropped from 167 to 119. This dropped by a score of 48 and from high risk to near optimal health level. This is indeed a great new year's gift for me. I am also very happy to know that my risk of getting a heart attack is significantly lower. What this means to me is I am now healthier for my family and need not be a cause for worry to them.

I am also happy to highlight that my Uric Acid score has dropped from 8.6 (high) to 6.7 (within range). My pain from alcohol consumption is gone although I am still abstaining away from too much alcohol in order to maintain or further reduce this to a safer figure. The important thing here is I no longer have to suffer from pain in my arms whenever I come into contact with alcohol. Great!

Lastly, my liver profile of SGPT/ALT has also dropped from 42 to 15. Although there is no significant changes I can feel for this, still I am glad that my liver has improved. I believe for long term, this is beneficial for my health.

Overall, I am very happy with my new results as I feel that my life has been given a second chance. I was seriously not very healthy before and I am glad that things have changed.

For those who happen to read this post and are thinking about whether you deserve a better health or whether your family and love ones deserve a better you to take good care of them, I urge you to consider taking good care of yourself first.

Because only when you have taken good care of your own health, then you can give them the assurance that you can take care of their health. Contact me if you want to improve your health and I will share with you on how to become healthier, look better and see improvements in your life.

Child Enrichment Classes - What Has It Got To Do With My Health?

I mentioned in my daughter's blog that parents nowadays are very much willing to spend on their children education and enrichment. While I acknowledge the fact that this is a good thing, I do know that some of my friends perhaps pay too much attention to their children as compared to themselves.

The reason I say this is because I do have friends that send their kids to schools that require a pretty hefty sum of investment. Of course, it is alright to send your lovely kids to enrichment courses when you can afford. The issue is as parents, we also have to look after ourselves before we can think more for our children.

I am saying this because I have came to realize the importance of health. A year ago, I too wanted to spend most of my money on my daughter Jade. I buy her the toys she want, I bring her to places she likes and together with my wife, we spend most of our time and money on her. All this while though, we were not willing to spend money on ourselves. It was only later that I realize that if I do not take good care of myself, I will not be able to take care of my love ones on a long term basis.

Therefore I began to change. I started spending more money on myself - in buying personal development books, in attending seminars to enrich myself, and in taking really good care of my health.

I started taking care of myself by slimming down. Yes, I spent some money to slim down but it was all worth it. Why this is so important is because today if I cannot see beyond my years, I am not being responsible. I am not responsible not only for myself, but I am also not responsible towards my wife and my daughter, and towards my parents.

You must be wondering why?

Simple. If I do not take good care of my health, five to ten years down the road, I have a higher risk of developing chronic diseases, which will cost me extremely hefty sums to cure. This is definitely going to be a burden to my family and will cause unnecessary stress to them as I have witnessed many of my friends' family who were in such situations.

If I do not take care of myself by personal development, again five to ten years down the road, I will still be what I am now. Today, I have really learned to grow over the last year and I am sure when focus is put on improving myself in development and in health, I will definitely be able to provide more for my child or children in time to come.

Therefore, health is very important to me now. While many still cannot see beyond their current, I am very glad that I am aware that taking action right now means I do not have to pay for it down the road.

Back to the topic of sending kids to enrichment classes. I am not against the idea of doing so. In fact, my own daughter Jade is going to a couple of classes herself, with the condition that she enjoys them. What I would like others to understand is besides enriching your children, you should first enrich yourself and ensure that you are personally responsible for your health and wealth before you can be responsible for your love ones.

Sharing About My Slimming Progress

I just did a sharing about my slimming success yesterday evening with many people who aspire to slim down successfully without rebound. I've also updated my progress as follows:

 

Anyway, this is my slimming statistics after just 3 months as I completed in July 2010. It's December 2010 now and my latest weight is 72kg.

Here are my latest photo.

What is Visceral Fat?

You may have noticed that many people above thirty starts to develop a 'beer belly'. As visceral and subcutaneous fat starts to build up, most people do not realize the danger signs that their health is at risk.

What is Visceral Fat?

Visceral Fat refers to the fats that surrounds our vital organs and is located in the stomach area. It is not the fat that lies under your skin though. That is called subcutaneous fat. Visceral Fat is deeper within.

Studies have shown that the more visceral fat you carry in your body, the higher your body develops insulin resistance, which leads to type 2 diabetes. High visceral fats also makes a person more prone to stroke, heart diseases and hypertension.

Although visceral fat is easier to lose as compared to subcutaneous fat, most people pay no attention to it because they do not understand the dangers of how visceral fat can affect their health as it is hidden and not visible. They usually pay more attention to subcutaneous fat which is visible and visually disturbing.

The good news is, with regular exercise, visceral fat can be reduced. The key here is to have a regular exercise regime. Doing no exercise at all will lead to an increase in visceral fat over time. Coupled with a healthy diet, and with the help of the program I had undergone, both visceral fat and subcutaneous fat can be significantly reduced in no time.

On 16 September 2010, The Straits Times featured the article "Dangers of tummy fat" by Geraldine Ling. I have attached the article for your reference.

Click on picture to view in full page or click here to view PDF version (clearer).

What Does Health Mean To Me?

Since my blog is about slimming and health, today I'd like to blog a little bit about what health means to me.

When I was a young boy, I was pretty unhealthy. I wasn't fat back then, but I was always coughing. I often visit the doctor and medicine was kind of part of my diet. I even coughed to the extent that the doctor advised me to stand under the sun for half an hour every day. I did not know for what reason he asked me to do that. All I knew was my mom made me do it in order to be healthier. Anyway, that was the time when I was around 4-5 years old.

I grew up to be a slim boy. In fact, I would call myself skinny instead. I did not like sports or games and would avoid them whenever I could. I hated jogging and running as every time I have physical education lessons, I would run out of breath. Nevertheless, I was skinny (slim if you would like to call it), but I was not healthy. I lacked confidence whenever I see that others can run fast. However, apart from this small problem, I have no other health issue. I ate well, and I slept well. I can swim and I can hike. I love walking up stairs (somehow that did not give me any difficulty in breathing). Still, I tried my best not to get involved in running.

And because I was skinny (I was 57kg even when I was 19), I took my health for granted all these years. When it comes to food, everything can go into my stomach. I ate huge quantities of food everyday and I also eat very oily foods without thinking. My parents used to say that even if I soak myself in oil, I will never grow fat. Ya... Fat Hope!

When I went into my twenties, signs of 'growing' started to show up. Ya, I began growing horizontally in my late twenties, and once I reach thirty, my growth was 'exponential'. In less than ten years, my weight has increased by more than 10kg, and I earned myself a big beer belly. I was able to do ten chin ups during my army days but now, I cannot even do two. Still, I thought that being fat is a small issue and I can live with it. "Everybody else is fat" I thought. "Being fat is normal" I thought.

Few months ago, my wife attended a health seminar, and she brought me along. I had a shock when I saw for myself the kind of risks I am carrying in myself. I am a time bomb waiting to explode. My health condition is not as rosy as I thought it is. As a result of my obesity, I have developed slip disc. I also have high cholesterol level. Luckily, my blood pressure is still normal.

What shocked me was the diseases that are caused by obesity. Heart diseases, diabetes, stress, and many others are associated with the obese, and if one does not recognize the dangers of these, one is doomed to move towards destruction. You may find that I am a little bit dramatic here but a fact is a fact. I have friends that are in a even more dangerous zone than I am and they still have not realize this fact.

Lucky for me I took action. I took action because I value my life. More importantly, I took action because I value my love ones, especially my wife and my daughter. I took action because I also want to help others realize the danger they are in. And I am happy today I saw what happened to me, and I took action to change it.

So what does health mean to me?

Today, with regards to health, I live by one principle - Staying Healthy Today Means That I Do Not Have To Pay For It Later.

I got struck with slip disc because of the choices I made ten years ago. I have high cholesterol today because of the foods I took five years ago. It is all going to change. Ten years from now, I am going to be as fit as a fiddle. I know the importance of a healthy diet, the importance of regular exercise, and most of all, the importance of how I can enjoy my life with my love ones in my future.

Time to change my clothes!!!

Check it out! It's time to buy new clothes! As promised, here is my latest photograph and as you can see, I really have to buy myself some new pair of pants (and also new shirts as I do look like I am wearing clothes I stole).

Anyway, it has been very busy weeks and as such, I have not visited the gym for a while (no excuse!!!). I will and I must go for some exercise at the end of this week. More updates coming up soon...