I knew i was overweight but it had not really occurred to me that i was unhealthy. I have never given my cholesterol a second thought or wondered if i was likely to suffer from heart disease. Part of the membership at Nuffield Health Fitness and Wellbeing is a Health MOT where they check all these things out for you. My friend had described hers as 'shocking' but deep down i thought mine would be OK. I walk, I talk, I eat salad and vegetables, I must be pretty healthy.
Wellbeing advisor Nadine (about 6 months pregnant and looking 'all bump') took me into a side office to carry out my health check, it feels quite official like going to the doctors and i got a bit nervous. So what do they check? You get asked normal health and lifestyle history questions then there is a series of tests, blood glucose, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, cholesterol, aerobic capacity (VO2 Max) and your BMI is gaged by measuring your weight and height. All this is compiled into a report and the result gives you a figure out of 100. The average person should be 70 approx.
I was stunned, mine was 36.
My downfalls were these....I'm not a smoker anymore i gave up when i was pregnant and have not started again, in the few times i have been out since Tabitha was born though I've had a few sneaky ones. They count and i lose 20 points.
I dont' sleep enough, shocker, as a mum i get average 5 hrs per night this loses me lifestyle points. I don't drink my advised amount of water either i manage 3 glasses (if that) and i should have 8. I have too much caffeine a day, this kind of cross references with my lack of sleep issue i feel.
None of these results really surprised me when i thought about it, i know smoking is bad, i know i need more sleep, should drink more water etc...
The results that did shock me however were these ones. My hip/waist ratio puts me in a high risk group for heart disease and my cholesterol is higher than it should be. I was actually upset by these, i intend to be around for a longtime yet, i have a million school runs to complete and will no doubt be required to take part in parents races at sports day. I don't want to be keeling over with a heart attack.
Nadine and I came up with an action plan for myself to work towards over the next 3-6 months.
As a member on a 12 month contract you will qualify for 'Get healthy, get rewarded' if you achieve your goals at your next health check. Which should give you some added motivation to work your self as hard as you can. These rewards vary from a free months membership or 2 personal training sessions or £75 worth of free beauty treatments.
There will be another Health MOT in 3 months to see if i have improved. I won't ask for you to cross your fingers for me or wish me good luck, this one is all down to me working my arse off literally.
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