From Me: Checked Out from Stem to Stern

The good news is, I AM HEALTHY!! I am also fit. YAY! How do I know? I spent the entire day at a medical clinic undergoing my yearly comprehensive medical checkup. To be honest I missed out on last year’s checkup because I was too busy looking after Bob during his cancer treatments and then I kept right on going by taking care of the family, the business and the house. I ignored my appointments – too much to do. It is all too easy to push off the duty of booking yourself in for a physical exam. However, it must be done as part of the deal when you were handed your body. If there was something wrong with your car you wouldn’t hesitate to take it to the shop. The same applies to you! You have to get your old jalopy into the hands of your doctor to maintain good health. It says so in the maintenance manual don’t you know. A regular medical is the perfect solution.

The only way I can now manage to have a comprehensive physical exam is to book the day off and go to a clinic where it is a one-stop service. I prepared for my big day by fasting for 12 hours and then showed up at 7 am to start the process. You are given a locker and an itinerary spelling out what tests you are going to undergo. My day started with peeing in a cup, naturally! Then I headed over to have blood drawn and saliva collected for a Genome test. It felt like I was donating fluids all day! I underwent a bone density exam – very cool – lying under the uber-low radiation and watching my bones pop up on a computer screen. They looked pretty solid to me but I will receive a report in ten days giving me the particulars. Next, I headed over to a very toned young man who gave me a fitness test. Wouldn’t it be funny if I was unfit? I had to do crunches and pushups until I couldn’t anymore and then I had to demonstrate my flexibility by pushing a ruler past my feet as far as I could. That was fun. I just wanted to get in there and show off to the guy but he wasn’t having any of it. Pooh! Then on to the BodPod. It was so cool – I had to sit in a tight little pod and have my body fat composition measured. It was fun to find out where I was especially after the contest.

I was also very interested in the health of my heart because I lost my father to heart disease and was concerned about the genetic factor that may exist in me. The doctor sandpapered my skin and the attached leads and pretty soon I was running uphill on a treadmill hoping my heart would keep up. We made it!! After the fitness test there was a chest x-ray, mammogram, echocardiogram, PAP test, DRE (digital rectal exam), eye and ear test, lung test and on and on. There were very few places left unexamined and I will just leave you with that visual. Got it?

I signed myself up for a colonoscopy which I will do in a few weeks. In the meantime my results will be in from the Genome test. It will be weird to learn what my predispositions are. Obviously there is a bit of anxiety about that.

My blood panel was excellent despite eating all that coconut oil folks (lol). I found out I was a little anemic, but other than that my health is optimal and so is my fitness level. This makes me happy because, I know what I can lift and run, but when your scientific numbers jive with these numbers it makes you feel like it is all worth it. Knowing that I needed some iron, I headed to my favorite butcher, Howard the Butcher in Caledon, who else? He sent me home with some fabulous cuts and I turned it into dinner complete with rapini and sweet potato. I enhanced the absorption of the iron in the rapini by giving it a squirt of lemon juice. Delicious!!!

It is satisfying to me to undergo this process and find out how the hard work is paying off.

Keep it healthy everyone!
Tosca

From Coach Rita: Walking the Walk of Health

Staying fit and nourishing my body with Clean food are priorities in life. Although fitting into skinny jeans, and looking good in a bikini are part of the reason for my lifestyle choices, improving health and longevity are even more reasons to partake in daily exercise and proper nutrition. Is that enough though? If I continue down this road will I be able to look as good as Tosca at 53? Will I still be agile, medication-free and jump out of bed at 4am like an energizer bunny? Fingers crossed. Well, not really. I don’t rely on luck, but rather a team of experts who guide me through my walk of health.

Sometimes I take my doctor visits for granted. I have a poor mindset (that I am working on improving) that going to the doctor or asking my naturopathic doctor for help means that I am “weak” or have failed at my task of self-care. Not so. If it weren’t for my dermatologist visits, I wouldn’t have known years ago that I had pre-cancerous cells that needed to be removed. My naturopathic doctor plays an optimal role in my health and has kept my thyroid in check lately, making sure I don’t burn out. From acupuncture, family doc, dentists and massage therapists, I am grateful for having so many people on my team, looking out for me; especially since I spend most of the time nurturing and looking after others.

As the flight attendants remind us as we depart, you need to put your own oxygen mask on before helping others. Book your next mammogram, blood work, physical or dental check-up today. You will be happy you did. It might even safe your life.

Coach C