- High blood pressure
- High blood glucose
- Excess fat around the waist
- Raised cholesterol
- Raised triglycerides
If you have any three of these you are in the gun. Your risks of type 2 diabetes and heart disease are higher.
Syndromes are not diseases they are clusters of signs that have a high chance of occurring together. Presumably there is an underlying cause but it may not be obvious. In this instance, though, your money would be pretty safe on insulin resistance.
According to the Mayo Clinic website if you have any one of these it’s time to see your doctor. They go on to say …
- Metabolic syndrome is increasingly common, and up to one-third of U.S. adults have it. If you have metabolic syndrome or any of its components, aggressive lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems.
My score is one out of five. I have seen the doctor. The aggressive life style change is underway. You didn’t think I was just writing this for your benefit, did you?
When I look in the bathroom mirror my belly doesn’t look too bad. If I turn my head 90 degrees to the right the awful truth is revealed in a mirror in the adjacent walk-in robe. I guess that’s why friends and the ever solicitous Gayle were so keen to get me on the bike. I’m sure they didn’t expect an instant cycling tragic.
I googled “ideal girth” and got the shock of my life. I was quite competitive though. That’s something you can checkout for yourself or leave a mystery.
I then googled “ideal waist size” and found what I wanted. Then I found a tape measure. And then I contemplated my future.
A man’s waist should be no greater than 40 inches or 102 cm. A woman’s should be no more than 35 inches or 89 cm. Oh, the shame … 44 inches.
Armed with that and your height you can get a reasonably close estimate of your percentage of body fat. The theory is <Here> a calculator can be found <Here>. It is a better measure than BMI which suffers from a number of deficiencies. Arnold Schwarzenegger at his peak had a BMI of 34 (or thereabouts, accounts vary). That puts him securely in the obese range (30 – 39.9). Doesn’t look it …
Actually my BMI ain’t that different. Should be OK.
Well no. It’s time for exercise and diet. Which diet?
bobmcgee 