Hi my name’s Martin. In August I’ll be 65 years old. I’ve been a legal executive, a teacher of various subjects (including Law) and a proof-reader. I’m now trying to make a living from various kinds of writing.
In January 2011 I suffered a transient ischaemic attack(sometimes called a mini-stroke).Basically, because of clotting, the blood supply through one of the arteries leading to my brain was cut off. On that morning I got up and found that my right hand wouldn’t work properly. It felt partly numb and it sort of hung limply. Now the physical problem soon righted itself. Unfortunately the shock affected me for far longer. For a long time I just couldn’t think straight. I developed bad eczema all over my body (yes, even the embarrassing bits). I looked like a character in a horror movie.
I realised that another attack like this would leave me a nervous wreck
Eventually it became clear that my diet most likely played a part in this. I was eating too much saturated fat – fat cuts of meat, fat bacon sandwiches, burgers and fries, loads of butter in sauces etc. So I decided to do three things – to reduce the quantities of food that I ate, to cut out saturated fat as much as I could(it ‘s possible to replace it with much less harmful alternatives) and to reduce the quantity of fat consumed in general.
In this blog I hope to provide information on diet, exercise, relaxation techniques and (secular) meditation for people who have been affected by vascular problems, people who suffer from raised cholesterol and indeed anyone who is interested in controlling their weight. I hope to provide sympathy and encouragement for anyone who needs them. I was overweight for most of my life. I made several attempts to lose weight, some of them quite successful. Unfortunately the stress of dieting always got to me and I always gave up, putting back on all the weight I had lost. To put it simply, if I can lose weight, anyone can.
The relaxation and meditation sections are here because I think that stress reduction is important. Psychiatrists say that a lot of diets fail because they are too stressful. A lot of the people who read or contribute to this blog may be suffering from hypertension Stress is not good for them as it tends to raise blood pressure.
I’d like to point that it’s not my intention to ‘preach’ to others or in any way look down upon them. Preaching is a role that’s never sat well with me. I suppose I’m only too well aware of my own imperfections. Yes, I’ve managed to lose quite a bit of weight, but that’s no claim to any sort of moral superiority.
Finally I’d like to say that I’ll do my best to avoid being over-serious and keep it light. Contributors should feel free to crack a joke or two. After all laughter is medicine.