I have improved my overall health in last 12 months 😎

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

I have improved my overall health in past 12 months.

12 months ago I was unable to even walk just around my own block,
Somedays not even down my street to a stop sign about 200 yards
away. And on my ‘bad days’,, I was lucky if I could walk down my street
past 2 or 3 houses and back.

So last year, my heart doc did extensive tests, Back then, year ago, I was then so weak I couldn’t even do a heart stress test, and doing the chemical stress test was out too.

After a full regimen of non evasive heart tests,
The prognosis was I was essentially “mildly abnormal”,
AND I was given ‘ok’ by docs to push myself to walk farther,
(without killing myself in the process, or so they told me)


Can now achieve walking a great distance,,,
well….a great distance for me is walking about 45 minutes
a distance of about 2 miles…..on flat land.

Cut out eating most of my ice cream, cookies, BBQ, chocolate bars,
Cheese (cutting back on cheese is a cruel punishment 🥺😅
But can eat some cheese such as no salt Swiss Emmental.

Unfortunately my tasty flour tortillas are loaded with salt,
so sadly my heated up and browned flour tortillas with wonderful melted
cheese and some salsa is now severely reduced 😡🥹😩

And most bread is out too,
Too much salt 😩

So Added eating organic oat bran flakes for breakfast maybe 10 days in each month, With lots of organic berries….strawberries blueberries and/or bananas.

Added more fish to diet….more Salmon, more Cod, more Rainbow Trout,
(but cut-out that tasty Fish n Chips fried fish, tasty but unhealthy fish)
Eat Sardines at least 3x a month

So eat some type of fish maybe 10 days each month

Still trying to add more veggies to diet.
Still trying to cut out Potato Chip snacking

Love papaya with some lime squeezed over.
Love mangoes

Love strawberries, but last few months all the organic
strawberries at grocery stores are shitty, they seem to be all picked
unripe, they never seem to ripen or soften without going ‘bad’ too
quickly, taste is lacking. I miss living in California where strawberries
seemed to always be a LOT better. And in Minnesota during strawberry season,
Those at farmers market in St Paul were fabulous tasty sweet.

[k_buddy762]

1. This is the way

This warms my heart more than you can possibly know. I am so happy for you (and proud of you). I have grown to take health and fitness very seriously over the past couple of decades, seeing that many industries are selling lies and snake oil. But you have found the solution that is working for you, and you should be celebrated for it.

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

8. I was on 'death's doorstep' for nearly 2 years

From about April 2020 to Summer 2023,

Was going downhill, healthwise,
Until major operation, and minor surgery first,
I was skin and bones by the time docs finally figured out
why I was wasting away, no muscle mass was left,
My butt was not cushioned at all anymore. I had loss so much weight,

After surviving about 9 hour surgery took me almost 6 months to start
getting out

But I won the lottery- the health lottery.

After surgery I asked my two surgeons how many patients did they ever
have with my problems’ — Both told me…‘Only one. You.”
One Surgeon was in his 60s, The other surgeon was in mid 30s

I had already lost about 55 pounds by the time the operation took place,
And that was not weight loss where I was overweight, I lose weight from losing almost all my muscle weight.

So it was a struggle to find an appetite to gain weight after surgery for at least
8 months or so. One ‘plus’ from losing all that weight was no problems with my blood pressure

[Lochloosa]

2. Congrats on the changes.

FYI Strawberries won't "ripen", once picked that's it.

[magicarpet]

3. Good for you. Being, acting, eating healthy,...

..... really pays off as we age. The more we become aware of health issues the more chance we have of enjoying our golden years.

Step by step you are doing such a fine job.

[beveeheart]

4. Recently I've started eating sardines too.

My father loved the canned sardines in mustard, so that's what I would eat when I was younger. Now I buy the ones in water and drizzle them with lots of mustard on rye crackers.
Do you have other ways you prepare sardines?
Congrats on making healthier food choices.

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

9. I eat with a 'salad' of avocados and ripe tomatoes w/ olive oil

I keep it simple

Just a sardine salad
Sardines tomato avocado
With maybe olive oil n vinegar

[Native]

23. i throw my sardines on a tortilla chip & douse them with hot sauce if i can't find

the ones in oil & hot sauce or jalapeños.

[Midnight Writer]

5. That's the way to do it. And it can be done without making yourself miserable. The pay-off is incredible.

I am a big fan of walking, of cutting carbs (especially sugar), of exercise to fit your ability.

It really does make a big difference.

[Karadeniz]

6. Youre a role model for us !!!!!! Thanks for proving it can be done !

[surrealAmerican]

7. Congratulations on getting a handle on your diet and exercise.

You might want to look into making your own flour tortillas. You wouldn't have to add any salt, and it's much easier than learning to make bread.

[Shellback Squid]

10. make your own bread, sourdough is fun to make and you don't use much salt

this is a link to the reddit site I visit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/

you have to create a starter from wild yeast

[calimary]

18. Added bonus: it fills the house with wonderful scents!

[AnotherMother4Peace]

11. That's how you deal with aging. Thank you for sharing the steps you're taking - very doable.

Last edited Wed May 21, 2025, 12:22 PM - Edit history (1)

I shy away from sugar because my body reacts badly. I'm also noticing a lot of salt is not my friend. Movement and exercise has never been a problem for me. Now that I'm retired I'm able to swim, exercise, and walk more. I've got passes to the San Diego Zoo and local parks that motivate me to walk/hike. And even at my age I'm needing electrolyte replacements after a particularly active day. Strength training improves bone density, no matter what level of resistance. I use 3 lb weights, up from 1 lb. then to 2 lb. - 3 lb. will be good for me for a while. I'm not trying to prove anything anymore (there was a time). I'm in training to be healthy in my later years.

We can't stop aging, but we can make it easier.

[xuplate]

12. Good for you.

What you have accomplished is also a gift to your loved ones. People who let themselves decline into poor health put a tremendous strain on their families. Maintaining flexibility is very important too.

[Richluu]

13. Good for you!

It's an investment that pays off! (I've been organic vegetarian for 51 years, but it's easy for me. And walking 4 miles a day.) Keep it up!

[EverHopeful]

14. Have you tried freeze-dried strawberries

They're pricy but taste like strawberries should. I enjoy them either as a crunchy topping on yogurt or you can stir them into yogurt and let them moisten up, or just reconstitute them with some water.

It seemed to be impossible to find tasty strawberries so I was glad to find these.

And congratulations on your health improvement. You've inspired me to put in a bit more effort.

[LoisB]

15. Good for you. Keep it up.

[pandr32]

16. That's wonderful!

Treat yourself like the deserving person you are. Imagine if we all took better care of ourselves!
Well done!
I love personal stories of finding health and well-being. It is never too late!

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. That is great! (n/t)

[colorado_ufo]

19. Good on ya, Irish Bubba! Very proud of you!

Kettle brand makes a choice of salt-free potato chips. They are good.

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

25. Thx

I’m still hooked on UTZ brand Original Potato Chips.

Can’t seem to stop eating those tasty chips for good yet.
But I have cut back a lot though

UTZ chips are tasty and addicting

[TommieMommy]

20. Excellent 👍👍 lifestyle changes are difficult but you will feel better

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Recipe for success. . . . nt

[Zackzzzz]

22. You give me hope.

Thanks for being so specific about what you no longer eat.
You can get very good frozen organic fruit.
Canned fruit has too much sugar.
Try citrus or cut up a melon and eat in a pretty small bowl.
Store them, keep them cool in the fridge. Yummy.
SALT is in everything and Emmental is hard to find.
I have a cheese cutter that looks like a spade with a linear cutter in the middle.
It cuts very thin slices off of a block of cheese.
Remember, a pretty bowl.
What good news.

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

26. Like this Emmental President brand, low sodium

I like this Emmental President brand.

Relatively low sodium content per one oz serving is 65 mg (3% of daily )



https://presidentcheese.com/products/madrigal-emmental-cheese/president-emmental-swiss/

[lark]

24. Good job with changing your habits to improve your health.

Changing habits is hard! About 6 years ago, I was majorly stressed by my drug addicted semi-homeless son and lost 50 lbs. For the first 30 I was good with it, wanted to lose weight. But then I hit my goal and kept losing. It got so I couldn't eat and ended up scrawny and very wrinkled and sick. I got my anxiety and stress under much better control, due to adding Buspirone and Cymbalta and felt amazingly better and could eat again! Yay!

Of course, I gained way too much weight back. I love sweets, crave them! So now I've started eliminating things I added like Irish Cream with my coffee, low calorie whole wheat bread vs bakery bread, and ice cream. I've also added prunes for more fiber and switched to organic stevia since my coffee has to be sweetened! I also eliminated red meat except 2x month and no big steaks when I have meat. We eat shrimp and fish weekly. I'm not wanting to get thin, not at 73. I just want to be a healthy weight and with surgery coming up for my shoulder, I know my excercise is going to be very limited and it would be easy to gain even more weight and then my clothes won't fit - so working on being sure that doesn't happen. I

t's not easy to change your diet, but it can be done.

[Jilly_in_VA]

27. Good going

My husband was told by his doctor to lose weight and has lost 48 lbs. Some thoughts:

Make your own bread. It's fun and there are lots of YouTube tutorials. You can also use the Dough cycle oin a bread machine and then pop it in the oven to finish---I used to do that a lot when I was busier.

There are actually Keto tortillas which are essentially no-carb. Made by Olê Mexican Foods.

Eating seasonally is a must, so just go with whatever's in season and visit your local farmer's market whenever possible (assuming there is one). Otherwise watch the grocery store flyers. But you're right about the strawberries.

There are some great no-salt seasoning blends out there. One we like, particularly on veggies, is McCormick Sunshine Blend. And where would I be without lemon and lime juice? Also, I find I use less salt in recipes if I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, so that's the only kind I buy.

Air Fryers RULE! You can do all sorts of things in them. One good substitute we found for potato chips is air fryer chickpeas. And most air fried veggies are great, especially sweet potato fries (homemade, not storebought), cauliflower, and broccoli.

Salads are good for lunch, and you can always sneak in protein like sardines, tuna, or a hard-cooked egg.

Anyway, hope this helps. Keep up the good work!

[IrishBubbaLiberal]

28. Thx

I also have a ‘Walker’ neighbor , not sure exactly what street he lives on near to me, but I see him walking in all weather year round.

He told me he is 92 !!

He looks in good shape to walk, and
I have never seen him ‘struggling’ to walk like I do sometimes.

His ‘body language’ tells me his walking is done with relative ease
And he walks a LOT faster than I can. He wears some sort of large ear covering I believe for noise cancellation, and music.

Well…Maybe another year of my walking, and I might be able to improve my walking distances to travel another mile on my morning walks,,,
But not going to overdo it either, only will try for 3 miles IF the weather
is good, not too hot, not too cold …the sun isnot in my eyes 😎😍

[Zackzzzz]

29. Think about walking sticks/trekking poles.

The sticks get your upper body working as much or as little as you want.
They are good for getting your ribs up for better breathing and they help with balance.
Mine lock down so I can use them when I travel.
Youtube for the proper way to walk with them.
My husband has his Nordic Track and I have the great outdoors.
I'll look for the President Brand. TY
Oh yes, apple slices with a little cinnamon on a pretty plate.