Why create a site about mental and physical health?
Let me start by stating that I am not a health care professional, far from it! I am simply a retired guy who is sick and tired of the system we live under. A system where profit and self interest come before actually trying to make people better. Everything we talk about here is coming from my own viewpoint. Do your own research and also seek professional advice. I’m simply pointing out my own views and opinions.
Big Pharma.
I have, for a long time been of the opinion that, here in the UK at least, health care is based on treating the symptoms rather than finding the root cause of the problem. In my opinion, big pharma drugs are designed to get you dependant on them rather than cure you. Take for example Gerd or Acid reflux, something I have suffered from for 20 years.
For most of that time, I was taking Lansoprazole, a standard Proton Pump Inhibiter, 30 mg per day. This appeared to be a wonder drug at the start, stopping the burning pain within a few hours. Subsequent blood tests showed I was low in Vitamin B12. The solution, being prescribed B12 tablets.
However, the PPI drug stopped my body absorbing B12 from my diet by inhibiting the production of enough gastric acids needed to break down the stomach contents. Therefore allowing partially undigested food to pass through my system. However, it’s worse than that. The PPI drug made it difficult for the B12 tablet to be absorbed. Drops under the tongue would have been far more effective.
This small example is why, I decided to step outside of the system and look for more natural solutions to any health problems I may encounter. Look the NHS is great, but I believe our Doctors are trained to dispense drugs rather than solve problems.
Start to Make Changes
I retired from working for a local authority aged 67 in December 2021 my weight had topped 15st 4lbs (214 lbs) and my mental health was in tatters. Things had to change or my retirement could be rather short. One of the first things I did was to eliminate as much processed sugar from my diet. At work snacking during the day had become the norm.
To get away from the drudge of modern working practices where the 80/20 rule applies just as in every other form of life, which, if you’re not familiar with it, is the rule were 80% of the workload is dealt with by 20% of the team.
This system is fuelled by weak managers who give most of the work to busy people because they know it will get done, while protecting the 80% piss takers in case they offend them or hurt their feelings. Anyway, I digress, to get away for half an hour, yes half an hour lunch is all local authorities think you are worth, I would walk up the local town and top up my supply of “draw snacks”.
This, coupled with an age related lower metabolism, piled on the lbs. So by stopping the snacking and sticking to regular meals, fasting from 6pm until the following lunch, I have slowly reduced my weight by 2 stone, (28 lbs) but I still have a bit to go, perhaps another 7lb. At 6ft, I don’t want to be a scraggy old man.
Supplements
By choice we stopped eating meat 30 years ago, so our diet is fairly good. Mainly home cooked food, my department, I just love cooking. But I became aware that in modern life, our bodies are lacking important vitamins and minerals essential for healthy living. At the start of the whole COVID thing I research what is needed to boost my immune system and started taking Vitamin C, D, B12, & Zinc.
I have now added Shilajit and CBD oil to my daily routine, with Magnesium Glycinate in the evenings. 
Full disclosure, we do carry links to products from trusted brands I use. If you follow a link, you get a great product at the right price and we get a small commission that helps fund the running of the site
Exercise
My wife and I, she is 12 years younger, have started our morning exercise routine again focussing mainly on Pilates. For more senior people Pilates is wonderful. Having suffered a lower back injury in the late 1990’s, I have been plagued with sciatica for years. It comes and goes, but when it’s at it’s worst even getting our of bed is horrendous, with crippling lower back spasms, followed by continuous pain down the back of the leg for the rest of the day. This resulted in me being unable to get my left leg onto my right knee or lift it up in the shower. I thought it was a tight tendon in my groin, but since doing Pilates, practically child’s pose and the cat thing, the nerves have released and I have gained full mobility in my left leg again. The other benefit is getting better core strength, which in turn, protects the lower back.
The Inevitable End
Guess what, we’re all going to die. No one can stop that process, but we can make changes in our lifestyles that not only maximise what time we have left, but improve the quality of that time. That is really what this site is about, sharing things I have learnt to help others be a better you.
