Happy Healthspan! Sunday musings…12/29/2024
1) Rain. It is monsoon season in the Low Country of South Carolina. 3 days straight of almost constant downpour. With our dogs.
The smell of Christmas is wet dog.
2) Brobdignagian. My (no so) little dog, Bohdi, as sorta kinda a bespoke purchase by Beth. After losing Abby, the border collie we “inherited” from Dan (he might dispute the actual transaction), the companion we rescued, Sasha, became a big ball of angst. After almost a year of searching for a “mini” Aussie to rescue Beth found a specialty breeder. Bohdi was supposed to be 15″ at the shoulder and weigh around 25 lbs.
Yah, about that…
At 19″ and a bit over 40 lbs. I’ve been on a search for a word that describes the opposite of the “runt” of the litter. Since my little quest has come up empty, at least when it comes to an official descriptor, I have found a candidate. Herewith I nominate “Brobdignagian” (brahb-di-NA-gee-ann; from Gulliver’s Travels) as the antonym for “runt” to describe the largest puppy in a litter. As long as I’m taking it upon myself to make this declaration let me presume to offer a contraction as well: “Brob”.
And there you have it. The runt and the brob, both sides of the size coin.
3) Tipping Math. I truly hate the “tip for everything” thing. Hatehatehate it. You made me a double-something half-another? Sure, you get a tip. I’m stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts (yah, DONUTS dammit) and you poured me a black coffee and then spin the card display around so that I can choose a 18, 20 or 22%? I hate to be a Scrooge but I’m sorry, I just don’t get it.
Even worse, that hand-held thingy that the waitstaff carries around now so that they can finish the transaction right there at the table? That causes a whole nuther set of problems. In reality I am a very generous tipper, and sometimes 22% just isn’t enough. The other night at dinner I asked how to do a custom tip and ended up doing the math wrong. Instead of tipping high I shorted the poor kid. Had to chase her down with a handfull of cash to make up the difference.
So yeah, I hate the whole “tip for everything” thing.
4) Healthspan Testing. New Year’s is just around the corner. Gearing up for Resolution Season? Of course you are. Just this morning I re-booted the strength for mature athletes program created and taught by my fellow CrossFit OG Bill Russell (surf over to billrussell.com to sign up for remote instruction). This is a perfect time for you to start your Healthspan project, your effort not only to live longer, but to do so while simultaneously pushing the effects of chronic disease further and further out so that you not only live longer, you live healthily as well.
One of the things that made CrossFit such a sea change in the fitness (and health) world was its emphasis on measuring your fitness. “Work capacity across broad time and modal domains” was the fitness goal and one of the upshots of this was that you could measure your level of fitness by comparing your work-out results over time. Why not get some “pre-” numbers on a selection of fitness benchmarks as you start the New Year? Honestly, it probably matters less which ones and how many you choose as long as they can be measured.
As a CrossFitter in my heart I will look at stuff like pull-ups and push-ups, deadlift and squat multi-rep maxes, rowing splits and times on the bike. After having my hips replaced I’m not supposed to run, but those of you who do should not only seek distance baselines (5K, etc), but push yourself for a mile time and a 400 sprint. Maybe this is the year that I finally take up race walking.
You can get super fancy of course. Lots of Healthspan gurus would encourage you to get an accurate measurement of your VO2 Max, for example, or go all out and measure lactic acid clearance. If you’re into it and can pull it off, especially VO2 Max, sure…go for it. FWIW I probably won’t just because of the hassle factor. For those of you who plan to aim for workouts in particular heart rate (HR) zones you’ll have to decide if you will have that measured or simply use age averages. Body composition, specifically % body weight (BW) and visceral fat, is on interest to me. Hassle or no I’m on the search for a place to get a DEXA scan. And listen, if you are elderly-adjacent like yours truly let’s be smart and check-in with our doc, OK? Maybe some kind of stress test or a Cardiac Calcium Score.
Just sayin…
There are some very basic, classic medical/health measures that you should get as you embark on this journey. Blood pressure is a no-brainer. Take yours first thing in the morning before any caffeine or breakfast. If you are going to take this at all seriously you won’t be able to avoid getting some bloodwork. The bare minimum is serum lipids, your cholesterol and its subtypes. Make sure to include LDL-C and Lp(a). A fasting glucose and an HbA1c (hemoglobing A1C) will give you insight on your insulin metabolism.
Now you need to decide just how much information you feel that you need. Why? Well, on a practical level some tests are expensive. A positive result may prompt you to seek more advanced (and more expensive) testing. The best known test in this category right now is the “Grail” (presumably as in “holy”) offered for around $1000 by Galeri, that tests for 50 or so cancer markers. On top of the cost there is a risk of both false positives (leading to unnecessary testing) and false negatives (leading to a false sense of security). Still, with the possible exceptions of mammograms and colonoscopies when appropriate, you aren’t likely to seek out a screening PET scan to confirm your negative Grail.
Brain health is a big deal. Testing here is a tough call for me. APOE is a gene that is highly predictive of Alzheimer’s if you are unfortunate enough to roll craps on the wrong combination. Everyone gets two copies of the gene: E2 is protective, E3 is neutral, and E4 confers an increased risk. E2E2 is the best combo of course, and E4E4 is a devastating result. Why is it a tough call? Man, there’s really nothing you can do except EVERYTHING, and even then you might still be afflicted. Since I already plan to do almost everything anyway (I don’t think I would enjoy leaving that nightly glass of wine behind). I just don’t know if I want to know, ya know?
So there you are, just in time for this year’s resolutions, some testing to set your baselines as you embark on your Healthspan journey. Nutrition, exercise, supplementation, and happiness still to come.
5) Distance. What I’ve always liked about the Christmas holiday season is how it always seemed to shrink the distances between friends and loved ones. Each year we would move Heaven and earth to connect. And not modern electron-driven connections via FaceBook, X, Instagram or TikTok, but real, live, honest-to-goodness reach out and touch connecting.
“Hugging distance” I once called it.
If you are very observant you might have noticed a couple of connections missing from my list above. Postal service and phone calls are how the extended White family has always communicated. Once upon a time my Mom sent each of us a postcard every day. That’s every single day. Four of us. We called and talked on the phone, all of us. We still call and we still talk (you young’uns might have a fleeting knowledge of what that green “call” button on your Instagram poster is there for), but the postcards stopped long ago. Our moms and dads are all gone now. No matter how far we might travel there are no hugs from our parents waiting for Beth or for me.
But this is not one of those wistful “oh I wish” or “oh if only I had” posts. Parents and grandparents depart. Our lives proceed as they will. As they have. We connect and we disconnect. Sometimes quite deliberately, on purpose, and sometimes quite simply by accident. At any one time, though, we are connected to some someones, and our connections might still include a Mom and a Dad. The door that opened this year was ours; we were the ones engulfed in the hugs that tumbled in. Beth and I travel on Christmas this year with one part sorrow at the leaving, and two parts joy at the destination where still more hugs await.
Until now, to my great surprise and delight I hear, for however long it may last, “Lets get together then, Dad. We’re gonna have a good time, then.”
I’ll see you on New Year’s Day…
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 29th, 2024 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.