WC

There seemed to be not much wrong with me in the photo on the left. The photo was taken in mid December last year. However, I realised that there is something that is terribly wrong, something as in the enlarged part of the image, as on the right.

My WC (waist circumference) was more than 80 cm and that is one criterion for syndrome X or metabolic syndrome. A person has metabolic syndrome if he or she has three or more of these 5 criteria as stated below:

  Abdominal obesity. This is determined by measuring the waist circumference, the criteria of which are population- and country-specific. For Malaysians, the upper limits for both men and women are 90 cm and 80 cm respectively.

 High blood pressure. If the reading is at or above 130 mmHg for systolic and/or 85 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure, or if a person is on medication for hypertension, then he or she falls into this group.

• High blood glucose. A fasting level above 5.6 mmol/L is abnormal. You have diabetes if your fasting level is more than 7.0 mmol/L on at least two separate occasions. If the value falls somewhere in between, you will then have impaired glucose tolerance or IGT. A special test called Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) may be needed to confirm the status.

 High triglycerides. This other main component of fat in the body is used as fuel for energy consumption. Elevated levels are found in those who are overweight, smokers, those who consume excess alcohol and eat high carbohydrate diet and those who lead a sedentary lifestyle. Levels above 1.7 mmol/L are considered high.

•Low HDL-cholesterol. Not all cholesterol is bad. HDL or good cholesterol facilitates the reverse transport of cholesterol from the arteries to the liver. This is in opposite action to LDL or bad cholesterol which causes the arteries to clog up. A level below 1.0 mmol/L for men and 1.3 mmol/L for women is considered abnormal.

 Except from here!


Indeed, I have three criteria: WC, BP and LDL.

So, people are talking about new year's resolution. My resolution is so very practicle, just wanting a regular daily routine with these objectives:

1. Maximum limit to one cup of rice a day with very simple lauk, e.g. ikan goreng with kuah pindan
2. At least 40 minutes with Rael Iskowitz in the evening, minimum 5 days a week. Optional, jogging during weekend.
3. Overdose on celery, carrot, daikon, lemon, green tea and the leaves from plants in my garden.
4. Weekly vacuuming and moping the whole house, at least once a week.
5. More quality time with hubby's cats.

The above routine will hopefully trim my WC and tone up the bod..and I'll be enjoying wonderful benefits, like normal blood pressure, normal lipids and lower risk of breast cancer relapse.