Health scare :(

They're greedily feeding the "I'm too busy..." or "I can't cook" mentality of a lot of people :( Anyone can cook anything if they try! It's a vicious circle people get into, one which only benefits the manufacturers :(

 

@Ellen . The prawn linguine was a ready meal, but without most of the fat that you get in other types.
So why can't they just sell the healthy one? £1.50 is cheap enough
I am afraid that I am guilty of not making enough meals myself. For me it's about getting home after 7 everyday, and feeling shattered. Especially in the winter when I see very little daylight during the day (factory work, no windows anywhere). The sun gives us all more energy
@fat controller . I have had some treatment recently but just a filling on the surface of a tooth. I think the throat pains were going on before this. Mouth and teeth feel fine. I had a chest x ray to look for infections, but all clear I have developed a cough and sore throat since Thursday though, which is 'very' rare for me.
I haven't had a cold for example, in years! I am wondering if it's some kind of hay fever symptom, as most have been whilst outside.
@Lolimac . Back to docs at 2.30 today, but not my favourite doctor. They said if I have another one, to ring in straight away.
You are a good bunch here. Friendliest forum ever!
@M Thanks M, I just want it sorted. A definitive answer would be nice. I don't like unexplained symptoms

 

Just got to chime in on the Ready Meals. They are full of salt and other bad stuff. Have a look here : http://www.sheknows.co.uk/health-and-wellness/articles/956531/what-makes-ready-meals-so-unhealthy
And here : http://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/may/29/food.medicineandhealth

So, grow your veg and buy fresh meat. Simples ..........and cheap.

 

Yep, like I said in my original post, it's no secret, but the point I am trying to make is that healthier options are on sale. I do take onboard about the nutrient, and other aspects though.
For a ready meal, this is much healthier than others, as your link points out. They should put a stop to selling 'really' unhealthy stuff (ready meal wise). I only bought 2 (healthier ones).
This is the prawn meal. I have always bought fresh meat, but what is in the stuff we add? (sauces etc). Poor photo....290 cal, 8.4 sug, 3.5 fat, 1.8 sats, 1.3 salt.

 

I found this informative and pretty much what happens. (in my case).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2299018/When-sore-throat-sign-HEART-trouble.html

 

Sorry to hear your news :( However, the good news is that you ain't dead yet

Sort of ... your BMI is 25.6 and 25 is the upper limit for "healthy weight". You are only 4lb over, but it would be better you are nearer the middle of the healthy range, than the edge of it (more especially with diabetes I am guessing?)

http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

Healthy range for 49 year old male with low activity levels ("occasionally travel on foot, job is not active-type, most of work & leisure time sitting, 2.5 hours exercise a week") is 8st 13lb - 12st 1lb

If you want to lose weight I would recommend looking at Intermittent Fasting. Basically only eating in an 8 hour window (say 1pm to 9pm). NO calories outside that time, so in the morning Coffee (black no sugar), or green tea or some other zero calorie alternative. You can eat what you like between Lunch and Supper (I have my delayed breakfast at tea time otherwise I find I am hungry in the evening and snack after supper). best of all is that I find that intermittent fasting is compatible with real life - e.g. going to friends for lunch / dinner - I certainly don't want to inconvenience them by saying "I'm only eating cabbage this month"

At the start of the year my BMI was 27.1, its now 25.2 (86kg down to 77.3kg now - 1 stone 5 lbs lost) and during that time I have eaten exactly whatever I fancied, just not in the morning . Whenever I can I delay lunch (by organising a business meeting at that time / 2pm and not having my lunch until after that time), that helps a lot - the shorter the eating-window the more effective it is. I didn't even consider the form of intermittent fasting that involves only eating 400 calories a day for two days a week - same issue with inconveniencing people around me that I would like to socialise with. Also, I was also totally disinterested with any Fad / Wonder diet. Never known anyone who tried one who, a year later, said that they were properly fixed. I needed something that would work in "maintenance" as well as in "diet" phases.

Hopefully you are a non smoker? Drinking within NHS guidlines? (I gave that up a couple of years ago, decided that it was just a habit that most of society has and not something that I actually needed or that actually enhanced a meal / occasion)

My advice would be to take up cooking as a hobby. I don't believe that any ready meals can really be classed as "healthy". Apart from that ready meals tend to be expensive, so opportunity to save money on home cooking. Maybe start with home made snacks - cake / cookies / whatever - the things that you would eat as a treat, home made will be less bad for you than shop-bought

 

Learning to cook is a brilliant idea- but why not start with prawn linguine?

http://rainylakerecipes.com/main-dishes/jamie-oliver-prawn-linguini

I can pretty much guarantee that it will be more delicious than any ready meal and probably cost not that much more. The additional cost will be repaid by a hundred times better quality. Also, as you begin to accumulate a store-cupboard of useful ingredients, the cost starts to go down, anyway.

Jamie's recipe has 100gm of prawns per serving, but the ready meal will probably only have 20gm per serving. So you can halve the amount of the expensive ingredients but still come out better than a bought meal.

The other thing about learning to cook, thinking about life after the divorce, ladies do like a man who can cook them a nice meal!

 

IMO, there should be no sugar in prawn linguine - this meal contains nearly two teaspoons of it. It bears out what someone said earlier, that when concocting low fat recipes they replace the fat with sugar to give the dish flavour and 'mouth-feel' for the lowest possible cost. I'd prefer a nice spoonful of extra-virgin olive oil instead of the sugar!

NG, I don't think the government will ever ban the really unhealthy stuff, there is a massive amount of profit to be made out of it and food manufacturers will squeal with rage if they think a stop will be put to it, much the same as the tobacco industry.

 

I was an amazing cook before I got married. A skill that has deserted me for some reason

I suspect most people listen to music on their exercise regime / commute. My daughters override the car radio the moment we set off on a journey with a playlist from their phones - same play list each time ... I don't "get" that ...

I download Podcasts to listen to when I am out "solo" somewhere, and also TED. All sorts of fascinating things to listen to - even learning a foreign language. I don't see a 20 minute exercise / dog walking slot as needing to be a loss from "spare time"

For anyone needing motivation then the NHS have some good stuff on "Couch-to-5K" (aka C25K). Recordings with "Start walking ... now walk a bit faster ... now slower again" type encouragement that will jack-up the amount you do, week by week, until you are doing 5K (the "course" is normally 9 weeks, but is self-paced)
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/couch-to-5k.aspx

Fewer calories going in, than you expend on energy, is a good place to start

But, personally, I found it very hard to do just that. Lots of calorie counting, which I found tedious and difficult to accurately estimate - and demoralising having to deny myself something that I wanted to eat!

 

When I was figuring out how to lose weight (and doing some calorie counting to that end) I registered on
www.myfitnesspal.com
At the time I was thinking of getting a Step Counter and that website hooks up to exercise-taken and calories--counted and does all sorts of useful analysis / encouragement graphs and the like.

Anyways, long story short, it has the best (by my research) database of Calories etc. and includes loads of own-brand products

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calorie-chart-nutrition-facts

I put "prawn linguine healthy" in and got a list of various supermarket offerings. I also tried, for comparison, "prawn linguine homemade"

"Tesco Healthy Living - Chilli Prawn Linguine 350g" vs. "Homemade - Linguine With Prawns and Pesto - 1 cup"

Calories 396 435
Total Fat 12 g 11 g
Saturated 2 g 2 g
Polyunsaturated 0 g 0 g
Monounsaturated 0 g 0 g
Trans 0 g 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 245 mg
Sodium 500 mg 283 mg
Potassium 0 mg 0 mg
Total Carbs 49 g 52 g
Dietary Fiber 6 g 1 g
Sugars 9 g 1 g
Protein 19 g 30 g
Vitamin A 0% 14%
Vitamin C 0% 12%
Calcium 0% 17%
Iron 0% 34%

Don't think the vitamins tells us anything (presumably not calculated for the Tesco version). Dunno how 350g compares to 1 cup? Maybe that accounts for Calories being higher, and dunno what to make of Cholesterol, but the Qty of Sodium (i.e. Salt) and Sugar in the "Healthy" option looks worrying to me ...

I know, bit of a small sample size for a side-by-side test - and gawd knows if the data, for these two items, is accurate.

 

The problem is that any type of diabetes med can cause hypos if the correct amount of carbs is not eaten throughout the day. This means that intermittant fasting would not be suitable but a lowered carb intake can be controlled more easily.

 

My thanks to everyone for the great response, and some really interesting facts and points.
Well, I went to the docs this afternoon, and from what I can make out, they do suspect it's heart related, and I need to attend the rapid chest pain clinic to do the treadmill and some other tests.
He gave me a spray in case of more episodes, and told me to take 75mg aspirin each day.
I do actually like cooking, but I have only ever attempted curries. I do make big lasagnes and shepherd pies and split and freeze them, but often forget to defrost them during the day...I am useless!
Before I forget, I have never smoked, and I do not drink, nor ever have much in the past.
@Kristen....interesting post. Thank you. I am glad it's working for you
I am not sure what my diabetic nurse would say if I didn't have breakfast. She moans at me now for waiting till 10:15am. I do like the idea of the couch to 5k thing. I have come across it before and started doing it. It's amazing how you improve every day or other day. The recorded voice thing sounds great I think that 4lb is part of my paunch
My blood pressure is better today, but those nurses may have raised it somewhat they now have their chocolates
I quite enjoy the calorie counting bit. You learn so much. The salt content (2g) of my tuna sandwich filler was a surprise (this time around ). I have kept under all GDA's again today, except salt :( 119% today. I agree that there may not be a healthy ready meal, but what I am trying to get across is the point made in the research linked by @Lea. If you 'must' buy one, you really need to check them because as the research found (and I said in my original post), they vary in badness hugely! For example....my usual madras is high in sats, but by picking up a jalfrezi instead, my meal is now low in sats and other stuff too. Same manufacturer/range. Some of the sat fats I saw were awful. 18g in a sausage roll!

@Madahhlia I don't think I am of use to any woman now even if I could cook
I just had chicken breast in peri peri sauce. The sauce was far too sweet and salty.

@shiney thanks for that tip on removing the fat from the stock I like that one!
I will definitely try building up to fitness, and I am looking forward to it. Must get the tests out of the way first though, as you say.

 

So my Asda linguine was pretty damn good based on those figures above

 

Sweets keep the blood sugar up just plain boiled, also relaxing.