African Predator

FREEZING COLD IN SUTHERLAND! IT MAY NOT LOOK COLD, BUT THIS IS AUGUST, AND MAN IT IS CHILLY! THEN THE SNOW COMES!

I wrote this to illustrate what it means to have good health as most guys looking at my site will be guides etc, and you need to be fit so this will help you all who cannot understand blood counts etc

How’s your health, are you a smoker, drinker or both, are you overweight? Or slender? These are questions you should ask your self, especially if you reach the age from 38 onwards. How’s your cholesterol reading??? How about your blood pressure or heart rate? All these things most of us never worried about in our twenties and late 30’s, hell even some of us in our 40’s don’t bother!

If you like to party and put the beers away what do you do to keep in shape? Do you look after yourself or just carry on day by day? Remember your life can change within a few seconds, one minute you may be working on the lands on the tractor, and then you may awake to find yourself in a hospital with pipes coming out of you all over the place!

Avoid heart attacks, strokes and other terrible health issues, look after yourself!

When we are young to many of us think it’s all a great party, drinking, having a braai or smoking and overeating and trying to out do a friend at what he does etc, we don’t think about what’s to come!

I was checked at the doctor after I felt tired and exhausted, I was 41 years old, I am 5 foot 8, and weighed in at 85 kilos, the doctor went into panic mode at my cholesterol reading of 6,7 and handed me the verdict. I had to lose weight, and get my reading down. It should be below 5. It took me 2 months to get my weight down to 68 kilos and my reading was 4,3 in blood count.

This is an excellent reading. Today I am between 4, 3 and 4, 7 and my weight is a steady 72 kilogram. I have my blood checked 4 times a year and watch my readings, and my pulse is a 58 (super fit). I class it as eat well, feel well and look well.

I come from a family with cholesterol troubles, so I must be careful, for years now I don’t eat red meat, milk, cheese, cakes, eggs, animal fats, shell fish, no hamburgers or oily chips, and not even pancakes or waffles. Even fizzy drinks are out! I cannot eat these things as they contain HIGH cholesterol and it will kill me! If I have to eat a piece of red meat an inch in size I will feel it and know I digested something that’s not good for me.

I do want to say I CAN take a pill, and bypass all this, BUT rather not, I want to live a good healthy life, so take no pill and have found that we can find many alternative foods to eat other than danger foods found in some stores.

Good foods to eat are watermelon, Avocado; chicken grilled without the skin, NOT done in oil, Ostrich meat is excellent. Almond nuts are good and fish grilled but NOT shellfish. A Snoek thrown on the coals with lemon is about as good as you can get!

Simply avoid all products with animal fats and stay away from junk food, the worst food you can eat, I call it a cholesterol bomb is a cheese hamburger and hot chips with a milkshake. EVERYTHING you eat in this combination has cholesterol. This is killer food.

I often hunt with a team of guys, 3 others and all of them also do heavy workouts and lift weights, just looking at them tells you that they are very healthy, and if you are out of shape you will no doubt be intimidated.

I recall on one hunt, we entertained a client and his friends, he was a big mouth, a no all, and you could tell him nothing, we all sat at the lunch table. The client spoke about some topic and the one member of my crew said something and the client never really liked it to much, so he said and I quote “ Well that kind of talk could require a person to put you in your place” My partner was not wrong in what he said to start with, so he just looked at the client who was about 5 foot 6 and weighed about 130 kilos, (very sad case) and said to him, “ friend rather sit down you are out of shape, when you eat shit you look like that, and when you look after yourself you look like this”. I will never forget that day, it hurt him to be told that, but it’s a fact. EAT WELL, FEEL WELL AND LOOK WELL!

You know that saying “ Rather have a gun and not need it than need it and not have it” you heard that before, well rather have a good body and not need medical aid than have an abused body and need medical aid!

I do this everyday either at the farm or in town in the office etc. I do this 6 days a week and on Sunday I rest – but still do a small workout, just a tiny one. It’s hard to explain but after you do this and you miss a day you feel GUILTY! No, it is a fact. I have been working out now for a good few years, and TAKE NO STEROIDS! I am totally natural, and how I look today is due to me, my own natural self and body workout process.

MORNING

Indoor bicycle for 15-20 minutes with 65% tension.

Go for a 2 kilometre run (holding extra 3 kilogram – 1, 5 in each hand)

Do weight training for 30 minutes. Total of 8 kilogram weights.

Drink a lot of water.

AFTERNOON

Bicycle 15 minutes and do 30 minutes weights. 8 Kilogram weight.

On Sunday I do 10 minutes bicycle and 30 minute weights, I don’t run on Sundays. In the afternoon I just do 30 minutes weights.

If you want to workout what weight you should lift, for lifting weights for biceps lift a weight you can just easily lift without to much stress, this is a good beginner, work 10 lifts on one side and then rotate. Do that for 5 sets and rest, drink water. Then exercise chest and stomach etc.

Work out different styles you will lift the weights and write them down, then as you train go through the list so everyday you won’t forget to do a specific style.

Use two different weights while exercising also by changing weights helps all the exercise to not become boring.

If you are concerned about over working yourself or to much training, your body will tell you if you are overdoing things, if you find you are developing stiff or sore joints etc, then cut back a little.

I run about 380 kilometres a year. I don’t really fancy running and I also DON’T have the correct body shape for running, so I never really got into it, I do carry extra 3 kilo weight when I run and keep them at chest height.

All this keeps me in shape, and I am proud with the body that I have got, I used to do about 200 push ups everyday as well but it damaged my back, so I just do weights now.

If you are concerned then consult a physical trainer, but start in getting your blood pressure and blood checked, then decide on an exercise for you and make it interesting, play the radio or watch TV while doing training, it’s less boring. Hope this helps. Don’t wait till it’s to late, look after your body!

One final point; after you work out and sweat, DON’T have a cold shower, it will close up your sweat pores and you wont be able to release all the bad toxins in your body, get into a warm shower, then after a minute cool it down and end with a cool shower. You will find you won’t have much body odour if you generally suffer from this.

Don’t wait till its to late ; staying fit, slim and healthy is far better and easier than having to go on diet to lose a lot of fat, so look after yourself and you will see you will feel far better!

I feel strong and fit, I am in my early 40’s but I tell you this I am in far better shape than many people in late 20’s!