Tag: health

At 40, I Lost Everything. At 45, I Am Back to Zero.


At 40, I lost almost everything.

I was negative in money. Negative in people. Negative in morale. And completely negative in confidence.

The last five years were not about becoming successful again. They were about slowly bringing myself back from negative to neutral.

Today, at 45, I can honestly say I have reached zero.

Zero may not sound like an achievement to others. But when you have lived below zero for years, reaching zero itself is a victory.

From here, I know I will grow positive again.

These are 15 things I realised during these five years. I wanted to document them because many people reaching this age—and going through a similar phase—may face the same struggle.

1. Stop Thinking You Are Old

At 45, I am not finished. I still have enough time to rebuild, grow and create something meaningful.

2. Fix Sleep First

When sleep is broken, the mind, body and decisions also get broken. Nothing improves until sleep improves.

3. Decide What the Next 20 Years Should Look Like

I cannot change the last five years. But I can decide what I want my life at 65 to look like and start working towards it now.

4. Know Your Health Numbers

Ignoring health does not make the problem disappear. Know the numbers, accept the reality and take action early.

5. Move Away From People Who Drain You

Some people do not destroy you loudly. They quietly consume your time, peace and confidence for years. Distance is sometimes the only solution.

6. Stay Around People Who Make You Think Bigger

The people and ideas we follow every day slowly shape our thinking. Choose those who make you learn, act and grow.

7. Let the Old Identity Go

I cannot keep trying to become the person I was in my thirties. That chapter is over. I am allowed to build a new version of myself.

8. Put Every Rupee on Paper

Loans, dues, income, expenses and assets—write down everything. Financial recovery starts only when we stop avoiding the actual numbers.

9. Say No to Unnecessary Obligations

At this stage, every yes takes away time, money or energy from something else. If it does not support where I am going, I must learn to say no.

10. Stop Explaining Yourself

People who benefited from the old version of me may not like the new boundaries. I do not have to keep explaining why I changed.

11. Learn One Skill That Opens a New Door

One useful skill can change income, confidence and direction. Learning at 45 is not late—it is necessary.

12. Protect One Morning Habit

A walk, workout, reading, writing or quiet thinking—have one habit that belongs only to you. Protecting the morning changes the rest of the day.

13. Be Careful What You Consume

Most online content adds noise, fear or comparison. What I consume every day will either strengthen my mind or weaken it.

14. Do What the Old You Would Have Avoided

Make the difficult call. Start the work. Ask for help. Take the first step. Recovery begins when actions change.

15. Rebuilding at 45 Is More Powerful Than Drifting at 35

At 35, I had more time but less clarity. At 45, I may have less time, but I have experience, purpose and a better understanding of what matters.

I lost everything at 40.

It took five years to come back to zero.

Now I am not restarting with nothing. I am restarting with lessons, experience and clarity.

The next journey is from zero to positive.

Sleep is a Necessity Not a Luxury


I was following a disciplined routine until I was 18 where I use to sleep at 10 in the night & wake up by 6 in the morning…

This all changed when my passion to hack my newly brought Pentium100 during 1998… Buying a system was still a luxury… I use to work the whole night…

Then by 1999 I got internet connection at home & by this time my routine started to collapse… My sleeping hours started to shrink…

By 2000 I started my company and by now my working hours increased to 16 – 18 hours a day… My sleeping hours were between 2 – 3 hours a day… This is the number of hours I slept until 2009… I took pride in telling that I just slept for 2 – 3 hours a day…

But lack of sleep for almost a decade started to take its toll on my health…

For last 2 months I suffered from severe back pain because Muscle Spasm(Muscle Catch)… I was told it is mainly because of lack of sleep…

I was asked to do some stretch exercise & to sleep a lot… For last 2 weeks I’m sleeping for 8 – 10 hours a day… Now I don’t feel any pain in my back…

Today I drove to Bangalore & still feeling comfortable…

Now it is too late I realize the importance of sleep… These are some effects of sleep deprivation on me;

  • Severe indigestion
  • High Body Heat
  • Eye power increase & eye pain
  • Muscle Catch
  • Over eating

I’m struggling to bring in some discipline in my working hours & start taking care of my health as I’m not getting younger…

A chat with Dr.Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist)


A chat with Dr.Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist) Bangalore was arranged by WIPRO for its employees.

 

The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.

 

Qn: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?

 

Ans:

1. Diet – Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil

2.. Exercise – Half an hour’s walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a longtime

3. Quit smoking

4. Control weight

5. Control blood pressure and sugar

 

Qn: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?

 

Ans: No

 

Qn: It’s still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person  

gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?  

 

Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.

 

Qn: Are heart diseases hereditary? 

 

Ans: Yes  

 

Qn: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?

 

 

Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.

 

Qn: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?

 

Ans: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints  

 

Qn: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?

 

Ans: Mother Theresa , who was my patient

 

Qn: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?

 

Ans: Extremely rare

 

Qn: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age

(I’m currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?

 

Ans: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.

 

Qn: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ?

 

Ans: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body’s enzyme release for digestion gets confused.

 

Qn: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?

 

Ans: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.

 

Qn: Can yoga prevent heart ailments?

 

Ans: Yoga helps.

 

Qn: Which is the best and worst food for the heart?  

 

Ans: Fruits and vegetables are the best and the worst is oil.

 

Qn: Which oil is better – groundnut, sunflower, olive?

 

Ans: All oils are bad .

 

Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?  

 

Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.

 

Qn: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?

 

Ans: Help the person into a sleeping position , place an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.

 

Qn: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?

 

Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.

 

Qn: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.

 

Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, edentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.

 

Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?

 

Ans: Yes.

 

Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?

 

Ans : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer as a child

 

Qn: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart ? What precautions would you recommend?

 

Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.

 

Qn: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?

 

Ans : Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.

 

Qn: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?

 

Ans : No.

 

Qn: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?

 

Ans : No.

 

Qn: How would you define junk food?

 

Ans : Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , samosas, and even masala dosas.

 

Qn: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?

 

Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.

 

Qn: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?

 

Ans : No.

 

Qn: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?

 

Ans : Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.

 

Qn: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?

 

Ans : No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.

 

Qn: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise? 

 

Ans : Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.

 

Qn: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?

 

Ans: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.

 

Qn: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?

 

Ans : Diet, exercise, drugs on time , Control cholesterol, BP, weight..

 

Qn: Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?  

 

Ans : No.

 

Qn: What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?  

 

Ans : There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to

reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.

 

Qn: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?

 

Ans : No.

 

Qn: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?

 

Ans : Nature protects women till the age of 45.

 

Qn: How can one keep the heart in a good condition?

 

Ans : Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkup s if you are past the age of 30 ( once in six months recommended) ….