All in a day's work: Paul the retiree

Paul, the retiree

Paul is a 66-year-old retiree who lives in a rural location, where they rely mostly on what’s in the freezer and the garden and what they catch from the sea for meals. They travel an hour by car to play golf once or twice a week. Paul has very high cholesterol and is on daily medication for this.

8:00am ½ cup homemade muesli (oats, nuts, seeds toasted with oil and honey, it's yum, my wife makes it) and fresh fruit salad. 1 piece of wholemeal toast with margarine and marmite. 2 cups of tea
9:00am Cup of coffee with milk.
1:00pm On the golf course, having a cracker game today so don't even feel like eating but it's there so I eat it. Egg mayonnaise and salami sandwich eaten between holes. Lots of water.
6:00pm A few drinks after golf: 3 beers and snacks (some potato chips, and some crackers with cheese).
8:00pm Freshly caught (by myself yesterday!) pan-fried fish, oven potato chips and a green salad.
9:00pm Cup of coffee and 2 chocolates.

Nadia Lim’s nutrition quick fix

To help lower your cholesterol levels through diet you need to cut down on saturated fat, which typically comes from high fat animal products such as fatty meat, cream, butter and in your case, cheese. Boost your intake of the healthy fats by having salmon, avocado and nuts — the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in these foods help lower LDL (the “bad’’) cholesterol levels. However if you are overweight, your cholesterol levels and general health, including your blood pressure, will benefit greatly from cutting down on the snacks and alcohol. You start the day off well, but slack off later — your after golf snack consists of more calories than a typical meal itself. Switch the chippies, crackers and cheese to fresh fruit and a small amount of nuts.