Playing "beat the doctor"

It's a family affair. My sister, two brothers, and I are playing "beat the doctor." All of us have been around the block several times on diets, drug cures, addictions, extreme approaches to living...well, you get the idea.

At this point, among the four of us, we've had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, colon maladies, low iron, and more. Our family of origin also has all of these conditions, plus arthritis and two kinds of cancer.

Each of us likes different kinds of food, ranging from vegetarian to meat-based, from home cooking to take-out. Our lifestyles range from extreme daily exercise to complete couch potato. We've ranged from heavily doctor and drug-dependent, to doctor avoidant to alternative medicine.

Mostly we've been at odds or at opposing ends of one another at various time. But now is a rare snapshot in time. Our ages are 55, 52, 49, and 43, and suddenly we're in synch.

That's not so odd, when you consider it's the first time in dozens of years that the medical community has been in synch.

Here's what my siblings and I are doing in our game of "beat the doctor."

1. Eliminating trans-fats. That's the best line of attack against high cholesterol

2. Reducing saturated fats, increasing healthy fats, including beneficial foods, and reducing the junk

3. Regular maintenance. Just as with an older car, your body needs more checkups and tests as you get older.

4. Reducing stress

5. Eating small portions and getting some regular activity

Doubling your annual doctor visits is a rough guideline. This means some new doctors and some new tests.

Each of us is chasing our numbers down to where they should be. We're all determined to shock our doctors, rendering them silent on the subject of meds. It's a nice game.