Health is wealth -- and now is the time to think ahead

The state-of-the-art health gizmo is no liar despite the soothing words of comfort from the health club instructor.

As the tiny computer hooked up to a gadget on my upper arm spits out evermore alarming verdicts on the sorry state of my fitness, a look of shock registers on Cindy's face.

Like a true trooper, she pulls herself together and does her best to make me feel better.

"You know, it's not so bad," she coos, yanking the gadget away and taking a deliberately perfunctory glance at the data.

Oh, but it is so.

At 31, 180 centimeters and 95 kilograms (or 5 feet 11 inches/210 pounds to the metrically muddled), I am quite simply on the way to an early grave.

The cold hard facts are that

a) I am obese,

b) my life expectancy is seriously compromised and I am a walking time-bomb for heart disease, diabetes and a host of other terrible ailments, and

c) I barely earn a smudge on the fitness level gauge.

In the past eight years, I have gained 16 kilograms, due to a combination of letting myself go in the food department and rarely biting the bullet to exercise.

Without being too hard on myself, I have succumbed to the two evils of laziness and greed.

Still, it is something that I have come this far, laying my physical deficiencies on the line and trying my darndest to whip myself back into shape. Any shape.

Time has come for me to jump on the exercise wagon and try to get down to as close as possible to my college weight of 75 kilograms to 80 kilograms. Finally, perhaps, I will get to wear those clothes from yesteryear which are gathering dust in a corner of my closet, a makeshift shrine to waistlines past.

I take the plunge and sign up at a fitness center. Main pluses are a 50 percent discount on the membership fee, it is close to my home and, as one would expect given its name, it has a beautiful spa, replete with sauna and steam room.

Cindy, who is English, a vegetarian and a wisp of a woman ("I forget to eat," she confesses) gives me the third degree on my food intake.

Blabbering like a late-night snacker caught with his head in the refrigerator, I confess all.

My inquisitor rules that my failings are that I eat too late in the evening, much too much and make poor food choices.

I am advised to eat small meals throughout the day, with particular emphasis on fruit and vegetables.

High-fat no-nos of cheese, cakes, fried foods, chocolate and meats are banished from my reduced menu. And the advice is water, water, water everywhere to flush out toxins from the system.

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper," Cindy counsels. Unfortunately, it is the exact opposite of my usual black-coffee breakfast, sandwich lunch and heavy dinner, often followed by a late night snack (I work nights).

Still, the food dictates are easier to swallow than buckling down and pumping iron in the gym.

I spend the first week lounging in the sauna, opening every pore in my body in the steam room and doing like Esther Williams in the whirlpool. Fortunately for lazy old me, the spa is deserted during office hours so I am left to my own devices.

A dip in the pool is out of the question -- it is fronted on two sides by restaurants and, I reason, I am doing a public service by opting not to put diners off their lunch with a fleeting glimpse of roly-poly in the flesh.

I explain my reasoning to Cindy, whose eyes register "Fat excuse", or something to that effect. "You really should start working out next week with one of the instructors," she says, finally showing her true colors as a dulcet-voiced taskmaster.

Well, tomorrow is another week.

Hilton LifeSpa

For those who do not follow Scarlet O' Hara's lead of making procrastination a fine art, there are plenty of places in the city to begin the long journey to whip oneself back into shape.

We all want to feel and look better, although a vain desire to be the best we can be in the attractiveness department may be the overriding factor for most of us.

And the pursuit of the buff body strikes both sexes equally. Shakespeare may have said that women had cornered the market on vanity, but he never witnessed the gaggles of proud peacocks in teeny-weeny shorts and skimpy shirts staking their territory in fitness centers.

Prominent among the fitness centers now tapping into all the diverse needs of its members is the Clark Hatch LifeSpa & Fitness Center at the Jakarta Hilton International.

In addition to beefing up their bodies with state-of-the-art fitness facilities, Jakarta residents can let their cares drift away with a heavy dose of pampering at the LifeSpa.

"In 1998, we began to realize there was a new focus toward relaxation and stress management," says Brian J. Billdt, a consultant to Clark Hatch Fitness Centers.

"We were previously 100 percent focused on physical fitness, but we now know the value of pampering services."

Using a delectable array of natural products, the LifeSpa offers such treatments as Aromatherapic Massage, Body Scrub and Herbal Bath.

The facilities also are open to members of the public and the LifeSpa, with its band of personal trainers, can personalize a fitness program for members.

"We know that people are much more likely to be successful if they have a program that they want to do, not that they have to do," Billdt said.

Allianz

The fittest among us succumb to a random virus now and again, even if it is only a case of the sniffles. But when our medical problems are of a more substantial nature, a trip to a specialist may be in order.

Seeking out expert medical care is likely to put a strain on our pocketbook, or that of our employer if it is footing the bill.

Yet, a clean bill of health is always preferable to nitpicking over health-care costs.

Offering a helping hand to both workers and their employers in covering medical needs is Allianz HealthCare, a division of the German insurance group Allianz.

Its ManagedCare health insurance policy aims to lift the burden of managing health care services from employers while ensuring quality treatment of employees.

"Allianz ManagedCare offers far more than conventional health insurance," said Health Director Ian Moore. "It not only provides coverage for employees when they fall sick, but also includes preventive care such as family planning and immunization.

"Allianz ManagedCare doesn't just stop there but also provides professional guidance to employees on how to get the most effective treatment.

Employees also benefit from ManagedCare because they gain control of the cost of health care while letting us take over the task of administering the service for their employees."