Diet and lifestyle before CAA Class 1 Medical...

[Lew747]

Hey All,

I think im going to save up for my class 1 now before I do anything else post-PPL. Just so i know I can pursue a career as a commercial airline pilot from a medical standpoint. I already have a Class 2 which I passed without any problems whatsoever.

I read in one of my commercial pilot books that you should change your diet and how you eat, exercise etc at least one month before the class 1. Is this something that everyone has done? i.e. eat healthy foods and go jogging/ cycling for 8 miles a day, everyday. I'm quite a thin guy and my BMI is normal however i will admit i have been eating an awful lot of junk over the last few months! I'm pretty certain this would be reflected in blood/pee tests carried out on me and obviously i want the best chance of passing the medical.

Hope to hear your views

Lewis :)

[Celtic Pilot]

There is a medical thread on PPRuNe so i suggest you search through that... It is specifically aimed towards class 1/2 medicals..

In relation to your question, I dont think you have to take it to that extreme.. I didnt and I passed no probs at all, saying that I train three times a week playing gaelic football.... but i really dont think you would have to change you lifestyle and eating habits for it........

HOWEVER,, avoid constantly eating lots of junk food, as this may come back to hunt you in later years such as Diabetes and thing of that nature!!!! Try and make sure your not dieing of the flu and cold before it, (not something people can help) but if you are out running, make sure you waer something warm!!!!

thats pretty much it... it not as bad as you think!!!!

p.s Make sure you get plenty of sleep and rest a week before it as tiredness and stress tends to show itself in the eyesight front.....

good luck with it!!!!

[BigBoeing]

Hi,
Nothing so extreme is needed at all. Just make sure your not hungover and you should be fine. If your already moderatly fit then you should have no problems with the breathing tests etc, other than that eating sensibly in the few days before is a good idea, don't eat any junk food on the day or you'll end up with huge blood sugar spike. If I'd tried to run 8 miles the day before my medical I very much doubt I would have made it there, let alone passed it. Good luck.

[preduk]

Also watch out how much coke and fizzy juice you drink. I was doing a medical (non aviation) and they were concerned with my blood pressure which they put down to too much diet coke. I got it checked out again a couple of weeks later and it was fine again.

[XXPLOD]

Yep - balanced diet, no alcohol 24 hours before, don't breakfast on chocolate - it might skew the cholestoral test. Don't go to any clubs in the preceding days, the volume can damage your eardrums and the sounds in the hearing test are very quiet!

Other than that, at 18 you should be fine.

[Lew747]

Thanks for your replies!

Fortunately i dont drink or smoke- i just cant stand the taste of anything with alcohol in it! I've also got back onto my bike. See if i can get back up to the 100 miles a week i was doing a year ago!

But yes, junk food is my 'fag + drink' :(

[Celtic Pilot]

Dont know what the crack is with your skamed face at the end of that...

I say fair play til ya!!!! Junk food might not be healthy but it 100 times better than fag and drink.... Go on ya!!!!!

you'll have no bother wit ya medical wit that for a lifestyle!!!!!

:ok:

[Artie Fufkin]

i just cant stand the taste of anything with alcohol in it!

And you want to be a pilot? :eek:

:E

[shgsaint]

I agree with the posts above.

No need to do anything over the top. My diet / exercise regime goes up and down all the time. I've had weeks where i'm down the gym every night and eating meat, fish and veg (all the good stuff) then weeks where I'm down the gym for 30 mins a week and eating a pizza and whole tub of Ben & Jerrys for afters! I was fine on my medical. One piece of advice is to drink plenty of water 24 hours before the day. I drank hardly nothing and downed a litre of Pinapple juice half an hour before I went in. Needless to say my first Urine sample wasn't up to standards and 2 hours and 32 and half cups of water later I was fine! :rolleyes:

I agree with the alcohol comment. On your Medical form it'll ask you for weekly alcohol consumption in units. I believe the CAA pass bracket is somewhere within the 15-24 units a week.... Anything less and you need to get your ass down the pub more!!! :E Anything more and you'll half way there to the left hand seat.

Just kidding!

[SparksFlyHigh]

I heard it was 15-24 units a day to pass.

[Lew747]

Un-real! I said to myself after reading this 'right time to cut down on the junk'....2 hours later im sitting in burger king!! and tonight the family has just ordered in chinese :ugh:

[ChrisLKKB]

I had a stinking hangover when I took my initial class I and i'd just finished my exams so I was full of caffine too ;)

[flyboy1818]

I was blasted for being too healthy! My resting heart beat was only 45 BPM! I now have to eat steak and chips before a medical and stop running for a week before hand!

[JohnRayner]

At the age of 18 the only thing you have to worry about are things that no amount of healthy living will address i.e. abnormal heart tracing, poor vision etc, as the teenage body can take quite a lot of punishment. (I know, I've done it!)

The above advice is all good though, and will help when you get into the age range where things get a bit, well, frayed.

No alcohol? Seriously?

:}:}

[Lew747]

Yah! No Alcohol whatsoever :}

Shandy's alright!...and a wee bit of smurnoff or however it's spelt! Coke, Fanta and Water are my favs!! :}:}

[JohnRayner]

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: :eek:


(etc.)

[Celtic Pilot]

DOnt go to uni!!!!!!!! :cool:

It would be like hell for you!!!!!.... :E

[Shunter]

Hmm. I stayed in the Chavelodge the night before my Class 1. Ordered the steak pie (disgusting), then phoned out for a pizza (much better). Consumed that with a few glasses of red wine (also disgusting). Skipped rip-off breakfast at the hotel, had a full English in the Belgrano canteen. Also skipped the usual post-breakfast tab (although the CAA have a splendid roof-garden for the social elite). Class 1 issued no problem.

If you're even remotely healthy, can see and hear ok, the medical is a breeze.

[ChrisLKKB]

fwiw, bring your own lube with you and give it to the doc before he starts otherwise he wont bother using any :eek:

[JohnRayner]

HE DIDN'T!! :eek::eek:

[Lew747]

Lube!? Am i missing out on something here!?!?!!?!?

[Leezyjet]

Yep, bend over and take a deep breath in !! :eek:

Before I went for mine, I printed off some info from the CAA website and took it to my own GP for a quick once over, and went to the Opticians with the eyesight requirements. Turned out my cholesterol was high, (runs in the family) so for 2 weeks before I used those Flora pro-active thingies. When I was tested again at the CAA, it was normal - so they do work !!.

Oh and don't bother wearing a suit as some people do for the Class 1, it is unnecessary. Jeans, T-shirt and trainers is just fine. You spend most of the day half naked under a dressing gown anyway.

:)

[ChrisLKKB]

Lube!? Am i missing out on something here!?!?!!?!?

KY will do. It's quite a thorough medical.

[Shiver me timbers!]

Haha they're all pulling your leg. It's nothing too bad. The worst part is probably when they inspect downstairs...especially when the ever present smokers in the car park are stood right next to the window.

Good luck!!

:)

[JohnRayner]

And here was I thinking I'd missed out on something during mine..... :E

[Lew747]

Oh! I've just thought, what if this junk i've been eating has raised my cholesterol?? How would I go about lowering that...is it something excerise alone could achieve or do I need to eat a stick of that flora butter stuff every day??

[Shunter]

I think you're flapping a bit much. They won't fail you for high cholesterol, it's an advisory test only.

I'd just returned from a month in South Africa having been eating lobster drowned in garlic butter on a daily basis when I had my medical. Cholesterol through the roof (<5 is normal, mine was 9.3!), still passed, although was duly frowned at. Tested at GP fortnight later after resuming normal diet, back to normal :ok:

[Lew747]

Shunter- I reckon your right! I just keep thinking that the Class 1 is a lot more stringent than a class 2 (Which it is) but im just nitpicking i think! I'm thinking it's more like a medical an Apollo astronaut would have to undergo!

[Leezyjet]

Reply #27
Oh! I've just thought, what if this junk i've been eating has raised my cholesterol?? How would I go about lowering that...is it something excerise alone could achieve or do I need to eat a stick of that flora butter stuff every day??

Reply #23
Turned out my cholesterol was high, (runs in the family) so for 2 weeks before I used those Flora pro-active thingies. When I was tested again at the CAA, it was normal - so they do work !!.

Don't people read the whole thread anymore ?. :ok: :}

:rolleyes:

[Lew747]

Yeah, i was referring to that Flora stuff! I was just wondering if just exercise alone and no diet/health food stuff would work??:}:}

[JohnRayner]

At 18 years old IT DOESN'T MATTER! Mine was high after a weekend of junk food and plenty of same on the loong train journey down there. They still passed me, and I staggered out of my teens into the bright light years ago!

If you were 50-odd with a high cholesterol and this funny sensation in your chest when you went up the stairs they'd be down on you like a ton of bricks. But you're not, so they won't.

Also, as mentioned, the finger-prick testing they do is really just to give you a pointer to having a proper blood test. Which is done fasting, so that the BK flamers/ etc. can't screw up the result.

No-one, anywhere, cares what the random non-fasting cholesterol of an otherwise fit and healthy 18 year old is. Trust me on this :ok:

Now on the other hand, if you weigh 30 stone, can't walk 2 steps without having a sit down and have a family history of relatives dropping dead at a young age, someone might just prick up their ears a bit....

(they might also have a word with you if they get the impression that you get really, REALLY worked up about things that don't matter...:\)

[daria-ox]

Intresting thread. :E

I've got my medical coming up in a week and a half now. I'm stressed out about millions of things. I'm not changing my diet, as I eat really.. really healthy, and I exercise quite a lot too. I spend 7 hours a week at the swimming pool :ugh: Hopefully I will pass :E

[ChrisLKKB]

You'll probably fail for having high chlorine levels, a verruca or athletes foot. I'd veg out a bit, eat some lard and fire up a few Woodbines, you don't want to make the doctor look bad :ok:

[brit bus driver]

Make the doctor look bad.....what about the rest of us!! :}

[JohnRayner]

All that exercise might make your heart rate LOW enough to raise a few eyebrows!

A guy posted on another thread (can't see it here, hope it's not an eyesight issue:}) who did lots and lots of swimming and cycling. Frowns all round, "harrumph, bradycardia" and lots of explanations needed apparently.

Just enough cheeseburger to get your heart rate into the 70-80's, methinks. But not enough to raise the old cholesterol. Obviously. And given your age, advice about booze is right out!

:}:}:}:}:}

[daria-ox]

My lifestyle has always been like that :rolleyes: I've been doing loads of swimming for the past 3 years, I enjoy it :p I go swimming about 2/3 times a week, after work. About my diet, I eat a lot of meat & veg ;). Sometimes I go to a chippy and get something :E Who doesn't?

[Ratita]

I never worried about things like cholesterol or exercising before
going to do my medical during my time in the UK.
The only thing (related to a blood test) I got checked
on regularly was blood sugar and it never seemed a big
challenge to go renew my medical year after year...
My initial medical I did in an other european country though and
it felt like a marathon running from one doctor to the next :}
I only assume (well, I bloody well hope so) that the initial
medical in england might somewhat be more "difficult" than the yearly checkup...

Good luck to everyone!!!
:ok:

[daria-ox]

I passed Class 2 Medical :E

[AJ1990]

I had my Initial Class 1 just a month ago and there really isn't anything to get overly stressed about. Its a very calm, relaxed atmosphere and the people who work there were fantastic. I arrived approximatly an hour early and they let me get started almost immediatly thankfully. I'd take a book/magazine with you as theres plenty of sitting around but would advise you not to take an ipod as I'm sure that wouldn't do your hearing test any favours. Its not overly intrusive if you have issues with that...no KY dont worry :ok:, you have to strip down to your pants infront of the nice nurse and balance on one foot but thats about as bad as it gets. I did have a bit of scare though when the nurse told me she thought she had heard a heart mumor (obviously at 18 its not what you would expect :eek:), but all was found to be well :D.

So to summarise, unless you like your fags, Big Macs and Television a bit too much I wouldn't loose any sleep over it :ok:

AJ