GP appointments are hard to come by these days, with many under pressure to get us out the door in around 10 minutes.
But there is another way to get your general health checked while finding out if you are at risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
And the best bit is - it's completely free.
But Belfast Live are well aware these things can be quite daunting - so I went along to Chest Heart & Stroke on the Dublin Road to see what it's all about.
As I've said before, I enjoy my grub and a few too many drinks from time to time - but don't we all? With that in mind, I have to admit I was a bit more nervous about this rather extensive health check than the liver check - as they check everything from your height and weight, to cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rhythm, BMI, bone density, muscle and body fat.
They even give you a reading on your base metabolic rate which shows how many calories you burn each day.
At just over 5ft1 I didn't think I would be able to wolf down the standard 2000kcal a day - but was surprised to learn I burn just around 1400kcal.
That'll be the reason for my weight - which we are not talking about as I went in knowing I could lose more than a few pounds - and intend to get right on that.
I was surprised to learn however that while my BMI and body fat percentage are higher than they should be - I was well within the healthy range for visceral fat - that's the bad stuff that wraps around your internal organs. I got 8 and anything from 1 to 12 is healthy.
I also learned that I have great muscle mass - 43.2 - in fact much better than the healthy range.
But the next three tests are a little more serious and warrant a GP referral if the readings are off.
They are Atrial fibrillation, blood pressure and cholesterol.
We all know how blood pressure is checked with an arm cuff. For cholesterol there was a slight prick on the finger and some of my blood was added to a device that did the reading, while all I had to do was put my fingers on two pads to get the atrial fibrillation reading.
My cholesterol levels - both good and bad - were given the thumbs up. This is a measure of the fatty substances in your blood and during the test you will get a breakdown of HDL (good stuff) and LDL (bad stuff) as well as triglycerides and a total.
I came out with a very healthy 3.6, which is well below the 4.5 threshold.
Health promotion officer Orla McDaid, who did my tests, said she would be very worried to find high levels of the bad stuff given my veggie diet and it seems I didn't let her down.
As for my blood pressure, it was well within the healthy range at 121/85 - it's usually lower but I think I was nervous. Healthy is anything around 120 to 80 over 90 to 60.
The Belfast Chest Heart & Stroke charity also have a nifty new device that can check your atrial fibrillation - that's how your heart pumps blood. If the chambers don't enter properly a clot can form which, if it travels to your brain, can cause a stroke.
Orla said: "We launched this at the start of the year with our atrial fibrillation campaign as a lot of people have not heard of it before. It is the most common irregular heartbeat.
"What happens is the atrium, which is the top chamber of the heart can't empty itself of blood properly because the heart rate is abnormally fast, blood basically pools and can form a clot which increases your risk of stroke by five times if it is undetected.
"If it is detected and managed effectively that risk can go down then but it is really important to get checked for it.
"Symptoms of atrial fibrillation are a very fast heart rate, lightheaded, dizziness and fatigue, feeling very tired, feeling faint at times or being breathless, having palpitations or fluttering in the chest.
"Our new atrial fibrillation check is done through a phone - it has come from America and we are the first charity over here to actually do this check. It's like a mini ECG. All you do is place both your fingers on the device and it runs a 30-sec heart rhythm strip and you will see a live trace of your heart come up."
Again, no problems there for me.
But it wasn't all rosey.
Aside from my weight, I was also told I needed to drink more water as my fluid levels suggested I was slightly dehydrated.
And my bone density was a little to low - so I need to get more leafy greens into the diet!
You will come away with a breakdown of your stats, some advice on what you can do to improve your health and a few booklets with points and tips such as what foods make both you and your heart happy . Who knew bananas and walnuts could improve your mood?!
The free health check at Chest, Heart & Stroke on Dublin Road is offered weekly and anyone over 18 can pop along.
CLICK HERE to see when and where you can get a wellness health check of your very own. It's well worth it.
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