First Goal Conquered! Day 4

 Starting Weight 91.4 Kg                    Todays Weight 89.8 Kg                       Total Loss 1.6 Kg

 

Today I reached my first goal.  I have gone under the 90kg, my first weigh in was 89.8 kg so already a loss of 1.6kg which I am completely thrilled about!  My next weight goal is 85kg, I am not putting a date on it, just going to work towards it.

 The gym was awesome today and drum roll please….I managed 1 minute and 15 seconds in the cold pool!  I had my little Charlotte with me today and I made her do it too, she wasn’t terribly impressed and we have both discovered you feel like you have broken ankles when you get out, they hurt that much!
 
We got our EMF tags today so we are now officially EMF members!! How exciting.  Let’s hope this enthusiasm is not short lived.  No not being defeatist I just know me!!
 
I am glad I didn’t wait for the New Year to roll in now, I feel like I am well under way and my New Year’s resolution can simply be to carry on looking after myself.  I don’t feel like I have the usual pressure of the big New Year’s resolution hanging over me.
I am going to spend this week doing some homework on strengthening my lower back.  What I have noticed is that anything that involves me lifting my rather large derriere off the floor I am simply unable to do, even a millimetre.  This was something I could do before, so I thought I might talk to my Swiss rehab man and find out what muscles need working on the most to get that butt off the mat. If anyone has had an operation like mine I would be very keen to hear from you.
 
We are staying in for New Year this year.  With Craig being crook neither of us feel like going anywhere.  So, we thought a good movie and some healthy snacks might be the way to go.  
 
Happy New Year everyone and whatever your New Year’s Resolution I wish you health and happiness as we leave this horrible year behind.  Let’s hope 2021 has a little less trauma attached to it!!  
I send my love to all of our family and friends overseas, I know for you, things are really tough right now and there seems to be no end in sight, but there will be, we just have to have a little faith, hope, and surround each other in love.  Happy New Year folks!
 
Kate x
 
 

Joined the Gym - Day 3

I made the commitment today and joined the EMF Gym in Nerang for 18 months! I think my hand was actually shaking as I filled in the application! 

 

20 years ago I moved to this side of the world, it was also the last time I owned a gym membership.  I had decided that I didn’t want to emigrate to New Zealand as a fat person, and set to using the months that our immigration took to lose the pounds. 

That was the last time I even vaguely saw my ideal weight. I nearly got there for Andrew and Cate’s wedding but not quite and then all that beautiful Italian food made sure I gained half of it back before I got back to Australia, plus of course I had an accident and ended up laid up for months! 

If only it was as easy to lose the weight as it is to gain it.  As a guy in the pool said this morning ‘isn’t it a shame that all the stuff we really love to eat can’t be good for you, and all the other shit be bad for you’ How true. If only eating donuts from Krispy Kreme was good for you, can you imagine?  ‘Darling I need you to go to seven eleven and get me a 12 pack of donuts I haven’t had enough fat and sugar today’  

It has actually been quite good to reconnect with my kitchen.  Although whether I will still feel like that in month is anyone’s guess.  But for now I am enjoying it.  Charlotte and I went to the supermarket and we just shopped in the vegetable, meat and fish aisles.  Charlotte was of course in her element keen to tell me everything she has learned about healthy eating over the last few years.  For those of you who don’t know, our Charlotte is a vegetarian who has an allergy to both dairy and gluten.  She changed her diet about a year ago now and is a complete

inspiration. She has been such an encouragement this week and I am so grateful for it.

Luckily Craig is the easiest person in the world to feed.  He literally (as Charlotte would say) will eat anything you put in front of him.  He is just grateful and happy with whatever and that totally takes the pressure off me at dinner time.  
 
Sadly, Craig is still poorly with his asthma, he is unable to join me at the gym but has changed his diet with me.  I feel so guilty going off to the gym without him. It was always our plan to do this together, but I knew if I didn’t start whilst I was in the right mind set I would change my mind.  As soon as he is well enough I know he will join me and at least I will be able to show him around and maybe it won’t be quite as scary.
 
I was super impressed with EMF today, the guy who helped me with my membership was really nice and very encouraging.  He helped me pick the right plan and really went the extra mile, thanks Jivani (hope that’s how I spell it!).

 Hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight…I managed a whole 15 seconds in the cold pool today, although I sounded like a Tourette’s sufferer and had all the people around me laughing as I swore my way through the 15 seconds!  

Tomorrow I am aiming for 20 seconds, I figure if I can just increase it a little everyday then I am making progress!  
Kate x
 

There's Cold and then there's F****** cold! Day 2

 Day 2

Woke up at 6am this morning, and realised to my utter disbelief that I had slept through the whole night.  I didn't wake up once.  To put this in perspective my usual night consists of falling asleep on Craig, which is where I sleep best, then rolling over at which point it all begins, pain in my hips and back wakes me half a dozen times at least and I usually wake up with the sun feeling utterly miserable around 4am, get up and wait for the rest of my family to wake up. 

But this morning it was completely different, I was rested, I actually felt rested!  My first instinct was to go back to sleep hoping I might get a couple of extra hours of sleep.

Then something insane happened, my brain said 'Why not get up Kate, go to the gym?'  I tried to ignore the very small voice, but it inevitably got stronger until I found myself in the car driving to the gym.

Sadly, I lost my gym partner today as Charlotte fell down our stairs yesterday and sprained her ankle.  We spent five hours in A & E last night but thankfully it was just a twist, so a day of rest for her.  Craig is still not well enough to join me, so it was alone or nothing.

I arrived at the gym and sat there for what seemed like ages.  Could I go in on my own?  Could I do it? I feel like such a fraud among all the fit and healthy people in there.  I am literally (as Charli would say) the only fat person in there, or at least I was today.

 

I headed to the gym, head down, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.  I heard a pleasant and friendly voice say to me 'Are you coming to my class?'  I looked up to see a very nice lady smiling at me.  'Oh no' I say 'I haven't booked any class' meanwhile I am trying my best to circumnavigate her in the hallway. At all cost don't look her in the eye Kate.  

But I was caught and before I knew what I was doing I was strapped to something that looked like it was out of a medieval torture chamber.   I had apparently stumbled into a reformer pilates class. 

Medieval Torture Device that looks a lot like the Pilates Reformer Machine!

What followed was equals parts hard, terrifying and challenging.  The first thing I realised? I was extremely unfit compared to every other woman in the class.  And, I know I can hear you all saying, don't compare yourself to others, but it's hard not to do that.

Pilates Reformer Machine...see I told you!

I also discovered that there are a lot of things I can't do, as far as movement goes with my back.  It would have been easy to be disheartened and if I am honest I was a little.  I only lasted half the class before taking my leave.  I skulked off to the gym to spend some time on a bike, something I knew I could do, I thought about the road ahead of me.  

 

Don't get me wrong I never thought it was going to be easy, but maybe, just maybe if I stick to this in six months time I could hold my own with the other women in the class.  I suppose the first achievement would be to get through the whole class.

 

With Gym time over I headed to the pool, definitely my favourite thing.  I did some lengths before eyeing up the hot and cold therapy pools once more.  As I sat in the hot pool plucking up the courage to brave the cold pool I watched a guy plunge into the cold pool and sit there for a full 5 minutes.  I could see the pain on his face as he hit the water, I would like to tell you it wore off the longer he stayed but it was horrific watching him as he started to shiver.  

He jumped in the hot pool and I couldn't help but express my admiration. What followed was a fascinating conversation about the benefits of this type of therapy.  

 

He is a motor cross bike rider and gets into accidents all the time, plus he has a bad back.  He said he uses it to treat injuries and hasn't looked back since he discovered it.  He also told me it's gets easier, and a good trick is to tuck your hands under your arms.  

I would like to tell you that due to the inspirational nature of our conversation I managed to get in the pool for the full time suggested but I lasted only 8 seconds, before once again hyperventilating and feeling pain in every bone and muscle.  

I almost threw myself back into the hot pool!  I am going to conquer it though, knowing that someone is getting so much relief is really encouraging.  I can't wait for Craig to try it for his back, if I can just get him in the water!! 

Day 2 has been good, no real aches and pains, the food has been good and we are adjusting well.  Just need Craig to be well enough to join me, then I think we will be unstoppable!

Kate x

I am training at EMF in Nerang, remember you can give it a go too with their three day pass!  

Here We Go Again! Day 1

 Who says you have to start everything in the New Year? I decided that today was as good a day as any to embark on what must be the 100^th diet/lifestyle change of my life.  And, just like always I hold out the hope that this time will be different in some way, that this time I will not only reach my goal but then can maintain it. 

 I started by looking at my past failures, what is it that makes me fall back into old habits?  I think my biggest fault is not doing any exercise whatsoever, I don’t even like walking.  It’s like I literally (as Charlotte my daughter would say) have a gene missing when it comes to exercise.

Then there’s what we eat, that’s never been over the top.  But just like most people I make bad choices here and there, but I am not someone who overeats.  However, when you are not doing any exercise I suppose it’s rather hard to burn anything off.

 Then there’s medical stuff, so the gallbladder and the lack of thyroid cause a few issues and of course the bad back and now added to that a swollen knee which has started screaming at me, which let’s face is blatantly because I am carrying too much weight.

I haven’t done any physio since I got back from Switzerland after the back operation.  A mix between being too frightened and just not having the motivation.  I know the back operation has given me a new lease of life, but for a while all it did was make me feel down, stupid I know, right?! The pain and recovery has taken so much longer than I had imagined and it’s only now, a year on that I am feeling mentally and physically strong enough to start addressing the rest of my life.

On the emotional front, I am in a good place.  I have a wonderful, supportive and loving husband, two beautiful girls and parents who are simply the best.  So, as far as support goes it’s all there.  There is nothing to hold me back this time.  This time however I don’t have to do it on my own, this time my hubby is also going on this journey. 

I sat down yesterday and took measurements and weighed myself.  To my horror I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life.  91.6 Kg and measurements that I am not ready to share!!  It seems an insurmountable task to take on, a weight loss of 26.4kg. 

I don’t know about you but I start instantly converting the amount I must lose to things that make it more real, like 105 packets of lurpak, 9 billion grains of sand, 8320 teabags, and the weight of the family pet.  All a bit terrifying and ordinarily too much like hard work!

But the bigger I get the more scared I get, what is the weight doing to my poor old back, my knee is crippling under the pressure. If I don’t make a change now, how many years will I get with my kids before I drop down dead of a heart attack or stroke.  I want to grow really old with my husband, he is the absolute love of my life.  As it is we won’t have nearly enough time together, yet here I am trying to intentionally cut it short. 

Well, today it will stop, today I am making a change and I do so publicly, in the hope that may help me be a little more accountable for this journey, my journey. Plus along the way it may encourage others to do the same.

I am coming to the end of day one, which already feels like week three!  I joined a gym for a three day trial this morning.  I was supposed to be going with Craig but he is busy with a cold, so instead I enlisted the help of my daughter Charlotte, who strangely needed no encouragement.  I must say I often wonder where she came from, she is a little exercise and healthy eating junky. 

We set off to the gym and I admit it, I was really nervous.  A gym full of body beautiful people all lifting weights and looking good in their lycra.   Then there’s me squeezed into my gym stuff, bulging out just about everywhere, sweating before I have even started and not knowing what the fuck I am doing!

An hour later, I realised that under all the flab there is in fact various muscles, just waiting to make an appearance.  We spent 40 minutes in the gym on the bikes, steps and other machines of torture before switching to some upper body exercises.  Then we hit the pool followed by what was supposed to be the hot and cold recovery pools.  However, I put my foot in the cold pool and it was fucking freezing, around 10 degrees and there was no way on this earth!!  Instantly disappointed in myself we lounged in the hot pool before I found the courage to briefly plunge into the cold pool before losing the ability to breath, speak or move whilst I hyperventilated, going to have to work on that one!  Our gym experience was finished off with a lovely steam room. All in all absolutely shattered after day 1!!

I can’t fault the facilities at EMF in Nerang.  The staff were helpful and kind, I didn’t feel like I was being judged in anyway, which is a good start.  After the three-day trial, I am thinking I will join properly but thought I would just give it a go first. If you want to give them a trial you can get a three day pass here

Now to think about dinner.  This was always going to be the hardest part, healthy, but filling, nutritious yet tasty.  I don’t want a fad diet or something we can’t stick to, just smaller portions and less carbs.  Although we are giving up gluten as it makes both of us feel like crap.  I am keeping one cup of tea though because I may go mad as a Pom not to have at least one cup of tea a day!!

So roll on day 2, on the upside I have a feeling I will sleep well tonight!

 Kate x