When you have just lost a stack of weight, you're feeling particularly cute in your new dress and a lady you just met says to you:
"And you're obviously pregnant then?"
How do you respond to that?!
{P.S. Just to clarify -I'm really not.}
A Weighty Story
I'm not done. I still want another 5kg's off at least bit this was the first major goal. Go Team Me!
{ End of the Short Post. Read of if you want to know more! }
Why 12.5 kilograms? Why not 12? or 13? Well. Joel made me an offer: If I got down to 70 kilos (yes, I just put my weight on the internet) I could buy any camera I wanted. That was a good round 10 kilos I had to lose. Then I put on 2 and a half. The deal stayed the same - I had to reach 70 kilograms before getting my camera. That's why today, the day I got on the scales and saw 70.0 is the day I am celebrating!
If the achievement of losing 12.5kilograms is not enough for you to cheer about with me (get off my blog! Seriously! What does a person have to do to impress you?! Kidding, you can stay, but this next bit better give you more of an appreciation for this major feat...!)
4 years ago I was diagnosed with PCOS - Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. It's different for every girl who has it. For me it has meant chaotic hormones and putting on weight easily which then messes up my hormone balance even more. I have done so much to try and lose weight over the past few years. I would lose a few kilos then put them back on when I was stressed, sad, working hard or in the same room as anything with sugar or fat. When losing weight is critical for your health but your body does it's best to hold on to every gram there's a real battle that happens - physically, emotionally... everything. I have cried many tears at having a body that seems to work against me as I want and need to lose weight.
I had to see more than a handful of doctors to get a diagnosis. When I finally did, through the hospital, I had to find a doctor that was prepared to work with me and not just medicate me. I was blessed with a fabulous doctor who actually has PCOS herself. She sent me to a nutritionist and a physiologist to get me eating and moving well for my needs. That work a bit, but not drastically. And then we moved. And it all went out the window and down the hill. Moving is stressful, sad, hard work, emotional and there always seems to be lots of sugar and hot chips involved. I sat on the couch, cried, ate and got fatter and sicker.
I joined the gym. That was good but not great. Well, what did I expect if I continued to eat the same and only go twice a week? Nearly every night I would say the same thing that thousands of people say before bed - tomorrow I will exercise more and eat better. It never really happened. I didn't have a terrible diet. But it wasn't really what I needed either.
In July last year 2 things happened: My little sister got engaged & my mum asked us to have family photos while were on holidays with them. Han getting engaged was so exciting. Except I had the honour of being maid of honour. And, as the family photos reminded me, I was the 'fat sister'. The photos that we had as a family hit me hard. I couldn't look at them without crying. I still can't. Honestly, compared to a lot of people in the world I wasn't massive. I didn't even get into the obese BMI range. But compared to my sister (not that we should compare, but we do) and compared to previous family photos I was far too big. I didn't want to walk down the aisle at my sisters wedding and be the 'fat sister'. I didn't want to be in photos that will be displayed for many decades as the one with the too fat belly and cake stuffed cheeks.
I had to do something so I could be comfortable in my own body as I stood with my sister on her wedding day. I had to be happy enough with how I looked to be able to fully focus on her and not worry about myself. It was going to be hard!
I took it to God. We prayed for an answer. This wedding was the deadline I needed to motivate myself to be healthier and fitter than ever. I needed a miracle. While God was holding up his end I got of my behind and started walking in the mornings with Joel instead of sleeping in. I kept up my gym efforts as much as possible and didn't allow myself to turn on my computer until I'd done something physical every day. Even Sunday. It wasn't enough. I needed to change my fuel too. So I scoured the shelves at the library and found a book called The Inside Out Diet by Cathy Wong. Inside Out - that sounds like me - back to front.
That book was the start of God's answer to our prayer for diet help. While going through the Liver Cleanse in that book I got to talking to a friend about it who directed us to a lady speaking about Raw Food and green smoothies the same week. By the end of her 2 hour seminar I knew this was another piece of the puzzle God was piecing together for me. Living foods. I had been eating 'healthy' foods that had been cooked to death and had very little left to offer my body. With not much life going into it my body, and particularly the PCOS, was going into famine mode - storage. I learnt that in not giving my body all the vitamins, minerals, nutrients, enzymes and life that it needs I had been telling it that we were in famine so it had better store up. Not good.
I can't begin to tell you everything I have learnt and I am only just scraping the tip of understanding with what I know but I can tell you this : I have stopped entertaining my taste buds and started feeding my body with the fuel it needs for health. And I am so much healthier, lighter, thinner, more balanced than I ever was before. My taste buds have changed and I totally love my green smoothies for breakfasts and actually feel queasy at the thought of red meat. Me! The steak and chips girl!
I don't know the name for my diet because I'm still working out how it all fits. I'm not 100% Raw. I'm closer to vegan than vegetarian. Pretty close to gluten free. And I do my best to not eat numbers. We have extended this out to not using poison for toothpaste or deodorant. We've never used toxins for cleaning. And we are investigating all other sorts of ways of living more kindly with our world.
Maybe I'm a hippy now?! Whatever. I am fit - proof: I have tan lines from my walking shorts and shoes, I can actually run for more than a few minutes at a time. I am healthy - proof: my hormones have balanced out to near normal, my finger nails are strong and body does what it's supposed to (and that's all you kids I work with need to hear about that!). I am happier - proof: I bought 2 dresses! And I am lighter in soul, mind and body - proof:
GONE!!!!
Harry Potter 5
I decided this would be the year to read about Harry and his adventures. I've started so many series that haven't even been completely published (Isobelle Carmody - if you're out there, can you PLEASE finish the Obernewtyn series already?!!) so I've been in no hurry to read these books figuring they'd be around for a bit. As books often are.
It's so nice to know that you can start something that will have an ending ... Ms Carmody?!
So here I am, borrowing books off whoever has them - my brother in law, my sister and the latest one from a brilliant girl in year 5 who comes to our church.
I like. I like a lot! I've absolutely whipped through them, finishing this one just today.
It feels good to be catching up with the rest of the world.
What else have I been missing out on?
Morgan's Spot
He walks as if he's going to go right past the curtain and into the wall then with a quick head flick and a double back tucks himself in between the curtain and the window. He snuggles up to the low wall and rests his head on the window sill to keep an eye on the world. Until we talk to him. Then he pokes his head underneath curtain to see what we want and if it's worth leaving his spot.
Usually if I move to get my camera he follows me, ruining my plan. Today I told him to 'Stay'. He stayed while I looked in two place for my camera, discovered it didn't have a card in it, disconnected the card from my computer, put it in the camera, changed the settings and took 3 photos. He stayed exactly how he was because I told him to (and because he usually gets treats when he does!).
Such a good little puppy. And so hilarious!
And the Hallway...
My contribution was lots of salad rolls for lunch. They were delicious. The floor is looking awesome and it hasn't even been sanded and polished yet. Well, it was polished back in the day before it had carpet disrespectfully laid on top of it but it's need freshening up.
We're getting some where! (I can include myself in that 'we' as caterer and photographer...!?!)
Happening Now:
Starting in the lounge room we have 3 older men calling my husband (would be at least half their age) 'Pastor' as they get rid of the carpet and reveal lovely floorboards!
Right now. This is happening!
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