Dietician & other Inspirations!

Well I thought after a visit to the dietician is a good a time as any to continue with my weight loss exploits – so here ya go!

I am happy to report that the dietician is extremely happy with my weight loss efforts over the last 5 weeks. Remembering I was first diagnosed with Diabetes and High (dangerously high) cholesterol back in July? Well that was around 20 weeks ago. In that 20 weeks I have discovered a lot about how the body functions and why the body reacts the way it does…especially to different varieties of food. I can’t say things have been totally easy. Some foods you just know are not good for you but you still crave them just the same. I have been in many situations where I could quite easily have yielded to temptation, but they pay off for giving in is just not worth it…really it isn’t. I have been amazed by the response of the majority of people who have asked me “how have you done it?” When I explain that I have pretty much ruled out all sugar i.e. Lollies, chocolate, cake etc… the reaction is always pretty much “no way could I do that!” you know what…YES YOU CAN! It reminds me of a story that I was told about a guy who had a friend that was a Concert level pianist. While listening to him play he said to him “You know, I would do anything to be able to play the piano as well as you!” His friend responded while still playing…”anything but practice!” If you are overweight and struggling I am sorry to have to tell you – it is not easy, it does not happen overnight or all at once. I used to be stuck in that belief, that once you actively start to do something about your weight it should just drop off you…Well it took me 20 years to get my body in the state that it is in why would it only take 6 months to fully recover. Thankfully our bodies have the ability to recover in a short period of time. 1 or 2 years of hard work to make up for 20 years of neglect are not a bad return! Anyway enough of the lecture…just come to realize that you can DO IT, it will be hard, you will have moments where you hate every minute and other moments where you will enjoy your every moment, but is that unlike life itself? Time to get livin! One last thing, we have all made choices in our lives, if what you are putting in your mouth is bad for you, make the conscious decision to not do it. If we know that sitting around doing nothing is going to be bad for our physical health...then make the choice to get out there and do some exercise…If you are not happy…CHANGE!

Ok on to the good stuff! (bout time I hear you sigh). In 20 weeks I have now lost a total of 27.1 kgs – VERY Happy with that! I know things will get tougher but I am really enjoying my new body. I have now joined a gym and have been attending as much as possible over the last 2 weeks. My last visit was Monday night where I did a cardio session on the treadmill – Just over 5kms and a burn of just over 500 calories. I was on the treadmill an hour and went through a gamut of emotions. I did Interval training which consists of walking at a steady pace then, at the moment, every 4 minutes jump up the speed for 1.5 to 2 minutes. To start I have been warming up at 6 kms per hour, then interval jog/run @ 9kms per hour with a 12km/hour burst before the cool down walk at 5kms per hour. Surprisingly, it felt awesome! My body today felt great! Maybe the pain will come…maybe it won’t but I know I am very much looking forward to my next work out!

In other news. I am extremely stoked that I am now able to buy some clothes straight off the rack at regular clothing stores and look forward to be doing it on a more permanent basis.

Lastly – I have some awesome, awesome friends, all of the support I have been given is noted and inspires me to do better! I love each and every one of you for your support – You are awesome! (Oh yeah I’m sharing the love!)

I hope to get one more blog in before Christmas, something to hopefully keep you all motivated over the busiest “food” period of the year!

Till next time!

Cheers

50 Things I hate (hated) about being Fat! (in no particular order)

Just so I can remind myself and possibly others of how important it is to keep losing weight when you get a little discouraged. I look forward to people adding their own "things" to the list...

1. Struggling to tie up your shoe laces.
2. Not having the energy to kick a football with your Son.
3. People staring at you at a food court.
4. People staring at you in general.
5. Walking around with your wife and seeing the "How did that fat guy get a wife like that!" look in their eyes.
6. Shopping in the king size section and still finding nothing to wear
7. Shopping at shops called "Big Guys", "King Size Menswear" or "The Portly Gentleman"
8. The Beach
9. The Pool
10. Going any place you need to wear Togs
11. People yelling abuse at you randomly while you walk down the street
12. How I feel about myself
13. Getting on a plane and asking for the seat belt extension
14. Not being able to lower your tray table on a plane
15. Taking up 2 seats on a train
16. Mirrors
17. Back Steps
18. Other fat people telling you it is OK to be fat!
19. People saying - "You look good in that outfit" when I know that I really don't
20. Doctors that tell me that I need to lose weight when I am seeing them about a cold or flu
21. Having to pick up stuff you have dropped with your toes
22. Not seeing your toes
23. Not being able to have a relaxing bath
24. Not being able to run around and play with your kids
25. No jumping on a trampoline
26. Scales
27. Waiting for your family to get back from hiking
28. Making excuses for myself
29. Watching friends participate in sport
30. Snoring
31. Sweating while you eat
32. Sweating while you get dressed
33. Diabetes
34. Trying to get changed in a car
35. Having your son tell you that he hopes you won't die soon
36. Having a niece tell you they think it is ok to be fat themselves because they think you are fat and are still really happy.
37. Booths at a restaurant
38. Being too tired and lacking motivation to get out there and do something fun
39. High Cholesterol
40. Feeling like you take about a hundred pills a day as medication
41. Not being able to play "Once there was a Snowman" and "ring a ring a rosie" with your kids
42. Limitations on hiding positions for family "hide and go seek"
43. Falling asleep for no apparent reason
44. Growing out of your favourite Shirt/Pants
45. Only being able to wear High Fashion labels such as Target & Kmart
46. Wishing you could go for one of those "long walks on a beach" with your sweetheart
47. Feeling like you are a burden on everyone
48. Not being able to find comfortable Jeans
49. Asking people if they thought I might have put on weight and them not being honest and saying "No, you look fine"
50. Man boobs!

Watch out for my next enthralling "50 Most" lists in the future....

Cheers

The Day I went to Myers!

Well seems my daily blog went to Weekly, then fortnightly so the natural progression was for it to go Monthly...bet ya can't wait till it makes up an annual event! Regardless I will blog on, as I know you have all been doing nothing but wait for my next gripping tale!

So how am I going......Well I am going to do something a little different for this blog (or I am just being lazy) I will let those who know me decide and make comments on how they think am travelling with the whole sha banga bang.....

Before I do - I think I am doing really well let me dot point my progress (yep Lazy huh)

• I now wear Jeans that I have not worn in close to 5 years
• The belt I could not even do up around the same time last year is now way too big...
• I cleansed my wardrobe of clothes I can no longer wear because they are just way too big

(That's about half of them)

• I bought 2 business shirts from Myer - the first shirts I have bought in the regular section (rather than the king size or Big Men's section) in close to 8 years!

Still I have a long way to go, but I am getting closer to my goal every week.....

So the fun stats then I will leave it to those who have seen the progress...hopefully a few of you decide to leave a comment....good for the Blog and good for my self esteem....well hopefully! lol

Blood Sugar Levels - range between 5.5 - 6.5 (totally normal) - cool

Till next year! (lol)

Cheers

The 15 Week Challenge

Hi there sports fans…

Nothing to major to report at the moment. Lifestyle change is coming along nicely really, I have still been good. I guess there are a couple of things I can share. Firstly, sausages – do yourself a favour, do not eat one ever again! Surprise in a bag is exactly that. I indulged at an activity we attended as a family and within seconds my mouth felt liked it had been caked in a layer of fat, I tried to eat an apple to cut through it but the layer of fat was almost impenetrable. I am not sure if you are too familiar with making gravy from scratch, but if you do and you do not skim the fat off the top of the pan juices, then put it in the fridge you will notice a very thick layer of fat will raise and form at the top – that layer of fat is what my mouth felt like it was caked in for ages. Then came the other part of eating – digestion, well let me just say it was not pretty- enough said! The one thing that I am learning from all of this is to differentiate between foods that I thought were nice and the reality of how they actually taste. For instance – Sausages, loved them, but now as I taste them with renewed taste buds, they really do taste just terrible. I discovered the same thing the other night when I was craving my favourite of foods the humble Roast Chicken - you know the store bought kind from Woolies – absolutely loved t it – before, but after indulging the other night I actually discovered that it just tastes really, really bad! Believe me when I say this is a huge change for me. The other side of the storey is, as I am discovering the real taste of foods I am finding that there are some foods that just taste absolutely beautiful and they are, for the most part very healthy. I am actually really enjoying this little phase and I hope it lasts as a reminder the next time I crave those old, bad, unhealthy foods that I used to apparently enjoy so much.

Ok on t more exciting news. My blood sugar levels are averaging around the 5.7 mark fasting with no real change 2 hours later. I am stoked about this as it falls within normal limits. As stated before my main goal is to come off Medication and control my Blood Sugar levels by diet and exercise….Ouch there is that bad word – Exercise, I am still struggling In that department. The main reason is finding the time to put in the extra that is required. I do a fair bit of walking each day but I certainly need to put in the extra which will help my situation even more, which will also help the weight to continue to come off me. In the weight loss area I think I am doing really well, my clothes seem to be getting looser and looser each time I put them on and there are more and more old favourites coming out of my wardrobe each week. I know my emphasis has not been on how much weight I have lost, but I have found that if I have a goal in mind (or written) I seem to work harder to achieve that goal. (What all that stuff about goal setting was true...NO WAY!) So here I go….and let me throw this challenge out to anyone else who needs to lose weight or feel healthier. There are now around 15 weeks to Christmas. So the 15 Week Challenge is going to begin. The idea is to lose as much weight as possible, as healthily as possible in 15 weeks. I have done a bit of research and it suggests healthy weight loss is around 1% of your total weight per week. This challenge for everyone and I would love to hear how everyone is progressing. My goal is to drop around 20 kilograms – sounds a lot doesn’t it, but that is only working on the 1% theory of healthy weight loss. If I am able to achieve this I will be pretty close to the same weight I was when I was married in 1996. Not only am I excited about the prospect, but my wife is over the moon! I can imagine how hard it has been for her to watch the person she loves eat himself to death and although this journey is something I want to do and is ultimately for my own benefit, I am happy that those I love benefit from it as well.

For me the 15 Week Challenge is about massive weight loss, for others it might be a few Kilos and again for others it may be about changing some bad habits to become healthier or health conscious. Whatever the challenge holds, I look forward to hearing about your success, pitfalls, down times, and good times. LET THE CHALLENGE BEGIN!!! (Oh and Go the Mighty Pies in September!)

The Wait is finally over!

Ok I know you are saying to yourselves...IT IS ABOUT TIME BIG GUY! Well hopefully I can make it worth your wait!

Things have been going along quite smoothly for the last month or so, I have been good, very good, sticking to a low fat, low sugar diet and the results have been quite remarkable. I have been back to the doctors and he was very, very surprised by the results....more on that soon.

Firstly some practical stuff. As you are all aware I have had to take a serious look at what I eat and the lifestyle that I lead, it has been tough, very tough as this change in lifestyle had to coincide with the starting of a New Job and having to continue to work through certain relationship issues as well. Giving up the one thing that I could turn to was at first very difficult – you all read my angry, angry man post so I guess you can get a kind of idea of what things may have been like. Not only is it difficult to cope with on the physical level, it is and has been very hard on an emotional level as well. Fact is I love my food! I love cooking it, I love cooking it for others and I love consuming it! My life has been based around the notion of good food and good company. In many ways it was actually more to me than that as well. I knew if I was feeling down that happiness was only 3 King size packets of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups away! Although I have gone cold turkey on the sugar and fat content in my foods that I eat now, I have to say...I miss it, I sometimes crave it...now I am not sure whether I really do want it, but something inside of me triggers and Says....”mmmmmm I could do with a packet of Mint Slice Bikkies right about now”, especially since there is a packet in the fridge for my wife and the rest of my family to enjoy. I could have easily reached out and grabbed on, could have put it in my mouth and given in to the temptation, I mean seriously how bad could one Mint Slice Biscuit be in the grand scheme of things....right? As much as I desired it, as much as I craved it, I found myself with a bowl of tomato, cucumber, some sliced Kalamata Olives and some low fat Cottage Cheese. Will Power? Nah not even close! Sense of knowing that one Mint Slice can have an impact and how that could impact my future made the decision much easier. So the daily struggle with knowing what is right and doing it continues, I am not sure how long it will last, hopefully not forever, but for now I am winning the battle and hope to, in the end, Win the War as well.

So how have I been going? In a word....Great!.

I did have a nice 8 hours at 4 different specialists with the following results:

· Optometrist – Eyes – Fine

· Podiatrist – Feet – Need some work

· Diabetic Educator – I think I learned more from my mum

· Dentist – Need lots of work!

I still have the Dietitian to go to at the start of September, but that one I am really looking forward to.

I have to keep a diary of my daily food intake on three separate days to give the dietitian an idea of what I eat and when I eat. Since changing my diet (lifestyle) a typical day for me is as follows:

Break fast: Porridge – low fat Milk and a couple of teaspoons of Benefibre (oh how that stuff work)

Morning Tea – Small handful of Nuts (Almonds & Brazil) & an Apple

Lunch – Can of Tuna mixed with 3 bean mix and a couple of slices of multi-grain bread

Afternoon Snack – small can of baked Beans (or some sushi with my sushi buddies)

Dinner: Steamed Chicken, Cous Cous, steamed Vegetables (sweet potato, broccoli, squash)

Of course there are plenty of variations, My wife has been awesome selecting meals from cook books that have recipes for Diabetics and I have been pleasantly surprised by just how tasty they are. I try to make sure I thank my wife for all that she does, it means a lot to have support and I can rely on to help me and so far my wife has been awesome (love you huni)

Ok so what you have all been waiting for the Doctors Report on my Blood test (you know there is a scroll function, you did not have to read all of that to get here!)

Just in case you forgot -

My results from last time were:

Blood Sugar Level – 17.4 (fasting) – Normal levels between 4 - 6

Total Cholesterol – 18.6 – Normal levels from 0 - 4

· Triglyceride (bad Cholesterol) – 17 – Normal Levels – 0-2.5 (in my first blog I said 1.5, I was wrong)

Ok so my latest results are........drum roll......

Blood Sugar Level – 6.4 (fasting) – Normal levels between 4 - 6

Total Cholesterol – 4.8 – Normal levels from 0 - 4

· Triglyceride (bad Cholesterol) – 2.8 – Normal Levels – 0-2.5

Very Happy with the results as is my doctor and to top things off, I have lost close to 10 Kilos (which means I have no excuse not to really start putting in the hard exercise that I should be doing as well...I am sure I will think of some other excuse though!)

I am close to the upper limits, but as my doctor said – this is no cause to celebrate just yet. The journey still has a very, very long way to go....I am inspired to do better though, I certainly wasn't expecting such good results. My doctor told me that as I lose more weight and my levels come down to normal then he would look at reducing or stopping some of my medication...oh how I look forward to that! Still as I said, a long, long way to go, but at the moment I am just happy that the light at the end of the tunnel is visible and so far it is just a light and hopefully not an oncoming train!

Will be back soon (yeah you have heard that before haven't you!) Still not sure whether I should be posting some pictures of the changes etc...let me know what you think!

Will finish off the Essay with the following inspirational quote:

“Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?” (John Bender – Breakfast Club)

Cheers!

The Update....

Well it has been a few days, so I thought I better drop in and give you a quick update....I did go to work on Friday, I struggled through but by the end of the day I was feeling a lot better, but totally spent, my Energy levels were just so low....Not much else to report really, apart from the total amount of Pills that I now take with my meal.....makes me feel old! The Pills are certainly proving tough to get used to. Maybe if they intend for me to lose the excess sugar and cholesterol from my butt then they are certainly doing their job! I know a bit crass, but hey it is the honest truth. I have decided a Daily report is just not viable (now don't groan with disappointment, I told you this would happen!) So I will adjust things to a weekly report, rather that Daily, besides I am sure you have much better things to do with your time. So here it goes.....

Weekly Report - Week One

Exercise - Considering the effects that the pills are having travelling further than 10 minutes from a Men's room is certainly not at all a great idea. I am disappointed with myself though and I really do need to get my butt into gear (well a different one than it is already in) and get out there....It will be the natural next step to include exercise and I know if I "Just Do It" I will enjoy it and keep doing it. It may sound like I am making excuses but I, well....maybe I am :(

Food Intake: Apart form the Pork Sausage I have not deviated form my Diet at all this week, I am actually enjoying the diet and I feel I have lost quite a considerable amount of weight. I have included fish in my Diet and intend to have at least 3 serves a week. Tonight I steamed a fillet of Salmon....MMMMMM Yum and had it with some lightly steamed vegetables. To attempt to lose weight I have also included a rule to not eat after 9pm, If I fell hungry I simply drink water.

Lunch has been great, My Wife has been a great support to me in making sure my Lunch is healthy and within the guidelines of the dietary needs. Once again I have not deviated from the diet at all - Even though we have a magnificent coffee guy who comes in and make the most outstanding Iced Chocolate...regardless of the fact I have resisted temptation and I feel much better for saying no.

Breakfast has mostly been made up of porridge or 1 Cup Dick Smith's Bush Foods Cereal (if you haven't tried this, I highly recommend it - I am not a Cereal eater but this one is particularly good), 1/2 cup of Smarter White Milk and a piece of fruit.

I drink plenty of water during the day as well. Giving up Cordial, soft drink and other sugary, sweet drinks has benefited me greatly and my body is certainly appreciative of it, I don't know how but you can just feel it.

Mood: On the Up!

Weight Loss to Date: I lost a lot of weight last year and pretty much put half of it back on through poor choices and going back to old habits. I think I have lost a fair bit of weight during week one as a lot of the clothes that were tight on me are now back to being comfortable...Long way to go but it is better to be 1 foot away from hell going up than 100 feet from hell going down...right?

A friend of mine did compliment me on Sunday. She told me I no longer look yellow anymore and have some normal colour about me....Thanks for that :) I had no idea I looked Yellow but even my colleagues at work said the something similar.....Great I was yellow! Yet another compliment came from my wife....She said my boobs now are in line with my gut....man do these women know how to give compliments.

I will finish with some good news...My Sugar Level is now 9.9 - Still high but much better than 21.1 I look forward to it coming down to a normal level soon...I am more looking forward to the effects of these pills easing...seriously I reckon they are made by TDK....They are doing some amazing things to my system!

Cya next week

Cheers

The Angry Man & The results are in!

Not well enough to go into work yesterday or today...Just can't seem to think straight. I think the Prescribed Drugs are taking a pretty heavy toll on me at the moment....Was not well enough to hit the streets for a walk last night either... :( Oh well, hopefully I can regain some energy and get out there before the end of the week. Pretty uneventful, unproductive day yesterday really, spent a lot of time looking up websites about Diabetes etc...ended up just confusing myself even more. Oh well.

The mood thing...Oh yes I have been the Angry, Angry man! The lack of Sugar for the last couple of days has sent me a little loopy really. Maybe I should have saved my wife and kids the torment and taken a trip to a mountain or something. Everything is pressing my buttons at the moment...So I have been labelled Happy Gilmore....Quick to get angry and explode and just as quick to apologise. I think I can also put it down to having quite a lot of fear and anxiety about today's official results but really there is no excuse to take it out on the ones you love, but boy it is hard not to. Ok so before I move on to the results here is yesterdays report.

Daily Report (Yesterday):

Exercise - Nada

Food Intake:

Breakfast - Porridge, Skim Milk, 1/2 teaspoon of Honey, 2 Glasses of Water

Snack - Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt, piece of fruit

Lunch -1 x small can of Tuna & Teaspoon of Low fat Mayonnaise on Sour Dough Bread, A glass of Water

Dinner - Stir Fry made with a Heap of Veges and only one Chicken Thigh included in the whole stir fry - Thanks Bernece, One Cup of Cooked Rice - 2 glasses of water.

Other - One leftover Pork Sausage - I know, I know but it was only one at least it wasn't all 3 plus the beef one that was in the fridge!

Mood: Worried, scared and angry

Weight Loss to Date: Dunno but the clothes feel a little looser

The Results of my blood test are in! AND......

It ain't good. Oh yes it is official I am Diabetic - Type 2 and will have to go on medication to get my Sugar Levels down, which when tested was 17.4, I also need the medication to keep the levels under control. This morning I had a reading of 13.4 which I am much happier about. Doctor has referred me to a Dietitian, Podiatrist & a Exercise physiologist to help me on my journey...apparently under an Australian Government Scheme I can get 5 subsidised visits under medicare rebate, so I may as well take advantage of it. I went down to Diabetes Australia and took out Membership - got heaps of information from them, if you ever get diagnosed or have any questions I highly recommend seeking them out, they were so friendly and certainly put my mind at ease about a lot of issues. I am not feeling great about the fact I know have a lifetime condition but at least I am a little more informed. The medication I have been given is Diabex, the information sheet says that you are likely to lose weight when taking this medication - Sounds Awesome! oh and other possible side effects are Nausea, Vomiting, headache, muscle pain, diarrhoea and skin rashes, but hey at least I might lose a few kilos!

Now the even more bad news....yes there is more....the little issue of Cholesterol....Hmmmm apparently a good Triglyceride (bad fat) level is between 0 - 1.5 yes well....mine...17! So guess what...MORE DRUGS...YAY!!!! (not) fortunately the diet that I need to maintain for Diabetes also reduces the Triglyceride levels so with medication and proper diet, I can reduce my Cholesterol and maintain a healthy blood sugar level range.

Well what a day, I think I am just feeling somewhat depressed and angry at myself for letting my body get to a stage where it just does not want work to keep up with my chosen way of life. The Doctor did say he was happy that I came in when I did as I am young (what a great doctor...young...lol) and there are things I can do help my situation. I just hope I can keep up the motivation. No that is crap! I either will or I won't...... and I will!

Cheers