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

And so it Begins......

Woke up today feeling somewhat Yuck...so what else is new, when you carry weight like I do you don't exactly wake up feeling on top of the world, add that to the news I got over the last couple of days and well...things aren't "Top of the World". Spending some quality time reading with my family helps, always does....

On a completely different Topic - I caught the Train to work this morning, I have done this every morning since starting a new job a couple of weeks ago. This morning was different as it was the first day back to school from school holidays so the Train was full of Schoolies...Interesting lot really. I had to smile to myself when I overheard a conversation about how much they hated School....word to those going to school who might read along; School is the most fun, awesome time of your life, make the most of it while you can! Normally I am not a really deep thinker...those who know me stop nodding...but after my recent news I actually watched these School kids with some envy. I recall the time when I was just like them....I enjoyed my School years, I certainly could have been better with the academic stuff, but sport was my passion, Oh yes the Big Aussie Guy was an athlete. Representative Water polo, Aussie Rules & Cricket were my biggest passions, my teenage life consisted of Sport before School, Sport after school and Sport on the Weekends...Man was I fit..My water polo training was by far the most intense as I trained almost 4.5 hours per day and played on the Saturday. As I watched these School Kids and reflected on my own time, I had one of those AHA moments..."If I did it before, I reckon I could do it again". Now I know that I might not be able to reach the same levels as my previous athletic self, but I do know the principles behind maintaining a fit and healthy life style, so it might be time to revisit those old principles!

I must say a huge thanks to those who have encouraged me and left messages (mostly on my facebook account....I have been asked a few times now what my goals were, how I am going to approach this new challenge so I will answer them in my Blogs. I thought I might set up a little log section...Now I know you are just on the edge of your seats, hanging to read my latest Blog everyday well let me save you some disappointment...every day...probably not going to happen, but I will update regularly enough to keep you up to date with the goings on of the Big Guy!

Ok so here we go...

Goals - Well my immediate Goal is to get my Blood Sugar Down - I just took a test and it is currently 14.7 - much better, but still not good.

My Long term Goal is not to lose weight - Funnily enough - I have set a Goal like that before and lost weight..what I wasn't, was healthy. I think anyone can lose weight, sure you can down a few shakes, you can eat nothing but apples and Cheese - you will lose weight - But you may not necessarily be Healthy. So long term Goal for me is to be Fit and Healthy (I assume I will lose a considerable amount weight along the way.

When I played Water polo I set a long term goal for myself to Play for Queensland....guess what? Did not happen straight away! So I set my self some really small achievable goals...good principle right? Well time to apply it - So as far as Goals go my first target is to lose 10kg. Right now you are thinking.."Hang on, you said your goal was not to lose weight!" - Losing 10 kg as a goal is more directed towards me being able do more to get healthy. In the past I have been given some pretty Dodgy advice on how to lose weight..."Just walk an hour everyday" or "Join A Gym" or "losing weight is easy, just eat less and exercise more". I think that advice is like saying to an Alcoholic..."giving up is easy, just stop drinking" - Yeah Right! For those of you who are not Morbidly Obese (I don't mean a little over weight, as the previous advice is actually pretty good) I challenge you to put on 80kg suit, wear it for a year, then see how well you go walking for an hour? Getting my drift? So to lose a few Kilos, allows you, or rather I have found allows me to gain more from a heavier exercise routine. The not fun part? Some exercise has to be done to achieve the initial weight loss....Ok for those following who are struggling, it is ok, don't panic! For me this is about a long term change and I am happy to start really small. My Exercise will Start today and I will keep you updated on how things are progressing. I will start with a walk, hopefully 30 minutes, but I am pretty sure I will struggle with that. The thing is I am not going to be upset if I don't do the full 30 Minutes, to be honest I will be happy if I hit 10-15 minutes, but my goal will be eventually to do 30 minutes of Solid walking...even-tu-ally! I know by the very nature of cutting out simple things like Soft Drink, Cakes, slices, choc chip cookies, full cream milk, peanut butter and Jam Sangas....well you get the idea, that I will lose weight, sure it is easier to give those things up when you know you might lose a leg or your life but if you are coming along on my journey....try it out, see what happens as I said in my first blog, My hope is to help someone out, anyone out! (at the same time I am helping myself).

Ok so to make along story short (too late) I will simplify my updates into a little table as follows:

• Exercise - 1o Minutes Walk
• Food Intake:

Breakfast - Porridge, Skim Milk, Fruit

Snack - Low Fat Diet Yogurt

Lunch -2 x Ham & Low Fat Cheese on Sour Dough Bread, Salad Greens

Snack - Corn thins Low Fat Cheese & Sliced Tomato

Dinner - Steamed Fish and Asian Greens with a 1/2 cup of Cous Cous

Other - Big Mac, Large Fries, Bag of CC's and 2 Litres of Fanta (just kidding)

• Mood: Little low today
• Weight Loss to Date: (updated weekly, well maybe)

Let me know if there is any other info I can include if it helps you out.

Ok I know this has been a long one, don't worry it won't last. I have to say my feelings have been very up and down and I am finding this Blogging very therapeutic, congrats to those who have read this far and thanks as well. I am somewhat fearful at the moment, fearful because My official test results are due on Thursday and I am afraid there might be more, I hope not but it still puts me on edge. I have been given some drugs for a side effect symptom that needs clearing up and it is really knocking me around as it is very potent. I don't know, I also feel like I really should have done something earlier about all of this. I know hindsight is a marvelous thing but, now that it has actually happened I feel somewhat responsible for placing an unnecessary burden on my Wife and family, I mean I could have avoided this by not making the choices I made....I just hope the motivation is there to make sure I can do now what I should have done all these many years. Oh I did go to work today and I tried my hardest to finish out the Day, but by lunch I had, had it....just not well enough....I am sure things will be better tomorrow!

Cheers

The Motivation

Ok so as the name of my Blog suggests...I am a Bug guy! a Big Aussie Guy as a matter of fact. I guess I better first explain the motivation behind the reason I thought I would actually start a Blog. I am Big, I have been big for a while, and yes right now you are probably thinking "Oh great another fatty with a hard luck story" well I am not, up until pretty much today I have enjoyed my life and the food that it took to get me here, well I can't say I have done nothing or regretted being the size that I am, I have, but all in all subconsciously I pretty much accepted that some people are big, others aren't and I was just one of those who were meant to be the former. Well a new little disease has entered my life in the form of Type 2 Diabetes. I am so jazzed to have it, really makes my life complete (you may notice in my blogs I can be somewhat cynical and sarcastic, yes it is a cover for the fears and insecurities in my life...deal with it!).

I was chatting to my wife last Night and was explaining my latest fad of drinking heaps of water and being thirsty all the time, which kind of lead to some talk about Diabetes as my family has a pretty good history of it. The discussion prompted me and I decided to do a Blood Sugar Test using my Mothers AccuCheck, nice little machine. You prick your finger with until it bleeds and then wipe the blood on a little tab and it beeps at you...well mine beeped in at 21.1, I am still not real sure what that means but apparently it is very bad (normal reading being between 3.5 to 5.5 so yeah 21.1 might be a little high) I did not go to the hospital straight away and decided to wait till the morning...Prick....OUCH.....18.9....after an emotional talk with my wife (yes upset at yet another setback health wise) I went to the Doctors...I have been prodded, inspected, jabbed, had some blood taken and supplied some Urine, or at least attempted to (a story for a future blog). My results will be made available this Thursday. I was given some horse sized tablets to clear up a rather unmentionable side symptom of the onset of Diabetes. The Doctor was very good, he did not have a go at me regarding my weight, rather gave some good advice and reassured me that he was willing to help, which is great, I mean, I just hate Doctors who just look at you and say.."Well Mr Big Guy, you are Fat and need to lose weight" uhhhh derrrrr you needed 8 years of Uni to tell me that...what a Genius!

I guess what I am trying to achieve by this Blog is to take someone, anyone on my journey, I have looked up a fair bit of information so far and it has given me some hope, but what I always have trouble finding is a genuine, honest look at the life of a Big Guy (or Girl) without something flashing up telling me to drink a shake or sell me something. I am more than happy to hear some feedback & encouragement but please don't offer me the latest fad, shake, lemon detox diet roller-coaster crap, I have been on that ride long enough and like Roller-Coaster in real life....MAKE ME SICK!

I just thought if I could give my account of what it is like to be Big Guy, an honest, open and totally upfront account, and all that goes with it...then may be I might help someone, even if it is just one, then maybe it might make a difference. Oh by the way....I will be working towards no longer being the Big Aussie Guy so enjoy prying into my private life...while you can.

Cheers