Updating my aims

Ok so I'm going to try and be more regular (and no I don't mean that way lol....)

I want to be able to help people who like me have spent years struggling with obesity and weight loss.   if you have read any of my previous posts you should have a sense of who I am and that's great.

If you are trying to loose a small amount of weight I'm not sure I can help.  I still have a large amount of weight to go around 20 kg myself and for the first time in my life I know I can achieve that.

I'm not sure how people will find this blog or even if anyone will be inclined to read my ramblings but if I put this information out there then maybe it will help someone.

If you have a lot of extra weigh and I'm talking 20+kg to lose then you need to be aware of the dangers.  I know your Doctor has warned you, your mum is worried about you,  possibly your hubby is worried but isn't game to say anything and I'm sure you have friends who feel the same.  The stress we have put our body's under won't stay hidden for long.
Heart issues
diabeties
digestive issues
joints and chronic pain are only a few of the medical issues that are associated with obesity.  Our society is in Crisis and its because we are Money driven society.

I can talk about conspiracy theory's and there are a lot of them. I can talk about the medical profession being duped by big pharma and the Government being led around by the nose by massive businesses that generate Taxes and pay politicians to help keep them from being sanctioned but mostly I want to talk about individuals making choices and choosing to open their eyes and their minds to what is actually healthy and how you actually want to live.

I know I was sick of being sick.  Colds and flue knocked me around substantially and I was always aching.  However it wasn't until I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic that I found my trigger.  I want to keep my feet.  I want to keep my sight.. I need to live my life not be a spectator.  and so the keto journey began for me and I'm loving the way it works

Two pics of me same person, same shirt 12 months apart.  If you doubt that keto works for me this is the proof.  I have now dropped a total of 45+ kg and I'm still going.  This way of eating and living has me so excited because now I know which way to jump.  its not always easy!  There are friends and family who just don't get it.  There will always be comments.  I have been told my form of Diabetes is weird because you know you can cure it right!!!!  NO no you can't if you have it you have it diabetes will be a life long partner for you.  Its up to you to learn to live with it.  I might have diabetes but it does not have me.

Here is hoping this reaches some people and that I can help even 1 person to deal with this capricious disease.

Lisa

Keto Lisa’s style

so here we are again.  I’m sitting in the car on the way to drop my eldest boy off as he enters the Navy so this is a great distraction.  I’ve been eating keto pretty strictly since August. Although I applaud those who eat clean I am not overly concerned with the use of artificial sweetener.  My aim has always been blood glucose level control and the weight loss has been a welcome side effect.  I have stopped eating all grains pretty much all below ground vegetables and all sugars. I know some people think this is bizarre and impossible to maintain and yes there have been a couple of bumps in the road but for the most part it has been really easy.  We are not people who eat out a lot but even that’s pretty easy if you check menus and ask for small tweaks.  So a typical day for me starts by testing my bsl with a finger prick.  For breakfast I usually do bacon and eggs which I just happen to love.  If you start feeling bored with that you can add things like spinach, garlic or cheese to spice it up a bit it’s a great way to start the day.  I usually take something to work as a morning tea snack but I have found lately that I don’t really feel like eating until lunch time. So snacks that I take include items like boiled eggs, creamed cheese chocolate brownies cinnamon or cheese muffins .  I really am a creature of habit so on working days I’m not too fussed about a huge variety.  I have a couple of go too dishes  I do for lunches the first is a chicken avocado and cheese casserole or a beef and cabbage dish that once again can be flavoured with various herbs and spices to give you additional variety.  I try to do a snack in the afternoon before I head out to karate classes to either teach or train and that way I don’t really need to have a night time meal.  I have found that I need a snack /fat bomb before bed to keep my blood sugar from rising as I sleep.  If I am not training then I might have a small steak with salad  for dinner but that is more of a social thing than because I need it.  The proof has been in the pudding as they say because I have now lost 37 kg and my last HBA1C test had my bsl at 5.1.  Personally I want that number to be closer to 4.5 but I am sure that will come with time.  I didn’t become Morbidly obese or diabetic overnight it took a long time so getting things back in line in 8 months seems like a great deal for me.  I do have a couple of warnings about this way of life... 1 transitioning from carb burning to fat burning is a process and once you’ve become a fat burner you don’t really want to do cheat days or carb loading as it knocks your body around makes you feel like garbage and will sabotage your weight loss big time it’s really easy to end up heavier than when you started.  For me reverting to eating carbs is out of the question because while my bsl are approaching normal I will always be diabetic and I can plunge myself right back to high bsl by eating the wrong foods.  I do have to say that using stevia and baking my own treats has made this pretty much the easiest lifestyle change I have ever made.  So I really hope this helps someone to understand a little about how to move forward with keto.  Be happy and keto on 😁o

Updating again it’s been a long time coming

Ok so it’s been several years since I posted here. I really didn’t think this blog would have survived.  Things have moved on a lot since I last posted and I think it’s been pretty interesting. Our club changed affiliations and that was pretty stressful time for me.  My weight skyrocketed to 123.4 kg  and on someone who is only just under 152 cm that’s almost as round as I was high.  Uggg

I still managed to keep training and although I did the best I could my Karate suffered a fair bit.  I had the amazing experience of grading to 2nd Dan with a Japanese Sensei in Qld I really thought he would take one look at me and fail me but as usual the karate community shows respect for people who try and I passed. About 3 months after that I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes which explained an awful lot.

I was devastated.  I knew I needed to follow a low carb high fat diet to keep my blood sugar under control.  It was something I had considered doing to lose weight but one of the very few approaches I had not yet taken to control my weight.

I have said for years that you should ask a fat person how to lose weight most of us have researched and tried for years.  Almost every diet works for a time for monst people but they are often not sustainable.

The Australian Diabetic association sent out their recommendations and I was pretty much horrified. A basic breakdown of Type 2 diabetics is that our glucose system does not work. We are insulin resistant  and because of this our blood sugar levels are elevated.  This causes damage to internal organs and our vascular system so diabetic complications run from blindness to amputations of extremities.  One of the biggest causes of high blood sugar is the highly processed foods loaded with Carbs an sugar that is such a large part of modern diets.

So if you were allergic to peanuts no doctor in their right mind would recommend that you eat peanuts and use an epipen so you could eat them daily.  That sounds pretty stupid to me. That however is pretty much what the Australiab diabetic association seems to be advocating.

Most of the time your diabetic educator/ dietitian and doctor will advise the newly diagnosed diabetic  to eat 30-45 grams of carbs at every meal and 15-20 grams in snacks.  That’s a minimum of 120 grams per day.  That’s ok you can use medication to control your blood sugar levels.  This approach has not been successful for many diabetics who have suffered a host of type 2 complications.

After a fair amount of research I found a Facebook group with over 6000 members using a ketogenic diet to control their blood sugar levels.  The encouragement and support I found there was just amazing.

I have been following a keto / lifestyle for the last 8 months.  In that time I have dropped a substantial amount of weight but way more importantly my blood sugar levels have become close to normal.  I am planning to add to this blog a bit more regularly in an effort to document my results living this way.  I hope this will help someone else who needs to make some changes 😁

Holidays

Wooohoooo one more day of work and it's off to Kyenton.  Love our yearly holiday with swimming, walking, giant chess, and just good family fun. It's going to be real blast .

Bed buying in Australia or to pillow top or just sleep on the couch, that is the question?

After 15 years + on a queen size inner spring mattress on a slat base that was guaranteed for 5 years I was  really starting to struggle.

Tossing and turning all night and just about bouncing DH out of bed.

DH has his own issues and so was blaming his stiffness and aches on those and karate got the blame for my issues.
 I had some mornings where I woke up so stiff and sore that getting out of bed reduced me to tears.

Rolling over required me to bounce and inch, bounce and inch several times to go from flat on my back to on my side the way I like to sleep.  1/2 an hour later I would have rolled back onto my back and wake up to go through the whole process all over again.  

I started researching beds on the internet.  Talk about information overload.  There are so many different styles of mattress out there.  Innerspring, memory foam, air, water, futon.  Then separate linked spring (bonnel spring) or pocket spring.  Add to that to pillow top or not and you have way more questions than answers.

The more I researched the more I was being turned into a pretzel by my old bed.
I started making friends with my couch which at least it wasn't crippling me.  DH finally agreed to replacing the mattress wooohoooo

I visited a couple of bedding stores  asked for information and lay on a heap of different beds in my budget range.  I figured I had found a couple that might do the trick so the next step was to get DH to come and see what he thought.

I always try to buy Australian if I can and regal sleep solutions is an Australian company I took DH and  we spoke to the local sales guy.  What a peasant surprise, lots of answers, seemingly unlimited patience and we finally made a decision on a queen sized pocket spring latex pillow top mattress just on the budget line..  The only down size was waiting a week for delivery.

The mattress arrived and yes it's substantially higher than the old cement block we had been sleeping on.  That's ok I can certainly deal with that.  There is much less movement in this mattress so when I roll DH hardly feels it at all and I certainly don't feel him getting up in the morning.

I realise it's only been 2 weeks today but I am really happy with my new bed.

DH is still not quite sure about it but we can still change it over until we find one that's perfect for both of us.  I doubt it will go back as he seems to be getting used to the different feel.

Anyway happy bed shopping.

Wow looks like I left it for a year+ this time

I can't believe how slack I have been.
its February 2014 Ahhhhhhh.....
I guess I have been so busy living my life I haven't had time to write about it.
I have so many questions and so much to do it can be over the top some times.
I made it to 1st Dan.  My eldest son made it to Shodan Ho JR and my youngest son is now a 2nd Kyu.  I have a 2 new jobs and I love them.  working full time for Melro and also part time at the dojo.
so Awesome to be able to watch Rhys as he works through the leadership program.

I still have my horse Ned and our Staffy Rocky.
I am also selling Tupperware very part time but it helped get me through a bout of no job and its awesome stuff so that's pretty cool.

Well it's just a quick stop in tonight.  gotta hit the hay.. work in the morning.
woooohooo

2012

ok so here we are again its 20th Feb 2012.
Life is moving on and things are always changing.
Karate is awesome as usual and is helping me to cope with all the other little issues in my life.
Its so great to be able to go and punch something when I am frustrated.
I am fast approaching the end of my probationary period at work March 19 so thats excellent.
both of my boys are now substantially taller than I am which is pretty freaky for me...lol
They are fast approaching being taller than their Father wich is even freakier...
I probably should change the name of this blog because I don't really run much anymore....
I am now working on loosing weight using Craig ballentynes 24/7 fat loss program and it is working for me.  I have dropped 11.5 kg over the last 12 weeks and that includes chrstmas, New year and a short holiday during that period....It really is awesome to be taking control of that.
anyway its off to work for me now so have a great week everyone...

Almost christmas time again

Ok so here is some new news...lol
Rhys got his blue belt and I was so proud of him...
he had to do every Kata he knew and he remembered them all.

Congratulations to all of the senoirs who got awards at the presentation night last sunday
it was an awesome night...

Tomorrow is gonna be really busy shopping, junior presentations, Yelland Family christmas,
and then on sunday its horses and swimming I must be mad..lol
oh well thats life
and it could be soooo much worse...

ok I'm off now got a b'day party to be at shortly.

:)

It's December already 2011

Oh my well shame faced me...I guess I am not very good at keeping up with the bloggin...lol
its 09/12/2011 and I have not been here a lot lately...Karate is Karate and still keeping me sane....along with my horse my hubby and my kids...I did grade to 1st kyu in September so I hit that goal...I have been at the gym and I am lifing heavier weights...I am now bench pressing 40kg and I can also row 45kg and do about the same on a tricep pulldown so I am very happy with my weights...running and cardio...mmmmm thats pretty much a dirty word...I know I need it but I don't really enjoy it...
I have been getting up early and doing some MRT with Craig....and I am enjoying that.....I do need to add back some intervals to go with that...My youngest will attempt his blue belt tomorrow...I hope that goes well....fingers crossed....and Sunday is the senior Karate presentation night so that should be fun....
life is really gearing up for Christmas and everything seems to be going sooooo fast.  I started a new job in September with a 6 month probationary period so by end of Feb I should be pretty stable....all things considered Life is pretty good....
I am still hoping to grade to my black belt in Sept 2012 but only time will tell if thats possible or not...I will continue to work towards my goal and see it happening but I will be happy if I make it by Sept 2013....at this point most things seem to be on track....
Catch ya round kiddo's....
and remember life was meant to be good...
Lisa

back again....

Ok so Here I am again....
My Gym program has been totally revamped and I am having a great time lifting weights, Training at Karate and just being alive.....
I am currently a 2nd Kyu brown belt and I am waiting for the opportunity to try and grade.   My goal is to make it to 1st Kyu in September 2011 that would set me up to be on track to get my Black Belt (shodan Ho) in September 2012...  There is a small posibility that I could grade in March or June but the March grading is next Saturday and I have no invitation yet so that is highly unlikely.  I will wait and see what happens but if I make it by September I will be happy.  That would be 1 year since my last grading and a resonable expectation for me so long as I keep training hard....

The revamped Gym program is awesome I have worked through the 2 day program fully once and did day one again today....I really struggled with the extra weights that I am lifing the first day but I got through it all and even though I really felt it I have been able to go back and add extra weight to  70% of the different exercises....

I am not really running at the moment except for a short 20 min run on the treadmill for day 2 of my gym program.  As I said in my last post goals change.....  OK so at this time I have strength  goals that basically say I want to be able to double the weights that I am lifting over the next 12 weeks and fitness goals that include 100 push ups and 200 decline sit ups.....Karate goals were listed above 1st Kyu by September and black belt by September 2012 that basically means improving all techniques and Kata's and hitting my fitness goals.  So I will keep you up to date with things as they progress...have a great week.  :)

OMG OMG OMG this blog still exists.....

wow I really thought they would have canned this blog since I haven't been here since Oct last year..... how amazing that it's still here...
So much has been happening and so much has stayed the same it's really pretty scary....
after changing jobs my position with victoria Station came to an end at the end of November  and I really can't say I am sorry....I really liked the people I was working with but the location and the hours were really bad for me....I had a panicy couple of weeks before landing a temp position until the end of Jan and then I have found a position closer to home again.....I am sure it will all settle down in the next couple of weeks and I can work on keeping my routiens in order......
Ok I joined a Gym with my brown belt mate Tegan and we have been punishing ourselves with Zumba and weights a couple of times a week on top of doing Karate a min of 3 times a week.  I have noticed some good improvements in Strength and conditioning since joining the gym and I had my program reset done this morning so I am really excited and can't wait to get in there and working through it....

I started running again and have been working through the C25K program on a treadmill....I started at week 3 and finished week 7 last week however as is often the case the goals are continuously being upgraded....

I originally wanted to run 5 k because of the Karate Marathon that was in the past run in January....much to my dismay this year despite me working my but off to improve on last years efforts they didn't run one... Don't get me wrong none of the work was wasted but at this time of my life I don't really need to be able to run for 5km....I am running intervals on the treadmill and using the cross trainer to cover a cardio componant in my gym work and Karate is making sure I keep on top of my stamina....so my theory is that because the human body is sooooo good at adapting to what we put it through I am going to change up my program a bit every 4 weeks or so and see where that takes me...The change in my life over the past 5 years has been extraordinary when you consider that in Oct 2006 I was 25kg heavier, I smoked the equivalent of at least a pack a day, and I did very little in the way of exercise....to be where I am now exercising 5-6 days a week not smoking and loving my life.....I have to say Karate is AWESOME.....thanks to all my friends and family who have supported me esspecially my hubby and kids who take all my fads with a grain of salt and deal we me being an absolute nutter.....

OMG it's October

wow how slack of me it's october and this is my first blog in ages...
things have been happening all over the place so this is just a quick update...
September saw me grade to 2nd kyu one of my goals for this year has been met.  My eldest son Liam also graded and is now a 3rd kyu he had to break a board with his right elbow for that one....Yeahhhhh Liam.
I have been in my new job since 1 july and it all seems to be coming together... my running has been pretty slack all over the place actually but tonight I did week 4 day 1 and it was pretty easy by comparison to the first time through so I don't think i have lost too much I just need to be more consistent....I have been roped into a Zumba class tomorrow night so that should if nothing else be funny.....anyway I will update things in a better manner just as soon as I get some time...
Lisa

back at it again

Damn I have been really slack...well at least with the blogging...
I have however kept running although not as regularly as I would have planned.
I am redoing the c25k program but I am throwing in a week 1 d 1 run periodically as I think the intervals may help me to drop some weight.
I really need to do that... :(
for the first time in my life I think I have to admit that carrying this extra weight is preventing me from moving forward the way that I want to...it's been at the very least a 20 year battle probably closer to 30 with the extra kg and I probably "know" more about how to loose weight and good nutritian than most people because I have had a go at most things to get the weight off. it really is a matter of being able to take control and do it though...I seem to have heaps of discapline when it comes to training or running or push ups or sit ups but eating the right foods seems to be a big issue for me...I need to drop at least 25kg probably 35 would put me in a "normal" weight range for my height...the whole damn thing leaves me cold.... :( The frustration is huge and despite doing so much right I still don't seem to move...
sorry to have been boring but hey I blog so you can choose not to read or to read...
If anyone has a magic cure for fat I would love to know about it :) lol I have a horrible feeling that it comes down to a simple formula....in and out....damn I hate that.

Proud Mum's

Well I am sure I have driven everyone nuts on face book so now I have to post it here....Congratulations to my son Rhys.  He graded from the Thunderbolts program to the Young Samorai program today and he did really well I am so proud of him...he has worked pretty hard over the last 3 months and the results showed...
My turn next time round...

ok so I might not have graded but Rhys did....

Rhys my youngest son graded to 8th Kyu + 2 stripes today

its come time to get back into making myself accountable. mmmmm where to start

Ok there have been some changes in my life.....the c25k forums have been down for ages and that makes it really hard.  I found so many people there with similar goals and the motivation that happened in that place was amazing to say the very least.  After some really interesting times at work I have finally taken the punge and resigned I have found another job and I start there on 29/06/10 so that is going to be a huge challenge but I really belive it will be the best thing that could have happened to me.

I have been really slack on the blogging side of things.  I need to fix that and work towards keeping myself accountable so I think it is time to re align my goals.  I listed several fitness goals way back on the early posts here on the blog and I have met some of those goals...
I graduated from the c25k program.
I finished the 200 sit ups program
which are both reasonable goals to hit.  however both of those goals were achieved at about the same time.
I did get a little slack after that...I have been using my nike + and I have sort of restarted the c25k program with the aim of increasing speed...it is crazy but I have been struggling with the early weeks again and I keep thinking I have done this I know I can do this...I have my running partner now.  The dog comes with me and thats great. He has been really good with excellent manners he isn't tryng to pull me around and he is happy to run any time I want to....
I have had a little dissapointment because I was hoping I would be given the opportunity to grade tomorrow but that wasn't to be...My partner in crime Mandy will grade and thats wonderful but I am a little dissapointed in myself because I obviously havn't worked hard enough or improved enough to warrant grading (YET) There is another grading in 3 months and I will aim for that...this will keep me on track for obtaining my black belt in 2012 I really don't want to push things back any further than that but it is not always up to me....all I can do is put my best foot forward...and as always I will continue to do that.
Having achieved the 200 sit ups..I need to reset some other goals... my sempai (teacher) wants me to also set some Karate goals as well as some fitness goals.  I did speak to her about that last night to try and understand exactly what she meant and I will have to dig some more to work out the best approach to this.
in the mean time...
Goal 1 = complete c25k again faster
Goal 2 = run at least 3 times a week and at least 50km in june  ( I made it to just over 40km in May)
Goal 3 = redo the 200 sit ups with my legs up on the couch
Goal 4 =  restart and complete the 100 push ups program  off my toes
Goal 5 =  work out the rest of my Karate goals with Sempai....
I also plan to be the guninee pig for a couple of Karate mates who are doing coaching courses so hopefully that will help me to hit the rest of my goals...

I have all of these goals and I need to make them work the way that they should so to do that I also need to have at least 3 days a week where I don't do any programs or karate so one of my goals is also to co-ordinate things so I get Tuesday, Friday and Sunday off each week to just be with my family, work and play
so wish me luck guys...without the c25k forums I may need some inspiration and motivational help....

Another goal hit yehaaaaa

I just sat down on the floor in our back room and while my husband sat on the couch watching TV I did 200 consecutive sit ups!!! no breaks no stopping lots and lots of heavy breathing but I did it...Yipppppppeeeeee
so just to point it out here I think I am pretty damn close to being superwoman .....lol not really but I am very proud of myself...now to fix the damn push ups....

At this point I would have to say 2 out of 3 aint bad...

Lisa

OMG look what I got....(thanks Dave)

Well how cool is this....

I have to admitt I really did work for this it has been a hard slog getting through the c25k program but I have made friends both on and offline and the benefits health wise are amazing... I can't believe I get a certificated from across the world in the USA for doing something I should ahve done 20 years ago...

Graduationa... Yipeee

Ok so this morning I staggered out of bed at 5.45 and I was out and runnning by 6.am the weather was ok to start with but with 2 laps to go it really started raining...I have to say I short cut my cool down by the time I got home I was so wet I just needed a hot shower to get me through....I recieved my diploma from dave which is Awsome...thanks Mate you gave my already excellent day a great lift...

Ok so whats in the future for me? I need to keep running at least 2-3 times a week. I need to finish the 200 sit ups program and keep on doing them at least twice a week. I am still working on the push ups program and I pretty much reverted to girly push ups and week 3 so I have a fair way to go with that....I will continue to train 4 times a week at Karate and I am really loving the increased intensity...although the strength training with brace and leg work at the start of most of my classes at the moment is pushing me to my limits. I am starting to see minor changes but I have to work on changing my food intake I am obviously overdoing something in that area because the weight should be falling off me with all the work I am doing and it is being decidedly stubbourn.... I think stress has a lot to do with that....so I will keep on working on relaxing so that I can get this all to come together....

Thanks for reading guys...your support has made a huge difference.
Lisa

C25K Graduation is pending

Ok so tomorrow is it If I make it out of bed at 5.45 am I will have time to run before I have to get the kids up and going and I won't be late for work...I can't believe that I have reached this point...I don't think I ever really believed that I could do this but I basically ignored the end and just kept putting one foot in front of the other...and it worked.....FIGJAM....

I tried something different tonight I got home from Work at 5.45pm and did my push ups (97 girly push ups) and then I did and get this!!! 400 sit ups now keep in mind thats in sets with 45 second breaks between each set but hey it is still 400 sit ups...I think thats pretty cool....

then after doing that I threw on my gi and went to the brown belt Karate class and guess what surprise surprise in the karate class we did push ups, situps and crunches...yeahhhhhhhh thank god for the 20 minute break between what I did at home and what I did at the dojo...

I bought myself the nike+ sensor and I used that on my last 2 runs under the c25k program on my ipod I am getting excited about running with just that going and no overlay it means that I wll be able to get some stats while running other than just how much longer I have to go... I am not sure If I will be able to post them here or not but I will make an effort to work out how to do that and we will see how we go...anyway thats it for tonight...wish me luck for the morning.
Lisa