I love science

It is just over seven months since I started exercising again and trying to make sure I ate more healthily. Since 17 September 2012, I have lost 20.5 kgs. This means I have been losing around 2.5 kilos a month. Slow and steady. And it really hasn't been that hard.

When my friend Peter left Canberra I knew I needed to get help to keep me on track so I signed up for Round 1 of the 12WBT. I finish it this week, around 10 kilos lighter than when I started on it and a lot fitter. My core is so much stronger too which can only help with my back pain. I can now do planks and push-ups (both on my toes) as well as sit-ups, with relative ease.

To mark the end of Round 1 I decided to treat myself to a Dexa Scan. I thought it would be a good way to benchmark where I am at. And being more accurate (it is supposed to be 98% accurate) than the cheaper scan I had a few weeks ago at the University of Canberra I thought it would help me revise my health and fitness goals.

There were no surprises except that this one came complete with two pictures of me that were pretty challenging. And it does make me wish that I had done this right at the start so I would be able to compare them and see the improvement. Because even though I know I am fitter and tauter than I was, I still see a big fat lump. And that is precisely why I am now looking at the science and the facts - because I need to take the emotion right out of it!

Above: The DEXA Scans of me taken 28 April 2013

Today's scan shows that I have good muscle mass and good strong bones. I need 1,925 calories a day to keep me going. I am 41% fat and carrying too much of it in my trunk. I need to lose between 25.1 and 28.8 kilos to get to a healthy weight.
 
The scan also confirmed that my desirable weight is much higher than the 59-65 kilos that Weight Watchers told me all those years ago that I should be. At the time (1985) I got down to 69 kilos, but I could not sustain it. No wonder! It is 12 kilos less than the lowest weight the Dexa scan said I should be based on my body composition - yes, I can truthfully say l have strong bones and good muscle mass. I have been mad at myself all these years for not being able to achieve the unattainable. So now I can stop feeling guilty about not being able to do the impossible. This is possibly the biggest lesson I have learned - stop being emotional about all this and base decisions on facts. It is quite simple, really. Measure my progress based on evidence.

My total body composition scan results summary is:

• Total body bone mineral density: 1.230 g.cm-2 (normal).
• Total percent body fat: 41.0 % (recommended limits1 23% – 34%)
• Central abdominal fat (sub-region R1): 1.927 kg – High risk
• Resting Metabolic Rate: 1925 kcal/day
• In reviewing your current body composition your ideal weight is between 81.0 kg to 84.7 kg
• To achieve this you need to lose 25.1 kg to 28.8kg of fat
• Suggested calorie intake to attain ideal weight based on RMR
  
• Minimum Structured Exercise Energy Expenditure Target 1800 Kcal/week.

I have signed up for Round 2 even though I will be overseas for the first couple of weeks. I am not a perfect 12WBT'er but I try. I find that it helps my head to stay in the right place. And that is where most of the battles in this quest to get fit and healthy take place - in my head!

I won't be at the Round 1 12WBT Final as I will be in the pool - I have just signed up for the MS 24 Hour Mega Swim!

I can't believe that I am going to do this, but I have just signed up for the 2013 Canberra 24 Hour Mega Swim to raise funds for people affected by multiple sclerosis. Yes, you read it correctly - a 24 hour mega swim! It's not quite as bad as it sounds as I am part of a team of 10 people called the Molonglo Masters Apprentices. Ten people into 24 hours still means a LOT of swimming!

At the start of 12WBT I would never have believed I would have ever contemplated this. But that is the power of Mish!

Why am I doing this? Well, this week my son told me a young man he knows has just been diagnosed with MS. That news, combined with the passing of Chrissy Amphlett, tipped the scales for me and I decided to jump into the pool and do something that would fittingly mark the finish of my first round of the 12WBT 2013 but also give something back.

MS Australia has created my own personal web page to help me fundraise, so it is really easy for you to sponsor me. Just click on the link below! Any amount will help.

http://events.megaswim.com/?DeborahJohns

Things I have tried on Round 1 of 12WBT 2013

It is hard to try new things. It is confronting. It is embarrassing. It doesn't matter if you are an introvert or an extrovert - it is pure, unadulterated, nerve wracking torture. But you know what? It does get easier the more you confront it and keep on plugging away. So, this is what I have "given a go".

• I got back into BodyPump after 13-year break. I do it regularly now.
• I tried Seniors Gym, a circuit class. I do it regularly now.
• I did my first Masters Swimming Endurance swim session. I found it very challenging to be timed by others. I haven't done another one but I will.
• I tried Body Balance class. Tried it a couple of times, actually. Nah, not for me.
• Volunteered to be a pupil for trainee swimming coaches to practice on.
• Did a swimming skills class to improve my tumble turns.
• I tried Cardio Sculpt class. I thought I was going to vomit. Found out I can't use a skipping rope anymore - will have to work on that. Tried my first Burpees. Hopeless. Will have to work on those too. Tried my first Russian Twists - my abs better than I thought. Did my first pushups on toes in about 13 years as well. Managed a full Plank too - and felt strong! I even did a version of a jog - bit like that old ultra marathon dude looked but I was sans gumboots. My knee would not cope with full-on jogging, but it was good to find out I can move a bit faster on land than I thought I could. I have added this class it to my list of activities too. It's a killer but I felt great afterwards.
• Got a Polar Hear Rate monitor. Still have to work out how to fully use it.
• Got a swish new set of Tanita scales. Have worked out how to weigh myself, but the other settings are beyond me. May have to call on my son to help sort it out.
• Bought a small food processor to help with all the chopping jobs. Had to recruit my patient son to help me work out how to set it up. It flummoxed him too, but we got it sorted in the end. A wonderful device and even better, it is bright red.
• Had a Body scan and found out my bones are strong, my hydration is good, and my muscle strength is good too. And ... I am 49.2% fat. But better news was that my goal weight should be 79.8kgs, not the 69kgs I have believed all these years was supposed to be my "ideal" weight. Yay!
• Started a Blog!!!

What I have learned

You are worth it. Yes you are. Remind yourself of that every day.
Eat breakfast - it sets you up for the day.
Sleep more - it helps you lose weight and you will feel better for it.

You don't have to be perfect. Get off the emotional rollercoaster and be kind to yourself.
Organise. Set yourself up for success - plan your exercise, plan your shopping, plan your meals.
Understand food labels. Low-fat doesn't mean low-cal. Watch out for hidden sugar.

Consistent effort is the key to success. It won't happen overnight but it will happen. Be patient.
Acronyms abound - SSS, TUT, JFDI, TTOM ...
No excuses - JFDI! Take responsiblitity. Be accountable.

Diary - get one and write it all down - state your goals, plan your weekly food and exercise, record your progress.
Once a week for weigh-in is enough. Same day, in the morning, nude and after a wee.

It is a lifestyle, not a diet. You are in this to be the best version of yourself.
Try new things. Mix it up.  Challenge yourself.

Yes, You Can Do It!

Pain free - yippee

I have been living with chronic pain. It drives you crazy. There is no relief, it is just there all the time. It is all related to a netball injury from years ago in which I destroyed my anterior cruciate ligament. Since then there has been a knee reconstruction and various other interventions to help me manage the pain of the resulting arthritis in my knee. A dreadful limp for many years did damage to my spine.

I had a total knee replacement several years ago. And within a short time my back started to ache badly. Then the sciatic nerve pain started. Unrelenting, searing pain down my back and right leg. It had been there for years, apparently, but had been masked by the intense pain in my knee from the arthritis eating away at my bones. And so it has gone on - and on, and on ...
Daytime has been manageable but night time is a nightmare. No position is comfortable. I toss and turn. I can't get comfortable. Anti-inflammatory drugs don't work. When I manage to get to sleep it is fitful and I wake an hour or so later and start the tossing and turning all over again. I have become friends with night-time radio. In the mornings I wake in a fog. I have no energy. I am tired and cranky and fed up. Losing weight and getting fit has brought no relief. It was time to do something. A neuro-surgeon told me 5 years ago that I needed a spinal fusion. My reaction was thank you but no thanks. Not yet, at least. The surgery didn't worry me but the 6-month rehab did. All up I have already spent 2 years in rehab after knee surgeries so I am not much interested in spending more time in that little land of misery.

I have been seeing a physio every fortnight for treatment. A few weeks ago she noticed some changes in my back and some new tender spots and suggested I have a chat with my doctor as it had been some years after my last scan. That  chat with my doctor led me to a nuclear scan, a less-than pleasant exercise that showed bad news about my facet joints. It was time to try something else -the pain wasn't in my mind and it was getting worse.

I had a cortisone injection in my hand for carpel tunnel some years back and that gave me relief but it only lasted only three weeks. It was in my mind as a back-up plan for my back (no pun intended) but I had heard that you could only have 3 cortisone treatments in your spine before they stopped working. So I had been saving them up so that I could have them when I really needed them. I realised that time was now!

I had a cortisone injection in my spine yesterday - actually, several injections but I won't bore you with the details. And OMG - I am pain free for the first time in more than 20 years! There is just a little gripe going on, but that I can live with.
 
Not sure how long this will last - somewhere from 1 day to 1 year from what I have read - but boy was it worth the expense. Yippee! Now I have absolutely no reason for being cranky - of course, I don't always need a reason!

I have l lost the plot this past week

I just haven't been in the right head space this week. I thought it was because I hadn't organised things well enough but then I realised it is because I just don't have enough time. And when I thought about it some more I realised that I am bloody fed up with being on call for others all the time and doing things I don't really want to do because I don't want to upset or offend by saying "No". And I have realised that this is the story of my life - trying to keep others happy. For what? So they will like me? I don't really know. But one thing I do know is there are quite simply too many commitments in my life helping others. And it has now reached the point where I am going to say "No more!"

Many people seem to think that because I have 'retired' from paid work that I have time available. Well I don't. Helping my mother takes more hours than a full-time job, for goodness sake. I don't have one free day in a week, not one. It is a constant barrage of things I need to do for others - errands and commitments and problems to sort out that I have been talked into. Some days it feels like everyone thinks I have been put on this earth to help them. No surprise then that I don't have enough time to look after myself. My house is a mess. And I don't know when I last had a day without someone wanting something from me, or suggesting something I could/should do.

Constant little niggly ear worms making me feel bad if I don't help. And this has been going on for years, and years, and years!

Well, enough is enough. I can't (and won't) do it any more. I am going to put people on notice that I am not available. I am making time for me. I don't want my phone ringing all the time, and people complaining they can't get through to me, that they haven't seen me, bla bla bla, and wouldn't it be great if I organised this or that because I am such a good organiser! I don't expect it of others so why is it expected of me? I can't do it all and I am not going to try to be all things to all people any more. And if they don't like it then it is really too bad. I am more important than those who want things from me all the time. And I want some time for ME. I want a weekend where I can do what I want not what others want me to do because that is what THEY want. It is well overdue for me to start nurturing myself, not taking care of others' needs and wants all the time. Selfish? Maybe. But it is time.