So it's been quite awhile since I last posted which is mainly due to my dull life. Things have been quite uneventful lately mostly because I've been too tired to go out and do anything. My hypothyroid symptoms have just gotten worse. Some days I will go to bed early, get a full 9 hours sleep and wake up feeling as if I haven't slept at all. People constantly tell me how tired I always look and this is all really beginning to get to me. I don't have the energy to wake up for bootcamp in the morning and I'm three days into uni and already falling asleep in classes. I'm sure m y family and friends must be sick of hearing 'I'm so tired!'
Although I am exercising (when I manage to make it) and I've been eating well I'm continuing to gain wait. I've basically gained all that I spent the last year losing. This is pretty devastating as I worked so hard at it and it's all been undone in a few months.
Given how bad things have gotten I saw my doctor yesterday. In two weeks time I'll be getting a blood test to check my thyroid in through hopes that the levels will be low enough to begin medicating me with thyroxin. It's going to be a tough wait until then.
I shall keep you posted!
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Exhaustion
Wednesday 30 January 2013
The importance of shoes.
My bootcamp started again, yay! Given the condition of my toes, I haven't been able to attend all the sessions I should be but on Tuesday night I did manage to make it. For each 12 week challenge, there are 4 different mini challenges which we repeat a total of three times. This means there is a challenge a week! This Tuesday it was "Death By Cardio" and it involves completing as many different running levels as possible. They are set out so that level 1 = 1km, level 2 = 2km etc. You must complete level 1 and level 2 and then you can continue onto which ever level you please. This must be completed within 50 minutes!
I was really nervous about my toes and my deceased fitness level but I just ran. I ran with a lovely bunch of girls who recently joined our big group and it was nice to help them along (they helped me lots as well!) I managed to complete level 1, level 2 and then level 2 again within 43 minutes which is a total of 5kms. This is way slower than usual for me but I had to stop and walk quite a bit due to my sore feet. In the rush to get there in time I couldn't find my runners so I just wore a pair of sneakers which are not intended for exercise. BIG MISTAKE!! I've really injured my ankles and still can't walk properly. I've learnt my lesson but I've also regained some excitement to exercise! Hopefully I'll be there at 6am on Friday ready to go!
In the last few days I've also begun planning a month long trip to Cambodia in December. In January 2012, I went to Cambodia for a week and helped to build a house in a village. It was really hard work and that was the moment that I realised how unfit I was. When I came back home from that trip, I began exercise and I'm so glad that I found it. I hope that from now until my next trip, I can really build up my fitness levels. I'm sure I'll be able to tell the difference when I arrive in December!
I was really nervous about my toes and my deceased fitness level but I just ran. I ran with a lovely bunch of girls who recently joined our big group and it was nice to help them along (they helped me lots as well!) I managed to complete level 1, level 2 and then level 2 again within 43 minutes which is a total of 5kms. This is way slower than usual for me but I had to stop and walk quite a bit due to my sore feet. In the rush to get there in time I couldn't find my runners so I just wore a pair of sneakers which are not intended for exercise. BIG MISTAKE!! I've really injured my ankles and still can't walk properly. I've learnt my lesson but I've also regained some excitement to exercise! Hopefully I'll be there at 6am on Friday ready to go!
In the last few days I've also begun planning a month long trip to Cambodia in December. In January 2012, I went to Cambodia for a week and helped to build a house in a village. It was really hard work and that was the moment that I realised how unfit I was. When I came back home from that trip, I began exercise and I'm so glad that I found it. I hope that from now until my next trip, I can really build up my fitness levels. I'm sure I'll be able to tell the difference when I arrive in December!
Wednesday 23 January 2013
An explanation
I'm sure you've noticed that I've been absent from this blog for the last week or so. Even though I had only blogged for 12 consecutive days it started to become a chore for me. I found it difficult to think of things to post everyday especially if I had been at work for 10 hours and literally had nothing to report. After about 4 days of not posting I decided I was going to give up. This morning Mum told me that Klara had been missing my blog posts and I thought about the others that had told me they had been following my journey. Today I decided to start it again, although slightly different. I don't want blogging my journey to becoming healthy another negative, I want it to be something that I enjoy doing and sharing. I will no longer be posting everyday but instead whenever I have something new to report or share. I'm hoping to keep the blogs coming fairly consistently, around once a week or so.
I'll share a little of what went on in my life while I was on my little break! On Monday the 14th of Jan I had a minor surgery on my toes which ended up being a pretty bad experience! In June last year I had permanent surgery to fix ingrown toenails which had been bothering me for years. It's a pretty minor procedure where I get two local anaesthetic needles in each toe (this hurt SO much it's ridiculous!) and then a portion of the nail on either side is removed. A chemical is then applied so the nail doesn't regrow and you end up with a 97% success rate and fairly normal looking toes. Theoretically the toes should heal within 2 weeks max but 2 months later the right side of my left toe was still causing me pain and discomfort so I had the procedure re-done on that part of my toe. Unfortunately the anaesthetic decided not to work so I ended up with around 8-10 needles being used to numb my poor little toe. The healing was much better that time round and for a while I was happy. Not too long ago though I started getting ingrown toenails on the inner side of both toes so I had to have it all redone again!! This time the anaesthetic REALLY didn't work and I ended up with 6 needles in my left toe and 8 needles in my right with a total of 14 rather than 4. I hate needles so this totally sucked. All the trauma from the needles left me extremely sore and unable to work both my jobs for a week. I went back to the podiatrist on Monday and although I'm still sore, I'm healing incredibly well so I'm really happy with the result.
Since my last blog post I've been eating pretty poorly and know that I haven't been properly active since my bootcamp finished mid December but I was absolutely shocked when I discovered that since then I've gained a total of 7kgs. This means that to get to my goal weight of 55kgs this year I'll need to lose more like 15 kgs - bummer! This massive gain didn't make sense to me, how could I possibly gain so much. I knew my eating wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible either so I decided to do some research on how my thyroid antibodies actually affect my metabolism. When I was diagnosed with this, my doctor told me that although I have these antibodies, nothing needs to be done until my TSH levels go outside the normal levels and they are currently normal. My research painted a very different picture. It turns out that several scientific studies show that the presence of these antibodies can cause the exact same symptoms as hypothyroidism (an under active thyroid) The symptoms of these which I have been experiencing are: sensitivity to cold, weight gain, fatigue, dry skin. I went to see the naturopath yesterday and I spoke to her about this. She told me that the doctors are very rigid in their diagnosis of hypothyroidism and that my TSH levels actually showed I was what she called 'subclinical hypothyroidism'. She explained that I can't lose weight because my metabolism had begun to slow and that given I was lacking in the thyroid hormone, my body was reluctant to let go of any of it's energy stores (also known as fat tissue!). To combat this along with my fatigue and constantly feeling cold randomly (even on 40 degree days) I'm now taking a herbal and vitamin supplement aimed at supporting the things which make the thyroid hormone. Hopefully once this starts working, I will begin losing weight and feeling more energised.
So if you're the praying type, I ask that you pray for me in a few different ways. First, that my toes heal up quickly and that this problem is resolved for good. Secondly, that this thyroid medication begins to work, and lastly, that I keep blogging!!
Hope that there are some people out there still reading this!
I'll share a little of what went on in my life while I was on my little break! On Monday the 14th of Jan I had a minor surgery on my toes which ended up being a pretty bad experience! In June last year I had permanent surgery to fix ingrown toenails which had been bothering me for years. It's a pretty minor procedure where I get two local anaesthetic needles in each toe (this hurt SO much it's ridiculous!) and then a portion of the nail on either side is removed. A chemical is then applied so the nail doesn't regrow and you end up with a 97% success rate and fairly normal looking toes. Theoretically the toes should heal within 2 weeks max but 2 months later the right side of my left toe was still causing me pain and discomfort so I had the procedure re-done on that part of my toe. Unfortunately the anaesthetic decided not to work so I ended up with around 8-10 needles being used to numb my poor little toe. The healing was much better that time round and for a while I was happy. Not too long ago though I started getting ingrown toenails on the inner side of both toes so I had to have it all redone again!! This time the anaesthetic REALLY didn't work and I ended up with 6 needles in my left toe and 8 needles in my right with a total of 14 rather than 4. I hate needles so this totally sucked. All the trauma from the needles left me extremely sore and unable to work both my jobs for a week. I went back to the podiatrist on Monday and although I'm still sore, I'm healing incredibly well so I'm really happy with the result.
Since my last blog post I've been eating pretty poorly and know that I haven't been properly active since my bootcamp finished mid December but I was absolutely shocked when I discovered that since then I've gained a total of 7kgs. This means that to get to my goal weight of 55kgs this year I'll need to lose more like 15 kgs - bummer! This massive gain didn't make sense to me, how could I possibly gain so much. I knew my eating wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible either so I decided to do some research on how my thyroid antibodies actually affect my metabolism. When I was diagnosed with this, my doctor told me that although I have these antibodies, nothing needs to be done until my TSH levels go outside the normal levels and they are currently normal. My research painted a very different picture. It turns out that several scientific studies show that the presence of these antibodies can cause the exact same symptoms as hypothyroidism (an under active thyroid) The symptoms of these which I have been experiencing are: sensitivity to cold, weight gain, fatigue, dry skin. I went to see the naturopath yesterday and I spoke to her about this. She told me that the doctors are very rigid in their diagnosis of hypothyroidism and that my TSH levels actually showed I was what she called 'subclinical hypothyroidism'. She explained that I can't lose weight because my metabolism had begun to slow and that given I was lacking in the thyroid hormone, my body was reluctant to let go of any of it's energy stores (also known as fat tissue!). To combat this along with my fatigue and constantly feeling cold randomly (even on 40 degree days) I'm now taking a herbal and vitamin supplement aimed at supporting the things which make the thyroid hormone. Hopefully once this starts working, I will begin losing weight and feeling more energised.
So if you're the praying type, I ask that you pray for me in a few different ways. First, that my toes heal up quickly and that this problem is resolved for good. Secondly, that this thyroid medication begins to work, and lastly, that I keep blogging!!
Hope that there are some people out there still reading this!
Saturday 12 January 2013
Day 11 - House sitting
Over the university break I've been house sitting a lot and I just started again. It's a cool job but it's difficult eating well because I really need to plan everything ahead. So far, not so well! Hopefully things will go better tomorrow. Look like today is another short post -sorry!
Friday 11 January 2013
Day 10 - nothing
So today I worked 10.00am-12.30 at job no.1 and then 2.00pm-9.30pm at job no.2 so unfortunately that didn't really leave time for much else. I did however have a lovely smoothie for breakfast and an awesome black eyed pea salad for lunch!
Sorry guys, that's all to report for today!
Wednesday 9 January 2013
Day 9 - Green Tea
I enjoy green tea and the many varieties it comes in. I know it's good that I drink green tea because everyone always tells me this but today I wondered what it is exactly which makes green tea so good for us. So off I went and did a whole lot of research and now I can tell you why you should also be drinking green tea!
An article written by a research team at Harvard University in 2004 says that the benefits of green tea come largely from the high amounts of flavonoids found in green tea. For those of you who aren't scientists, flavonoids are plant derived antioxidants. Antioxidants are another thing that I know is good for you but I wasn't entirely sure why, so I looked that up as well. Antioxidants are basically exactly what the name says - they inhibit the oxidation of other molecules. This might mean nothing to you so I'll break it down a little bit more. In a cell, when a molecule or compound is oxidised, it produces things called 'free radicals'. These free radicals then cause a chain reaction, this then can cause cell damage and death. Antioxidants have been researched for uses in cancer treatment, heart disease and many more things. So basically - antioxidants are definitely good for us! Additional benefits of green tea is the presence of catechins which have been know to reduce disease and risk of many cancers.
All this information was great but I wanted to know how it supposedly helped in weight loss so I found an article in the Obesity Research journal. In the study they placed 76 obese to moderately overweight people on either a placebo or a green tea mixture. They were placed on a 4 week diet and then 3 months of weight maintenance. The results showed that those who had high levels of caffeine in their green tea mixture showed good weight loss results. In moderate doses, caffeine has been proven to increase a persons metabolism and green tea does contain some amount of caffeine. This tells me that any drink which contains caffeine will assist in weight loss and it is not a property specific to green tea.
Overall my research has showed me that whilst green tea is really good in helping prevent disease and cancer whilst providing a necessary store of antioxidants, it's not necessary for weight loss and any type of caffeinated tea would do the same thing. I will continue to drink green tea regularly though!
Hope this blog didn't end up too science-y for you all!
An article written by a research team at Harvard University in 2004 says that the benefits of green tea come largely from the high amounts of flavonoids found in green tea. For those of you who aren't scientists, flavonoids are plant derived antioxidants. Antioxidants are another thing that I know is good for you but I wasn't entirely sure why, so I looked that up as well. Antioxidants are basically exactly what the name says - they inhibit the oxidation of other molecules. This might mean nothing to you so I'll break it down a little bit more. In a cell, when a molecule or compound is oxidised, it produces things called 'free radicals'. These free radicals then cause a chain reaction, this then can cause cell damage and death. Antioxidants have been researched for uses in cancer treatment, heart disease and many more things. So basically - antioxidants are definitely good for us! Additional benefits of green tea is the presence of catechins which have been know to reduce disease and risk of many cancers.
All this information was great but I wanted to know how it supposedly helped in weight loss so I found an article in the Obesity Research journal. In the study they placed 76 obese to moderately overweight people on either a placebo or a green tea mixture. They were placed on a 4 week diet and then 3 months of weight maintenance. The results showed that those who had high levels of caffeine in their green tea mixture showed good weight loss results. In moderate doses, caffeine has been proven to increase a persons metabolism and green tea does contain some amount of caffeine. This tells me that any drink which contains caffeine will assist in weight loss and it is not a property specific to green tea.
Overall my research has showed me that whilst green tea is really good in helping prevent disease and cancer whilst providing a necessary store of antioxidants, it's not necessary for weight loss and any type of caffeinated tea would do the same thing. I will continue to drink green tea regularly though!
Hope this blog didn't end up too science-y for you all!
Day 8 - What is on my face!
Disclaimer: this post is about makeup, so if you're a guy you don't have to read on!
I believe that health isn't only what we put into our bodies but also what we put onto our bodies. As I said a few days ago, going gluten free has given me pretty terrible skin. This only makes me want to cover it up with makeup but using cheap, chemical filled stuff will only make my skin even worse. For Christmas, Mum got me makeup from Bella Pierre. Their products use natural ingredients and the list is only 4 ingredients long! They never test on animals which is a huge plus for me as well. The foundation is a mineral powder which you use for base, concealer and foundation - its awesome! I've been really enjoying using it, it covers my blemishes without making it look like I'm wearing a ton of makeup or feeling like I have a liquid on. I highly recommend it or any other loose mineral style foundation. I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the way it looks, how quick it is to apply and the fact that you only need one product to do the job of three. Hoorah!
Monday 7 January 2013
Day 7 - 1 down 51 to go!
So I've made it to a week of blogging. I know it doesn't sound like much but for a person that has never kept a personal diary for more than a few days and doesn't keep journals, I'm pretty proud of myself.
I'll admit, over the past week my eating hasn't been amazing (although I have kept it 95% gluten free) so this is one thing I need to start improving on.
Last year when I decided I wanted to lose weight I started trying all these diets and 'Clean Eating' was the one I stuck with the longest. In theory, it's a great idea - the aim of the diet is to only eat totally natural, mostly raw foods which are high in good fats, protein, complex carbs and low in simple carbs. Unfortunately though, these diets are often taken to extremes. The whole concept of 'clean foods' means that there must be 'dirty foods' which is totally incorrect. Yes, there are foods that have no nutritional benefit to you whatsoever (salt and vinegar chips for example) but I believe that if you lead a healthy lifestyle these types of foods can be enjoyed in moderation. Personally, I'd much rather eat wholesome nutritious foods 90% of the time, have a treat occasionally, enjoy my life and lose 10kg over an entire year than being 100% strict for 3 months, lose the weight but be uphappy.
I'll admit, over the past week my eating hasn't been amazing (although I have kept it 95% gluten free) so this is one thing I need to start improving on.
Last year when I decided I wanted to lose weight I started trying all these diets and 'Clean Eating' was the one I stuck with the longest. In theory, it's a great idea - the aim of the diet is to only eat totally natural, mostly raw foods which are high in good fats, protein, complex carbs and low in simple carbs. Unfortunately though, these diets are often taken to extremes. The whole concept of 'clean foods' means that there must be 'dirty foods' which is totally incorrect. Yes, there are foods that have no nutritional benefit to you whatsoever (salt and vinegar chips for example) but I believe that if you lead a healthy lifestyle these types of foods can be enjoyed in moderation. Personally, I'd much rather eat wholesome nutritious foods 90% of the time, have a treat occasionally, enjoy my life and lose 10kg over an entire year than being 100% strict for 3 months, lose the weight but be uphappy.
Day 6 - Tests
There isn't much to report for today. I had to get my big blood test which involved testing my blood sugar levels. This meant I had to fast from last night to this morning. I love my breakfast so this was a pretty hard one for me! I was very glad to have my protein smoothie when I arrived home. Hopefully the test results will all come up clear.
I decided to make it a day for tests so I also had my eyes checked. Turns out I need reading glasses! Now I just need to find some cool ones :)
I promise tomorrows post will be more health orientated!
Saturday 5 January 2013
Day 5 - Lazy day
Today I didn't have to work so I've had some time to do a few things!
Going gluten free has made my body detox somewhat which in turn has given me some pretty terrible acne over the last few weeks. The lovely people over at Lush gave me a face mask called cupcake which I decided to use today. I love Lush products because they are never tested on animals and all the ingredients are totally natural. While doing the face mask I also used a scalp oil for the eczema I get on my scalp and a hair mask as I was given a free sample. So overall, I pampered myself this morning which was really nice!
For lunch I decided to make brown rice sushi! I used sustainability and ethically sourced tuna, cucumber, carrot, capsicum and some spring onion. It was pretty tricky to make but tasted amazing!
The day is only have done but its been a good one!
Day 4 - Busy!
Today was a very busy day so nothing eventful happened really!
Tomorrow I'll be getting a massive blood test checking a whole bunch of stuff but mainly to see how my thyroid is. Hopefully all will be well and nothing has to change just yet.
I think I will start tomorrow with an early morning walk. When I walked regularly I found that I had great results but as time passed and uni became busier I stopped. It's really something I'd like to get back into, not just for the health benefits but also for the way that it sets up your day to be successful. Try it tomorrow! It really does make your day so much better!
Thursday 3 January 2013
Day 3 - Juice fail
So I woke early this morning, ready to make my first green juice. It was going to be amazing, it would make me feel energetic throughout the day! In reality it was a brown mess that smelt like freshly mowed grass. Clearly I've done something wrong here.... Apparently green smoothies work best with citrus (mine had berries and mango) so perhaps I'll try again tomorrow with some orange and lemon!
Recently I've been thinking a lot about my career I want to have when I eventually finish my studies. What I really want to do with my life is work in Borneo with orangutans to help figure out how we can conserve the species and the natural habitat which they live in. This means that for a lot of the time, I'll be wandering through dense rainforest in extreme humidity. I would not be able to do that at my current fitness level. This is what I need to use as motivation to increase my fitness.
Tomorrow is a busy day for me - start work at 7.30am, finish at 5.30pm and then have a family dinner straight after. Let's see if I can fit a blog into that day!!
Recently I've been thinking a lot about my career I want to have when I eventually finish my studies. What I really want to do with my life is work in Borneo with orangutans to help figure out how we can conserve the species and the natural habitat which they live in. This means that for a lot of the time, I'll be wandering through dense rainforest in extreme humidity. I would not be able to do that at my current fitness level. This is what I need to use as motivation to increase my fitness.
Tomorrow is a busy day for me - start work at 7.30am, finish at 5.30pm and then have a family dinner straight after. Let's see if I can fit a blog into that day!!
Wednesday 2 January 2013
Day 2 - Beans, beans the magical fruit!
Eating gluten free is expensive. Bread costs over $6 a loaf, flour is 3 times the price and you spend forever in the shops reading the labels of everything you buy! Since going gluten free the hardest meal I've found is breakfast. Being a vegetarian who doesn't like eggs means there aren't many options to have so I used to mainly eat toast or muesli. Now I've found myself just eating toast for breakfast which isn't very good for you nutritionally or for my (or Mum's) pocket. Last night I decided to make some baked beans for breakfast and they are so good! Here is the recipe if you're interested.
What you need:
1 tbs of macadamia/rice bran/coconut oil (here is a tip - never use olive oil to cook, the heat changes the chemical composition of the oil and it becomes really unhealthy. Olive oil is brilliant to use but only when it stays cold)
1 large red onion finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed (if you're not big on garlic, reduce to 1)
1 fresh red chili finely sliced
1 handful of fresh thyme and rosemary, leaves only
1 tsp of smoked paprika
2x 400g tins of any types of beans (butter/cannellini beans are best but I didn't have any around!)
1x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes and the water from rinsing the can
2tsp of golden syrup (treacle is best but again, didn't have any)
A good shake of tamari (this is gluten free soy sauce, if you want just use soy sauce)
What you do:
1. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan on medium/low
2. Add onion, garlic and chili. Cook for about 2 minutes or until soft
3. Add rosemary and thyme, then the paprika. Then add the golden syrup, tomatoes and water from rinsing the can. Add beans and tamari
4. Simmer for 10 minutes or until thick. Serve!
I caved in the morning and had some with a slice of toast but really, the beans are a pretty complete meal by themselves. Lots of protein, good carbs to start the day and it tastes amazing. I've learnt that the darker the bean (e.g kidney or black beans) the higher the antioxidants, so throw some of those in!
I'm thinking tomorrow morning I might bite the bullet and try a green smoothie which Klara had on her blog today. I really hate leafy greens so maybe this could be a way to get them into my diet!
I really enjoy facts so here is one for you: watermelon contains the same amount of iron as spinach!
If you'd like to read more about how awesome watermelon is for you, I found an article here http://news.softpedia.com/news/Watermelon-The-Iron-Fruit-30079.shtml
What you need:
1 tbs of macadamia/rice bran/coconut oil (here is a tip - never use olive oil to cook, the heat changes the chemical composition of the oil and it becomes really unhealthy. Olive oil is brilliant to use but only when it stays cold)
1 large red onion finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed (if you're not big on garlic, reduce to 1)
1 fresh red chili finely sliced
1 handful of fresh thyme and rosemary, leaves only
1 tsp of smoked paprika
2x 400g tins of any types of beans (butter/cannellini beans are best but I didn't have any around!)
1x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes and the water from rinsing the can
2tsp of golden syrup (treacle is best but again, didn't have any)
A good shake of tamari (this is gluten free soy sauce, if you want just use soy sauce)
What you do:
1. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan on medium/low
2. Add onion, garlic and chili. Cook for about 2 minutes or until soft
3. Add rosemary and thyme, then the paprika. Then add the golden syrup, tomatoes and water from rinsing the can. Add beans and tamari
4. Simmer for 10 minutes or until thick. Serve!
I caved in the morning and had some with a slice of toast but really, the beans are a pretty complete meal by themselves. Lots of protein, good carbs to start the day and it tastes amazing. I've learnt that the darker the bean (e.g kidney or black beans) the higher the antioxidants, so throw some of those in!
I'm thinking tomorrow morning I might bite the bullet and try a green smoothie which Klara had on her blog today. I really hate leafy greens so maybe this could be a way to get them into my diet!
I really enjoy facts so here is one for you: watermelon contains the same amount of iron as spinach!
If you'd like to read more about how awesome watermelon is for you, I found an article here http://news.softpedia.com/news/Watermelon-The-Iron-Fruit-30079.shtml
Tuesday 1 January 2013
364 Day Challenge - Being Healthy
Hi!
I'm Bronwyn and have never blogged or anything before. Please forgive me if this doesn't read very well - I love science and that doesn't involve learning how to write poetic blogs and such. After reading about my friend Klara's challenge that she set herself over at http://www.herhappyheart.blogspot.com.au I felt inspired to start my own getting healthy challenge.
Many of my friends know that throughout 2012 I tried to become a healthier me. During the year I had many struggles with my health that really set me back. At the beginning of the year I found out that if I don't reduce my weight to a level which I can maintain or if I ever gain a large amount there is a high chance I could end up with PCOS. After the discovering this, some tests were run and the results of this showed I had high thyroid antibodies. This means that at some point in my life, these antibodies will destroy my thyroid leaving me with Hashimoto's disease. Given both of these problems involve my weight, I thought it was about time I tried to lose some. I started exercising with an amazing group of women in Kings Park a few times a week which is something I've really enjoyed. Throughout the year my motivation my at times was really high and other times really low - this is something I want to fix this year! By the end of 2012 although I had lost 10kg I felt so tired all the time and spent the entire year extremely stressed. I went to see a naturopath at the recommendation of someone I work with. I found out that although I had lost weight, I was far from healthy which was causing me to feel so tired. I was also told that I need to stop eating gluten (this was probably the worst news I received all year!)
Although 2012 kind of seemed like a dud year, I learnt so much about eating well, becoming healthy and what we shouldn't be doing to our bodies. This year I want to put it into action. At the recommendation of the naturopath, I have 10 kilos to lose to be at the correct weight for my body type. Here are my goals for 2013 and my 264 day challenge (started a day late - whoops!)
Lose 1 kg a month (I'm sure there will be some months where this doesn't happen so I think it should end up working out over the year)
Eat gluten free
Stress less
Be happier
Enjoy myself and eat things I enjoy (in moderation)
Don't obsess over the superficial part of losing weight - this is about health not becoming a bikini model
Try and post a blog each day, even if it is just a photo or a couple of sentences
Do this for myself and no one else.
I'm Bronwyn and have never blogged or anything before. Please forgive me if this doesn't read very well - I love science and that doesn't involve learning how to write poetic blogs and such. After reading about my friend Klara's challenge that she set herself over at http://www.herhappyheart.blogspot.com.au I felt inspired to start my own getting healthy challenge.
Many of my friends know that throughout 2012 I tried to become a healthier me. During the year I had many struggles with my health that really set me back. At the beginning of the year I found out that if I don't reduce my weight to a level which I can maintain or if I ever gain a large amount there is a high chance I could end up with PCOS. After the discovering this, some tests were run and the results of this showed I had high thyroid antibodies. This means that at some point in my life, these antibodies will destroy my thyroid leaving me with Hashimoto's disease. Given both of these problems involve my weight, I thought it was about time I tried to lose some. I started exercising with an amazing group of women in Kings Park a few times a week which is something I've really enjoyed. Throughout the year my motivation my at times was really high and other times really low - this is something I want to fix this year! By the end of 2012 although I had lost 10kg I felt so tired all the time and spent the entire year extremely stressed. I went to see a naturopath at the recommendation of someone I work with. I found out that although I had lost weight, I was far from healthy which was causing me to feel so tired. I was also told that I need to stop eating gluten (this was probably the worst news I received all year!)
Although 2012 kind of seemed like a dud year, I learnt so much about eating well, becoming healthy and what we shouldn't be doing to our bodies. This year I want to put it into action. At the recommendation of the naturopath, I have 10 kilos to lose to be at the correct weight for my body type. Here are my goals for 2013 and my 264 day challenge (started a day late - whoops!)
Lose 1 kg a month (I'm sure there will be some months where this doesn't happen so I think it should end up working out over the year)
Eat gluten free
Stress less
Be happier
Enjoy myself and eat things I enjoy (in moderation)
Don't obsess over the superficial part of losing weight - this is about health not becoming a bikini model
Try and post a blog each day, even if it is just a photo or a couple of sentences
Do this for myself and no one else.
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