Week 11 Chat (31 March - 6 April)

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SkimFlatWhite68
SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
Hi Challengers!!

Welcome to Week 11 of the Trim Taut and Terrific Aussies (and friends) 12 week challenge!!

The purpose of this thread is whatever you want - Chat away to your heart content - it's all about sharing and support.

2 weeks to goal :smile:

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Just a quick note from me this morning, running a bit late for work. Had a good weekend, didn't make the gym but was good with food, almost one week wheat free and I'm feeling MUCH better.

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  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Hopefully that means it's the wheat causing your issues, not anything else Skim.

    I had one of my best weekends in a very long time in terms of food. The first one in a long time without a binge, and no real desire either. Yay for small steps forward. Indulged a little on saturday but didn't go overboard. Had footy on Sunday so I had a fairly carb-heavy day but needed it to fuel and re-fuel. First weekend in a long time where I weigh less on a Monday than I did on a Friday. Can only think that upping my daily Mon-Fri calories is helping a great deal.

    We were overall winners of our footy gala day winning 2/3 of our games and going down by one point in the other one (mostly because we played a weaker team to give our new girls a run). We beat last years premiers by 25 points (in two 10 min halves) and kept them goalless which was a fantastic sign. I was coaching and playing which was exhausting and I'm definitely going to stick to just playing for a while. I'm doing a level one coaching course tonight and next Monday.

    Currently sitting at work icing my ankle and thumb which have pulled up sore. Not sure how bad the ankle is, hopefully will settle down quickly. Will chat to the club physios tomorrow night.

    Happy Monday everyone, hope you all had a good weekend!
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Great news Gemma about your food and the game as well. It's so good when we reach that point of knowing what is right for our bodies. Sorry to hear that you have a couple of injuries, hope that they settle down soon and it isn't anything serious.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    It's pretty quiet in here at the moment. Thanks Skim. I think I'll be okay. Ankle isn't too bad, a bit of bruising and not too much swelling. Might have to keep off it this week.

    Do you get health news soon? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's just the wheat thing and nothing more serious

    Don't think I'm going to make goal weight for this challange but I'm making steps towards a healthier relationship with food which is a bigger win than reaching goal weight would ever be. I'm not particularly unhappy with my weight as is really. I can see the first two abs starting to peek through. The only annoying thing about my current weight is that it puts me squarely between sizes so nothing most things are a little too big or small. A bit annoying but I can deal with it :)
  • monbot
    monbot Posts: 97 Member
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    Hi All!

    Day 2 of my lactose food challenge... yesterday I got a whole 1/4 cup of milk... woooo! Haha. Today 1/2 a cup. So far so good.

    Didn't have the best day yesterday diet/exercise wise. I refused to get up in the morning. Ate crappy all day. Realised I had an assignment due that night, so after work I dove straight into that. And snacked more. A total write off.

    Today I'm back on track, and am planning to make up for my ****ty Monday. Easy peasy.

    Hope your body parts are feeling better gmallen! I'm impressed with your footy skills.

    Hooray for feelin better Skimmy! Nothing tastes good enough to deal with intolerance issues.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/SkimFlatWhite68/view/back-from-the-doctor-results-645208

    This is what it says:

    So I went to the doctor this morning to get my test results from last week and to find out the cause of my complete and utter exhaustion.
    Hmmm...
    Positive for Glandular Fever, but not right now. I've had it. Sometime in the past. She can't say when.
    Positive for Gluten Intolerance. This does not necessarily mean I have Celiac Disease, but I do need to cut gluten out of my diet.
    Inflammation markers all up. This could be from the Gluten issues.
    Cholesterol sky high. Higher than last time, and for the last 6 months I have stopped using coconut oil so I personally don't think that has anything to do with it. Doctor said to change diet to low fat (20%) and increase carbs to 40% (but no wheat), keep protein at 40%. She wants to try low fat diet and exercise for 3 months, re-test and review.
    I am totally opposed to taking Statins for cholesterol, so I guess we will just have to see how the next 3 months goes. Maybe changing from 40% fat to 20% fat will bring it down a bit. Positive news is that my (good) HDL's were over double the normal recommended level, so that is actually a good thing. I'll read up on this more, but I have read a lot about it already and still not keen on Statins.
    Iron was really high. Weird.
    Hormone levels all completely normal. She said that I am probably still Peri-Menopausal, and depending what day of the cycle it is the hormones would be different so we will just keep any eye on the symptoms and it could take me YEARS to go through peri-menopause. I just need to deal with it (delightful).
    She gave me a small supply of sleeping tablets so I can get some sleep, but said that they can become addictive and suggested I just get a few nights sleep and then only take if needed. I will do this, I'm not a huge fan of medication, so I doubt I would get addicted.
    She also said that it could be stress (ah, yes). Maybe I need to throw in my job and find something more relaxing... I don't even know what that might be... And that I should do some relaxation exercises and maybe take up Yoga.
    OMG, I have done Yoga a couple of times and it's SO BORING... I would rather take a walk down at the beach to get in touch with my inner peace.
    So the plan is:

    Take the sleeping tablets for the next few nights and finally GET SOME SLEEP and be able to function during the day
    Start a Gluten Free diet, reduce fat intake to 20% (no trans-fats)
    Walk every day
    Weight training 3-4 times a week
    Find Inner Peace *raises eyebrows*

    I guess that is it. I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes.
    I told Bumper and he still thinks it's stress from work. He also said if I'm only running at about 25% energy levels now, he wont be able to keep up with me when I'm feeling better - LOL! Actually, that's probably true...
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Gemma rest and ice for the ankle might be the best solution. And if a better relationship with food is what you are getting better at, then I think that is a win-win!!! I still don't have it right.

    Mon, good work on the lactose challenge. These food intolerances are a bore!! I haven't been tested for lactose - might be next on the list if the gluten free thing doesn't solve all my woes. We shall see. I'd hate to have to give up all dairy!

    I am certainly NOT kicking my goals, but at the moment I just need to feel better. I am sure that getting some sleep will help.
  • monbot
    monbot Posts: 97 Member
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    Sounds like that's all managable! A few of my friends have GF and they're just careful to not let themselves get run down AND the cold. Apparently that's "just asking for it".

    I enjoy Bikram Yoga. Its 1.5 hours of NOT thinking about anything but what you are doing, and what you are doing is still hard, so it's challenging. Makes my stress levels go down. I find normal yoga a bit boring. I also find it hard not to burst out in giggles if the instructor is airy fairy.

    Body Balance and Pilates is ok too. Most of the time.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Good to have some answers Skim. Hopefully once you get a few good nights sleep you'll start to feel a lot clearer. At least most of it seems to be manageable through dietry and lifestyle intervention (easier said than done sometimes but I have faith in you). In terms of relaxation, you just need something to switch your brain off. Walking is great as long as you're not also stressing or thinking at the same time. Could be reading or listening to music or just a little meditaiton. I'm not particularly good at switching off either and have sleep issues too. I wish you well :)
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    I had a good night sleep last night thanks to taking a sleeping tablet. Feel SO much better today.

    Working from home, so still not doing much exercise, had the car fixed yesterday so I may go to the gym tomorrow morning. I had a busted headlight so couldn't drive in the dark...

    Doing the April squat challenge - see the other thread for that. Today is 60 squats.

    AND I decided to do a 500-600 calorie fasting day today. Just decided now, I read GenF32's post about it and thought, yeah, I'll give that a go as well. I'm going to fast all day and have dinner. See how I go. I like a bit of self experimentation!!

    Hope you all have a great day :) Thursday already!!! This week is flying right by!!
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Happy Friday!!!

    One week to go!!
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Oh, forgot to say...

    Yesterday I did my 60 squats all in one set. Today is rest day and then I think it jumps up to 70 on Saturday.

    Fasting day was fine yesterday, I got hungry around 11, made a coffee, spilt that all over my carpet which took half an hour to clean up. Hunger had passed by then. Was then hungry at 4pm but I had a visitor so got distracted. Had dinner of Salmon, Brussel Sprouts and Cauliflower at 6:30pm and then yoghurt and strawberries. All good!!

    Looking forward to the weekend, no plans but I'm still needing to catch up on sleep so not fussed if we stay home all weekend either :)

    What are you all up to today?
  • monbot
    monbot Posts: 97 Member
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    I completely forgot my squats yesterday. I was out late getting my hair did. So I guess I'll swap my rest day around and do them today.

    I jumped out of bed at 2.20am this morning to go to the gym. Got undressed. Looked at the time on my heart rate monitor to see how late I am (I'm always late). 2.22am. Stupid thing has a faulty battery. Started getting dressed. Checked time on mobile. 2.23am. Stand in spot for 5 mins looking at time, trying to figure out what's going on. Lie down in bed fully dressed and go back to sleep.

    Bonus; was dressed this morning when I woke up. Did 20 mins of treadmill intervals and then Body Balance.

    Sleep in tomorrow, then will head to a 9 am Step class. Not going to get my 6 hours of exercise in this week. Closer to 5. Didn't eat the best either. My care factor is zero.

    In good news, I'm up to 1.25 cups of milk today, and still no reaction (it increases by 1/4 cup a day for a week). So it seems like it's not lactose. That means I'll be eating gelato when I get to Italy in July (I'm pretty much relating everything on this food challenge to some sort of European food, haha).
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    monobot - lol at the gym thing. I've done the same thing an hour early before. For a second there I thought you were some crazy gym junkie who got up at 2am to go to the gym (taking things waayy too far).

    Yay - about the Milk and even bigger yay about the gelato. Italy's is the best!!! My fav that I had over there was fig and ricotta

    Well done on the fast Skim and the squats

    I'm feeling exhausted today. Gym this morning was less than perfect and my ankle pulled up sore after yesterday's training - sigh! Glad it's Friday though

    Not too much planned for the weekend - going to a Tasmanian Synphony Orchestra concert at a winery on Sat with soem of my girlfriends so that will definitely be the highlight
  • Flyer69
    Flyer69 Posts: 100 Member
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    Happy to see you all doing well.

    My downward trend has come to a halt and there are a few reasons for this. I also did not post last week,

    1) My body when I stop exercising keeps losing weight, which happened when I went on holidays but then when I get back it puts on weight. I think it has to do with losing muscle and then putting them back on. I have no other explanation.
    2) My youngest daughter is here and that means cocktails, wine, big meals combined with fun laughter and family affairs and lots of friends coming around.

    Anyway besides that I have been getting so many compliments it is making my head swell. :-)
    People who see me every week and never said anything over the many months of my weight loss journey suddenly tell me how good I look and how did this happen. I guess that my big belly has disappeared and I have gone from an XXXL to an S in sizing might have something to do with it as well. It is just surprising and so many as well.

    Saying that though I like to be Under 80kg, so a few more to go.

    Keep up all the good work, one more week to go, my daughter leaves on Tuesday so that gives me 5 days or so to the finish.
  • wahelga
    wahelga Posts: 304 Member
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    I met with my trainer again today to get the adjustments to my training plan based on last week's mini challenge. I think I'm happy with the changes :ohwell:

    Monday - Stairs - speed - 5-8 sets of 100-250 steps, 2 steps at a time

    Tuesday - strength and stretching - 30 min strength, 15-30 min stretch - increase upper body/core strength and maintain leg and lower back flexibility.

    Wednesday - Walk - Intensity - 30-45 minutes with 5-10 short bursts of 30 sec-2 minutes at higher intensity.

    Thursday - strength and stretching - 30 min strength, 15-30 min stretch

    Friday - Stairs - endurance - 30-50 flights - Climb as many as possible without stopping. Rest to recover then go again.

    Saturday - Ride or swim - endurance - 45-90 minutes - 7-8 out of 10 effort level.

    Sunday - whatever you feel like - 60+ minutes

    Plus he suggested do a 500 cal day once a week (6:1 rather than 5:2) as he says it improves your body's ability to burn fat. So I'll give it a go and see what its like.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Well Mon that is what I call enthusiastic to jump out of bed and get ready for the gym at 2am - LOL!! But yes, bonus to be dressed when it was actually time to go. Good news about the lactose, that would have been quite a pain in the butt if you were intolerant (and good news about the gelato). Maybe it is stress? You mentioned about your job before and I'm seriously thinking that my job has a lot to do with my stress level and health recently. Something has to give. Anyway, 5 hours exercise is pretty good :)


    Gemma a trip to the winery and rest day for ankle sounds perfect!!!

    Flyer, it's the long term results that make the difference, a couple of weeks being off your game wont hurt. I noticed the same thing too that for a very long time no one said anything about my body transformation and then all of a sudden it was an avalanche of compliments. Keep up the good work!

    Helen, thank goodness for paragraphs! I read your schedule in the news feed twice before I could get my head to understand!! Looks good - what day are you going to do the 500 cals?

    I'm finally feeling human again. I've had more than a week off wheat, no stomach issues and feeling much better with some sleep (the dr gave me sleeping tablets) and working from home has probably helped as well. Today I am going to the gym to do a full body workout and then I'm going to make a plan for this week. I've got to ease myself back into it, so I think that 2 early mornings at the gym will be the way to go, plus one day on the weekend. The good news is that the rest I've had has seen my hand fully improve, so I should be able to get back into doing a bit more upper body work.

    With one week to go on the challenge, I am pretty much where I started LOL!!! But I'm actually not unhappy about it, it's been nice to have our little group and I've had so much other stuff in life going on. I think I've come to realise that I need to concentrate more on BALANCE and overall health than pushing myself to the limit all the time, which just leads to exhaustion and all round bad news.

    So it's off to the gym for me now - will set up the Week 12 threads later tonight. Hope everyone has a great day!!
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