Saffron_ Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Right now, where to begin... Well it's that time of year again where I make new years resolutions but unlike previous years, this time I'm gonna do thing a little differently. Normally I write a list with pen and paper, stick it under my bed, look at it every now and again and wonder why I haven't achieved half of what I wanted to. But this year I thought I'd have a go at an online journal (well I figure since I'm gonna be on this site anyways). Also, I'm not gonna overwhelm myself by writing down a full list of everything I wanna change. Instead I'm gonna concentrate on a few things at a time and then once those are achieved or well underway to being achieved, I'm gonna start on something else. Every year I manage to make a few changes for the better but I've got a lot I wanna improve on this year, so the pressure's on! Anyhow, no point procrastinating so let's get started! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Resolution 1 - Lost weight Ahh yes the first resolution on so many people list. Well first of all I should point out that I'm not overweight (at least i don't think I am). I'm 5 foot 6 and I weigh 9 stone 12 or 138lbs. But this is the heaviest I've EVER been and I'm not comfortable at this weight so it's gotta go. I'm aiming to get down to 9 stone exactly/126lbs so that means I need to lose 12lbs. I'm not gonna go nuts and try to shift the weight quickly. In my opinion, 1lb a week is healthy, achievable and it shouldn't be too hard to maintain over the next 12 weeks. My birthday's a month away so all going well, I should be 4lbs down by the 28th Jan. Right now I've reset cardio trainer on my phone, I'm putting a bunch of new tunes on my mp3 and I'm planning out some walking routes for the rest of the week. I'll weigh in next Tuesday hopefully 1lb lighter! Resolution 2 - Sort out my Iron deficiency Actually to be specific I'm trying to sort out my ferritin levels and not my iron. I've written about this on another thread but I completely lost all motivation, didn't make an appointment with my GP to get my full blood count and now I don't know what the situation is. I know I'm not anemic so I have that to be thankful for but I'm starting to feel a little tired and if past experiences are anything to go by, that means my ferritin levels are starting to drop. Unlike losing weight, this is gonna be a long term goal, probably a life long one but the important thing is that I get a better handle on it so the first step is to get my blood checked and see what's what. Then I'll take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 Slightly dissapointing start to my new health regime but one that's currently outwith my control. Had a dreadful night last night with a sore head and blocked up nose. Not that I was gonna start feeling sorry for myself. How would that help me? Petty ailments like colds are little more than a nuissance and no excuse for holding off on my resolutions so I decided to soldier on. It did cost me a lot of sleep but I'm on holiday right now so I was able to sleep in. However when I finally woke up, I awoke to gale force winds and rain battering against the window! What a pain! I had a number of walking routes all planned out and I was aiming to burn around 300 calories per walk but the route I was planning for today would be shut (it's round a large reservoir but it shuts when there's high winds). Decided to try the main road thinking things like mud and fallen branches wouldn't be a problem but I didn't get very far before I saw the flooding. In the end my walk was cut very short. Probably best because when I got home I heard on the news that severe weather warnings had been issued. Hehe! I checked cardio trainer and I only managed to cover a pitiful 1.58 miles and burn 116 calories. Such a shame considering I'm all hyped up and motivated but I guess I'll just have to be extra careful with my calorie intake to make up for what I'm not burning off. A defecit of at least 500 calories is what I'm aiming for so I'm just gonna have to work around my meal plan for tonight and choose something a little lower in calories. Here's hoping that by tomorrow my cold and this storm have both gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 I need to write some things down so I'm gonna put them here whilst they're at the forefront of my mind. They're just notes relating to my second resolution to raise my ferritin levels. Notes to self: Iron rich meals such as mum's bolognese (the one with liver in it) and chilli Black pudding (yum!) Get a cast iron skillet to cook food in Orange juice with every iron dose Blackstrap molasses (yuck!) I don't even know where to find that but I'm guessing it's something like treacle which I hate! Multivitamin without iron Plenty of vitamin d rich foods and also iodine rich foods like fish Look up Yellow Dock and dandelion Lots and lots of iron rich foods during my period to counteract the blood loss. Just been scrolling the anaemia boards and there are people worried about not being to get their ferritin above 30. Oh how I wish I could be complaining about that! If I can get mine up to 20 I’ll be a happy girl. Apparently 50-70 is a good level for optimal health. *Sigh* I’m only at 12 I think. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to achieve that. I read someone’s story that it took them 2 years to get their ferritin up to 50 so it looks like this goal won’t be easy. EDIT: Oooh! On the plus side I’ve just found that I can take blackstrap molasses in pill form. Apparently it’s got something called chelated iron in it. I’ll have to check how much iron is in what because the last thing I want to do is overdose!!! Really must speak to my doctor… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 Just tried on an old pair of jeans and whilst technically they fit, moving and breathing while wearing them was kinda tricky. After that I tried on a newer pair of jeans that were too big for me when I got them.... ...They fit perfectly now. Apparently this is what 1lb of fat looks like, so I just gotta lose 12 of these. Can't be that hard surely. Can it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Yesterday my mum (who I'm staying with over Christmas and Hogmanay) and I were talking about how much we'd over indulged during Christmas. I said I was gonna start cutting back and she said she was gonna do the same thing because she stepped on the scales and noticed she'd put on a few pounds. It was a relief to hear her say that because I was starting to feel a bit sick from pigging out on tins of roses and massive toblerones! However, this morning she came back from the supermarket with sausage rolls, gingerbread men, clotted cream fudge, tortilla chips, assorted dip, a cheese and sun dried tomato stromboli, mini spring rolls, gummy sweets, a 2 litre bottle of coke, chocolate fudge brownies, sugar coated pecans and large bottle of gin! I asked her why she'd got all this food after saying she wanted to cut back and she said it was in case anyone came over for New year. I asked if she'd invited anyone over for New Year and she said "No of course I haven't. You know I always go to the neighbours for new Year". Oh how I wish I was home right now. Oh and there was one more thing she bought at the supermarket. A weight watchers chicken curry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 First weigh in Weight 9 stone 11/137lbs Total loss 1lb Coulda done a LOT better, especially since it's week 1 but it was New year Tomorrow I up my game! The weather's cleared up and so has my cold so I'm gonna try to burn 300-400 calories every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose85 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Good on you! The shopping list made me laugh out loud. Fudge, appies, etc... I’ve decided to have meatless days and to only eat meat once per day. I had a salad and cottage cheese for lunch, having meat pasta and salad for dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 I could have laughed at the shopping list myself redrose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Uggghh! I take back what I said about the weather clearing up. Honestly, this is getting ridiculous! link removed Fed up with 100mph winds, floods, road closures and ALL the trains being off. I'm starting to get cabin fever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose85 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Okay ours isn’t that bad, but we’re supposed to get 200 mm in the next two days. We’ve had windstorms and last night the rain was so intense it sounded like a herd of elephants on the roof! Oh January, you suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Finally managed to get out for walk today. I covered 3.8 miles, it took 1 hour (had a couple of breaks to climb over fallen trees lol!) and I burned 292 calories. Even though I'm just at the start of this, I'm feeling a little less bulgy already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Uh-oh! A friend just stopped by with a belated Christmas present. A HUGE box of toffee covered popcorn! Really...want...to...scoff...the...lot!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose85 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Toss it!! I ate 4 slices of pizza. oops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I always feel like I have lost some weight after a nice work out, like it instantly slimes you down a little bit. I was only able to make it to the gym once this week (I have an infected toe that it bothering me) so I'm trying to stick to the portion sizing of my NY resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 I ate a couple of handfuls of the popcorn then tossed the rest. It looks like my life's about to get a lot tougher. I don't think losing weight's going to be much of a challenge anymore due to that fact. No appetite today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose85 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Uh oh, what’s going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 Just life. A lot of bad luck, financial worries, family problems, a possiblility that I'll have to find somewhere else to live, possible job loss (I don't know yet but we were all gathered for a meeting in work today and told we might be out of a job!) Too much to mention on here and too personal. Because of ENA's policy of not allowing you to delete your own posts, I'm much more careful about what I share these days. But basically I've got a lot to be worried about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I'm sorry Saffron. It seems to be hitting everyone these days all at once... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thanks OG. Had a dreadful night last night. Tossed and turned for hours and didn't drift off till sometime after 3. Good thing it's Saturday and I don't need to be up early, but still annoyed that I fell asleep so late and got up so late. It feels like a huge waste of day. When I woke up though, I lay in bed just thinking about all the stuff that was worrying me the night before and I started putting it in perspective. There's no point sitting around feeling sorry for myself so I'm just gonna carry on with my quest for self improvement. That brings me to another resolution: Resolution 3 - Fix sleep pattern So now I tackle my sleep pattern or lack of it. I used to have no problem sleeping but somehow I got into a bad habbit of staying up late, getting up late and going to bed at different times so now my body clock's all confused. To remedy this I've decided to go to bed and get up at the same time every day (including weekends), no excuses! If I get up at 7am, that means I've got to go to bed at 11pm (and not 2.30 like I've been doing!). This is gonna be tough for a few days because I know I'm not gonna fall asleep by 11 or 12 for the first few nights but I will be getting up at 7 so I'll have a bit of sleep deprivation to contend with. But maybe I need that so that after a few days I'll be so exhausted by 11pm that my body will want to sleep then. Ugghh I'm gonna be so grumpy these next few mornings but I know it'll be worth it in the end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose85 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I had a bad night too. I know how frustrating it can be! I’m a sleeper-inner but on Saturdays I work at 6 am and it’s such a turnaround. Have you tried melatonin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I've been battling insomnia since I was a kid. It gets rough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 I had a bad night too. I know how frustrating it can be! I’m a sleeper-inner but on Saturdays I work at 6 am and it’s such a turnaround. Have you tried melatonin? I thought melatonin was that stuff you get in your skin that protects you from UV rays. Hehe! I had to look it up when you mentioned it, but no I haven't tried it and I don't think I need to. I'm fairly certain I can correct this problem just by getting into better habits. Ooh wait, am I thinking of melanin? Gawd I'm so dense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffron_ Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 I've been battling insomnia since I was a kid. It gets rough My partner's an insomniac and I suspect that's part of the reason I started having sleep problems in the first place. That and as I've said, getting into bad habits. Luckily I've never had a sleep problem before now so I'm optimistic that I can get back to how I was. There was a programme on the BBC about insomnia and how to combat it. The journalist who was acting as a test subject on the programme tried sleep deprivation and that seemed to work for him. He was told he could only be in bed from 1am till 6am and he wasn't to nap during the day or go to bed for anything other than sleep or sex. That meant no reading or watching TV in bed or anything like that. He'd been an insomniac for years and although his first few days were absolutely awful, it started to work and eventually he got into a pattern of going to bed at midnight and getting up at 7am. Not that that would necessarily work for you but it was interesting that he was able to 'cure' his problem when he thought he'd have to live with it for life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 It's not a bad thing to try. I currently only have my room so all I do is sit on my bed. L is a morning person and I'm always on a normal sleep schedule when around him do I'm hoping going to bed when e does will help me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.