One more pound along the road I go

15 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

I have been so engrossed in my studies that I haven’t kept my loyal readers up to date with my adventures in fat club land.

In the last 2 weeks I have lost another 3 and a half pounds, I only need to lose another pound and I will have reached my 10% weight loss target.

I think doing my nurse practice hours have really helped me to shift the extra pounds, it’s been quite busy on all the days I’ve worked so far and I’ve walked miles on the unit.

Over the last 7 years during my illness I haven’t been able to do any exercise and didn’t really move around a great deal as it was exhausting. That’s why the pounds piled on and I got lardy!

So not only is the course shaping my nursing career, it’s also helping me to regain my body and once the course is over I’m going to make an effort to get back to exercise. I just haven’t had the energy to do anything else after finishing my shifts.

It’s been a hard slog so far both for the course and the weight loss, but both have been worth it.

Fat be gone

22 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Due to being ill and being inactive as a result of my illness I’ve become a bit too lardy for my liking. I have always tried to eat healthily but I must be doing something wrong as I’m much bigger than I want to be.

So I’ve joined Weight watchers and now everything I eat will have a point value. It all looks pretty straight forward and our group leader says we are guaranteed to lose weight if we follow the rules.

So the first thing I did when I got home from the ritual weigh-in was to set up my “fat journal”, in it I wrote all the food I usually eat and worked out how many points I would normally eat. I am allowed 26 points a day, which doesn’t sound like much but it’s actually quite a lot of food according to my Weight watchers bible.

Also in my fat destroying action plan is to become more active, I know I wrote about this in the blog a little while ago, but I just haven’t got round to it yet. As well as ballet classes, I have also found jazz dance and tap dance classes that look promising, the first step is to get off my bum and do it.  I want to see how I get on with working before I completely wear myself by adding in exercise.

I will keep the blog posted with my progress at the weekly weigh-in.

Best foot forward

28 Apr 2012 Leave a comment

by Carole Gardiner in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

At the age of 3, like many little girls, I started ballet class in the local church hall. At that age we didn’t do much more than skipping and galloping around the room. As I got older it got more serious, new ballet school and harder lessons, we did annual exams with the Royal Academy of Arts and 2 or 3 shows a year. Everything was going well until I had to give it all up due to a knee condition. I loved ballet, it was my life for 10 years and it was devastating when it ended as I had dreams of going to the Royal Ballet School.

Over the years I have found some adult ballet classes but they usually folded due to lack of interest. Dance is the only way I like to keep fit and in desperation I started going to line dancing lessons about 15 years ago. I went religiously every week and as a a group we even went on a few weekends away dedicated to line dance fun!

During my illness I haven’t been able to do any exercise as I suffered from post exertion malaise/fatigue. If I did anything remotely energetic, the next day I would be unable to move from my bed and all my worst CFS symptoms would be amplified.

So I was thrilled the weekend before last that I was able to do 4 line dances. I went back to visit my old group for a catch up and a gossip, I didn’t know any of the dances they were doing but my friend asked for 4 dances that I knew from the past. After dancing my legs felt like lead, but the next day I didn’t feel like I wanted to die and I was able to get out of my bed and move around normally. I was very tired by the afternoon though and needed a little nap.

Encouraged by this I have been on the hunt for another adult ballet class, if I take it very slowly and sit out when I need to I’m sure I can get my ballet groove back. Darcy Bussell I won’t be, but maybe a bit fitter.