Judy’s mind blowing 17kg journey of discovery! #126
My Kim Beach #noexcuses and #nolimits Program story started about a year ago with a decision; to achieve and maintain a health and fitness ‘forever lifestyle’. You see, this wasn’t one of those ‘in the moment’ choices that essentially when the going gets tough you make excuses to sabotage your efforts and fall off the rails, which I’ve certainly done in the past.
I wasn’t in a great place up to that point. For 37 years I’ve felt sick almost every day and the last 4 years suffered from reflux 24 x 7. Even when a few years ago I was finally diagnosed as a fructose malabsorper and followed a strict low FODMAP diet the sickness didn’t fully subside. I’ve experienced debilitating fatigue, dizziness and fogginess of adrenal fatigue; the price I guess of being a high achiever and pushing to ‘have it all’ that my body basically responded that it had enough forcing me to slow down.
Also since rupturing my ACL in my left knee at age 15 I’ve had continued knee pain for 32 years, despite having several operations including another reco 7 years ago. Thus I’ve never been a runner.
When I was in my 20s I was in a car accident that rendered me a month in bed and 12 months of physio. I wasn’t happy with my back/shoulder recovery and joined a gym. It was pivotal in putting me on the right route to recovery. I achieved a level of strength and fitness that has always stayed in my mind. For a while though I got really thin. I couldn’t see it but everyone else could and when I look back then I had gone too far.
I would say I’ve never had a ‘weight’ problem up until I was pregnant with my first child. Until that point I was pretty fit. I put on a lot of weight while pregnant and experienced dreadful low back pain. After giving birth I struggled keeping it off, then returning back to work part time at 12 weeks and then full time at 1 year old, the last 17 years has been a bit of a haze. I made sure before I got pregnant with my son that I returned back to a ‘good’ weight, but again returning back to work full time, although I usually took meals I had prepared at home it was ‘the extra’ hot chocolates and sweet treats in between that gradually saw the weight and sickness increase.
In the past whenever I have put on or lost weight it was comparative all over my body. For the last 5 years I’ve been going through pre-menopause and am definitely finding the extra layers of fat around my middle harder to shift. Challenge accepted!
Why is this history important? Actually do you know what, when it’s all said and done it isn’t. They are all excuses readily available to pull out to justify not getting on with it, to get my health and fitness back. I am not belittling those of you who are suffering, not by any means. I do not walk in your shoes, but for many of us there is a way to get off the roller-coaster. Essentially it’s a choice. No longer do I let my illnesses, conditions, injuries etc define who I am!
I was ‘that woman’ who was sick for 37 years. Knee pain for 32 years. Fatigue and fogginess. ALL GONE!
‘How can that be’, you ask? For me, I know without a doubt it was sugar, particularly fructose and fructans. It causes not only continued feeling of sickness but inflammation in my body. By regulating my blood sugar levels naturally through the KB BeachFit Programs, while making low FODMAP alternations, finally set me on the ‘forever lifestyle’ path. Eating 5 meals a day, smaller portions, that require no calorie counting along with options for swapping a meal you don’t like with another is pretty easy to follow.
Now some eight months on since I started #noexcuses I still haven’t experienced a ‘blowout’ and I won’t, doubtful that I will ever again. Sure I’ll have a couple of pieces of pizza every now and again or a meal off plan when I go out but overall I just have no urge to go on a crazy binge session with food or drink. Why? Now it’s really important that you understand the ‘Why’s. They are the secret of my success:
- Most importantly, I was so mentally ready for the Programs, with every ounce of my being that it set me up to make the right choices from the start.
- Determine the agreements with yourself from the start, that if you stick to them, you won’t go off course. From Day 1, I was prepared to completely give up the daily hot chocolates so long as I allowed myself my cup of Earl Grey tea with 1 sugar and milk (I’ve cut down from 2 tsp sugar). Eight months later I still have not had a hot chocolate! For around 4 months I have also had almost every single day 1 small square of dark chocolate with my cup of tea. I have not had any of the KB sweet recipes, not even meal #6 when I was on the #noexcuses By giving myself permission right from the start to have my cup of tea with sugar and 1 square of dark chocolate, without guilt, I don’t desire anything else because there is no void to fill.
- Don’t change too many elements at once. If you are not already consistently exercising you might want to consider when doing the #noexcuses Program to follow the food plan only. That is what I did and still lost 7kg, as I was still working through fatigue and sickness. Once my health improved then I introduced the exercise component. Even when I signed up for the #nolimits Program I reduced the number of chest exercises and sets until my shoulder felt ‘normal’.
- I cannot stress enough that food preparation is absolutely the critical component to backing this up and then followed by the exercise. In fact, with a continuing struggle with ‘finding time’ I made the conscious choice early on if it came down to only having an hour in the day I would ditch the exercise session in favour of preparing my meals for a couple of days. Skipping the food preparation is not an option in my books.
- Celebrate when you plateau! While others cursed their weight plateauing, I celebrated them. The way I see it by getting to a particular point and staying there it was my bodies way of readjusting itself, saying ‘this is the new normal comfortable weight’ that can be maintained. Through consistency, remaining on plan, gradually I would drop weight again until the next plateau.
- From a fitness point of view change is your best friend. If you continue to do what you’ve always done and you’re not getting results then you need to change a lever or two. Keep your body guessing. Change the number of sets, reps or intensity.
- Always look forward; don’t look back. Other that taking my weight when I started Round 1 of the #noexcuses Program I took no ‘before’ photos and no measurements, nor for the #nolimits Program too. I didn’t need to make comparisons along the way to ‘label’ whether I was achieving or by how much. My clothes told the story. I had 10 pair of jeans of varying sizes, of years gone by, in my wardrobe and I gradually worked my way through them. They are all too big now! I also had my favourite dresses that I’ve kept that are around 20 to 25 years old! They all fit with this one a fraction tight. This is the one that I’ve kept hanging up in the bedroom that I see every day. When I comfortably fit back into it then my job is done and I’ll focus on maintenance.
Now let us address the ‘I don’t have time issue’, which I am well versed. I’ve a typical 60 hour work week, including 1.5 hour commute each way between home and work, leaving home between 6:00am to 6:30am and finally sitting down at home around 8pm, where I would tell myself I was too exhausted to exercise. Miraculously I would have time posting on Facebook though or watching TV. When I came to my senses, before starting the #nolimits Program, I finally resigned myself to the fact in order to fit in the exercise I would need to sacrifice the ‘wasteful’ time. So that is what I have done. Somewhere between 8pm and 9pm I’m in the gym for an hour or two and now finally sit down around 10pm-11pm at night, before heading to bed and like Groundhog Day start it all over again the next day. I finally see daylight at home on the weekend. It’s a sacrifice that is necessary in order to maintain my health and fitness goals.
I never thought I’d say this but ‘I am a runner’! With no inflammation and no knee pain for the first time in 32 years, I joined in one of the Kim Beach | Beachfit Community FB page 5 km challenges. I am still in awe of how brave I was that day. Having almost zero running experience up to that day I jogged not only 5km but went for around 7km, straight up! Within 8 weeks I shaved 10 minutes off the 5km split time and now I’m signed up to compete in my first ever fun run; 10km.
Now for those of you that must have a ‘number’ in order to confirm in your mind whether indeed my results are successful, I’ve lost 17 kgs, am size 8-10 today and am at the lower end of the healthy weight range at 5’9” (175cm tall). Do you know what is so silly about this? Let’s put it in perspective. The fact that I allowed myself to put on the weight in the first place is embarrassing to me and for that reason feel uneasy being celebrated as a ‘superstar’ from a weight loss perspective. However, I am absolutely proud of the choices I’ve made since making ‘that decision’. Having fully immersed myself in the Kim Beach #noexcuses and #nolimits Programs it feels so comforting to have my mojo back and kick arse attitude of my 20s, and for what seems like forever am no longer consumed by sickness or injury.
I thank you Kim for your own bravery to see a void in the market years ago and doing something about it. It was the motto/principles of your Programs that I resonated with, which were the deciding factor for me to join when I went looking for something. As a full time IT professional and part time Fitness Instructor (qualified Personal Trainer) I was frustrated that I couldn’t seem to motivate myself to do this on my own. Previously I had been able to get myself back on track if I’d gone off centre. I guess we all have ‘stuff’ that appears to be limiting. No more. I just needed to start.
A big shout out to the KB ladies who are always there lending support day and night in the Facebook groups. No question is considered a silly question, which are always answered with positivity in mind.
So in closing I challenge those reading this ‘novel’ to re-write your story. If you continue to stay on your current trajectory where will you end up? Where do you want to be? What would you need to do to get there? Are you prepared to do what it takes to get there or is that inner voice already limiting you? I know I’ve been there! Trust in your potential and what you’ve got to gain. Just take a chance and grab your own ‘forever lifestyle’ firmly with both hands!
Judy
