Sheep/Goats Milk

Before I went off to do next weeks grocery shopping this morning, I did an hours Kettlebell workout while watching the morning tv shows.

I still have to watch American Idol...all recorded!

My neighbor sent me a sms earlier to ask if I would do a short run ( she calls it * tour * ) with her this evening at 7pm, I told her, NO..as my hubby is getting back from France this evening and I'm not sure when and want to be home when he gets back.

I've discuss how I have changed my eating to fight the MS I was diagnosed with. Well with all my research I see that dairy products and calcium are two things that are not good for MS suffers and should be avoided at all costs. I've not made these changes to my eating as yet, in the back of my mind I know this is my last resort, if I have a relapse then I will remove dairy from my diet but not right now. I feel I've given up so many foods I enjoyed and still want to hang on to dairy for as long as possible, specially as I have no MS symptoms at this time.

Anyway, back to my story and the photo with this entry. I saw goats and sheep's organic yogurt yesterday, so bought as thought I would taste and see if I liked...then slowly stop cows milk yogurt and make the changes over a month or so....This morning I had the yogurt with my muesli and fruit and must say the taste was * so, so * will take a period to adjust to it, its not the worse tasting yogurt, nor is it the best....I didn't buy anymore today when I did my grocery shopping...am in no hurry to make the switch over.....but it was good for me to know there are other alternatives out there, that I can still have * yogurt * with my muesli for breakfast if I desire.....In a way its made me feel a lot more relaxed...as know it will be okay...but now what will I do when it comes to the ice cream I enjoy from time to time....I wonder if there is goats or sheep's milk organic ice cream out there for sale.....:)

The way I see it, isn't necessarily the way you see it.

Lunch ~ Kettlebell

Today I met a friend for lunch in a few small towns a way from where I stay...

Our next BIG town...

It's also the only town in our surrounding area where you can get fresh sushi.

As my hubby is not fond of sushi, its my choice when we meet for lunch always, as I love, not all sushi, but the few choices I like, I enjoy to eat.

I ate 6 California rolls....

My friend had a mixture of different kinds as she is a lot braver than me.

I did a 45min Kettlebell workout this morning before showering and heading off to meet my friend...I wanted to do something today....as yesterday I ran 12 km ( 7.45 miles ) and taught Kettlebell class.

Talking about Kettlebell, I taught the class outdoor last night.

It was a perfect evening, so one of them suggested we do it on the lawn instead of indoors as we usually do. What a great idea...firstly, you had no fear that should the Kettlebell slip out of you hands it would crack a tile, and we never got overly hot and sweaty like one does indoors.

Last night I made them work with heavier weights...and it was amazing that they both noted their calorie burn was a lot more with the heavier weight...

They all bought 4kgs ( 8.8 lbs ) when we started 8 week ago and now are going to buy the 6kg ( 13.2 lbs) Kettlebell as they felt the difference last night.

I'm using a 7.5 kg ( 16.5 lbs ) and want to get a 9kgs now ( 19.8 lbs )

Remember you swing the kettlebell so much easier to lift than a dumbbell of the same weight.

Kettlebell is all about the swing...

My one neighbor mentioned she can see a big difference in my upper body over the last month, it was not a compliment as she went ahead and said

* You have too much muscle now Marcelle *

I don't want so much muscle, I want to look like a woman, not a body builder!!

I didn't bother to reply as that's her taste in body shape and mine is the fitness body shape...thats the one I am striving for, yes, even at my age!!!!

The way I see it, isn't necessarily the way you see it.

Comment that I got!

I want to share a comment I got from one of my special blogger friends, Syl....what she wrote to me had made so much sense. I lay in bed last night reading her comment via my phone.....and fell asleep with her words going around and around in my head...what she said spoke to me...

Today while running in the forest, her words came back to me again....I was running...it didn't matter what time I finished the 12.35km's I was running...the fact was I was running....I am fighting to keep my body as fit and healthy as possible...I'm not going to give up, like the poor lady Syl speaks about and so many other's that do when they are diagnosed with something that is potentially life changing...I was going to make sure I was on the opposite side of the scale to that woman, as Syl says I already am.

Syl, I laughed at your writes cramp story after that comment

But you have NO idea how sitting down and sharing those words with me has effect me in a positive way.

The fear of the future can get a grip of one and people's thoughtless words about my future when they speak to me....and I know most are only cause they care, but they thoughts I don't want in my head...I only want positive and happy thoughts there.

You have added even more sunshine to my life and I thank you for following your intuition to leave me that comment yesterday!

I'm going to share something with you that I am hoping will send you the message I am trying to get across.

A few years back when I was working a lady that was my superior was a runner. I was in awe of her because I would of never thought I had what it takes to do what she does. She would talk about it and it meant nothing to me, my fat self told me "good for her". and that's as far as it went.

Few months has passed and she started talking less and less about running. She seemed really sad and her food choices changed. She was eating more processed foods and no longer spoke of running.

After that we had a staff meeting where she informed us that she has been diagnosed with MS, and that is where the "pity train" started. I am not making light of the disease however she used it in her favour to be a reason to give up.

Years later she is in a wheel chair, as you described above.

When ever I read your posts on MS I am in awe because you Marcelle are the complete opposite of her. You have taken this illness and embraced it made it into a reason to continue to get into the best shape of your life, and not only that but to keep fighting for what's important.

We never know where our path will lead us Marcelle, but if I could put myself in your place for a brief moment, if this is where your illness lead me I would think that you did EVERYTHING possible to fight it. You have not given up, you have flipped your whole eating, working out and spirits around to fight this until you can't fight no more.

Marcelle you inspire me everyday to be a better me. Keep fighting and hold your head high because you are amazing!

The way I see it, isn't necessarily the way you see it.

Monday ~ Getting back on track

The South African food products we ordered last Thursday from a website here in Germany, arrived this morning...

Very excited to see foods from my home country in my kitchen cupboards.

Not that any of the foods besides the plain Jungle Oats falls under Clean Eating!!

Today I decided to write down the sugar in all my meals I ate...all meals to me are considered healthy...and by my afternoon snack the sugar was already 40g's... this depressed me so, I ate chocolate and had a mini ice cream....so sugar went up even more. ( hahaha, typical me )

I have no idea why with all my healthy eating the sugar is above the suggested 40g per day, where as from * get off sugar * plans that suggest 15g a day. ( I cant do this )

My Green shake with spinach,1 orange, 100ml plain yogurt and pro biotic drink was a problem as well....One orange has 13g of sugar....Crazy!!!

I'm really going to have to read my Clean Eating books by Tosca from cover to cover again and see where I'm going wrong.

My Training for last week

Taught 1x Aerobic and 1x Kettlebell class

Ran 32 km ( 19 miles )

6 Days I did a morning upper body Kettlebell workout

Sunday was my OFF day

I'm happy with my weeks training and want to add more time to my KB sessions.

Today I did one hour all over Kettle bell workout

Then this evening I ran for 8.35 km ( 5.1 miles ) with my neighbour

Struggled for the first 4 km as was hot and tired from the KB workout, my legs felt a little on the heavy side....but kept thinking positive thoughts and told myself that I'm doing great!!!

So in all it was a good day for me, besides the few balls of chocolate and mini ice cream I ate...

The way I see it, isn't necessarily the way you see it.

I'm Back....Yes, I am

I'm starting to feel my old self again....

I will be blogging back on this page of mine as from NOW :)

Have really missed this blog where I can speak to those who understand...

To those who are on the same journey as myself, no matter which part...beginning, middle and....on going like me!

ONE of the reason I stopped blogging here was because I was struggling with fear...

This fear took me into a black hole, but I've spent days looking at things and have crawled right out of that dark hole and back into the sunshine....

That's where I'm now....in the sunshine.

I watched a program a short while back about a woman who suffers from MS

She was diagnosed over 35 years ago, in her 20's

Slowly over time she lost all movement and is now in a wheelchair, unable to do anything for herself...

She battles to speak, she cant use her hands....

Seeing this and knowing that this is where I could end up

Knocked me terribly...

Now more than anything else, I know I want to fight this...

and fight it I'm going to do with every cell in my body.

I will do whatever it takes

I will stop eating foods that are not good for me

I will make sure in the end I can say...

I DID EVERYTHING I COULD...

And then accept what the future holds for me.

Interesting

What's the first thing you need to know about reading food labels? Too often, people with the best of intentions don't realize that unless you read the entire label, you're not going to get a true idea of the food's ingredients. Even then, you have to know how to interpret what the label says to be absolutely certain that you're getting what you want.

"When it comes to processed foods, if it says it's natural, ignore the claim," says Organic Lifestyle Magazine. "It means nothing. If it says it's organic, it doesn't have to be 100 percent organic unless it says it is. Remember processed foods can be labeled organic if only 80 percent of the ingredients are organic. And organic junk food is still junk food."

The best advice is to simply not eat any processed foods at all. But if you must, a short list of ingredients and phrases to avoid includes artificial colors, artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, sodium nitrates or nitrites, and others.

While I take a break from here...

Eating Fructose is Far Worse than Eating Fat

However, the physiological problems of fructose metabolism extend well beyond a couple of pant sizes:

• Fructose elevates uric acid, which decreases nitric oxide, raises angiotensin, and causes your smooth muscle cells to contract, thereby raising your blood pressure and potentially damaging your kidneys.[1]
  
  Increased uric acid also leads to chronic, low-level inflammation, which has far-reaching consequences for your health. For example, chronically inflamed blood vessels lead to heart attacks and strokes; also, a good deal of evidence exists that some cancers are caused by chronic inflammation. (See the next section for more about uric acid.)
• Fructose tricks your body into gaining weight by fooling your metabolism—it turns off your body’s appetite-control system. Fructose does not appropriately stimulate insulin, which in turn does not suppress ghrelin (the “hunger hormone”) and doesn’t stimulate leptin (the “satiety hormone”), which together result in your eating more and developing insulin resistance.[3] [4]
• Fructose rapidly leads to weight gain and abdominal obesity (“beer belly”), decreased HDL, increased LDL, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and high blood pressure—i.e., classic metabolic syndrome.
• Fructose metabolism is very similar to ethanol metabolism, which has a multitude of toxic effects, including NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). It’s alcohol without the buzz.

These changes are not seen when humans or animals eat starch (or glucose), suggesting that fructose is a “bad carbohydrate” when consumed in excess of 25 grams per day. It is probably the one factor responsible for the partial success of many “low-carb” diets.

One of the more recent findings that surprised researchers is that glucose actually accelerates fructose absorption, making the potential health risks from HFCS even more profound.[1]

You can now see why fructose is the number one contributing factor to the current obesity epidemic.

Weeks Review

Ran both Saturday and today, Sunday....

Yesterday I did a 8.18km ( 5.08 miles ) with my hubby and today a 10km ( 6.21 miles ) with some girlfriends.

Felt good both days...

Am finding running with my hubby who takes bigger steps compared to me, my pace is improving as I have to run faster to keep up, even though I am the fitter of the two.

Today when I ran with my girlfriends, the one said my pace was too fast, she could not keep up...

I think its time for me to start running on my own again if I want to improve and get fitter for the half marathon I want to do in September.

My one girlfriend who has run 3 half marathon's says that my fitness is so good at the moment I will easily be able to run it NOW...without any special training.

My Training for the week.

44km ( 27.3 miles )

4708

9 Workouts that I logged in

Did 30 mins of Kettlebell each morning which I didnt log in

Thursday was my one off day for the week.

I'm going to be taking a break from this blog ~ I do have another blog, a private one, if you are a regular follower here and would like me to add you to my private blog, please email me with your email address.

I send out reminders when I post on private blog as the updates do not appear in your feedreader.

Wearing Body-shapers.

Today I'm going to share a few photo's taken during one of my visits to Holland and how I felt in my skin on that day.....

Hubby and I went to Holland for the 2nd time to see the famous Tulip show, which happens around this time of year, each year.....while there I wanted to meet up once again with my Dutch blogger friend, Marcelle....we share the same name, thats how we found each other in blogland.

At the time I had been on and off a few diets....being very strict and then eating everything in sight for a few days....I did manage to lose a little weight....Remember I married at 84kg's ( 185 lbs ) and during this visit 3 years later, my weight was 76kg's. ( 167 lbs ). I really felt a lot thinner at this stage, 20 lbs down...yet still far from happy as I was still overweight compared to the weight I was while teaching...

I remember on this day I was wearing a full *pull me in* body shaper underneath my top and capri pants. I didn't want any lumps or bumps to show around my middle area ~ this body suit keeps all in very nicely and gives one's middle a smooth appearance.

It was a hot day....and I was hot....I had all these extra layers on ~ what we do for vanity.....

I wanted to look * slim * that day....

I no longer wear body shapers.....I love being able to go without, so have given all mine away.

Looking Back

One of the things I hated when I was overweight, was having my photo taken.

I liked my photo being taken, but only if I could * hide *

Take a look at all the photo's with this entry...

This was me hiding.

Always making sure I had someone, a pillow or something in front of me, hiding my big boobs and stomach!!

There are very few photo's of me where I can see my full body while carrying the extra weight.

I have either cropped the photo just above my breasts or have someone or something in front of me...Even having half of me covered like the photo below, I felt was better than showing all of me.

I know many overweight people do the same ~I know for me being a normal size all my life and then gaining so much weight over a short period, I just never ever felt comfortable in my body, and could not accept that this was going to be the new me....I remember crying many times when I took a hard look at myself in the mirror, wondered how I had allowed myself to get to this point weight wise....

Just over two years ago, I knew I had to lose the weight....I was reaching menopause, years where most women gain weight around their belly area and the older one gets the harder it is to lose the weight.

I tried to lose weight a few time, kept falling off the diet wagon...but one day I woke up and something clicked in my head.....once that click happened.....NOTHING could stop me....and still to today, two years later and while maintaining the weight lost, nothing can keep me off this journey.....I refuse to gain weight again....

Today I'm happy to stand next to someone without feeling the need to hide

Now thats such a good feeling....

A feeling I want to continue having...