Health at any size

If you happen to look back over any of my blogs, dating back over 7 years, you will see how long I have been searching for answers to my health issues. My issues started long before I started blogging and to be honest, I think I was born with a dodgy system. I started seeing a new GP this year and she is not content with the fact that I was born this way. She has put my on a care plan, referred me to a dietitian and put me on the waiting list to see a gastroenterologist.

My dietitian is open minded and down to earth. She knows that restricting food intake too far can have repercussions and offers realistic advice. She advised on the right company to use for biome testing and is all for FMT (fecal matter transplant)  if I decide to go down that path.

As well as a GP and dietitian that actually want answers, I had a work college share their journey and introduce me to products that would help my symptoms and possibiliy get to the root cause.

Not a journey, but a quest

I have been writing this blog on and off for 3 years now. It started when I went for surgery in Thailand and I have been adding major events and breakthroughs as they happen. 

Well it's time to turn things up a notch and make some more positive changes for my family. I get on a roll where we are eating awesome clean meals and the kids are thriving. Then it all gets too much with work and uni and I drop the ball. The kids health suffers and their behaviour reflects it. 1 child suffers from headaches, 2 pyrrole and leaky gut and the 4th gets constipation and tummy cramps.

In the last two years my focus has had to switch from obsessing over my weight and trying every weight loss fad known to man, to getting my gut healed. 2 years ago I was running 5km races. After an injury during a hill race I was under the care of a physio and getting cortisone injections into my hips. From there came the discovery of SIBO where treatment had me on top of the world for 4 weeks before crashing down again. Add a year of naturopaths with no real benefit.  I am now seeing an acupuncturist who is addressing my gut issues and pyrrole. I am happier and more balanced than I have ever been. Perfect time to stick with changes that will make my family as happy and healthy as possible.

I have amazing family and friends that support and encourage me every day. I will invite anyone who would like to add to my blog to do so, the more stories of discovery the better.

Send in the critics

Of course when you put yourself out there, people will criticise and that is what you want to happen. It gets people talking and thinking about what you are setting out to achieve. 

Opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one.

Not everyone will agree with what I am trying to do and not everyone will understand what I am trying to do. Heck sometimes I wonder why I started this and to be honest it was just a crazy notion that I am now riding the wave of. 

It's day three and I am actually finding that I am looking forward to my morning weigh in. Could that be because so far it has been a smaller number each day? I'm not sure. I wonder how I would feel if it was a bigger number? That is what we are here for; 

1) to see what will happen in the daily weigh in

2) to see my reaction to the numbers.

Not everyone likes weighing themselves and I have to admit that the last few years I have not been weighing myself. That has led me here. I think not weighing myself is more detrimental to myself than weighing is. Due to my health issues I can not go by the way my clothes feel, as my stomach can grow 2 sizes in a day.

Red Lipstick and a Rockin' Dress

I have always been larger than everyone else, taller and wider! As a child I would hide in the background as best I could. I never felt pretty or feminine in my youth. I took on the tom boy role, as that is where I thought I belonged. I never felt attractive to the opposite sex and had boys as friends not as suitors. 

Once I met my husband my role started to change. I slowly started to discover my feminine side. My husband made me feel like a light weight, petite princess, something I had never experienced. I shed my awkward, clumsy wallflower casing and emerged a strong, confident lady.

This has been a slow process filled with unwavering encouragement from my husband and a dear friend. Now, I love nothing more than dressing up in a pretty frock, applying red lippy and strutting my stuff. 

I still have a way to go, but I am stepping in the right direction and my path is filled with sunshine!

Yet another diet!

I have a real aversion to talking about diets. For some reason it gets me really upset when I talk about diets. Not whilst I talk about it but afterwards I always feel remorseful. Every couple of months I have a breakdown and throw out all diet books, delete all apps and unlike all fitness pages. Why? Because I don't want to have to follow a fitness and diet regime, I want effortless balance. And where has that gotten me? 10kgs in a year gained!!

Why am I opening up about this?

I read this yesterday and it got me thinking. I have been too hard on myself. What is wrong with trying new diet and lifestyle ideas? Obviously it worked for someone, otherwise we wouldn't be hearing about it. The key is to find the protocol that resonates in you and you believe in. It is never the diets fault for not working, it's your belief in the diet that lacks dedication. 

Our journey doesn't end until we find the lifestyle that works for us. This is our own healthy lifestyle, the changes made along the way to get to our goal. There may be 4 or 5 different approaches to get to this end goal and there is nothing wrong with that. Something different will work better at one time than another.

As the picture above says, You Can Do This! And so can I!!

Freshman 20

Have you ever heard the term, 'Freshman 20'?

It refers to the fact that once kids in the USA go to university they put on a heap of weight. Could be due to not being under mum and dad's watchful eye, no home cooked meals or the partying that coincides with this time of their lives.

I am myself experiencing this phononama. Well no I haven't gained weight, but I understand why they do.

You see I have just started studying a bachelor of education. These school holidays I have been sitting at my computer writing assignments for long periods of time. Instead of moving away from my computer and having lunch I have just been grabbing whatever I can find in the pantry. Most days my lunch has consisted of a bag of potato chips and a banana. Shocking I know.

I need to set some rules in place for the days that I have a lot of work to do at my computer.

Rule 1) No food allowed at the computer
Rule 2) Take a break every hour
Rule 3) Make nutritious snacks that I can grab on my break
Rule 4) Sit down and eat a proper lunch

Luckily I have been incorporating a 30min walk into my morning routine, otherwise the scales my not like me after these holidays.

back to work next week and back to routine. It has been great being home for the past 2 weeks. Anyone want to pay me to stay at home and be a mum/wife/student?

 Vs

My 5 F's

I feel I have written this before and I am afraid I will write it again. I must stop trying new things every time I get bored with the journey I am on. 

I can not compare myself to others. I am Shelley-Amber Peers and I am unlike no other.

Every time a friend has success on a program or lifestyle plan I think I must try it. If they are getting results so will I. Wrong, Wrong and wrong. 

I have IBS, I work 4 days a week, study and run a household of 6, which makes my life different to other peoples lives. We all have certain things in our lives that we need to work through or learnt to live with to attain balance. Injury, illness, family circumstances all play a part on where you are in your journey and the limitations that you must work through.

Today I am constructing the 5 F's of my life. 

F1 - Family. They mean the world to me and I will start spending quality time with them
F2 - Food. I will follow the FODMAP guide to ensure my tummy behaves itself
F3 - Fibre. I will include a fibre supplement at each meal
F4 - Fluid. I will make sure I am drinking plenty of water and continue to be caffeine free
F5 - Friends. I will make time to nurture my soul by catching up with my dearest friends.

Doesn't sound so hard does it. These journey's we are all on are individual but they have some common factors. We are all trying to fulfil our dreams of a better life. A healthier life with rich relationships of mutual love and respect.

The human spirit is amazing and is strengthened by stories of endurance and success. I am enjoy sharing this journey with you and I hope you enjoy being along for the ride.