I can say with honesty that I do not get all upset if I have gained weight. I will ALWAYS know why I have gained!!   

Readers who honour me by subscribing to this blog will know that my Odyssey has been a ‘mixed bag’ of a spectacular (if I say so myself!) success of 25kg lost and then a stumbling, erratic climb in weight. About 15kg regained in fact. Hating to admit that!!

The reasons for losing my way on the Odyssey are legion and would fill a dozen posts. I will spare you all that pain!

In future posts though, I will refer to the various factors that caused my wandering off the path; that is what an odyssey is, not so?  :-)

OK, Eileen, let’s cut to the chase!  Tra-la!! … 2.2kg lost since 18th December. 2.2kg in 4 weeks – about spot-on per target of .5kg per week. And that over the festive season.

Sorry, being cocky here I know but taking a bow here and patting myself on the back…hhmm.. difficult to do at the same time… !!!! 

Have a great Sunday xx

With immeasurable encouragement from the matchless Dr Anna Hall and her two ebullient, stunning daughters, I have joined a new lifestyle/weight-loss support group started three weeks ago.

Anna Hall, with her passion for patient education and care, has started the support group to assist those of us keen to pursue a healthy lifestyle coupled with a healthy weight.
We have formed a tremendously supportive, very informal support system and we meet every Tuesday evening at Dr Hall’s rooms in Monte Vista, just off the N1.

E-mails fly back and forth all week long and we also hang out in our own closed Facebook group. Anna prepares a short presentation to kick off each weekly session; on any health topic we choose. How cool (and generous) is that! I don’t think it is too late come join us; check out Dr Anna’s website!

So wish me luck with this new beginning which follows a really turbulent and challenging chapter in my life

remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead…

You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal.

Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.”

– Kathleen Norris, Writer

Dedicated to all of you who, like me, are voyaging on choppy seas at this time. Yikes! The water is DEEP!

]]> http://eileensodyssey.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/odyssey-hanging-in-there-but-only-just/feed/ 0 Eileen clip_image001 http://eileensodyssey.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/death-of-a-tree/ http://eileensodyssey.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/death-of-a-tree/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:51:32 +0000 Eileen https://eileensodyssey.wordpress.com/?p=696 Continue reading →]]> Crazy thing to write about, hey?

When we moved to La Rochelle, we realised that if we were to make any kind of start on re-vamping the garden, we would have to – sadly – remove a VERY tall, VERY messy and VERY old palm tree. This was not an easy decision as this tree must have been all of 50 to 60 years old.

We were told by one of the very interested neighbours that gathered to watch the spectacle that the tree would have been planted near the original opstal of the now disappeared La Rochelle vineyard. Be that as it may (and I will try to look it up when I have a mo’), Marc had obtained quotes to remove this monster speciman. They ranged from R10 000 down to R3 600! Not cheap.

The decision duly made, we gave the work to a very experienced tree feller who moved in with alacrity. I think work was a little slow in his business.

Herewith some shots of the grand old tree for posterity. Farewell oh mighty one. RIP.

You can see the height of the palm in relation to the corner of the house roof just visible on the right.

The tree feller was perfectly nonchalant about his task.

The tree feller did concede that our tree was the tallest he had ever had to tackle.

I also have a very short video of our tree’s final moments – but have to upload to web and then insert in this post. Will try to do that sometime as the .mov file I have is unacceptable for upload!

Tootled along in the new Yaris (now named Ruby btw!) to the lab we now use.. only to find they do not open on Saturdays…. Sh*t… not impressed. I was on my way to pick up my granddaughter to take her to a birthday party so could not shoot through to Milnerton where the Pathcare lab does open on Saturdays. I was planning to go on Friday am but decided on Saturday as Fridays would cut into my working day….. hhhmmm. Will have to go to Pathcare lab tomorrow am.

The regular blood tests have now become even more important in my life as I made some quite momentous decisions recently.

Quite momentous in that I have been battling to curb a backslide in my weight loss progress since all the ‘snot en trane’ of the last half year or so. I need all the help and motivation I can get but I have nonetheless resigned from Weigh-Less.  I will miss the lovely pamphlets they produce and I will miss some of the people I met while there in 2009/2010. I will be glad to have R125 a month more to spend on good, quality food. But for the rest – well quite frankly I truly believe that I can teach most of them a thing or two. Some GL’s are tremendous and others just do not have ‘it’ I am afraid.

I have come to the realisation that I went about my weight loss in completely the wrong way. How can a 25kg weight loss not be a raging success story?  You may well ask! I did the right things for me (I thought) – low GI eating plan mainly of my own creation; using nutrition software to keep track of intake; some increase in physical activity >>>>> and therein lies the crunch!

I have realised that far more than what that damn scale says, it is in fact body fat % that has to be monitored and brought down to within the normal  range. At a 25kg weight loss, I looked pretty darn good if I say so myself and I still get compliments about my June 2010 birthday photo used on most websites I frequent. BUT BUT BUT I was a skinny(ish!) fat person!

If body fat % is right, then the weight will be right too… I think… any comments greatly appreciated here!

Lack of robust physical exercise during my weight loss journey resulted in far too much of that 25kg loss being lean muscle. I can feel that and see that in myself. To rectify the matter will not be a simple undertaking but I plan to give it a go. The low GI eating is resuming (for me the only way to go) and the nutrition software has been ‘re-booted’!  The CRUNCH is going to be the physical exercise – aerobic; stretching; light weights; core;  – dear heaven this is not going to be easy at all!!

Anyone know when I can buy reasonably priced skinfold calipers? I am serious! Can order from the USA for +- $20 BUT the freight costs are very high.  www.chponline.com.

While we are mentioning websites here, check out the new diabetes website www.mydiablog.com. Had a long chat with the founder this evening – a German named Wolf. What a great guy.

Blue Tuesday coming up – had a great weekend out & about in the sunshine so not looking forward to my desk again early tomorrow morning.

Have a great week everyone.

Morning all

In all the turbulence I am experiencing at this time, I am trying to regain some semblance of control by sorting out files, papers, making copious To-Do lists and just generally getting on everyone’s case!

I came across this quotation (you know how I love them) that resonates with me:

“Patience – it is the ability to idle your motor when you actually feel like stripping your gears…”
- Anonymous - 

I will talk to you all again soon but in the meantime – What do you know about HAES? Have I got your attention? I hope so. I will fill you in on this lifestyle/health approach soon!

Have great day

‘They’ say – and I have always believed implicitly in this – that a goal is but a dream until it is written down. This post fits in nicely with my post of yesterday about New Year’s resolutions.

Whether we call them resolutions or goals, we surely all aspire to something in  this fresh New Year? It’s like a nice clean sheet; a new blank page in your new 2011 Journal – you do try to keep a journal do you not?!  You do at least try to keep a food log do you not?!  

I think I have mentioned before that some years ago I created an Excel workbook which enabled Weigh-Less members to record daily food intake and the various formulas would add up and track their daily progress. If any one part of the daily formula was exceeded, the figures would start showing in RED!!! If anyone is interested, I could try and dig it up again from the bowels of my computer! Back in about 2007, I sent out literally hundreds of copies of this spread-sheet. Each page also has space for remarks where you can record what a shit day you are having!

But, as usual, I digress ….. let me just get on with it and list what Venuto calls SMART as well as SMART-ER goals:

1. Specific. Set goals with clarity. Get clear. Get precise. Be specific. Your mind does not respond well to generalities.

2. Measurable. Set goals that can be quantified in  measurable units. Kg weight; body fat % (more about that soon); body measurements; clothing sizes.

3. Accountable. Set goals that you can be held accountable to.  Accountable to yourself with weekly progress charts; a daily nutrition diary/food log; and possibly a training journal. Double that accountability by submitting your results to a third party who can hold you accountable!

4. Realistic. Set goals that are attainable and maintainable. ,5kg a week FAT loss a week is attainable.  1Kg per week would be awesome and not quite so easy imho! I will talk about FAT loss in future posts. I am NO expert but have been reading up about it.

5. Time bound. Set goals with deadlines. With no time limit, there is no urgency for completion. Set weekly goals for nutrition and workouts (!); weekly weight and body composition; then look ahead and check quarterly progress. Set long term goals.

Now for the ER part.

6. Emotional. Goals give direction but strong emotions are the propulsion system that drives you in the desired direction. Connect your goals to your values. What’s most important to you about reaching your goals? What will reaching your goals do for you? What will your life be like then? How will reaching your goals make you FEEL?

7. Review often. Stay laser-focused by writing and reading your goals every day. Repetition is one of the keys to re-programming your mental computer for success.

Of course, I have to add my own little rider to this – also adapted from Tom Venuto’s words -

Work HARD at achieving your goals and EXPECT success!!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We are goofing off today with our family on one of our ‘most-est’ favourite jaunts – a trip down to Simonstown  – replete with cat box in the boot.  Love that historic place. Now (sorta!)  settled in our new home, I am  ready to rescue a kitten from TEARS – though I greatly fear it may turn out to be two kitties from TEARS as all three of our grandchildren want to be part of the process.  At R450 each, they are not cheap rescues either! But of course we  understand and accept that it is more about donating to an incredible organisation rather than the cost of a kitten per se.

Have a great day everyone!

Having had the immense pleasure and privilege of having all the Gauteng & KZN Janekes who are presently in Cape Town at my home yesterday, it was a good time to ask about New Year’s Resolutions.  As I expected no-one admitted to having any at all but we did all agree that we sure hope 2011 turns out to be a better year than 2010!

2010 for me was a disaster. Full stop. Yes, for sure, there were some highlights but in my mind those highs  are completely overshadowed by difficulties & challenges in every single area of my life. I am not dwelling on what is past but it is helpful to me to just write down what happened and then to seal it off and continue on the Odyssey.

In the latter half of the year, crucial  health matters took a back seat while business challenges just escalated unbelievably and unexpectedly.  Fortunately the issues do not entail loss of business income but rather difficulties with backlogged work; hardware and software hassles; re-location of home/home-based business  (>200 boxes!! – ); ADSL line and network challenges;  sooper-dooper new software with all the bells and whistles being too advanced for many of my clients’ computer systems to read; the departure of a highly valued essential employee;  all of which have increased the original backlog..  This boring list could go on and and on but I will spare you……..

For me, New Year is definitely a time reflect on what I want – no WILL – achieve in the coming year. Bottom-line,  it’s actually really simple to define BUT very, very difficult to achieve:

1 Resume the Odyssey

2. Sort out business challenges.

Paying attention to health matters and resolving work issues  will free up some ME TIME! Great heavens how I long for ME TIME! ME TIME on a regular basis that is. Not just snatched time while feeling guilty about being away from my computers.

So dear readers, what are your resolutions for 2011? I’d love to hear about them!

I am dealing with some very serious stress at this time – so no time to post but will be doing so again soon.
Time, tide and SARS wait for no man (or woman)!

The answer, if we can believe Wiki answers, is an early emperor of the Xia Dynasty in China.

Well, his words resonate with me about 4 000 years later!

So, here goes everyone! Rocky Horror Show!

During lunch on Mother’s day May 2008, I called for everyone’s attention and then took the drastic step of announcing to my assembled family that I had reached the end of my tether regarding my skyrocketing weight. I did state what my weigh-in was on that Sunday  morning– a nice rounded kg amount that would have not been lightweight on a rugby front ranker!

I told my  family that I was embarking on a health & wellness journey and no-one must ever take offense if I pitched up at their homes with my own food bowls in hand!  There was a shocked silence and then everyone spoke at once assuring me of their support and understanding.

Later that evening I received a much appreciated email from my daughter-in-law who commended me on my ‘bravery’ and assured me of her support in any way I needed it.

Almost 10 months – March 2009 – after the big Mother’s Day Announcement, I marched into my hairdressers and Zanet gaped at me in horror. She had not seen me – previously a monthly regular – in 7 months. She shrieked across the salon shouting “where the hell have you been?”. Only  our temperamental hairdressers can get away with such cheek not so?!! I did not blame her though for the look of shock on her face. There I was with 7 months worth of hair growth – brown ends and a HUGE re-growth of silver/grey  making up the truly dreadful picture.

I told her I wanted her to cut off all the brown and leave just the short grey growth. In other words I was “going grey”. At first she point-blank refused and it took much persuasion on my part to force her to do the deed.

When she had shorn off all my wild locks, there I was with grey hair with brown tips on the ends. She dug in her heels and refused to lop off any more and so I landed up with the brown tips being bleached a light blonde colour!

The change was indeed drastic. My husband loved it and my children hated it.

On arrival at home, I deliberately had the above two ‘before’ photos taken. At the time, I had also only lost about 3kg in 10 months but I had joined a gym and I was gearing myself up to ‘diet’. Hate that word.

I knew there would come a time when I would show the world where I had come from. I also always thought it would be on the day I reached my ultimate goal weight. Not so. Sometimes we have to pause and take stock and this is what I have decided to do.

“Odyssey : Interrupted” is a time for looking back at where I was and for taking a (brief) moment to pat myself on the back! 

At the time this was taken I was just starting to believe I could do it!

I was starting to feel quite good in my very loose clothes here. I was honoured with a request from Dr Anna to speak as a patient living with diabetes at her seminar of the same name.  Hair getting longer and I was getting used to the change in appearance.

This was taken one afternoon right after getting back from gym. Marc objected to taking the picture with me all sweaty-faced. I said I wanted to show how baggy the t-shirt was. I had bought half a dozen especially for gym in size XXL as I was not about to expose my fat rolls to the lycra clad guys and dolls at VA! Turns out nobody gives a damn what you look like at gym – everyone is there for their health and fitness – as it should be.

28 May 2010 and all dolled up to talk at Dr Anna’s seminar on weight management.  Felt quite glam.

Having said that I felt quite glam, I was also checking out my loose skin and darn wrinkles! Skin is not so elastic any more when you are as ancient as I am!

These two photos were taken on my birthday  9th June and this, dear friends, is what I look like today! Looking back up the screen I am chuffed with the change.

A long journey from May 2008 and the odyssey ( ‘a series of wanderings’ remember!) continues…..

Anyone know of a good plastic surgeon???!!!