Kelly's World

Running 100km was challenge no. 5 of my 52 things in 52 weeks challenge.

This challenge is done and dusted!! Over the course of this year I ran 139km over a span of 32 runs, an average of 4.3km per run. Not bad! I’m only disappointed in one thing – that I’m not able to run at the moment. A combination of hurting my ankle a few weeks ago and post-lumpectomy means that it’s definitely out of the cards for this week, but I’m seeing the physio on Saturday and will see when I can get back to running. I’d love it if he said straight away. I think I crossed the magic 100km number somewhere along the course of the fun run Bridge 2 Brisbane, which is pretty cool. I’m glad to say that my pace had definitely improved by the end, where for most of the Bridge 2 Brisbane I was averaging 6.5mins. Given it’s been so long since I last ran I wouldn’t be surprised if I was back to the 8mins mark though, urgh! Maybe next year I should set the challenge for 200km?

Over the weekend I did a 48 hour detox. In reality I only managed to last a total of 30 hours, though it was still long enough that I saw substantial results.

As I said in my original post when I was planning for the detox, it wasn’t ever about losing weight. Yet over 30 hours I managed to lose 3.5kgs, which was most visible from my stomach. I also feel like I’ve lost some bloating from around my chin, and while I stated those results weren’t my primary focus I’m definitely not complaining.

Most importantly, my energy is back. That is HUGE.

MY ENERGY IS BACK!

I am waking up at a good hour of the morning again without feeling like I’m hung over. I want to get out of bed and do some exercise. I’m not a write off by 10pm at night. I feel much better than I have in a long time. If you’re thinking about doing a 48 hour detox for the reason of energy levels alone, I would 100% recommend it.

As for the experience of the detox, it was tough. Very tough. I never felt “hungry” as such, every time my stomach had a bit of a grumble I just drank some more juice which instantly made it go away. When I was following the instructions to the letter and constantly sipping 250ml of juice over a 3 – 4 period, the hunger was non-existent.

By far the hardest part was missing the physical action of eating. This completely agrees with my suspicion that I overeat purely because I enjoy the action of eating. I don’t need the food for sustenance purposes, I want it for psychological purposes. Having seen that demonstrated so clearly to me it will (hopefully) help me with my future dieting endeavors.

I was incredibly tired too. Whether that was from being post-surgery or part of the detox process I don’t know. I probably spent about 5 – 6 hours tops out of bed each day. I had mid-morning naps and afternoon naps, as well as incredibly long sleeps overnight. As a result, I would recommend doing a detox on a weekend when you’re not expecting to be busy.

I also had a headache the entire weekend. I was able to deal with it all of Saturday and most of Sunday, until it grew to the point that my head was throbbing and I ran the risk of it becoming a migraine. I finally gave in, rang my friend for an official ruling that I wasn’t “copping out”, and got the approval to go and take a nurofen plus. This also meant that I had to eat, since taking those tablets without eating makes me physically ill. Within half an hour the headache was gone, and eating a couple of pieces of toast felt better than orgasming (only for that short time, on a regular basis sex still wins easily). Hence why I only lasted the 30 hours, but I couldn’t have been more glad that it was over and done with.

In essence, I paid nearly $40 for 1L of juice, but holy shit that juice worked. If you’re thinking about detoxing, do it (though for legal purposes I’m going to say consult a doc first so you don’t sue me if you get sick). C will be doing it in a few weeks, and it will be interesting to watch someone else go through the process. I know that I will think about adding this to my diary as an annual thing though – the odd liver clean out certainly can’t hurt!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had some breast lumps that had been detected and required  removal. Last Friday I underwent a lumpectomy, where they surgically remove the lumps from my chest and send them off for testing.

The first part of the procedure was conducted under the guidance of an ultrasound machine, where the doctor inserted a wire into each of the lumps (or as close to it as possible). This helps to pinpoint where the lumps are when they later perform the surgery to remove them. First I had a local anesthetic to numb the area, then using a big needle the wire is inserted. The needle is removed, however the wire remains in place until the surgery. The photo above shows the side of my breast where the wires have been inserted (hidden by the patch) and taped in place to the side of my body.

Continue reading

For a while now my diet has been incredibly poor. I’ve been drinking too much, eating more processed foods than anything else (including way too many sweet things) and my exercise levels had dropped off dramatically. As a result I’ve grown increasingly sluggish and tired and I’ve put on weight. I wake up with a bloated face feeling like I need to crawl back into bed, even after a solid 8 hours sleep.

Not happy, Jan.

Thus it’s time to give myself a swift kick up the bum. Normally I would just immediately switch to watching my diet and I would ramp up my exercise again. Unfortunately, at the moment due to one injury and one surgery procedure I’m not able to do any of the running/swimming that I would like, so my exercise is limited to walks with my dog; hardly the high intensity style exercise I would like.

With regards to my diet, this time I decided to do something different. I decided I’d give the 48 hour detox a try. If you’re not familiar with the product, this is their video.

I’m going to be brutally honest here – that is one of the worst TV ads for a product that I have ever seen. There is nothing about that ad that makes me want to try the product. The only reason I’ve gone ahead with it is that the product was available in the supermarket, and I’ve heard good things about detox diets in general (not this product specifically). I’ve been warned off the longer 7 day diets though, so 48 hours seemed ideal.

My reasons for doing a detox have nothing to do with a muffin top, a big belly or wanting to lose a dress size. I just want my energy back! I want to jump out of bed in the mornings and feel ready to go! I don’t want to wake up feeling like I’m hung over, despite not having had a single drop of alcohol for several days. My friends know me as someone that doesn’t stop, but for the last few weeks stopping is all I have thought about.

After the detox is over I’m going to be going back to a controlled diet and get some regular exercise happening. I still won’t be able to go for a run or swim any laps in the pool, but my dog will love the extra time out on the streets. This will allow me to drop the few kilos that I’ve put on as well as lose the remaining few that I keep staring at around my legs and stomach (if it magically disappeared that would also be fine by me).

I’ll be sure to post a full review of what I think of the detox after it’s all over. There’s not going to be any before/after photos or information about the scales; that’s not what I’m after. Instead, I’ll let you know how my energy levels are and if I’m still waking up feeling like a bloated mess.

Wish me luck!

How many people just read that heading and freaked out?

No need. I don’t have cancer.

If you regularly read this blog you would know I went and got a check up mammogram and ultrasound last week (click here to read the story). On Friday C & I went back to get the results, and was pleased to hear the original lump was still benign. It had grown a little, but that was the only change. There wasn’t anything sus about it. The new second lump they had discovered during the ultrasound and subsequently biopsied also came back negative.

However, my mother had breast cancer. She fought it and won, and thankfully is still here today. I’m always a little bit wary when it comes to telling her about my scans and results cause I don’t like to worry her, but she doesn’t seemed stressed at all. I think the fact I’m so calm is probably helping a lot. I would just hate it if she began to recall all the pain and suffering she’d gone through; I’m very protective of her and that’s the last thing I want her to do.

So anyway, because of this family history the doctors have told me they want to remove the lumps. I trust them, so immediately agreed and said they can do whatever they need to do. They actually complimented me on the way I was handling it all, which seemed a little strange for me, but I guess they’re used to people being a lot more stressed out. In my opinion, what the surgery comes down to is I have piece of mind there aren’t any lumps in my chest with the potential to become cancerous. Why would I stress about that?

They have booked in the surgery for the 3rd of November. The timing is pretty bad in that it the first week of my new job, and having to take two days off in my first week isn’t the great first impression that I wanted to make. The hospital is unable to book it in for any other time though, and frankly I would feel ungrateful asking them to wait after they have made the effort to get it done so soon. I’m waiting for my new boss to return my call so I can tell him the situation, and fingers crossed it all goes down well.

I’m not trying to be melodramatic and saying “it’s my health after all, so the new boss can just shove it”, especially since the fact remains the lumps aren’t cancer, and the surgery is precautionary only. Yet I can definitely appreciate the opinion that I should be putting my health first, and employment second.

I just really wish the timing had been a little different.

At least I’m not worried about getting a new scar.