Cate's Diary

I seemed to pack a lot into yesterday & by the end of the day I was absolutely cactus!!
I think I was still tired from our few days in Melbourne. I never sleep well away from home. I love my fresh air. Perfumes, fumes etc take their toll on my immune system. I still love going to Melb though & especially catching up with our old friends. Ahhhh
Yesterday-
Tried to set up a set top box but couldn't get the menu to come up so it's connected but not able to get any extra channels. Mmm
Went into our local town-
Visited the MIL to see if she wanted anything at the supermarket. Did her shopping quickly & dropped it off.
Library to pick up a book
Tai Chi at 11.30-12.30 then
Exercise Physiologist at 1pm then
ate my lunch in the park & then
Sports shop for my OGS's b'day present & some other shopping incl some wine glasses &
Supermarket for our shopping
Visited our OS on the way home & gave them 6 glasses as they hardly have any(last time we baby-sat we took a bottle of wine & had trouble finding a glass we were "allowed" to use, according toour GS.LOL!
Did not get home until 4.45pm & it was almost dark & cold & I was starting to feel really bad. I had to do some work about the place, we had an early dinner & by 9pm I was asleep in my chair & I took myself off to bed at 10 & did not get out of bed until 9am this morning. I had a hot lemon drink last night with rum in it (Bundi) took Panadol & sweated the night out (I think!)
Today- I'm very snuffly but don't feel so bad. I have a slight sore throat & am heady but hopefully this is not flu.
Exercise Physiologist- Was excellent. I have somehow hooked into a new program because Tasmania has a high percentage of obese people & I am going to be able to see her without affecting my visits to the nutritionist. My doctor thought that I would only be able to see both of them a total of 5 visits. Good news.
Hey, I now have a personal trainer. Wee Hoo!!!
I now have a weights program. I'm excited even though I do feel like crap atm!! She said as I was leaving that it's great to see someone so motivated. Wow!!
I now understand what reps & sets & all that is about. I have never had a clue. We actually did them & I have a program just for me. I am going to do this. I needed specific instructions so that I don't hurt myself& seeing her on a regular basis will motivate me. My wanting to impress (vanity??) will motivate me to actually do it.
I will start with a 30 min walk & then do the light weights exercises & then tomorrow go for a longer walk. She has recommended I warm up b/f weights with either a shortish walk or a 10-15 min stint on the exercise bike. OMG. I might really get fit now. Scary. LOL.
My LH is home today & it's sunny but chilly. I might talk him into going for a walk with me but he likes to walk in the middle of the bush & I like to stay in the sun. Maybe I'll hop on the bike instead or we'll go get some wood.
8-ball(pool, like snooker or billiards but on a smaller table) World Championships-
Our YS is in Blackpool, UK supporting the Australian 8-ball team. The men have made the final which is at 11am UK time. Go you Aussie men. You will hear our son barracking from wherever you live. He is very loud & energetic!! The women just missed out on the final & one of our young friends only just missed out in the juniors so they did very well.
YS- will then head off around Europe.I don't catch up with him much atmas he has not been accessing FB much. Too busy catching up with his Aussie mates. He mentors a couple of juniors. You know teaches them to drink alcohol etc. Only kidding. He is very good at supporting others & has a big heart & a character to match.
OK. Time to do something else.
A big hi to everyone reading my diary & especially to my friends. It stopped feeling like talking to myself long ago. I used to wonder why anyone would read about this whacky 56 yr old but have stopped being quite so surprised. It's a nice feeling & has given me encouragement to be happy with myself & has given me a sense of worth. Thank you all. Cheers for now, Cate.
 
Wow, Cate ! Your days are jammed packed with activities! I think if I lived in a beautiful, fresh air-ed town like you, I would probably be outdoors all day !

Hope you're keeping well!
 
Cate, I think your focus on maintaining your goals is really inspirational. I sure hope EVERYONE who has ever tried to lose weight - or make some other big turning point in their life - reads your diary! Starting the journey is one thing, but putting in place the building blocks that will keep everything on track is fantastic!

Hope you are feeling well soon. I read in our paper over here that they are blaming all the wood fires in people's homes in Tasmania for upsetting asthma too!!!! Ah well, the warmth is sure worth it.
 
Ooh, Sarah. I have done very little today at all really. The lungs aren't too good.I'll confess to taking my temp wondering if I had swine flu. No temp! phew! I loved getting the wow though. You're sweet! xo Cate
Niyah, my friend- Peer approval is really important to me & your support & encouragement is helping me along my new path of taking control of my life & being responsible for my health & happiness. Thank you very much, xoxo Cate
PS I'll be back much later as it's time to pick our OGS up off the school bus.
 
A quick hi to everyone as I have to get on the move & get to Belly dancing. I have been so looking forward to it that I am going anyway, even though I don't feel so good. It's only a 4wk class.
Had another big night's sleep, after having a hot lemon drink with Paracetemol.
The Aussies lost the final of the world 8-ball championships 6-8 but overall did very well. One of our young friends ended up 5th I think in the world rankings. Fantastic. A female friend ended up 10th with a 63.33% for the tournament. A lovely lady!
I volunteered earlier in the week to pick up my MIL & take her to the hairdressers after belly dancing unfortunately. I can't pike from that as she will find out that I went to BD. Small town. I'm commited. Silly me. It wouldn't sound good. Too sick to take her down the street but not too sick for BD. Not good.
OK- better scoot. Had our GS for the night. Another lovely night. Such a sweet boy.
Bye for now, Cate
 
OMG- I feel so sick. Headache, blocked head, no energy, grumpy as all hell. Not good company even for myself. I don't want to know me tonight so I can't imagine anyone else wanting to.
Belly dancing was not good. I'll talk about it tomorrow as it may sound like being sick affected my view of it all. She is very gungho & it's all about her. Not a good teacher.
Catch you tomorrow. I hate feeling grumpy. Positive affirmations are beyond me tonight! xo cate
 
Feeling a bit better-My head is coming out of it's black cloud a little & is just a bit foggy.
My mum-
I just rang my mum to see how she is today. I rang her Wed afternoon to say hi & found out that she had a nasty fall on Tuesday night. She remembers turning off her gas heater to go to bed & then next thing she was sitting on a chair next to her heater with blood everywhere. She must have fainted & hit her head on the cnr of the heater. She rang my brother & he took her to hospital where she had 8 stitches just above her eye.
It has shaken her badly & she does not feel up to anything much, even a walk up the street to get the paper. My brother took her back yesterday to the doc & then she spent the day at his home being fussed over by my SIL, which is good. It would have been nice if he had rung to tell me about it all.
Younger son-is about to fly to Barcelona.
Belly dancing- was not much fun at all & was more about the woman showing off. It was more gypsy dancing & was a flat out fast dancing thing. It was so different to my first BD class which was slow & sensual & a good laugh. One of the women who is quite large & seems lovely, asked if we could have the heater off & she just said "No, I'm cold". The teacher at this stage had flung off many layers & was clad in nothing more than a sheer, light, red top, red bra, & tights. The room was very hot.
My back & neck hurt last night. It would have been worse if I hadn't asked if we should do some warming down(make that cooling down!) stretches at the end. We had been flat out doing this really wild gypsy dance & then we just stopped cold turkey & that was it.
I had this feeling that she didn't like me at all but I won't take it to heart like I once would have. I did a brief, little shimmy with the woman from Tai Chi early on when we put on the little jingly, belly dancing scarves & she gave me such a filthy look & made a snide comment "Not everyone is clever enough to be able to shimmy."
I don't feel like continuing on with it but I will go next Friday just to make sure that it wasn't because I was feeling sick that I didn't enjoy it much.
I liked the women in the class. A mother & daughter & 2 others who are widows. One of those I do Tai Chi with & she is my age. The other I think I would like to be friends with as well but I doubt if she'll persevere with BD as she has a bad back. I hope she goes next week as I'll ask her to go for coffee afterwards. She has moved to Tassie from interstate recently & possibly does not know many people here. I think she would enjoy Tai Chi. I have decided from now on to be more open to friendships and not to be afraid of rejection.

Exercise program-
I think combined with Tai Chi and the exercise program I will be doing enough to get fit. I just need to make a start. I feel a little better so will start my weights today slowly.
Luvbug- Thank you for-
Do you choose to simply know the path, or do you choose to walk it?"
Life is all about choice. Ours.
Today I choose to start my exercise program as I know that exercise makes me feel better about myself. I have felt oxygen starved but my lungs feel quite a bit better today. I'll take it easy though. Softly, softly.
Set top box- I love technology but nothing frustrates me more than not being able to set something up. The instruction book that came with my STB gives illustrations for cables that did not come with it. The cables that did are not mentioned or pictured. Aaarrrggghhhh! I wish a fairy STB godmother would visit me today & connect it for me so we could watch Le Tour de France live. It is sitting there looking at me!

My LH is at work for the next 3 days. I don't mind that really as it means I can do what I like without him worrying about me. eg exercising when I'm sick.
Bye for now, Cate
 
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Pity about your BD class leader - sounds like she needs to get over herself a bit. Never mind, sounds like you got quite a work-out, even if unexpected!

Hope you are feeling better today.

I'm pretty exhausted - a few days of pretty severe stress, hospital visits, meetings with doctors, hours of sitting, and then had my OS's engagement party last night, at which I was highly zonked, and felt very unlike relating to anyone. Wonder what the coming days will bring?
 
Niyah- We were typing at the same time so have added this note. I am sending you all the love & kind thoughts that I can possibly muster in one go. I feel for you & hope your life gets easier some day very soon, xoxooxoxox Cate
Weight training-
Well I did make a start yesterday after lunch & it's funny because my LH rang me & asked what I was doing because I sounded puffed so I told him anyway. LOL! I did-
10mins on my exercise bike to warm up & then (with 2x 2kg weights which I have had for a year)-
Squats-15x1, Bicep curls-15x2, Overhead press 10x2, Overhead Triceps dip10x2, Lunges 15x1, Front Raises 10x2, shoulder squeeze 10x2(once without weights & then once with), followed by about 5 mins on the bike & 5 mins of Tai Chi stretches. I didn't think I did the lunches correctly so will try to find them on the net somewhere, perhaps with a video.
I am not at all stiff today. I feel like going for a walk but it has been raining non stop since Friday night. It seems to be clearing. The exercise bike is pretty boring but will be handy for warming up every second day b/f weights. I'm really going to try to do this. I would love to feel fighting fit!
My mum- is still very shaky. I am going to ring her every day for a while. I even rang my older brother but he was not home. I want to say how much I appreciate what he & his wife do for Mum but I worry that he would take it the wrong way somehow as he is wont to do. Instead I will just say hello & hope he gets the message. It's a very long story about my brother & stems from a big misunderstanding that was my mum's doing mainly. We won't go there. I'm a forgiving person but my brother is not.
Making time & effort for people that you love.
Sometimes you feel like making extra effort for those you love.I have time & lots of people don't so I try to make more of an effort to keep in touch. I have rung Mum & my brother & then my BIL. If we didn't ring my SIL & BIL we would not hear from them for months as they are so busy & tied up with their lives. I love them both. My BIL is now physically quite well but almost always sounds down. My SIL was at work. They both do disability support work. It was her who recommended me for the job that I ended up getting year b/f last.
Weight-
Still just w/i GW range so quite happy with that. I know I can drop it a few kgs anytime I like by going back on original Cohen's food probably for only a week or so.
Food I am eating now daily & still maintaining-
I want everyone to know that there is a "real life" after Cohen's. Because I have seen a nutritionist I feel more confident with what I am doing. Every day now I eat-
Breakfast 1- usually Vaalia Lemon Creme low-fat yoghurt (my favourite!) with stewed apple & about a tablespoon of Bircher Muesli (I must check that it's low GI)
or Breakfast 2- probably have this twice a week, but sometimes for lunch with some spinach as well-2 eggs, a piece of leanish bacon, 4 slices of Tomato, 2 mushrooms on 1 or 2 slices of Bergen Soy & Linseed toast, w/o any spread. I am no longer having any side effects from eating bread occasionally. I will nevereat it daily.
I have plunger coffee every morning, sometimes 2. Black always.
Usually drink a 750ml bottle of water before lunch.
I usually don't eat anything at all before lunch which is usually about 5 hrs afterwards.
Lunch-
Is often home-made soup with crackers, cheese, pickled onion or
Tuna salad & is often followed by a small bowl of yoghurt with apple or
if I'm out somewhere may be some quiche but is always something light.
Often have a pot of herbal tea on my own if my LH is working or share one with him mid afternoon. Might have a sweet home-made biscuit(muesli or ginger) or a banana.
Pre-dinner- Every second or 3rd day we feel like a bottle of wine so we might have a few biscuits with cheese, followed by wine or I might just eat a piece of ham if my LH is not hungry at all.
Dinner- with my LH is some sort of casserole usally in Winter or Atlantic Salmon or home-made rissoles with about 4-5 veggies. These days I have sweet potato as a good, low GI carb, broccoli, carrots, stir-fry mix of whatever we have. I am loving sweet potato. Some nights I have a little rice (Basmarti now b/c of low GI) & he has lots more.
After dinner we usually have a pot of herbal tea with either a piece of Molasses licorice or yoghurt & fruit, depending on the size of dinner & if we are still a little hungry. Occasionally we will have 1 or 2 home-made biscuits a bit later or a piece of 70% Lindt choccie or one French choc biscuit. "Le petit ecolier" I think they are called. The dark choc ones. OMG. They are so nice. I can have one & make myself stop.
So far, so good. I never feel over-full & I stop when I have had enough of anything. If I'm hungry later then I eat something else, usually fruit/yoghurt.
You can see that that seems like a lot of food & a lot that is not on Cohen's. When you get to the end & see what you can have on maintenence it is really manageable & enjoyable.
It's the manufactured foods that are the biggest problem and our heads. If I start to put any weight on the chocolate & the biscuits will be cut right down to once a week. I am exercising much more than I ever was before.
I have been having an occasional cappuccino but have decided to go back to long black as I enjoy them more. I now eat enough yoghurt to cut out my calcium supplement. Yay! One less!
Hope everyone is enjoying their w/e. xoxo Cate

 
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Food & exercise diary
I am going to keep a food & exercise diary from now on I think. Feel free anyone to query it or give advice. I'm new to this exercise thing- weights etc especially!
Food today so far-
Breakfast- yoghurt, stewed apple, muesli.
2 black coffees (plunger)
750ml water
Lunch- 1 bowl pumpkin soup, 1 avocado with a boiled egg & vinaigrette
1 banana.
Exercise- A 60 min very vigorous walk in the rain.I wore wet weather gear & toomany clothes I think. Next time less clothes & perhaps my runners instead of my hiking boots which are a little slippery as don't have a good tread. Had a drink of water at a friends place but she wasn't at home. I hadn't planned on walking quite so far but just kept going. I came home exhilarated & puffed, drank some of a 750ml water container with a little Celtic salt in it, had a nice shower, change of clothes, drank the rest of the water bottle & am about to go sit in my chair, put my feet up & read for a while. I also just ate a few pieces of chrystalised ginger, w/o sulphur. I have that as a sweet treat fairly often. I love it
Motivated
I am really motivated to get fit! Never felt more positive about it since I was a teenager when I took it for granted & didn't really think about it. I think it's because I now have direction with a program & goals. I like direction.
Cheers for now, Cate.
 
I came home at 12.30 feeling ill again.I thought I was over the cold but obviously am not. My DIL & 3 GK's were here about to have lunch & then bath the kids & she was stressed to the max. 3 hrs later they went home & I crashed into my chair which I have hardly left since. Back to being incredibly stuffed up in the head(not mentally though!). No exercise today at all. Ouch!
No-one's about so will say goodnight to anyone who is reading my diary. Nothing to inspire anyone today I'm afraid. LOL at myself! 'night, Cate
 
Thanks Ianina! Whenever I see your name I start singing "Girl from Ipinena"(?) Tall & tan & young & lovely, the girl from Ipinena goes walking, and when she passes, the boys she passes, go mmm. Hold that picture & imagine it's you. Not a bad thought. LOL!
Just a cold I think.
The word just is not really appropriate. My sister always said that having a cold makes you feel physically worse than having cancer. We won't mention the mental aspects of cancer. At least I feel this is just a cold!
I am going to do my weights today very shortly & might go for a walk this afternoon after lunch if I can get inspired. I am so glad I have an at-home day.
My LH has a cold too & his has developed into a nasty cough. He has been letting me dose him up with hot lemon drinks etc so that shows he's not feeling 100%. He, like most men, is not very good when he gets a little sick. He can get very crabby. We usually have a running joke about commandoes. "Commandoes don't feel the cold," "Commandoes don't get sick" etc.
I am going to try to beat this one w/o anti-biotics & am taking garlic capsules & echinacea 2-3 times a day. I'm so sick of getting chest infections & I know this is heading that way.
OK.I had better go do some exercise & some housework as a good book is beckoning me & I want to feel that I have earned the rest. Cheers, Cate
 
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Hope you are on the mend soon. You seem to have copped quite a bit of that sort of thing this winter already! Maybe you'll get it all over and done with at the start when we all get sick later.
 
Thanks Niyah. I get this every year & I guess I have weakened lungs with my asthma. I wouldn't swap places with you atm Niyah. Just do what you have to & try to take care of yourself my friend. Please don't let your health & sanity take too big a back step. Sending you my love & a very big hug, Cate.
Exercise today- Just got back from a 45 minute vigorous walk. I took some photos on my phone & will seehow they look. My walk is verymuch up & down steep hills & is more vigorous than moderate. Phew. Didn't need my puffer though. Will do weights tomorrow instead of today. Before going to Tai Chi perhaps. Te he. Seen any flying pigs lately?
Cheers, Cate.
PS my weight yesterday was down .5kg so that's great. Eating more & lost weight. Ahhhh- exercise! I'm pushing myself although I feel unwell & afterwards I feel much better although pretty puffed. I'm imagining how good it will feel when I'm over this bug.
 
Today's 45 min walk

I'll have a go at attaching some phone photos.They don't really convey how steep my walk is but will give you a vague idea.
The first photo is about 1km from our home. I have walked down a steep hill (our drive) & then up a gradual one, then I went down this one & then up the other side and then, of course I do it all in reverse. I only have to stop once here on the way back, even with a cold. I added the hill the other side tomy usual walk today. There was a beautiful view of the mountains at the top of the furthest hill in the 1st photo. On Sunday I headed right instead & went a lot further but it wasn't quite as steep.
2nd photo is on the way back home.Our home is up in the middle of those trees. Not so puffed here as fairly even but a very steep walk to come after picking up our mail. Not sure how far today but it felt very good! 2.5km? I'll measure with my car very soon. It's not about the distance though. It's quite hard. Cheers, Cate
 
Brings back many memories of my years in the country... would swap it tomorrow if I could!

One thing I know about slopes is that they are ALWAYS steeper than you can ever convey in a photo.
 
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