Where do I begin this blog from the beginning I suppose but hard to remember where it all began but thinking about it was a long downward slope of around 18 years in that time I had 3 long-term girlfriends one who I adored cheated on me the pain of her infidelity took me from 16 stone 10 pounds to 12 stone the next girlfriend thought I was the Royal Bank of Mug but laced it up as love by that time I was drinking heavily and smoking around 40-60 cigarettes a day
And to be honest my life was at rock bottom at that point although I was working full-time and had a flat I was scratching around spiritually and no social life and I was skint so on boxing day 2010 I decided I needed to turn my life around and make 2011 a year of change and started getting myself out there as once upon a time in the mid 80’s to early 90’s I was a spiritualist medium demonstrating mediumship at spiritualist churches on what we call the circuit I missed those times I had spoken to my spirit guides saying to them I was fed up with getting into relationships and landing up with nothing they advised me to do what I was good at to work with them and be a medium and healer once again
I became friends with a lovely lady and fellow medium Jane Lorraine Goodman who helped me to see the errors of my ways with drinking and smoking and holding onto anger due to past hurts drinking smoking and being a temperamental sod that had a very real detrimental effect on me as a channel for spirit so I weaned myself off the booze from drinking daily to drinking occasionally as I enjoy a glass of wine or beer when out for dinner or a few drinks when at parties so I decided not to drink in the week or 24 hours before serving spirit much better for me to drink socially than to be in a pissed or hung over state by drinking daily
I smoked for 40 years so giving up was not going to be easy so I got the patches and nicotine lozenges and kicked the habit but I must admit to my shame today I am still addicted to the nicotine lozengers and do enjoy the occasional fag but when I do I think why am I doing this it stinks and its horrible but hey ho it’s all part of the psyche of being a bad non smoker my mediumship is much improved by getting drinking and smoking under control and my general well-being is much improved to as getting my drinking under control has really helped me deal with my anger issues and booze really changes you into a not nice person and with meditation and practising what I preach I am much more at peace with myself others and the world
So in 2011 I found myself single I had not been single for 14 years I began getting used to my own company and getting to know and love myself new year 2011 was an incredibly positive time for me thinking back being single was the best thing that had happened to me for years I realised I had got my life back to rebuild and customise my life for me you may find that a very selfish statement but I very much-needed my life back to develop into all I could and can become this development will continue until the day I physically die
For the first time in 14 years I did not have a girlfriend to cook for me you may not believe this but at nearly 51 years old I did not know how to cook except like basic things like a boiled egg a fry up a cup of tea sandwiches etc etc etc you get my drift
With working 12 hour rotating day and night shifts I was to lazy and had no inclination to learn how to cook for myself so for my main meal I would eat a Tescos finest ready meal with 4 slices of white bread and Bertolli spread breakfast would be porridge Weetabix or corn flakes with semi skimmed milk or a fry up lunch would be 2 rounds of mature cheddar sandwiches with crisps or chocolate and 2 rounds of sandwiches crisps and chocolate for nightshift
The weight began to pile on I thought it did not matter as I was in my mid fifties my handsome hunk days were over I became impotent which hurt as in my mind I still considered myself as a red-blooded male but I thought hey ho the ladies are not interested in me anymore I had lost teeth on my upper and lower sets and had become obese this now seems a funny way of thinking to me now as I love female company most of my friends are ladies and my bestest friend is the lovely Marina Rawlings I just thought of it all as an age thing but with what I know now I realise I had let myself go big time and was not caring for myself as I should
I have spent a lot of time over the years talking to people about the importance of loving oneself I have now realised I need to practice what I have been preaching with self love over the past few years I have been working to let go of all past hurts and my anger re past hurts again as I thought practising what I preach but throughout all that I had omitted to care for my physical well being
The symptoms of Diabetes 2 came on slowly between 2011 – March 2016 constantly feeling tired and lethargic wanting to sleep all the time a itchy red rash on my ankles and shins taking ages to pee which I thought at the time maybe a prostrate problem feeling like I had a bag of sugar in my mouth and impotence my mum would also tell me I smelt funny but since my diet she says the smell has gone I can only put this down to all the crap I was eating have realised it is very true we are what we eat
I decided to finally address my health issues in March 2016 and got a doctors appointment I told the doctor my health problems did a blood and urine test I was called back into see the doctor 07/04/16 she told me my testosterone was fine but I was full of sugar with a sugar score of 63 (7.9) I was in fact suffering from Diabetes 2 and all my health problems were related to Diabetes 2 and my weight the 5ft nothing doctor then proceeded to give me the mother of all rollockings of the state I had got myself into and at my age and weight I was at very high risk of a heart attack or stroke and I needed to do something about it pronto
By losing weight eating diabetic friendly foods and a lot more excersise the doctor prescribed metformin to treat the diabetes 2 and statins for my borderline cholesterol score the doctor advised I may get a upset stomach with the metformin but I actually found the metformin to be a help to my diet because it helped me to lose weight quickly as the metformin took all the crap out of my body pardon the pun 🙂
I was then dispatched to see the diabetic nurse another 5ft nothing terror who then proceeded to give me another rollocking about my state and gave me a check up my stats didn’t look to good that day weight 17 stone 7 pounds waist 49 inches Qrisk (lifescore) 20.92% the lower that score is the better Diabetes 63 (7.9) my blood pressure was also very high which was a shock to me as I have always had good blood pressure I could only put this down to the Tesco finest meals I had been shoving in my face since 2011 as they are full of salt and sugar I threw my ready meals out as soon as I got home I promised the diabetic nurse I would lose weight she told me she didn’t think I would be able to do it I thought lock and load bitch you watch thinking about it that was a great thing to say to me and it really helped motivate me so I went home and called my closest friend Marina Rawlings I told her what had happened at the doctors and in true Marina form she said I need to diet I will diet with you I admitted to her I didn’t know how to cook she said she will teach me the basics and she would visit Sunday 10/04/16 we would go shopping go for a walk show me how to cook mince and veg I went back to the nurse 14/04/16 and my blood pressure had returned to good and that was just in a week of not eating ready meals just goes to show how unhealthy they are
On the 10/04/16 my diet began but this diet needed to be different as I had spent most of my adult life dieting then putting the weight back on over the past couple of years I had started dieting but lacked the motivation or willpower to continue dieting so I needed to lose the weight and maintain it being told by the doctor and nurse that my life expectancy was not that good if I didn’t change my ways lose weight and control my diabetes was a real motivation to lose weight after reading the diabetes literature basically I had to eat meat or fish with veg for main meals cut way down on my carbs I love bread and potatoes but surprisingly it was easy to do and cut down on dairy foods I absolutely lurve eggs and cheese so this was hard and I very much missed cheese throughout my diet and the fact that I have a very low metabolism which means when I diet I have to eat very little to lose weight
On the 22/08/16 I went for a blood test I was really hoping my blood sugar score would be 48 or below that would mean I would no longer be a diet controlled diabetic on the 23/08/16 I received a phone call from the diabetic nurse my blood sugar score was now 31 I could either come off the metformin or take just one a day so I opted to come off metformin as I was concerned about the long term effect it would have on my body I kicked the statins into touch as well she said she wanted to see me urgently so I made an appointment with her for that afternoon I entered her office and she said to me I can see you have been wasting away I said told you I could do it she looked at me blankly but I had a great feeling of satisfaction growing within me she gave me a check up my stats looked much better that day weight 14 stone 1 pound waist 42 inches Diabetes 31 Qrisk (lifescore) 18.51%
FOCUS AND INTENTION
I realised I needed to be totally focussed on my goal of losing 4 stone in weight so I made a promise to myself that I would lose 4 stone in weight as I knew this would help to keep me focussed on my goal as I did not want the feeling of letting myself down if I failed to lose weight I also started a Facebook page titled Stevieboys Diet and Positive Way of Life page to chart my progress on my diet and share positive quotes but mainly I didnt want to make myself look stupid infront of my facebook friends and that to would help me to stay focussed
I achieved my 4 stone weight loss 23/10/16 13 stone 7 pounds I feel so much fitter and happier and have alot more energy to I am currently working down to 12 stone 7 pounds as the doctor tells me that is the right weight for my height and build
Dieting should not be seen as a chore or as self torture when in actual fact it is self care the whole mindset about dieting really needs to change from being torture to self care and it is all part of loving yourself taking care of your body is all about self love and care we buy a warm coat to keep out the cold in winter time the same could be said about dieting we care for ourselves to stay healthy and to keep out illness
Stephen Rowlands 