Then I had my babies and something in my metabolism must've changed and that was it. I put weight on and eventually became overweight and then obese. Actually, I'm happier being overweight than underweight. Okay, so it's not very healthy but I don't look in the mirror and hate what I see. I'd be fine with it, if it wasn't for the impact it could have on my health.
Back in June, I got involved with BBC Get Inspired and did a challenge to get me to be more active. It really was a challenge at that time. Although I'd got used to my wheelchair and could get myself around in it, I didn't have the strength and stamina to go very far. If we went out for a walk, I would do a little bit and then Neil would have to push me. What I wanted to get out of that challenge was the ability to propel myself several kilometres, without needing a push. I didn't get to 5km, my goal, but I did build up my upper body strength and stamina.
That gave me the confidence that if I want to do something, even something that seems impossible, I can.
As the 30 day challenge came to an end, I started thinking about my weight and Neil and I both decided it was time to lose some. I didn't want to pay for Slimming World or Weight Watchers but did want a plan of some kind to guide us in the right direction. That was when I found the NHS Choices plan. It's basically a combination of keeping calorie intake down and doing more exercise.
Once we got started, and because we (well Neil) tend to cook all our meals from scratch, it was actually quite easy to keep daily calories down to around 1400 a day. Then you have to do a mixture of exercise. Strength exercises are important to build muscle because that burns more calories than fat. I was fine there as I do twice daily physio, which is all strength stuff. What I have never done, until now is use it to build upper body strength. Over the last 8 weeks, I've gone from 1 kg exercises to 3 kg.
You also have to aim to do 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise and that's where low mobility presents a problem. It isn't always easy, especially when I work full time, to get enough aerobic exercise. Here are some of the things we do:
1. Swimming - fortunately, I've always loved being in the water. Swimming is great exercise, whichever stroke you prefer. For me, the added advantage is that it's indoors (no wasps) and the water keeps me cool as I go. I hate being hot! We're trying to swim 2 or 3 times per week before work.
2. Park laps - We tend to wait until sunset, when all good wasps have gone home to bed, and then we go to the park and literally do laps. Two laps is just over 1 km. I use Google Fit on my phone to measure time, distance and speed - that keeps us motivated. I also have a Spotify playlist, which I have running from my pocket as we go.
Each song, I picked for a particular reason...
I'm gonna be - Remember this being the Comic Relief song? It's the connection with Lou and Andy that I like. As I roll around the park, I sing along, "I'm gonna roll 500 miles..."
William Tell - Apart from this being a seriously cool number, have you ever heard The Mom Song? It just makes me giggle and keeps me going.
Alive - I needed one song to remind me where God is in all this. I like this one because it talks about dark times but focusses on being alive and God being alive in me. And if I've got God living in me, I'd better give him a decent go of it!
Walking on Sunshine - I hate sunshine! The one thing that is most likely to stop me exercising is the sun, especially that hot, summer sun! So I picked this song to try to persuade myself that it's nice. It hasn't worked yet though.
Jack's Wheelchair Song - It's awful! Terrible song! But by the time I get to this one, I'm getting hot and tired. I sing along, "The wheels go round and round on my wheelchair..." and it keeps me propelling. I try to propel in time to the music.
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Okay, I confess, I have no idea why I picked this. I might delete it.
These Boots are made for Walking - And these wheels are made for rolling! My nan used to sing this song to me and walk her fingers over me and it used to make me really laugh. Anything that reminds me of my nan will keep me going. She's 92, has dementia, lost the love of her life a couple of years ago, and yet is one of the most positive, cheerful people I know.
Road to Nowhere - By this time in the laps, it's beginning to feel like that! I wish the park was bigger. The downside of laps is they get boring after a while. However, the path is flat and has no camber, so it's easier than going on normal pavements.
It's Raining Men - I don't want the men. I've got Neil! By the end though, I desperately want rain!
3. Shopping Mall - When I say I don't like sun and heat, I really mean it. Some days, even waiting for sunset just isn't going to happen and on those days, I drive to Meadowhall or some other mall and do it all indoors. Meadowhall is good because it has hills. It's the only mall I know that, for some bizarre reason, didn't get built all on the level. You go down and then up and then flat but they are gentle(ish) ones.
So, I totally get it when people tell me they can't lose weight because they're 'in a wheelchair' and I agree that it is difficult but it's not impossible. You've basically got to consume less calories than you burn. I like my food so I'd rather exercise more and not give up all my favourite foods. The other week, we even had fish n chips on the beach but that same evening, we walked/rolled over 10 km! We ate a lot that weekend and yet I still lost a couple of pounds. Incidentally, so far I've lost a stone and a half in 8 weeks. I still need to shift another 3 stone to get anywhere close to a healthy weight but we'll keep at it and see how we go.
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