On December 7th I wasn’t feeling like myself. I sneezed twice, coughed once, had 0 appetite and my body ached. Living during a pandemic I thought, uh-oh I got Covid, I need to get a PCR test. My husband and doctor both laughed at me and thought I was crazy for even thinking that! I ignored them and got a PCR taken regardless of what they thought. The wait killed me. I was sleeping and at 2:13 am, I received the message from the Ministry of Health saying that I was positive! I cried and was scared. Little did I know it was like a normal flu but a lot stronger with no taste and smell. I stopped exercising and isolated myself for 12 days in my bedroom away from my kids and husband. I got annoyed and frustrated as I was doing so well with my workouts. But I knew that I couldn’t change anything.
Tag: health
Measurement Day!
Measurement day was finally here… I was convinced and was sure my numbers were lower from last month! I was SURE my weight had changed. I woke up and got on the scale. I shut my eyes and was scared to look down! When I finally did I was in SHOCK. I wanted to scream and cry! I got off the scale and got back on to make sure what I saw was true. I did that three times! And all three times I saw the same number! I did NOT go down half a kilo, 1 kilo or 2 kilos! I WAS THE EXACT SAME weight I was when Ondrej last measured me! I was so MAD, annoyed name it… So I thought to myself ok this means my measurements would at least be down! I knew I had gained muscles but figured I’d be down in inches! I remember I had NO appetite for breakfast that day.
Covid-19 FITNESS JOURNEY!
Since Covid hit Kuwait on February 24th, I have increased my workouts and started watching my food carefully. March 1st schools shifted to Virtual learning which meant that I could manage my own schedule and fit my workouts between meetings. During the first week, it was difficult to sit in front of the screen all day in order to attend meetings one after the other as well as making sure both my children were completing their work. It was hard and rough.
Off track… On track….
I turned 37 in October but felt as though I turned 90 years old. I felt that everything went downhill since. Two days after turning 37, I was at the Dr’s checking why I was getting these terrible headaches. She asked me to do an X ray for my neck and it seemed that my disc moved but I hadn’t noticed. I had an MRI done and it showed the exact same thing. I then went to an orthopedic and he advised me to take some strong medications. I then decided to get the cyst on my back checked out which then lead the Dr having to remove it. I did it on the spot with 14 shots of anesthesia and 6 stitches later but I still wasn’t convinced that this was all related to my headaches. I had to stop my workouts as I couldn’t move my arms nor was I allowed to sweat because of the stitches. I then traveled for work and came back very sick. I have never in my life been absent for 5 days from work! I was forced to stay in bed as I got food poisoning and the flu. It was 2 full months of one thing happening after the other. I feel super grateful to have close friends and family who supported and checked in on me during this time.
Meanwhile I was frustrated, depressed and annoyed. Everytime I seemed to get back on track with my workouts something out of nowhere popped up. I worked out throughout the entire summer and nothing happened to me. I started believing that work/stress plus working out didn’t sit well with me. We live in a world where everything is moving so fast beyond our control. We are always rushing trying to finish things and meet deadlines and at the end of the day we are exhausted from being constantly on the go. There is no time for self care nor time to think about ourselves. I promised myself once I am healthy and back on track, that I come first.
I got on a plan for my workout. Instead of doing my workouts at 7pm twice a week, I am now doing these exercise classes at school right after work hours. My workouts at 7pm always left me feeling exhausted. Now I workout at school 3 times a week. I am trying to stick to it as much as I can but there are times where I have to cancel because of work. I am trying to do something for me, myself and I at least once a week.
2020 is the year of self care and self awareness. Applying it is so hard at times in today’s world. There are things I have been putting on hold that I am finally able to do. For one, I need to get into the habit of blogging once a week.
This is a start….
My First 5K Fun Run!
I never thought in a million years I would register and complete a 5km run. My husband’s bank organizes an Environment 5km. So I registered in order to support him. Every year my friends would nag me to register to any runs that was happening, but I never did. It is out of my comfort zone I must say. I don’t like running and never thought I’d ever do it. Once I registered for the event, I sent out an email to my staff at school to register if they were interested. Next thing I knew, most of my P.E. department had already registered. They were already training daily. Was I? NOPE! I kept telling everyone I am going to support my husband and that I didn’t care, nor minded being the last. As the day got closer and closer everyone was talking about it and I still couldn’t believe that I had registered.
A dear friend of mine also registered and we said that we would walk it as princesses and that we would not worry even if we were last.
There were about 10 of us from AIS – it was so good to see people there, some that I didn’t even know had registered. We took pictures, stretched and waited to begin. Right at 8am we started. I began my walk with my friend. We jogged, then walked, and stayed like that till the end. After the first lap I was ready to stop, everyone was passing us on their second round while we were still on our first. We laughed and enjoyed it. When the final round came I kept saying, “Let’s go, 1, 2, 3 run!” We ran for 20 seconds and then she stopped, I continued then walked. I was tired, exhausted and ready to collapse. Mid way on my final round I saw my husband who waited for me so that we could finish together. He said that we were going to
run to the finish line. When we hit the corner, we ran but mid way I stopped because I got cramps in my legs and stomach. He continued and then my friend caught up. As we got closer the cheering and clapping gave me that adrenaline rush and I sprinted the last 30 seconds. I wanted to finish and catch my breath! As I ran through the finish line, seeing everyone felt so good. Next thing I knew, my PE staff came running and hugged me!
I was so happy. It turns out that we weren’t the last and we finished the 5km in 53 minutes. I was shocked because in my mind I thought it would take about 1.5 hours. I was so excited when I saw my name and saw that I wasn’t the last to finish.
Would I do it again? I don’t know. Maybe for next year’s run I will train properly and try to beat 53 minutes and beat 204/211. Who knows?! But I loved the experience and loved that we were all there and the support I got from everyone. I didn’t think I’d complete it and never thought I’d do such a run!
Until my next run!
Frustration…
As many of you know, when I came back after the summer holidays from Lebanon, my trainer measured me. Even after an active summer, my measurements and weight had increased. I felt defeated and felt that I would never reach that figure I have always wanted in my head.
I began to not care if I trained or not. When I would train, I wasn’t focused and my trainer would begin to lecture me. I’d listen but wouldn’t say a word. One day something flipped after chatting with a friend of mine. After our conversation, I called my nutritionist and booked an appointment.
Guidlines to follow from my Dr.
Three minutes later I received the text from Dr. Lemia.
1) No screen time at least 1 hour before bed. It can’t get easier than that. You would think so BUT in today’s world it’s actually not as easy as I thought. Yes, I normally take my phone to bed and let it charge by my side. Usually whenever I wake up for anything during the night I tend to grab it and check my msgs. I never reply back in the middle of the night but I would definitely read them. Then it would take me forever to go back to sleep. I am now leaving both phones in the sitting rooms at night. I am now on day 4 of no phones in the bedroom and WOW! What a difference it made in my sleeping habits. I am actually sleeping well. If I wake up for my kids then I’m going back to sleep quicker than usual.
My latest Dr’s. Visit
On Wednesday night I went to see Dr. Lemia. Three years ago I used to go to see her every 2 to 3 weeks. Now I see her once a year. The last time I was there was January 2017. I couldn’t believe how time just flew by to be honest. Last January I weighed 76 kg and now I am 66kg. I was in shock and she had a smile on her face.
Yes! I inspired someone!
Yesterday, my principal and I were sitting and chatting while taking a 2 minute break. Out of the blue he says, “look, I have been good” and takes his last sip from his bottle and shakes it to show that he’s done drinking it. I looked at him, laughed and said, “bravo boss.” I didn’t understand why he was saying that nor showing me. I’m sure he felt I was puzzled at what he said because he continued by saying “I had my veggies for lunch and this is my green smoothie. I had no chocolates and only 3 cups of coffee.” I clapped! I could not believe he didn’t have ANY sweets and it was already 12pm! WOW! So I clapped even harder and louder and said, “awesome job, now keep it up boss!” He looked at me and said, “I have you to thank.”
My Healthy Journey!
As you read my career journey and know how I reached my long term goal, I decided to now share my transformation journey. I am blessed with 2 children, a girl and a boy. After having them, I decided that it was time to concentrate on myself and my well being. April 5th, 2015 was the date that I made changes within myself and my eating habits. I had woken up that morning crying not liking how I looked and felt huge, fat and ugly. Mind you I never reached obesity. But I felt ugly and fat and I knew I had to do something about it. So I called a one of my closest friends who is a registred dietitian, Dr. Lemia Shaban. I called her crying and she told me to make an appointment and come see her. I tried to see her months before but she kept telling me “ Dana you are not ready, don’t come until you are 100% committed.” I guess I had to be in tears for her to believe me that I was finally ready. I made the appointment and went few days later. April 19th, came and that was it. Time to change! The minute I sat she asked “Why are you here?” I broke down right then and there and told her that I didn’t like how I looked and that I always felt bloated and tired. She looked at me, asked me a few questions and based on my answers she knew and automatically said “Now you are ready mentally and are 100% committed.” She started by taking my weight and OMG when I saw kg79.8 (175.9 lbs) on that scale. I felt disgusted and FAT. I had never reached that weight before and the tears came rolling again. I sat down and I remembered her talking to me but everything was a blur because I was still in shock. She said, “I want you at 65”. I laughed so hard and told her “ YOU ARE CRAZY! I’d be happy if I ever reached 70 and would throw a party if I ever reached 68kg.”
She asked for specific blood tests. While waiting for those blood tests, I had to write down every single thing I ate that went into my system, even if it was a grape or a piece of chocolate! Writing everything down was hard as is. I had to keep a diary in my bag and jot down what I ate for the first two months of this journey. She also told me that I had to increase my water intake as I barely drank any water. My goodness, that was a mission by itself! The third step was to cut out everything that had wheat in it, and I could not believe that there was wheat in almost everything I ate! I had to do that for 2 weeks and then I went back to see her with my blood results. I also had to start exercising for 30 mins at least twice a week as I was unfit and didn’t exercise in years. Due to this, I had to find a trainer that could come to my house as I do not have time to go to the gym and I needed to be able to find a rehabilitation trainer as I suffer from severe back pains and have a bulging disc. My Dr. gave me a few numbers and I got home and began my research. I left her clinic feeling 1% better but I knew this was not going to be an easy road and that I had a long way to go. Knowing her weight goal for me vs my own weight goal scares me, yet I did laugh thinking she’s crazy and that it is impossible to reach it!