The Myths

After 4 years trying every fad diet and listening to every expert, fitness instructor, personal trainer, nutritionist and doctor possible tell me what my body needed....I finally took matters into my own hands. Here are some of the myths; 

 1. You cant eat less than 1500 calories a day when you are working out 

2. You cant eat after 6pm in the evening 

3. You must eat 5-6 small meals per day 

4. You have to eat low fat 

5. Weigh your food 6. Count your calories 

7. Plan your weekly menu in advance 

8. Don't grocery shop when you are hungry 

9. Meal times are breakfast, lunch and dinner 

 And the list goes on and on! Why are these myths? Well because these so called rules are 100% wrong for MY body. Unfortunately I spent countless dollars and valuable time before I figured it all out.  

We've been conditioned our entire lives to eating breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Every restaurant menu is displayed this way, and some fast food places only serve breakfast until a specific time.  Once again training us to follow their schedule therefore eating items such as eggs, bacon, ham, granola only in the morning.  

I dont know about you, but when I was growing up we had to eat three meals a day.  Dinner was always served between 5-6pm, and you sat down to eat whether you were hungry or not! And....you were not allowed to leave anything behind on your plate!  Once again being controlled by society's rules.  

It Wasn't My Only Incentive

Losing weight wasn't my only reason for starting a Paleo lifestyle.

 I have not written about this before, nor have I discussed this experience with anyone other than my close family and friends. 

 I have made the decision to write about this journey because I truly hope to inspire others and I pray that my open dialogue will give other women the courage to openly talk about their struggles.

 In 2010 I was scheduled for a routine breast screening test, based on my age and family history of breast cancer. My father died at the age of 51 and was BRACA1 positive

 I procrastinated for months, I am not sure why but I missed several appointments for my mammogram and ultrasound. I mean I am not sure what the hesitation was all about. But one day, I just woke up and decided to have the tests. It was just like any other day, heading down to the hospital for a boring mammogram that was taking valuable time away from my 10000 other responsibilities. Just get it over with I kept telling myself. 

 After the mammogram, I proceeded to the ultrasound department. It turns out that my GP had ordered both a mammogram and an ultrasound.

 The breast ultrasound was long and uncomfortable. After about an hour on the table, the technician asked me to wait a moment while she went to find the radiologist. It was now 5pm on a Friday evening. I overheard my technician telling a co-worker that although her shift had ended and she was heading to her cottage for the weekend, she was not leaving until she showed the radiologist my scan. Okay, so now I'm starting to freak out! This was a routine exam, one that I would just have to endure every year for the rest of my life. There wasn't supposed to be any hiccups!

 It's 5:30 now, the radiologist comes to my bedside and takes the ultrasound device into her hands, she says nothing. Except...she can't find the area of concern that appeared on my images from when the technician was scanning. She tries for another 10 minutes without success. Finally she asks the technician to come back and try to replicate the image. It only took the technician about 1 minute to find the "area of concern". The radiologist took over. She took about 100 pictures, or so it seemed. So by this time I am in complete panic mode. Finally they started talking to me. There was an unusual looking area in my left breast. Not a cyst or a tumour just a strange area, whatever the hell that means! The radiologist says, I need to book you in for a biopsy and I need to be the one to perform the biopsy, can you come tomorrow? Seriously? A biopsy! 

 After hearing the details about the procedure, home I went. Of course I am on google and wiki faster than you can say boo! After 1 hour I had already looked at 100 images of breast ultrasounds, trying to see if I could recognize what I saw on the screen during my exam. The image was burned in my head. Thankfully my husband kicked me off the computer and did nothing but provide encouraging and positive thoughts. He convinced me that they were being extra extra cautious because of my family history.

 I was 36 years old, there was no way that a biopsy would detect a malignancy. 2 weeks I had to wait....can you believe it! 

 After one day, I marched into my GP's office demanding Ativan. 

 Finally the call, from my family doctor. He has the results....but.....he doesn't really know what to make of them. Yep that's right you heard me. He is not sure what they mean! 

 The results showed no malignancy, but Atypical hyperplasia, HPV etc etc. Okay so this is good! No cancer! But why are my cells abnormal and multiplying at a very fast rate? And what is HPV doing in my boobs? 

 I am now referred to the CIBC breast centre to see Dr. George at St. Michaels hospital. They have agreed to register me for the high risk screening program.  

A couple of months later, I visit Dr. George and have a breast MRI. They said it is very important to have a very clear baseline so that they could easily monitor me and tell if there are any cellular changes. That makes perfect sense, only one problem, he doesn't like what he sees in the MRI. Off I go for another ultrasound. 2 weeks later I get the results. It seems that I have abnormal cells with hyperplasia. Meaning, they could become malignant. 

 Dr. George tells me that I must come to St. Michaels every 3 months for an MRI and ultrasound. He is very reassuring, he has an amazingly calming personality and remarkably respectful towards women's breast issues. I immediately trust him when he tells me "we are not going to let anything happen to you, as long as you are coming every 3 months, you will be under the best care. We will catch anything before it starts." So for another year I go every 3-4 months, everything is the same. 

Except, Dr. George now mentions that I would have the option to undergo a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction if I felt it was too much coming downtown Toronto 3 times a year for the rest of my life! 

 This option sounded really good. I would not have to take time off work, I would not have to endure the anxiety every 3 months waiting for test results, and wait.....here comes the good part....I will get some nice new perky boobs! 

However...... As usual I procrastinate, I was not 100% sure this was the right decision, and it was a big decision. I would need time off work to recover and I had just started a new job. My dream job actually. 

So I continue to go every few months for screening. 

Then one day, I get a call. Dr. George would like to see me this time. Great what now? 

He is concerned because there has been obvious cellular changes surrounding my biopsy site and an area of concern now in my right breast. He brings the plastic surgeon into the office to give me his opinion regarding a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. The plastic surgeon was very encouraging but also very blunt. He said "if you want to be truly happy with the results, you must lose weight and build muscle in the arms, chest and back." He said, "I can do the surgery now, but since there is no malignancy at this time, you have time to prepare, most women don't have that opportunity." 

 I left the office that day on a mission. I had 6 months to prepare for the biggest decision of my life.

Previvor

The Training Begins

I knew that with only 6 months, I needed help. I needed an amazing trainer, not just someone who took a course at goodlife, but someone who was extraordinary in her ambitions. 

 I found her, a trainer and a friend. A woman who had made it her life's goal to provide fitness and training for people with disabilities. She worked with seniors, people with autism, down syndrome you name it. 

 This was the perfect fit. It takes a very talented, special individual to design effective programs for people with disabilities. Imagine how much effort would go into keeping them engaged and keeping them motivated. 

 I knew she could keep me motivated, and I knew I would see fast results! In her experience she had been required to provide some very specific training for specific gross and fine motor skills deficits.  I knew that she would be the one to help me get my strength back after the surgery.

I started working out with Rae, 3-4 days per week in October 2012. She texted me every day with encouraging and positive words, and completely understood my goal. She did not waste time on meaningless training methods, like slowly moving from machine to machine. We jumped right into TRX style training. As I said in previous posts, the results were dramatic and amazing. I cannot thank her enough. I was finally prepared for the biggest day of my life. I was so strong, sexy, and fit. 70lbs gone, 8 dress sizes gone, and ready to start training for Toronto's Tough Mudder race in the fall.

She provided me with functional strength.  I could do push ups hanging by my feet inverted, I could pick up my 40lb kid and toss her into the car seat like it was nothing.  I could run up the stairs without getting tired.  I could do dead lifts, but also jump squats, burpees, lunge hops and walking lunges properly!
While keeping my heart rate elevated!  She never let me take a break, in between sets, I had to lunge, and lunge all the way the next area.  Rae set up obstacle courses for me in the empty group fitness room.  Crazy stuff that I never thought I could do!  I was making the men look bad hahaha.

 Perhaps the most important thing Rae did, was give me this confidence, knowledge and skills to continue training on my own. This is a rarity. Normally trainers or shall I say fitness clubs keep this valuable information to them selves. I mean, if they teach you how to work out by yourself...how will they make any money? But Rae was not your typical trainer and GoodLife is not your typical fitness club.  I will be forever great ful, once I am strong enough and finished with all of my procedures, I will be back at GoodLife training with her and I will forever be a member.

And the reward for her efforts....so many people asking me what I was doing and who I was training with. That is worth more than gold, referrals galore. It's almost D Day.

My long journey to selfhealing and peace

Losing weight after having a baby in my 30's proved to be much more challenging than I had anticipated.

I spent my life being fit, averaging between 130-140lbs which was a curvy athletic type build on my 5ft6 medium frame.

Even after having my second child I lost weight immediatley, walking out of the hospital room wearing my size 28 jeans.  I immediately began playing lacrosse and roller blading.  On maternity leave I roller bladed while pushing him in rhe stroller sometimes 10km a day.

Looking back, I can't believe I struggled with my appearance.

In 2007, I gave birth to a beautiful 9lb baby girl. It was an extremely trying pregnancy, high risk due to my wolff Parkinson White Syndrome, and severe hyperemesis.

The medication that I was taking while awaiting risky heart surgery slowed my metabolism to a near halt. With moderate exercise and cutting out carbs, I was able to shed 25lbs of baby weight prior to my surgery.

The cardiac ablation to repair the extra pathway was 80% successful. I was less symptomatic, but still feared exercising at high levels of intensity.

You can't even imagine what it felt like to have your heart race to 300 beats per minute, slipping in and out of consciousness and having to be cardio converted back to normal sinus rhythm on multiple occasions felt like.

Basically....they stop your heart, you come about as close to death as medically possible, then they restart your heart again.

Because of this anxiety, and fearing another episode of SVT, I tried to lose the baby weight by diet alone. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!

P.S. I have attached a link for more information about WPW http://www.medicinenet.com/wolff-parkinson-white_syndrome/article.htm