Social Phobic….

This year one of my goals was to get out and do more. Just anything as long as it was more.

I am incredibly introverted.

BUT

I believe that I have been using my introversion as an excuse for my social anxiety.

According to google social anxiety is…

1. …also called social phobia, is an anxiety disorder in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations. Anxiety (intense nervousness) and self-consciousness arise from a fear of being closely watched, judged, and criticized by others.

Let me give you a few examples of some of the things I might go through in a day….

• I will struggle to walk down a main street in the city by myself. I am not scared of getting mugged, taken hostage or being pushed to the ground in some kind of fuss. No my worry is far more simple -someone might talk to me or look at me. Yip, I will walk down a street and be casting sidelong looks at everyone around me. I will scrutinize their looks and see if the are judging me.
• Going into a shop and having to ask for something. Before I go anywhere where I might need to ask someone for something in particular e.g. a new eftpos card. I have to practice what I want to say in my head before I go in or I will convince my partner that he can ask for me.
• The staffroom at work is my worst nightmare. I am a hermit in my classroom who uses classwork as an excuse not to go in. I hate large groups of people and I am constantly worried about what people are thinking and double guessing everything that I am saying/have already said.

To many these problems would seem minimal or silly. I have been told just to suck it up and get over it. That I shouldn’t be worried that I am just shy but the problems go deeper than that.

This year my goal is to do more… I will get there but I have to become a lot more confident in myself. I will be using this blog as a way of discussing the things that I am doing to help. Keep your fingers crossed for me

xx

P.S. there is a support group for people with anxiety. I find this ironic.

an actual comeback…. maybe.

Ok… so my last post talks about how I was going to make an apparent comeback but it never really happened… Sooooo I’m trying again..

To give you a run down about myself I am a primary school teacher and I am currently only in my second year. I have extremely high expectations and I will usually let school come first (unfortunately) but I missed blogging. This was my outlet so I am going to use this as a record for the different things I am doing and perhaps maybe, somewhere out in the world, someone will find my musings useful.

xx

It’s Been Awhile…

Yep… I dropped off the face of the blogging world but I am currently trying to make a comeback! 

For anyone who has read my last post Thailand was amazing…. that type of paradise that you only read about but there’s hot lady boys and ping pong shows. If you haven’t been there go, seriously go there now it’s amazing.Thailand however was not good for my diet.. I was incredibly sick and bloated while I was over there. I think the timezone stuffed with my body clock and nothing ever really sorted itself out. So while I was halfway across the world I vowed to go and see a nutritionist when I got home and that is exactly what I did. 

I went and saw a lovely lady in Auckland who is a dietitian at Mission Nutrition. She has put me on a low FODmap diet which has worked wonders. I don’t eat any fruit (apart from berries) and some vegetables are out of bounds BUT it is working. I haven’t seen my stomach this flat and non-bloated in months. For those of you who are slightly unsure what a fodmap is, it’s (crudely speaking) a diet that is low in all kinds of sugars. The letters FOD stand for short chained carbs that are found in a lot of common foods which are believed to cause excess gas and liquid in the intestines so by omitting these foods it is supposed to help. 

All said and done it’s still difficult (whinge I know) but having to bring your own meal to a restaurant is something that I find extremely awkward. I’m sure that this will get easier over time and I’ll feel less embarrassed about it but for now I find it hard. 

I am going to stick with this diet although I have been granted a few days of leave from it every now and then which is awesome!

If you want to read more about FODmaps – http://ibs.about.com/od/ibsfood/a/The-FODMAP-Diet.htm

Here’s to a less bloated belly and a welcome back to the blogging world

 

xx

Colofac – the cure to my bloating

I know I said that I am trying to wean myself off prescription drugs but here I am writing a blog post about one… oops.

I went to see my doctor because my bloating was getting out of control. Nothing was helping to aid it. I was going to the gym every day and eating healthy and BOOM still looked like I was pregnant. After hearing me whine about this she prescribed me Colofac, something that she said that she takes as she also has irritable bowel syndrome.

This stuff is amazing.

It is the first thing that has actually helped me. After taking it for a couple of days everything had evened out and I was no longer bloated. YEP NOT BLOATED. You can’t imagine my happiness from waking up and not looking like I was about to pop.

So how does it work? Colofac contains an active ingredient called mebeverine hydrochloride, which is an antispasmodic. This works by directly acting on the smooth muscle in the gut, causing it to relax. It relieves painful muscle spasms without actually affecting its normal motility.

Although this medication has helped me lots I also don’t want to rely on it. I still want to adjust my diet and find natural supplements that are going to help in the long run

 

x

That Itchy Vagina

…and by itchy I am meaning candidiasis, also known as thrush.

Thrush is a medical condition in which a fungus called Candida albicans overgrows. This fungus is normally found in the vagina but when other bacteria called lactobacilli stop doing their job properly it overgrows causing a yeast infection to occur.

It is estimated that three quarters of all women will, at some time during their lives, experience a thrush infection. Some of the symptoms include itching, burning and pain during urination and/or intercourse. I am jealous of that one quarter.

Perhaps now you are wondering why I am ranting about this but YES I have it, again. They believe that it can be caused by many different factors such as illness,  medications or stress. The key word in that sentence is MANY which means that anything can bring this ridiculous condition on. As I am currently on practicum I have experienced all three. I have lost count of the amount of colds and sore throats I have had over the past eight weeks and have gone on new medications to try and assist my bloating.

Treatment has been difficult. I get recurrent thrush and am currently take a fluconazole tablet once a fortnight to keep it in check. Now I have been trying to wean myself off these tablets as they can be harmful to your liver and up until now I have been fine. As I can’t get into see my doctor until next week I am relying on anti-fungal creams to help lesson the symptoms as these no longer get rid of it for me.

As far as prevention I have tried most. These included:

• Wearing less tight clothes
• Always wearing a liner with underwear
• Eating acidophilus yoghurt
• Avoiding perfumed and coloured soaps and bubble baths

None of these seem to make much of a difference.

My big advice is to eat healthy, stay active and get as much sleep as you can! Don’t get run down and listen to your body and take a break when you need it

 

x

Reverse Pyramid Training

So it was time to switch up my workout routine and I was extremely excited to try out reverse pyramid training. For those of you that don’t know it’s a highly effective training technique that utilizes a downward sequence in weight, reps or sets to help maximize any weight lifting goals. This type of workout is great as it creates an intense routine as the muscles get overloaded.

Now I am only trying to tone up my muscles not to get bulky and I believed that this technique would help aid me in achieving this as it helps assist in the development of greater endurance – something that is great for people who want to gauge their progress gradually.

If you are thinking about using the reverse pyramid technique be honest with yourself. Don’t take it easy push your hardest, go to that weight you think you can do reps on even if it is only one and gradually drop it back down. Push yourself, realize that you are far more capable than you probably give yourself credit for. Leaving a workout knowing that you have given it all, drenched in sweat and muscles quivering = one of the best feelings.

So far using the reverse pyramid technique I have done a leg and back day and I am in LOVE with it. I am leaving workouts knowing that I have pushed myself completely and waking up with ridiculously sore muscles the next day has me liking it even more. It’s so different from supersets (where I was doing small weights with skipping in between) so I am definitely not bored of getting out and going to the gym. I feel that this regime will be extremely beneficial for the goals I am trying to achieve. The feeling when you drop down a weight, it’s like a relief to the system and give that set an extra boost to get you through to the end. 

I will be doing this for the next three weeks and have recorded what my maximum weights are for things like chest press, lunges, and non-assisted pull ups and can’t wait to see if these change over the three weeks!

 

x

Running and Probiotics

I am officially slowly getting back into running and I am crazy happy about it. After having a few injuries I am making sure that I am taking it slow.

Running gives me a chance to de-stress and clear my head. After busy days at school running gives me the chance to just forget about everything else besides from my breathing and pace. Not only this but running helps with all of my other endometriosis and PCOS symptoms too. So far my injuries have been alright as long as I stretch properly before and afterwards. I have also come to love my foam roller also!

Something that I have begun taking is a probiotic. I have been struck with Strep throat (again) and antibiotics ruin my already IBS digestive system so I want to try everything possible to help. I have sourced my cupboards with some Yakult to see if this one is going to help at all.

Probiotics are used to help re-establish some of the good bacteria that is found in our gut. Maintaining this health is crucial to our whole health and wellbeing. The bacteria in our gut ensure that we properly digest the foods we eat and fully absorb all of the nutrients available.

Yakult was an option that I was willing to try because I have had inner health before and it didn’t seem to make any difference. I know that there is a lot of sugar in the drink (to keep that bacteria alive) but I am willing to try anything.

Shall let you know how it goes,

 

x

Natural Remedies: Coconut

OK so I am currently on a small coconut buzz at the moment I can’t get enough of the stuff; Coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut flour… pretty much anything that starts with coconut I want it and I want it now. So I decided that maybe I should actually see why this stuff is good (or not good) for me…

Coconut has been classed a wonder food because of the multiple health benefits that it has:

• Lower cholesterol
• Improve digestion
• Fight off viruses
• Regulate hormones
• Lose weight
• Increase metabolism

All of which are extremely important for the side effects that both endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome have and well I’m willing to try anything that means I don’t have to go back and have more surgery.

Besides from all of these benefits it actually tastes amazing. I have taken to stirring it through my porridge and chucking it in my juices in the morning to create a different taste om nom nom. Something that I used to make all the time while completely sugar free was chocolate, yip sugar free chocolate. In a bowl mix together coconut oil, dessicated coconut and cocoa – tastes exactly like coconut rough (need I say more).

So I can probably safely say that my coconut buzz isn’t going to end anytime soon especially with my new found knowledge of how good it can actually be for me.

 

x

Fructose Free and Veggie Juices

As it’s coming into summer there is a multitude of different fruits coming into season some of which I totally love like grapes and pineapples, unfortunately something I was eating was giving me terrible cramps and by terrible I mean almost couldn’t move terrible. I was at a loss of what it could be until one day I didn’t have them and it was the one day I hadn’t packed any grapes for my lunch. With this new found knowledge I decided to trial going fructose free.

For the past three days I have avoided all fruits and surprisingly I am far less bloated and feeling a lot better. I will continue to keep them out of my diet for a whole week and then try and reintroduce some to see how my body reacts because I’m not too keen on getting rid of all fruits indefinitely because I like them far too much!

A good thing that has come from this is the motivation to start juicing again. I like to start the day off with raw fruits and going fructose free meant that this was no longer possible and eating a bowl of spinach for breakfast didn’t really seem too appetising for me. So I grabbed out my juicer, dusted it off and started experimenting. After only having a few I realised the impact that apples made on homemade juice… they make it taste nice. Luckily I am getting used to the juices I am making and am quite a fan of one particular green juice…

• Spinach
• Cucumber
• Ginger
• Mint

I am worried that all the digestive problems are an indication that my endometriosis is back in full swing as these are some of the symptoms I was having before my surgery but I will try all diet fixes first before I consider going back under the knife.

 

x

Exercise: Super Sets

So lately I have been extremely busy as uni has just finished up for the year and I am now heading off for an 8 week practicum so I can begin to understand what teaching is really going to be like, so forgive me for my lack of posting on here recently.

Exercise

I decided that I was getting a bit bored of my gym routine that I had so decided I was going to change it up and put in a whole heap of supersets.

So supersets are used for strength training that can be used to add intensity and help bust through weight loss plateaus. The idea is to do one exercise and instead of resting you do a different exercise and alternate between them for the desired number of sets.

With strength training it is important to change your routine every 4-6 weeks to ensure that you don’t plateau and I decided that supersets would change it up completely. The benefits of super setting are

• Saves time – going from workout to workout with no rest means that workouts are shorter and more efficient
• Increases intensity – especially if you’re working the same  muscle group
• Easily able to overload your muscles without having to use extremely heavy weights

I normally have three strength training days a week – one for back and shoulders, chest and arms and finally legs, so have worked my super sets around this. I’m planning to do them for three weeks and then do targeted for the next three weeks to ensure that I am changing things up to keep my workouts interesting.

My supersets are not just strength training though I love to sweat so I decided to incorporate some cardio in as well… a typical set for me looks like this

• Chest press, 30 sec skipping rope, push ups, 30 sec skipping rope

So far I am absolutely loving this style of training and would recommend it to anyone. I have found that it has pushed me further than targeted and I need to challenge myself to complete my reps. There is lots of information online about super sets for beginners or comment on here if you would like more detail about what I do!

 

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