Weight loss begins again. No, really...

Earlier on in the year I began to grapple with my weight issue again. You may remember this post where I unveiled at the start of my Team Bangs training (warning - not for the faint hearted).

After having the girls in 2009 I lost all my pregnancy weight and more with Weightwatchers, which has served me well over the years when my weight has fluctuated between endo flare ups. Back in 2004 I lost 2 stone through it and kept it off for 3 years with regular exercise and a change of habits.

So.....what now?!

Last Sunday I ran the Nike Run to the Beat with my Team Bangs ladies.

I have been training for this event since May, as those of you who followed my progress will know.

It has been a really, really busy Summer. Since July it has been non-stop with house move, hen party organising, training, wedding and family stuff, then half marathon. Suddenly, my weekends are empty.

Downloadable endo symptom diary

As an advocate of endo awareness and an endo warrior myself I want to help as many women as possible get a diagnosis for their pelvic pain in the least amount of time.

Mine took 8 years, and it is my mission that women who suspect that they might have endo have the right information to hand to show their GP's.

Here is a printable symptom diary to help track pelvic pain and symptoms.

Downloadable symptom diary

Help yourself, pass the word around and I hope it helps.

DD
x

This goes down in history...

....as the best photo of this year for me.



The day endo didn't win, depression didn't win and I won. With my team, my family and friends supporting, and a host of amazing brands and icons behind us.

 

Doing it differently before it's done

So. In less than a week I am going to be doing my half marathon, my much blogged, trained for and longed for day is almost here.

I have been struggling this last week with endo which has been causing me no end of pain and tiredness. I am so hoping it won't be in full effect on Sunday.

Anyway....aside from that my learning curve with training has been huge, and already there are things I would do differently. And things I WILL do differently, for the next half marathon - oh yes, I am booked onto the Reading Half in April with my Team Bangs buddy Sarah Scribbles - the journey of improvement has begun.

Spoons.

Most people are surprised to hear that  I have an ongoing chronic illness.

When you meet me I am bubbly, chatty, loud, energetic, a little bit overweight (cuddly!?), enthusiastic, confident.

Geek chic - a real pain

 

One of the strangest outcomes of my endo is that it has really brought out the geek in me.

Not in the sense that I have a range of gadgets to help me cope, but that when I am incapacitated and having to veg out, I turn to my trusty Mac. Blogging takes my mind off things, and the fact that I am, without fail, having to spend a lot of time on my own dealing with pain and fatigue I have a new found love for social media and all it entails.  Twitter, Facebook, blogs and RSS feeds rock my world in those long hours.

The wheat cheat: intolerance and loving yourself

I have an intolerance to wheat.

I know this.

It makes my endometriosis pain much worse.  I feel hideous when I eat too much of it and I detoxed from it back in February.

Life, but not as you know it.

This little post is to share with you all how saddening, maddening, frustrating, painful and tiring it is living with endometriosis and it's associated entourage of symptoms.

Every few weeks the pain gets so much that my body hits a wall of exhaustion and chronic fatigue sets it. I don't just mean tiredness like you have after a big night out, or even the wall of foggy sleep deprivation I felt when the twins were still night feeding.  No, this is a tiredness that makes my very bones ache. My glands come up, I feel sick with tiredness, my pain reaches a whole new level of attacking every nerve, sinew and muscle. My head aches, my whole body feels battered. Shattered. Broken.