Friday, December 16, 2011

Crying over you...

This time of year brings back too many memories.

5 years ago, Alex was 3 months old, and I was in the grip of truly terrible, severe post natal depression.  I'd had depression before, but that was the "have a few drinks or a coffee with yer friends and you'll feel better" kind.  This was the hardcore, can't eat, sleep or read variety.

It was unfortunate, as I was so excited about having a baby. I had longed for Alex...and thought he was the most adorable thing in the world.  I was so proud to be his mum.  It was just that I worried. I worried every time he went somewhere, that it was the last time I'd see him.  I kept thinking that he was going to die.  I kept being afraid that I was going to hurt him.  I felt like I was a long way away from everyone else, talking to them from under a weight, and watching myself from the ceiling at the same time.

Christmas 2007 was horrendous. I'd never been suicidal before or truly anxious, but I was all these things. When I look back at home videos of this time, I can see my fear, see that I wasn't there, see that I wanted someone to come and rescue me from the prison of my consciousness. I kept wanting to scream, to scream and never stop.
So, on th 27th of December, I was admitted to a mother and baby unit in Melbourne.  I spent a whole month there. Alex wasn't with me at first, so I spent New Years Eve 2007 in a mental institution.  I was so horrendously, severely unwell, and I didn't know why someone didn't come and rescue me from it.  If I was in that much physical pain, I'd be on the strongest painkillers.  How could I pretend, and keep pretending to be normal, when how I felt was as far from normal as I had ever felt?

And it's not just how I felt, it's hearing the stories about how my sister in law drove Alex home all by herself, with him in her car seat.  Because I'd been admitted to hospital again, because this illness was so horrendous that I thought everyone would understand if I just checked out of life.  The time that my mum and sister looked after him.  The fact that everyone loves him, because they all had to pitch in and look after him while I was busy being treated.  I am grateful that Alex was shown such love.  But I'd be lying if I wasn't deeply grieved for a long time that I couldn't be there for him.  Because I loved him, so so so much.  The psychs always said that I had a very strong connection with him. ...and how couldn't you? 
 
I found a bit about how I felt at the time, and I enclose it below.  To those of you who are suffering - it will end. As long as you keep living, it gets better.  Today I have an amazing life.....but I can't help think about what I went through 5 years ago, what we all went through.  I feel saddest for Richard...because he loved Alex and I so much...and he was so amazing.  He never walked away from me, even when I was angry, horrible, bitter and full of hate.  Neither did my mum, sisters, dad, and my amazing in laws.  Girls from the youth group wrote me beautiful letters.  Thank you, Klasine, Del, Frances and Jossy.  Thank you, all who were there.  I'm all better now.  But I still remember.

Love,
Deb
Diary:
16 March07 - I love my husband but I hate him seeing me like this. In fact, I feel like saying to him and the rest of my family "Don't love me!", but I know I don't really want that.

24 April 07 - I am so afraid and so scared that I'll never be all right again. I feel really confused, like I'm stuck in a big black hole. Feel suicidal, like I just want to die....can I go home? I just feel like I want to pass out or die, I can't go on living like this.

18 May 07 - All I want is a good night's sleep, and to be able to sleep again. I miss sleep sooo much and I'm afraid I'll never sleep again. I can't believe that I will ever get better but I have to trust God. I would much rather be the one cheering other people up than the one going through this, wading through so much horrible anxiety and fear. Please God, release me from this horrible prison. Just a tiny little bit, just enough for me to go home and cope at home. I am so weak, Lord, please help me. Lord, this is hell on earth and I would really like to not feel like this for much longer.
A verse I love is Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

10 July 07.I feel unable to copeI feel scared that I'm going mad, feeling disconnected from everyone around me, I seem to be in a world of my own. I feel a sense of impending madness, s though I would fall over a high cliff at any moment, and this would signify my lost grip on reality.I can't enjoy anything about life anymore. All I think about is this illness and the feelings that I'm having. I keep thinking that I just want to be normal, why has this happened to me?
Psalm 13 is really good....David gives it to God in the first bit, I love it!


About May/June 08 I started to feel better. I started to be able to go out in public with Alex or by myself and not worry. Things have just kept on getting better.
And do you know what? I know that I'm stronger for having gone through this. I feel like I know I can get through stuff. I am woman, hear me roooooooooooooar! :)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

You are why you eat.

I think too much.  That's for sure.  Part of my journey with weight loss, and Weight Watchers, has been unpacking some of the ways that I think and the ways that affects my food, mood and weight.

So.....I love watching those psychological experiment shows where they try to get people to lose weight, put on weight, and work on the way that they eat.  Last night I watched a show that was about skinny people who were made to eat twice their regular calorie intake over four weeks.  It showed that some of them put on weight, but some of them didn't.  Isn't that weird?  Some of their metabolisms were firing so strongly, that any more calories than they needed were put into muscle, automatically.  Their bodies just did it by itself.  This program also explored the idea that genetics has a big part to play in whether people overeat or not.

There seems to be a gene that makes people more susceptible to overeating and feelings of hunger.  Through an MRI, they showed that obese people, who had lost some weight, had a brain reaction of being ravenously hungry when they saw food, even if they were full, or had just eaten.  Isn't that amazing? So persons who have a predisposition towards weight gain not only have to fight the mental battle, but they have their bodies telling them that they are STARVING!

The skinny people in this show were not allowed to walk more than 5,000 steps in one day, and many of them found this difficult.  And, once they had finished the four weeks of the study, they went back to their normal eating habits, and all of them lost the weight WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING.....eating what they needed and stopping when they were hungry was just their body's way of doing things.  Wow. Doesn't that sound fabulous?

I have experienced a phenomenon in the past few days.....that I could relate to with the skinny people.  It showed them eating lots, and not wanting to....that they were looking forward to getting into exercising again, that they didn't want to live with minimal exercise and shovelling food into their mouths.  And I can totally relate!  In the beginning of Weight Watchers, all I wanted to do was eat, and I felt fat and gross, and deprived, and that I couldn't keep doing it.  But, gradually, as this thing has become a way of life....and I have learned to embrace healthy eating and to LOVE my treats...and include them daily....but to feel good about what I eat without feeling deprived.

Does that make sense?  On the weekend, we had a family Christmas, and I ate:

Uncle Tobys' Oats, 4pp
Skim Milk, 4pp
Flaked Almonds 2pp

Beesting from Howlong Bakery 6pp (sooo yum!)

Chicken Breast 3pp
Greek Salad 4pp

6 x mini Milky Bars 9pp
2 x mini flakes 4pp
1 Milo snack bar 3pp

Gourmet Chicken Sandwich 12pp
Hot Chips, large serve 9pp
Cadbury Favourites, 13 pieces 14pp

71 Propoints, baby!! But....guess what? I ate what I wanted, stopped when I was full, didn't eat everything, and felt good about myself.  After eating all the chocolate, I felt a bit piggy, and was glad to get back into eating good food again.  And it's so nice not to have to beat myself up about having a little mini pig out.  Because of the 49 weekly propoints, it's all completely legal.....there is no more forbidden food, and because of that, overeating is less of an issue.  I dont' feel like I have to gorge myself, because I know that I can always have more of what I am eating tomorrow.  And I can fill up on fruit and veg that make me feel fabulous.

Oh...and I had the beesting on the way to my nephew Petey's party....where a variety of party food was served...but because I'd had the delicious custardy creamy beesting, I was so full that I didn't need to eat anything there.  I had that at 10am and didn't eat again until about 1pm...because I was craving exactly that, ate it, and didn't need to stuff myself full of other things that I didn't really want, just because I felt deprived.  I think that's the number one reason why I used to overeat, because I felt lonely, sad, and because the food was so forbidden......I couldn't just have a little bit of it.  There was no moderation...there was either "I am being good and eating salad and cottage cheese", or "I AM A SUGAR MONSTER AND MUST CONSUME EVERYTHING IN MY PATH"....

Yesterday I got up, had a 2 yummy crumpets with peanut butter,  then some fruit salad with yoghurt and flaked almonds.  It was delicious!! I went and did all my jobs, went to the gym, which felt fantastic, and realised I was hungry about 11.45.  I did not feel hungry until then.  For some people, who have never been totally at the mercy of their appetite and food thinking all their lives, this may  not seem like a big deal...but for me it is a total, massive and amazing victory.  I have always obsessed about food...but now I enjoy it.  I listen to my body, eat what I want to, without guilt, enjoy a variety of healthy and unhealthy food, and feel like I am really getting on with the business of living, without being a prisoner to my thoughts any more.



So.....I may not get it all right every day, and I have massive self doubts sometimes.....but I see my life coming together in a way that I am so happy with....and I want that for you.  Yes, you, reading this.  I didn't ever think that I could be this free, and now I am.  And so can you be. 

Love always
Deb :)