Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 1 Year Banting Anniversary! And what a year it has been, and not only for me, but for my whole family. But in today's blog I'm going to be a bit narcissistic. It's all going to be about the Big Me. Why? I can see the changes in The Wife, and The Girls. I can see how they have not changed just physically, but how they've changed mentally as well. But me, I've lived it all.

So, how have banting changed my life? Everybody knows about the weight loss, the better sleep, the more energy, all that nice things. The big things. This post is about the little things. About how the weight loss affected my day-to-day life.

A year ago, I had trouble getting up from the couch. I had either one of the three women in my life help me get up, or I slid down as if to lie on the couch, then throw my weight forward, using momentum to get up. Today if I sit down, I simply stand up. A simple action like that was all but simple a year back.

Taking a shower. That was a mission. I have one of those brushes with the long handle people use to wash their backs with. Only I used it for more than my back. I used it to wash my knees and everything below that as well. I could reach my knees, sure, but was completely out of breath when I straightened up, and more often than not got dizzy in the process as well. Bending over to reach my feet was all but impossible. Today I get into the shower, and use that brush for what it was designed for - to wash my back and the soles of my feet. A year back I struggled to wash the soles of my feet even with the brush! I had to lie against the wall to keep my balance while standing on one foot to wash the sole of the other!

Getting dressed. Not so bad. But I had trouble doing the buttons on my pants. I would button my pants, then pull it up! Became such a hassle that I started wearing pants with elastic instead of buttons. But that was a minor. The main problem dressing was putting on socks and shoes.

One of The Girls would give me my shoes, and I would put them on the bed next to me. Bending down to pick them up from the floor was simply too difficult. I would then put my one leg on the bed, put on my sock, then my shoe. Then I took a rest for a few seconds, before switching legs. I never tied my shoes. Not only was it too difficult to reach, there just never seemed to have been enough of the laces left to tie. Putting on my socks and shoes took at least five minutes.

Today, I do the same job in 30 seconds flat. And I tie my laces as well. Without losing my breath, without turning red, then purple, and without feeling I'm going to pass out!

A year ago I would get up in the morning, and have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. With sugar, and low-fat milk. Yeah, I thought it was healthy. By around 10 or 11, I would have a snack. Around 2 in the afternoon I would have four slices of bread, with margarine and some spread (sometimes jam, sometimes peanut butter & syrup mix), and a large glass of milk. I the evening I would have dinner. Dinner would be half a plate of rice, some potatoes, meat, and one or two veggies. Or maybe macaroni with cheese. Or Spaghetti with mince. You get the picture. At around 9 in the evening I would have another bowl of breakfast cereal, or a sandwich, before going to sleep.

Today I would get up and have a good breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and a veggie. Or I won't, when I don't feel hungry. Sometimes we would eat our main meal at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, specially when we skipped breakfast. Else the main meal would be at about 5 or 6. Can't remember when last I felt the need to snack in the afternoon. A year ago if I skipped a meal I felt I was going to die. Now I can skip them at will, and it does not bother me. A year ago my plate was overloaded at dinner, then I went for seconds as well. Today I have about half that for dinner, and don't bother with seconds.

A year ago we would buy two 2L bottles of Coke a day. Sometimes we would have Cream Soda or Iron Brew or another cola. Today we drink only water. I have a soda-stream machine, so we have carbonated water with meals, and still water the rest of the time. Do I miss all the Coke? Hell no! And this does not even include the three or four glasses of milk I would have everyday, or all the sweets, chocolates and chips we would regularly buy as well.

Banting have changed my life. I will never return to the way I was. Life was hell. Things normal people takes for granted was a mission for me. I never want to be like that again. It took me many years to reach the condition I was in. I was told it would take many more to return from it. It took me a single year. Yes, I am still obese, but I can live again. I can walk further than fifty meters without feeling I'm going to pass out. I can get up quickly, and not suddenly have to grab a wall because I feel dizzy. Yes, banting saved me!