For the whole of last year i felt terrible, extremely unhealthy, i couldn't sleep properly normally waking up 4 to 5 times a night and experiencing madcap lucid dreams, my pillow would be soaked wet through and stink like a damp towel, at one point Shannon bought me a special anti bacterial pillow from a local pharmacy and waterproof pillow protectors. I would and could sleep for up to 12 hours in one go and wake still feel grotty and tired, at times i would spend all day in bed slipping in and out of consciousnesses but this made no difference to my energy levels. My mood swings were shocking, i was always down in the dumps and physically i was experiencing hot flushes, sweating profusely to the point i had to carry tissues around to mop my brow and neck and my hands and fingers would swell up and become painfully itchy.
The sleep issue i put down to a stressful year in business, we had opened a new division which came with the usual 'will it be as successful as the data shows' thoughts, a large supply contract to a good customer in transition was being negotiated and i had an unfortunate falling out with another large customer constantly playing on my mind. The constant tiredness i explained as part of my diagnosed depression and anxiety which i will explain in greater detail sometime in the future. The hot flushes i thought were being caused by a serious long term bout of severe man flu and the swollen hands and itchiness i couldn't pin down but it was explained to me that it could have been an allergic reaction to something maybe the chemicals i put in the swimming pool.
As the symptoms worsened the more angry about the whole situation i got, i could see it was affecting the whole family and i decided once and for all go and see the GP, be as open and honest about my issues as possible and try and get a diagnosis.
At first the GP thought i maybe had TB and suggested a chest x-ray and he also recommended i see a physician for further diagnosis, woo hoo i thought hoping i had a curable disease which was the answer to all my problems including my weight issue, what if all these years i have been carrying around a medical issue which has made me feel and look like this, it wasn't to be, the physician diagnosed me with possible sleep apnea, at first i was dubious and heartbroken i didn't have a one pill fixes all problem, the physician booked me in for a sleep study and 2 weeks later i found myself in hospital with a number of monitors strapped to me recording heart rate, breathing and the oxygen levels in my blood, wow my lifestyle had landed me in hospital! The results of the study showed i was stopping breathing up to 60 times an hour and my blood oxygen level was at 55%, severe sleep apnea was diagnosed.
3 weeks later i was back in hospital to trial a ventilator to ease the apnea, so now my lifestyle had led me to having to sleep with a machine to aid breathing, when the realization that i would have to use this machine for the rest of my life dawned on me and a friend asked me 'how my oxygen machine was working out' to say i was embarrassed and ashamed with myself is an understatement, it was at this point i took the signs as the final straw and decided to man up and take my food addiction on in the correct manner once and for all, i put this change in thinking down to many things like personal vanity, being pragmatic about my many medical conditions, standard of happiness within the family unit and the fact that the ventilator had indeed made a difference by finally regulating my blood oxygen levels which in turn gave me the get up and go to realise my failings and do something about it, hence the change in lifestyle.
There are many reasons i chose to take on this epic journey to better health and at some point over the next 50 odd weeks i will cover them all but number 1 was the final push that the feelings and thoughts plus proper diagnoses of sleep apnea brought on.
I had to rush off at 1130 yesterday so i missed my prepped lunch and had to improvise so Mondays meals were as follows:
Breakfast: Homemade granola with blueberry yogurt.
Mid morning snack: Sour cherry & apple juice booster plus a banana.
Lunch: Beef strips & jalapeno wrap with guacamole, sour cream & salsa.
Afternoon snack: Trail mix plus a bowl of bran flakes with semi skimmed milk.
Dinner: Chicken & calamari vegetable pilaf.
Desert: Baked apple.
Evening snack: Small portion of popcorn.
Drinks: 3.2 litres of water, 4 coffees.
Total calories: 1946 calories.
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