Hello reader!

I hope you are doing well, because I am certainly feeling one step closer to normal these days, and that’s mainly due to being sort of cleared from any imminent pericarditis danger – as in I’m off my meds – and being given the green light to start living like a normal person again.

But, allow me to digress for a moment…

As you may know, this blog doesn’t have a set direction. It’s not a platform to influence, I do not collaborate with anyone, nor do I monetise things. I do research where required (and I should probably footnote it, even though I hate referencing with a passion) but all the opinions expressed in here are mine and mine alone. I have written this disclaimer as I will be featuring some different stories here soon, such as reviews and reports from places other then Melbourne. Yes I will be travelling (again YAY) soon, and will have airplane, hotel and location reviews but they are really there to help me remember where I have been. I’ve realised I need a better documentation system as some Facebook memories have popped up and I have no idea where I was or why I took the photo or wrote the caption.

Anyway, back to me (haha sorry), good things are happening. After a rather catastrophic backlash to the ongoing doses of colchicine (which I now found out was prescribed to prevent the pericardium from hardening around the heart and requiring surgery), both my GP and my cardiologist are on the same page – to treat me as a recovered patient with strict guidelines (I still can’t play Futsal and I still need to have random blood test to monitor CRP levels), but allow me to start getting back to my old self via cardiac rehab hoping that an exercise regime might reduce my inner stress levels and promote good physical and mental health. I didn’t tell them that I get good mental health here through a process I have called linguistic vomit. (Once again, sorry).

The upside of having less restrictions on me is that I have a sense of purpose again. I can walk at my normal speed (think New Yorker) instead of dawdling like… well… people here. It still tires me out walking about 1km (just over half a mile for you imperialists out there), but combined with a self-created hybrid diet of Aston Rx meets intermittent fasting meets be kind to yourself, I am starting to shake off some of the combined post-surgery/COVID lockdowns/no exercise because of pericarditis weight. The target weight loss is actually quite significant, as I am aiming to reduce my weight by half, but 30kg by the end of the year is my target now. Whereas Aston Rx was quite strict around mealtimes, portion sizes and the DO NOT list (snack, have sugar, dairy, etc etc), these are the rules I am following now:

– Intermittent fasting program of 16/8, which is 16 hours fasting, 8 hours feeding. I try to have my dinner by 8pm (9pm when I work late) which means my feeding window opens up around 1pm the next day.

– Avoid sugars and carbs. I mainly eat proteins and vegetables. Avoiding fruits at the moment as I went on a grape binge shortly after my colchicine rejection and made my blood sugar go crazy. This will also help lower my insulin levels and my HOMA score, which measures insulin resistance and is also one of the main factors that Aston Rx looks at when they are working out your supplement and food regime.

– You can have a bad day. I have had days where I have eaten a little too much or strayed into the ‘avoid for now foods’ such as pastries, cakes and soft drinks (sodas). If that happens, I just skip lunch the next day and fast from dinner to dinner (which is about 22-24 hours).

–Hydration, hydration, hydration. Hydration is key (says the girl with the bleeding lips right now. Trying to hit the 2L mark per day is hard, but I worked out my bottle is about 600mL and I’ve managed to get to three bottles a day which has me just short.

– You don’t have to measure your foods – I know that when I did Aston Rx, I was measuring out 110g of red meat with my 2 cups of approved vegetables for dinner every day. Right now, because of the ongoing IF practice, I am gauging my food amounts by eye. For example, dinner tonight will be 1 organic chicken thigh fillet (you cannot convince me on chicken breast. Ever. And I’m not a bad cook but ugh), two handfuls of wombok (chinese cabbage/napa cabbage) thinly sliced and half a punnet of pearl mushrooms (the asian grocer was out of shimeji mushrooms the other day. As a result, the measurements work out to be about 150g chicken, 2.5C wombok and 1C mushrooms. It’s twice the amount of Aston Rx greens and slightly over the protein count, but it keeps me sated and suppresses the snack cravings. Also, after a flawless week 1 (two weeks ago) I managed to drop almost 4kg, so I think I’m still doing alright.

– Coffee (long black) with pure cream does not break a fast. This is an Aston Rx principle I have stuck to. Yes I will still sneak in the occasional white chocolate mocha with oat milk, but I have actually found myself enjoying my coffee this way. I use a blend of two different Nespresso Vertuo capsules, add a touch of cream and I get my yummy morning buzz. In times of desperation, I have ordered a long black with cream at coffee shops, but there is glucose in those whipping creams so it’s not ideal ongoing. Coles and Woolworths both stock the Dairy Farmers Pure Cream brand, although the larger size at Woolies is better bang for your buck.

– Sleep. You need to sleep. It gives your body time to digest and heal and, more importantly, if you get your 8+ hours in, that’s half the fasting time done already. Unfortunately I have recently been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and restless leg syndrome, but my GP believes that the OSA is related to weight gain (I never had it back when I was fighting fit) and the restless legs is a known side effect of my vestibular migraine medication, so we aren’t taking any drastic measures yet so I can get my weight down.

– Go for a walk everyday, even if it’s for 10 minutes. I have lost all my fitness and exercise capacity so I need to rebuild it slowly. The daily walk helps me feel like I have achieved something and it gets the heart rate up (by a tiny amount) and burns some calories.

I’m tracking my fasting times using the Simple app at the moment, and my food intake via myfitnesspal.

Right now, the approved exercises I can do prior to rehab are walking, walking, yoga, pilates (beginner level only), walking and maybe some basic bodyweight exercises at home. So, whilst I ponder whether or not a return of KX Pilates is in my capacity, I am currently doing 15 minute walks daily and a few (literally) squats and lunges to try rebuild the leg muscles. It’s not much, but my partner and I are going to rescue a pup soon so I’m thinking those daily walks with help me get into better condition. My first goal is to fit back into my Warehouse jeans that I bought in London (super posh) and then my secondary goal is to fit back into the best pair of black slacks I have ever owned (from the States.)

Speaking of the States (and harking back to the title of this blog entry), I will be spending a part of June in Singapore and Washington DC (going for a family wedding). This will be my first trip since the pandemic, and boy there are a lot of things to be aware of. Previously, trips to America would involve booking flights and accommodation, checking my passport validity, activate credit card travel insurance, get my ESTA and away we go! This time round? I have a spreadsheet detailing the specifics of each leg of the trip (I’m flying with three different carriers in total because it was cheaper to do so), which date I need to organise a PCR test for, what tracing apps I need in each country, what paperwork is required to be submitted before I travel vs. what I need to present at customs on arrival and how much all this will cost me. In addition to that, I need additional travel insurance because my CBA Ultimate card’s included insurance does not cover COVID. You would think that a card that hypothetically costs $400+ a year in fees would cover it but no, they do not. Travel insurance quotes currently range from $165 – $500, but there is a lot of fine print to go through. Hopefully, by my next entry, I’ll have things sorted and less to stress about.

Stay safe everyone!

Bx