Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A Brit in Bavaria!


Hey ladies, I’m Kathy!

I'm back now for this 3rd challenge and am thrilled to join you all again or meet you for the first time. For those who don't know me already now's your chance to run away fast - LOL! Otherwise this blog will be very déjà vu-esque, not much has changed (apart from me getting older) though I have added a photo collage thingy at the end. Looking forward to meeting you all too, but first off, here's me:-

I'm British but have been living in Aschaffenburg, Germany since 2002. I'm 37, married to Matt for 18 years, no kids (unfortunately). I work as the PA to our Pastor, Matt is an elder in our church and works (more-than) full-time in Logistics as a Business Development manager.

I met Dani and Joseph for the first time last year. Joseph came over to Aschaffenburg in January for a training weekend we were holding, along with the whole leadership team from El Paso. In March Matt and I flew to Gijón for 5 days, got to know the whole family and see where and how they are ministering. At New Year we had the immense fun of the whole Contreras family staying with us. AND whilst Dani and Joseph took off for a couple of days we got to teach their boys some bad habits and do crazy things!!!

As we’re not missionaries you’re probably wondering what is a Brit doing in Bavaria. Well it's a long story but here's the short version - God brought us! I suppose we’re kind of tent makers. Matt is a MK, grew up in Austria therefore spoke fluent German, I'm a 1st generation Christian but have been a part of the Harrison family for 22 years and have the immense benefit from that. My in-laws are just the most amazing spiritual parents. Prior to coming to Germany we were in Scotland, struggling financially and career wise so got down on our knees and asked God to "do something" - and He surely did!!!!! Neither of us wanted to leave our home and church there but God had better plans. Within 3 months Matt was flying to and fro from Edinburgh to Frankfurt so we decided to move out here for a year, 8 years later we're still here and very happy. We’re recently moved to a new apartment directly in the city and had lots of renovations to do so that was part of my exercise however it also made it difficult to eat healthily as we spent every spare second renovating in a place with no kitchen and at times no water! So fast food was my downfall.

I must admit that when Dani sent me the invitation to join the first challenge I was reluctant. I have some health issues that make it difficult for me to exercise. I have a lingering (grumbling) back injury from a car accident in 1995, suffer from fibromyalgia and one of the side effects from my medication is weight gain. Losing weight and being more active will help my health but too much activity increases my pain and dieting without exercise brings very limited results so I tend to rest and comfort eat - a vicious circle. I have restrictions from my doctor, nothing aerobic like jogging etc. Power walking is the most "intense" form of exercise I should do and NO exercise at all when I’m sick. Winter and sickness slowed me down during the Crunch and a house move distracted me for the Spring (excuses, excuses….. I know) but I’m going to be Maid of Honour at my best friends wedding on 3rd July so the pressure is on. An accountability group is just what I needed then, and it’s still what I need now. Also, just like before, it's your job to encourage me when I get pain flair ups, girls!

Crunching for Christmas I lost 3.7kg (8.14lbs) and 23cm. Over Christmas and New Year I re-gained 0.8kg, which I suppose wasn’t too bad considering. Flinging around in Spring I lost 2kgs (4.4lbs) and a whole 1cm!!! But since then, oh dear, the bad eating habits I got into during renovations continued. Matt was travelling a lot. I got depressed and had pain flare ups. Just a vicious circle and I’ve gain back all that I lost. Now is the time to stop and really focus on my health. The sun is shining (most days) and the latest health news is that a walk in the park is as good as an anti-depressant (like we didn’t know already). I’m only a quick hop from the river bank so don’t let me give you any excuses, you have my permission to be tough and push me!

I’m a bit OCD when it comes to organising, it does come in handy as I have to plan in rest times or else I go all out for a few days and end up needing a day in bed to recover. Mr H has been making noises about joining me for some exercise, which will help me sooooooo much. In fact, last Sunday we went out for our first bike ride together in years.

I’ve also just got myself a walking buddy (via Facebook -yeah!), which means I’m more likely to stick to a walking “date” if I’m letting a friend down. Since moving into the city we decided to sell my car so now I either bus or cycle to work. Just not having a car adds more exercise into my day. A trip to the bank is a mile walk and I have a lovely 1.5 mile cycle along the river to work. We now live on the 3rd floor (4th to you Ammies) and I only take the lift if I’ve lots to carry.

Food wise I’m going to use the G.I. Diet plan again. It’s really easy, but like everything, you have to want to. Junk food and sugar quickly added the weight back on for me. It last weekend I cleaned out my fridge and threw away all the “bad” foods then went out and stocked up on healthy goodies. My frugalness really baulked at this waste but then I figured it either goes in the waste or goes ON my waist! I’m too sensitive to go “cold turkey” on sugar atm but by only eating it when I add it on myself (ie no hidden sugars) then I can count it and whittle it down easier.

Got 3 lots of travels coming up in the next 8 weeks. I’m off to Rome this Friday with Mr H. then a quick turn around and I’ll be in England/Wales and when we end the challenge I’ll be in Kansas for a wedding (yep, packing my ruby slippers! LOL)

Looking forward to the next 8 weeks of Sweating in the Summer with you all.

Kathy

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, Kathy! I am so glad you wrote all about yourself again! I love your slideshow I have never seen your wedding picture before! Wow has Matt changed! jeje.. Joseph too. I think weight gain looks good on our men though.

But like you said we have to be tough on ourselves don´t we. I will keep you accountable. Your testimony already has encouraged me to get to my exercise today. I was beginning to think I would be doing all this by myself! LOL

So glad you have all those oportunities to exercise! Walk walk walk it Lady! ;)

And we will be biking with you too this summer.

keep on that GI diet for life. It´s awesome!

Great post! Love it! Love you!
Sweatin´with ya,
Dani Joy

Unknown said...

Hey, Kathy! I am so glad you wrote all about yourself again! I love your slideshow I have never seen your wedding picture before! Wow has Matt changed! jeje.. Joseph too. I think weight gain looks good on our men though.

But like you said we have to be tough on ourselves don´t we. I will keep you accountable. Your testimony already has encouraged me to get to my exercise today. I was beginning to think I would be doing all this by myself! LOL

So glad you have all those oportunities to exercise! Walk walk walk it Lady! ;)

And we will be biking with you too this summer.

keep on that GI diet for life. It´s awesome!

Great post! Love it! Love you!
Sweatin´with ya,
Dani Joy

Unknown said...

well, I tried deleting that extra comment. but it deleted them both.. so I guess the Lord wanted you to read it twice. LOL