Teaching deaf people...

This morning, I went to a new fitness class run by Fitness Instructor & Personal Trainer Naomi, for deaf people. It's 6 weeks classes for deaf people. To educate deaf people about fitness and healthy food. I went along to meet Naomi as we have been emailing each other for a bit about fitness. I'm interested in fitness and was hoping to work in fitness industry if possible, in the future.

I'm involved with a charity for the deaf to help me to find work and go on training courses etc. They told me about Naomi and got her to contact me. I was grateful for her help and advice. So I knew I had to go to her classes and went along to first class this morning.

For me, it was basic as we were getting to know each other and I had more knowledge than others, of course as I've a passion in fitness! But it was interesting to see what others knew about fitness and healthy food. During the class, I had to explain some things to deaf people and realised something!

I am deaf and sign language user but use SSE - Sign Supported English - and talk to my family. I rely on lip reading a lots and understand English very well, mostly! For a while, I haven't been involved in deaf community so I don't always understand BSL - British Sign Language. I've always mixed with hearing people so I've forgotten a bit about BSL.

Within Britain the most common form of Sign Language is called British Sign Language (BSL). BSL has it’s own grammatical structure and syntax, as a language it is not dependant nor is it strongly related to spoken English. 
Another form of sign language used in Britain is known as Sign Supported English (SSE). SSE is not a language in itself. SSE uses the same signs as BSL but they are used in the same order as spoken English. SSE is used to support spoken English, especially within schools where children with hearing impairments are learning English grammar along side their signing, or by people who mix mainly with hearing people.

What I have realised is that I found it hard to explain to deaf people because I had no idea how to translate from English to BSL. That made me think on the bus journey from the fitness class to my gym for another workout - hardcore weights session! I was thinking about how to make it more easier for deaf people to learn and how to teach them using their own language if I ever teach fitness in the future! I found it easier to teach and encourage hearing people, so something have to change in the future if I teach fitness so I can teach fitness to both hearing and deaf people. I found that interesting!

Off now to have a lovely bath after my double workouts this morning then

relax in front of the telly tonight! Bye for now!

Not much exercises this week

This week, I had a course which I really wanted to focus on and nightly I return home with more work. I decided to take a few days off from going to gym planning to do some gentle exercises at home after my course but it never happened.

Before I started my course this Tuesday, I was already tired from a lack of sleep. A lots of it lately! I was struggling to beat my PBs in gym over the w'end and didn't feel I did my best. I then knew it was best to take a couple of rest days from gym to let my body recover and focus properly on my course.

Thought I might go back to gym this w'end but things has happened this week so I have to do some work outs at home. My rare condition were playing up a lots this week leaving me to decide to work out at home so I don't waste my energy travelling to gym. I miss gym a lots, seeing there's plenty of choices on what to work out with and more heavier weights than what I have at home!

I do know my limits and would have rest days or work out at home, gently! But it can be hard cos it's a habit for me to go to gym daily and be hardcore beating my PBs. ( Personal Bests ) 

I am hoping to work out daily for the next 2 weeks starting next Monday if I feel good enough so I would feel good with my body for Australia! :) 

Then when 2 weeks of working out daily is up, I would take it easy packing and doing everything else before jetting off! And freezing my gym membership for a month! I am hoping that I would not forget to exercise over there cos I might have too much fun! :)

For Australia, I  am hoping to buy something fitness related so I can bring it with me and exercise over there! Then when I come back, my membership will be still frozen till 1st Nov, I will be happy to go back to gym but missing Australia! Haha. I think I will find gym hardest when I come back and develop a bad case of DOMS once again! Eurgh! Haha.

Google can be a life-saver for all of us who don't or can't go to gym! Cos we can just look up pictures or videos of exercises! No excuses to not to work out! Unless really ill or need a rest day of course! :)

Bye for now, off to feed myself plenty of protein & carbs in preparation 

to kick ass in the gym next week! 

Bursts of energy!

The week of 19th August, I had really bad DOMS - Delayed onset muscle soreness and I believe it was because I haven't been to gym for almost 2 weeks and was carrying on with my workouts on little sleep. To me, lack of sleep is evil!

But then I started getting a little more sleep and soon my DOMS were going away which made me determined to carrying on lifting heavy! I hate the word 'Light'

Light lifting?! Nah!

Only time I lift light is when I've hurt myself.

Once I started sleeping a bit more I suddenly get bursts of energy that week and was wanting to work out daily. I did that 7x in a week, normally I get rest days but that week I didn't! But I do know my limits and if I feel I need a rest day then I'll have it!

I was sooooo happy all week beating my personal bests, the best thing ever! :)

Feeling more determined and have this attitude of 'bring it on!'

I am making the most of my sessions when I am full of energy!

Bad thing about being full of energy is being determined to lift heavy and try to beat more of my personal bests then getting pissed off when I don't see any free bench or stupid guys using wrong equipments eg the other day I felt like killing a guy who used leg press machine to do arm curls using a bar bell. Oh come on! I wanted to use it but was carrying on with other exercises for different muscles. Bloody hell!

Think I might be becoming a diva! My fitness peeves are increasing, funnily enough when I first joined a gym aged 19 I didn't really have fitness peeves I think it was because I wasn't really into fitness that much.

Just finished 8th session in a row, this morning. When will my energy run out?!

Leaving me wanting a rest day!

Heehee!

Can tell it's going to be another great week!

Bye for now! 

Having spotters at gym...

My bestie lives in England but visits Northern Ireland - her home country - now and then since her family live here. Also her best friend - me! - live here too.

She's staying here for 2 weeks, this month August, and a bit so thought to get her 2 weeks gym membership for her birthday in July. Of course at the gym I go to!

Her hubby joins in too! Sorted 2 weeks gym membership out for him so they could come to gym together to work out with me.

I love weight lifting / strength training, so do she!

I knew we could be spotters for each other, which can be great if need to lift more heavier than usual and having encouragement too.

First session, Mon 19th, went great despite me having a bad case of legs DOMS - Delayed onset muscle soreness! We all trained our arms & shoulders. Got a personal best on Skull Crushers for my triceps! That's a perfect day for me, cos results make me happy!

Best thing about having a spotter or spotters you could achieve more personal bests! I do achieve them when I am on my own but still, having spotters can be great now and then!

Having great company and talk/sign fast during our short rests in betweens sets! Haha

Sharing our knowledge and experience can helps a lots! Sometime we need fresh ideas to prevent us from getting bored in gym but I don't think I will get bored of weightlifting for a while!!

One session with them down, many to go! Will enjoy a lot of sessions with them for next 2 weeks till they go home but then I do go to visit them over in England and they do have weight lifting equipment!

Bye for now, I am off to soothe my poor muscles and eat my bodyweight of protein! 

A bad flare up!

Thanks to Keratitis Ichthyosis Deafness (KID) syndrome,

I had a bad flare up with my eyes recently.

At first, I thought it was a bad case of hay fever as I had watery eyes and runny nose.

But then when I started taking hay fever tablets it stopped.

Even though something wasn't right, my vision wasn't great.

I soon knew it was the same problem I now and then get with my eyes.

I got fed up with headaches and feeling sick

I missed going to gym and clean eating.

I knew it was best to stay away from gym and rest at home.

Rang hospital for an appointment and was booked in for September.

One day my vision started getting blurry and very sore.

I decided it was too much and I couldn't wait for next month appointment.

I had so many plans for August and September I wanted to have best vision.

So on Tues 13th, I texted my mum so she could make a quick phone call to hospital.

Told them that emergency appointment was needed!

I quickly got dressed and arranged for an interpreter to meet me there.

It was the longest afternoon of my life!

Spent hours there waiting to see the nurse and doctor.

Got seen by the nurse and explained what happened.

I then got told to wait in the waiting room for the doctor!

I didn't get seen till 2 hours later!

Whilst I was waiting, I started to feel ill as my headache was so bad.

Very quickly my mood changed, I was ready to kill the doctor.

But he was lucky cos he had called me in.

Left the hospital more happier, with treatments.

Slowly but surely my vision is improving and I am eating more.

When I get bad headaches I lose my appetite.

Hopefully I'll get back to gym this Sat 17th, if not then it will be after the w'end.

How much has my life changed since I fell in love with weight lifting?!

A lots!

My mood easily change, in a bad way, when I've not been weight lifting for few days.

My body had changed a lots, more shapely!

Made me more happier!

I'm loving Instagram because I can find role models there.

Can talk with people who have health issues and still include fitness in their lives.

Like me! :)

My Instagram: missfitnesschick

I'm strong as I love the way life throw challenges at me and I am still here.

What a week!

On 24th July, I woke up very early around 4/5am because it was too warm and sticky. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't so I decided to get light breakfast and hit the gym for 6.30am work out. Afterwards I felt so good and full of energy so I knew it was the best decision to work out early instead of staying in bed tossing and turning!

I then rode to my mum's very fast, even I was shocked myself and wondered if I would crash early in the afternoon cos I had a bad night sleep and was tough on myself in the gym lifting heavy!

Later that evening, I started to get really tired and wanted a cheat meal but didn't have it because it would be for wrong reasons. Only times I have cheat meals are when I crave it or want it not when I am too tired and lazy to do something in the kitchen. I do food preparation but now and then I do run out of food before the day of my grocery shopping and end up having a cheat meal, normally off Dominos! I am only an human! I love pizza!! :)

Now and then on my leg days I do adductor exercise and found that on my last set that week I used 60 kg/lbs out of 80 kg/lbs and felt it was too easy but I was chuffed about that! Next time I'll go heavier and soon will hit the last weight of 80 kg/lbs! :)

On 29th July I stayed at my mum's for a week, to look after the pets, as she was going away to see her sister & niece. Because my family don't share the same passion as me for clean eating I ended up doing a lot of food preparation beforehand and bought nearly everything I have to my mum's.

Things we do for fitlifestyle!

'Fail to prepare, prepare to fail,' one of my favourite quotes! 

Exciting times in the kitchen

The week of 22nd July, I was suddenly in the mood for cooking and baking using recipes I found online. That week was mad, I was forever washing the dishes and using the oven. It was sure hot! But I was in a great mood and fancied baking different protein snacks and clean eating treats.

23rd July I made fruit protein bars. I was excited cos I loved eating them and knew I was going to make it again and again! Something new! I get bored of food easily so I always have to do something creative in the kitchen so I can still like food and have them! But then I became hooked on eating them, even ate maybe 4 bars a day. It was so simple and handy. I could grab them out of the fridge and bring them with me whenever I go out and can't eat at home. Perfect as 'on the go snack/meal'!

I saw a recipe online for courgette chips and was keen to try them out so I got everything I need to make them. I knew they would be yummy since I love courgettes but was fed up of using them in salads and wanted to do something different. As ground almonds were used to make them, they would be crunchy which would be perfect for my need to eat crunchy snacks while watching movies!

Once I made them and put them in the oven, I started getting movies ready and put on comfy PJs.

When they were ready, I sneakily ate one of them and fell in love with healthy 'chips' and soon couldn't  stop munching on them. I then knew how many courgettes I would need for next time! They were delicious! Only the problem is that I finished them too fast!

I am a sad person if I get excited when I like the recipes I find online!

25th July I made cheesy Kale 'chips' as I couldn't find spinach so had to get Kale. Yummy! Also I made peanut butter cookies but left them in the oven far too long. They were yummy but had to make a 2nd attempt few days later and they were better! Again I couldn't help munching on them and finished 10 cookies in 2 days! Oppss!

I definitely have a problem controlling myself with yummy eat clean treats! :)

26th July I couldn't help myself and made more eat clean treats! I have a sweet tooth but better at controlling myself than before as I used to munch on chocolate and sweeties! No more :) I made eat clean macaroons and turkey balls. Again I finished off macaroons in 2 days, yum!!

Think I might have a baking week monthly! Not weekly or I would have a serious problem controlling myself with eat clean treats heehee.

A little about me...

I'm Kelly, unique girl with few health issues but determined to have a life and always find some ways to better my life. Fitness is one of it!

I was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and around 2/3 years old I was diagnosed with Keratitis Ichthyosis Deafness syndrome, it is a rare, genetic, multi-system disorder. One of the symptoms is Alopecia. An autoimmune disease involving loss of all/some hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes. There is no known cause or cure. I have had this since birth. It mainly affects my eyes (Keratitis), skin (Ichthyosis) and hearing (Deafness).

My Achilles tendons were too short, so had many operations till in my early twenties. 
Now 25, about to be 26 in late August!

I was involved with sports at schools but clearly, I was different from them.

Growing up, I wanted to be active and do a lots of sports but the more older I got, the more harder I found it to do sports. Even simple things such as running or jumping. 
Can't even ice skate in case I fall over and break something.

Aged 21 when I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
I knew for years before it was confirmed but still, to have it confirmed 
I thought only old people get it but no, young people do get it.
I spent a lot of times in Musgrave Hospital; there were a lot of children, on same ward as me, had rheumatoid arthritis so I wasn't really surprised or shocked to find that I have osteoarthritis.
I just accepted it but worried about my future 
as I was so young and already had limits.

Looking back it make me so angry that doctors just gave me medication or suggested surgeries when they could have suggested clean eating and a lot of exercises to start with and if it didn't work then surgeries I would be more accepting of that. But it's done now and at least I am loving my clean eating and working out.

Aged approx 19, I joined Fitness First so I could be a client for my best friend who was training to be a personal trainer but always wanted to get more fit too. I missed being active but was always in hospitals and couldn't be active.
Joining Fitness First gave me a kick up the bum cos now I have a lots of knowledge of fitness and clean eating. 
I also started my fitness journey by changing my diet but it was baby steps!
I then switched from white bread/pasta/rice etc to brown bread/pasta/rice etc.
6 years later, I happily can say I don't miss chips, crisps, chocolate and sweeties etc.
Never thought I would say this! But it's the truth :)

But then things have happened in my life and couldn't make a commitment 
so I left Fitness First.

Fed up of my health issues and the pain I had daily I then decided to join Fitness First, over 2 years ago again, and never looked back! 
I missed weight lifting but wanted to get fit first.

Enjoyed fitness classes and being at gym again but during my bridesmaid dress fittings for my best friend's wedding, I was so fed up finding out it didn't fit and had to be taken in.
I then decided something had to be done after the wedding back in summer 2012.

Once the wedding was over, I looked online and saw my cousin liking her friend's page so I checked the page out and found it was Jill, a fitness model & personal trainer.
I thought I try something new and decided to contact her for few sessions and a new programme that will help me to gain weight.

But before that, I was still learning about fitness and found that fitness models exist, I didn't know anything them so I did a little research on them. 
I then found some well known fitness models and fell in love with their determination & hard work to achieve fitness model bodies.
I then knew what I wanted, which was to achieve fitness model body cos it mean hard work and I love that! I knew it would be a long process since I struggle to put on weight but I accepted the challenge and told Jill that I wanted that. She then gave me a programme and taught me few things. I started on the programme back in September 2012 and found clean eating so easy since I already was eating healthy and had no problems giving up more things & I knew it was best for me.

Few months later, I gained weight but also lost weight. It was a huge learning curve for me but enjoyed every minute of it even though sometime it can be hard.

Now I'm addicted to weight lifting / strength training and found that I can be hard on myself so I always switch routines up - not following my programme at the moment - and just enjoy the process of getting results and clean food.

One day I'll go back to my programme, maybe not but I do have more knowledge now and know what I'm doing in gym on weights day. I'm happy about that! I must be doing something right because I am getting results - slow progress is better than no progress - and still enjoy gym! :)

Also I cycle in my home area so that is one of the ways I stay fit.
That is all I can say for now! :)