What a stressful week

This week has been so stressful. It seems like it lasted forever and I didn't get a whole lot accomplished. I was in training all week. It was more of a refresher course for my position. We had a schedule to follow and guess what? It does not follow my eating schedule. Needless to say, at times my stomach made very loud and rude comments all on its own. I often wondered if people could hear my stomach and now I know. YES THEY DO~~very embarrassing.
I had to be at work earlier than usual all week and I had to work on Friday which is my off day so I was all out of sorts. I made the cardinal mistake. I didn't prepare my food for the week. I had my waters and a snack or two but for the most part,but, I didn't take my food like I normally do. Boy did I pay for that!
Not only was my stomach really pissed off but I didn't feel good most of the week. I would run late every morning because of the time change at work and I wouldn't have time to put together a lunch and in the evenings I was supposed to get off early but because I was in training I was behind on my work so I stayed late to try and catch up. By the time I got home I was done for the day. More than done!
Vacation trip is coming soon so I am preparing now for it. A long car trip and my stomach makes for a bad time. A cooler will definitely come in handy this time. Now during the day at the beach, that will be something. We have a room with a kitchen so I have that going for me. Staying on track and hydrated are my number one priorities aside from just having fun!

Motivational tip #9
Visualize, Visualize, Visualize. Picture yourself where you want to be at the end of this journey. Picture how you see yourself. But please be realistic. If you were NEVER bean pole skinny, why think you will get that way? At least you won't and be healthy. Everyone has their weight limit. It is where your body says I can't go any lower and still function right so make sure you aren't setting those sights too high. But seeing your "after" picture is a great motivation. I have a friend at work. We call ourselves Twitches. Twin/witches cause we are just plain mean. Just kidding. Anyway, she is thin and is constantly saying her butt is too big or something. Yeah whatever...skinny twitch! I tell her often that just one of my thighs is wider than her entire body. I call her my "after" picture. Now I know I won't get that thin. Heck in high school I was never that thin but I know I can look just as good at whatever weight is right for me. Who knows, maybe I will even look better than her! Oh the possibilities...

Eating Out

Weight loss surgery and eating out. Coincidence or nightmare? Neither. Honestly, I don't think that I eat really small portions, I eat what should be normal size portions. In America, we have become more "supersized" in every way.

What to do about this? Simple. No really, it is. When I eat out I immediately cut my meal in half and put it away in a "to go" box. It really does work. Out of sight out of mind. I always take food with me to work, as I have mentioned in previous posts. But let's be real here, I WANT to order take out with the gang or at my work they have Picadilly's restaurant bring in lunch twice a week that we can purchase and sometimes it is something I want. Well guess what? I get what I want because I can have whatever I want just in moderation.

Here's some examples. Tuesday, Picadilly's brought in lasagna. Yes it was carbs but I have barely had any carbs for months. So I had a treat. I had lasagna and they had a small salad bar. So I fixed a plate of salad but had my own dressing with me. I went back to my desk, took out an extra plate and cut my lasagna in half and took 1/2 my salad and put those in the fridge. What I had left was plenty. Today was a "bad" day. Well not really. We ordered Famous Dave's. It is BBQ. I ordered the BBQ chicken sandwich w/pepper jack cheese and garlic mashed potatoes. So, again, I cut my sandwich in half and took half of the mashed potatoes and put it in the fridge. I took off the thicker part of the bun and ate the 1/2 of sandwich and potatoes. I ate with my co-workers. 4 hours later I ate the rest of it. Two meals for one price. Quite handy. This is something ANYONE can do. It is a habit you can develop. I have a card that identifies me as a lap band patient so that I can either order smaller portions or off the kids menu. That is really embarassing to me so I just put half away for another meal or we share a meal. We love to get fish. My husband and I have always shared a box for two. We never had any left. It was 4-5 pieces of fish, fries and hushpuppies. Now, that same box feeds both of us and my daughter and we usually have a piece leftover. I can only eat 1/2 a piece up to a full small piece. It's about taking control and it is said that it takes doing something continuously for 21 days to become a habit. I think this is a habit. My band helps in the background but it is my habit of putting half of my food away that I think keeps me in check.

The key is to learn what it means to be hungry and no longer hungry. There is a difference in being no longer hungry and being full. If you are full, you ate too much. I am getting better about stopping when I am no longer hungry. If I have to unbutton my pants I have gone too far.

Motivational tip #2
You thought I forgot didn't you? I know I have been rambling so far. Here's tip #2. Document your progress. Take measurements, weight, keep a journal. Take pictures along the way. It is encouraging to look at how you have been doing because it just is the nudge you may need to show it is possilble.
I take measurements of neck, chest, waist, hips, thigh, calf, bicep and forearm once a month. I weigh myself once a week on the same day at the same time wearing the same clothes. It's best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning. I happen to personally use this journal the Dieter's Diary. It is very handy for me to keep track of what I am doing.

Till next time, happy eating!

Motivation

Motivation is so hard to keep up. Motivation is personal. Some days I have no motivation at all it seems.

Everyone needs motivation for just about everything. My job is my motivation to get out of bed during the week. My kids are my motivation to get up on the weekend, just mainly because no telling what trouble they would get into if I didn't.

So, what is my motivation to keep on track with the help of my band? Notice I said the help of my band. More on that later. My motivation to keep on track is several things. Health, weight loss, self esteem, success. I want to be more healthy and no longer dependent on my diabetic medication or my blood pressure medication. My weight loss is a no-brainer. I need to lose weight to make the 1st reason possible and to help the last two problems as well. Not to mention the fact that it would be easier to move around and get up and about without this massive amount of weight weighing me down. No pun intended there. Self esteem, well what can I say. I have none really. I am so embarrassed by myself that I can't stand myself sometimes. I truly believe that no matter what great things I accomplish in my personal life or work life, people always look at my weight and discount everything I have done. Yeah, I know, you think that is ridiculous. That is just the way my thinking has turned over the years. No matter how much I know deep down, that is bull but I think it just the same.
Success. Well what can I say on that. Successful weight loss, medication reduction, increased self esteem. Those are my ultimate goals.

Now to the band as my helper. Remember as it is pounded into your head over and over. THE BAND IS JUST A TOOL!! Nothing more, nothing less. You take care of your tool and it will take care of you. However, you must remember that the user is responsible for how well the band works. You can't blame the band if you gain weight. It didn't make you eat a quart of ice cream or that chocolate cake. It didn't force you to go through McDonalds for a cheeseburger or two. Of course, if you really want that cheeseburger, you can have it. ALL THINGS IN MODERATION. Nothing is really off limits unles syou make it off limits. Work with your band not against it. If you work against it, and blame it, then you are only hurting yourself in the long run.

Motivation again is the key. Just in exercising you need motivation. I like motivating music to keep me up and about. Fast beat music keeps me moving. I have created what I call my "flavors of the day". I listen to artists like Eminem, Usher, Lady Gaga, Timbaland, Justing Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Daddy Yankee etc... find what music gets you moving and load up your mp3 with it and get moving. My Zune is always filled with my favorites and I am always creating new folders with mixes of musics so that I have a choice depending on my moods. I download movies as well.

What motivates you? Work on that list. I do everyday because my motivations change daily. As long as you sit still and watch life pass you by you won't get the rewards of your new life with the band.

Motivational Tip#1  Make your target believable and attainable. If you set the bar so high that there is no reasonable way to reach it within a reasonable time period then what is the point? Make it reachable. Small goals lead to large rewards in the long run.

Look for Tip#2 on my next blog.