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!

Misconception

This weekend I dealt with a very narrow minded person who had in their mind a very distorted view of just what this band should be doing for me. They had asked me how much weight I had lost this week and I said 2 lbs. Did I get a "that's great!" or " Good job!"? Of course I didn't. The response I got was "I guess you need to go back on the liquid or puree diet." I sat there and got quiet. I started to tear up and then I got just plain mad! I told them in many unsavory terms "DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT TO ME AGAIN!!" I also said, "I have lost 2 lbs. How much have you lost?" It was ugly. REALLY UGLY! They said that wasn't what they meant. Oh yes it was. You can't make a statement like that and mean it any other way than to say I am not losing enough weight or fast enough or the 2 lbs isn't good enough.

So here is the misconception about the Lap Band. It is NOT a magical cure. A person generally does not drop mega amounts of weight really fast. True that one can drop a good amount of weight at first if your liquid stage is long but as you introduce foods into your diet that weight loss will slow and for some stop all together. It is then that you have to find the right combination of foods and exercise to work for you.

The amount of weight you SHOULD lose with the band is 1-2 lbs per WEEK. Just with any realistic diet out there you are expected to eat a certain amount of calories and this is the standard weight loss amount per week for healthy weight loss and long term success. The band's purpose is to help with portion control but it is up to the person what portions the band is helping to control.

This hurt me beyond belief. It felt as if this person just made my 27lbs of weight loss so far as insignificant and not worth mentioning. Any loss is a loss no matter how big or small. For me to lose 27 lbs in about 2 months is incredible in my book. That is 27 lbs that I have lost and not gained back. In the past, I would lose 25 lbs in 10 weeks and then gained back 35 a month later.

So what confused me is this person was supposedly fine with my weight prior to ever starting a diet or surgery and now that I am losing weight they want it off quicker? Why? Are they now seeing my potential and think they would rather have that then me as I am? I just don't know anymore. I do know that this is for me and not anyone else.

Just a warning...You can say your hurtful things and I guarantee I will give you my 2 cents right back. That is my right but when it comes to my weight loss, you have no rights.

A bad food week?

Well this week has been challenging. I have gained 5 lbs. My swelling is bad in my legs. I have no idea why. I have been focusing on high protein meals and have managed to get 70g of protein per day. It just has to be the foods I am eating this week.
Breakfast every other day has been a protein smoothie. I had eggs one day. Today I didn't eat breakfast. Dinner varies. Last night it was hamburgers off the grill.
Monday and Tuesday I had a ham/swiss sandwich on skinny bread with TONS of lettuce on it and homemade green beans. I don't add a lot of salt. I did cook them with 2 hamhocks. They were tiny and had very little meat on them. Could that be the culprit? I didn't have green beans yesterday for lunch. I had mexican. I had refried beans, a tablespoon of guacamole, spanish rice and a skinny burrito with just meat. I gave up soft drinks weeks ago and now only drink Vitamin Water Zero which has no sodium. I did drink a couple of cups of Kroger active lifestyle flavored water this week. It does have sodium in it. It's like propel only with vitamins.
Today I am off work and just sitting here with my legs propped up. It is the only way to get the swelling down. Last night I thought my skin was going to explode it was so tight from swelling. I know the weight gain is from the swelling. At least I hope it is. Today is Thursday so I guess I will watch my intake of sodium for a few days and see if that is the problem. I sure hope that when I get banded and lose some of this weight that my legs won't swell up anymore. I take a BP medicine that has a diuretic in it so the swelling baffles me.

I am getting frustrated. I need to maintain or lose weight not gain it. It is a lot harder to focus on not gaining then it is to try and lose weight. UGH!!

In a lull...

Well, nothing really going on lately. I am in a lull. The calm before the storm. When I thought I would be banded in April, I was really kicking it in high gear. I started replacing one mean a day with protein shakes, then I would replace two and then when it was time for my pre-op diet I would "seemlessly" transition into full shakes. Now that I am not being banded until May I have stopped the daily protein shakes. I still am paying particular attention to my eating and now choose more protein and low carbs. I gave up soft drinks a few weeks ago and am not starting that back. I drink about 2 Vitamin Water Zeros a day. I need to incorporate more liquids because I am feeling dehydrated. My skin is very dry and very itchy. I just hate the blah taste of plain water.

I started a group on Lapbandtalk.com. It is called "Banded in Kentucky". I am encouraging anyone who is from Kentucky that is being banded or already has been to join for local support. I am also blogging on there but different thoughts.

http://www,lapbandtalk.com/index.php?referrerid=86839

Lapband date 5-12-2010

I had my surgeon's consult today. It was more like the intake appointment I had in January. We arrived at 12:30. We, as in 6 others. We had group education class with Karen and learned what to eat, how to eat, what not to eat. We learned about the surgery, pre-op, post-op and treatment at home. We received more packets and vitamin samples.

Then because the surgeon was running late from a surgery in Lexington, we had to cut our time short. He met with each one of us in a private examination and quick question/answer session. After that we went over the consent form as a group. Usually he does this individually but that would mean us being there until 8 or 9 pm. We opted for the group. After that I met with the scheduling nurse and got my date.

The good news is I lost 6 pounds!!!
The bad news is because I have a blood disorder I have to give myself injections in my stomach after surgery with a blood thinner. I think I may pass out. I am not looking forward to that.

Good news is that I don't HAVE to do a 2 week all protein shake diet. Only one week is mandatory. I can do a week of 3 protein shakes and one high protein meal and then one week of all liquids before the surgery.

Bad news is that I have to only have clear liquids the day before surgery. There are meds I have to start before surgery but not on the day of surgery or meds I start a week after surgery. It is confusing but I AM EXCITED!!