In that time I’ve done a bit of travelling … o.k., maybe more than a bit.

Stopped rigorous exercise.

Stayed pretty much at the same weight.

I’m also 32 days away from celebrating another milestone – three years with the band.

Where did the time go? Gone. Just gone.

What did I learn in the past 294 days?

1. I learned that I couldn’t have done the weight loss and kept it off without the band.
2. I learned that I couldn’t have done the weight loss and kept it off without the support of loved ones.
3. I learned that inserting the band didn’t change the essential “me.” Still have problems figuring out how much to eat and what to eat.
4. I learned that being not-obese changes the way people see you and react to you.
5. I learned that being not-obese changes what you can physically do. I know that’s not probably surprising, but nevertheless it’s true.

And what to do now? I can live without blogging. My single focus blog is out of focus, and I think it’s time to wrap up.

I’ll procrastinate at least another 32 days. Celebrate the anniversary. And then decide.

Photo by synes

I’m still on the path on changing my food around a bit. The food sensitivity list showed no or low sensitivity to fish and shellfish. Actually I showed the most sensitivity to shrimp, which I’m not really fussy about anyway.

But, the thing is I don’t really like to cook with fish. I like tinned sardines, and do consume tinned tuna and salmon. That’s all good. I think cooking a bit more of it, with a bit more variety would be helpful.

Then, of course, there’s the fear about which fish to cook. Is it healthy? Might it be contaminated? Might it be overfished? To help me with those questions, I found this great site run by the Environmental Defense Fund in the US with a seafood selector guide. They even have a PDF to make a pocket guide.

The guide helps by showing which fish are caught or farmed in environmentally friendly way. Which fish are good for your heart, and even some cooking tips. Additionally, there’s a list of fish oil supplements showing which are acceptable based on their own research and analysis of the manufacturer’s responses to a questionnaire.

I loved this site. I think it’ll give me just the push I need, because now I feel a bit more informed, to cook more frequently with fish.

Being the curious sort, I decided to find out if I was sensitive to any foods. There are foods I don’t like because of smell or taste or texture, but I don’t think I’ve ever had an allergic reaction to any food item. The test involves having a test tube of blood drawn and then sent to a lab in the US that tests for more than 100 items. They test for antibodies in your blood that show sensitivity to these items, e.g., dairy, or nuts, or spices. Pretty much any kind of food is tested.

I got my results yesterday, and I’m still trying to digest them. It showed that I should avoid these foods totally:

• dairy
• egg
• beef
• lamb
• almonds
• ginger
• mustard

And to moderate the consumption of these foods:

• sunflower seeds
• gluten
• garlic (especially raw)
• kidney beans
• navy beans
• poppy seed
• brewer’s yeast

Who knew? I have to say that the only one that is really throwing me for a loop is egg – both whites and yolks. It’s easy enough to avoid eggs in omelets, or hard-boiled, or scrambled. Or in mayonnaise. But I know there are tons of items with a bit of egg in it. Wow! I just can’t get my mind around it.

I have to decide how much, or perhaps more rightly, how orthodox I’m going to be in changing my diet.

I know I’m going to try. Gradually winnowing out the bad stuff, beginning with dairy. And then working on eliminating egg products. The other stuff – beef, lamb – no problem, as I rarely eat these items anyway. Mustard? No problem. Ginger? I’ll be wary of it in the Chinese/Vietnamese/Thai food I order when eating out. Almonds? Again, no problem.

I’ll think about the “moderate” list later. Though getting rid of gluten is pretty big – lots of stuff has gluten in it.

I know that I don’t have it in me right now to be a vegan. I just don’t. But I know I can do some enhancing of my diet, so I’ll give it a go.

Damn. No ice cream.

Photo by bL

Not resolutions. Just looking ahead.

I’m going to lose the last 20 lbs once and and for all. Or decide that I weigh what I weigh, and move on.

Walk two half-marathons – the Chilly Half in March and the Toronto Women’s at the end of May. And then retire from half-marathon walking.

Find another activity to keep me exercising. Or determine that I need to go to the gym and workout regularly.

Read more novels.

Spend less time in the car.

Spend more time with my family.

Make more home-cooked meals.

Try to be in the moment.

Spend less.

Consume less.

Declutter my home.

Focus. Focus on the conversation I’m having. Focus on the task I’m doing. Focus on what I’m reading. Focus on the person I’m with. s.e., be in the moment.

Word for 2011. Focus.

Traditional gifts for a second anniversary include items made from cotton or china. I’m going to get myself a little something of each. Maybe an old tea cup and saucer from a flea market for charity shop for my little display wall. And, hmmm, a new long sleeve cotton shirt for walking.

I can hardly believe it’s been two years. And even though I still haven’t reached my goal weight loss … still 20lbs to go, gosh darn it … in most other respects I’ve done pretty darn good. No medications. Little snoring, if at all. Smaller clothes. Fitting in the airplane seats. Walking the half-marathon.

Friggin’ amazing.

And I did it. But not alone. I had the encouragement of family and friends. And a BIG shout out to each and every one of you for that.

I recently read “When My World Was Very Small: A Memoir of Family, Food, Cancer And My Couch” by Ruth Rakoff. She survives breast cancer with the help of her family and a huge group of family, friends and neighbours. She lists their names in the final pages of her book. I liked that a lot. So here’s my list. If I forgot to include your name, please forgive me.

Thank-you for letting me go on and on and on about the surgery, what I ate or didn’t, the side effects, how far I walked, and what I did at the gym.

brooke, Mary, Katika, Stefan, Gabi, Doug, Lynne, Lorna, Mary, Angelina, Diane, Troy, Annelise, Gayle, Summit, Peter, Pista, Katika, Ari.

Onward.

Bottom of the bowl

These are some of my favourite words. Not necessarily because of what they mean, but how they sound. For example, “murmur.” Say that a few times, out loud. Murmur. Murmur. Murmur. It’s lovely, isn’t it.

Grinding. I heard a definition of this word on CBC’s Spark. Nora was interviewing Michelle A. Hoyle who was described as an expert on World of Warcraft. I think she’s a lot more than that. Anyway, grinding is a word used in WoW play. She defines it as “… almost any activity you undertake in World of Warcraft where you have to do something and then do it again, over and over and over again.” Sounds a bit like real life, eh? What a great word, though. Dieting can be grinding. Exercising can be grinding. Work – ah, work – can be grinding.

swissmiss also found a great word. Nuzzle. She was reviewing a product called Nuzzle. I love the sound of that word. Nuzzle.

Then there’s requiem. It’s music performed in honour of the dead. When I read that word, in my head I can hear big music and see solemn people.

There are other words that could be sentimental favourites because of what they mean to you. Even your own name can be a “favourite” when it’s spoken by a loved one.

Do you have any favourite words?

And one of my favourite phrases?

Let’s eat!

And another one … You’ve lost weight!

Funny how those two favourite phrases don’t really go together.

Photo by tamaki

I’m so stuck. I haven’t gone back to the gym to do my conditioning workouts. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that I started the next half-marathon training last night. Me, my sister, and one other woman. And the trainer. Oh, well. At least I’m doing it. Again.

I am hoping that the organized walking will help me get going. Exercise is supposed to help mentally, right?

Gotta find my way out of the mud.

Photo by Hamed Saber

Sorry faithful readers. I am completely bereft of ideas this week.

I won’t waste your precious seconds on my blog this week.

Please check back next week.

Guess what I ate in Hungary? That is correct.

I ate pastries, and smoked trout, and meat-meat-meat. I didn’t weigh myself before the trip, and I certainly didn’t weigh myself on my return. I’m way too scared.

The good news is that my clothes still fit.

There was lots I didn’t eat, really. I even had an episode of productive burping – a little embarrassing.

However, I didn’t beat myself up for eating “forbidden” food or even worry too much about amounts. The ol’ lapband kicked in pretty quickly, thank goodness.

And it was easy not to overeat on the plane rides. I have to say the food on Air Canada and Lufthansa were pretty much inedible. I don’t know what’s going on with them. Or maybe I’m just getting pickier.

Also, my alcohol consumption was very modest. Three drinks in seven days. Very respectable.

Next week, I’ll have my activity plan up and running again.

• laparoscopic gastric band
• weight loss
• physical activity

Sometimes I’m stuck about what to write about – like today. So I’m going off topic.

Today I’m writing about my favourite websites. Or, rather, my current favourite websites.

I use Google Reader to get the lastest news from a variety of blogs and other websites. I know there are other readers available, but this works o.k. for me. I currently have 25 sites that I follow. Some of them are prolific with many posts a day. Some of them are one a day, some one a week, some whenever.

They’re also on a variety of topics, from my favourite cities, to my favourite tschotkes, to my favourite design sites. Here’s some of them.

I keep up with Toronto with The Torontoist, blogTO, Inside Toronto, and Toronto Life.

I also read design and idea sites. I have one favourite site: Swiss Miss. This writer finds the most amazing sites like: The Search for the Obvious.

My favourite techie site is: Daring Fireball. I followed a link from his site recently to Kickstarter. Brilliant!

And then there’s Brain Pickings, PostSecret,  Weighty Matters (sometimes I am on topic), and for some giggles Young Me Old Me, and Old Jews Telling Jokes.

I hope you’ll find some you like. What are your favourites?