Fat Woman With A Band

I’m into my third week with Jackie, a personal trainer. I’ve had four sessions with her, and did three sessions by myself last week as I was away. I finish out this week with another session by myself.

The most obvious signs of the workouts, so far, are my skinned knees. After the first session I had skinned elbows and I still can’t do the exercise that caused the boo-boo because my wound hasn’t healed. I got the skinned knees today as I did three sets of push-ups on the carpet rather than the mat.

I also got a two new workout shirts and a pair of shorts. I’m such a jock-wannabee.

I’m pretty much doing some activity six mornings out of seven. I’m grateful I don’t have to work full-time as I don’t know how I’d do all this stuff if I was employed.

I’m also grateful it’s just a couple of skinned knees.

Clover

Photo by Chu (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chu11/)

I may not be the energizer bunny. I do, however, have a lot more energy. I notice that I can walk longer before I feel tired, and even longer before I feel tired enough to rest. Also, my recovery time is decreased, and I can keep going a bit longer. As with the weight loss, I have a long way to go improving my physical stamina, and I’m pleased that I can feel the progress.

I’ve also signed up with a personal trainer to work two days a week beginning July 6. I feel that as my weight loss slows down strictly through eating less, I’ll have to increase my activity level to ensure my weight loss continues.

In the last week on two occasions I didn’t get to eating lunch. I got busy doing stuff, and didn’t work a meal break into my plan. I didn’t feel hungry, which was unusual, but my energy didn’t seem to wane either. It’s not a good thing to miss eating, I know, and that’s definitely not something I want to do frequently. I’m glad I could deal with it appropriately, as I didn’t overindulge at dinner time, just ate the right amount.

June seems to be a month full of eating challenges. Lots of birthdays, lots of special occasion gatherings, and happily a bit of travel. I feel equipped to get through it, and I’m not going to be hard on myself. I want to enjoy the social experiences, and not worry about the effect on my weight loss goals. I’ll happily indulge by tasting even those foods usually not on diet menus, e.g., birthday cake.

I’m coming up to my six month anniversary with the band, I feel in a good spot, and I’m feeling my goal is achievable.

My perception is rose coloured because I’ve lost more than 50 pounds. I was hoping on losing close to 50 when I stepped on the scales this week, and happily I had lost even more. And that was even after being away on vacation last week.

I have to remember this for those weeks when the scale doesn’t move or when I go up. Because I know that will happen. Plateaus are common for anyone losing weight and I’ve had them on previous diets.

I’ve had a couple of days this week where I haven’t eaten enough. I eat at least 1200 calories per day, but I’m o.k. even if I get closer to 1300 or 1400. A couple of days I think I’ve come up short for a couple of reasons. The first is poor planning. I didn’t spend enough time thinking about where I was going to be around meal times and I didn’t have anything appropriate to eat with me. By the time I got home it was too late to prepare and eat a meal. I ended up having a protein bar.

The second reason was eating too quickly, taking big bites, and then not chewing enough. I then had to do a few productive burps. Not only did I lose the food, I also couldn’t continue eating. Obviously I haven’t mastered the skill of eating with a lapband successfully. Yet.

I’ve been walking and rowing at least six days out of seven, and participating in aquafit at least three days a week. I’m very glad the weather is warming up as it’ll make walking that much more enjoyable. I don’t even think of these activities as exercise anymore.

Boardwalk here I come.

Do it when you’re ready and not a moment before.

What’s “it”? Pretty much anything, really. My “it” is all about weight loss. Here’s how the timing worked for me, and the process I took to lapband surgery.

1. I was feeling very unhealthy, again, and I knew I had to do something about it, again. But, I was having a very hard time getting motivated. I had been looking at weight loss surgery alternatives, but just couldn’t convince myself to do more than read about it.
2. A friend has a friend who had lapband surgery, and was very successful losing weight. My interest goes up a notch.
3. I do some research on the procedure and can find lots of positive information about it, and not much negative. Interest is definitely climbing.
4. I make an appointment at Slimband (then called TLBC), and even though it’s a marketing blurb, my interest continues at a high level. I give myself a deadline to make a decision in the vein of “shit or get off the pot.”
5. It’s the end of the year – a time to think about how the year went, and how next year could be better. What could be better than getting healthy?
6. I sign-up for surgery.

So, the tipping point (aren’t I fashionable?) was researching weight loss surgeries and then finding a person who has undergone the procedure with good results.

So I’ve changed my eating habits substantially since surgery 13 weeks ago. More fibre, more fruit, more veggies, and less bread, pasta, and fried foods. I roast or steam my vegetables, have roasted chicken or turkey, and much more vegetarian or soy products. Lots of water, and no soft drinks. Tea more often than coffee, but usually only one cup of either each day. I think I’m doing pretty darn good. But …

I’m bored of my own cooking. If a make a batch of stuff, I eat it almost everyday until it’s all gone. I never think to freeze the portions – I’m going to have to work on that. So, it’s very good timing for me than I’m off to NYC next week. Not only is it one of my favourite cities, but it has lots of food choices.

I’m not going to “fall off the wagon”, just make the best choices I can without making myself crazy or worry about whether I’m eating too much, or not the right things.

The change will do me good. Then when I get back I’ll be able to get back into my kitchen and start cooking again.

One of the threads on the lapbandtalk site is NSV, or Non-Scale Victories. These victories are those that come about because you’re losing weight, and are related to weight loss, but not specifically THE weight loss.

Examples:

• fitting into clothes that you’d outgrown
• reducing medications
• compliments from family, friends, or strangers
• more energy.

And that last one is the biggie for me. When I’m medicating myself with food, I never notice a surfeit of energy, because I’ve used it all up with gluttony. When I eat with moderation, I have a huge jump in energy.

I also notice a bit of on increase in the inability to concentrate. I’ve got about four books on the go, and I just can’t seem to sit  still long enough with any of them to complete them.

I’ve also just about completed the first week with a fill. Thankful, in the last few days I haven’t had any problems related to eating too fast. I now have to figure out if I need another fill, or if this is the correct amount. I’m going to make a concerted effort to monitor how quickly I get hungry after eating. I am pretty sure, though, that I can comfortably eat more than one cup worth’s of food at one meal. Hmm … maybe I’ve answered the question – I think I’ll need another fill.

I’ve increased my rowing time by five minutes per day in the last couple of days. I’ll increase it gradually until I get to 30 minutes a day, and then stick to that.

Maybe cross-country skiing is next? Uh, no. No it’s not. But maybe some mall walking – that sounds warmer.

Last week was the week for making decisions.

Get laparoscopic band surgery. Scheduled for December 11. Check.

Get a domain. You found it. Check.

Get quotes on building a website. Mulling over quotes. Using a free template in the meantime. Check.

This week there are three things to do.

1. Read the information from the clinic regarding the procedure, and diet.
2. Get blood tests and ECG.
3. Attend a Pre-op seminar at the clinic.

In the immortal words of Lao Tzu’s brother – you gotta start somewhere. Of course, Lao Tzu said it a bit better “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

So I’m taking teeny, tiny baby steps. What needs to be done now? For me right now, it’s these three items. I know I can do them. And when I’ve done these, I’ll make a list of the next items to be done.

And at the same time I’m keeping my eyes on the prize. Physical health and vigor.

I want it to be easy to get to my goal. I know it won’t be. But if I can make each step manageable, then I’ll get to my goal the best way possible.

Do you have a goal? Figure out what you need to do to get started on your goal right now. Decide on the small steps that will help you get there from here.