Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Your to-do list for weight loss success...

According to Dr. Connie Stapleton:
  1. Make consistently healthy food choices (protein, veg, then fruit/if it is white don't bite)
  2. Maintain portion control
  3. Exercise
  4. Water all day (except during meals 30/30 rule)
  5. Plan your meals
  6. Food diary
  7. Exercise Diary
  8. Sleep
  9. Support system
  10. Personal counseling
So let's get honest...how many of these am I doing?
  1. Good Choices-Adequate 
    • I have a bit or two of bread occasionally but I am not getting in enough protein. 
    • ACTION: up my protein
  2. Portions-Good  
    •  I am very aware of when I need to stop eating.  However, I am not measuring my portions. 
    • ACTION: measure my food for a couple of days to make sure I am still seeing my food portions properly.
  3. Exercise-Poor
    • I have been using activity as exercise.  They are not the same thing
    • ACTION: Create an exercise routine for the week
  4. Water-Unknown
    • Honestly, I have no idea.  I haven't been keeping track of my water
    • ACTION: track my water for a few days to see where I am
  5. Planning-Good
    • I usually know what I have in the house that will be a good choice for me.  However, I have not been planning dinners
    • ACTION: start planning dinners for the family
  6. Food Diary- Poor
    • I haven't been keeping track for months
    • ACTION- I have already started tracking again.
  7. Exercise Diary- Poor
    • I can't track what I am not doing
    • ACTION: DO IT!
  8. Sleep-Okay
    • I haven't been using my CPAP since I sleep worse with it on.  Is this okay?  I am not sure.
    • ACTION- start going to bed earlier and try the CPAP for a couple of days.
  9. Support- Good
    • Word to my bariatrictv peeps and my family 
    • ACTION- stay honest with my support system
  10. Counseling- Good
    • I have been seeing my counselor for about a month now
    • ACTION- keep it up!
I have some work to do.  But I can do it :)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

From WLS LIfestyles Magazine....

Ten Secrets of Highly Successful Weight Losers


By: Dr. Russ L'HommeDieu, DPT
 
....What I have learned is that ALL successful losers actually re-invent themselves. No matter where they start. No matter how bad off they are. When they become successful losers, they all seem to have these 10 common traits.




They Have a Compelling Vision & Solid Purpose

They Maintain An Honest Awareness of Their Thoughts, Actions and Surroundings

They Don’t Take it Too Lightly or Themselves Too Seriously

They Eat Well and Often

They Move Well and Often

They Are Accountable

They Construct Support Positive Systems and Accept Help

They Explore Life Outside Their Comfort Zone and Embrace the Change

They Under Promise and Over Deliver

They Believe in Who They Are & What They Can Do

Thursday, August 19, 2010

What are you?

Currently, I have lost a guinea pig, a small bale of hay, and a Chihuahua.

1 pound = a Guinea Pig

1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts

2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs

3 pounds = an average human brain

4 pounds = an ostrich egg

5 pounds = a Chihuahua

6 pounds = a human’s skin

7.5 pounds = an average newborn

8 pounds = a human head

10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year

11 pounds = an average housecat

12 pounds = a Bald Eagle

15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs

16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain

20 pounds = an automobile tire

23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year

24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream

25 pounds = an average 2 year old

30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year

33 pounds = a cinder block

36 pounds = a mid-size microwave

40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg

44 pounds = an elephant’s heart

50 pounds = a small bale of hay

55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner

60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!)

66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year

70 pounds = an Irish Setter77 pounds = a gold brick

80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape

90 pounds = a newborn calf

100 pounds = a 2 month old horse

111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year

117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”)

118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica

120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month

130 pounds = a newborn giraffe

138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year

140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year

144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”)

150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary

187 pounds = an average adult man

200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds

235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger

300 pounds = an average football lineman

400 pounds = a Welsh pony

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Feeling Better!

Thanks to some pep talkin' from my BTV peeps, I am feeling better about things. I am doing really well with my vitamins (thank you itouch for the list making app I downloaded. I can check them off as I take them!) my water is way up now that I realized I can take bigger sips than I have been AND, the my protein is looking better. Now, if I my stall would just get the hell out of here, I would be all set.

So, speaking of protein...we rocked some delish Chicken Shawarma tonight. My three-year-old even helped make it. (She was the master stirrer.)

Here is a link to the recipe:
http://genaw.com/lowcarb/rachaels_chicken_shawarma.html

We made a couple of tweaks, but overall it was delicious. It doesn't really taste like authentic shawarma but who cares, it was tasty!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The past two days

have been TOUGH! I haven't felt like eating ANYTHING that is remotely good for me. The only thing that appeals to me are Hummus Chips and Alexia Onion Strips. Neither of which I should be eating. I have been taking my vitamin, but I can't get in all my water nor my protein and I am still having some achiness in my side so I haven't been able to go to the gym...

So, I feel like crap.

And it is my own fault.

I need to kick my own ass.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Steps.

Recently, the idea that obesity is an addiction has gained more credibility. Although many will argue that unlike most addiction where you can avoid the temptation (be in alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc) you have to eat. You cannot just stop "cold turkey". So how does this fit into the traditional treatment for addiction? I thought that this adaption of the original Alcoholics Anonymous steps was pretty cool:

The 12 Steps:
I admit that I am powerless over FOOD— My life before WLS was unmanageable, and can become so again.
I believe that a Power greater than myself will restore me to sanity.
I have made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understand Him/Her.
I am making a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself.
I have admitted to God, to myself, and to another human being the exact nature of my wrongs.
I am entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
I will humbly ask Him/Her to remove my shortcomings.
I am making a list of all persons I have harmed, and am willing to make amends to them all.
I will make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
I will continue to take personal inventory and when I am wrong, promptly admit it.
I am seeking, through prayer and meditation, to improve my conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His/Her will for me, and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, I am working to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all of my affairs.



Admitting you are powerless takes a pretty big leap, yes?

Saturday, May 29, 2010

2 days to go!

Today was a bit tough for me....I went too long between breakfast and lunch and ended up overeating a bit once I fanally ate. (That and I ate some chicken- not a totally bad thing, but I had already eaten my lean protein for the week.)

More and more I am thinking about how planning is so essential to the success of any weight loss / get healthy type endeavor. Is it because I don't make good food decisions on the fly? Yes (or I wouldn't be overweight). Is it because there is a sense of control over something that previously had control over you? Again, yes.

Regardless of the reasons, planning your daily meals/snacks is essential. The trick is to not plan too far ahead. If you do that you are stuck eating something you are not in the mood for which opens you right up to swapping out your plan for something that is full of chemical, fat, calories and god onlyknows what else.

I so wish that there was a daily farmer's market that allowed me to pick up only the fresh food I needed for that day. I have been stopping at Earth's Fare a couple of times a week, but it isn't quite the same. I would love to get into a routine that allowed for farmer's markets on the weekend....of course, the only thing standing in the way of that, is me.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Obese.

That word is pretty highly charged for many people. To some it is even worse than being call fat. I was reading an entry from McNee, of the website "Former Fat Dudes", about the term obesity. It made me really rethink the term and its connotations. Really, it is a diagnosis not a descriptor.

http://formerfatdudes.com/2010/05/flashback-go-ahead-call-me-obese-i-dare-ya/

What struck me the most was Gastric Barbie's (http://gastricbypassbarbie.com/) comment.

"My obesity is in remission, but it could flair up at any moment. I recognize and respect that fact, but I choose not to fear it.
I think you and I share the philosophy that life is to be lived to the fullest. Morbid obesity robbed us of that opportunity; bariatric surgery gave it back.
Keep fighting that good fight. One day. One bite. One chew at a time."


My hope is to keep that mantra in my head...I am in remission, but it can flare up at any moment. I am the only one who can manage that.









Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Easy?

In my first post I mentioned how I had always regarded surgery as the easy way out and how once I had learned more about it, nothing could be further from the truth. I wanted to explain...

I always thought that if you had surgery you just had to eat smaller portions, but could eat whatever you wanted.

Right.

Once you decide to have surgery, you have to go through a TON of stuff to make sure you are mentally and physically prepared for the changes that await you. Sleep study, blood work (lots of blood work), endoscopy, psych evaluations, support meetings, nutritionist meetings, exercise consultations, EKG, a two week liquid diet to shrink your liver in preparation for surgery and the list goes on. That doesn't even necessarily include the work you have to do for insurance approval! Documentation of weights for previous years, supervised weight loss programs, and documentation of previous weight loss attempts.

Now, let's look at the work you have to do mentally to prepare for life after surgery. As anyone who has researched surgery knows, everyone will tell you that the surgery is only a tool...that the work and success is completely dependant upon you. Sure, most people will loose weight afterwards, but to lose it all and KEEP IT OFF, you have to work hard. I will be on vitamin supplements for the rest of my life. I may not be able to tolerate dairy or sugar ever again. I will have to weight and measure my foods to make sure that they are not going to stretch out my stomach. I will have to make sure that I eat my protein first since this is what will sustain my body...and since I will only be able to eat a few tablespoons at a time (at least in the beginning), I have to make sure every bite counts. This surgery will force me to completely change how I look and treat food.

So, why do this? Why not just lose weight the "old fashioned" way? That is an important question. In fact, it was the question most of my friends and family asked me. The truth is, I have been fat since I was young. I have tried most diets that you can think of and although some were successful at first, I would gain back the weight plus some. I realized that I could not do this alone. I needed help.

Food is like any other addiction and the first step is to realize you are powerless over it.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Emotional Eating

Type 1. Food: My Adult Pacifier

If you get really hungry when you feel angry, depressed, anxious, bored or lonely, you use food to dull the pain that these emotions cause.

Type 2. I Stick Up For Myself by Stuffing Myself Up

If you react by getting hungry when others talk down to you, take advantage of you, belittle you, or take you for granted, you eat to avoid confrontation.

Type 3. Food: My One Faithful Friend

If you crave food when you have tension in your close relationships, you eat to avoid feeling the pain of rejection or anger.

Type 4. When I’m Chewing I Can’t Hear My Inner Critic

If you tend to become hypercritical of yourself, if you label yourself "stupid," "lazy," or "a loser," you eat to stuff down self-hatred.

Type 5. I Don’t Have Love but I Have Food

If your hunger gets activated because your intimate relationships don't satisfy some basic need like trust or security, you use food to try to fill the gap.

Type 6. Food Can’t Fill Up the Missing Parts in My Past

If you eat to make up for the deprivation you experienced as a child, you eat to forget the past.

Type 7. Don’t Tell Me What to Eat

If you eat to assert your independence because you don't want anyone telling you what to do, you eat to rebel.
 
Type 9. Fall in Love? I’d Rather Fall in Chocolate.


If you stuff your face in order to avoid your sexuality — either to stay overweight so that nobody desires you or to hide from intimate encounters — you eat to protect yourself from getting too close.

Type 10. I Use My Body as a Battleground

Emotional eaters often eat to pay back those who have hurt them, often in the distant past. They use their bodies as battlegrounds for working out old resentments. If you do this, you eat to get revenge or control anger.

Type 11. I Won’t Grow Up

If you eat to make yourself feel carefree, like a child, you eat to keep yourself from facing the challenges of growing up.

Type 12. I’m Secretly Afraid of Being Thin

If you overeat because you fear getting thin, either consciously or unconsciously, you eat to avoid the fear of change.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Snoooooze.

I had my sleep study last night. I honestly didn't believe that I had apnea....so imagine my surprise when they called me today and diagnosed me with severe apnea.

I am really struggling with this and I don't know why.

I know that this is "technically" a good thing since it will help build my case for insurance approval, but it is still tough. I have lived as a fat girl for 22 years without major issue. It was always a great excuse to say my weight didn't matter. I didn't have all of these problems that the government was claiming were inevitable when you were overweight. Now, in my thirties, I am starting to see the impact this extra weight is having and it is hard. Please understand that I in no means am comparing apnea with diabetes or heart disease, but you still do get a bit of a reality check.

Weight is a tough issue. You have half the people pushing that you can be healthy at any weight and that you should love yourself for who you are on the inside. The other half is saying that weigh ti the root of all evil...sucking away our tax dollars through the health care system.