TUESDAY...here we go again!
Hoping that everyone has a great day ahead. I am writing NOW (1:30 am) because, after numerous sleepless nights, I finally fell asleep at 7 am Monday morning and slept til 4 pm Monday...that was my day...badly needed but so hard now to adjust as I now have a busy rest-of-the-week.
My plans remain rather solid and I am so grateful that I can stay strong at this point with my food intake:
Tuesday Breakfast: hot chocolate protein drink
Snack: yogurt
Lunch: I have a business lunch to attend and have already scoped out the restaurant and its menu and have chosen my order already so that I do not get so easily-distracted into ordering something more tempting and calorie-laden.
From there, I have to do some banking for our BPW club as I am also Treasurer, pick up more salad stuff at the grocery store, and then get to a DOLLAR STORE to buy coloured poster board needed to make props for a presentation at conference. By the time that I get home, it will be supper time.
Dinner: salad with cold turkey, seeds and nuts, dried cranberries (for me)...ham and sauteed veggies with salad for JB
Bedtime snack: hot chocolate protein drink
In between, lots of teas and water.
I have been struggling with a strong craving for chocolate but I do know that it is MY HEAD wanting it, not my pouch. This is why I must keep enough snack supplies in stock. Celery stuffed with peanut butter or cream cheese and rolled in nuts and seeds really give me that satisfying CRUNCH.
It is great to see new names and old familiar faces here. I had stopped posting, in truth, because I found it was no longer a SUPPORT group for WLS people...though I enjoy social communication, this site was no longer about why I started here. I love people and found it distressing and off-putting to see bickering, negative complaining by someone who seems to relish in doing so over the years, and those getting political. Politics and religion are not what this site is about and I am pleased to see that those of us here are back into discussing our WLS issues and how it affects our lives, because it DOES!
Although I do not go to work daily in an outside office, my days are filled with working...be it my mentorships, my artwork, my clients, my workshops and my service work...and now, my two step-grand daughters. Add to that, retirement is not all it is cracked up to be! I am working more than ever before. And being busy makes it easier to fall into grabbing food that is handy but not necessarily conducive to WLS.
It is also difficult to stay strong when the numbers on the scale are not moving. We are all working hard at doing what is best for our bodies. Ten years after my surgery, I am still finding this a challenge.
Good Morning Nancy, any who come behind this. . .
Good to read about your plans and it has been so long since I planned my food, so I cannot post what I am eating today, but I will do my best to work towards that, because it is what helped me for the longest time. . . I started a new job almost 3 years ago, right after the loss of my brother and they provide us with free lunch and offer healthy options, however, I sat right outside of the darn "cafe" as they refer to it and it made life difficult as the smells from there started at 10:30 in the morning, whetting my appetite and then there is food there the rest of the day, so when I got a desire for something, I would walk in and peruse the stuff there, often eating more than I should have been doing. . . also a job where I was tied to a desk with the workload I had for 8 full hours a day, end of day found me exhausted and that is where I regained the last 26 lbs. However, last year I moved out of that building to work for another group, so the food is not readily accessible, well guess what, I keep a drawer full of "healthy" snacks, problem is I find myself grazing. I am saying all this to give my fellow WLSr's a glimpse into my bad habits, what you describe is healthy planning and I need to get there, I need to portion size and only bring that which is for the day, so no extras are available. Not today, however, I will try to mindfully choose and bring a measuring tool that only gives me what I know is good for me to have and I will walk today, though my back is hurting, so I will do what I can. I also recently started counseling to find better ways to cope with my feelings.
I agree with the stuff you said about what happened on here, it's why I felt it redundant to be on FB and here, because every time we tried to redirect this board to what it was meant to be, people ignored those posts, just to post on the daily thread and most of it was nothing related to WLS, which hey, no problem with various sharings, however, we need support to stay on track, because especially us OFFr's, have years and years of making bad choices behind us and it is all too easy to fall back into old choices, seeing as it's what we did for so long. I have seen a great deal of friends, not on this site, who've had WLS, people in our age group do the worst at keeping the weight off, now I think that is also related to the fact that age plays a part in slowing down things, but I also believe if we make more right choices and keep a reasonable amount of movement in our lives, we can be more successful at maintenance.
Have a nice day!
Laureen
My Mantra is that I do not determine my success by the number hanging in my closet, nor will I let the scale determine that success either. . . It is through trial and error I will continue to grow and succeed. . . Laureen
"Success is a journey, not a destination." Ben Sweetland
Laureen,
Girl, can I relate to you or what. Our college has huge breakfast and lunch events all the time and I found myself just waiting for the catering truck to bring the good food and then I realized that I wasn't measuring nor was I making good choices. So, I stopped going and brought my own food and my own snacks. They say that in order for you to break a bad habit, you have to consciously make a decision to not do the thing for ten times but to start a habit, you only have to do it three times and it is imprinted on your brain as your new routine. So, when people do those ridiculous office functions like donut day or snack sharing, even though they bring no sweet options, I decline because I am one of those addictive personalities and I cannot allow bad eating to creep in again.
So, get your measuring devices, carry your own healthy snack foods and remember that Rome wasn't built in a day. Set realistic and easily achievable goals and when you walk, don't over do it. The worst thing to do is hurt yourself right out the gate. Try doing some stretching exercises at your desk. Every time you go to the lady's room, do a few stand up stretching exercising for your back and your shoulders. My favorite is to find a table or chair or the sink in the bathroom and bend over with my hands on the sink or table and stretch my back and arms by trying to make myself align with the table while stretching and moving far enough back to get a good stretch. I also do the walk climbs with my fingers and it helps my shoulders....there are tons of easy stretching exercises on line...Pick one or two that are easy on you and that you can do without much thought and after a few days, you'll notice how good your muscles will feel. Also, I can tell you the head and neck stretching is good too.
It is so good to have you back and I cannot wait to read your progress....
Nancy,
I have to tell you that you hit the nail on the head. Sometimes I would come on the board and the negativity just ruined my day. We all have things that we need support through and with and I am all for helping everyone through these horrible times but sometimes the hate and negativity just turned my stomach and I couldn't post because if I did, I would address the negativity and that would create fallout, which we saw what happened with off board issues so yep, this is where I came to discuss food, exercise, stress, and those other things that keep us in low metabolism.
Today I had an egg and piece of bread for breakfast. My pouch doesn't handle eggs very well but I do eat one every other day because of the need for protein.
Lunch is going to be easy. I made a pot of vegetable soup and am taking it to work for our soup day.
Dinner is shrimp and squash and mushrooms.
I usually take carrots and cucumbers for snack. I've gotten my water in all week and today will be no exception. I am down to one cup of coffee and am still drinking the one diet coke. My News Year objective was to rid myself of the caffeine and I probably will be able to but research has shown coffee in moderation is good....it prolongs life and increases mental acuity and memory so I am thinking that the one cup a day might be good.
I am walking today and we are doing our yoga every afternoon...I swear ladies, yoga has changed my life: no impact, high energy, meditative, and my muscles are in the best shape they have been in for years....now if I could rid myself of the hanging skin...
I know that I have posted in the past the need to remove stress because it increases the hormones in our bodies that slow our metabolism and over time cause an increase in abdominal fat, so I have tried to clear my desk for a few minutes every morning and again every afternoon to just clear my head, relax, and rest my mind....so yesterday, one of my graduate workers who is a yoga master and all about meditation and I talked about making meditation a part of morning and afternoon rituals. I have a couple of student workers who are very high strung and they have tried to create a spirit of exclusion and turmoil in our center so before I terminate them, I am going to try meditation and see if it will help...who knows.
Ladies, have a good day and please, please, please, let's keep this positive spirit moving our board forward.
well I'm not home yet but I am sitting on a park bench waiting for John, hubby, and Angela to finish walking. I can usually keep up but we are smack dab into summer and I don't tolerate heat very well. I walked 2 miles and it is a beautiful day, just too hot for me.
Lunch will be sushi, either vegetable or shrimp.
At 2 I have line dancing. I have almost 5,000 steps and I get in at least 5 or 6 thousand during class.
Supper (I'm southern) will be grilled shrimp and veggies, probably green beans or beets. I have a baggie of celery and carrot sticks an another of beef jerky in the car to snack on if the need arises. Of course I also have water with me.
Guess that's it for me.
Hi,
Im bored! I guess I need to park my truck under the tree and unload that sucker and try to get the third seat in there! I need it to become a family hauling machine!
Two car seats will be in here soon!!!
Its nice here in the Gulf side of Florida! About 80 and there is a breeze!
Eating is ok for me sort of!
Carla
Let me just say at the top, "I love our new focus!" The fall out was hard on me because I felt responsible, but it has had a very positive outcome.
I'm so enjoying our returning members, and I hope that our reunion day might bring back even more. If not, I still enjoy having old friends back once in a while.
I just went to lunch with my husband and I had chicken with veggies and a very small salad. I am full, drank plenty of water already today, and I feel happy.
Tonight is weigh in at TOPS. I'm sure it will be fine.
I am having some issues with constipation which is crazy since I have been eating some cherries as part of my healthy snacks. I do realize that what goes in must come out, so I will keep on keeping on...
Julia
Julia,
I am so with you on the way things have changed. Sometimes, growth causes a little pain and sometimes growth isn't possible or is prevented by forces that don't like change or don't want things to move forward.
You would think that with my being a vegetarian, I would not have an issue with the bowels but so not true. I put prunes in my oatmeal once or twice a week and it works wonders. Try it.
