May 16th Exercise Post

Howdy everyone! Another gorgeous day in Washington! I am lovin this weather! I brought my walking shoes today! I am going to keep my promise to myself to get back on the walking. I have missed it and my body has missed it. I have to get moving so I can lose this last 33lbs! I saw a very scary thing on Sunday. I have a friend who had WLS about 3 years ago. She was 446lbs and got down to 230lbs last summer. Well.... she has gained back ALOT of weight. I am not sure how much but it is alot. I feel soooo badly for her. But she told me that she quit dumping and can eat whatever she wants. She said that she is being bad and eating all the wrong foods. Which, I am sure is the reason for her gain. THAT SCARES ME TO DEATH! I refuse to gain my weight back! I am more determined than ever to get this last 33lbs off and KEEP it off! I find that sometimes I want to snack. But...I always make sure it's healthy snacks. I don't eat the stuff I am not supposed to. The point of my story is this... you CAN gain the weight back if you try hard enough. This was not an easy fix. We will have to continue to work our butts off for the rest of our lives. We can't let ourselves slip back into old habits again. We have come too far and worked too hard to do that to ourselves. I knew this coming in. But we kinda get used to this tool working so well that we sometimes get too comfy and just expect the weight to keep falling off. Well I haven't lost much in this last month and a half and I have to work for every pound. It's no longer as easy as it once was. I am only 9 months out. I hope that I will keep losing like I have been at least until I am a year out. But it's already becoming a struggle to get my body to let go of the last few lbs. Anyhoo....let's make sure we get our bodies moving on a daily basis. I, for one, am rededicated to doing just that. So what are you going to do to move your butt today? I am walking 2.5 miles at lunchtime!!! Take care and keep up the good work! Lori

Lori! That is sooo scary! I live in a healthy fear that I will gain my weight back. People will say now that I lost my weight I must be ok, fixed, not concerned, etc. Nothing could be farther from the truth! In fact, the day I start to think that way might be the day I start to get fat again. I agree we will have to work at this (in some manner) for the rest of our lives. I think support groups can help us some with accountability as well as seeing results and gaining understanding for what postop life is like. I consult my skinny friends and try and model my behavior after theirs. I figure they know how to live skinny! One of the things I have done is to get rid of all clothing that does not fit me now. I have a few 'bloat' and 'fat-day' items, yes. I have a few that only fit me when I am at my low weight (135), too. I do not own anything that has elastic or 'room to grow'. I save lycra and spandex for workout clothes. This way on bloat days I feel the restriction of my clothes and use it as a reminder to check my habits. If I have reasonable rebound weight, well, I'd rather hit up Value Village for a few more things to put in my closet than to PREPARE to be heavier than what I am! We can out eat the surgery and really this doesn't mean shoving in food either - altho I have heard of people that do - EEK! You are right on the $ when you mentioned choices. I can gain my weight back and not chew a single bite of food... milk shakes, ****tails, starbucks... slider foods are a danger too. Grazing can certainly make us fat and our little meals, if not well chosen, can start to pack on the pounds, too. It's work! I want to do the work goooood and get everything I can out of this tool! That's what we all want! I KNOW you will enjoy your walk today! Ahhh. So wonderful out. You know what I read that I found sooooo encouraging? That EVERY runner - professional and not - has days where they do not want to run as planned! Even those real runners that we see bopping their little bodies up the road struggle to get their little bopping bodies out of the house to START! In fact I have read that one of the tactics many use is to tell themselves 'I am going to just go to the end of the driveway and then I, if I want, I can come right back in.' Of course once they are out there they don't go back in - few few few of us would actually go back in the house with out just a little walk at least! Isn't that cool to know that our battle to move is so common to all - even the elite athletes? Enjoy your DAY!!! nan

What an awesome day indeed! I couldn't wait to get home and get out for a walk, even without my dog. I had to wait until after dinner, but then I was out the door. Can't believe it has been almost 5 days since I walked for exercise (strolling around SF didn't count that much) anyway it felt great!!! Tomorrow is YOGA in the afternoon, so I am going to try and get up early and get a walk in. Yeah, this weight loss thing will never come easy for us. Having a tool like the band or RNY helps to some extent, but it is still our job to make the right choices and get our heads on straight so that we are eating to sustain our bodies, and not our minds. I have had a few "treats" the past few days (mother's day cookies, pie and cake at "tea" yesterday) BAD BAD precedent! Because it is SO easy to fall back into bad habits. For me I am addicted to food the way I was addicted to cigarettes, so I have to deal with that addiction one day at a time. And whereas I quit smoking over 10 years ago, I know that if I ever pick up another cigarette I will be back to being an active smoker again. It is the same with sweets and other bad foods. Once I start I have a really hard time stopping. So it is better I don't start.... The mind hunger and psychological dependance on food are very strong. I am surprised that doctor's don't refer WLS "survivors" to ongoing counseling for the post operation weight loss to deal with the emotional baggage that comes with food addiction etc... I agree that support groups and online groups help alot, in fact I think a lot more people would gain weight back without the support. So let's keep helping one another with the encouragement! I appreciate all the advice I can get! And I would love to find out how you find the differnt triathelons, and competitions to join in on. I thought I could do the Breast Cancer 3 day, but the fund raising scared me off. I would be interested in doing other things though. I love the idea of working towards a goal other than pure weight loss.... Ciao. Kelly

Oh I am sooooo glad I caught your post! There are sooo many fun events in our area. Most events are friendly and you see more "real people" than you do elite athletes! Very cool and encouraging. Most runs either have a separate walking category or walkers are welcome. Many larger events will have several event and event mini tri's and runs for the kids to participate. Soooo cute! I like collecting medals and event tee shirts. I love ordering smalls and mediums! At bigger events there are often expos with samples and fun things. I felt the SAME about the 3-day. I hope to volunteer and cheer people on instead participating - I am sure it will be inspirational! 2 grand is just too much $$. I am going to do the Race for the Cure on the 17th, tho. It's a 5K (3.2 mi) - separate walk and run races. I plan to bike to and from that event. On June 3rd, there is a Tri in Issaquah. I *might* do this one. I'm not committed yet! Anyway, this (sprint distance) tri has a short swim (1/4 mi vs 1/2) mi. The bike portion on a sprint is usually 12-14 miles. Then the run is typically, 3.2 mi. SeaFair has LOTS of events to choose from. Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 5 k?, and a Sprint Tri. These sites have lots of events listed. www.racecenter.com www.nwrunner.com www.active.com www.buduracing.com www.promotionevents.com If you want to do a Tri for the first time... there are two I would recommend. One is the Danskin. It's too late to register this year - Watch for registration to open and close in FEB of 2007! The cool thing about signing up so early is that is gives meaning behind every workout between registration and race day. The Danskin is a HUGE event and such a positive experience. Do it! The other is My First Triathlon in Chelan. Here's a link... http://www.triathlons.net/tri101/intro.php If there are particular events, dates, or causes that interest you, LMK, k? OH! Also at your community center and (of all places) Taco Del Mar there are often free mags - NWoutdoor, I think - and CitySports. Both list local events. Keep in touch! You have a great attitude. Examining all those food issues and dealing with them is the bulk of the work, I think! Take care! Nancy