No New Year's Resolution....

What an absolutely fantastic year this has been.  I didn't make any silly New Year's Resolution's about what how I'm gonna lose weight and stick to my diet like I use to do every year.  No, I didn't reach my goal yet, but I found a new me, a new confidence in myself.  I have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon on Jan. 28th. which I am seriously thinking of pushing bac****il the end of February.  There is no way in hell I can lose 30lbs in three weeks...okay.  I got back on track in full force today...prepared my Survival Bag (lunch, dinner & snacks), logged my food and will even get in some exercise tonight.  The best part about the whole thing is I'm not hungry and haven't ventured down to the dreaded snack machine.  My demon and my nemesis.

I was watching the previews for seasons new "The Biggest Loser" which will air tomorrow night.  They have a male contestant who confessed to having gastric bypass surgery some years ago, and he has gained back all of his previous weight and more.  We are told when we have the surgery that RNY, or any other type of WLS is a tool.  You only get out what you put in.  Getting back on track is exactly what it says it is.  I know this contestant did not follow the rules of WLS.  We are often side tracked and think that we don't have to exercise and a piece of cake here or a candy bar there is not going to hurt and before we know it the pounds are creeping back on.  We get lazy and complacent; oh I'll get back on track tomorrow or the next day and the next and when we look tomorrow never comes, but all the weight we have lost does.

I stood in the mirror this morning and looked at the sagging skin and the 5lb weight gain that I have incurred and I just absolutely REFUSE to go back to where I was.  I think, no I know I feel and look 100% better for someone pushing 60yrs young.  Because of the hours that I work I am unable to make the support meetings on Tuesday nights setup by my surgeons office, that's why I am so thankful for Obesity Help, the Back on Track Forum and people like Cathy Wilson, Kathy S and its members.

I didn't realize that one of the contestants had wls in the past. You are so right in saying that if we become complacent things can get out of control quickly. That's why we need support to help keep us on the right track and to pick us up when we stumble or fall.

The new season starts tomorrow and the contestant is weighing in at almost 400lbs. When they first weigh in they have their shirts off and you can see his incision.  I wonder if  or what type of support he had after his surgery.  Again "to thine own self be true."  We can never go back to the way we use to eat.  Yes we all stumble, Lord knows I have...it's realizing that we've stumbled and we get back up and start over again and push the blocks in the road aside.

I echo your sentiment.  Complacency has no business here!  We have to stand firm that we are worth it!!  The saying that Cathy uses "nothing tastes as good as being thin feels" hangs on a plaque on my refrigerator.  It was my "reward" when I lost 50 lbs.

I think for me, awareness is the key.  When I am aware of hunger, then I can address it appropriately.  When I am mindlessly eating (as some emotional eaters do), then I eat cr*p.  Can't eat cr*p with my kids watching anymore.  I have to be a better example as I have two sons.  One struggles with his weight and the other does not.

Congrats on being exactly where you are and meeting yourself there!  I look forward to getting to know you better at BOTT!!

Have a great night!!


Anjanette

Hi Anjanette,

You are so right - awareness is the key.  Mindless eating is awful.  You zone out and lose touch with your body and become numb.  It is the scariest thing to have eaten something and hardly remember eating it past the first couple of bites. 

Eating healthfully, and being aware and present is very important to me to be/stay on track.

Thanks, Cathy

Thanks so much for your tremendous post.  You shared so many things that hit me square in the head.  Being complacent and not paying attention to what we're eating, exercising activity and the foundations of weight loss surgery success have consequences.  You so eloquently shared those. 

Rather than "I'll get back on track tomorrow (or 2010)" I suggest saying "I'l get right back on track my next meal."  We're only one food choice away from being right back on track.  It isn't one choice that causes us to go off track but a series of choices.

Thanks again for joining us as a fellow BOTT'er.  Thanks for your thoughtful comments.

Cathy

Thank you so much Cathy.  I remember when I decided to have WLS the doctor gave me a list of do's and don'ts, and while I didn't smoke I use to have a glass of wine every night.  Well, he said no smoking, and no alcohol and I even had to stop taking one of my medications a couple of days before the surgery.  My thought is I gave up the wine, and I haven't had a drink of any type of alcoholic beverage in two years.  So why can't I get Back on Track?  After the surgery I did everything I was supposed to do...took my meds, ate what I was suppose to eat and didn't fall off the track not one time.  I'm hoping I can give this the same conviction I did when I first started out.  I'm most certainly gong to try.

One of the things I do with my clients and coaching students is to encourage them to write a list of the reasons that made them want weight loss surgery.  I did it and it was very helpful.  It took me back to the pre-op place I was in my life and I remembered the strong desire I had to make my sugery a success. 

You can get back on track.  You've taken a big step in doing just that by posting on here with us. 

One of the things many of us have done is to set monthly goals.  Rather than undertake the big elephant of getting back on track, do it in small bites.  In other words, rather than do all of the things you want to do to get back on track, break it down into monthly goals.  As an example, for January, reach your goal of drinking 64 ounces of water per day.  For February, pick another habit or behavior you want to incorporate into what being back on track is for you.

Thanks, Cathy