Weighty Matters

Checking in after my whirlwind trip to and from New Hampshire. Sorry in advance that this will be brief but I’m exhausted. The drive home down the Overseas Highway was horrid with often blinding rain. Not having Internet connection at home means I’m typing on my phone. Ok, enough whining.

I had a great time with my brother, sister in law and many of our friends. I did okay food wise, did two treadmill sessions and feel good about myself regarding my whole effort. I’m not perfect but I’m so much better than I was.

I used to take any reason or excuse to overeat or eat poorly. Now I strive for balance. I teeter, sway and sometimes I need to steady myself but I can feel the improvement.

One day, one food choice at a time.

It’s 5:30 am and I’m waiting to board my plane. This is never my best time of day. I got up at 3:30 and, even after a cup of hot tea, I predict I’ll be asleep before the plane lifts off.

Oh how grateful I am that I inherited my dad’s ability to nap anytime, anywhere.

It is more challenging to be food plan vigilant when rushed, stressed, angry, frustrated, harried, or tired. Feel free to throw in any other state of being that I missed. I realized that again on the drive up yesterday when I stopped for hot tea to ward off sleepiness when I still had 90 minutes more to drive. That’s the only reason those couple of munchkins seemed like a good idea.

This morning, food choices were limited. No skim milk was available at the hotel at dark o’clock. Here at the airport there are a few places open, including an espresso bar with trays of ginormous pastries.

I wanted one, believe me. My mouth watered, stomach rumbled, and my eyes probably took on the dreamy gaze of a woman looking at her lover.

I feel pretty damn good that I bypassed the baked goods and chose a low fat yogurt instead. Booyah!

Each bite and every food choice really does matter. Each deviation from the plan delays the attainment of my ultimate goal. If I’m going to veer I want it to be because I made a deliberate, conscious decision to do so and not because I let tiredness or emotion rule.

Have a great day, everyone.

I’m not name dropping. Heather Graham really is a dear friend. Otherwise there’s no way on God’s green Earth that I would have dressed up in a variety of funny costumes and performed on stage as part of her Vampire Parties at the RT Conventions since 2006.

Oh I’ve had fun and become good friends with terrific people as we put in these shows with very little rehearsal, but I always had to block out my image in my mind.

If I’d really thought about my hugeness I would never have stepped on stage. Figuring out costumes that would fit always presented challenges.

With the weight loss I don’t worry so much about how I look and can throw myself more freely into my performance. I don’t try to hide behind others in the back for the cast photo. I just have fun and try to be as entertaining as possible.

It’s another positive reinforcement as well as another way to simply relish life all the more.

Here’s a photo from rehearsal. Ones from the actual show are on my camera and will have to wait.

Having a great time. Yesterday I had another good food day. My goal is to maintain my weight while away. If I lose I lose but as long as I don’t gain I will be happy. This way I don’t stress, can enjoy a treat here and there and just live my conference life.

This is a big hotel and conference center so we walk a lot just going from workshop to workshop. A friend and I also did another fitness center trip yesterday. 35 brisk minutes on the treadmill. I also do some tai chi in the room every day.

Seeing more friends has been great. I always love seeing them when we’re reunited. This year their genuine pleasure for me surrounds me in warmth. I also appreciate their honest interest in how I feel and the fact that they understand the effort that has gone into this journey.

Last night was the big anniversary ball for which friends and I portrayed heroines from historical novels by legendary authors.

I blogged about the gown I was loaned that didn’t quite zip a couple of months ago. Well the last ten pounds did the trick and it closed all of the way for last night. My lungs had to adjust before I could take a full breath but I was okay in a few minutes.

Add a hoop skirt and full long, flowing wig and I did indeed feel like a Southern belle.

Tonight I have another show and costume. It’s a Victorian dress that Heather Graham loaned me from her vast collection of costumes. It too fits!

Here’s a photo from last night. I have others but they’re on my camera and I forgot my cord.

It’s Wednesday night and the end of a very long but great day at the RT Convention.

Yes, I’ve received a lot of enthusiastic and congratulatory reactions to my weight loss. A couple of people’s reactions also touched my heart because of the wistfulness I saw in their eyes and on their faces. They too battle excess weight. I want to hug them all and find some words of encouragement.

I don’t know what to say other than to be honest and open. Look, I struggled for decades and the bald truth is that I couldn’t achieve, let alone maintain significant long term weight loss on my own without surgery and a complete lifestyle change.

So, honesty and openness are what I offer and hope it helps.

Travel and the conference routine are challenging. I didn’t prepare and plan well for travel day yesterday. I ate some crappy carbs including chips and not enough protein. By early evening my stomach was not happy.

Today has been much better. Protein shake for breakfast. Small servings of protein every few hours. I took a walk outside and also did a brisk 35 minutes on the treadmill. I had a healthy dinner.

I will confess to one decadent treat. The evening party had chocolate fountains. Among the bowls of fresh fruit and cakes there was one of crisp bacon strips. Sounds gross but bacon dipped in chocolate tastes amazing. With supreme strength of will I walked away after one strip.

I wore my new dress tonight, the size 16/18. I think I looked pretty good. What do you think?

I’ve been away from home a couple of days for the completion of a leadership program. Last night was our graduation dinner which was the reason for my purchase of the black dress and panty hose.

I’m pretty darned happy with the results!

Checking in to say that I had a good day yesterday food wise. This morning I’m geared up for another one. Thank you again for your support and encouragement.

One day at a time is a basic but effective approach to dealing with addiction. It reduces the enormity of a future into simpler more manageable steps. I don’t have to dwell on how to keep this up for months or how much weight I’ll lose and how fast. I only need to concentrate on what and how I eat today.

Day by day by day I can establish a string of successful days. The rest of the issue will then fall into line.

Following up on the greens, fruits, veggie antioxidant conversation, let’s talk vitamins and other nutritional supplements.  Do you take them?

I know that people who had the gastric bypass surgery really need to combat malabsorption of vitamins and other nutrients because the operation reroutes their digestive system.  With the VSG that I had, that malabsorption isn’t a major issue, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t need to take some supplements.

Even if you haven’t had weight loss surgery, there are probably vitamins that you are, or should take, right?

At the moment, I have an impressive variety of pills that I’m supposed to take.  There’s a full multi-vitamin that consists of three honking big pills.  We wls patients need to take B12 but that’s not a “regular” pill because something’s now missing from our stomach that helps it properly absorb.  I have a sublingual variety that I pop under my tongue and let dissolve.  That sounds like a little thing but I’m having problems with the timing.  More on timing later.

Calcium is another must.  I don’t worry too much about Vitamin D because I get sun exposure for at least 15 minutes a day just in walking around in the morning before I’ve slapped on sunscreen.

Over the last several months, I’ve begun to experience more dryness in my eyes.  Fewer tears mean more debris which makes my contact lenses uncomfortable.  I finally spoke to the eye doctor about this last week.  She suggested a step by step approach to the problem.  She recommended some rewetting/lubricating solutions that are preservative free.  There are some drops I’m supposed to use when my contacts are out before I go to bed and when I first wake up.  Then she instructed me to take this vitamins that are high in Omega 3s.  I don’t eat seafood so Omega 3s are a good supplement for a number of reasons but these pills are also large and I have to take two each day.

In order to keep my digestive process, umm, moving along on a diet that’s high in protein, I take Colace capsules and a probiotic tablet in the morning too.  This combo has been an enormous help on a “regular” basis.  I’m hoping that increasing my supplemental greens will also help in this area.  (Quick aside: I went to the health food store and consulted the owner.  She suggested a super concentrated powder made of quality greens that can be added to my smoothies or even plain water.  In addition to antioxidants, it’s also helpful in that digestive area.)

Anyway, If I take all of the supplements that I’m supposed to, it means choking down ten pills, including five big honkers, in the morning plus the dissolving B12.

Holy pill popping, Batman!  Oh, I almost forgot.  I’m also on a dissolving probiotic to help with gum health but I usually pop that one in before I hit the shower so that it’s gone by the time I brush my teeth.

Anyway, I know that all of these supplements are important and I need to incorporate them into my program, but I want to manage them better.  I’m currently reviewing which need to be taken on a full stomach, which shouldn’t be taken together, and some other factors.  Then I want to see if I can split up the big array and take some in the morning and the rest at night.   believe that will be a doable, but more convenient schedule.

How about you?  What are you supposed to take?  Do you?  Got any good scheduling strategies?

Wow, what a full day. I’m ready to curl up with a book and go to bed early.

I sort of slept in, which means later than 8:00. I had plans to meet friends at the mall at 11. Before that I got in breakfast and a fast paced 35 minutes on the treadmill.

Shopping was fun. I never used to say that but moving easily around the mall adds positive energy to the experience. First we spent time trying out different cosmetics at Sephora. Then these friends introduced me to Lush. Natural, lovely bath salts, oils, bubble bath and soaps. Plus creams and beauty products.

I’m hooked on these products. I bought some bath salts, a cinnamon bar good for rubbing on sore muscles, and ocean salt which is a lovely softening scrub.

When I go to product stores that have samples and testers, I’m like Alice in Wonderland consuming unknown stuff just because it says Drink Me. So when I saw the tooth tabs that said they were good for cleaning teeth and freshening breath and the had bold Try Me stickers, I did.

Right after I popped the mint wasabi sample in my mouth the staff said, “you didn’t just try one, did you? We usually don’t recommend them.”. Around the foaming, not great substance in my mouth, I said, “then why are they right at the register with a Try Me sticker?”

The staff very nicely let me rinse mouth out and spit in their sink. Oh well, the other products are great!

Lunch with even more friends followed. Then a quick trip to another store where I found a great black dress for an evening event at a bargain price!

Shopping complete, we were off to the tattoo parlor to meet Steve and get my ink.

Here’s the new tattoo. The skin is still irritated but it’s pretty and will get even more so. The design is the common meadow/wood violet which is the state flower of NJ- my home state. The notes beneath are the opening to Thunder Road.

I really like the artist and asked if he would recolor my other tattoo. It looks much better now.

A quick visit to Target for various items and I was beat. I had a great day and am now ready to end it on a good, relaxed note. One funny irony. Those great new bath salts will go unused for a little while. I can’t soak the new tattoos for two weeks!

My appointment with the hematologist turned out to be as unnecessary as I expected. He looked at my blood counts and agreed that the things that are low are consistent with thalassemia trait, which I already knew about. He said that I’m not iron deficient and that giving me an infusion would just stock more iron than I need in my liver with no way to get rid of it. He was unconcerned and, hopefully after he sends his report, my surgeon will be too.

Since I had to take off the entire day from work because the doctor’s office is 2 1/2 hours from home, I decided to stay overnight so that I could take advantage of being “off the rock” as we call it when we leave the Keys.

This arrangement meant I could spend some time with friends and also do a little shopping.

I went to Lane Bryant. The first thing I did was get a bra fitting because I was pretty sure I’d gone down a band size. I was wrong. I’ve gone down three since the last fitting! I thought the woman was nuts until I tried on the smaller bra. It fit comfortably and shaped me great!

Next I picked out a few tops, ranging from one size smaller to three sizes smaller, depending on how they were cut and sized. For example, some were sized as 20 or 22. Some had dual numbers like 18/20 or 22/24.

In the dual numbered tops, the 18/20 ones fit great! In the single number ones that had more fitted waists, I was more comfortable in the 20s but that’s down from my previous size of 24.

I wanted one neutral blazer/jacket. Since this was fitted, I picked a 22. I swam in it! I saw a 20 which fit well, but just for the heck of it, I tried the 18.

It fit! I can’t quite comfortably button it quite yet but will be able to in a couple of weeks which means I’ll get longer wear out of it before it’s too big.

A size 18! I don’t think I’ve worn an 18 in 30 years! I’m so psyched.

With this kind of shopping success I could have seriously damaged my credit card. Luckily LB was having a great sale. If you bought at least five garments, you got 50% off of everything. With those savings, I could buy a few nice new things for spring and also throw in new underwear in smaller sizes.

What a wonderful Shopping NSV!