My eating is lessening and I didn't gain over Easter

One thing having WLS has done is to help me eat less chocolate at Easter. It needs to be spread out and if you keep up the walking (or whatever exercise you like) then IN=OUT with no weight gain occurring. This is a very good thing. Of course, you can't eat the large expensive eggs but really that is like some-one who smokes; you burn your hard earned money so you can get sick. It may be cancer with smoking but it is heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, asthma etc with high weight. Doctors tend to not check you out for other problems, as they can't see past your size, so it does limit how long you live.

This was my Good Friday meal of fish, homemade chips and salad. I put a lot less on my plate and did not finish it. I also did not put it in the fridge and nibble at it later as I would have done before. I didn't even have pudding so I was feeling quite virtuous. We had a lamb roast on Easter Sunday with a similar response so limiting the amount I eat is helping my resize my stomach back to what it was post-op. It may not actually do any resizing but my mind thinks it has. I don't fall asleep after my evening meal and wake up choking on regurgitated food which has happened before because I was overeating.

I was a little slack with my walking with the wet weather but tried to do other things inside so I didn't eat from boredom. I did get 3 long walks in though so I was not a total sloth. If I am at my computer doing things with my writing, or online, I am not diving into the pantry every 5 minutes. I have to stand up and walk to the kitchen so it has to be a conscious choice. I have my drink of water  at hand and sip often on that to keep up my hydration. I do get up from the computer regularly as I still need to get food and drinks for my mother on a regular basis.

I need to finish saving for my gym card so I get back to bigger weight loss and continue tightening up  my muscles again. I am slimmer but I want to be slimmer still. Once you get a good result you really don't want to go backwards. My next Drs check will be in July/August so want to be back under 100 kgs, and much closer to 90 kgs, before then. I am becoming an Urban Forager on some of my walks. I found a tree of crabapples so every couple of days I wander along that way and pick up the majority of the ones that have fallen on the grass verge. My daughter is the one who actually makes the crabapple jelly and it is delicious with cold meats. I love the deep pink, crystal clear colour and the sweet but tart taste is heavenly. 

This week's Intentions:

• Set Up Camp Nanowrimo so I finish my first book
• Finish  first strip of knitted blanket and start a multi strip
• Knit baby bootees for nephew's coming child.
• Eat protein, then vegetables, then carbs
• Eat more protein at lunch to keep me satisfied
• Walk most days for 90+ minutes
• Do more Autumn cleaning (tidied up linen cupboard today)
• Put winter vegetables in garden this week.

What are you intentions this week for helping weight loss? Any tips? What are you doing only for your joy? For your family? For your home? For your garden? For a better world?

I regularly pick up trash on the verge during my walks as it really irritates me to see it there. The amount seems to be lessening so maybe others are becoming a bit more aware. I hope so as it is becoming a pet peeve of mine. We only have one world and we need to be looking after it. If everyone took responsibility for themselves and helped others see why we could make a major difference. 

A stable week but didn't walk as often

I am cutting back on the food amounts I eat and it is having a good effect. The protein is a good amount and I eat less carbs. I am not falling asleep after tea and waking regurgitating the food I have eaten. I think that is what they refer to as dumping. It is not nice as you cough and splutter for ages and have an acid feel in your throat for the rest of the night.

Small amount of rice with chicken stirfry and fresh kernel corn. Plate is not full and it is b&b size. I left some rice.

Nachos. The first time in 2 1/2 years. Very small amount, lots of chewing. I enjoyed it and did not have any pudding.

Both were full of vegetables and had plenty of fibre. Both home made and tasty. You eat such a small amount that you can try something tasty and different. The joy of seeing your lovely meal and it tasting fabulous outweighs the fact it is a much smaller amount than what you used to have. Herbs and other tasty things mean each meal can be an adventure. Do it well and the rest of the family will want the same so you won't have to cook multiple meals each night.

Things I Like in My Pantry

• Moroccan spice, Roast chicken salt, All purpose seasoning etc
• Herbs and spices: nutmeg, smoked paprika, ginger, thyme (dry or fresh), chives, mint (flavoured ones too), basil, garlic, chilli etc
• Fresh grown food from my garden - heirloom tomatoes, runner beans, lettuce (gourmet), carrots (round short stem ones), silver beet
• GF flours etc for home baking - small amount out, rest in the freezer in case of visitors
• Homemade jams and preserves as you can keep an eye on sugar and  have fresh goods put up
• Fresh fruit and vegetables weekly
• Homemade soup in the freezer

On my walks I have been Urban Scavenging. Crab apples came home with me from a mid week walk. As I was picking them up from the grass verge I am sure the home owner came home from the school run. I thought at any minute I would have an irate landowner coming to tell me off. It didn't happen. We have one jar of crab apple jelly from 1 kg of fruit. It looks and tastes beautiful. The fruit shop had extremely good specials on fruit so we have 4 more jars of plum jam and multiple small containers of peaches and apples. They taste so much nicer than store bought tinned fruit.

Creatively; this is the castle, page, knight, princess and horses that my mother and I helped make. Mum and I did the knitting for the castle, Katrina on the left did horses and other members of KIP did the rest. It is on display in the Botany Library, East Tamaki . It was used for a Story Time and the princess went missing but reappeared after an email was sent out.

This week's intentions: it is Easter this weekend.

• Limit chocolate eaten
• Walk/exercise more to get rid of chocolate on hips
• Enjoy time with the family
• Do handcrafts if the weather turns wet
• Write more on my MG novel
• Eat more protein/less carbs
• Treat my eating like an addiction and say .. just for today
• Journal if I feel stressed
• Reach 1800-2000 mls/daily
• Write down food eaten as I go

I know this is similar in many ways to last week but I am trying to get into a good habit. This has to be done daily for at least a month or more to become your new norm. Practice makes perfect or at least helps.Maybe I should photograph each main meal. I want to see more clear plate around the meal and less height above the plate. I don't want to have the same amount as others and try to mentally trick my brain by the use of a smaller plate but piling it on.

Journalling intentions

I choose to deal with emotions and not bury them with food.

I claim back my life and a healthy body by treating it as a temple.

I will exercise daily; mostly with long walks but also other forms of exercise

I won't hate myself if I slip up, I am human and I can correct myself at any time

I create a trim, taut and terrific body by what I do each day and I am.

What do you choose, claim, will, won't and create this coming week, day by day?

I am going down in weight -104.8kgs now

Its working. Eating better and less combined with walking 90+ minutes 6 days out of seven at least is starting to work again. I did have a little cheat as I felt really bloated and took a mild diuretic with a resulting 3.3 kgs weight loss. With drinking as I should be regained 1.5 kgs of that but have kept the rest off so I consider that proper weight loss as I have not regained it totally. You know it is only extra fluid when from one day to the next you can't take rings off. I find it happens around low pressure (rainy, stormy days) and the worse the weather the more fluid retained. A high pressure system comes along and squeezes all the fluid back into your lymphatic and blood systems and you get rid of it naturally.

I find as my body gets fitter from the regular walks that I can walk further in the same time. This means I see more of our local area. Sometimes I take a bag with me and pick up the trash as I walk along. I hate to see so many fast food wrappers, plastic bags, polystyrene bits, cardboard and even wood pieces lying on the ground. People as so grubby and lazy at times. One area near a rubbish bin at a bus stop can be so bad. Come on people, just a few more steps and it would be gone. End of rant.

I saw this banana tree down beside a gabion wall area on one of my walks. It was an unexpected sight but a good place for it to grow as it was in a sunny pocket and protected from any cold, southerly wind. Our local council and the Greater Auckland Council  are trying to get a lot of walkways set up and connected. There is also a number of areas in NZ trying to do a walkway that goes from the top of NZ to the bottom. Every year more is included. It is great for tourism but it is also great for people to increase their fitness and learn the beauty of our lovely home. Who wouldn't want to walk in areas away from cars; their noise and exhaust fumes? I can see and hear all sorts of birds. The other day it was three colourful rosellas warbling and flying around. The plantings allow other birds, insects and wildlife a place to grow leading to a good biodiversity in the area.

These walks are good for me in another way as they are up and down hill walks so they add that extra little bit. The walk to town only has the mildest rise and fall but some of these roads and paths have a serious gradient on them. My legs, and knees, let me know that they have been worked out thoroughly by the time I get home. I am sweaty. My hands fell full of fluid; my rings won't come off. I feel mentally good as I have walked long enough and well enough to get the endorphins that athletes talk about. Once I have showered and had my breakfast I find I do my housework quicker as I am already warmed up and aware mentally. It is a win-win for all parts of my day.

This week's intentions: 

1. Lose 1 kg or more
2. Walk on six days this week
3. Eat less and healthier
4. Sleep 8 hours a night
5. Do my writing and other creative outlets daily
6. Read each day
7. Do some embroidery as my BFF has sent me 3 more to do.
8. Autumn clean a space each day till our house and garden is done and ready for winter.

What walking are you doing each week? How is you eating better going? What have you changed in your life?

Up and down, yo-yoing weight loss

My weight is yo-yoing around like crazy. I should not weigh myself daily but I do. One day I am 107.1 kg, the next 105.9 kgs. The lowest weight came after I managed to drink 10 glasses of water. I presume my kidneys decided enough fluid was coming in to enable it to release some excess fluid. The downside was I was on the toilet 2 hourly all night as well. It did help me eat less as I was too busy drinking. I am continuing to try to meet the target of 8-10 glasses of water every day. It also meant that my mouth did not get dry as it sometimes does.

In the weight loss Facebook group I am a member of one of the ladies queried about drinking alcohol. The responses came back with a consistent post of "you get a drunk feeling with minimal alcohol but it goes away very quickly also". The other response was that it was "empty calories" so the consensus was to keep it for special occasions (birthdays, Christmas etc). I also found if I was having a meal out (1/2 normal size or less) and I tried to have a drink we would have to be there for a few hours before the drink was finished. I have had to leave it half drunk and at the price they charge in pubs I make a decision before I go as to whether I will have a drink or not.

I was thinking the other day why I can eat more and again on the board some-one mentioned a food pouch occurring.  I was already diagnosed with a hiatus hernia before my op and I think if I over eat then some of the food sits there. Often I feel sleepy after eating but if I doze off I wake up regurgitating the food I have just eaten. I need to limit the food again, go back to smaller servings. I am not eating puddings nightly as I had got back into the habit of. My daughter was serving them out without asking so I have asked her to check with me before she does so. It is up to me to say no then. I have managed it a number of times. I think I need to get it back to being the occasional treat.

I walked every day except Saturday last week. It was good for my body and my mental state. The least I walked was for 60 minutes, the most 180+ minutes (food shopping Thursday).  I did break that up into two separate times; one walk around our area, one walk to the library and back.It helps to improve your mood if you get that endorphin release in your brain. If you don't believe me then go for a walk when you are feeling down. Note how you felt beforehand and how you feel afterwards. Be mindful. Note the sounds you hear; birds, insects, traffic, planes, people talking, trees rustling. What smells were there? The scent of KFC, blooming roses, fresh mown grass, diesel (or other fuels) may be some of them. What do you feel under your feet? Is it sand (wet/dry/squeaky), is it hard uneven concrete, sticky hot tar, crunchy snow, sticky mud? You can write about it in your journal as well.

Today's photo of how the body looks. Hopefully by next week it will look a bit slimmer. My legs are starting to lose the layer of fat that came back on when I gained weight. The calves are becoming more defined again. I will keep losing weight even if it means I am doing some form of exercise for 2 hours every day. Today the phone alarm was set to 7 a.m. and I was out walking before 8 a.m. When I came back it was an hour plus of ironing and then the rest of the housework after Mum was up. I am on my 5th glass of water and it is not 2p.m. yet. Blog is getting done and I will organise a mindmap for my writing group after I finish this.

I have another reason to want to lose weight. My favourite shop (Merric) no longer exists in BTC but Peter Alexander Lingerie is the new shop in its place. Of course, the cost of the items would mean saving to buy anything from it. They had an hilarious hat that has a bunny face and ears on it. It suited my daughter even if she is an adult. Lovely fluffy bath robes beckon and some calfskin pattern, fleecy bed pants look good even if they are supposed to be for the guy in your life and your fantasy of a cowboy

Salads and Gluten free pasta with bolognese one of my meals this week. The plate is about a bread/butter size plate. The salad has herbs, lettuce, some fruit, heirloom tomatoes and avocado in it. Cucumber on the side, small amount of Edam cheese in mince.

This week's intentions:

1. Walk 6 days this week for 90+ minutes
2. Do some weight exercises each day at home
3. Eat smaller and better with my food choices day by day
4. Do mindmap for writing group
5. Have a good day at my writing group tomorrow
6. Write each day to continue towards finishing my first book
7. Do some more knitting on blanket for charity.

What intentions are you putting out to the Universe this coming week so it can help you achieve them? How are you doing exercise wise? What is your creative outlet?

Exercise is doing it, as is monitoring my food intake

Don't you just hate it when all the weight experts were correct. It really does come down to eating less calories than your calorie output due to exercise and doing your daily activities. It does help to be of good mind also. To have some hope that you will continue to lose weight even if you have a bump in the road for a while. You just have to return to the behaviour that helped you lose weight in the first place. That upwards bump may mean your body will release your fat (to be disposed of again) as it no longer thinks you are starving. It won't clutch on so hard to those calories coming in.

The other annoying thing is the amount of exercise I need to do daily to have that consistent downward trend seems to equal 2 hours of brisk walking or some other aerobic exercise, It is a large chunk of my day and I have so many other things I either have to do (look after Mum and do the housework) or want to do; my writing, my crafts and my reading. I need another 20 hours in the day I think. Less time eating, nibbling and making food is giving me some time back. The positive thing of all the walking is that it puts me in a happier mood. If you don't believe me try it. Walk for at least 60-90 minutes regularly and note how you feel.

Our house is at the top of the hill and I walk a variety of routes through the subdivision below it. There is hills to go up and down, walkways that are used by both cyclists and walkers so you see others doing their daily exercise too. They have a park with a few exercise options so 1-2x a week I hit them too. The area has lots of nice houses, trees and views to see so every day is slightly different. There is also lovely dogs to say hello to as they enjoy taking their owners for a walk. Of course if you go to town you might see something else to drool over.

The bottom photo (my granddaughter Maia using exercise equipment at park) shows a couple of the exercise stations at a local park. You have to be gutsy to do it as others walk past but it is a way of doing something other than walking till I can afford to pay gym fees.

This I have on my desktop to remind me that I am worth the time I need to take to lose the weight and get healthier. I do it for me as I move more freely when I am lighter and with less, or no, pain from my joints. If I don't do it now it would mean more joint replacements in my future. When I was larger I fell over too easily because I was top heavy and my centre of gravity was out of whack. I broke my upper humerus badly due to a fall and had to have operations to fix it. I slipped on wet steps and ended up with a knee joint replacement because of the amount of damage the fall caused. I find with the 40kgs I have already lost that I am much more stable and I don't have massive damage (except to my ego) if I do fall over.Falling right over is unusual now. I might stumble then recover on rough ground now.

Things I did for me this week:

• Attended my fortnightly writing group. We talked about how to start writing, keep on going on your project and possible goals for what you are writing.
• Attended Adult Colouring In at the local library and met some lovely ladies. It sounds like later in the year I might have to demonstrate how to make bath bombs at the Fun Friday craft days they have there. I will have to practice doing so at home before then too ( a new goal)
• Listened to a webinar by Jeff Goin on how to make an income from blogging -very interesting
• Started back into doing a Needlepoint tapestry called "Starbirds" as only have the face to complete on it
• Brought some new plants for the garden and am about to go and put them in. Still eating heirloom tomatoes off our plants daily and beans every couple of days.
• Walked Daily for at least 90 minutes.

What did you do just for you this week? How is your journey proceeding?

Starting to go down again - 0.5kgs

It may be in small increments, and some days are better than others, but a downward trend is starting up again. The steps I put in place are helping. Documenting what I eat makes me think first as I really don't want to write down something I know should not be going in my mouth if I want to lose weight. I am not perfect and the food I eat is not always perfect but I have substantially decreased eating empty calories. Sugar is so addictive. It is also one of the easiest things to eat even with an LGS.

TV1 has a new program "The Big Ward" that follows people through the process of having WLS and what they want them to do before the operation goes ahead. This is being done in the Public Hospitals for free so they are very strict on the criteria you have to meet. I was lucky that my brother paid for my surgery privately but I still had to get down to around 120 kgs to make it safer and a bit easier to do the operation. I took appetite suppressants for a month to help me stopping full time grazing . This was followed by using Optifast for a month . I lost 10 kgs on each of these months.  http://tvnz.co.nz/the-big-ward/6444924     to see how others work towards better health and a much better life.

One of the ladies was up front about the fact that she really had a sugar addiction and I know where she is coming from. Stress, probably accompanied by cortisol release, really wants your body to eat sugar and carbs. This goes straight onto many people's hips(entire body) instantly. It is so hard to fight though as it is the thing that is most prevalent in supermarkets, cafes, food halls etc. Everywhere you go there is a place to eat. I swear KFC pumps the scent out of their extractors directly from a scent pack. Saying that I have only eaten KFC once in the last five years. As we were watching TV last night around 10 pm the  ads for New World and Countdown came on one after the other. My 82 year old mother grumps, "I wish they weren't allowed to put food or chocolate ads on after 7 pm. It just makes me want to eat and I am trying not to have anything extra after tea as it goes straight on my body."

I have asked my daughter who brings non-gluten free, lovely smelling potato/herb/pumpkin bread (and other things I don't need to eat) to start to put it into containers I can't see through so it is not visible to me. For preference I really don't want it in the pantry at all but the house is small and the storage tight. We need to go back to not buying some foods that I know I eat and gain on. It would help Mum  and my daughter as they need to lose weight too.

A 90 minute walk can take 0.4 kgs off at the time and I think if I can do that walk most days it will help me keep going down. Through various small bits of work (doing ironing and giving a massage) I am $84 towards the startup fee for the local gym just a few metres down the road. I need the weights and cardio that I can get at a gym for sustained weight loss. It is a 24 hour gym so you can use it at anytime as you have a swipe card that gives you admittance. You pay just under $11.00 per week for the use of the gym which is direct debited from your account. I will have to cope with the cost, in money, for the pay off in health and weight loss. The cost would ensure I actually use it. I like to exercise before my mother gets up as I find I have more energy for the rest of the day if I do that. I would still be able to go any other time of the day if I couldn't get there earlier so it would be a win-win situation. A couple more weeks and I should have the money.

This mirror in The Warehouse (14th February) gave me a better idea of where I am in my weight. It is less than I have been and more than I was at this time last year. By this time next year I want to be able to say that I have lost all the weight I want to lose. I want to be 70 kgs but to get there I am going to have to go back to working hard at it again. You do lose weight with WLS but you can nibble your weight back up if you fail to keep your eye on the goal. I would love to lose a number of cup sizes on my breasts as I still fill a G Cup. I like the thought of wearing the lovely dresses that are in the shops at the moment but the excess boobs stop me from doing that. I know why small breasted women sometimes want larger ones but we ladies with XXXL boobs often want just a little less of nature's bounty. No more sore and rounded back, no more falling over if you start to trip (top heavy centre of gravity) and being able to wearing nicer clothing are all good reasons for less.

INTENTIONS  FOR THE COMING WEEK:

• Walk daily even when it is raining
• Monitor food/water intake during day and use MyFitnessPal to see how I am doing
• Lose 0.5 - 1 kg before next week.
• Work daily on book
• Do exercises at home to videos on the Net
• Set up a vision board for my weightloss and my book this week, photograph and post them next week
• That more people read this post and maybe leave some comments so I know what interests them.

A few questions that I would like comments on: 

• Do you want more on different exercises?
• Do you want more on food eaten or recipes?
• Do you want graphs showing changes occurring?
• Do you want more on creative things to do to keep your hands/mouths away from food and do something positive?

I am going up in weight - noooo!!!

I am trying to figure out what is happening at the moment. I am getting back to walking for at least an hour or more daily, with only 1 day off a week. I am using my kettle dumbbell to get my arms smaller again. I am tracking my food / glasses of water each day. I am journalling. I joined a Facebook page for WLS people in New Zealand.

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1596568713949751/permalink/1660344167572205/

 I am still going up and I am freaking out. I am finding out that I am eating some empty calories so am attempting to change that each day, one day at a time. I don't care what they say food can be an addiction to some people, me included. I love my fruit especially bananas. Most fruit is high in sugars though. Peanut butter is another thing I have daily. I won't buy it this week, see how I do.

My mother is noted that I am wearing more flowy clothes again and commented on it. I had moved to more shape conforming clothes as I lost weight but they are not so comfortable at the moment. It is lovely and hot this summer but that can make you sweat if your clothes are too tight. It is maddening as I went through this op to have a good permanent weight loss and regain my younger body weight or at least under 100 kgs and as close to 70 kgs as I could get. I managed to get to 99.2 kgs. Some of it is the food that my daughter brings into the house. Some of it is me wanting to taste that food.

I need to go back to how I ate when I first had this op: smaller portions, no daily puddings, fruit/vegetables in controlled amounts and more protein(eaten first). Hide my mother's lollies so I don't dip as I go past. I snorted at a person who was going on about the pizza etc they were still eating after their LGS and queried why they bothered. I knew it would come back to bite me when I did it.I don't eat pizza and fast food myself, but I have been fooling myself about the amount of so called good, non-processed food that I am eating.

I must work out what I am going to eat the day before and stick to that. I will walk daily and do other forms of exercise also. MyFitnessPal needs to be entered as I eat, I think, or at the end of the day if I note it elsewhere. I think if I manage to get my drinks up to 10 glasses that may help. Documenting how many I have had is getting me up to 8 glasses most days now.

The top photos are today, the left hand lower one was early 2015, the right hand one is November 2015.  I know we dealt with shifting etc and I comfort ate but I need to learn and practice other means of dealing with my emotions. I don't want or need this weight.

These are affirmations I am using to get back into the right headspace again. So, no more whining. The positive things that have happened since my last post:

• I finished a small crochet blanket that will be given to some-one in need to help them stay warm in cool weather
• I attended a Creative Writing Workshop at my local library which even though it concentrated on poetry (not good at that) gave me more insight into writing
• The person in charge of the workshop asked if I was interested in being a local contact for other weekend workshops (YES)
• I met some lovely people at that workshop and some are coming to our Tuesday writing group (woohoo)
• This week's writing group went well and one new member has done a Copy-editing and proofreading course already.  
• The people in the Facebook page referenced above are lovely people to communicate with

Synchronicity in action again.

 

                                 The next time I blog I will record a weight decrease.