From 106.8 to 105.6 kgs in one week

I started at Jetts Gym last week and it is showing up already. By Saturday I had gone down 0.9 kgs and today all up I have lost 1.2 kgs. That is something that I find, since the LGS, is that you get an almost instant response when you change the amount of exercise or the food that you eat. Before I could eat too much and it wouldn't show up for ages or if I exercised regularly my measurements might change but my weight wouldn't. It would be very discouraging. Now it shows almost in 24 hours.

I was getting discouraged because I had gained weight but by using a closed Facebook page for people who have had or about to have WLS I am talking (on the page) with others in the same position. It is helping. The other thing that made me a little happier was looking at a picture from May 2013 and a recent one. There is a massive change in how I looked then and now.

I am second from the right and in my mind now  I feel I was the size of a bear

I am not small in this photo but am definitely much smaller than in the photo above by a minimum of 30+ kilos.

I still have a way to go but now I am back on course with cardio and weight training at the gym I think it will go back to a steady decrease. Weight loss surgery isn't the easy option it is the helpful option. In giving you at least 30-35kgs weight loss at the start, because you become very limited in what your body can tolerate, it often gets you to a weight that you can exercise again without injuring

 your legs or back. As the weight goes off and you become more pain free you actually want to get out there again. I no longer get remarks (offensive) from strangers going past me in cars. Hey, at least I am out there exercising while they sit on their butts, in a car, to go a short distance.

As you lose weight you become more confident again. You may not accept treatment from others that was always unacceptable (but you put up with it because of your weight and confidence issues) and this can change how you react to them now. I am not in a relationship and haven't been for a long time. You become invisible to most men over a certain weight. My thought is that the person inside that weight is the same as the person without that extra weight. I remain intelligent, strong, creative and I enjoy a sense of humour in others/myself. There are those that will only acknowledge you when you are a normal weight. Saying that, others who only know you as the fat person seem to become threatened if you become the much smaller (and more usual) weight. Crazy, isn't it? Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

I am still working through the mental part of losing weight and I feel that will be ongoing. I like that I have got this far and I have got back the desire to continue this journey. I think that after 2 years you become a little more lax in what you do in your life. You can eat more than you could at the start and unless you figure out why you want to eat at any particular time you can slip back into the habits that put the weight on the first time. So, yes, I do enjoy tasty food. Solution: tiny tastes and only very occasionally will stop weight going back on especially if you are hitting that gym or footpath. Trigger foods such as bread and biscuits. Solution: don't have them in your house. If you have them for your children put them into tins and out of your eye line. You may be able to catch yourself in time if you have to search for them.

As my mother is diagnosed coeliac we changed our food habits to gluten free for the household and it improved our health. There is so much gluten (wheat, rye, barley and some oats) and sugar in processed foods nowadays. We bake and cook from scratch with gluten free products as needed. We also grow foods, for our table, in containers. It is not all our food but enough to have really tasty food on our plates each day. Try it and notice the difference. Fresh picked beans, tomatoes, silver beet, strawberries, and soon bok choy, beetroots and spinach we put in recently. It helps to keep your food spending down too. I have had people stare into my trolley and ask how can I have so much for so little. Most of what I buy is what they call outside aisle spending. This has minimal processing; meat, vegetables, fruit, milk, butter, GF flour etc. These are always cheaper and unless you eat ginormous amounts you can either lose or maintain a good weight. These next images were Googled to show what I mean by outside aisle spending.

 This week's Intentions:

• Use the gym daily for the rest of the week
• Journal what is happening mentally to me in this weightloss journey I am on
• Listen to my body, check if I am hungry or bored when I want to eat
• Give myself joyful times to show I love myself where I am today
• Celebrate good changes in my life, look at not so good parts and change them for the better.
• Get back to Camp Nanowrimo writing today and every day. I have 17 days left and 18500 words to go to reach 25,000 wds for the month of April
• Enjoy my writing groups and attend Saturday's one. 

What are the reasons you overeat or under exercise? What solutions can you put in place to create changes in your life? Remember one day at a time. Every day you wake up is another day to create the change you want to happen.

Back to the gym, weight loss ensues 0.6 Kgs down

A friend (and my brother) managed to get a gym membership, on a special, of $29 down and a weekly amount. I got mine for $10.95 a week because they went ahead of me so I won both ways. I have mainly done treadmill and horizontal cycling with a few arm exercises with weights. Tomorrow when I go in the morning I should get a free 30 minutes with a trainer. I will get them to run through the weight machines with me and give me number of reps, etc. I have put myself down for a nutritionist time next Monday as well (free this time). I have been twice so far as the other 2 days were busy ones with a long walking time involved as well.

I am already feeling more comfortable in my body. It may be a psychological effect but I don't care. A few muscles are letting me know that I am doing something different but it doesn't stop me moving freely so that is ok. I found last time I was doing this that after 90 minutes of exercise I would feel happier. When I got back home the housework was done quicker as well. Wednesday I swear I was up and moving at 8 am and it was after 3 pm before I sat down. Beds, dishes, a large load of ironing, the small amount of lawn mowing we have, some extra gardening (putting in seedlings we got last week). picking up everything from the floor (chairs etc) so my daughter did the vacuuming were all done after 90 minutes at the gym.

The nights are getting cooler here and early morning needs an extra layer if you are out exercising. They say if you sleep in a cooler environment you use a few more calories keeping warm. Me, I like to be warmer or achy muscles will wake me up. Since I have lost weight I don't wake up to turn over so my sleep is more restful and relaxing. I am also not being smothered by my boobs trying to cover my face. I find that I still snore less sleeping on my side. I do deam quite vividly and often remember that dream now. Do you ever think you are dreaming so vividly that you are not sure if you have rested much overnight?

Overhead lights are not great to photograph under but this is a baseline facial one that I hope will show a difference in my next post. This is one of my meals earlier in the week. I managed to leave some of the potato and corn on my plate. I did not have pudding that night. I have not got myself fully out of the habit of a 10 pm snack yet but maybe I can by having a small amount around 9pm. Tonight I did eat just a bit more than I should at teatime.What I find happens now is my body then insists on a short doze. I wake up regurgitating some food almost. Note to self: eat a smaller amount at meal time. The beauty of having a LGS is your body will let you know when you have had too much and you won't like the way it does that. Listen to your body and you won't have that problem. There is eye hunger when you want to eat all you see, then there is a small volume that you can fill and no more. 

It is more than a lap band so it takes longer to lose as much weight .I don't think that is a bad thing though. We get to our very large size because we love food and eat more than we use. Yes , I know there are people that have medical reasons and I have a few of those. I didn't eat take aways but I did eat like a labourer and not work like one. I enjoyed a few lollies and the occasional homemade biscuit or cake. My recent gain in weight was through not enough consistent exercise. I have a monetary reason to continue to use the gym because I have a limited income and I am spending $22.00 of it each fortnight to be able to use the gym whenever I want. It will be good over winter too as it is only a few minutes away from our place, walking. It is a place that you can use 24/7 as you have a card that only allows paid up members to enter at any time. If I keep losing like I have already this week I have another incentive. The third incentive is I will reshape my body and have less saggy skin and more muscles. Muscles give a higher metabolic rate than fat as well.

Creatively I am doing Camp Nanowrimo to help me complete a book I have had on the go for a while. I have added over 6000 words and will do more tomorrow. Knitting wise I was doing strips for a blanket. The wool I was using was thinner than the pattern says so I am making it into a scarf instead. The KIP group decided that for World Knitting Day we would knit scarves, beanies, gloves and other items for the Auckland City Mission that they can hand out to people in need this winter. Any made beforehand can go on the table at the start of the day as well.

This Week's Intentions:

• Lose 1 kg or more
• Go to the gym at least 5 times
• Write 10,000 words + on MG novel
• Alter eating habits after tea to lessen the amount
• Do more Autumn cleaning and assess winter wardrobe needs
• Tidy up the garden

What are you doing this week to improve your life?

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?