Christmas is gone for another year... New Year's resolutions?

Christmas has come and gone for 2008. Another year has almost passed as well. Just another few days and we'll be ringing in the New Year--2009! What will the year bring for you? Are you making any New Year's resolutions this year? Will one of them once again be to get back on track and lose weight? Or, has your journey brought you past that point now?

I know that I am happy at this point in my journey. No, my weight is not quite where I'd like it to be and I've never reached my goal of 185 pounds. But, I saw Dr. Stickler the other day in his lobby and he gave me a great big hug and said, "Well, you look like you're keeping the weight off!" Wow, how great does that feel to hear after being 410 pounds?? AWESOME, I tell you...just awesome! I mentioned that we were getting different/new health insurance after Jan 1 and that I was hoping that at some point in the future, I'd have insurance to cover a tummy tuck and get rid of that 5 or more pounds of skin... He said, "Oh, those are just the finishing touches..."

I guess that got me to thinking again about where I am and where I've been. He is right. They ARE just finishing touches. I can (and will) live without them. I will love getting that skin removed at some point in the hopefully not so distant future, but I will not fret over it while I still have it. Heck, getting that skin lopped off will involve a painful recovery AND the need to once again buy clothes as I know I will go down one or maybe even two pants sizes with that change!

So, I guess my only new year's resolutions this year will be to continue to eat healthfully, try to exercise a bit more, and just enjoy life! We could all do that a bit more!

Do Big Breakfasts REALLY Help Dieters Drop Pounds?

In life, there is one thing that many folks think is gospel. That thing? "Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day!" Why? There are all kinds of reasons, but the biggest one is that it supposedly gets your metabolism jump-started for the day. Another is that it is supposed to help keep you from being so hungry as the day goes by...

In a recent net publication, researchers argued that big breakfasts really do help folks who are dieting to drop pounds AND to keep them off longer. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University created a diet plan to help folks maintain weight loss. Their plan was to eat a protein heavy breakfast and then low calorie and low carb meals the rest of the day. Their control group was on a classic, carb-restricted diet. Did it work? Well, from the numbers they now tout, you'd think it did. Not only did the participants lose weight, they tended to keep it off better. After 4 months of dieting, the classic, carb-restricted dieters lost an average of 28 pounds. The protein heavy breakfasters lost an average of 23 pounds. BUT, after 8 months, the carb-restricted dieters had gained back about 18 pounds and the protein breakfasters had lost another 16 pounds, bringing the average weight loss to 41 pounds! Over time, they reported that the protein breakfasters shed about 21 percent of their starting body weight, while the carb-restricted dieters averaged a loss of less than 5 percent.

Now that was a research project that we WLS postops can get behind! We're ALL about the protein! And, in general we follow low calorie and low carb diets for life. Now if I could just get the hang of eating a big breakfast! LOL I am SO not a morning person! And, it is hard for this night owl to get motivated to get up and cook a big breakfast--even when it is for more than just me!

Knowing VS Doing...

So many of us postops have this problem... We KNOW what we should do/be doing. But, we are not usually doing everything we should.

We know that exercise is a must in order to maintain the weight loss and not lose muscle mass. Does that mean we actually exercise on a somewhat regular basis? No, not always. Not at all these days in my own case...

We know that a successful and healthy postop life requires a LIFESTYLE change, not just a change till we reach our goal weight. The pounds will not just magically stay away... We must continue to eat healthfully for the REST of our LIVES. Too many people achieve their goal weights and then get lazy and allow themselves to revert back to old, poor eating habits. Again, we know this, but do we follow this rule well? No, many don't!

We know that carbs can put the pounds right back on these hips and thighs. Does that mean we are 100% low carb?? Hell no! WHY did I buy those Cheese-Its anyway??? They are not the #1 bedtime snack these days!

We know that we must take our vitamins religiously--every day! Yet, I read daily on OH about folks who are slack in taking their vitamins, folks who don't have a clue what vitamins to take (their docs/nuts should be shot!), and folks who are taking vitamins that we can't properly absorb after WLS. We need dry vitamin A and vitamin D. We need calcium CITRATE and not calcium carbonate. We must get enough vitamin B-12 and that needs to be via sublinguals or shots, not pills that we don't have the gut enzymes to absorb anymore... We should be taking some omega 3s (I take 4000 to 6000 mgs of fish oil a day.) Vitamins is one thing I am pretty good with, but they are boxed up for the week so that all I have to do is open today's box slot (am and pm) and dump them into my hand and swallow... How much easier could it be??

We know that we must have regular labs done in order to monitor for vitamin and nutrient deficiencies... At least every 6 months or so, we need a long list of labs run in order to see where we are at so that our vitamin/supplement regimen can be tweaked. But, again, I read on OH about postops who go for 2 or 3 years before they have complete labs done. The results are usually NOT pretty and many folks end up with irreversible damage to their bodies...

We know that we should stay off the scales as the frequent weighing can drive you NUTS!! But, we are compulsive when it comes to scales. I've talked to WLS postops who can't walk past the scale (any scale!) without stopping to weigh their self! PUT that puppy in the closet! Weigh once a week while you are losing so rapidly... It will be so much nicer to see only the end of the week result than to obsess over the ups and down that can occur during the week!

We know that we should measure our bodies and take pics at least once a month to chart our progress--especially in those times when we are not losing pounds (oh, the dreaded stall!). But, some of us are so danged camera-phobic (from our preop lives) that we just can't get in the hang of actually WANTING to take pics of yourself! Anytime I mention my weight loss to one girlfriend, she says, "so, we'll be getting a new pic of you soon?" And I think to my self that perhaps I should take a pic, but what REALLY is there to see? I'm still the same ole me! I still need to lose weight. I still have a big butt and mega thighs (at least in my own mind even if not in real life). And, in my mind again, who would ever want to document THAT with yet another pic? I should know how much weight I've lost and want to see those pics, but I still stress over them! For SO many years, I was the one holding the camera and taking the pics just so that I never had to see my fat self IN the pics... When group shots were taken where it was insisted I be IN the picture, I made darned good and sure to be in the back behind others to hide my fat. Thankfully I am a bit tall and could get away with that. If I were shorter and had to be in front to be seen, I would have seriously freaked out many, many times over the past several years!

This one is a bone of contention for me... We should learn and know what styles of clothing look better on our new bodies. Not everyone takes time to think about this one! Case in point--muffin tops! Muffin tops are NOT attractive folks! It is not because of the CUT of the jeans either! It is because you are trying to put your ass into jeans that are either not large enough, or not a style that YOU can wear well! Low rise jeans and excess belly skin and/or love handles are NOT a good combo ladies and gents! Think about it!

Goals: Let Your Life Soar

This post is a response of sorts to a post by Cathy titled "Let Your Life Soar." In this post, Cathy writes:
As you think over your life, what are the things you’ve done that you’re proud of? Aren’t you glad that you did them than if you held back and didn’t?

For the future, what are your dreams? What are your hopes? Don’t live with regrets…..go for what you want! Boats aren’t meant to stay tied up at the dock. They’re meant to sail. Your life isn’t meant to be stagnant, tied with fears. You’re meant to soar!

So, I must ask myself--What ARE my goals? I mean, I put goals up on my OH page, but are those really my LIFE goals? My goals over there include things like losing 200 pounds (done!) and riding rides at amusement parks with my kids... But, is that all that I aspire to do in the rest of my life? I mean, I am only 40, so that could be a LOT of years to come! LOL Time to do some deep thinking and decide what I really want out of the rest of my life, right?

I want to get back to teaching... I went to college, did my student teaching, and got my teaching degree back in the 90s. Then, we moved to another state which really threw a wrench in my plans to go right to work that next school year as a full-time teacher. Once we got settled, I began working as a substitute teacher as there were no openings here in my area of teaching certification. Then, little by little, my health began to deteriorate and I was less able to BE a teacher and stopped even doing the substitute gig... Now, thanks to my WLS and the changes that brought about, I've turned my health issues around and am able to teach again. SO, I took the classes I had to take to get my certification renewed and have received my renewed certificate to teach. Next step was a job application--done! Now, I'm waiting to hear about interviewing to go back on the list to substitute till I find a position open that I can apply for with my certification. It may take time as you sometimes have to wait for someone to retire from a position before you can find something. But, in the meanwhile, I can sub and at least be a part of the profession I trained for!

I want to take control of the clutter in my home and life. During the years when I couldn't teach, I was doing an internet retail thing from home. The "stock" for this business overtook my home. My hubby said it (still) looks more like a warehouse than a home. Now, with that part of my life seemingly behind me, I still have all this STUFF here! The business was supplying raw materials and packaging for folks who made soaps, lotions, and other body products. SO, there isn't a huge local interest in these items. I need to get a thorough inventory of what I still have on hand (ugh) and start eBaying the stuff to get it gone! At the same time, while I was sort of incapacitated by illness, the clutter of life took over most surfaces in my home. So, as if the business related stuff wasn't bad enough, there's lots of other clutter too. Little by little, I've been trying to tackle that aspect of it. One weekend, I cleaned out a closet and got rid of a bunch of crap. Then, I was able to clean another area of the house and properly store (in said closet) items that were cluttering the house. I've cleaned out drawers and put away clothes that were piled in the laundry room. I've gone through boxes and bags and drawers full of old receipts and such and determined what, exactly of that stuff needed kept for tax records or record of purchase for warranty reasons and then destroyed a major portion of the stuff. BIG bunch of paper garbage removed from my home! But, the biggest factor is still the remaining business inventory... I've made it sort of a challenge for hubby to identify things I've gotten done each time he's home. The bad part about that is that there is still so much to do that he rarely can tell what has already been done... Bummer!

I want a YARD! We have 10 acres here. Part of that is filled by the house, obviously, and part of it is used for farm animals. But, I have this huge grassy area that I mow--probably 3 acres. I have no flowers. I have no yard decorations. I have no fruit trees.... I want to start making a yard out there. I want something that people slow down to look at as they drive past. Landscaping was a BIG deal where I grew up in Florida. Around here, some folks think "landscaping" means getting rid of the junk car they took the motor out of two years ago and taking their collected aluminum cans to the recycling center for the cash rewards! I want to create an enjoyable place to sit and relax. Once I have a yard worth looking at, I want a porch swing on my front porch to sit, relax, and admire what I've created!

THEN, once the yard is under way--We have this awesome porch that goes all the way around the house with the roof of the house going all the way out over the porch (it was built that way to begin with rather than being added on later). Including the porch, the house is 64 feet long and 42 feet wide and the porch is the outer 8 feet of that all the way around the house. What do we use that porch for? Storing more junk! And, yes, some of it IS from my business! LOL Some of it is tools and such of hubby's. There are bikes and weight lifting stuff... There's yard tools and such (that should be in a storage building). But, we don't ever just sit on the porch and enjoy having it! I want to do that!

I'm about to be a grandma for the first time this coming July. I want to be able to spend time with that grandbaby and be a real part of his life (supposed to be a HE anyway!). My own mother could never be bothered to spend time with her grandbabies. She did NOT babysit. She didn't dote. She rarely ever wanted to even spend time around them and she has TEN grandkids who now age from 7 to 19. She spent those last 19 years being single and doing her own thing. I don't really even see signs that she regrets not really getting to KNOW her grandkids... My own girls have no other grandparents. Hubby's folks passed away. My parents divorced when my girls were still very little and my Dad passed away in 1995. Our (mine and hubby's) grandparents were all deceased already... So, my Mom was it for my girls in the grandparent category and she has only been the sort of grandma who buys you stuff for your birthday and Christmas, not the sort whose house you want to be at all the time 'cause you just love to spend time with them! I want to be THAT grandma--the one who does stuff with you and makes sure you know how much you mean to them... And I want it to be ALL year long, for all their life, not just on holidays and birthdays or at high school graduation...know what I mean?

What else? Well, I want to pay for our home and get out of debt a bit... I want to have a retirement fund. I want to travel a bit. I've never had a real vacation. We never had a honeymoon. I've never been on a cruise or been out of the country. All of these things rely on funding... So, that brings me back to getting back into teaching! I've come full circle here! So, that is my number one goal and where I'll be putting all my energy!