Editing My Life -- Buh-Bye Bread and other Resolutions

OK, confession time. 

I'd been playing with three or four pounds for several months now, flirting with Onederland (often in the 100s, but continuing to not be totally rid of the 200s which kept popping up on my scale.) It was discouraging to say the least. You don't go get half your stomach cut out not to keep losing weight and get to goal.

Blame it on traveling during the summer to a travel bloggers conference in Keystone, Colo., for about four days in June; 17 days in late June and July in Lagos, Nigeria, to help my husband repatriate (hooray he's back working in the States and really most of what there was to do there was just eat); Barcelona, Spain, for about 9-10 days in late July to visit darlin' daughter who was studying abroad — yes, more eating and drinking; and San Franscisco over the long Labor Day weekend  for hubby's and my fifth anniversary — loved the seafood and drinks in the Redwood Room at the Clift Hotel. Fun times, but watch out — they'll kill you.

We ate too much (well, maybe not too much, but not the right things.) We drank too much, which is something we gastric sleevers must watch like the majestic red-tailed hawks that are so prevalent in Oklahoma and Texas. Gotta swoop down and especially purge that.

When I got back from San Franscisco, I decided something needed to change. On the advice of my weight-loss physician, I'd stopped strength training about 15 months ago. And I'd never done quite as much as the recommended cardio.

So I found a new personal trainer and started working out a few weeks ago. And instead of my weight going down, it's been creeping up and about a week ago was back up to 203.4 pounds, which was still 70 pounds lost, but down from 78 pounds lost at my lowest point. I know some is muscle, but this has gotta stop and now.

I decided about a week ago to examine where I could make improvements and here they are:

• Cut out the alcohol, unless it's a really, really, REALLY special occasion. And then limit it and count it in my online tracker.

• Portion control on everything. If I bite it, write it; if I drink it, ink it. That's not an original saying by the way, but unfortunately I don't know where it came from or I'd attribute it. Let me know if you know.

• Buh-bye bread. I'd let bread and some other starches creep back up on my a little. Complex carbs have gotta go until I make goal.

• Move more, whether it's 30 minutes of walking the dog (dog likes that!) to hitting the stationary bike at the gym. Today's it's an hour of yoga, and doing a whole bunch of gardening tonight (which will make me happy when I drive up.) And I'm resolved to find more ways to move more in ways that make me happy and feel good. Maybe next week I'll buy one of those old Schwinn bicycles and a bike rack I've been coveting.

• I decided kitchen clutter and grime was a metaphor for sloppy eating. Looked up Flylady for inspiration and I scrubbed every inch of my kitchen this morning, throwing numerous out-of-date items out of the frig and washed all my frig shelves and crispers. I washed the fronts of cabinet doors and the tops of the countertops, relocating most of the clutter that had found it's way there. 

This morning, I edged back into Onederland thankfully. Now the goal is to hang onto it and keep making progress. I figure sometimes you just have to hit yourself in the head and say I'm not going back to the bad ol' days.

So that's it for now. I feel unstuck and moving again.

All encouragement is appreciated. You and I can do this and be healthier. 

Onward,
Carol

P.S. Here's my new ticker, with my back to Onederland weight on it:

Not the Way I Wanted to Make it to Onederland, But Happy to be Losing

At Can Majo', a wonderful seafood restaurant on the Barcelona waterfront.

I made it to Onederland last week, although not the way I planned. For those who don't know, Onederland is when you get to the 100s from the 200s. I'm at 195 pounds and down 78 pounds at the last check before I hit the road again July 22 to Spain.

I got back from 16 days in West Africa on July 14, and immediately became very ill. Had my abscessed molar extracted Monday, July 16, then became ill from something we still haven't figured out. High fever, chills, sweats, aches -- 102, 103 for a couple of days, the 17th and 18th, also raging diarrhea which has continued and not slowing down. Fever broke early Thursday morning. Can't remember being that sick for about 10-15 years.

Figuring I brought home some varmint (parasite) from West Africa, I went to my physician on Thursday, July 19, and they did a bunch of tests. Blood tests, stool tests (yicky.) Gave me some Lomotil (actually the generic.) Worked a little. The good news is that I didn't pick up malaria in West Africa, although I didn't think so because I was taking the preventative med Malarone, you never know. Malarone has flu-like symptoms btw.

Complicate it by my getting a flu shot each year like clockwork, so I didn't think it was the flu.

Had a long-planned trip to Spain July 22, to visit my daughter who has been studying abroad in Barcelona. Took it anyway, even with system somewhat dodgy. A little turbulence and I lost my dinner in a plastic cup though. The Delta flight crew was extremely understanding and helpful.

We're having a good time, planning my bathroom breaks often and I'm hanging in there. Drinking LOTS of water, trying to stay hydrated, but it just runs right through. Sigh.

More soon!

Onward,
Carol

Onederland In Sight -- It's Not a Mirage

Lately my weight loss has slowed down to a crawl. I've been trading around two or three pounds since late April, one day I'm 210, another I'm 208, yesterday 211 for no apparent reason, and then this morning was 207.2. Also, no apparent reason. Halfway is coming soon, down from my high of 273 pounds and surgical weight of 256 with Dr. Greg Walton of WeightWise in Edmond. Almost 66 pounds gone.

And it also means I can sorta see Onederland coming soon. Onederland, you see, is when you get down into the 100s vs. the 200s. That will be fantastic. Haven't seen that in a bunch of years, maybe 12 or 13 years?

I know my body is still adjusting to my gastric sleeve, because at four months out, I hit the dreaded hair loss syndrome. I'll hit five months out May 27, also known as Sunday. I've read enough on the Vertical Sleeve Talk forum to know that the hair loss is temporary and I think the popular thought is because your body says, hey wait a minute. You're not going to starve me so I'm going to hold onto whatever resources I can and let go of things that aren't so important. And when it realizes, no you're not going to starve it, it calms down and your hair goes back to normal. Fortunately I had a lot of hair to start with, so it's not noticeable.

It's also common for weight loss to slow down at this time, and that's been frustrating, because I'm careful about making sure good stuff goes into my mouth. Protein and veggies mostly.

The other day I got a "Protein Bistro Box" from Starbucks when I was on the road and paid too much for not that much protein but I was past due on lunch and it seemed like the healthiest option. It was a hard-boiled egg, two small pieces of white cheddar, some apple slices and grapes and a small multigrain roll. I have no clue why they called it a protein box, except for the egg, because it had lots more carb grams than protein grams. On the other hand, it's probably lots better than having the more typical Starbucks fat-loaded scone or piece of coffeecake.