WLS support and inspirational information
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January is a perfect time to renew our goals and reflect on 2010. :flowerforyou: I had to share below with you all! Happy hump day!
Daily Inspiration for December 28, 2010
Katie Jay, MSW
Reflect first, then plan.
On New Year's Eve, many people talk about their plans for the coming year. They make resolutions and hope for better times ahead. But before you start down the resolution path, pause for a moment and truly reflect. What can you learn from the past year about yourself? Have you discovered what works in terms of your health and what doesn't?
You can make resolutions soon (or better yet, set goals), but today look back. You owe it to yourself to learn your lessons, so that you can grow wiser and healthier in the coming year.
Action for the day: Even if you usually don't journal, take a few minutes to do this exercise. Make a list of things you wish you had done differently this past year, and then a list of what you did well. Next to the things you wish you had done differently, write down a step you can take to ensure you won't repeat that mistake. Next to the things you did well write down what you can do to continue having success in that area. Read this list every morning in January.0 -
Weight Loss Surgery Support: Daily Inspiration for December 31, 2010
Katie Jay, MSW
Try, try again.
Sometimes after the holidays it's hard to get back on track again. Maybe you've put on a few pounds and feel huge. Maybe you feel like you cannot control your eating. Please know this feeling will pass.
Keep trying. Start over every minute if you have to. And eat dense protein. Even if you have to bake chicken for breakfast, do it. Make tasty, "safe" foods, such as stewed chicken and vegetables. Eat good foods you like at every meal until you start to feel more satisfied and in control. It's hard to feel yucky when you eat solid, healthy food.
Action for the day: Get back to basics. Eat dense protein and well-prepared, nutrient-rich vegetables at every meal today
© 2007, National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. All rights reserved. Daily Inspirations are provided by the National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. Get our free report, How to Regain-Proof Your Weight Loss Surgery at www.nawls.com.0 -
I don't do New Years resolutions... I think it's better to have goals that you work on all year round and to pick one or two to focus on at a time. NYR are doomed to failure just like diets. It's too many things to try to work on at one time.0
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Thank you, Mollie, for directing me to this thread. I had been looking for other WLS folks on MFP had only found 1 or 2. At last, a home to post in! I've been logging food and fitness (when I can) here and posting other questions, WLS issues at OH. It will be nice to have support here in once place though I will probably always visit my friends back at OH from time to time.
So you know a little bit about me, I am almost 10 weeks post surgery. I had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (any other sleevers here?) and so far, so good. I had no surgical complications and, last time I weighed I'd lost 30 lbs total. I weigh very irregularly. My husband also had VSG two weeks before me and has lost 75 lbs. to date. I've found that when I weigh, I tend to compare the numbers on the scale and it bums me out a little. I know, I know. It's the old compare and despair thing and a bad habit. My answer was to ignore the numbers and focus on how clothes fit, how my feet are shrinking (almost a whole size), and how I feel.
I've been taken off exercise indefinitely due to bursitis and arthritis. I panicked a bit because I want SO badly to exercise! I've been assured that while exercise was important, diet was the more crucial part of the equation and so I'm trying hard to believe that right now. The hope is that in the next few months I will be able to swim, then add stationary bicycling and eventually eliptical. I can't wait!
I suppose my biggest issues are that I am NEVER hungry and find it difficult to get in my daily protein requirement but I've set a goal to start back on protein shakes next week. I was trying to get all my protein from food and it just ain't gonna happen. I also need to be more regular about taking my vitamins. I get the multi and calcium citrate in but the D and B12 I tend to fluff off from time to time.
Oh, I'm from Dallas, am 52 years old and my reason for having the VSG? Well, my 5 ft frame could no longer handle the 242 lbs. I'd piled on top of it. I got up one day and realized it was almost a slow way of suicide. I'd stopped moving, was sitting on the couch most of the days and when I did move I needed a cane. I'd given up on life. A friend of my husbands' who is a physician mentioned the surgery and 3 months later we had sleeves and we both had hope!
I'm excited about life again, am fitting into clothes I haven't gotten into in 10 years and, for the first time in a long time I'm looking to the future with an excited eye instead of hopelessness. I still have the odd day when I think, "is this really going to work for me??" and then I snap out of it. This is it. It's the sleeve or nothing. I finally think I have the proper tool to help me not only get it off, but keep it off.
Thanks for letting me ramble. I look forward to making this journey with you all!
Happy New Year!
Priska0 -
Weight Loss Surgery Support: Daily Inspiration for December 29, 2010
Katie Jay, MSW
Refocus on your needs.
Have you been so busy you forgot to take care of yourself? If so, it's time to regroup.
The longer you live the WLS lifestyle, the less urgent it seems to make healthy choices. But when you disregard your own needs, even to care for others, you do yourself—and them—a disservice. Today, remind yourself that your WLS lifestyle is effective only when you stop and acknowledge you have the disease of obesity, and that you need to be treating it whether you are overweight or not.
Action for the day: Take a few minutes today to plan what you will do to refocus on your health needs in the coming year. Write down your plans and refer to them often.
© 2007, National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. All rights reserved. Daily Inspirations are provided by the National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. Get our free report, How to Regain-Proof Your Weight Loss Surgery at www.nawls.com.0 -
Thank you, Mollie, for directing me to this thread. I had been looking for other WLS folks on MFP had only found 1 or 2. At last, a home to post in! I've been logging food and fitness (when I can) here and posting other questions, WLS issues at OH. It will be nice to have support here in once place though I will probably always visit my friends back at OH from time to time.
I was trying to get all my protein from food and it just ain't gonna happen. I also need to be more regular about taking my vitamins. I get the multi and calcium citrate in but the D and B12 I tend to fluff off from time to time.
Thanks for letting me ramble. I look forward to making this journey with you all!
Priska
Welcome Priska!!! Congrats on your successful surgery and weight loss! You can ramble with us any time. Please never skip your B12. I know so many who have gotten in to much trouble by skipping this one. B12 is so important at this stage in your journey, because you are still having a hard time with protien.
You have a wonderful weekend and please pop in any time. We are here for you! BTW - I love obesityhelp.com also. I never go a week without visiting my buddies over there also.0 -
Welcome to Priska! and a Happy, Healthy New Year to everyone!0
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Yesterday, at my support group, we talked about staying on track and also getting back on track. Some suggestions:
(1) Track your food and exercise even if it's just 1 week a month
(2) weigh yourself daily (or frequently anyway, maybe a couple of times a week)
(3) have support (go to support group meetings, get a weight loss buddy, etc.)
(4) hold yourself accountable
(5) Keep a picture of you at your heaviest and one at your ideal and refer to them often
That was mostly for staying on track. For keeping on track, we added:
(7) Get back to basics - protein first, don't drink with your meals, exercise if you haven't been
(8) talk to your surgeon
bump!......:-)0 -
Happy New Year's Day all! 1.1.11 A brand new start!
Making a plan and sticking to it is a great idea. Was doing well but became discombobulated during the holidays. It's not that I didn't eat well or didn't exercise, it's just that time got away from me and I didn't pay good attention to WHEN I ate or HOW I ate. Everything became a little too fast paced and I found that the faster my brain was spinning, the faster I ate. Time to slow down, chew and extend my meals and enjoy them.
As I am NEVER hungry anymore I've set my phone to alert me every 3 hours so I can nourish my body. I went grocery shopping today and stocked the house with protein, protein, and more protein! While at the store, I purchased an extra pill "keeper" to keep vitamins portioned out per day so that they are organized and I can't forget to take them.
Due to a hip with arthritis and extreme bursitis I am not allowed to exercise at this point but I'm hoping soon! It's driving me nuts. So far I've only seen an orthopedic surgeon but am thinking about a rheumatologist. The outcome may not be different but I'm looking for anything that will help me to be able to get up and move. We're hoping in a month or so that I can start swimming and move to stationary bicycle and then elliptical. I can only hope that in the mean time, I can still lose some lbs. until I can kick n some exercise.
Re: group support. I have not found a good group here in Dallas. I've been to two hospitals (hubby and I had surgery at different hospitals) and the support at both has been....uneven. Granted, our surgeries fell just prior to the holidays and both groups were in "party" mode. But there seems to be more banded patients than sleevers and the issues are quite different. We were also more encouraged to talk to prospective surgical patients rather than to participate in the main discussion. VSG is being pushed quite hard among surgeons here and, as we were just weeks out of surgery we were jumped on for info. We were quite happy to share but felt that we were sort of being used as sales reps. Am going to look at the other two main hospitals here in Dallas to look at their groups as I feel this is such an important part of recovery, losing and maintenance.
Until then, I'm so happy to have found this little group. I'm so looking forward to seeing LESS of us in 2011 and again, I love the idea of solidifying plans for success in the new year. I'm sure I will add more in the coming weeks.
Priska0 -
When at the store yesterday I tried a new protein supplement EAS Myoplex Dark Chocolate 42 gr. protein per ready mix carton. Don't know if ya'll are till doing protein shakes but it's really not bad at all and I love that there's a heap o' protein in one serving (or you can break it into two as it is a little large). For those that have no hunger like me, it's a godsend for getting in our number one needed nutrient.
Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!0 -
I love my sleeve!
Anyway, the hunger thing is common early out. It will probably return one day, though greatly diminished from what it was before. So take advantage of it while you can!
I am trying to heal and injury so I am doing a lot of water aerobics and I'm going to start back to swimming this week. I'll be a little fishy at this rate. :laugh:
My favorite protein powders are Chike and Whey Gourmet's Smooth PB & Chocolate. (I haven't tried any other Whey Gourmet flavors.) I also drink a lot of protein hot chocolate.0 -
I love my sleeve!
Anyway, the hunger thing is common early out. It will probably return one day, though greatly diminished from what it was before. So take advantage of it while you can!
I am trying to heal and injury so I am doing a lot of water aerobics and I'm going to start back to swimming this week. I'll be a little fishy at this rate. :laugh:
My favorite protein powders are Chike and Whey Gourmet's Smooth PB & Chocolate. (I haven't tried any other Whey Gourmet flavors.) I also drink a lot of protein hot chocolate.
Protien hot chocolate? What brand is this and is this found at GNC, healthfood stores?0 -
I love my sleeve!
Anyway, the hunger thing is common early out. It will probably return one day, though greatly diminished from what it was before. So take advantage of it while you can!
I am trying to heal and injury so I am doing a lot of water aerobics and I'm going to start back to swimming this week. I'll be a little fishy at this rate. :laugh:
My favorite protein powders are Chike and Whey Gourmet's Smooth PB & Chocolate. (I haven't tried any other Whey Gourmet flavors.) I also drink a lot of protein hot chocolate.
Nooooo! I don't want my hunger back! LOL I'm perfectly happy setting my little alarm although, I will admit, a little hunger might not make eating feel...I don't want to say "like a chore" but I just always feel full. Ya'll know what I mean! LOL
Protein hot chocolate? PB & Chocolate Whey Protein?? Dish, girl, dish! Sounds yummy!0 -
Weight Loss Surgery Daily Inspiration for January 1, 2011
Katie Jay, MSW
Practice taking risks.
When your life is not what you want it to be, it's easy to settle. Your boss expects you to work late, so you do it -- even if you miss your support group meeting. Your son expects you to babysit your grandchild, so you do it -- even if you have to cancel getting your lab work done. Your sister expects you to attend her birthday party, so you do it -- even if the party will include loads of unhealthy, tempting food (and you are struggling with food).
It's no fun to stand up to people in your life who you know (if you are really honest with yourself) are asking for more than you have to give. Even when a demand on you is appropriate, sometimes you have to say no. Saying no is taking a risk. If you want a better life, taking the risk to say no to others is vital. So practice.
Action for the day: Say no to someone today, even if you could just as easily have said yes. Practice letting other people be uncomfortable so that you can begin to move toward a healthier and more fulfilling life for yourself.
© 2009, Katie Jay. All rights reserved. To buy Katie Jay's book, Daily Inspirations for Weight Loss Surgery Patients, visit www.nawls.com and click on "Buy Books and Audios."0 -
Weight Loss Surgery Daily Inspiration for January 1, 2011
Katie Jay, MSW
Practice taking risks.
When your life is not what you want it to be, it's easy to settle. Your boss expects you to work late, so you do it -- even if you miss your support group meeting. Your son expects you to babysit your grandchild, so you do it -- even if you have to cancel getting your lab work done. Your sister expects you to attend her birthday party, so you do it -- even if the party will include loads of unhealthy, tempting food (and you are struggling with food).
It's no fun to stand up to people in your life who you know (if you are really honest with yourself) are asking for more than you have to give. Even when a demand on you is appropriate, sometimes you have to say no. Saying no is taking a risk. If you want a better life, taking the risk to say no to others is vital. So practice.
Action for the day: Say no to someone today, even if you could just as easily have said yes. Practice letting other people be uncomfortable so that you can begin to move toward a healthier and more fulfilling life for yourself.
© 2009, Katie Jay. All rights reserved. To buy Katie Jay's book, Daily Inspirations for Weight Loss Surgery Patients, visit www.nawls.com and click on "Buy Books and Audios."
Learning to say NO was hard for me to do but I have gotten much better at saying NO when it is important. When people want me to do things that will interfere with my new life. It takes practice but it can be done. At 1st I felt guility. But no more especially when it is beneficial for me.0 -
TELEPHONE SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS! I love them. I attend at least one a month!
http://www.bsciresourcecenter.com/
BSCI is pleased to host two FREE TeleSupport Groups!
Join members of the BSCI staff and DreamTeam for our exceptional brand of support via telephone! Our telephonic support groups provide a secure, welcoming setting for patients who have had or are considering having weight-loss surgery or who just want to lose weight.
Our TeleSupport Groups are held twice each month; the 1st Monday and the 3rd Thursday. Our telephonic Support Groups last about one hour, but you may come and go as you please. All weight-loss surgery patients, supporters, and investigators are welcome to participate, learn, share, or just listen in. Each time our telesupport groups are different, we discuss the latest in bariatric surgery, supplements, and the topics that are important to you.
1st Mondays (Evening)
5:00 PM Pacific, 6:00 PM Mountain, 7:00 PM Central, 8:00 Eastern
Third Thursdays (Afternoon)
11:00 AM Pacific, 12:00 Mountain, 1:00 Central, 2:00 Eastern
Just call 712-432-9998
Enter BSCI Participant
code # 602024
(toll charges may apply)
http://www.bsciresourcecenter.com/0 -
The Protein Hot Chocolate I like is made by Healthwise. It's sold under a bunch of different names such as HealthSmart and Nashua Nutrition as well. They have different flavors and you can get the regular kind with either aspartame or sucralose in case you care about that sort of thing. It's not really the same as a shake. It only has 15 g of protein. But it's a nice topper off at the end of the day.
I order mine from Nashua Nutrition or my surgeon's office.
The Whey Gourmet stuff can be ordered at various places. I get mine from netrition.com as they seem to have the best combination of prices and variety when it comes to this kind of thing.
I order my Chike from expressmetabolics.com.0 -
Hi folks! Thanks Priskar for referring me here ... I'm looking forward to hearing what folks have to say and have flashed through a few of the daily inspirations which were wonderful! I even sent one to my husband as a way of telling him what I'm thinking.
A little about me, I am 40, married, 5.5 children (my oldest baby just got married to another baby that I'm raising LOL), work full-time and then some, we live in the Dallas, TX area, and I had my sleeve on 9/15/10. I'm struggling on a plateau that has lasted about 2 months after losing about 41 pounds.
Unlike Priskar, I'm hungry all the time. If I don't eat every 2-3 hours, I get a sick feeling in my stomach, it aches, growls and feels "empty," I feel weak and I'll get a headache if I go without eating for more than 4 hours. Although I follow the plan religiously, my fluoroscopy shows that my stomach empties very quickly. My PA/nutritionist both think that I'm in starvation mode even though my cals are at least 1,200 per day with a protein count of over 90g and fluids of at least 64 oz. Generally speaking, if I'm not working out like a madwoman, I'm not losing. I was wondering if there are any others who have experienced this out there and how they are coping?
I look forward to getting to know you all! Happy New Year!0 -
When I get the growly thing in my stomach, it's almost always acid. I was on a PPI for the first 20 months and it took care of that but every time I tried to get off it, I'd find myself eating all day.
After a few weeks of eating all day this past month, I realized I do have some low-grade heartburn so I'm back on the PPI.
Luckily, the first one I tried worked for me and I only have to take it once a day and just one kind of pill. I do know some people who had to experiment with different PPIs and had to add things like Pepcid to the PPI or take it twice a day or all 3.
I did find that this time around I had to work out a lot more to get the same rate of loss as with prior dieting attempts but I think that's just age. It kind of sucks, but it turned out well as I went from being a coach potato to an athlete and I don't think that would have happened if I'd lost just fine going to the gym a couple of times a week as I have in the past.
P.S. Don't get me started on so-called starvation mode! :laugh:0 -
Weight Loss Surgery Daily Inspiration for January 2, 2011
Katie Jay, MSW
Move on.
Because no one is perfect, all WLS people will make a mediocre food choice from time to time. Or we'll skip an exercise session we really could have used. Or we'll indulge in self pity.
When this happens, admit it to yourself and move on. When you admit it to yourself, it's best to also tell someone else. Your secrets will eat away at you, whereas finding a safe person to confide in will help you heal. Then it's time to move on. Do the next right thing. Make a healthier choice. Teach yourself you are capable of starting over -- minute by minute, if necessary.
Action for the day: Take an inventory of where you are with your WLS lifestyle. Are you making some mediocre choices? Find a safe person to tell, share your secret, and move on.
© 2009, Katie Jay. All rights reserved. To buy Katie Jay's book, Daily Inspirations for Weight Loss Surgery Patients, visit www.nawls.com and click on "Buy Books and Audios."0
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