Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Losing weight is a full time job...
I'm sure I've mentioned it before but I don't work... which is a good thing because my life is a full-time job. I was thinking about most of you, when I went over all the steps there are to living a healthy life and the fact that most of you work as well. Where do you find the time? I have quite a few vitamins I take everyday. i take a chewable bariatric multi-vitamin(twice daily), 1500 mg of Calcium a day in 6 chewy calcium citrate bites(sugar-free) and Sublingual B12 with Folic Acid(All Vitamins are from Bariatric Advantage). The thing I really never did understand before was that you need to space your vitamins out thru out the day so that you can absorb as much as humanly possible... back in my pre-surgery days I would take all my vitamins together and not get as much out of them. I also think about what I eat now...these healthier days. It takes so much more time taking care of your meal plans instead of just grabbing a bag of chips or running thru the nearest drive-thru. Nutrition matters to me now. I want the most benefit out of the least calories. I can take a walk or go workout anytime I want. I can take any class I want since I don't have a work schedule to work around. It was easier when my only exercise was getting up to change the TV when I couldn't find the remote.... but I am a couch potato, no more... I can shop out the best deals... You all have noticed that the healthier the food, the more expensive. I can read more, since my mind is most of my weight problem... not that my mind weighs over 400 pounds but it is what has made me eat the wrong food and too much of it for my whole life. I really still don't know what real hunger feels like... I am not sure if I have ever felt hungry. My mind plays tricks on me and makes me think I'm hungry all the time but what does real hunger feel like? I know as a child I had hungry pains and my stomach groaned, but I don't remember anything about it. I want to be hungry but I'm afraid if i don't eat long enough... I'll want to eat more than I should... i may have felt real hunger a few times during the liquid phase of this journey but even then, not so much. I was rambling... but the moral of this story is "I have the time to lose weight" but since I have less distractions... I also have to be more careful with my thoughts. Some days I would kill for a distraction so I don't even think about food.... You are all my heroes! Losing weight in your free time.
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I could have written this same post, although I work. Because my kids are grown and my hubby is away a lot, I find I just want to sit and veg out at night. Sometimes I wonder if I could just work for 16 hours a day if the food thoughts would go away but they don't. Like right now, I got to work early and lo and behold I'm reading blogs.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time figuring out if I'm hungry or not but because my band is so tight this last week have not been able to get many solids in. I got stuck on Mac and Cheese last night and am sore this morning. Hunger to me is just feeling like something is missing and I get really cranky.
You are doing great to recognize that the brain is a big part of this weight loss. Keep blogging about this as it helps make things clearer. And you get to fill your day with exercise! Well a few hours at least. I too need a hobby/activity to fill up my hours other than watching TV. I just took a retirement course and one of the speakers talked about filling your time when you retire. It needs to be planned out so you aren't bored. We were to think about what you enjoyed doing when you were a kid (like reading, playing outside, being with others-not all of us are cut out to volunteer, part-time job). We are all a work in progress and will eventually figure it out. That's why I love my blogger friends. They may not realize it but you all bring up important topics and that makes me think.
As a working mom, I have to say that sometimes it is hard to "find the time". One of the reasons that i chose the gym I go to is because they opened at 5:00 am and were open until 11:00 at night. I work from 8 to 5, pick up my daughter from school, come home, cook dinner, do dishes, spend a couple of hours with my family, then once she is off to bed, I go to the gym. I know I annyoy the hell out of my husband by having all of our meals planned out ahead of time. It's good that you are workign with your brain as well as your body when it comes to the band. I know that head huner is a real issue for me. We will persevere!! Oh and email me you address so I can send you those bathing suits!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things my bariatric team had us do prior to surgery was make a list of at least 10 things to do aside from eating. That has helped me a lot, because once I get involved in what I'm doing...I forget that I might be hungry. I scrapbook and make cards too, so that helps distract me. You are very wise to see/feel the mind hunger connection now. I'm still very new to band land, but I feel the struggle daily. It takes awhile to change old habits. :)
ReplyDeleteI think working helps me take my mind off food. If I am home all day long I notice I eat more - especially on the weekends. Staying busy is important not only to curb the eating but to keep the mind active. You are doing well to recognize all these things now!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this perspective. I don't work outside the home. I'm an artist trying to make it at shows/fairs, so my passion is also my job. Right now, Hubby is unemployed, too, so I've got his presence and support to keep me on the path. I kind of dread the day he goes back to work, although we need it to be SOON!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such an encouraging comment. I'm still working with my blood sugars everyday, but I'm about to get a handle on it, I think.
I agree. I'm really glad i'm not working right now because it will make this whole process so much easier. I'm the kind of person (a.d.d. maybe?) who has a lot of trouble focusing. and i can only focus on one thing at a time. for example: i went back to school last year and it was hard. so i focused really hard on it. but everything else (domestic duties, taking care of myself, etc) fell by the waste side. i always say i can be a good wife, a good student, or i can be healthy. but i can't do more than one at a time. lol. so i'm just glad i have the freedom to focus on this stuff now since its sooo important and its gonna take all my brain power to do it right.
ReplyDeleteI totally relate to what Melli just said...I feel like my life is sooo busy that I can't do everything well and some things are done late and badly...but then I look at some of my more organised friends and think...she's even busier than me and still seems to get things done better than I do!!! We just can't compare ourselves with others, it doesn't do much good. I also know that if I didn't work, I would get even less done than I do now. That's because I could tell myself I have tons of time and I'll do it later. Ah well, that's me.
ReplyDeleteMaria, I just left a comment on your last post because I thought it was the most recent one, so you might want to go back and read it. I thought you may miss my incredible words of wisdom (lol) if I didn't point it out. xx
Im jealous that you do have the time. I am always tired! I wake up at 5am.. get to the gym by 545. Out and off to work by 730. At night it takes me an hour to prepare my food for the next day, I eat 5-6 meals a day so I have a lot of different foods to pack! I dont know how I am going to do it once school starts up again. I think this week my weight has stalled from stress :-(... what I would give to be in your shoes sometimes! haha your lucky <3
ReplyDeleteI just retired 2 days ago, working while dieting was both good and bad. The good was that in my job I was so busy that I didn't have time to think about eating until lunch. The bad was that it wasn't physical enough. I am just learning scrapbooking, would you mind if I ask you for guidance now and then?
ReplyDelete