I don't dump .... sorta.

I mentioned the other day that I don't have the dumping syndrome which is so common with RNY folks.  But that's not entirely true.  I do dump.  But I have a pretty high threshold for sugar before I get that awful feeling of death warmed over.  

First, let me explain what dumping is.   Here's a pretty good explaination from Strong Health:

"Dumping syndrome." When stomach contents are literally "dumped" rapidly into the small intestine. Sometimes triggered by too much sugar or large amounts of food. Dumping symptoms aren't fun: nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, and diarrhea. Some patients can prevent dumping syndrome by avoiding sweets after surgery.

So the dumping I'm talking about is just that which is triggered by sugar.  Unfortunately I learned a while ago that I *DO* dump when I take in about 1.5 cups of sugar.  Remember my sugar surprise from Tropical Smoothie Protein Shake?  You'd think that with 340g of sugar I would be miserable for a week afterward.  But within an hour I was fine and the initial symptoms weren't horrible.  

Obviously, I don't order those everyday.  In fact, I haven't been back to that restaurant since that day.  And since that day I have been very careful not to let myself over indulge in sugar.  But over time I've figured out my limit.  

I can eat up to about 25g of sugar without any ill effects.  That's a package of peanut M&M's or a whole slice of cake. Yes, I've eaten both of those things.  No I don't eat them often .. in fact it's rare for me to ever get up to that 25g limit.  I'm perfectly satisfied with 2 bites of cake off someone else's plate.  My chocolate craving is easily satisfied with 3 M&M's or 1 Hershey's Kiss.  I don't need all tha sugar, my tastes have changed and I don't desire it like I used to. 

So what happens if I eat more than 25g of sugar?  Yep... I've found that out too.  I do get the classic dumping symptoms if I eat too much sugar.  Although it's mild compared to the stories I've heard from others, it's still not pleasant and I absolutely regret my bad choice. 

Let me just be clear though --- I don't go around eating sweets all the time.  But I do once in a while if I'm out somewhere and need to steal a bite from my dad's plate (or whoever) I know I can do it without getting sick.  

I know many people who have a limit of as little as 3g of sugar.  And I know some who don't dump at all no matter how much sugar they have.  I think I'm pretty happy with where I fall on the spectrum.  Glad I can eat fairly normal when it comes to sweets, and glad that I have the ability to be satisfied on a bite or two.  

And that, my friends... is my dumping story.  

~Pam

I forgot my phone!

Yes folks... it's a traumatic day for Pam today! I've forgotten my cell phone at home. It's almost like forgetting to wear pants. I feel partially naked without that stupid little electronic device by my side. And I can't get to it for another 8 hours. How ever will I survive?

The strange thing about not having my cell phone is that I also don't have my multiple alarms to remind me to take my vitamins and calcium and to remind me to grab a bottle of water or eat a snack. It's 11:00 a.m. right now and I would normally be hearing my cell phone chime with a question, "Where's your water?" flashing on the screen. It'll be interesting how I do on my own and if I can remember to do everything without a babysitter telling me what to do.

So if anyone sees me wandering around aimlessly like I'm a lost puppy... just ignore me. It's because I forgot my cell phone at home today. :: sigh ::

~Pam

Birthday Cake Survival

It was my Dad's birthday earlier this week -- tonight was the first day the whole family could get together to celebrate.  We had cake and ice cream, of course.  I brought some grapes so I wouldn't be tempted by the goodies.  I did pretty good, I think.  I had a tiny corner of cake -- about 2 fork fulls. With a side of my yummy grapes.  Not bad, huh?

So why is this so significant?  

Because .... I don't dump and I could have eaten a whole piece of cake and a side of ice cream without getting sick.  So the fear of dumping is not what kept me away from the sweets, it was sheer willpower and emotional fortitude.  And a little bit of pre-planning didn't hurt matters either. 

I'll talk more about that "I don't dump" comment in another post sometime...

~Pam

Creamy Peanut Butter Fruit Dip

Creamy Peanut Butter Fruit Dip 2.5oz ff cream cheese 6oz carb master yogurt (vanilla) 2 tablespoons PB2 (PB2 is powdered peanut butter) 1 tablespoon Splenda About 1/4 to 1/3 of this recipe is enough dip for a medium apple. For the entire recipe, here's the nutrition stats - divide by how many servings you use: Calories: 307 Fat 16g Carbs 12.7g Protein 25.6g

Being Brutally Honest

I took a hard look at my food journal today. I'm eating too much. My goal is 1,000-1,200 calories/day but I seem to be hitting the top end of that range more consistantly than the bottom end. And too often going over that 1,200 mark by a little bit, especially on the weekends. So I'm going to be more strict with myself and cut out any unnecessary snacks - of which there are some. I've also gotten a bit slack on the protein-carb balance with everything I eat. So I'm going to be very careful to ensure that anytime I eat a carb, it's balance by a protein. My goal is 40% protein and 40% carbs... so they should be equal at each meal, right? Upon closer inspection it seems I do fine with food up until I leave work at 5:00 p.m. I always try to get home and cook dinner (since it's my only meal at home), but too often I don't even get home until 8pm or 9pm after doing my workout or errands or meetings or whatever. So I walk in the house starving and I seem to grab a snack while I'm preparing dinner. Or I eat dinner out right after work knowing I won't get home until late, and by the time I get home I need to grab another snack because dinner was so long ago. So from 5:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m is my problem time. I need to figure out a solution for those 6 hours so I'm not sabatoging my entire day just before bedtime. Another thing I discovered while looking back several weeks in my food journal is that I am not being as faithful with logging my food as I should. There was an entire week with nothing recorded. There were several days with just breakfast logged. I need to be more consistent with adding everything to that log. Even if I'm not counting my calories... my body still is. So as I'm examining every area of my routine to figure out how to break this plateau... this is the first area I looked at. I still have a long list of things to think about, but wanted to report in on this first discovery. More self discovery to come soon... ~Pam

Plateaus Suck!

I've been trying to ignore this most recent stall, but I'm going on 6 weeks of no real weight loss and it's starting to piss me off. I probably wouldn't be complaining so much, but I'm not losing inches OR pounds right now. The last major stall I had I was at least dropping clothing sizes. Not the case this time. Grrrrrr!!!!! I'm going to sit down with that "Breaking a Stall" list tonight and really examine what I'm doing that needs to be changed. Gotta get that scale moving again. I'll keep you posted on what I figure out. ~Pam

Injured

First the good news...

The eating schedule I posted yesterday worked great! I had enough food, the right types of food (soft to start, more dense later) and I didn't feel like I was overly focused on the eating part of the day. So I'll be sticking to that plan for future training and race days.

Also good news is that I walked me heart out for a full 10 miles (ok, my pedometer said 9.96, but I'm claiming it as 10). Which leads me to...

The Bad News ... 

Around mile 4 I started having pain in my ankle. The outer ankle and radiating up the side of my leg to about mid-calf. The best I can describe it is that it felt like shin splints, but not on the shins. So... even though I had pain, I kept walking. Figured I'd just work through the pain and get done with the 13 miles today.

Around mile 8 I had figured out I wasn't going to finish. But what do I do? We're out in the middle of a practice race that only had 3 water stations, no medic stations and no support along the course. Luckily I was walking with my group leaders and training group. We determined we'd get to the next water station at the 9 mile mark -- which we figured out was actually at 9.75. I made it just fine. In pain, of course, but I was fine.

If I had really been bullheaded (which I usually am) and insisted on pushing through the pain, I definitely could have finished the 13 miles. But at what cost? I did not want to cause any more injury to my ankle that would prevent me from doing the race in 2 weeks. So I knew it was the best thing to just stop. Joe, the water station guy, gave me a ride back to the start line. (Thanks Joe!)

So what was wrong?

I knew it wasn't a simple pulled, strained or sore muscle. It felt different than that. I had pain when I put weight on my foot, but if it was elevated or I was just sitting, no major pain - just a dull throb. I honestly was afraid there was a fracture or something wrong with the bone. So I went to get xrays.

I tried going to a 24-hour clinic, but it seems those things are out of fashion these days and we don't have one available in my city. (And I don't live in a po-dunk town either!) So I ended up at the ER. I felt stupid for being there for a non-emergency, but I really wanted to get my foot checked out and get things fixed.

I should interject here that I've had this pain for about 3 weeks now. It has progressively gotten worse. Today was the first time the pain has prevented me from walking my training program though.

So at the ER, I got right in (it was a slow emergency day, apparently). The doc checked the ankle, noticed swelling and heat at the sight. Got some xrays and found out there was no fracture, splintering or stress on the bone.

So the official diagnosis? 

Peroneal Tendonitis. 

The treatment? Rest, ice, compression, elevation. No training until the pain goes away. Normal, light-duty activity is OK, but I have to take it easy and rest. When I asked about the race he said to wait and see. He said no training between now and then. Which to me means that I won't be ready for 13.1 miles if I can't train for two weeks. :: sigh ::

But I'm going to wait and see. I'm going to try really hard not to be discouraged and pissed. I'm going to use my 6 free passes to the gym and do some water workouts so I can at least keep up my cardio work. I'm going to rest and behave.

~Pam

Big Training Day Tomorrow

Just 2 weeks left before the half marathon. I can't believe it's already here! Tomorrow is the "practice race" where we will do our training walk on the course and do the whole thing. So think of me tomorrow at 8am walking 13.1 miles. I guess this is fairly common when you're training for races like this -- to actually do the race before the official race -- but it seems a bit anti-climatic to me. What's the big deal on the official race day to cross the finish line when I just did it 2 weeks before? Oh well, it's all in the name of being healthy, right? So I'll have a carb-heavy dinner tonight and a protein-heavy breakfast tomorrow morning. Lots and lots of water along the way. Then a balance carb-protein lunch after the practice race. One thing I REALLY struggle with before early morning races or long training days is breakfast. My pouch does not like solid food before lunchtime and if I try to eat something solid for breakfast it gets stuck and I end up puking it up and feeling terrible for the rest of the day. (Remember the Crim race and how I dry heaved before the race?) I have been trying to come up with an eating plan that'll work. I have to eat about every 2.5 to 3 hours or else I tend to crash, so I have to plan something mid-race since I'll be on the road for about 4 hours. Tomorrow is going to be my chance to experiment with what will work again in 2 weeks - it'll be tough, but here's what I have planned: 6:00 am -- protein ice cream on the drive to meet my group (I always start my day with this) 7:45 am -- high-protein yogurt w/ granola (while driving to the race start site) 10:00 am -- protein bar (during the race while walking) 12:30 am -- post-race ... will pack turkey deli meat slices, grapes and cheesestick for drive home I'll let you know how the eating plan goes. The walking part I'm not too worried about. I'm definitely ready for that part of the day although I know I'll be sore tomorrow evening and most of Sunday. Eating, I'm worried about. ~Pam

All or Nothing

Last night in my support group meeting we started talking about making changes for our health. A few ladies were struggling with trying to lose some more weight after being out from surgery a few years. They all said there was a list of things they knew that needed to be changed to get back on track. I suggested writing a list of the top 5 or 10 things they wanted to change (i.e.: drink more water, eat more protein, count calories, exercise more, keep a journal, cut out extra carbs, etc.). Then rather than tackling the entire list at once, I suggested they take 1 or 2 items and focus all their energies on those couple things for 2 or 3 weeks. Then once those small tasks became habit, to work on the next 1 or 2 things on the list and so on. Making small changes over time to fully engrain those changes into your routines and habits. This is an approach I’ve used for myself and have seen suggested many, many times from professional counselors and organizers. Work on small tasks one at a time and master each one… then move on to the next thing on the list while keeping the previous habits in place. It works for me. And it works for many. But apparently that approach doesn’t work for everyone. Two of the ladies last night said they HAD to do the entire list all at once. It was all or nothing. If they weren’t working on every single aspect that needed to be changed, then what was the point? I guess if that works for you, that's fine. But I tend to think it’s a dangerous position to put yourself into. It goes back to the problem of perfectionism. Sometimes if you have to achieve something with utter perfection, you are paralyzed and can’t do anything at all. And what if you fall off the wagon on one part of the list… does that mean that the rest of the list gets thrown out the window too? What if you slip up and eat a cookie mid-morning – will that discourage you so much that the rest of the day is scrapped and you binge on junk food and skip your vitamins and don’t bother with drinking water and since your ate so badly, why bother exercising? Can you fail on one task while still keeping the others in place? I dunno – it just seems like a dangerous way to make changes. All or nothing, in my mind, only leads to failure in the long run. What are your thoughts? ~Pam

My Duh Moment...

Remember the post from the other day and I mentioned that I was feeling tired, fatigued, run down? I said that I would be paying closer attention this week and if it continued I'd go get a round of labs drawn. Well... I think I figured it out. It's my B12. (I'm 98% sure it's my B12, anyway.) I checked the symptoms of B12 deficiency just to confirm my suspicions (here are the ones that fit with how I'm feeling):

• fatigue
• moodiness
• dizziness
• headaches
• constipation (although this seems to be perpetual)
• intestinal disturbances (not sure what that means exactly, but I've been queasy lately)

About a month ago I bought a new bottle of B12, but I accidentally grabbed the 500mcg tabs instead of my usual 2500mcg tabs. My normal dose is one 2500mcg sublingual B12 every other day (comes out to 3 or 4 days per week). So my weekly dose is about 10,000mcg each week. So when I started on the new bottle, I just thought: "Oops! Got the wrong ones, I'll just take one everyday instead." No, I didn't bother doing the math. But I did yesterday. 500mcg x 7 days = 3,500mcg/week. Duh! No wonder I'm run down and tired. My B12 is obviously depleted. And I did it to myself! We know that it takes about 4 to 6 weeks for body to deplete the stores we have of B12 (other B vitamins are only days!). So about 4 weeks after drastically cutting my dose I'm feeling the effects of the deficiency. I should probably have my B12 level checked just to make sure, but I'll hold off for now. If things don't get better quickly, I'll call my doctor. I stopped at the store last night and bought a bottle of my normal dose. I'm going to take one tab everyday for a week, then cut back to my normal dose of every other day. I should start feeling the effects within a few days. So here's a lesson in paying attention, I guess. It doesn't take much to throw myself off a routine which can result in my body taking the hit for my carelessness. I'll definitely be paying closer attention to stuff like this in the future! ~Pam

10 Months Out Today

I can hardly believe it has been 10 months since my surgery.  One side of me thinks it has only been a short time but the other side of me thinks that I've been living like this all my life.  The whole process of fighting my way through the second set of 12 months of dieting is still pretty fresh in my mind - like it just happened a minute ago.  But when I try to remember how I ate or lived before surgery, it seems so foreign to me and I can't remember the details of my life before surgery.  It's so strange.

So I've lost 102 pounds.  Kinda.  Right now the scale is bouncing back and forth between 199 and 197.  I haven't taken my measurements in months and need to do that just for the records.  I also haven't taken any full-body pictures lately and need to do that too (maybe tomorrow).  

So how am I feeling?  

Good.  Very good, in fact.  Eating is fine and I've adapted to the quirks of my pouch (mostly).  My workouts are going well and I feel like I'm very close to being ready for that half-marathon in 3 weeks.  

Are there any problems?

Yes, a couple.  The big issue I need to get a handle on right now is discipline.  I won't say willpower because I've come to believe there's no such thing.  Here are a few things I need to work on:

• Be more faithful with using FitDay and logging my food intake.
• Be more faithful to my eating/snacking schedule.  No unscheduled snacks!
• Keep calories in check (which should fall into place with the above two items).

There's one more thing that's been bugging me lately.  I'm tired.  I'm getting plenty of sleep, so I don't think that's the problem.  But I'm also VERY busy lately, so I'm wondering if I'm just overworking myself.  Lots of stuff going on at work (lots of brain work) and lots of training going on getting ready for the big race.  

But these things are not anything new ... so why am I so tired and worn out lately?  Just in the past few weeks.  So in the past few days I've been wondering if I need to have a round of bloodwork done to check my vitamin levels.  Just in case.  I'm not scheduled to have my labs drawn until the first week of December and when I had them done last (in May) everything was fine. 

I've decided to really pay close attention to everything this week.  My sleep pattern, my work pattern, my eating and exercise, etc.... just look at everything I'm doing.  If I still think it's a bloodwork issue then I'll call the doctor and get a round of labwork ordered.  We'll see...

So that's about it for my 10 month update.  Feeling good overall.  I'm happy and healthy.  Still have a ways to go before I get to a goal weight.  But I'm well on my way and know what I need to do to get there.  

~Pam

The 5K that was 4 miles long

It's raining

It's pouring

The old man is snoring....

Yep, I got wet today.  Very, very wet.  But at least I got my walking in. 

Our training group needed to walk 4 miles today according to the training schedule, so we met before the race and walked a mile together.  Then afterward we did the 5k race. 

Unfortunately there was a break between that first mile and the race of about 45 minutes -- which caused a bit of calf cramping for me during the first part of the race.  

I finished is record time today!  50:47  which is about 4 minutes faster than my best time.  Why so fast?  Because I was booking for the first mile of the race.  I walked with a friend and she was flying.  Eventually I dropped back to my normal pace and let her go ahead of me.  But that first mile really put me in a good place timewise.  But also the rest of the race was a bit quicker than normal for me because of the rain.  I was in a hurry to get done and out of the downpour. 

It feels good to finish races like this.  And the shirt we got today was pretty cool too.  :-)

~Pam

Understanding the Pouch

Language Translation Center - LTC - artist: Marijana Zaric.

I replied to a post on OH about how the pouch works and why it's a tool that we can use for the rest of our lives. There are always a lot of questions about stretching the pouch and damaging the stoma... and I hope this helps explain all those things a bit.


--------------


Your original stomach (before surgery) could hold up to 4 liters of food (that's 16 cups!!). Your new pouch at the time of surgery was about 1oz and could hold about 2oz of food. Your surgeon made your pouch out of the least-stretchy part of your stomach, so it's difficult to stretch it. 


BUT... Our pouches will GROW over time. 


Yes, it's a living organ and your body tries to compensate for the rearranging we did to it and it will grow to help get in as much nutrition as possible. A mature pouch is anywhere from 6oz to 9oz in size... and can naturally stretch to hold up to 12oz of food at a time. A pouch reaches maturity at about the 2-year mark. By 6 months post-op your pouch has grown to about 2/3 of it's maturity level. You're nearly a year out. So your pouch is no longer 1oz in size ... it's more like 3oz or 4oz right now. 


Studies have shown that the size of your pouch has very little to do with your overall success with weight loss. Your success has more to do with how well you follow your eating and exercise plan and how well you follow the "rules of the pouch." 


Also remember that your body immediately begins to compensate for the surgery (this is called intestinal adaptation). Once your body realized that a portion of your instestine has been bypassed and you aren't absorbing all the calories you're eating, it goes to work to "fix" itself and become more efficient at absorbing as many macro- and micro-nutrients as possible. 


Micro-nutrients are vitamins and minerals and within the digestive tract there are specifically assigned points of absorption for each. To understand better about where nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine, see this diagram of the digestive tract. Unfortunately the body will never be able to repair this portion of bypassed intestine, so we will always malabsorb the micro-nutrients that were normally absorbed in those intestinal spots. Over time the body may be able to passively absorb some of those bypassed vitamins ... for instance, there are three main points of absorption for  Vitamin D and two of them are bypassed. But the one remaining point of absorption may, over time, become more efficient at it's absorption duties and make up for some of the work that the other two points are no longer doing. But some bodies don't become efficient enough to do the extra work.  This is the reason we'll take vitamin supplements for the rest of our lives.


Macro-nutrients are protein, carbohydrates and fats - what calories are made of. This is where adaptation comes in. Your intestines grow additional villi along the intestinal wall -- the little fingerlike tenticles that grab macro-nutrients/calories as food passes by. No, we won't ever replace those first 100-150cm where various vitamins are absorbed, but the body figures out how to absorb all the calories we eat eventually. Adaptation begins immediately but it takes about 2 to 3 years for your body to fully adapt and being absorbing all 100% of our calories again. By the 2-year mark you're likely absorbing every single calorie you eat. (This is the case with DS folks too!)


As for not feeling full -- that's perfectly normal. There is a complex network of nerves in our stomach - big nerves and little nerves.  And many of those nerves were cut during surgery while forming our new stomach pouch. These are the nerves that signal to our brain when we are full/hungry/etc. In some people those nerves repair themselves as early as 3 months post-op, but for others it might take 18 or 24 months for them to start working again. And often they don't have the same "signal strength" as they once had before surgery. This is why it's so important to always measure/weight the food we eat. 


By ALWAYS following the rules we were given, we will always be able to effectively use the tool we have. One of the biggest rules to follow that protects our pouch from abuse is:


NO drinking with meals -- that's a big rule that so many people get lax on the further out they get. Once we fall back into that bad habit, we have basically rendered our tool useless. But once we stop drinking with meals, we realize the pouch tool still works just fine. 


I firmly believe the tool continues to work for the rest of our lives. As long as we protect it and be kind to it. But understanding that it grows, matures and changes is very important when you have to adapt your behavior to what's going on inside your body.


~Pam

Nutrition Guidelines from ASMBS

The Society of Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD) is the official journal for the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and is published for bariatric professionals. 


In the September / October edition they have published a new document for surgeons, nutritionists and WLS patients regarding recommended levels of vitamins, supplements and foods after surgery. They cover the three major types of surgery - Adjustable Gastric Band, RNY and DS. This is an article that EVERY single surgeon and nutritionist and patient MUST read, understand and use the information within it.

• Download the file. 
• Print it. 
• Read it. 
• Read it again. 
• Use a highlighter and post-it notes and a notebook to take notes. 
• Read it again. 
• Print a copy for your doctor. 
• Share it with your WLS friends and support group. 
• Really.  It's that important. 

Here's the link:
Nutrition Guidelines from ASMBS

 Happy Reading!
~Pam

My Protein Book

UPDATED: The link below is easier to download! This version is newly updated and gets a "new" name. The book has evolved as I add more stuff to it. It's less about just protein and more about all aspects of being healthy after surgery. So the new name is "Pam's Collection of Surgery Stuff" -- ok, so it's not great, but at least it's more descriptive. ENJOY!

---

While I was researching WLS and gathering information I started to accumulate hundreds of files and recipes and a ton of information. Everytime I wanted to dig some bit of information up, I had to dig through all those files on my computer to find what I needed. I eventually took the time to print everything and put it together into a book for myself.

But once that book was in print, others saw it and wanted a copy too. I made several copies from all those dozens and dozens of files until I got lazy. I took some time and compiles all those individual files into a single huge file. I've always called it my "Protien Book" ... but it's grown into more than just protein. There's a section about calcium and about vitamin deficiencies and a ton of recipes. But now that it's all in a single file, it's easier to share it with people over the internet.

Of course this book isn't my original work (some parts are). It's a compilation of information I've found online in a hundred different places. I've tried to give credit to the sources where I could, so you'll find lots of website links inside the file that you can visit and dig deeper for yourself.

I have mine printed and keep it in a 3-ring binder. I keep several blank pages in the back where I can write notes or add more information or recipes. It's a great resource for me and I wanted to share it with you too.

I've finally figured out a way to host some files and have them available on my blog for folks to download their own copy. Here's the link:

Pam's Protein Recipe Book

Enjoy!
~Pam

100 Ways

I've got another round of WoW moments to add to my list of "100 Ways" my life has changed since losing weight. BTW - I'm so glad I'm doing this list! I actually go back and read them from time to time and remember how far I've come. It's great therapy! 

51. I'm not hot! It's been a kind of hot summer, but I've realized this week that I haven't had to crank on the air conditioning every day, all day. All that extra fat was really make me sweaty and uncomfortable. Nowadays, an open window and a fan on low does the trick for me. 

52. I just want to go, go, go! I used to be a homebody - and I still am to some extent - but this summer I'm happiest when I'm out and about and doing stuff. Who wants to sit home when you have so much energy? 

53. New jeans! I bought a size 16 jeans last week! (Although I've been wearing 16 dress pants for a while now.) The ones I got are actually a little bit loose and if I could have found a size 14w I would have bought though. Do they even make 14w? 

54. Ok, this one might not be safe and I probably shouldn't say it out loud. When I drive I often tuck my left foot under my right leg on the seat (like half indian-style). And it's comfortable! 

55. Now that I've hit the 100-pound mark and told people about it... THEY are now telling other people how much I've lost. My boss told someone this yesterday, "Pam has lost 100 pounds, doesn't she look great?" Cool, huh? 

56. I wore my new swimsuit this past weekend. Sat out in front of people with a sheer skirt/wrap on and was completely comfortable in a bathing suit. My self confidence is getting better for sure. 

57. I crave exercise. If I go a day or two without walking, it feels wrong.. like something is off. But once I strape on the walking shoes and hit the road again, all is right with the world. Go figure! 

58. Although I mentioned this in another post... I'll mention again that I've lowered my cholesterol some more (total is now 120) and increased my good cholesterol (up to 50 now). Also lowered my body fat percentage (from 45% to 36%). I'm getting healthier and healthier every day! 

59. I'm not obsessed with the scale anymore. I can go the whole week between weigh-ins without hopping on the scale for a check in. And this week I almost forgot that it was Tuesday. 

60. I like cheese. Well, kinda. Before surgery I would never eat cold cheese and would always say that I only liked cheese if it was melted on pizza. But now it's pretty normal for me to eat a couple ounces of cheese everyday. I believe I'm becoming a sort of cheese snob though... I don't like the cheapy store brand, or even Kraft. Give me Sargento, please.

Breaking a Stall

I replied to a thread on OH earlier today and thought I'd copy it here for future reference. Weight loss stalls and plateaus are very common after WLS -- or any type of weight loss program. We didn't gain weight steadily over the years and we will not lose weight every day or week when we're losing weight it's not going to melt off every day or week. It's frustrating, but it's all part of the process and we just have to be patient and work through these little bumps in the road. But when the scale hasn't moved for a couple weeks or months - this is the perfect time to take a very close look at what we're doing and figure out if we need to make change. Have we allowed bad habits to creep back in or are there adjustments to routines that need to be made to jumpstart the weight loss again? Here's a list I typed up earlier:

• Are you tracking your food intake in a food journal? Is it on track?
• Are you tracking every single calorie that passed your lips? (flavored water, vitamins, gum, single pieces of candy) Even if you aren't keeping track of calories, your body is!
• Are you eating too MANY calories?
• Are you eating too FEW calories?
• Are you taking in enough protein? 80-100g/day
• Are the fats you're eating healthy (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated)
• Are you eating too many simple carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, sugar, pasta, rice)
• Are you eating enough fruits and veggies?
• Are you drinking enough water (water flushes fat toxins from our body)?
• Are you grazing?
• Are you eating the right quantity? Measuring and weighting foods?
• Are you eating on a schedule?
• Are you exercising hard enough? Long enough? Fast enough?
• When's the last time you changed your exercise routine? (The body becomes efficient and doesn't burn as many calories after we've done the same thing for 4-6 weeks)
• Have you added weight training to your workouts? (muscle burns more calories at rest)
• Are you taking all your vitamins and supplements?
• Have you started taking any new medications that might promote weight gain?
• Have you taken your measurements (you might be losing inches even if the scale isn't moving)

Also, here's a great post by DxE that has a ton of information that might trigger ideas in some other areas to break a plateau.

Hope this helps...

~Pam

Bad Food Day

Dang it! My will was weak today. In fact, my will has been weak too often in the past couple weeks. Here's the deal... Today I had cookies. Yes, plural. Three chocolate chip cookies. Also grabbed a caramel from the candy dish on a co-worker's desk. Then for dinner I stopped at Wendy's for a chili, somehow my mouth also ordered french fries. And since I ate the fries (about half an order) my pouch doesn't feel good anymore and I'm not eating the chili. What is my problem!? I've just come off a weekend of not logging my food, eating stuff not necessarily on my eating plan.. but not too far off base. I've been on the run for 3 days straight and just been grabbing as I was out and about. On top of that I've been struggling with drinking enough water lately. Which is probably resulting in some water retention. I know this because the scale isn't moving again. So here I am... confessing to ya'll. Being accountable for my bad behavior and committing to get my butt back on track with no excuses. No more being bad. No more letting my weak will have the control. I am stronger than myself. ~Pam

A new round of training

Theres just 5 weeks left before the half marathon and the training schedule has definitely been kicked up a notch. Yikes!

I have been put with a new training group and we'll meet on Saturday mornings at 8am in Flint. This weekend we walked a mere 4 miles. Next Saturday we jump up to 12.5 miles. Holy crap!!The following week is another recovery week of 4 miles, but then jump up again the following week with 14 miles! Oh my!!

Makes the 10 mile Crim look like chopped liver, huh? I'm absolutely earning that new reward charm for my pandora bracelet!

~ Pam