Fell off the Wagon a little bit

I have gained about 8 pounds...I now weigh anywhere between 145-148 daily. My lowest was 138 and alot of people were telling me that I started looking gaunt..lol...and unhealthy, they now say I look very healthy at this weight. I feel a little bit uncomfortable though at this weight which is weird to even hear myself say something like that. I do work out 3-4 times a week and was running up until it started snowing(plan on getting back into it in the spring and training for a 10km run in Nov 2013) I completed my first 5km run in Novemeber of this year !!! What a fantastic feeling. I have totally fell off the wagon lately though...I don't eat fast food or anything like that, but I have been eating treats again and ALOT of carbs. I am going to going back to the basics and cut out sugar and Bread and Crackers etc and see how things go. I do eat alot more since I work out alot, but I do know that there are times that I could make way better choices...I don't want this 8 pounds to turn into 10, then 15, then 20. I know I can do this, but I also don't want pople to think that I look too thin....Uggghhh !!!!

How many of you have done the 5 day pouch test? And how did it work out for you? Did u lose weight?

I've never done the 5 day pouch test.  I feel like I've been eating too many carbs and calories, directly in response to so many people telling me that I look too thin.  But suddenly I feel like my eating habits have gotten sloppy and will lead to regain.  I have actually binged on junk food 3 times in the last month for the first time since surgery.  This really is a big sign that I've got to do something differently.  

I called my bariatric centre and I'm on the wait list for cognitive behavioural therapy there.  I also started reading the Beck diet solution and made up the following wallet size cards to carry with me.  I"m not sure if you have these issues at all, but just in case you do or anyone else reading this thread does, I'll share the text of the cards below.  I read them each morning and each evening....starting today!

 

My Reasons to Keep the Weight Off…

1. Less arthritis pain/increased mobility, very important

2. Eliminated health conditions, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, very important

3. General feelings of increased self confidence, very important

4. No social stigma, very important

5. I can do more activities, live a bigger life, very important

6. Maintaining a healthy weight is my insurance policy for continued good health, very important

        7. I can wear any fashions/clothing that I desire, important

8. I am role modeling a healthy lifestyle, goal accomplishment and maintaining success to my son, very important

9. I can feel proud of myself, very important

10. I have increased peace of mind, better emotional health, very important

 

Daily Action Plan…

Read my “reasons for keeping the weight off” card morning and evening.

Recognize positive things I did each day re: eating.

Eliminate trigger foods from my home/work environments

Make and keep an exercise plan.

Practice helpful thinking

 

 Practice Craving Tolerance…

‘I’m feeling a craving but that’s ok.  I can tolerate it and it will go away.”

Practice Hunger Tolerance….

“It’s no big deal.  I wish I could eat now, but its ok.  I’ll wait and eat at my next planned meal.”

Ask myself, “Is it true hunger? A desire to eat (head  hunger)?, a craving (triggered by something)?

 Getting Back on Track….

“I will get right back on my food plan if I make an eating mistake.”

“It’s not the end of the world.  I can start following my food plan again right now at this very minute.”

“ I will eat my planned meals at my planned times and not make in the moment choices about what I eat.”

I will review my eating day each night, identify any problems that arose and figure out what I will do to prevent it in the future.

 Motivating self talk…

“I can do what I need to do.  I will focus on what I can do today.  If it’s hard tomorrow, I’ll deal with that then.”

“Staying on plan may not feel fair, but I have 2 choices.  I can feel sorry for myself or go ahead and do what I need to do to maintain my success.”

“Staying on plan is reality.  It is what I have to do to reach and maintain my goals”

“I can live with the discomforts of dieting as a necessary means to maintain my success.”

 How to respond to sabotaging thoughts….

1. What’s my thinking error?

2. Where’s the evidence?

3. Is there an alternative explaination or way of viewing the problem?

4. What is the most realistic outcome of this situation?

5. What is the effect/impact of believing or challenging/changing this thought?

6. What advice would I give a friend in this situation?

7. What should I do now?

 Daily Positive Self Talk….

Staying thin will be life long work, but I will succeed at it.

Eating small portions, planning and tracking my meals, eating protein first and eating lower calorie foods is my way of life and the primary tools I use to stay thin.

I can eat to just a reasonably full feeling.

I’m so glad that I didn’t overeat.

I am learning to respond to sabotaging thoughts and these skills will let me keep off my excess weight permanently.

 Positive Self Talk to read each day….

I can use distraction and relaxation techniques to calm down.

I can solve the problems associated with my negative feelings

I have confidence that the scale will go back down if I gain a few pounds.

I can learn from my eating mistakes and recommit to my eating plan immediately.

Hunger and cravings are not emergencies and I can    tolerate them until my next planned meal.

 During a trigger or craving…

Leave the area with the tempting food

Remind myself, “I have a planned, healthy meal coming up soon”.

“I don’t need to eat this food now, I need to relax and self soothe to tolerate the triggering feelings, which will pass, or I need to distract myself from the distressing feelings”.

“That’s great.  I didn’t eat that food!”

 

 

 

Awesome stuff Sandy, Those are words of inspiration we can all use. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for posting this Sandy. I am going to print a copy. I have been having a lot of issues over Christmas. Partly to do with all the food around a partly to do with dealing with a new medical diagnosis. So I really appreciate this.

That is simply wonderful. You already have a full grasp of CBT. To be honest, i'm not sure what else they will tell you. This is really as far as I got with my CBT. For me, I have to figure out how to deal with the stress that makes me automatically want to turn to food. That is a big challenge. Thanks for writing this out!

Thank for this post its answer a hole lot more for me too

 

 

Please dont let people (friends and family)...talk you into food because you look too thin....haggard...etc

 

The first year or so we DO look haggard....our face seems to take the brunt of the weight loss....and that is what people see and react to

 

Your face will fill out again.....just dont let your body fill up along with it...lol......resist the urging of others who have not had wls

She's almost at two years....and just now i'm finding that even though i've lost a few more pounds, my face has changed from gaunt, to being filled out.

My surgeon told me that they basically make our body sick for a year, and after that we work on making it better.

As a long timer, I have LOTS of experience with falling off the wagon. 

It's going to happen eventually to ALL of us.  And yes, carbs are always what seems to cause our demise. 

The trick is not to bury your head in the sand.  The trick is to pick yourself up when you fall, dust yourself off and get back on track. Setting new goals helps too!

I am not a fan of the pouch test.  For me anything that focuses on what I can't have leads to binges.  How about just focusing on making good healthy, protein choices? Focus on what you can have and what you should have and you'll do fine. For me my struggle is always breakfast on the run so when I'm focusing on losing, I'll skip all the carb laden breakfasts and go back to a protein shake in the a.m.

 

Good luck to you

Dawn