Bob H.

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Note: this is a repost from my blog at http://www.obesityhurts.com

Preface

For those of you just tuning in, I had my RNY WLS surgery just over 6 months ago at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. The surgery was performed in connection with the Ottawa Civic Weight Management Clinic. The operation went well, I spent a. couple of extra days in due to some excess blood but basically had no complications. I am blessed with a wonderful support system, my partner in crime, Kimmy D., my 2 step-kids and even Rosie the Bulldog have helped make sure my journey has been nothing but positive. It has not been without it's challenges as I ran into a few medical related incidents (all minor in the big picture) that I am confident played on everybody's nerves as we worked through them - but I am happy to report that at 6 months, I'm doing well and still losing weight although at irregular rates.

Today I want to talk a little bit about about the challenges of traveling after WLS surgery - they are not as bad as one may think but you need to keep on track and make sure you don't stray off your regular routine. Here are a few tips based on my personal experience, that I feel is important for any WLS survivor or even a person trying to manage their weight should think about. I am by no means a professional councilor on the subject, but in the past 2 years, both pre and now post opp. with all the business travel that I do, I have become somewhat experienced in it ;)

1) Vitamins and Medications

Vitamins and medications are one of the easiest things to forget or mix up in travel. In my situation, I am extremely fortunate as Kim makes sure I have exactly what I need to make it through the trip. To help me with this, she has purchased a simple pill holder that has the label for each day of the week. I use this even when I am not traveling, so that nothing gets missed when I m in the office during the day. When I am staying at a hotel, I keep my iron in the bathroom by my toothbrush as it is the last thing I take each evening. My vitamins are kept in the main part of the hotel room, near where my phone is plugged in and close to the coffeemaker so I make sure I take my morning pills when I make my decaf coffee before going to the gym. The pill case comes with me during the day in my lunch pail (yes, I have a lunch pail) to cover the noon hour and afternoon pills. It may seem complicated to remember but it is purely a miracle in the making if you use them and follow the plan.

2) Meals and Meal Planning

This one is tricky. As I mentioned earlier, I am very blessed that Kim has been 100% on board and supportive of my decision to have this live changing surgery. When it's referred to as a journey for the patient, they should also mention that it's just as big a journey for the support team. When I travel, Kim sends most of my meals with me. There is typically one meal each day she doesn't send and that's because with my work, it's probable that I will end up out for a meal (lunch or supper but never both). As part of this, hotel choice also is very important and has a section below where we will talk about that but for now let's focus on meals.

Breakfast: If your hotel does not include a buffet or Continental style breakfast, than bring your own food. Yogurt, cereal, and some fruit should do the trick. Most hotels have some type of refrigerator in them that you can use to keep them. I was in one once that the fridge was stocked with alcohol and junk, I simply cleaned it out and put it on the dresser and put my own food n the fridge - simple! Here is an important lesson we have learned - the best choice for your eggs if you do go out is poached. Eggs done any other way in a restaurant are typically cooked in the grease on the grill, which is mostly bacon grease. If you choose scrambled eggs, be sure to ask how these are prepared as in order to improve the flavor and the texture, most places use cream instead of milk when scrambling them - not good!

Lunch: For lunch, consider weight watchers meals. They are microwaveable and taste very good. It's important to pay attention to the content in each package as some have high sodium. If you choose other sodium reduced or calorie reduced meals (like Blue Menu Items), be careful the terms 'reduced" doesn't mean low sodium or low calories, it simply means lower than another brand they sell!

Dinner: Now, if you cannot avoid the restaurant, here is a simple trick, be honest about having had the surgery. I have found that in EVERY single case, the folks at the restaurant want to help! It's that simple - tell them what you would like to eat and how you would like it prepared. Now lets be honest however, you cannot go to McDonalds and give that a shot, but most eating establishments are willing to prepare the food however you ask and in most cases will reduce the cost. The most interesting place that we have found here in Canada is the Keg - ask for the child's steak dinner, it's the same as the adult one except it comes with vegetables instead of potatoes or fries and has half the price tag! Another good example is Swiss Chalet, order their skinless 1/4 chicken white with vegetables, it's of course arguable, that their chicken does have some sodium in it from the cooking process (absorbed through the skin) however, it's much better for you then a Whopper ever could be.  Last but not least with respect to meals and meal planning, what's important more than anything else is to clear your mind of that notion we have have carried since we were children that because we are paying a high price for the food at the restaurant, we must eat it all - that's the farthest thing from the truth, my recommendation is to either have them put half of the portion in a take out container right away, or mentally decide what you can eat and what will be thrown in the garbage as soon as the food reaches the table and when you reach your limit, have them take it away - it's that simple!.

3) Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

Whenever I can, i travel with my own vehicle that way I am able to more easily take my food with me and I can choose where I am going to eat my meals vs. what is supplied on the mode of transportation I take. At the same time, I am able to bring bottles of water with me as well. I find that if I have bottled water in the hotel, I am more likely to drink it. When on a business trip or even vacation for that matter, hydration is important as it's the first thing we forget. I don't particularly care for plain old water so when available, sugar free flavoring like MIO is a very helpful additive.  There is more ways to hydrate yourself than just water though. Decaf beverages are an option but of course, stay away from anything bubbly or anything with alcohol in it.

4) Exercise Routine

Most of us have an exercise routine of some sort - it's essential to the long term success of your WLS surgery. This needs to be followed even when you are away from home - life does not go on hold while you travel and neither should your routine. In my case, I make part of the hotel selection (the last item on this list) location and workout facilities. When I travel to our Toronto Office, I have two hotels that I have found that I like, both have good gym facilities and even a pool to use. You may ask why I have two that i select from and that's a great question. During the warmer weather when I can walk, I use the Marriott hotel as there is a Starbucks at around the 2000 step mark, and a walk to the office brings my step count (one way) to around 4K. In winter when walking is out of the question, I use my second choice hotel as it has a more private and less used fitness room. It is also a 12 story building that I can walk the stairs in adding to my step count for the day.

5) Hotel Selection

The last thing I want to cover in this post is hotel selection. I've touched on it a little in each of the previous points, but it is one of the most important success criteria to help you while you are away from home. When I look for a hotel, I try to find one that has a "kitchenette" type of facility. I know what you are thinking - dump - but you are incorrect. There are many name brand hotels (Marriott, Sandman etc) that have built their hotels to accommodate longer stay, more health conscious clients. By selecting this type of hotel, you will have a regular refrigerator,  an area to prepare your meals and even a place to eat that's not in bed or on the couch parked in front of the TV! Now I'm not suggesting you should start cooking every meal at the hotel, but the option is there and if you have access to a vehicle, there is generally a grocery store with in a mile or two of most hotels making it easier for you to purchase healthier food to eat!

To sum this all up, traveling after weight-loss surgery doesn't have to be a stressful or scary thing, in fact, if planned properly it can be just as rewarding as when you are at home - and enjoyable!

Happy Travels!

 

 

Categories: #wls #diet #health

This is copy of my post at http://www.obesityhurts.com, a blog I've had since 2011 when I began my journey...

In April 2011 I began a journey that I knew would change my life for ever – I accepted that regardless of what anybody thought, obesity is not always a choice. there are so many underlying factors that can cause a person to be overweight, from medical, to emotional that the old term “you cannot judge a book by it’s cover” really does come to light. Let’s face it, I like most overweight people fall into one of those categories and I’ve spent the first 50 years of my life not just denying it but also ignoring it.

If you were a follower of my blog in 2011 / 2012 (http://www.obesityhurts.com) you would know that I teamed up with the Ottawa Hospital Weight Management clinic and began a journey that has been exciting, depressing and well just been.  During my initial meetings with the great doctors and nurses at the WMI, I had several informational meetings and discussions with them. To my wife’s disappointment at the time, I chose to take the low road and rather than having stomach surgery, I went with the OptiFast Program.  Now don’t get me wrong, I started at 333 pounds and when the program was over, I was at 195 pounds and felt not just good but amazing – I was proud of myself and appreciative all the support from my family and friends that helped me get there. But there was a problem – and for some of us it becomes a huge problem…

This is perhaps one of the biggest “I wish I knew” items that anybody can share with you and they seldom do…  When you lose a lot of weight, either fast as in my case (6 months) or over years in most cases, it takes months for your mind to see the results.  Think about that for a minute – It takes MONTHS for your mind to see the results.  It’s true, I know it now and believe it or not, it works in both directions (losing or gaining weight). Here is an example. At home we don’t have full length mirrors so I seldom look in them however at our summer digs in the bedroom we have mirrored sliding doors. Every weekend during my weight loss journey in 2011, we would go to the cottage and although people were telling me how great I looked – I never saw it. When I looked in the mirror the only thing I saw was the old me…  When I look at the pictures from 2011 / 2012 NOW I can see how great I looked but then – I couldn’t and to be honest it was depressing – very depressing.

Now for those of you who read the blog but are not that close to me here’s a 2015 update – not proud of it but it’s reality. Of the weight I lost in 2011, I’ve gained back all but 43 pounds of it. Does that make me a failure? Not really, I lost 133 pounds and am still down 43 however it makes me realize that there is more to this journey than licking your finger, sticking it up in the air and hoping that the wind will take you in the right direction – it also reminds me that what I started in 2011 is a journey – a real life adventure that your either committed to or not or in some cases (mine included) you are half committed…

Before we go on, I want to finish what I started earlier – your mind is a funny thing… As I mentioned, it takes time for you to see the weight loss and that time can play havoc on your emotions but, when you start the gain weight, the same is true – I would look in the mirror and not see that weight was coming on. My wonderful wife would (and she is good at pointing it out) but I didn’t see it until it was too late…

Now we fast forward to 2015. The great thing about the Ottawa Civic Hospital Weight Management Clinic is that once you have been referred there, you are always a customer. In January I set up an appointment with Dr. Dent and Kim tagged along with me – my goal was to revisit my options for the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. I am the first to admit that I felt like a failure going back their and I was not very proud of myself at all. Dr. Dent was amazing – there was no condensation, no lecture, no nothing, he simply said to me “Robert, I know you and that you always have a plan, so what are we doing?” He didn’t even flinch when I told him I wanted to revisit the surgery and in fact he said “Why wouldn’t you want to do that – we know that the problem is in your genes, not a result of your lifestyle or choices” – Man I can tell you, that one single visit made me feel like I was a winner again and solidified my choice to have the surgery.

After several visits and orientation meetings and with the blessing of Dr. Dent and the Surgeon, July 7th, 2015 became the day that shit finally got real for me as I have been able to confirm the surgery date. Now just for the record, I have not had a second thought – the surgery is taking place in mid-August, but I’m going to be honest when I tell you I am nervous as hell. After the surgery, my life, and my wife’s life is going to change – forever… Google the surgery if your interested in the gory details, but the reality is, my stomach will be the size of an egg – for the rest of my life, it’s non-reversible, so there’s no changing your mind, no buyers remorse no nothing – it’s both feet in and no turning back!

I hope to be able to use this blog to provide friends, family and followers updates on my progress both before and after the surgery so if you are interested, don’t be afraid to shoot me an email asking for an update – I tend to let things slide on the posting side!