Eating, Energy and Exercise

Jul 11, 2011

I know I'm not the only one who's heard that weight loss mantra about how you're setting yourself up for failure if you try to make too many major changes too quickly.  The wisdom being that it's best to make a small, manageable change and only move on to a new one once that first small change has become a part of your life; a habit. 

I get that, it makes sense in theory and I'm sure it works great for those with self-discipline that would rival a drill seargent's, but I am not one of those people.  I know my faults and my limitations and with that awareness comes the realization that while small changes work for some, people like me need a shakabuku; a swift spirtual kick to the head that alters one's reality forever (stolen from Grosse Point Blank... great movie). 

Eating: A Work in Progress

Now that I'm on the other side of surgery, that experience in and of itself has taken on the luster of being its own shakabuku; my reality is forever altered -- there's no question about that.  Where I once ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, now I log everything that passes my lips to ensure that I'm getting in enough protein each day.  Where I could just grab breakfast or lunch on the go, now I have to plan ahead to make sure I'll have whatever I need no matter where I am.  Where before I was able to rationalize a "cheat" after a hard day, now I have to remind myself of what I went through because of all those cheats that went awry.

I'm still in the pureed stage for another 11 days (not like I'm counting or anything), which means my choices are still limited to what I can put through a food processor, so I know that the work I have to do in rebuilding my eating habits from the ground up is still very much in the beginning stages (the babyfood consistency is enough of a reminder to keep that top of mind each day).

What's the point of this section?  I suppose it's this: experiment until you find healthy choices that work for you.  Take a look at recipe ideas from your fellow OHers and from sites like The World According to Eggface... get some new ideas and try them out.  You're not going to do yourself any favors by simply suffering through these phases with the bare minimum of choices only to devolve back into your old fast food or super fatty/sugary stand-bys once you're cleared for regular food.  Crap food is still crap food, no matter how little of it you eat... if you're filling up with junk, you're not filling up with what your body needs. 

The mindset all of us need to adopt and live by is that we're moving on from those bad habits; we're casting off those foods and behaviors that aren't doing us any good.  Of course, the challenge there is once you remove something, you need to create something new to replace what's been lost... but how do we do that? 

Maybe that's the way to look at these diet phases: these are those small changes your inner drill seargent needs to adapt.  Not in the sense of working pureed foods into your normal diet, but perhaps an influence of it... where you might not have considered a dip for vegetables or crackers a source or protein before, now you might.  Where cheese was once something you only ever ate on pizza, now it can be a snack or meal supplement (not to mention the variety of cheeses there are out there to try).  Where you once only had a milkshake at a fast food place, now you'll come up with new and deceptively decadent ways to make protein shakes less boring.

Keep an eye out for opportunities to expand your food repertoire where you can... you just might develop a few new habits along the way.

Energy and Exercise, Those Elusive Bitches

Although I'm feeling way better than I did in the weeks following my VSG, I'm struggling with drumming up the energy to do more than what I absolutely have to.  I can pull off taking care of my daily routine, but despite wanting to be more active, BEING more active is proving to be a challenge.  I knew that it would be.

One of the first questions I asked Dr. Chebli when I met with him was how soon after surgery could I get back on the elliptical trainer -- I was concerned that my recovery would necessitate a significant set back in light of all the endurance and stamina I had been steadily building at the gym each week; I was proud of the progress I'd made and didn't want to start back at square one.  His response was, "As soon as you feel well enough to", which was fair, but not the answer I wanted.  Unfortunately, I was right about the recovery presenting a set back; I'm not at square one, but pretty close to it and that's frustrating.

I know how difficult it is for me to build up the regular exercise momentum thing. I know how it goes by now: I just have to suck it up for about 2 weeks and commit to doing it every day.  Once that commitment is fullfilled, the momentum is established and I feel like crap if I don't exercise... as opposed to feeling like crap being the norm; apparently it's the basis of comparison that's the motivating factor. 

As my mom was fond of reminding me, "you're fat 'cause you're lazy and you're lazy 'cause you're fat".  I suppose I could put a more positive spin on that... perhaps "you have no energy because you're inactive, and you're inactive because you have no energy".  There, that sounds better at least.  Euphemisms aside, I know what the issue is and I know what I need to do to remedy it... I just haven't been successful at it yet. 

I guess that's where my next "small change" needs to be, huh?

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