I got my Bible!

Jan 11, 2014

I went to my first Dietitian appointment. My hubby went with me and I was really nervous, but having him by my side was such a relief.  He is so supportive and I don't think I could have had a better guy to be by my side. 

At the appointment, Shannon handed me a binder with all kinds of information.  It was neatly organized with tabs and everything. Now THIS I can manage, since I create things like this at work! It was super easy to go through, I could highlight and mark off any information I wanted to. And talk about handy! Anytime I need info, just open it, flip to the page I need and bam...right there!!  Wow, why couldn't they have this 12 years ago, instead of handing me stack and stacks of tri-folds, poorly copied sheets and little notes of information that all got lost or ruined over time. 

I digress.... Loving it!! 

This thing has it all! It even mentions a direct link to here at Obesityhelp.com!!  Of course, being as this is my second time around, I already knew about this awesome resource. 

I have a checklist of things to work on for my 6 month pre-op/insurance review. They are as follows:

1. Eat 3-4 meals per day with NO SNACKING!
2. Avoid all sugars, sweets and desserts. No more than 5 grams of sugar per serving on the label.
3. Avoid fried foods, fast foods, and high in fat foods. No more than 3 grams of fat per serving on the label.
4. Eat protein-rich foods at each meal.
5. Take supplements every day.
6. Sip liquids, do not gulp! Drink 8 cups (64 oz) each day between meals.
7. Eliminate alcohol, caffeine, black tea, coffee and carbonated beverages.
8. Eat meals slowly, take 30 minutes per meal. Stop eating when full. 
9. Take small bites and chew food til it is a puree.
10. Avoid emotional eating/mindless eating.
11. EXERCISE!!!

That is what I have to focus on for the next 6 months. I have about half of them already checked because I do it anyway and have for the last 12 years. My hardest challenge (what I thought would be anyway) is the caffeine.  I weaned myself off of it and fully stopped on 1/7/14.  It really isn't that bad, just super tired and have a headache that pretty much lasts all day on and off.  Hoping it will get better soon. 

The one thing I thought would be easy is to chew my food well and take 30 minutes to eat. This seems to be the hardest to accomplish!  I never realized how long I took to eat, actually, how little time I took to eat.  I eat lunch at work, sometimes while I work, so I have to scarf it down and get back to work.  By the time I get home, I am so hungry, I notice that I scarf my dinner down too. Breakfast is usually when I eat the slowest because I take my time and wake up. 

Exercise!!! That is the other tough one. I am not afraid to exercise, I rather enjoy it. My biggest issue will be time and energy and pain.  I suffer from a back injury and some other pain issues, and it makes moving around quite difficult at times.  The pain sucks out my energy, and I feel quite tired a lot. Add to this that I work a full time job, with crazy ending hours, and I may end up working out late at night. On a good day and if the weather is nice, I love to go for walks.  I can talk my hubby into walking with me and it makes the time go quickly. But the past year has not let me do that so much because if it isn't my feet or hips hurting, it is my back. I am going to join a gym and make the time to go. The one I found close to me has a pool. So I am all about water aerobics!! I am going to start slow and hopefully within 6 months, I can start to feel much much better in time for my surgery!!

That's all for today!  I will try to blog when I get the chance. Usually I am always doing something, and am bad about blogging. But I am thankful it is here so I can dip in when I can and log my journey!!

Ta Ta!!

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