Drastic

Peeps, its time to bulk buy slimfast.

I just cant do this.

Typical day (foodwise) for me ATM:

Coffee x 5
crisps
coleslaw
main evening dinner (too large for a bandit)
pudding
wine
crisps and junk
muller corners

Its a cycle. Hate self.

I am going to do what I should have done when we started this journey - slimfast for 2 weeks prior to the operation.

Now, I have to say that I was NEVER told to go on a diet before the operation. I phoned and was booked my surgery 3 weeks later, and basically ate like a hog for those 3 weeks. If they had told me I needed to do slimfast from that moment on, I would have done it. I was in the zone and ready to commit. After being in band land for the last 2 and a half years I now know that the vast majority of band patients are on 'optifast' or slimfast for several weeks prior so at to shrink their liver and prepare for the surgery with nutrients.

So, I think I need to go back and do this again in my head. I am going to do slimfast for 2 weeks and hopefully kick start some weight loss, get myself feeling better in that regard (no weight loss = comfort eating = weight gain = comfort eating = weight gain... ad infinitum) and then hopefully break this habit of self destruction.

I am re taking my oaths that I decided on pre surgery - no crap food.

I don't feel good. I don't feel healthy. I don't wake refreshed. I feel rubbish, sluggish, lethargic and sticky on the inside.

Once I have got my stuff together in my head, purged my body of toxins and rubbish food, I am going to re assess the situation and see if I can get this thing to work for me.

Life news... well not a lot. 2 kittens have gone to their new homes, so that means less blood loss from kitten inflicted leg lacerations, of which there are numerous.

Geoffrey had his second set of injections today and also a microchip with which he howled like billio! WOW, he really didn't like that at all. such a big needle for such a small doggy. But its all done now and I feel better about it. It was good because I had 27 tablets left from the kittens medication that I could get a refund for, so it offset the price meaning chipping only came to £5. Nice.

Can't wait to take him out for a walk.

26 mph and bunny rabbits

I love riding my bike. I love it - love it - love it! I was flying downhills today at 26 mph. This was new for me because the fastest I've allowed myself to go is 20 mph. I'm always holding down the brake going downhill even though I love speed. I love driving my car fast, but on my bike I feel so exposed. I have this vision of hitting a rock and flying off my bike and breaking my arm or my hip (please God, not the hip...that would officially classify me as old!).

The bunny rabbits were everywhere today. Cute little brown guys with little fluffy white bunny tails. The cutest things ever.

Bike riding is so much fun and the easiest exercise I've ever done. My heart rate hangs right around 140, sometimes going up to 161 (my resting heart rate is 48). I always burn at least 500 calories in an hour. I love the sunshine and the wind on my face. I don't even mind the bugs in my teeth (riding through clouds of gnats with my mouth open...yuck!).

I made it all the way to the top of steepest hill today without stopping. I couldn't let the lady with the baby in a stroller that was running up the hill beat me to the top.

If you don't own a bike or haven't ridden one in a while, you've got to get out there and do it. I seriously haven't had this much fun working out in years. My new rule though is if I bike for an hour, no gym. It's a good rule, and good for me. Moderation in all things, including exercise.

My week in review

I've noticed I'm posting less and less these days. I really don't know why. I'm not any busier than I was during the past year when I faithfully posted every day. During the day I'm always thinking of something to write about, but then I sit down at the computer, I'm a big, fat blank. Writer's block. I can't think of a single thing to say.

Since there aren't any profound thoughts I want to share, I'm just doing my week in review. Nothing exciting, nothing terribly interesting, just a brief synopsis of what I've been up to.

The StairMaster is finally fix at my gym. It's the old-fashioned kind where it's a set of rotating stairs. I LOVE this machine! I've added 15-20 minutes on it, in addition to 20 minutes elliptical.

I found a new love at the gym. Basketball! Yes, little old me, after I'm all sweated up from the elliptical and StairMaster. I go into the gymnasium at Ballys and play basketball by myself for about 20 minutes. It's totally fun. My heart rate gets up to 146 and because I'm so focused on dribbling the ball without losing it and making baskets, it doesn't even feel like I'm working out.

A guy at my gym started talking to me on Monday. He's usually on the elliptical in the mornings, and we always nod a hello. Monday he came up to me while I was on the chin-up assist machine. He started talking to me about how muscled my back looked and talked about working out and losing weight. He wants to lose 30 pounds.

He seemed nice and was very complimentary. He told me he just wanted me to know that he'd noticed me working out and that I was a beautiful woman. I was a little taken aback and I think I muttered a thank you. I asked him his age because he made a couple comments about being so old, but he didn't look old. I had to laugh when he said he was 38, then I told him I was 53. I figured that would make him go away, but it didn't. Funny thing about the whole thing, I've been going to that same gym for almost fifteen months and haven't had a single conversation with a single person in all that time.

I ate a dozen Costco cookies over a two-day period this week. It's a long story how they got into my house in the first place (a big no-no), but they're all gone. No more cookies for me. I didn't gain back my 85 pounds, and nothing really bad happened to me because of the cookies. I don't even feel guilty about it and it didn't start me on a spiral of unchecked eating like I expected. It happened, and it's over. No big deal.

I'm back up to 156 versus the 151 I was last weekend, but I feel human again. I feel strong and healthy. Yesterday I had a two-hour workout at the gym and I rocked it. Before anyone shouts out "exercise anorexia" please note I took off two days from the gym last week, Tuesday and Wednesday. So I'm more than okay, with the the weight gain and working out less. The 151 was reached by doing crazy things like working out 2-3 hours a day and skipping meals. Totally not healthy. I feel 100% better this weekend than last weekend. 156 really isn't that fat anyway, it's just not exactly where I want to be. I'm still working towards 135, but I'm okay at 156.

I have a bike ride planned today. Sunshine in the Northwest, gorgeous.

I was in Las Vegas for work on Wednesday. A 15-hour day. I actually took some time at lunch and sat outside in the 96 degree heat. It felt wonderful. I probably wouldn't want to live there, but it was a nice break from the past week of rainstorms in Seattle.

That's it, my boring life in review. Nothing terribly interesting or exciting. Maybe next weeek I'll think of something profound to say. Then again, maybe not.

Dihydro-Vitamin K1

Step right up ladies and gents; I have a new miracle vitamin for you. Totally unknown to our ignorant pre-industrial ancestors, it's called dihydro-vitamin K1. It's formed during the oil hydrogenation process, so the richest sources are hydrogenated fats like margarine, shortening and commercial deep fry oil. Some of its benefits may include:

• Inhibiting vitamin K2 metabolism
• Reducing bone mineral density
  
• Causing organ damage and inhibiting platelet formation in animal models
• Dramatically increasing the death rate of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Dihydro-vitamin K1 accounts for roughly 30% of the vitamin K intake of American children, and a substantial portion of adult intake as well. Over 99 percent of Americans have it in their diet. Research on dihydro-vitamin K1 is in its infancy at this point, so no one has a very solid idea of its effects on the body beyond some preliminary and disturbing suggestions from animal experiments and brief human trials.

This could be another mechanism by which industrially processed vegetable oils degrade health. It's also another example of why it's not a good idea to chemically alter food. We don't understand food, or our bodies, well enough to know the long-term consequences of foods that have been recently introduced to the human diet. I believe these foods should be avoided on principle.

Dihydro-Vitamin K1

Step right up ladies and gents; I have a new miracle vitamin for you. Totally unknown to our ignorant pre-industrial ancestors, it's called dihydro-vitamin K1. It's formed during the oil hydrogenation process, so the richest sources are hydrogenated fats like margarine, shortening and commercial deep fry oil. Some of its benefits may include:

• Inhibiting vitamin K2 metabolism
• Reducing bone mineral density
  
• Causing organ damage and inhibiting platelet formation in animal models
• Dramatically increasing the death rate of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Dihydro-vitamin K1 accounts for roughly 30% of the vitamin K intake of American children, and a substantial portion of adult intake as well. Over 99 percent of Americans have it in their diet. Research on dihydro-vitamin K1 is in its infancy at this point, so no one has a very solid idea of its effects on the body beyond some preliminary and disturbing suggestions from animal experiments and brief human trials.

This could be another mechanism by which industrially processed vegetable oils degrade health. It's also another example of why it's not a good idea to chemically alter food. We don't understand food, or our bodies, well enough to know the long-term consequences of foods that have been recently introduced to the human diet. I believe these foods should be avoided on principle.

What's for dinner?

Well, it's about that time of day again when I'm wondering "What's for dinner?" As silly as it seems I forget we have a great resource of recipes and nutritional ideas here at LivingAfterWLS! There is the Kitchen on the main LivingAfterWLS website that has loads of great recipe ideas that are both WLS friendly and family friendly. We have the Neighborhood Community Kitchen where we are all busy

Stressed, who? Me?

1. Woke up super later this morning, made a conscious decision to be late to work so I could get my workout in. Got to the gym at 6:30am, at 6:40am my iPod died. I can't workout without blaring music of my chocie (the gym's music sucks).

2. Stressed about missing workout. Think maybe Graciela is right. Maybe I do have midlife exercise anorexia nervosa. Can't stand the idea of not working out so brought workout stuff to work, will stop at gym on the way home. The article.

2. Rushed home, fight with husband before he left for work. Nice way to start the day.

3. Asthmatic cat wheezing like he's dying a slow death. Spent $600 on him last week, three vet visits, x-rays, medicine, oxygen. Advised to buy $300 HEPA room air filter. This morning ordered online with rush delivery.

4. Decided to wear a dress today since only two pairs of jeans that fit (10's) and both were in laundry. No pantyhose and legs are NOT tan. Wearing thigh highs and a corset garter getup. WTF was I thinking? Ever try to go to the bathroom wearing a corset with garters? Oh yeah, wearing three-inch heels too. Feel like a hooker.

5. Tried to check gmail at work and my backdoor access is now blocked. Damn company security. Found another backdoor after 15 minutes searching Google.

6. Filled out a very long, full of mumbo jumbo technical shit form for vendor access to our network. Right before I hit submit I kicked my computer which sits on the floor and disconnected it. Lost everything.

7. Everyone wants something from me today. I feel like my adult ADD is out of control.

Yes, I'm just a wee bit stressed out today.