Try, try again

Well it is the end of the year and I am really pleased that I am doing the Small Bites Daily Inspirations. I am getting alot out of it and it is keeping me focused, well mostly, although I would love to hear what you have to say on each topic, and remember it does not have to related directly to WLS, but in many aspects of our life. Also, if you want to follow me.....you can add yourself through google connect on the LHS of page.

Tomorrow, being New Years Day we are having our family get together, that is my brothers, Dad & Val and my neice and nephews, as well as Si's parents. We have not done the Christmas presents with most of that side of the family and we have a BBQ at our house. 

I am mostly on track with food at the moment, although there has been a few holiday treats. Today has been the first day since starting this posting daily that I have had some fizzy drink. But like the title says - Try, try again. 

So for the last day of 2010, the NAWLS Small Bites - Daily Inspiration is :

Try, try again
Sometimes after the holidays it's hard to get back on track again. Maybe you've put on a few pounds/kilos and feel huge. Maybe you feel like you cannot control your eating. Please know this feeling with pass. 

Keep trying. Start over every minute if you have to. And eat dense protein. Even if you have to bake chicken for breakfast, do it. Make tasty, "safe" foods, such as stewed chicken and vegetables. Eat good foods you like at every meal until you start to feel more satisfied and in control. It's hard to feel yucky when you eat solid, healthy food.

Action for the day:
Get back to basics. Eat dense protein and well-prepared nutrient-rich vegetables at every meal today. 

© 2007, Katie Jay. All rights reserved.

Well I didn't manage this today, but I did make some plans for upcoming meals by going through both my WLS friendly and Gluten free recipies. I think I also need to get to the farmers market each week and buy really fresh great ingredients for meals.

Off now to see the New Year in, not sure IF I will make it till midnight as I still have some things to make for tomorrow. Wishing you all a very happy New Year and the best for 2011. I am going to make this a WLS year.

Get enough sleep

Today's post is about sleep and the impact on Weight loss. At this time of the year it is so easy to stay up late and get over tired with all the festivities. So I think it was quite timely to look at sleep. 

So the Small Bite - Daily Inspiration from the National Association of Weight Loss Surgery for today is:

Get enough sleep.
Do you put off going to ned so that you can have quiet time to yourself, even though you have to get up early? Do you place a higher value on a lot of things besides sleep?

Insufficient sleep is tied to weight regain. It's harer to follow a halthy food plan when you're tired. In fact, everything is much more difficult when you're tired. Lack of sleep is one of the biggest problems people have, and the most underestimated in its impact on your health. 

Action for the day:
Start a log to find out how much sleep you're really getting. Find a way to get more rest, if needed.

© 2007, Katie Jay. All rights reserved.

I know this is a big one for me, I can find myself saying I'm tired at around 9pm but somehow I get cuaght up with something, or more precisely (something - the computer or FB) and I find myself in bed at 11:30. I say to myself I would like to go to the gym in the morning, but there is almost no way of dragging my butt out of bed that early. 

So, I will start this journal once I go back to work, and when I hear myself say, "I'm tired"  I will go to bed, rather than play "just one more game" on FB.

Refocus on your needs

Day two of the Small Bites - Daily Inspirations from the National Association of Weight Loss Surgery and it is in some ways simalar to yesterday.

Refocus on your needs.
Haveyou been so busy you forgot to take care of yourself? If so, it's time to regroup.

The longer you live the WLS lifestyle, the less urgent it seems to make healthy choices. But when you disregard your own needs, even to care for others, you do yourself - and them - a disservice. Today, remind yourself that your WLS lifestyle is effective only when you stop and acknowledge you have the disease of obesity, and that you need to be treating it whether you are overweight or not.

Action for the day:
Take a few minutes to plan what you will do to refocus on your health needs in the coming year. Write down you plans and refer to them often.

© 2007, Katie Jay. All rights reserved.

For me this year refocusing on my health needs means getting back to basics!!

• Having my protein first, and making that the priority.
• Watching the carb intake and limiting any carbs to the more complex rather than simple ones. 
• Upping my water intake and limiting the fizzy stuff (even if it is sugar free)
• Move more - get out for walks.
• Not drinking with meals
• Remember that I paid to have this way of life - so lets get the most out of it. 

Oh, Blondie, I did a little bit about the Meet & Greet on one of the posts, but did not really go into detail of the actual event. Let's just say it was fabulous and everyone had a great time. If you want to see the pics you can go to my you tube channel (Top right corner) and the photos are on there as a video montage. 

Today we are heading out and about a little, going to go to Te Manawa. I am looking for free or cheap things to do with our time as we have kinda overspent a little and we are heading away for a weekend in a couple of weeks that I need to save for.

Reflect first, then plan.

So I mention a post of so back that as at the New Year I was going to follow the Small Bites Daily Inspirations from the National Association of Weight loss Surgery for the whole year and I was going to follow through with the exercises (journal/meditation etc). Well I decided I need to start early and really get this going and my head sorted.

For each day I will type out the actual small bite and then the action for the day, so if you want you can do the same.

Reflect first, then plan.
On New Year's Eve, many people talk about their plans for the coming year. They make resolutions and hope for better times ahead. But before you start down the resolution path, pause for a moment and truly reflect. What can you learn from the past year about yourself? Have you discovered what works in terms of health and what doesn't? You can make resolutions soon (or better yet, set goals) but today look back. You owe it to yourself to learn your lessons, so that you can grow wiser and healthier in the coming year.

Action for the day:
Even if you don't usually journal, take a few minutes to do this exercise. Make a list of things you wish you had done differently this past year, and then a list of what you did well. Next to the things you wish you had done differently, write down a step you can take to ensure you won't repeat that mistake. Next to the things you did well write down what you can do to continue having success in that area. Read this list every morning in January.

© 2007, Katie Jay. All rights reserved.

Things I wish I had done differently: (steps I am going to take to stop me repeating mistake in red)

• Savings - we were meant to be saving for a trip to aussie, but due to not being able to save really well, we decided that buying a car and paying it off was a better option. So now we have no savings, and a debt. Still going to try to save - but will take up a friends offer to hold the eftpos card so I can't make rash purchases with it.

• Exercise - I can honestly say that this past year I have done hardly any exercise. When we moved here I had great intentions of going to curves, but with working fulltime it just never happened so I stopped paying that membership. I said I would walk the dog, but that didn't happen. I said I would go to aqua aerobics, I have been once. We joined the gym for 3 months over summer - I have only been once to the start up session. I am setting up a payment plan to myself. Each time I go to the gym (up to 3 times in a week) I am allowed my next weeks spending money.......(we have $30 each to spend) otherwise it goes on bills. So in other words if I have not been to the gym 3 times this week, when it comes to payday I can not allocate myself the $30. I am aso going to pay myself $2 for every 20 minute walk I do with the dog. Maximum 2 walks per day. Maybe even meet up with friends for a walk a couple of times a week.

• Drinking with meals has always been hard for me, and I know that I can fit more in if I drink when I eat, and of course I like food, that is part of my problem, I am a foodie. So I want to fit more in, so by drinking I can. I manage to do this at work, I never have a drink with my lunch if I am on track with eating.......I still do however if it is something bad for me that I know I want to finish. Stop bringing a glass of something to the table and only going and getting a drink if I REALLY need it - not to force the food down.

• Drinking more water is essential as well, the gym said my body water weight was really low and that I should be sipping from a drink bottle all the time. I know this, as this is what I should be doing for my WLS, but it has taken a backseat to coke zero, which of course now is thought to help strecth the pouch (carbonated drinks). I have bought some low cal, lemon and barley which I am going to put in with the water to give it a little flavour.

• Letting carbs back in - this is tough, as I do feel that some carbs are okay, justnot the overly processed carbs, and here I am talking more about the crap food, the chippies and the lollies and the chocolate. Sure potatoes and rice and fruit are carbs but are still much better alternatives to the above. I feel that I need to maybe limit these things and certainly the portion sizes (see below). but they main issue for me is actually the crap food. Stop buying it!!!!!!!!

• Portion Sizes have crept up again and I know some of it is from drinking with meals, so it is kinda a double whammy. Use a smaller plate to get back into control the real size of servings.

• Blaming the steroids for my weight gain. Sure it has a factor, but it is not the reason I have gained weight and over my accceptable ceiling. Take ownership of my mistakes that have allowed the weight to come on.

• Stopping Gluten Free - Most of the time I am, but then I just can't be bothered and honestley sometimes there is jsut something about a white bread tomato sandwhich or a pie or something equally as bad for my WLS journey that I just want, and so I do and then I pay the price by being itchy and irritable for the next week. Embrace the change and find alternatives that I can make myself. It is so much better than being itchy constantly.

Things I have done well (and what I can do to continue to have success in that area)

• Held a fulltime job for a year. After being sick and made redundant I was not sure I could get and hold fulltime employment, but although I was only meant to be part time over the last year, as at the 5th January I have been 1 year fulltime. I think I have done this by recognising when I was finding things a bit tough and taking time off throughout the year to have some mini breaks. Continue with the taking breaks when I need it and recognising when I get tired or run down.

• Creating and hosting the first ever WLS Meet & Greet. What a ride that was, and I am so pleased that I achieved it, and we had over 100 happy people. Planning is starting on the next one and I know it will be just as if not more successful as we I will learn from my mistakes. Keep working to the the formula that worked and tweak what needs tweaking.

• Fostering - taking the first steps towards becoming a parent, after learning of the difficulties we will encounter having a child ourselves. I know I want to be able to be a positive influence in a young persons life, but on the other hand I am scared that I will make a shambles of it. But as they say in the training, they are not looking for PERFECT parenting, just positive and consistant parenting. Complete the workbook and meet with the social worker to continue the steps towards being a foster parent to a special child.

• Not moved house!!!!!!!!! On the 5th January will mark 1 year at this house, and thankfully we have not had to move.....not like the year before where we moved 4 times in one year. Although I have to admit I still look at houses every now and then and think, wow that would be nice to live there. Especially when the landlord has still not installed the heat transfer kit, and I want to make sure that is done before winter rolls around!!! Speak with the landlord to get the heat transfer kit installed and then I will be happy as!!!!!!!!

• Vitamins - I have done really well this past 6 months of taking my vitamins. I think it is becuase I have found a better routine with taking all my other medication as well and I seem to be fitting it in more. Getting the Bariatric Advantage Calicum Chews was also a big factor as the calicum was the one I was missing the most. Continue with the routine I have in place for my pills.

• Identifying what I want to do as a career. I really want to be heading up the national organisation for WLS here in New Zealand and to be promoting the support and resources which are available for everyone who has had WLS or who is considering it. My aim is to be able to turn this into a full time role and maybe even get it to the stage where it employs several people from our community. I know that I can make this work, just like I did with the Meet and Greet. It is a little like the movie Field of Dreams - if you build it, they will come. Keep chipping away at the plan, and run with the ideas. I CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!

So there you have it, that is the first day done of the Small Bites Daily Inspirations for Weight Loss Surgery Patients. You can buy the book from the National Assocation of Weight Loss Surgery website. 

I will be doing this daily and would love to hear your feedback about not only my journey through this, but anything you yourself might want to share. 

Payments..........

I was talking to my surgery sister (Annie) this morning and we were talkng about exercise and how to actually make sure we do enough in a week. She mentioned that she is not getting out for enough walks since stopping her gym memberships. 

I asked her what made her go to the gym, and she said it was that she was paying for it. So I came up with an idea that I am going to use at home as well. 
To get myself some spending money, for clothes, coffees, movies, etc I have to work for it. That means for me, if I want to get my say $30 of spending money each week for me to do what I like with, then I have to go to the gym 3 times in the previous week, if I don't then that spending money goes onto one of the bills.

I thought that this is getting a double benefit....one I get to the gym the 3 times in a week, and I get to have some spending money that I can do what I like with. I then took it further and thought about how I could encorporate that further into my situation. 


So, how do I get a triple benefit out of it......well, if I take the dog for a walk for at least 20 mins, I get $2 as spending, so that is a benefit to me, to the dog and to my fitness!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That $2 per time, I am going to put into a jar and when I have enough I am going to go shopping with it for clothes. 


We heard at our meeting a couple of days ago that pretty much yes there will be restructure but what that looks like for our site won't be known till around July. By then I hope to have the national organisation up and running and be able to be working from home doing what I love doing. 


So I didn't make it to the gym today as we have been flat out today organising our new car. We ended up buying a 2004 Nissan Maxima. It is really lovely and it was just what we have been looking for. So now I have to get out to the gym and to take the dog for a walk to pay for it!!!!!!!! LOL. 

Specialist Update

I had an appointment with my specialist yesterday, and he was runing 1.5 hours late. So I finally got out of the appointment around 6pm. 

It was great though, he is happy with how things are going with the liver results and in January he is dropping down my steroid dose by 2.5 mg and then the following month we are dropping down again. It will take a while to come of them, but it is the right direction.

So back to how I am going to focus on my fitness, well I had my first program set by the trainer on Tueday, and it didn't go as well as I had hope. I have been to gyms before and managed all of the exercises but she set me one that I just really struggled with and I ended up bursting into tears and honestly I could have almost stopped right then and there, but I didn't I continued, but man I felt so useless especially after having lost as much weight as what I have, that I couldn't do that simple thing. But I guess when you have been obese since the age of 9 some of the muscles just don't work the same. 

So back to the gym tonight, had a rest day on between. It should take around 45 mins for my program, and I will honestly attempt each thing. After she realised where my actual fitness level is, she has adapted some of it and on some of the exercises she wants me to even to do 2 on each leg as a start and slowly build up. 

So, the focus on fitness is continuing and I am also concious of what I am eating. I bought a calorie counter the other day as although I never want to really diet again, I do need to be concious of my energy levels, and one of the things I discovered was that I am not eating anywhere near enough in energy during the day, which would account for why I am ready to enhale the house when I get home from work and that doesn't usually stop till bedtime. 

So I am increasing my intake during the day which should make things more even. 

Next year I am also going to be blogging more about my journey to actually re-establish a strong link between myself and my WLS tool. I am using the Katie Jay "Small Bites - Daily Inspirations for Weight Loss Surgery Patients" book which has exercises everyday. Some of these are journaling, some are meditation etc, and I am going to give myself over to that process. You can get some of the daily inspirations free from her website www.nawls.com

Today is going to be an interesting day, we have meeting at work regarding possible restructuring, so I might pop back later to update. Just trying to keep an open mind and arm myself with the knowledge I have gottent hrough redundancy and illness at the same before, I can get through anything. 

If I don't make it back before Christmas, have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Focussing on Fitness

That is my main aim for the summer to focus on fitness as well as food. I would really like to get back down to my lowest weight before getting sick. I would like to take control of my re-routed guts and feel in control again.

It kind of ties in nicely with the Daily inspirations for Weight Loss Surgery Patients book that I have, and the entry for December 1st is :


"Change your Pace"
When you get bored with your routine, you are vulnerable to breaking it. Better to build in some variety than to go looking for it in a vulnerable moment. 


You can change all sorts of things to keep life interesting. For example, if you walk at a fast pace whenyou're exercising, take a stroll instead and focus on your breath - breathe in for four paces and breathe out for four paces. If you normally take leisurely walks, pick up the pace. See if you can cover your usual distance in a shorter amount of time. 


Action for the day:
Change something today to make your regimen more interesting. Do a different exercise, try a new spice, have a picnic for lunch, or eat dinner for breakfast - whatever sounds fun to you.

If you want to get small bites like this sent to your email you can go and sign up for the free emails from www.nawls.com

So for me, that is what I am going to do. Si and I recently bought a 3 month membership off www.grabone.co.nz to CLM Gym which is at the pool, and I am going to get back into getting my fitness up and hopefully that will have a positive flow on effect on the weight.

I am planning on doing aqua aerobics at least twice a week and then also some cardio work. I am meeting with the trainer next Tuesday to work through a program, but before that I will just do cardio and aqua till then, and then I might do some low weights as well to help build some muscle. I need to be a bit careful there will the steroids.

Oh, I guess that I should mention that the Meet & Greet went really well, and the feedback we got was really positive. We are now working towards redoing the website and moving towards setting up a national organisation to provide support and resources for the Weightloss Surgery community. With that I am trying to look at funding support to cover the operational costs including possibly covering wages for myself.

Why this has become of some immediate importance is that after I got back to work last week, I found out that our call centre looks likely to be shutting down within the next year and I am uncertain as to what hours I will have next year as technically I'm on a part time contract although working fulltime at the moment till Jan 5th next year. What will happen after that who knows.But I have to stay positive.

Oh that note, I am going to head to bed and get a nice nights sleep, and hopefully be at the pooltomorrow night for the aqua deep class.

Well it's here........the WLS Meet & Greet - New Zealand 2010.

I can't beleive after all the planning the weekend is actually here, and that we have had so much amazing support from so many company's. Here are just some of the companies that have provided some amazing support.

I still have a little to do this morning, nothing major, just a couple of calls to make and to type up some thoughts about the segment I am presenting, which is just surrounding the possible formation of a national organisation that provides support and resources for all things Weight Loss Surgery.


Some of the things that I want to bring up during this is that by having a national organisation we can hopefully have a strong support network, which help provide insight into the realities of WLS through all of the stages - good & bad. Having a national magazine like Obesity Help which celebrates our decision to "lead healthier lives with Weight Loss Surgery" or the National Association for Weight Loss Surgery (NAWLS) who suport and encourage with online forums and daily emails to keep you motivated and on track.


Products- I would so love to be able to get more top quality bariatric products here. Obviously if we can source good local products such as Eatme Protein Shakes, then brilliant, but where there is not the availability being able to buy these in easily would be fantastic. 


Funding - this of course is a touchy subject, but my main concern is not if Weight loss Surgery should be funded or to what level but that any level of funding should be consistant throught the country. eg, if funding is available under 1 DHB it should be available under all. To quote Mark Sainsbury from "Close Up" - "It shouldn't matter where you live dictating IF you live". We Need consistancy. 

Funding of Blood tests - currently in some DHB's the follow up blood tests requested by our surgeons to make sure that we are getting the right levels of nutrition are charged - once again consistancy issues arise.


Supplements - As bariatric or weight loss surgery patients we need great quality supplements. We do have access to the standard supplements through the health system and for most that is okay, however for me, I would love to be able to have access to supplements that are designed for my system and how I process it. If I never have to have another calcium carbonate "horse pill" it will be too soon. I would much rather have one of the chewable calcium from the companies like Bariatric Advantage or Celebrate Vitamins. The problem at the moment is getting it into the country easily. I hope by having a national organisation we can act as a distributor for these companies which would mean savings on the cost to get them shipped here as we could buy in "bulk".


A United Voice - for me this is really important. Every year more and more of us are having Weight Loss Surgery, infact in 2003 between New Zealand and Australia there was just 2750 operations in that year. In 2008 that number increased to 11914. That is an increase of 433% in just 5 short years. I wonder how much that has increased in just the last two years. As a WLS patient I beleive that it should not just be the surgeons who stand up and say why Weight Loss Surgery is such great tool and what benefits it can have to our health.  I hear from people who are "anti" weight loss surgery that when they see or hear the surgeons promoting or defending weight loss surgery that they "only want more money". Now I know that some people are not public about their Weight Loss Surgery and that is a personal decision which I respect, however for those of us who are public, should it not be us who tell the world how Weight Loss surgery has been for us, and how much impact it has had on our lives? Maybe if we had a national organisation we could be the ones that the media come to for a balanced view. 


Promotion - Events such as the "walk from obesity" campaign in the US. I would love to see events like that here. Basically they are sponsored walks which help fundraise to continue research into obesity and includes support from all forms of the Weight Loss Community, whether it be Surgery or not.  It may be a great way to show that for some of us, Weight loss surgery was the BEST tool for us. 

I guess one of the major reasons for me though, is to "celebrate my decision to lead a healthier live with the tool that is Weight Loss Surgery" and to have events like our first Meet & Greet, and the monthly support meetings. They keep me on track (mostly) and keep me motivated to keep picking myself up if I fall off the wagon.....eventually I will learn how to stay on the damn thing. 

That is just some of the points that I will be raising as part of the discussion segment of the weekend when we have the Associate Minister of Health - Tariana Turia attending as well. 


How I am going to start my presentation is with a video that was sent to me today from a lovely lady in the US who is such an inspiration. Her name is Cari, and she is adorable. This just highlights that we are just part of a global Weight Loss Surgery Community, and that no matter where in the world you are, this tool is pretty damn amazing. 

I will try and get some video and pictures of the weekend, I am conscious that not everyone is public and therefore need to get permission for both, especially as I will be posting on here and on you tube and facebook.

Super Busy - WLS Meet and Greet Countdown.

Wow - time flies, I have been super busy this last few weeks getting everything sorted for the WLS Meet and Greet, which is now only 24 days away. I can't wait and everything is slowly falling into place. 

I have had some amazing support from heaps of different companies and have even in the last day had emails from some US companies that I was having trouble making contact with, but with the help of Diva Taunia introducing me, I am getting some doors opening. Hoping like anything that we will be able to get the stuff here in time and that it will come through customs okay. 

As I thought, we would also get a little bit of a late rush to register and we now have around 95 people registered and most of those people have also paid, so fabulous news. The girls from the Palmerston North group are going to come over and help me make up the goodie bags this week, so that is fabulous. I really need a couple of days now just to get the programs finalised and the name badges printed.

I have been really busy at work over the last couple of weeks as well learning a new product at work, and that will pretty much take me right up to when I finish a couple of days before the Meet and Greet. 

We are also still doing the fostering/adoption training and have another session this Saturday, and another one on the 13th Nov. Actually the 13th is going to be a busy day as we have that to do as well as a wedding, the Harris family christmas and also I have two workdo's on the same day.  We have decided that we will miss the work dos but try and fit everything else in......going to be manic on that day. After that I only have 3 days at work as I have taken the 18th & 19th of for the Meet and Greet. 

I guess I should try an update more, and once the goodie bags are done, I might try and show you whats in them, although I don't want to spoil it for anyone who reads and is coming.....so maybe just after the event I will show everyone. 

Anyway - off to check on dinner and get some more emails sent. 

Take care 

J

A Video Update on the WLS Meet & Greet 2010

Just a quick 10 min video telling you all about the WLS Meet & Greet and some of the things that are going to be in the goodie bags and some of the events happpening on the day.