Long weekend lots of traveling. A couple of things surfaced for me:
One was a disposable suture that didn't dispose of it self as designed, instead it migrated to the surface. Where it kept getting caught on my shirt,( now kids/adults don't do this at home-decided I better add a disclaimer) so this nurse took matters into her own hand and pulled the suture, all 2 inches of it. Looked like fishing line, which caused me to think of my brother in law and his uncle talking of fishing this weekend. Would love to go Salmon or Trout fishing some day. Whoops off track. So far no ill effects from my surgical skills which are nill. In fact my pain is less and my incision is less red so I think perhaps that was the appropriate thing to do.
Two breakfast baskets were delivered to my sister in law so they were overrun with bagels. Oh how I miss bagels. Especially toasted with butter plus or minus the cream cheese doesn't matter.
Oh hey a new rule-its OK to drool. When we stopped for lunch the diner had a fabulous bakery. While Hubby paid the bill I looked at all the stuff in the cases. Wow it was loaded with beautiful desserts. That's when it hit me I can enjoy the beauty of the desserts. . I can at least window shop as long as I don't buy anything...and I don't care if I look like my great nephew Simon (4 months) or my great niece Gabby (3 months) if I want to drool I will. Of course we can hope I have better control of my drool as I am supposed to be an adult.
Three- if your with family you can get thru anything. Even though we gathered to celebrate the life of our loved one, we were all together. So many of the cousins had not been together in person for a long time. It was just so wonderful to see these adults all together playing ball and seeming like there was never any time apart or distance between them at all.
Four-I seemed to have forgotten that I had major surgery because when I was completely exhausted, sore, and stiff from sitting in the back seat last night. I wondered why!. Absolutely laugh cause its funny.
So tomorrow its back to work and we will see how our new normal progresses.
more later....
thanks for reading.
Monday, August 20, 2012
A couple of days at the beach/Getting the feel of the new life style.
Here are some random thoughts of traveling for the first time post lap band surgery. These thoughts are in no particular order. Perhaps if I hadn't gotten stuck with a case of procrastination you might have seen this sooner. So lets see if my notes will help jog my memory and not run across a few words and stop, scratching my head saying "now what did I mean by that".
* I think restaurants should have lap band/gastric bypass portions. Perhaps the menus could be regular portion, mid sized portion and really small portion. Maybe like the auto industry names their cars. Luxury, midsized and compact.
*A friend told me I would be leaving food on my plate, especially when eating out. It took about 2 seconds at the end of the meal to realize that I don't like leaving food on my plate. it feels wasteful, perhaps you know whats coming next! I kept hearing my mothers voice in my head saying finish your meal there are starving kids out there that would love this food. Thanks Mom...I have to say that made eating out kind of a bummer. Something I used to love and adore now offered a tinge of anxiety. We were on the seacoast of Maine. There was always the option of eating off a kiddie menu. I could make some believe I am under 12 right? Perhaps in my dreams! There is the share a plate option. I got the vibes that my husband is not really keen on sharing a plate.Understand that could just be some broken thinking on my part. What we ended up discovering was a lobster roll was almost a perfect food. It was small quantity. I could tell them to hold the fry's and chips.The other thought was soup. The old stand by of the Egg Salad.
*One of the fun parts of eating out for me was lingering over a menu making my decision of what to eat. After the 2nd dining out experience I realized this would be a different kind of fun. The first thought when a menu was handed to me was "Oh crap what can I order/ eat that's ok and with the mindfulness of lets not be wasteful.
*I think probably once or twice in our lives we could relate to the walking out of our pants comment. I had gotten a pair of shorts that were admittedly a little loose around the waist when I purchased them. Well I put them on and at first things were perfect. Very comfy pair of jean shorts. I hadn't worn jean shorts in forever. Apparently I must have lost some weight between the purchasing of the pants and the wearing of the pants cause with every step it felt like in about 3 steps they were going to be around my ankles and I would get to experience air flow where there used to be pants. Feel free to continue to laugh because yes I have almost walked right out of a pair of pants that had an elastic waist band malfunction. So here I am walking around the rocks at Nubble Light with a finger in a belt loop with visions of suspenders dancing in my head.
*I have been told when embarking on this type of life style change that i will suddenly start to notice the eating behaviors of those around me. I can relate to that with the dreaded croutons in someones salad. Crunch, Crunch. What I have noticed that food names have gone with the wind. Its now protein, starch, non starch. Life by food group.
*I have to say it was great fun having a bathing suit that fit better. I completely enjoyed laying on the beach reading 50 Shades of Grey. Ok thats subject for another blog. I am getting an education I wont ever use. I do think it would have been fun to bring a shovel and created myself a sand chair. I could lay down on my belly but getting up posed a bit of a trick.
*I have been to the ocean tons of times. There was a storm on the coast and the waves were excellent, if only I could surf, where is that boogie board when you need one. The water was great. I have always love the ocean even at its coldest. I walked into the water and a wave hit. I thought holy molly am I weak. I better not fall down or I will get swept out to sea. I dont remember ever having that feeling before in the ocean waves. I even asked hubby"hey are these waves more powerful then we have ever seen them" He replyed "yes" and I relaxed a bit cause I thought ok it's not just me the million pound weakling.
*Cool discovery I can reach down and actually grab my purse on the car floor with out making sure the strap is over my knee. Thinking lots of you just take this ability for granted. Also found I wasn't so focused on what chair in the room might hold me.
*Got to wear a pair of pants I have never worn cause they were already to small when a friend bought them for me for a $1.00 at a sale.
more later.....
thanks for reading.
* I think restaurants should have lap band/gastric bypass portions. Perhaps the menus could be regular portion, mid sized portion and really small portion. Maybe like the auto industry names their cars. Luxury, midsized and compact.
*A friend told me I would be leaving food on my plate, especially when eating out. It took about 2 seconds at the end of the meal to realize that I don't like leaving food on my plate. it feels wasteful, perhaps you know whats coming next! I kept hearing my mothers voice in my head saying finish your meal there are starving kids out there that would love this food. Thanks Mom...I have to say that made eating out kind of a bummer. Something I used to love and adore now offered a tinge of anxiety. We were on the seacoast of Maine. There was always the option of eating off a kiddie menu. I could make some believe I am under 12 right? Perhaps in my dreams! There is the share a plate option. I got the vibes that my husband is not really keen on sharing a plate.Understand that could just be some broken thinking on my part. What we ended up discovering was a lobster roll was almost a perfect food. It was small quantity. I could tell them to hold the fry's and chips.The other thought was soup. The old stand by of the Egg Salad.
*One of the fun parts of eating out for me was lingering over a menu making my decision of what to eat. After the 2nd dining out experience I realized this would be a different kind of fun. The first thought when a menu was handed to me was "Oh crap what can I order/ eat that's ok and with the mindfulness of lets not be wasteful.
*I think probably once or twice in our lives we could relate to the walking out of our pants comment. I had gotten a pair of shorts that were admittedly a little loose around the waist when I purchased them. Well I put them on and at first things were perfect. Very comfy pair of jean shorts. I hadn't worn jean shorts in forever. Apparently I must have lost some weight between the purchasing of the pants and the wearing of the pants cause with every step it felt like in about 3 steps they were going to be around my ankles and I would get to experience air flow where there used to be pants. Feel free to continue to laugh because yes I have almost walked right out of a pair of pants that had an elastic waist band malfunction. So here I am walking around the rocks at Nubble Light with a finger in a belt loop with visions of suspenders dancing in my head.
*I have been told when embarking on this type of life style change that i will suddenly start to notice the eating behaviors of those around me. I can relate to that with the dreaded croutons in someones salad. Crunch, Crunch. What I have noticed that food names have gone with the wind. Its now protein, starch, non starch. Life by food group.
*I have to say it was great fun having a bathing suit that fit better. I completely enjoyed laying on the beach reading 50 Shades of Grey. Ok thats subject for another blog. I am getting an education I wont ever use. I do think it would have been fun to bring a shovel and created myself a sand chair. I could lay down on my belly but getting up posed a bit of a trick.
*I have been to the ocean tons of times. There was a storm on the coast and the waves were excellent, if only I could surf, where is that boogie board when you need one. The water was great. I have always love the ocean even at its coldest. I walked into the water and a wave hit. I thought holy molly am I weak. I better not fall down or I will get swept out to sea. I dont remember ever having that feeling before in the ocean waves. I even asked hubby"hey are these waves more powerful then we have ever seen them" He replyed "yes" and I relaxed a bit cause I thought ok it's not just me the million pound weakling.
*Cool discovery I can reach down and actually grab my purse on the car floor with out making sure the strap is over my knee. Thinking lots of you just take this ability for granted. Also found I wasn't so focused on what chair in the room might hold me.
*Got to wear a pair of pants I have never worn cause they were already to small when a friend bought them for me for a $1.00 at a sale.
more later.....
thanks for reading.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Road Trip to the Mall or Wicked bad idea?
Today started oddly enough with my getting an email from the online site I use to keep track of exercise, calories and water intake. Three things struck out to me in that email. " Did you only have 600 calories all day, do you know how to count? and remember to record all your food intake, if you don't you may find you wont be successful with weight loss. Ok WSTMNBN( web site that must not be named.). Yes, I only had 600 calories yesterday, no I am not purposefully or accidentally withholding data from you. You just don't know the rest of the story.
It's our 32nd wedding anniversary today. We are not big on celebrating anniversary's so I marked the occasion by making us scrambled eggs. I know just too exciting for words. It was a very yummy breakfast.
The plan for the day determined a few days ago was a trip to Manchester to check out the Mall on NH for a suit for my son Chris. I was asked to come along to get out of the house, fresh air, change of scenery . It was funny because they wanted me along for the ride but when we arrived at the Mall they were like OK you can do your errands, I had mentioned somethings I wanted to purchase at AC Moore.
I was surprised at how tired I felt even only walking for 10 min around the store. It's interesting when I realized that since surgery I haven't actually been standing up straight cause of the pain. Just cause of the location of the incisions, right smack in the middle of the core muscles. Not finding the suit they wanted we soon departed and ended up at a different Manchester store. This time I got to shop with them. Picked out a gorgeous tie that really makes the charcoal suit/ grey shirt pop.
We stopped for lunch at Burger King. My meal was a small Mango/Banana frappe. I observed that prior to surgery I would have been more than happy to have a large frappe and probably been wanting more when I was done. WOW. The boys had burgers and fries. The shake was wonderful. Should be its low fat but full of carbohydrates.
This was my test how do you deal with a confined car with all those smells. I am still amazed how strong my sense of smell has become since choosing not to eat food.
I had decided that I would adapt a one bite rule for desserts and foods that I adore but shouldn't really have because of calories, fats etc. Well I have added to that rule the 4 french fry rule. I had said to the front seat occupants that I thought 2 fries could make their way to the back seat occupant. What harm can 2 french fries do? I understand there is no nutritional value in a french fry but there is flavor value which in my eyes carries the same if not more quality of life.
I sat in the back seat, leaned my head against the car door, closed my eyes and just savored the burger smells, I swear I could smell each component. Heavenly, I keep telling my self that. Smelling is better than eating. At one point 2 more fries migrated to the back seat and it struck me. I know just how the dogs feel, sitting, panting waiting for the treat to come there way. Was quite a Revelation!!!.
I will say the Road Trip to the Mall was not a wicked bad idea, turned out to be a good idea. I will say that as a recovering from surgery person, that because I didn't have a baseline for comparison I really don't know I have done to much until it's too late, I have done to much and already starting to notice the fatigue. Whoops. I was pretty well done in for the rest of the day. Its all about learning something new every day.
Tonight's supper was an adventure in chewing. Surgeon told me to practice chewing so when i was offered 2 oz of chicken I wasn't going to say no. I find my self thinking of food portions in terms of tsp/tbsp/oz. Instead of cups, plates, and lbs. Tonight's supper actually looked like a real meal. I am starting to be an adult as I can portion out baby bites with an adult utensil..
It's our 32nd wedding anniversary today. We are not big on celebrating anniversary's so I marked the occasion by making us scrambled eggs. I know just too exciting for words. It was a very yummy breakfast.
The plan for the day determined a few days ago was a trip to Manchester to check out the Mall on NH for a suit for my son Chris. I was asked to come along to get out of the house, fresh air, change of scenery . It was funny because they wanted me along for the ride but when we arrived at the Mall they were like OK you can do your errands, I had mentioned somethings I wanted to purchase at AC Moore.
I was surprised at how tired I felt even only walking for 10 min around the store. It's interesting when I realized that since surgery I haven't actually been standing up straight cause of the pain. Just cause of the location of the incisions, right smack in the middle of the core muscles. Not finding the suit they wanted we soon departed and ended up at a different Manchester store. This time I got to shop with them. Picked out a gorgeous tie that really makes the charcoal suit/ grey shirt pop.
We stopped for lunch at Burger King. My meal was a small Mango/Banana frappe. I observed that prior to surgery I would have been more than happy to have a large frappe and probably been wanting more when I was done. WOW. The boys had burgers and fries. The shake was wonderful. Should be its low fat but full of carbohydrates.
This was my test how do you deal with a confined car with all those smells. I am still amazed how strong my sense of smell has become since choosing not to eat food.
I had decided that I would adapt a one bite rule for desserts and foods that I adore but shouldn't really have because of calories, fats etc. Well I have added to that rule the 4 french fry rule. I had said to the front seat occupants that I thought 2 fries could make their way to the back seat occupant. What harm can 2 french fries do? I understand there is no nutritional value in a french fry but there is flavor value which in my eyes carries the same if not more quality of life.
I sat in the back seat, leaned my head against the car door, closed my eyes and just savored the burger smells, I swear I could smell each component. Heavenly, I keep telling my self that. Smelling is better than eating. At one point 2 more fries migrated to the back seat and it struck me. I know just how the dogs feel, sitting, panting waiting for the treat to come there way. Was quite a Revelation!!!.
I will say the Road Trip to the Mall was not a wicked bad idea, turned out to be a good idea. I will say that as a recovering from surgery person, that because I didn't have a baseline for comparison I really don't know I have done to much until it's too late, I have done to much and already starting to notice the fatigue. Whoops. I was pretty well done in for the rest of the day. Its all about learning something new every day.
Tonight's supper was an adventure in chewing. Surgeon told me to practice chewing so when i was offered 2 oz of chicken I wasn't going to say no. I find my self thinking of food portions in terms of tsp/tbsp/oz. Instead of cups, plates, and lbs. Tonight's supper actually looked like a real meal. I am starting to be an adult as I can portion out baby bites with an adult utensil..
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