Progress

It's officially been 4 weeks since my surgery and I am down 24 pounds in that time.  What feels incredibly strange is the consistency with which the weight continues to drop off.  When you've tried every diet under the sun, and you hit that plateau around 20 pounds, you start to expect that you'll never lose more than that and so it become pointless to try.  But even now, when I'm not exercising and no longer being extremely cautious about what I'm eating, the weight continues to come off.

With that said, I know that if I continue to lose large amounts of weight without doing any kind of exercise to help (a) speed it up and (b) tone up my body, I'm not going to like what I'm left with.  So, I found a personal trainer and we have our first workout tonight.  I'm really excited about this.  I had a trainer a few years ago and found it incredibly helpful.  First of all, the elliptical isn't going to change your body, especially when you have this much weight to lose.  I was doing 2 workouts a day for 45-60 minutes on the elliptical back then and the scale wasn't budging.  But as soon as my trainer switched up my routine and had me doing compound exercises, boot camp style workouts, plyometrics and got me out of the gym - my entire body changed quickly.  

Clearly, that's what I'm hoping for here as well.  The plan is to work with the trainer 2 days a week to start.  I'm sure she'll give me instruction on what to do the other 2-3 days a week that I should be working out that I'm not with her.

I've been really successful in terms of what I'm able to eat, however I'm pretty sure that's because I'm fearless when it comes to food.  I've met people who are extremely cautious with their pouch and don't try foods because they've been scared off of them.  Now that I'm back to eating real food again, I have zero interest in protein shakes or smoothies.  I never liked them before surgery and I didn't expect that surgery would be the magic bullet that would suddenly change that; so I don't bother forcing myself to eat them.

Breakfast is usually either a scrambled egg or oatmeal (either sweet - with fruit; or savory).  Lunch is either a half sandwich I've packed from home, leftovers from another night's meal or whatever looks good at the company cafeteria.  Yesterday, for instance, they had a chicken salad with grapes and almonds, so I ordered a scoop of that without any bread and it was delicious.  Yes, I got some puzzled looks and the obvious, "You sure you don't want some lettuce or tomato with that?" but I'd rather only take what I can eat than wasting the rest of it because I can't.  Dinner has taken on a life of its own.  I've had chicken, steak, pasta, veggies - all with success.  I try not to eat much bread because it fills me up too quickly, but last night I had cheese tortellini with peas and 1/2 cup was just enough for me - which is crazy because before surgery I'd have eaten half the package.

One area that I should probably exhibit more caution is with sweets.  So first of all, I've lost my cravings for them and I can't tolerate things that are too sweet now - this includes all of those fake sugary drinks like Crystal Light, by the way.  However, we brought home an amazing cake for our anniversary from one of our favorite bakers and even though I didn't crave the cake, I thought I could have a small piece (we're talking a paper thin slice of a 4" cake, so not much at all) and be okay with it.  Well, the other day when I tried it, it was fine.  Last night?  Not so much.  I spent the night nauseous, wishing I could vomit to make the feeling go away.  So, this is a lesson that I should just stay away from them altogether.  Then I won't have to worry about whether or not this will be the time I can tolerate something.

Point taken!

One of the things that came up with my Life Manager (this is an inside joke whereby I basically told her she shouldn't be a Life Coach, but rather a Life Manager where she just makes all of the decisions and we just have to go along with them) this week was to begin finding and engaging in activities that hit on my core values.  So, one of the things I came up with was to participate in a 5K.  I haven't jogged in oh, five years or so, but now seemed as good a time as any to get back into it.  I found a race up in Newbury, MA and am going to register for it this week so I can start prepping for it.  Sure, 3.1 miles isn't a huge deal but to a person who only a month ago couldn't get up a flight of stairs without significant knee pain, it's everything.

In other, related, news:

• I fit into the seats at Fenway Park!  No more squeezing in and essentially being stuck as my hips held me hostage in the seats.
• I ran (not walked, not limped, not pulled) up 4 flights of stairs on the T this week without any knee pain!
• I bought some dresses in a size Large, thinking they'd be the right size in the Fall...but they fit me now!
• My skin has improved and apparently I have the glow of a pregnant woman.  No, there will be no little ones running around any time soon.