Talking to Mom

Last night, I talked to my Mom about the weight reduction surgery. It was interesting, mainly because she has plenty of direct experience with it.

You see, obesity is an epidemic in my family. The entire family - and most of the extended family - struggle with being overweight. As a result, we are one massive study in weight loss technologies, and the only thing my Mother has seen work is a gastric bypass.

My father, prior to surgery, weighed nearly 400 lbs. He was active, but he ate massive quantities - much like I do. He got the full gastric bypass, and lost almost 200 pounds; he's in the best shape that anyone has ever seen, and after 10 years is mostly keeping the weight off even as his eating has returned to normal (human-level, not pre-surgery).

On the other hand, my mother and sister both had lap-band, and neither appears to have gained any benefit at all. I think they've given up, and are no longer maintaining the band inflation. I also clearly see that their eating habits have not changed at all, and the have seen 0% benefit.

Add this to decades of Weight Watchers, Opti-fast, Adkins and other processes, and the whole thing looks like failure-in-a-bag. No wonder my Mom thinks that WLS is the best thing she'd ever seen happen to someone.

I hope it is as successful for me...

-sd

Back in the Saddle Again!

Just a quick note: As of today, I'm back to regular exercise, having done 20-30 minutes of walking every day for 7 days. So I'm back on it!

-sd

Bloat

For some reason, all week this week I've felt bloated.

I'm not sure what has caused this, and I'm poking around my diet to see if I can figure it out. It might just mean that I need a good salad-based colon blow to clear things out.

But it makes me wonder - what exactly will I be able to do after surgery when I don't feel right. People often talk about how, if they eat incorrectly, that they feel horrible (as in: as bad as they've felt in their lives). I understand that sometimes you vomit, and sometimes you experience dumping syndrome (which sounds like just what would make you the life of the party...), but is there anything that you can do to relieve pain without resorting to horrible results?

Something to ask in next week's meeting...

-sd

The Plight of the Nutritionist's Message

(Can you say hello to a stock photo?)

I was talking to a friend yesterday afternoon. He was telling me that he had lost a lot of weight in a short period of time, had no appetite and was feeling kind of depressed. I later got an email that said that he was talking to his wife (she is on vacation), and she was concerned - and wanted him to start eating. After forcing himself to have a good meal, he was immediately more energetic, and had no sense of depression.

Now, I've been taking these WLS classes from Kaiser, and one of the things they keep beating in our heads is that, after surgery, we will *need* to eat. We have to focus on protein, but we need to move food through our bodies, or we will get sick or possibly have fatal consequences. Paying attention to food and water consumption is critical for post-surgery success, and we spend a lot of time on exercises to support those facts.

But if my behavior toward my friend is any indication, all of the nutritionist's words translated into a Peanuts' style "Waa wa waa waa wa". I should have seen the signs in my friends behavior, and been able to suggest that he wasn't being honest about his food intake. I should also have seen that the direct result of this would have been depression.

I've got to snap out of this: if I can't see the issues in others, I certainly won't be able to see it in myself. Not only do I have to pay attention in class, I also have to pay attention in real life. The world around me. The world that isn't wrapped up in a work book.

-sd

The Talk

Well, after Tuesday's WLS class, I realized that I needed to come clean with my boss - it seems like it is going to be a lot more invasive on my life than initially expected.

It went better than I could have ever imagined. To me, the need to do weight loss surgery is an admission of weakness and poor character. But, apparently, my boss sees it as a realistic view of the world as it is - rather than as I'd like it to be. He has lost a lot of weight, but he talks about the constant hunger and desire than haunts him on a daily basis. He feels like I've shown plenty of strength with my ability to quit smoking cold-turkey, and suggests that maybe a little surgical help might really be a win.

Not at all what I expected...

-sd

Get a Dog!

Last night in class, we were talking about how to motivate yourself into getting 30 minutes of exercise (specifically cardio) per day. I didn't get a chance to say it, but I've already found the perfect motivator:

Get A Dog!

Dogs need to go for a walk. You won't like the consequences if you don't. But they are also a distraction for you - if you don't like walking, you won't really think about it if you are managing the dog's activity. If you live in the country, you can even unleash the dog and spend your time throwing the ball (I recommend the Chuck-It - my wife landed on this, and it is a god-send for an active dog...) instead of obsessing about steps and time.

But mostly, walking makes the dog very happy. And that will make you happy. And that ends up making a 30 minute walk something you look forward to every day!

-sd

A Complete Debacle

Well, I learned something important over the long weekend: trying to eat right and exercise while on the road is virtually impossible.

First of all, the food. Since I spent most of my driving time going through Nebraska, it seems like almost everything I saw on a plate (as opposed to a fast-food place, which I tried to avoid) looked like this:

This is your typical American STACK-OF-FOOD, and it was ever-present. You can't find anything else in Ogallala, North Platte, Kearney or Lexington - and it was pretty well-represented in Lincoln and Omaha as well. No wonder everyone there looked like I do...

As for the exercise; after 10 hours a day on the road, there was no walking in my life. The end result is that my legs were killing me, and I felt like I had gout or something. What a mess! I'm going to have to find a way to deal with this sort of thing, because I have to do this traveling more often, but the result (to my body) is horrible. And I'm not going to be able to do this after the surgery.

-sd