Things I've Learned

Jul 11, 2013

At 13 weeks out, I'm not an RNY veteran by any means.  But I have learned some lessons over these past few months.

• I need to push myself when it comes to exercise.  I've been pretty good about exercise.  I'm obsessed by my Fitbit and aim for upwards of 10,000 steps a day, the bulk of which usually comes from doing 3 miles/day on the treadmill.  I've been walking since I got home from the hospital and at this point don't exactly break a sweat if I do a 3 miles/hr, which was the pace I was walking on a flat treadmill.  The machines I've been using (I'm one of the lucky ones who has a gym at work and at home) monitor heartbeat, and, as I've become more fit, I realized I wasn't getting into "optimum cardio range."  I also wasn't seeing any kind of dramatic change weight-wise, though I was maintaining a nice even loss rate and I could see myself toning.  Over the past couple of weeks, though, I've really begun upping my game.  I'm now walking at 3.5 miles per hour with an incline of 4% (sometimes 5%, though I can't maintain that for the entire three miles--not yet anyway).  In the last 7 days, I've lost 4 lbs.  I'm so pleased by that!  I'm at the weight I wanted to be for my trip to London, 185 lbs.

• My body likes variety.  I tend to lose when I do something different with my diet.  I don't know about you, but I have my staples--protein shake for breakfast, turkey and cheese (sometimes on a sandwich thin) for lunch, some kind of meat/fish with veggie for dinner.  When I introduce something else, even something else with a bit of carb to it, I'll usually drop a pound. 

• And speaking of carbs--I'm letting myself have some from time to time and it's really working for me.  I'm not talking a lot and I'm not talking every day.  But on the weekends, I like to have half an english muffin for breakfast or like I said above, sometimes I'll have a sandwich, or even a small (and I do mean small--like a quarter of a 7" thin crust pie) piece of pizza.  It's not affecting me adversely, either when it comes to weight or appetite.

• I have no craving for sweets.  I went out to a set menu business lunch yesterday (I had a few bites of a caprese salad and about 3 oz of hamburger without a bun).  Everyone (the other six people) got dessert--these decadent looking goblets of lemon cream layered with sorbet and cookie, or tiramisu.  It all looked great, but I didn't want it--like, legitimately didn't want it.  That's a miracle for me, because I've always had an incredible sweet tooth.  This just goes to prove that sugar truly is an addiction and once you break that habit, you can be a hell of a lot stronger when it comes to resisting temptation.

• My body (like the rest of me) likes to travel.  Since surgery, I've flown to the U.S. twice and within the U.S. once.  Every time I climbed off a plane I'd dropped a pound.  And it's not just dehydration, because I don't gain it back once I've been on the ground for awhile and had something to drink.  I choose to believe it's just a further manifestation of the whole love of change thing.  But I honestly have no idea why this occurs.

I'm in London for a week, starting on Sunday.  I'll be wearing my Fitbit the entire time.  I've promised myself if we don't naturally log 10,000 steps every day we're there, traipsing all over London, I will hit our hotel's gym so I can reach my goal.  I'm hoping that, plus watching what I eat (I'm still right around 600-700 calories daily) will mean I'm 3 pounds lighter by the time I return home.

Fingers crossed!

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