Tag Archives: mindfulness

Post-Op Week 52 Progress Report: The Big Day is Coming

Posted on July 6, 2014 | 2 comments

It’s almost insulting that the very last photo of this yearlong series shows me posting a gain. But I have several things working against me this week: vacation eating and all its sodium; all the sitting done in the car yesterday in our vain attempt to make it to Gulf Shores (we did NOT); Ma Nature is due any day now, and my scale needs new batteries (it is weighing inconsistently–I weighed four different amounts in 4 different trips to the scale this morning). For all that I gained this week (which wasn’t much, all things considered), weight was the thing that was the least important.

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Posted in being thankful, big things, challenges, fighting biology, frustrated fat, goals, la guerra, planning, post-op, progreso, reflections, self-image, success, the body is a funny thing, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery, werk!

Tagged anniversary, being authentic, being real, challenges, choices, la guerra, mindfulness, portion creep, post-op, progreso, progress report, reflections, sleeve gastrectomy, the struggle is real, VSG, vsg realness, WLS

Post-Op Week 33 Progress Report

Posted on February 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

No change this week. I’ll take it. It’s not a gain.

Sorry for the picture quality. It’s a bit blurry and I had to lighten it a little because the original shot was dark.

I let myself get derailed slightly last week. I know this. And I own it. I am not perfect and have never claimed to be.

But I also know what I need to do to get ‘er done.

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My Mindful Valentine

Posted on February 14, 2014 | 1 comment

Valentine’s Day is a day that for most folks is filled with sweet treats, flowers, and declarations of love. Some folks feel like the day is simply a conspiracy by the candy and greeting card companies to get people to buy stuff in an attempt to woo or keep a lover. Today, Valentine’s Day for me was just another Friday–nothing out of the ordinary, really. My Valentine’s Day went down a little like this:

Got to school this morning to discover my classroom door’s window covered in Valentines.
One of my students gave me a Valentine that said, “Yoda one for me” with a picture of Yoda on it.
Came home to a handmade book by my hubby detailing some of the reasons he loves me. It made me cry.
Went to dinner and had a tasty fish dish that I am going to source the ingredients for this weekend so I can replicate it here at home.
Registered myself for the Firefly Run on March 29. I don’t care if I walk the whole way; I am going to finish, no matter how long it takes me.
Spent some quality time on the treadmill and bike at the gym even though I wasn’t feelin’ it.

I don’t need a contrived holiday to tell my husband that I love him. I do this every day, as it should be. I couldn’t be more blessed to have him along for this adventure we call a life together. I’m mindful every day of the fact that I am lucky to call him my husband, and that this life we share together is one of the most precious gifts I have.

So for me, today was really all about mindfulness in many ways.

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Posted in challenges, choices, daily bites, eating, exercise, habits, la guerra, oh behave!, post-op, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery, werk!

Tagged aspiring runner, dining out, eating, eating mindfully, exercise, habits, let me teach you, mindfulness, oh behave!, omg I eat carbs!, post-op eating, post-op life, runner wannabe, she's got skillz, sleeve gastrectomy, sorry for sleeve rocking, VSG, vsg realness, workin' on my fitness

Dining Out Mindfully and The Daily Bite

Posted on August 6, 2013 | Leave a comment

Today’s food:

Today’s food choices, clockwise from upper right: multivitamin and calcium supplements x2; Panera Power Breakfast Egg White and Roasted Turkey bowl with pesto; homemade lettuce wrap filling; baked mozzarella and ham (a riff on Macaroni Grill’s Baked Mozzarella and Prosciutto appetizer from their Italian tapas menu); Syntrax Matrix Mint Cookie protein powder; grilled shrimp.

Today was a relatively busy day as I was on the go for a good chunk of it, which meant eating meals away from home. Continue reading →

First Day of Soft Foods and a Recipe

Posted on July 30, 2013 | 11 comments

Today I graduated to soft foods. I can’t begin to describe how excited I was for today to get here. Today meant that I got to resume my vitamin regimen, which I had missed for the past 3 weeks while on full liquids–before surgery, I took a multivitamin, B12, vitamin D and calcium supplement every day without fail. So to go without them for 3 weeks was tough because it threw me out of my routine, plus I had really low energy levels, I think because I wasn’t taking my usual battery of supplements. Thankfully, post-op, they’re all the same ones just in a different form so getting back to my old habits vitamin-wise hasn’t been difficult.

But the most important part of today is that. I. Graduated. To. Soft. FOOD!

For the past two weeks, I have wanted to bite into food so badly I could taste it. That first week after surgery, I couldn’t even think about eating–I was so focused on drinking and avoiding dehydration that food was the last thing on my mind. But the more protein drinks I had to drink, and the sweeter they seemed to become, I could hardly wait until I was cleared to have soft foods.

So what did I choose as my first soft foods?

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Posted in eating, post-op, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery

Tagged celebrate vitamins, daily bites, eating mindfully, mindfulness, photo post, post-op eating, post-op life, recipes, sleeve gastrectomy, soft foods, vitamin supplements, VSG, vsg realness, WLS

Staging the House for Success and an Important Question

Posted on May 6, 2013 | 2 comments

This week marks the beginning of the end of my pre-surgical life and body. This week is the beginning of what is sure to be a cascade of busy-ness, most of which is related to my upcoming surgery.

I meet with a dietician this week. I am unsure as to what will happen during this meeting, but it is something my surgeon has recommended I do, so I am doing it. I am sure we will discuss the way I currently eat and that I will get schooled in how I should be eating, and how I will be eating post-sleeve. I know that I have many questions for her about things I can do prior to the hardcore pre-op diet my surgeon puts all his patients on. I am a little anxious about this preliminary meeting but I think once I get it over with, it might not be so bad, and might actually alleviate whatever anxiety I have regarding eating post-sleeve.

We have slowly begun the process of ridding the house of processed carbs, sugary things and foods we simply won’t be able to eat. I call it “staging the house for success.” Much like one might stage their home to successfully sell it to a willing buyer, the process of ridding the house of things that will impede my success in this major effort to lose weight is the process of staging my environment for success in my endeavor. For example…

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Posted in vsg, weight loss surgery

Tagged dietician, mindfulness, planning for success, post-op eating, post-op life, sleeve gastrectomy, support, VSG, WLS