03/25/10: Part 3 of "The Plan"

I updated part 2 of "The Plan" with this info but want to make sure it gets read, so I'm starting with it right here and right now.  I added this as a comment and I added it to the blog in case anyone in the future reads the blog without reading the comments (as I do when I'm "catching up" on someone else's blog sometimes).

So here's the comment I added about swimming immediately after surgery:

I am allowed to swim/soak in the hot tub because my surgeon uses internal stitches with dermabond on the skin. Dermabond is an airtight barrier - no air will even cross that "bond". So the stitches and wounds will be completely dry even though completely submersed. Because of this, I can also take showers from the start.

If you have staples or exposed stitches, you cannot swim or even shower. Pools are really cesspools of bacteria and other little critters we can't see - no matter how clean and chlorinated they are. You CANNOT risk getting those critters and bacteria in the wound. Swimming/hot tub soaking are ONLY options when dermabond is used.

Sorry if there was any confusion.

And the last thing I'll say - it was the peeps at my bariatric center that told me I could swim/soak. If you are curious about your situation - ask your surgeon.
 
So with that, onto today...
 
Before I forget again, yesterday was good.  I could not drink all of my afternoon shake.  I just couldn't.  I was so not hungry, so not wanting it - and trying to drink it so that I "could get enough protein" was proving to make me sick.  So I didn't drink all of it.  I get 26g of protein in six ounces of water with my chosen protein (Isopure zero carb) and I think, after drinking about four ounces, that I was still in the ballpark of 20 ozs for the "meal".  So I was happy.  And my stomach was, too.  It was pretty funny, really, to be so full from friggin liquids.
 
For dinner, we forgot we had a meeting up here in town (Houston's a "town" ya know) and so we had to eat out as we weren't going to get home until 8:30 or 9.  So we went to a Cheddar's where I ordered grilled salmon with broccoli and green beans.  I was able to order the lunch portion which was probably exactly at 4oz.  I had to beg them to leave the rice off the plate.  I think they thought I was asking for a cheaper bill - and I wasn't.  I just didn't want them to serve me the rice.  I literally had to beg for that.  But such is life.
 
And so, for the tally...
 
Yesterday = 246**
Today = 245
 
Yesterday was really 246.8 and today was really 245.0.  So it's, in my pea brain, a 2 lb loss since I round where ever it helps me most.  Round 246.8 to 246.  Round 1.8 to 2.  Even though that rounding already gave me the benefit, I'll take it again.  Not scientific - but I'm using fuzzy math here for the sake of sanity.
 
So now...onto Part 3 of "The Plan"
 
This won't be long, I promise.  This is all the other.  Most notably to me, it's the hair, skin and bodily functions.
 
So with the hair.  Here's my plan.  Ok, this one won't be that short.  I have short hair.  I don't want short hair.  It got butchered almost a year ago when I cut it off for the summer.  I was teaching swim lessons 6 days a week for anywhere from 2-4 hours a day.  I wanted easy hair.  I went to my stylist/friend and said short.  She took short as pixie like.  Literally.  There was not enough of it to lay down - it stood up.  It was SHORT!  I hated it.
 

I immediately went to work "growing it out".  But my friend/stylist died last summer.  Sad sad story.  And I was left with finding someone new to help with this endeavor of keeping it decent without hacking it back to SHORT.  Yeah, it just kept getting hacked back.  To make it worse, the cuts were all hideous and so it was hacked AND not decent.

 

I finally found someone this year - about two months ago - that I like.  I was finally getting some hair back to work with, something that could be used to create a style that would be decent until I could get some length back.  I blogged about it back then.  Yeah.  She hacked.  But it was a fabulous cut!  I was refreshed.  It was such a decent cut that I still haven't been back in for a trim.  It needs it now.  But I will wait until next weekend when it's time for my sweet hubby to get his next cut.  I have all that she hacked off grown back and then some now...but it isn't in a style I like.  I want to get enough length so that I can get it to a style I like.  And once I have that style, I will leave my hair there until the hair problems from anesthesia have passed.  At that point, I'll finally let myself grow it back.  If I can get to this style I'm after for this temporary short hair fix, it will be easy to grow from there.  Here's a pic.

 

 

Now, that pic was taken when I was 19.  I'm not trying to recapture that era of my life.  That picture just shows what the back does a little and that's the part that makes me really like this cut.  It's not just a super short bob - although I like that aspect, too.  I like the neck line that gets created.

 

And honestly, I think I have enough hair to get that accomplished - although it would be shorter right now, and that's ok.  I just hope she will do that next weekend and not go for layers.  Everyone ALWAYS wants to layer my hair and I can't stand layers.  I just can't!  Especially since they aren't conducive to regrowing hair.  You have to keep them trimmed to keep them neat and if I have to trim every 4 weeks...well, guess what doesn't happen.  GROWTH!  Sheesh.

 

So that's my plan.  Leave it short until it's all good.  And then I can't wait to have a shoulder length bob.  Just enough to put up but not too much.

 

So the skin.  I know I have to drink drink drink drink drink water.  And honestly, I see this as my biggest struggle.  To not drink with meals and to wait the half hours sometimes only after, sometimes both before and after, well, it just gets the way.  That's a lame excuse and I know it.  I can say, I am eager for the day when what I currently drink is actually enough.  Right now, I easily get in about 80 ounces of water every day.  I need to be in the 120 ballpark right now.  I just can't get those 40.  But for the sake of my skin, I'm trying.  I think, between the exercise plan I have and working on water, that is my best bet for trying to battle skin.  I'm also banking (a little, just a little) a little on my age working in my favor.  I'm hoping that at 34 my skin still understands what rebound is supposed to mean.  I don't have any illusions that I'm 20 and it will just be all peachy.  I understand that I'm 34 and that time and gravity are starting to work against me.  But I also am hoping that not being 60 plays in just a little.  I am good with my skin - I keep it clean and clear, I wear sunscreen in the sun.  I don't even wear makeup, just about ever.  I'd say I put it on about 3-4 times a year.  It's not that I don't like it, I just can't be bothered, really.  I have a good, even skin tone and a healthy complexion.  I do try to pamper my skin with light lotions and potions to keep it healthy and happy.  And this combo, the pampering, the water, the exercise - I am just hoping it works.  Only time will tell, eh?

 

And if it doesn't, I'll consider other options later.  I'm probably going to consider other options anyway.

 

And finally.  Bodily functions.

 

So water...It makes you pee.  I like to pee.  Clear pee.  I like it.  It tells me I'm taking care of myself.  When I pee clear pee, I also poo quite easily, too.  So water is my response to this, too.  I am also adding fiber to my smoothie in the morning.  And if I do get backed up (TOM ends up causing back up issues - always has) then I have fiber wafers I munch on in the evenings to get just another dose of fiber in the day.  But my majorist plan of attack on the bodily functions is water water water.

 

At the heart of it all, it's really water!  To exercise like I want to - I need water.  Both inside my body to make the weightlifting possible - and in the pool.  :)  To eat well and minimally - water.  Not at meals, but around them.  To help my skin and hair - water.  And to make sure bodily functions stay functioning - water.

 

Ever heard that before?  That you need water?  :)

 

I might do a final plan part tomorrow - or at some point in the future, to discuss how I expect things to go forward in maintenance.  Still figuring out how to articulate some of that, though, so may not be tomorrow.

 

And one last thing to share today.  I have called my insurance company twice this week.  Dangit but I wish they would give me an answer!  On Monday the friendly helpful lady I talked to said it all looked good - if it was going to be kicked back for incomplete or inaccurate paperwork, it would have done so by then.  It was in review.  I called again yesterday and the not so friendly or helpful (but not mean) lady didn't have anything to say other than "it's in review".  I will probably call again on Friday.  It's so funny, reading other stories - some people's insurance co's tell them what to expect, they communicate and keep them in the loop.  Mine...I just feel like another number.  I'm in the cattle car at their beck and whims.  There is absolutely no personality involved.  It's corporate.  I would love it if they could say to me, this person is the one handling your case, would you like to talk to him/her?  But the team is hidden from me and I can't have access to them.  I would love if if they could say to me, we are expected to have an answer to you by Friday April 9th.  Fine, I'll stop calling.  Or slow down anyway.  But this impartial attitude with no go-to source...it really sucks.  And add to this that I have no idea what to expect...it's making me a little cuckoo.  I mean...will my ins co call my advocate and tell her the answer?  Or will someone email it?  Or will they call me?  Or will I be able to see something online in my claims info?  How will I be informed?  Will I have to wait for the mail?  If my advocate is at least contacted, will she call me?  Will she email me?  (We've been emailing back and forth pretty steady this week now that she's back from vacation and I like her.  As frustrated as I was two weeks ago, I am alllllll past that now!)  Should I be checking my email every five seconds for the answer?  I do that anyway.  Should I carry my phone with me at all times?  Should I forward my home phone to my cell phone in case they call that number.  I just have no idea what to expect.  I could ask...but what fun would that be?  :)

 

Ok, I'll ask.  When I call tomorrow...I'll ask the ins co about how I'll end up being notified.  And I'll send an email to my advocate asking what's happened in the past.  I think she has a contact at my ins co that keeps her in the loop.  That's what I think is the story, anyway.  But I hate assumptions.  Hate them.  So I shall stop assumptioning and just get an answer!  :)

 

I hope everyone is having a great week.  I went from three Monday's in a row to what now today feels like it should be a Saturday.  Dangit!

03/24/10: Part 2 of "The Plan"

Good Morning y'all!

It's Wednesday.  It so does not feel like Wednesday.  I swear I've had three Monday's now this week.  But somehow, with all these Monday's in a row...the weekend is still creeping closer and closer.  Odd week.

So now for Part 2 of "The Plan"

Today it's exercise.  I've alluded to my program previously and even asked if there was interest in what it is.  I've been meaning to blog this for awhile, so here is, for those who are interested, specific details will be at the end.

As I said yesterday, I will be able to swim and soak in the hot tub immediately following surgery.  I don't foresee this happening, unfortunately.  We heated our pool last week for the March Madness open house and then turned the heater off Friday afternoon.  Saturday was a rainy gloomy day with thunderstorms passing over periodically - so no swimming.  And Sunday was cold (for this time of year) and windy, so we knew we wouldn't be swimming Sunday as well.  So the heater is back off.  By the time Saturday was done, our water temp had cooled back into the low-60's.  If these cold fronts continue, it will be mid-May before the pool gets reasonable.  Not too bad...but I am hoping for surgery in April.  So I don't foresee swimming the day after surgery.

If I did, I would be working more on aquarobics.  Something less intense and more easily adaptable to sore port areas.  I say that because proper swim techniques require a lot of use of the abs.  So I don't foresee full on swimming until things are healed.  Doing aquareobics, I could focus on legs and arms while just working on keeping the abs stabilized.  It would give me the benefits of exercise without over-exertion.  It's a thought - but it really depends on what the water temps do.  If the pool can get itself, on it's own, into the 70's, I can see using the heater to bump it up.  But running the heater for extended times is EX...PENNNNN....SIVE!

So we shall see.

My exercise routine will be fully implemented only after I am fully cleared and on solid foods.  If my energy dips, the exercise is going to be too extreme.  I have four weeks after surgery before I am back on solid foods with "freedom" to get in "enough".  I won't be going crazy on anything exercise related until I can sustain it.  I live in flat flat flat country, so walking is really not strenuous.  Aside from the bad foot getting mad about extended trips, walking is easy-peasy for me.  So walking it will be until I am ready to hit the weights...unless the pool is a good temp, which I doubt it will be.

All that to say nothing.  Don't you love reading my blog?  :)

So my much aclaimed (by me, anyway) weight lifting program.

It's a six week cycle.  It goes like this:

• In the first week you lift very very very very light weights and do a zillion and one reps in three sets.  This week will be more of an aerobic workout.  You will not feel a burn but you will get the heart and lungs working.
• In the second week you lift moderate weights and do moderate reps in three sets.  You will be doing an anaerobic and aerobic workout.  You will feel a burn and you will also get the heart and lungs working.
• In the third week you lift crazy heavy weights and do very very very few reps in three sets.  You might not even be able to do three sets as you are trying to lift crazy heavy weights.  You are pushing what you can safely do here.  You will be doing an anaerobic workout.  You will feel the burn only.
• In the fourth week, you repeat what you did the second week.
• In the fifth week, you repeat what you did the first week.
• In the sixth week, you do nothing.  You can walk - but it would be more for enjoyment, not for "working out purposes".  The purpose is to reset your metabolism again.  The purpose is to rest.

I have done this in the past and lost 40 pounds in about two months without changing what I ate.  That was back in the day before I started eating as badly as I was just prior to the "unweightloss" program.  I also did this, in the past, where I did the five week cycle and did not take the sixth week off.  But I wanted to keep the muscle in that case.  If you feel you are bulking up from this, that sixth week is important.  It does let the muscle begin to atrophy a little.

When I do this on the five week cycle, to keep it fresh, I add weight to each starting point.  When I do this on the six week cycle, I can keep my weights the same.

So, let's take an example of bicep curls.  Easy peasy bicep curls for me use about 10 lbs dumbbells.

Week 1 - 8 lbs.  (easier than easy.)  Do 3 sets of 20.
Week 2 - 11 lbs (slightly harder than easy.)  Do 3 sets of 12
Week 3 - 20 lbs (pretty dang hard.)  Do as many as you can.  If it's 3 sets of 4.  Great.  If it's only 4 total.  Great.  You are shooting for being able to do between 4 and 6 reps.  And you want to push what you think you can do here.  You may have to use the rest of your body to get your bicep to curl, too.  That's ok.  PUSH IT.
Week 4 - 11 lbs again.  It will be way easier than it was in week 2.
Week 5 - 8 lbs again.  It will be way too super easy.  But your heart will be working and that's the goal.

If you get to week 5 and immediately start over, then in week 1 (i.e. week 6) you would move to 10 lbs starting.

If you take week 6 off.  Then start the same regimen over exactly.

In the past, I did weightlifting every night of the week and swimming 2-3 times a week.  I limited workouts to Mon-Fri (working out all five days all the time) and while I did workout on weekends, I didn't count them. 

This time around I will weightlift Mon, Weds and Fri and swim on Tues and Thurs.  As I lose weight and start getting more concerned with toning, I may up that to every night of the week.

In the past, working out five days a week with weights, I would do Mon/Weds = lower back and legs, Tues/Thurs = arms, upper back and abs.  And Fri = abs and legs.

I pick about 4-5 different exercises for arms, legs, back, abs, etc.  Arms, for example, might be, wrist extensions, wrist curls, bicep curls, tricep extensions and shoulder lifts.  When I start the program again, I can change that up, as well, to get variety.

And there's the key to this.  Variety.

You plateau because your body gets used to what you do.  If you eat the same foods - or even eat different things but always eat at the exact same time each day - your body gets used to it, anticipates what's next, and waits to chow down on calories until it gets the fresh stuff.  If you do the same workout every day - run 3 miles, you'll see progress...but it will be slow.  This program keeps your body guessing.  If your body doesn't know what's up, it will not try to anticipate and just do what it's gotta do.

Furthermore, this program builds muscle only temporarily.  You will actually only build muscle in week 3.  And if you take week 6 off, you let your body let that muscle go.  So you won't bulk up.  Muscles are at the core of our metabolism of fat, so you want muscle but being girls (most readers, anyway) we tend to not want bulky muscles.  But muscles are good stuff.

This program is so easy to adapt to your personal needs and desires.  If you want to play up your abs and not work your calves, great, do it.  I would never say ignore your thighs though.  The largest muscle in the body is in the thigh and that muscle will do more for your metabolism than any other muscle.  If you want a sexy back - then spend more time on your upper back and shoulders than on your forearms.  Most exercises you can do with free weights will play to a grouping of muscles.  Figure out which group you really want to work with and then do so.  But again, do those groups and the thighs.  Always do the thighs.

Personally, I always go for the thighs, abs, and shoulders.  The rest I change up every time.  But whatever you choose for week one of any given cycle, stick with that for the duration.  Then next time, change it up if you like.

If you have any questions or want good sources for exercises that have great how-to's for technique let me know.

If you are new to weightlifting, then I would advise a trainer to learn good technique.  But you probably only need a few sessions to do that.  And while we have a pretty decent gym at home, you really don't need much to be able to do this all at home.  I used to use an automan for a bench and did everything I wanted with one barbell and two free weight dumbbells.  I had 2 - 2.5lb irons, 4 - 5 lb irons, 4 - 10 lb irons and 4 - 25 lb irons.  I can get just about any weight combo I need just with that and all this cost under $100.  Now...we have a couple of benches, one inclines, one doesn't and a contraption that does some leg or arm/shoulder exercises that are hard to do with free weights alone (like leg curls and lat pulls).  We've also added two olympic style barbells (HEAVY!).  I also use balance balls and various things like that for all my ab work as well as to work on balance.  I have a BOSU ball that I love love love and will do my squats while balancing on that.  I also use medicine balls for ab work to get a little more oomph out of what the abs can do without having to just put an iron on my belly.

Sigh...I can't wait!


***Edited on 3/25/10 to include a comment I shared below in response to multiple comments made to me about the swimming/hot tub soaking statements I made above.  Here is the comment:

I am allowed to swim/soak in the hot tub because my surgeon uses internal stitches with dermabond on the skin. Dermabond is an airtight barrier - no air will even cross that "bond". So the stitches and wounds will be completely dry even though completely submersed. Because of this, I can also take showers from the start.

If you have staples or exposed stitches, you cannot swim or even shower. Pools are really cesspools of bacteria and other little critters we can't see - no matter how clean and chlorinated they are. You CANNOT risk getting those critters and bacteria in the wound. Swimming/hot tub soaking are ONLY options when dermabond is used.

Sorry if there was any confusion.

And the last thing I'll say - it was them at my bariatric center that told me I could swim/soak. If you are curious about YOUR situation - ask YOUR surgeon.

03/23/10: Part 1 of "The Plan"

I am going to follow Band_Groupie's style and do this in a multiple series format. After yesterday's blog in which I blasted my surgeon as being idiotic, it really drove home for me what my plan is. I haven't necessarily sat down and said "hey, Lori, what's your plan going to be?" nor have I ever typed out or jotted down anything that could be resembled as a plan by anyone else. It's all in the pea brain. And I figure it needs to get out.

I have a plan for my diet and reasoning's for why. I have a plan for my exercise and reasoning's for why. I have a plan for my sleep, skin care, hair care, and even my bodily functions. So this will be a multi-part series covering one or more of the various topics I've managed to inadvertently develop plans for.

I will say that I seriously appreciate the blog world. I would not have inadvertently done anything if I hadn't been reading and learning all along. I appreciate everyone who has gone before me and shed light on their experiences. I appreciate everyone who ever offers a lick of support. I just appreciate it all!

I also want to say today - I am sorry for bringing up politics yesterday. I won't do it again. I crossed a line and no one here should be surprised by opening a blog about the band and weight loss and reading about politics instead. This truly is about the band and living with the band and that does not involve politics. I am sorry.

Ok

Part 1 of "The Plan"

Diet. I call it diet because what you put in your mouth is a diet. Diet is defined as "food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health" by http://www.dictionary.com/. That is what I mean by diet. It's what we consume for the sake of nutrition. It is not what I am doing to lose weight. It is not what I am doing to build muscle. It is not what I am doing to do anything other than to live.

As you read yesterday, my surgeon believes that I should maintain a diet of incredibly limited foods with incredibly limited nutrients. But here's the catch. He also said:

"This diet is designed for those of you who will not be doing any exercise. If all you want to do is eat your way to a slimmer person, this diet is for you. If you are going to do minimal exercise, which would include walking and running, then this diet is for you. However, if you are going to weight lift at all, you cannot live on this diet alone. You must eat carbs."

He never said anything else about carbs and what I should eat. Most people in that room are not going to lift weights. Most people in that room are not going to do anything other than walk and try to maintain a life style less sedentary than they currently are living. I am not them.

I am going to weight lift. I am going to swim. I am also going to walk. And as I get smaller, I will probably revert back to trying to run/jog, too. But the key, for me, is I am going to lift weights. This does not mean I should go crazy on carbs. But it also means, for me, that I should make sure I'm getting a reasonable source of complex carbs with at least one meal. Yay for my smoothie!

So he's not all nuts. Just mostly. I don't think most people in that room were aware of blogspot or even LBT and they do not know the whole wide world open to them and all the info it contains. I wanted to shout out "go see how real people live with this. It doesn't have to be like that". But back in Oct, back before I found blogs and real life - I thought he was interesting. And most there last week were meeting this surgeon for the first time. I could see it in their eyes - they thought he was onto something. I mean, really, you mix surgery with a good ol' fashioned diet - and you don't have to exercise - and you'll lose all the weight you want?  What fat person wouldn't go for that?  There are a number of heavy people that are heavy because they don't like exercise. There are an equal number of heavy people that do like heavy exercise - but for whatever reason, they don't do it regularly. (That would be me.) And then there are those that like it and do it, too. But in the heavy world, the BMI over 40 because of flab world, I believe those are few and far between. And here is this surgeon saying 'it's ok to not exercise - I'll help you lose weight with just the food you eat.'

Now, I can't do that. It's a diet. It's a diet not with the intent of consuming necessary nutrients and sustenance. It's a diet for that dreaded sake of losing weight. And I will not "diet to lose weight".

A lot of you...A LOT...have played into the evolution of Lori's plan.

And the plan goes like this...

When I want to eat Hooter's chicken wings...I will. I will say about this that I will allow myself one visit a month. If it doesn't happen - great. It's not mandatory. But it's an option. It doesn't have to be Hooters - but if it's fried, it's greasy and it's generally on that forbidden "bad food" list, I will not be eating much of it at all - once or so a month, if at all.

My life is about options. I like options. That's really the heart of my plan. And that's really why I hate diets. No options on good ol' fashioned diets!

If I want to eat a half a sandwich on wheat toast with turkey and muenster cheese with a smidge of mayo...I will.

If I want to eat sushi for dinner as part of a celebration...I will.

I will chew and chew and chew and take my time and maybe only eat four pieces. But I will give myself that option.

I am counting on the band to tell me when I'm full. I am also counting on will power to make the wiser choice most of the time.

I have will power. I have a lot of it. I actually got fat because of will power. I will now take that same will power and use it wisely.

I already have been. Prior to this pre-op diet anyway.  I have to laugh.  I say that - but I couldn't really be doing what I wanted to do on the unweightloss program for fear that I would lose too much.  So I was, on the unweightloss program, still working to counteract my progress.  But it's interesting what doing that on purpose does to the mindset.  It took will power to make me successfully fail.  That was surprisingly difficult.  It's a relief to finally be into the realm of I can do what I want to do this right.  If this danged pre-op diet weren't standing in my way at the moment I would be thrilled.  And that's a double-edged sword.  I have to do this pre-op diet and this pre-op diet will help me lose weight.  But it's not conducive to my weight lifting so I am opting to stick with just walking until I am healed from surgery.  I could start weight lifting now but I'd be famished as I'm not getting real nutrients.  I could start weight lifting now but I'd actually screw up my cycle by not being able to finish the whole 6 week program before the interruption surgery would create.  So, weird as it is (in my head), I am still not starting the weight lifting.  It will be six weeks after surgery that I'll be let loose on my program.  In the meantime, I've got walking and when it's warmer and consistently nicer, I'll have my pool.

Side note - one thing I learned last week.  I can swim from the get-go.  Day of surgery if I wanted.  They use dermabond so the wounds would be completely sealed from the water.  On the same token that I'm allowed to shower from the get-go, I can swim, too.  Now, they said, I probably won't want to the day of surgery.  But the next day it might be surprisingly helpful with the gas.  But on the day of, if I wanted to get in the hot tub - it's an option.  And the hot tub would help a lot, they said, with the gas.  Yay for dermabond!!!!!  Honestly, I don't know that I'd swim swim.  I think I'd probably actually go for aquaroebics on the second day.  But that would be awesome!

Anyway, back to the diet.

So my "diet" of choice is one centered on options. And I can give myself those options because I will be lifting weights and swimming. That's tomorrow's blog.

So there you have it. Tomorrow's blog will explain the weightlifting program for weight loss that will kill plateaus before they start. Most people hate this idea, but weight bearing exercise is as important, if not more, than aerobic exercise. You don't have to bulk up...but when you run or dance or whatever, you take the fluids and O2 away from the muscles. Benefits in that - but not beneficial for muscle - the source of metabolism. You really need both.