A week without the scale

So every year my family goes out to Lake Ann, Michigan for a camping trip and it's always an amazing time! My dad is an incredible cook and is famous for his grilling. One of the food highlights this year was making homemade tomato sauce over the fire! The tomatoes came straight from my dad's garden and the results were SO GOOD!

During the 8 hour drive downstate I made the decision that I wasn't going to track my food for the week. I also knew that there wasn't a scale in the middle of the woods, so I had to focus on making good choices, but not obsessing over them.

My relationship with the scale has never been the healthiest. I weigh at least once daily and often allow that morning number to dictate my mood for the rest of the day. This is something I have been working on, but still have lots of room for improvement. So yes, camping! The week was amazing :-) It was so freeing not to be tracking my food at every meal! I tried my best to focus on healthy choices and had lots of fun teaching my mom about high protein foods. I followed my plan for the most part, but did have a 'treat' almost every evening (these indulgences included s'mores, icecream, and hard cider)!

For the most part I felt I was doing pretty good! I went with quest bars in the morning instead of the doughnuts and made sure to have protein at every meal. I even got some exercise in! Mentally I was in a good spot.

Then the last day came around and I started to have some serious anxiety. What if I gained weight? I didn't track, how many calories were in those s'mores? Did I get enough 'intense' exercise? All these questions seemed to hit me all at once until I had convinced myself I had gained 10 lbs over my trip and it would take weeks to undo all my bad choices. I was dreading getting back on that scale when I got home!

We packed up and went home. P.S isn't my puppy adorable! She didn't want us to leave!

So I got home and guess what? No weight gain! I even lost a little... So what did I learn?

• I have a lot of work to do mentally on this journey. The scale can't make or break me. I need to focus on how I feel, my energy levels, and my overall health! 
• I can actually lose weight even if I don't track my food! (I still will but won't freak out if I miss a day) 
• Little treats (on special occasions) will not undo all the hard work I have done
• I have the best support group ever :) Thanks guys for telling me to relax and just enjoy my trip! 

It was such an amazing trip and I already am looking forward to next year!

God Bless,
Sarah 

Talking about my (not so tiny) tummy - 9mth post-op

For the most part I haven't focused my blog posts specifically on my surgery because I knew going into this that the surgery could only get me so far. I knew I needed to focus on the total lifestyle change and not just my tiny tummy. Sometimes I do get the occasional person who misses that fact when just glancing through my posts and I find myself feeling really guilty. I mean besides the posts titled "Why I have decided to go through with bariatric surgery" or "Day of Surgery" I can totally see how my other references could be subtle enough to miss. I hope that everyone understands that I was in no way trying to hide that piece of information from you all. It just hasn't been my primary focus when moving towards my goals of achieving true health and fitness... vs just getting skinny.

With that being said I'm going to talk about my tummy for a bit. At this point I just need to get these fears and concerns out there because I know nothing good will come from holding them in.

My tiny tummy is not so tiny... 

I'm afraid that I have somehow either stretched out my stomach, it was made too large to start with, or I have something else going on. I know the comparison game is a dangerous one, but I can eat a whole heck of a lot more than other sleevers. Like a lot.  I brought this up with my doctor and got a lot of great advice and information. I'm going to share this information as it applies to my personal situation. My hope is that if you are also concerned about your capacity that this post can help you gain the confidence (and give you some questions) to bring up the subject with your own doctor. I am not a professional, so please make sure to consult one before making any major changes to your plan.

An interesting fact:

As many of us know the gastric sleeve is a fairly new surgery in the bariatric world and new research is coming in every day. According to my doctor (I wish I asked for the article he was citing) they are finding that even though the sleeve patient has a much smaller stomach post surgery, it can empty much faster than it used to. This doesn't happen to everybody, but can be a big problem with others and can cause increased hunger along with an apparent larger capacity.

Because it is difficult to stretch the sleeve, this could potentially be what is going on with me. Here are some things that he suggested to try for that.

• Stopping eating before feeling 'full' - This one is very difficult for me. I have almost always used full as my signal to stop eating. Now I have to learn to slow down, listen to my body, and stop eating when I no longer feel hungry. 

• Drink ice water - The cold of the ice water can cause the stomach to temporarily tighten up given you slightly more restriction 

In addition to doing the above things, I was also told to become much more consistent with eating. I am now supposed to eat 4 meals a day, around the same times each day with around the same number of calories and protein in each meal. My eating was all over the map and my NUT wants to avoid confusing my metabolism too much, which makes sense. I am also supposed to be more consistent with exercise, working out 5 days a week. Three of the days with 40 minutes cardio, and the other two days 20 minutes cardio and 20 minutes strength training. This more consistent exercise is preferred to what I was doing where I would go super hard and long for a few days then take a 4-5 days completely off. 

Hopefully you've found something useful or interesting above! I'm looking forward to taking all the above advice and continuing on in my journey. :-) As of now I have lost 62% of my excess weight. I have come SO far but still have a ways to go. Keep on keeping on!

With love,
Sarah 

Hydration

The benefits (and necessity!) of staying hydrated are almost too many to count! To be honest I was never the best at drinking water and almost never reached the recommended 64oz a day.  Now that I've been focusing on my health water has become a priority and it's crazy how much better I feel! Now that I've actually been keeping myself hydrated I noticed the effects of dehydration so much more... Headaches, fatigue, grumpiness... even increased hunger! Did you know that your brain easily mixes up the signals for hunger and thirst? So if you're feeling hungry when you know you shouldn't be chug some of that lovely H20! You may be surprised :)

Everybody is different, but if you struggle with getting enough water (like I did) here are the tips that I used in order to increase my intake.

1. Find a water bottle that you LOVE! For me I found that I drink so much more water when I drink through a straw. I love not having to worry about spilling all over my face at the gym or tipping the bottle in front of my face while driving. My personal favorite is the Camelbak Eddy Bottle <--- Amazon link here! I love that mine is completely leak proof! This allows me to take it everywhere *hint next tip!

2. Take it everywhere! My doctor hit this nail on the head at my three month post-op appointment. I was explaining to her how I was struggling to hit my water goals when she asked me "So where is your water bottle?" I didn't bring it with me into the doctor's office! Silly me! I literally take it everywhere now. In the shower, the car, my bed.... The leak-proof design makes it perfect for all of those things.

3. Measure out your water at the beginning of the day. I use a Pur water filter pitcher to fill up my Nalgene (yay race swag) . My Camelbak doesn't have good measurement markings on it, but I know I have to have at least two full bottles of Nalgene a day to hit my goal of 64oz. Here is a not so amazing pic of my set-up. I guess I'm a fan of the color blue.

I try to keep the pitcher full all the time and leave it in the fridge. Some days I'll throw some lemon slices in the bottom for some flavoring. Even though my tap water tastes fine I'm a fan of the filter pitcher because it make the water feel more fancy. (does that make any sense?) However there are definitely some days where I skip right to the Nalgene. I'll usually leave the Nalgene in the fridge as well and fill my Camelbak up from that. I could make things a lot simpler for myself and just mark my 64oz right on the pitcher, but I want to make sure that is available if we have any guests over and I don't want other people messing with my measurements :) 

4. Don't count anything with caffeine towards your intake. Caffeine has a diuretic effect which can actually dehydrate you!

5. Flavor it! Try out the sugar free powders and flavor squirt bottles. This is seriously the only way I can get my husband to drink anything. They also make some sweet water bottles these days where you can infuse your own flavors with real lemon or fruit. I haven't tried it yet myself but I am planning on getting one soon! 

6. Lastly, always have one cup of water before having any other type of beverage. I find that even if I'm craving that diet soda, if I have the water first I generally find I'm satisfied having just that. It's saved me lots of money going out to eat which is an awesome bonus! Plus, even if you are still craving that other drink afterwards, your one step closer to your hydration goal for the day so you don't have to feel as guilty about it! 

Hope you all have an amazing weekend and don't forget to drink up! You may be surprised how much better you feel with even just a little bit more of the good ole stuff! 

God Bless!