As alluded to in my previous post, I have joined a gym. The YMCA, to be exact. As I type this, my fingers are the only parts of my body that are not screaming with indignation with what I have put my body through this past week. To date, I have met with my personal trainer twice and hit a yoga class. That might not sound like much, but, given that up until now, I've been a Class 1 Couch Potato, this is a significant increase in the amount of activity I've performed.
The name of this post comes from my aforementioned trainer, as this is how he described himself to me over the phone the first time we spoke to set up our introductory appointment. To say I was apprehensive to meet him would be a tremendous understatement.But, he turned out to be a perfectly normal guy who lives inside a very fit body. To date, I have not perceived any knuckle dragging, club wielding, grunting, or an overabundance of dark matted hair. The first session was an assessment to see my level of fitness, and I don't blame him for that. All he knew of me was that I had 120 pounds to lose and had back surgery less than a year ago. After the assessment, he seemed pretty pleased, and actually told me that I move better than some people half my age that he's trained!!!! Apparently, my body's muscle memory is really good, and all those years I put in at the dance studio have paid off. My flexibility stinks, but balance and kinesthetic awareness are intact. That's good news in one sense, as I haven't squandered all of the good health God's blessed me with. However, it does mean that he feels perfectly fine with pushing me to my limits, knowing that I'm not going to fall apart if he does. I plan to continue to work with him for the foreseeable future, and have great confidence that he'll get me fit, even if it's against my will!
I'm also grateful to the gym for introducing me to another person who has been a virtual myth to me for a lot of years. This would be the Motivated Husband. Now, in fairness, my husband is an amazing provider and father. He picks up the slack for me more times than I can even do justice to here, and I don't know if any two kids are as loved by their daddies as mine are. If so, they are blessed children indeed. My only complaint with him is that he procrastinates when it comes to cleaning up and going through all of the stuff (read; junk) he brought into our relationship. Yesterday, I went to the gym and took my two boys with me. I love that the Y has activities for the little people while their parents are working out. A and L had a great time playing with new friends, running around and swimming in the pool (I went with them there), and I got to work on my flexibility knowing they were okay and busy. While we were gone, my husband did amazing things around the house, and it's almost entirely ready for it's once a month deep cleaning tomorrow. He also didn't complain that I fell asleep at 7:30 last night, tired and sore after training this week.
And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite new species that I've encountered, and that has been the True Friend. It's strange; before this blog, my experiences with these have been limited, but since I've opened this window into my life, people have been coming inside, and really loving on me in unexpected ways. From the long-time, long distance friend who took time on a weekend to call me and cheer me on for an hour (thanks, Karina!), to the acquaintance who I didn't think was really interested in being my friend sending me a heartfelt email of support and encouragement (thanks, Allison!), and all the way to the lovely new friend who came to join me in twisting myself into new and interesting shapes at the gym yesterday (thanks, Julia!), I have been so incredibly blessed by women (and one guy, thanks, Jerit!), who have come alongside me to keep me company as I walk this road. I've also received messages too numerous to call out here (thanks, all!!!) on Facebook; messages of love and fellowship, and I am just humbled and grateful. That all of you have taken your time and cared enough to reach out is so amazing to me. Thank you, and I love you!!
So, it seems, my journey continues, and I have the sore muscles to prove it. I'm not seeing much result on the scale this week, but I'm not too surprised or worried about that. I think my body is having a "What in the World is Happening?" moment, and so while it's confused, I can't blame it for holding on to everything it can for security. However, if the body doesn't get the picture in the next week or so, I may have to do the unthinkable and take a Spinning class just to clue it in!!
MR
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
On Second Thought...
Several things have happened lately that have me reconsidering how I want to go about this weight loss thing.
The trouble I had with the whey isolate really scared me. While I found the Raw Vegan powder that I liked, after experimenting with it, I've learned that in order to make it drinkable, it really does need between 10-12 ounces of soy milk for every 19 grams of protein. If I have surgery, I'll be able to drink about 4 ounces at one meal, which means that for the two weeks prior to surgery and the two weeks after, I will be incredibly protein deficient. That scares me. A LOT. Without protein, the body breaks down muscle, and given that the heart, lungs, and intestines are nothing but, there's a real risk of damage to them if I can't get enough protein in.
The second thing that's happened is that I've lost eleven pounds from the first weigh in after I made the decision for surgery. That loss has come by cutting out soda, and restricting my carbs and total calories. I track what I eat, and I'm very careful about my awareness as I put things into my mouth. There's a part of me that thinks that 11 pounds in two months is a good result and if I can keep doing that, why let doctors remove part of my stomach?
I had my second required doctor's appointment with my family doctor on Monday, and we talked a lot about the surgery and whether or not a change of mind is in order. He tells me that 90% of the time, the surgery is unnecessary. He came very close to telling me it's unnecessary for me at this point. I have no other medical conditions (in weight loss surgery lingo they're called co-morbidities) which make rapid weight loss advisable, and the surgery carries some pretty big complications.
So, with the advice and encouragement of my doctor, this is the plan forward. I will continue meeting with him once a month, with a goal of losing a minimum of 5 pounds each month. He wrote me a prescription for a gym membership and personal training, which I started yesterday. (More on that in my next post) Because it's physician ordered, flexible spending dollars will cover the cost, and if I'm not having the surgery, I'm going to need to get that money back somehow! At my doctor's estimation, it should take me 24 months to lose 120 pounds, and that's the only down-side. It's slow. But, it took me 37 years to put this weight on my body, two doesn't seem like a bad exchange to get it off, as long as it keeps coming. I will still meet with my therapist to make sure I'm addressing the issues which in the past have made me binge, and I will still track everything I eat with a focus on proteins and good carbs.
If this doesn't work, then I still will have done everything to be compliant with my surgeon's office to qualify for the surgery, and it's always an option. I hope that folks don't think I'm chickening out, but, I just think based on what I know that I'd be in for a rough time afterward. I appreciate continued prayers for my weight loss journey, I know God is in control, and I feel he's leading me down this path.
MR
The trouble I had with the whey isolate really scared me. While I found the Raw Vegan powder that I liked, after experimenting with it, I've learned that in order to make it drinkable, it really does need between 10-12 ounces of soy milk for every 19 grams of protein. If I have surgery, I'll be able to drink about 4 ounces at one meal, which means that for the two weeks prior to surgery and the two weeks after, I will be incredibly protein deficient. That scares me. A LOT. Without protein, the body breaks down muscle, and given that the heart, lungs, and intestines are nothing but, there's a real risk of damage to them if I can't get enough protein in.
The second thing that's happened is that I've lost eleven pounds from the first weigh in after I made the decision for surgery. That loss has come by cutting out soda, and restricting my carbs and total calories. I track what I eat, and I'm very careful about my awareness as I put things into my mouth. There's a part of me that thinks that 11 pounds in two months is a good result and if I can keep doing that, why let doctors remove part of my stomach?
I had my second required doctor's appointment with my family doctor on Monday, and we talked a lot about the surgery and whether or not a change of mind is in order. He tells me that 90% of the time, the surgery is unnecessary. He came very close to telling me it's unnecessary for me at this point. I have no other medical conditions (in weight loss surgery lingo they're called co-morbidities) which make rapid weight loss advisable, and the surgery carries some pretty big complications.
So, with the advice and encouragement of my doctor, this is the plan forward. I will continue meeting with him once a month, with a goal of losing a minimum of 5 pounds each month. He wrote me a prescription for a gym membership and personal training, which I started yesterday. (More on that in my next post) Because it's physician ordered, flexible spending dollars will cover the cost, and if I'm not having the surgery, I'm going to need to get that money back somehow! At my doctor's estimation, it should take me 24 months to lose 120 pounds, and that's the only down-side. It's slow. But, it took me 37 years to put this weight on my body, two doesn't seem like a bad exchange to get it off, as long as it keeps coming. I will still meet with my therapist to make sure I'm addressing the issues which in the past have made me binge, and I will still track everything I eat with a focus on proteins and good carbs.
If this doesn't work, then I still will have done everything to be compliant with my surgeon's office to qualify for the surgery, and it's always an option. I hope that folks don't think I'm chickening out, but, I just think based on what I know that I'd be in for a rough time afterward. I appreciate continued prayers for my weight loss journey, I know God is in control, and I feel he's leading me down this path.
MR
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