Day By Day

It's been awhile again since I had blogged. The reason is simple; there isn't much to report on.

Bariatric surgery is something that takes intense retraining and relearning and introduces new coping challenges for a period of time; once you have met (or coped) with those challenges, life returns to some semblance of a new version of "normal" and you move on, with changes and checkups periodically interrupting your routine.

After a year post-surgery, what is there to talk about? I could complain about not being able to enjoy cakes or brownies or other fun foods that I used to enjoy; my son's birthday recently slid by and while family were stuffing their faces with heaping helpings of yummy-frosted cake I was eating...I think an apple or some mini-pretzels and nuts. I don't remember.

I could complain about missing the days where I could down large portions of food with nary a bit of side effect. I see shows like Man Vs. Food on the Teletubes and think to myself, "That challenge would have been nothing for me a few years ago..."

Now I see that show and wonder how he doesn't gain more weight while filming the programs.

Oh, there's always something to complain about. Complaining isn't a challenge. The challenge is moving on.

My most recent checkup at the doctor had them concerned because some of the weight had creeped up. I assured them that I just saw the surgeon and there were changes being made to my diet; I routinely monitor it (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I record my weight in the morning), and I'm trying to make changes to trim out a few calories.

My biggest dietary challenge lately has been peanut butter. I love the stuff. And I eat way too much of it. I usually eat it with apples or even broccoli (I know it's strange, but it works for me.) I suppose a secondary challenge has been cashews; they're high calorie but good. Very good.

I resolved to trim back some calories here and there and see what the effect would be. Basically I'm aiming to change my routine enough to get into newer, better habits through small changes. First I trimmed back cheese in my wraps. I used to have a slice of white cheese (60 calories) with some shredded cheddar. Then I cut out the shreds and had 2 slices of the white cheese, so calories were easier to control. Now I cut back the slices to just one in two out of the three meals, for a savings of 120 calories a day or 840 a week, which can add up over time.

Then I swore off cashews during the week. Saturdays and Sundays I have some, but otherwise, no cashews. This saves on calories and the wallet.

Now I've reduced my peanut butter intake. Not a huge amount, but it's reduced. I'm having more raw apples instead of apples with some PB on them.

Basically I'm trying to trim some calories here and there and keep busy with other tasks rather than focusing on eating. When I stress, I eat. When I get anxious or angry, I want to eat. When I get annoyed or want to focus on something other than something that is driving me batty, eating keeps me from saying something that will no doubt do little but make other people irritated or angry. Even if I'm bored, I want to eat. And of course there's my regular routine times to eat, when I'm used to having a meal and Mr. Tummy starts getting irritated if it's not refilled at the proper time (I think I liked Mr. Tummy better when the nerves were healing post-operation).

I'm working on trying to stay busy, as I tend to not want to eat when I'm occupied with something I enjoy doing. For the past couple of weeks I was working on a video contest entry which took precedent over working on my manuscript for the novel. Once that's all submitted I'll be working on the manuscript once again (I'm actually pretty far into my pass on editing, and my wife is still looking at the previous section I gave her. By the time she's done with that I'll have something like 150 pages ready for her to go through again.) With summer approaching I'm going to have the occasional weed-whacking chores or maybe even excursions into the park for some nature walks with my son (or family, if they're game to join. I've learned through my readings for the surgery and watching my extended family age that the more activity you get into, the better off you are with preventing joint issues later on.)

I'm still out here. I'm still doing some posting on my tech blog and writing blog. I'm still trying to lose weight, and cope with my personal issues that helped contribute to my weight issues in the first place. And I'm still trying to write a novel that may or may not sell.

Still taking it all day by day.