It's a journey, right?

I was going to avoid such a post, but I thought I would be honest.  In a journey, there are the typical highs and lows, right?  Well, I'M-IN-A-RUT! 

I have wanted to keep all the posting on this site positive, because no one wants to hear negatives.  But I thought I would keep this real.  Every weight loss journey has it's downs and if I didn't share mine, how would I learn from it?  How would it be obvious that I am actually doing this journey, not just talking about it?

Now I'm not admitting to completely falling off the wagon.  (It certainly happens, but not this time) I am just having a hard time getting exercise every day.  I have been overly tired and that makes it hard. (Probably because I haven't been regular with the exercise for a couple of weeks.) I did it last year, from January 1st to December 31st, every day.  I know I am capable to do it again.  But this time, it's been a little harder and I am not finding the same success.  I am human.

I can say this, by not working out every day, I can feel it.  Physically, emotionally, with my appetite, I can totally tell that I'm not regularly exercising.  This shows me just how important it is and how much our bodies depend on us to find time to squeeze it in everyday, not just once and awhile.

I am currently working on a routine for our entire family and you can bet I'm setting a specific time to workout.  It's a must if you want to be regular with your exercise!

Do Not Let Dumping Syndrome Ruin Your Summer Celebration

By Kaye Bailey

Summer is a time to celebrate warm weather, sunshine, good friends and good times - often with food and drink. But for people with weight loss surgery celebrations bring the potential for a dietary crisis called dumping syndrome that has the potential to ruin a day of good old fashioned summer time fun.

Gastric Dumping Syndrome, or rapid gastric emptying, is a condition where

Emergency First Aid For Gastric Bypass Dumping Syndrome

By Kaye Bailey

For patients of gastric bypass weight loss surgery an episode of dumping syndrome, or rapid gastric emptying, is physically dramatic and lifestyle disruptive. Prior to surgery patients are instructed to avoid sweet processed carbohydrates, greasy fried food and all simple processed carbohydrates in order to avoid dumping syndrome. Some patients who become lactose intolerant with

Walking is highly underrated

I went for a walk last night. A real honest-to-goodness walk, outside, in the fresh air. I haven't done that for weeks. Usually if I walk it's during lunch at work with a coworker. I don't consider it real exercise, more of a mental break to get away from the office for an hour.

Last night it was 67 degrees, and clear skies. I'd skip the gym yesterday morning for the first time in several days. I couldn't remember my last day off without looking at my exercise log - it was last Wednesday. I'd convinced myself I needed a break from the gym so I asked my husband to walk with me on the trail where I bike at least a couple times a week.

It was strange to walk on this trail. I saw so many things that normally I never even notice. There were all kinds of flowers and especially flowering trees along the trail that I'd never seen before. There were several lilac bushes and some sort of tall bush that had big blooms of white fluffy flowers. I rode my bike on this trail last weekend and it was like a different trail last night. I'm always so focused on keeping up my heart rate, pushing myself as hard as can, that I've been missing a lot of cool things.

We also saw a lot of these little guys, the Washington state bird, yellow goldfinches. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures.

We decided as long as the weather holds out we're going to start walking at least a couple times a week. I forgot how fun it is to just enjoy yourself and not be so focused on keep my heart rate up, burn lots of calories, feel the pain. It was nice to just enjoy the outdoors and talk.

Tomorrow I leave for Fairbanks to visit family. Woohoo! I probably won't be posting much while I'm gone. I'll be in Fairbanks for a week and then back home for a week.

I also purchased the Geneen's Roth new book, the one I slammed a couple days ago. There's probably something in there to help me, plus I need something to read on the plane. I'm going to try and keep a good attitude about it, even though what I heard from the interview with Oprah sounded kind of silly to me. I can certainly use all the help I can get when it comes to my issues with food so it's worth a try.

Have a great week!

Sweeteners - NuStevia - good stuff

I've always had a sweet tooth that just doesn't stop. Anything with sugar in it was my favorite food. Unfortunately, as with most foods, my off switch is really broken when it comes to sugar. I just can't seem to stop. Other than natural sugars in fruit (and yes, I know that's still sugar), I've given up regular, processed sugar. Yet I really miss the sweetness of sugar.

I've always hated artificial sweeteners. All of them have a bitter, chemical aftertaste that kind of gags me. I can taste it regardless of what people tell me. Maybe some people just get use to it and really can't taste it.

I finally found a sweetener that I like and it has zero calories. NuNaturals Stevia. It's less processed than some of the others, like Truvia by CocaCola. Of course a big corporation would have to mess it up by adding chlorine. Seriously CocaCola, chlorine?

Anyway, NuStevia is pure, natural, delicious sweetness and zero calories.

Here's a good blog post about NuStevia by NuNaturals, much better than my review (and I stole her picture above because I was too lazy to take my own). She has a lot of tips on how to use it. I haven't tried the NuStevia extract yet, but it's next on my list.

You can't find NuStevia with the regular artificial sweeteners in grocery stores, I only saw the Stevia products by the big corporations, like the Truvia (aka chlorine). I found the NuNaturals products in the nutrition center at my local Fred Meyers, and also at Whole Foods.

Give it a try. You'll be sweetly rewarded. :)

Women, Food and God - really?

At first I was all set to run out and buy this book. I buy almost every weight loss book that comes out, every strength training book, every new book on the latest health fad of the moment. I have book cases full of these books. I'm always looking for the magic pill.

I've been reading about this book, Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth. It sounded like something I should read. Maybe I could learn something.

Tonight I caught the last thirty minutes of Oprah's interview with Geneen. Sadly, I realized this book doesn't have the answers for me. I've already tried making peace with food. All the stuff they talked about in that thirty minutes, I've done it. Don't watch TV and eat. Eat in a calm, quiet place. Enjoy your food. Don't count calories. Don't weigh and measure your food. Trust yourself with food (gotta love this one).

It doesn't work for me. I've tried it all and seriously, all that happened was an ugly weight gain. None of this stuff is new. I've read the same theories in different books and magazines for years. It's just a regurgitation of the same old theories.

That's my book review on a book I haven't even read. I just watched an interview with the author.

Have you read it? What are your thoughts on this book? Did you watch the Oprah interview? Do you really think this can work for you?

Maybe there's more to this book than what I saw in a 30-minute interview. Maybe I'm missing something and it would be worth using that Borders gift card I won at Toastmasters. Still, I was a little put off by Oprah's revelations that this book held the answers we're all seek regarding weight loss, but sometimes, Oprah kind of annoys me.

Anyway, I'm really curious what other people thought about the interview and the book. Should I buy it?

4:15am - Tuesday
I thought about this post and this book several times last night (another bad night of sleep). I think Geneen Roth's theory might actually work for most people. Unfortunately, for me, when it comes to food there's something inside of me that irreparably broken. My off switch doesn't seem to work.

The part of my brain that should tell me when I've eaten enough food to keep my body functioning at peak condition simply doesn't work. Maybe it's from years of dieting and deprivation. Binging and purging. Whatever the cause, I don't think I can easily fix it by just wishing it worked. I have to be very consciously aware of what I eat and how much or I will gain weight. Years of experience has proven this to be true.

I wish it was that easy that I could just believe in myself and trust myself to eat the correct amount of food and eat what I want when I want it. Then magically all would be well in my world. Unfortunately, for me, it just doesn't work that way for me. I'm okay with it, the counting and measuring, the vigilance about what I eat. I'd rather do this than go back to what I was before, 100 pounds overweight.

Maybe it'll work for you, maybe it won't. Regardless, there's something that works for everyone, you just have to figure it out.

83/365: Monday - Twitter Workout

When I workout, I need something to distract me.  TV used to work well, but it just doesn't hold my interest any more.

I really enjoy reading, but if it's a new book, I can't stand chopping it up in 15 minute increments.  I LOVE reading books in big chunks, breaking them up makes me crazy.  Now with a book I have already read, I can break it up no problem and it works fine.  But I'm behind in my reading so I don't have time to re-read something right now.

Talking on the phone is nice, but finding someone available to chat at the same time is a challenge, and heavy breathing while talking isn't very nice.

So today I Tweeted while working out. The time passed beautifully, it was guilt free tweeting and I did the best workout so far this year!

What I did today:
Elliptical Trainer: 30 min @ level 15
Push-ups: 25