Week 2

Week 1 is over.  I did a pretty good job eating three meals a day.  I haven't noticed any change in my appetite or energy levels as a result of not skipping meals, but maybe that will come with time.  I still have to eat snacks...something that is a no-no if I go forward with surgery.  It is funny.  My whole life I was told that a good diet involved eating 5-6 small meals a day.  Now I am being told to confine my eating to 3 regular meals and no snacks each day.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I guess I can talk to the nutritionist about it at my appointment in a couple of weeks.

In regards to my second Week 1 goal...I did not manage to keep myself off the scale.  I weighed myself almost every day, but I never got on the scale more than once a day and I didn't let myself get emotionally attached to the number on the scale.  Even though I need to continue to keep working on weaning myself off the scale, I'm happy with the progress I've made in just one week.

Speaking of "progress," you might be wondering how much weight I lost this week.  NONE.  I had lost three pounds and it came back when we traveled out of state over the weekend.  I'm a little disappointed, but I'm not at all surprised.  The changes I am making at the beginning of this journey are small changes that don't result in drastic weight loss.  Later on down the road I'll start working towards the big weight loss lifestyle goals...like not giving into my carbohydrate cravings and increasing my protein intake.  Baby steps.

So now I am on to Week 2 and it is time to set some new goals to add to my Week 1 lifestyle changes.  I have been having some dehydration issues lately (headaches, fatigue, etc.) and I realized that I am not drinking nearly enough water.  Thus, my first goal for this week is to drink no less than 64 ounces of water a day.  I already track the amount of milk my newborn eats each day.  I'm just going to start tracking my own fluid intake the same way.  I like water, so making myself drink isn't the problem.  Realizing that I've forgotten to drink is my issue.  Hopefully I can become more mindful this week and, if nothing else, reduce the dehydration-related problems.

As for my second Week 2 goal... it is time to add some exercise.  I will exercise every single day this week, 15 minutes a day.  Before you laugh at that goal, understand that I have been sooooooo sedentary for almost a year that any exercise is a workout for me.  Walking down a long hallway makes me winded at this point.  When I met with the physician's assistant at the bariatric program, she recommended 15 minutes of exercise a day, every day, at first.  In fact, she said it is fine if I break that down into 3 separate 5 minute walks each day.  She says that most people jump into 30 or 60 minutes of exercise a day and they've skipped a day by the end of week one, a few days by the end of week two, and they've quit before you know it.  But committing to a much smaller amount of time makes it is easier to stick to the exercise routine every single day.  Then, each week, I will just add five minutes of exercise a day.  In no time, I'll be at a "normal" activity level.  At least...that's the theory.  I did a Mommy and Me yoga class today, and while there wasn't any intense yoga going on in class...I definitely exercised for more than 15 minutes.  So, one day down...six to go.