Friday's Top Ten

A few years ago I was going through a rough time. It wasn't like "world coming to an end" rough time, but rough enough that I was starting to feel negative a lot. One day out of the blue I emailed a group of friends a "top ten" list for the week. It's just a list of good things that made me smile this week. It helped me put into perspective what was going on with my life. Call me Pollyanna if you will...and if you do I'll punch you in the nose!

Here's my list for this week!

Overall it was a good week, although I have had more pain than previously. I think things are healing up nicely and in doing that are maybe pulling and tugging a bit more.

1. I met my surgeon on MOnday and he seems like a very nice guy. Good news: He feels there is no reason to believe there are any other tumors, nor will any more grow; he says that all I need to do to prepare for this is keep doing what I'm doing, exercising and eating right; outside of the tumor my pancreas appears to be perfectly healthy.

2. I met a few potential subs today (interviewed them). I think I found one that will work out.

3. Someone told me I was their inspiration today...well a few people did this week.

4. My students found my msteechur.com website and despite my misgivings were pretty cool about it, oohing and ahhing at the pictures.

5. Roy told me that in preparation for my surgery he was going to make March the most memorable birthday month ever. He always gets me a gift every day of the month up until my birthday.

6. I am almost able to lift what I was lifting before I had surgery, and am working out the same amount as then.

7. A former student came to see me and talk to my classes today. He told me that the web page unit I taught him when he was in ninth grade was what started him on his career path. Whoda thunkit?

8. I am applying for a grant to earn my National Board Teacher Certification. It's going to be a HUGE challenge, but I think I can handle it.

9. One of my students told me how very much he appreciates me. The feeling is mutual. He's an awesome kid.

10. As always I have a wonderful wonderful husband and family. Everyone is being so supportive during this stupid Whipple-Fest tumor thingy.

So that was this week! I had a few rough days so it was good to write down the positive stuff. Have a good weekend!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

No, I'm not going on vacation. In fact, my next scheduled vacation is going to be taken in the hospital. Bummer for me!

I was just reading a post from a person on a bulletin board who has about 10 pounds left to lose and asked how much longer we all thought it would take. She's done AMAZINGLY well! But one of the lines in her post hit me "I've been on vacation and pretty much eating what I want to..."

My first and honest inclination is to say "Why?"

Why go on vacation and eat what you want to?

Is that why you go on vacation?

When you plan an itinerary do you say

• Okay Monday I'll eat at Krispy Kreme, then off to Cheesecake Heaven, and finally we'll end up with Burger Bazaar. That should be a good 9000 calories.
• Tuesday we'll start off with Fatty Larry's and then on to Dirty Mary's and finally Crazy Larry's for deep fried fat chunks in fat sauce. There's another good 10,000 calories!
• Wednesday...

Of course you don't! You say "Monday we'll go to this spot and enjoy this activity. Tuesday off to snorkling. Wednesday we'll lounge around the pool.

Notice how none of your itinerary includes a caloric intake plan.

So why do we feel that vacation is when we should eat what we want?

Can we take a vacation from the needs of our bodies?

No. My body still needs food, nutrition, vitamins, minerals, and exercise. Even on vacation.

Can we take a vacation from our weight issues?

Unfortunately no. Even when we've reached goal, we still have weight issues. We can try to not think about them, but they're always there.

Of course eating on vacation is ALWAYS a challenge. I'm not denying that. It is NOT easy to know exactly what you're eating when you go on vacation. The best you can do is make educated guesses and hope you do okay.

So what do I do on vacation? Well I modify my plan, but the key is I am always on plan, even on vacation.

Here's how I modify my plan:

• I set a goal to maintain my weight. If I lose, great. If not, I'll be happy to maintain.
• I bring some form of journal with me. I wear a points bracelet and carry my handheld computer. I journal every day.
• I eat all my activity points. I don't limit myself to only four. I also bank everything I don't eat in a day. I figure I burn them, I can eat them during this time.
• I wear a pedometer and keep track of my mileage. I also avail myself to the hotel gym, if possible. When staying at my brother's I used his treadmill and his Body.com tapes every day.
• If I can walk somewhere, I do.
• I bring a variety of low point snacks with me: Pria bars, rice cakes, fruit and veggies. If I can't travel with the produce, I find a store as soon as I get there and stock up.
• When I get there I find a store and stock up on diet sodas. I carry those with me. I use one of the sode bottles for water since I don't want to drag my own water bottle with me. If it's someplace with nasty water, I buy water.
• I have a VERY small breakfast, since I find breakfast hard to eat light at. However, an egg beater omelette with all veggies is a GREAT deal at about 2-3 points!
• I eat at the top of my points every day.
• I find Subway restaurant as soon as I can.
• In the regular restaurants I eat as many "whole" foods as I can. It's much easier to figure points if it's a piece of grilled chicken, veggies, potato, etc. than it would be to figure them for a mized dish. I also eat lots of salads, dressing on the side.
• I make special requests and restaurants. They are always very willing to fill them.
• I carry with me all the restaurant lists from Dottie's Weight Loss Zone. I upload them to my Palm and check them any time I go out BEFORE I order food.
• If I order something and it tastes nasty, I won't eat it. I only spend my precious points on excellent food.

So Dr. Phil would want to know, "How's that working for you?"

GREAT!

I've gone on six vacations since starting Weight Watchers. I lost on three, maintained on two, and gained one pound on one. The next week I lost four pounds, so that one pound was only a visitor.

So next time you go on vacation, go determined to enjoy the sights, the sounds, the experiences, and the company but do NOT focus on food. Don't take a vacation from your health!

Tools to Say No

So many times I read the boards and mailing list and I see essentially the same message over and over again.

I was doing so well today, and then...

• Someone brought me a cookie.
• My boss called me names and said my mother wears army boots.
• I forgot my lunch and had to go to a restaurant.
• Someone brought me my favorite pie

It's kind of the same old thing. I was in control and then something happened that caused me to lose control.

But wait...what really causes us to lose control? Can something ELSE cause us to lose control? Unless someone holds you down, presses their boot against your throat and then forces the food down your gullet, there's only one person in control. That's you! That's me!

As a teacher I get a lot of offers of food. I go to my box and find a baggie of candy at every holiday. Kids bring me things to share. Vendors send me full sized samples of candy bars and suckers. I buy treats for my kids. It's a constant barrage of food, food, food.

Shortly after I started Weight Watchers we had the holiday from hell...Valentine's Day. If ever there was a challenge, that was it! Not only that, but February 20 is the anniversary of the first date with my honey.

Insert ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs here

Two very major food-related celebrations. I remember at the time trying to decide if I stay on program or go off for one day. After all, don't skinny people indulge on those holidays? I looked back at my journal and that's kind of along the lines of what I wrote. But lo and behold, I actually ate on program both days. I made this great dessert and decided it was a challenge to try to still celebrate, but celebrate on program. If you look back at my blog from this year's Valentine's Day you'll see that I rose to the same challenge. We had an excellent meal of steak, lobster, salad, potatoes, and dessert and still stayed well within points.

So how do we resist all these temptations? Well here are some of the things I do.

• When someone offers me food and I feel it will offend them if I don't take it: "Well thank you very much! I am going to set this aside and enjoy it later during my break. It looks delicious!" After the person leaves I share it with someone else, enjoying no more than a bite. Of course I make sure to let the person know how much I appreciated it.
• When a kid offers candy: I'm sorry, I don't do chocolate. Thanks so much for offering, though! (They understand. They all know I've lost a lot of weight.)
• When I find candy in my box or left on my desk: I give it to my TA or drop it in the trash without even bringing it into my office.
• When I'm stuck at a conference or workshop and am served something really decadent and high in points I'll either say "No thank you" or if not able to do that (it's just set in front of me) I'll take one bite, push it around on my plate a few times, and then lay my napkin over it and push it away. I always journal the bite.
• When I show up to a morning meeting to be confronted with the dreaded Krispy Kremes (that I will admit, I just love), I have half of one and journal 2.5 points. Or if I'm smart I've brought a Pria Bar with me and I get myself a cup of coffee and enjoy that.
• If I'm invited to a potluck I always bring low fat treats that I know that I can eat. I make the chocolate pumpkin muffins and a tray of veggies and Uncle Dan's dressing made with fat free sour cream and fat free mayonaise, or a tray of lots of fresh fruits.
• When stress hits, and trust me...as a high school teacher with a pancreatic tumor who is looking at up to eight weeks off work and an extended hospital stay within the next 8 weeks, stress hits...I try to control things I can control, and leave the rest to God. I've been a stress eater in the past, but now I am proud to say that I do NOT give in to stress eating. When things are crazy I can exercise to work stress off and I can still eat within my points. I just don't give in to that any more.
• If I'm invited to an impromptu meal I've learned to quickly suggest a place that I know has point-friendly foods. If that doesn't work I'll order a salad with dressing on the side and a non-creamy soup. I also find that hot tea fills me up better than soda and takes longer to drink. I focus on the conversation, not the food. Of course if there are point friendly foods I make a careful decision. I try to order "whole" foods that aren't fried. I ask for things to be prepared without fat, and for all sauces on the side. I've found people to be very accomodating.
• I think the hardest thing has been conferences where there are lunches that are catered and there truly are NO healthy choices. In that situation I pick at whatever I think is the lowest point thing on the plate, again concentrate on the company or the speaker, and if need be excuse myself early and eat something else. I got smart at the last conference and brought my own bags of popcorn (there was a microwave in the room), Pria bars, rice cakes, and lots of veggies and fruits. That way even when I was stuck with non-point friendly foods I knew I could eat a little and always fill up on other things in my room later.

I know that some people will read this and think, "But you're giving up all this good food just for a diet? Surely one day won't hurt!"

I don't look at it as giving up anything. If I have the points and it looks good to me, and tastes good, I'll eat it. However, if it isn't just excellent and I don't really want it, forget it. It isn't worth it. I think of my points as a budget. Put it this way. If I have only $20 in my wallet and I find a CD in a store for a mediocre performer that I like, but don't love, do I want to spend $16 on that CD? Probably not. I look at food the same way. If I have only 20 points left and someone wants to take me to lunch at Skippers where they never met a piece of fish they didn't ruin by deep fat frying it, do I want to spend 6 points for 1 piece of fish, another 10 points for the fries when neither of them taste very good? Nope!

Besides, who is giving up? I have "given up" eating this way but I have gained so much more! I've gained a healthy body, a nice looking body, energy that seems boundless, a positive outlook, respect for myself, and a new feeling of empowerment and self control. All that "tastes" so much better than any old meal ever could!

posted by Unknown  # 9:29 PM