So I am a Pinterest Pin... Motivating Others!!!

Source: corecamper.com via AmiJoy on Pinterest

Last week I went to my friend Ali's Pinterest page (CoreCamper.com)- I'm an avid Pinner, thanks to my sister Bec- and lo and behold: I am now a Pinterest pin!!! I swear by her workouts and hope that others are inspired. If you Pin, check out her boards on Healthy Eating and Exercise!!! If there was anything that was an extrinsic motivator, besides my daughter, this is it!

As an educator and also an exercise physiologist and nutritionist (I hold a Bachelors in exercise phys with an emphasis in cardiac rehab with minors in geriatric psychology, business, and nutrition)- the theory was if all else failed I could open my own fitness business (I graduated from college the last time the economy wasn't doing so hot), I'm constantly looking for ways to motivate others. I remember looking at pictures like this and thinking, "Wow, how inspiring! How can I use this information to motivate others (and myself)?".  After years of not being as healthy as I knew to be, and hastening an early death, I decided that to be the best I could be in regards to health, for Chloe, was more important to me than anything else. I have been diligent to follow a pretty heavy exercise regimen which includes Ali and Mark's workouts to running and lifting weights (I also have a Snap Fitness membership).  I will tell you that the Holman's workouts alone would be enough, but my Type A personality motivates me to do better.  This has culminated in doing several 5Ks over the last few months and preparing for a half marathon and the Army 10 Miler next year.

I've also been working out in a group fitness class with a friend of mine who is a former Army  Ranger. This consists of several mile hikes on a trail complete with weights. The first hill on this trail is a straight up incline.  I haven't seen so many puke at once since college, when we reached the top.  Though I was out of breath, I thankfully was not one of them because I was sipping my water instead of chugging it and I also hadn't eaten anything but breakfast that day.  The guy behind me was laughing because he said, he'd heard this workout was grueling and the puking proved it.  Besides getting a great workout, we were challenged to breath only from our noses by holding water in our mouths the rest of the workout. Let's just say that warm water is pretty ick after an hour.... Most of us were happy to spit it out.   I was prepared for the worst... but (not pun intended) my glutes hurt so bad the next day, that I stood up at work the next day while I was working. My assistant came by my office and was laughing at me because I refused to sit down. I seriously am considering getting an exercise ball to sit on in my office so I can multitask. No pain, no gain: RIGHT?

I have finally reached my goal weight but to maintain, I need to lose another 25 lbs or so.  Instead of letting the stress of the last year get to me, I spent many hours and days in the gym, working off the stress. Getting stronger and shedding the last few pounds, really was rewarding.  It was the silver lining in the storm. According to my surgeon, I can get my tummy tuck after my eighteen month mark, which is this month... Actually it has already passed...  However, I am working hard to develop my core so that once the surgery is complete, I continue to strengthen and maintain my core. Of course, I do not plan to do this until I reach the two year mark in April or shortly thereafter.

 I also plan on getting breast augmentation: just a lift.  Lord knows I don't need any more volume! Ali reminded me that you can always "buy them" if you lose them... And boy did I ever lose them.... I was a 42DDD when I started my weight loss.  Cracked me up, but she does have a point! I have more than enough, so I don't need to buy them, even after one reduction, but I would like to lift these 34-36Ds back to where they belong. In the meantime, Victoria's Secret pushup bras and I are GREAT friends... I seriously find myself buying one every two weeks with all the sales they have! I pay my card off every month, only to pay it off again the next month. Even without those, I haven't evidently lost my chest as much as some people have after the surgery.  I attribute to all the years that I life guarded and swam.

I still run into the same old problem I have had since I was a teenager: having to buy shirts and sweaters, or anything that buttons across my chest, in a size larger. Case in point, since I am smaller than I was last year, I ended up having to buy new clothes.  Believe it or not, I hate clothes shopping.  But I still needed sweaters, which I LIVE in during the Winters. You can usually find this girl in jeans, a sweater, a scarf, and boots or Uggs (oh and my Grandmother Rosalie's pearls), on any given day during the colder parts of Fall and throughout the Winter. So I bought Large sweaters.... Well, they were too big, so I took them back... But the Mediums were too small... So I decided on the Large sweaters.  That way I can layer and not look like the Pillsbury Dough Girl.

So check out Ali and Mark's Pinterest page.  She has awesome tips and tricks.  You can also check them out at CoreCamper.com. You might find a pic or two of me on there as well... I still owe Ali some pic collages that I promised, so there might more in the near future.  Of course you can always admire the six pack abs that Ali has after having two of the cutest little girls (besides my own daughter, of course) in the world!!!

If you have a chance to try their workouts, please do.... You won't be disappointed. They have several workouts for various ages and abilities.  If you happen to be in the Wayzata area, Ali conducts boots camps and I heard recently that they are going to be offering personal training (correct me if I am wrong, Ali).  They have also expanded to Health and Wellness programs for corporations (corporate wellness and health promotion). Mark, her husband handles the human performance aspect.  I absolutely vouch for both of them.  Not only are the my trainers, but I am also honored to call them friends! Check them out... Once you do, you'll never go back to conventional workouts, especially when you see the results! I know that I have been thrilled with the results...

Getting Through the Holidays AFTER GBS...

After my horrible Thanksgiving Day experience, I have decided to be more mindful of what I am facing during Christmas this year. I am not preparing the meal, much like when I was at my parent's for Thanksgiving.   I have thinking and rethinking how I am going to get through this.  Thankfully, I only have to spend one night away from home which makes things easier to plan for than extended time away.  So what are some things to keep in mind?

1. Holidays are loaded with carbs!!! Make sure that you load up on protein bars, water, protein based foods like beans, cottage cheese, yogurt.  I failed to pack these in a cooler and bring them with me. Lesson learned!!!


2. Avoid picking or grazing...  It is much easier to do this because of the amount of food that there is at any family get together.   Instead keep a set schedule and drink plenty of fluids if you are traveling

3. Don't avoid exercising,  What I did was walk daily and try to do "some" weight bearing exercise.  This helps avoid being bored enough to eat.

4. Keep yourself busy with a book or music instead of obsessing about what you can't eat and the stress of it all.

5. Find healthy alternatives to the traditional foods.  Many websites have low fat and low cal versions of holiday favorites.  The goal is to either maintain or lose weight NOT to gain any!!! Easier said than done, I know!

6. Focus on the future not where you have been, so if you hit a plateau or gain a pound or two, you can move on instead of living in the past stifled by guilt and shame.

7. Remember it is ok to focus on YOU.  People who know you, know that you need the support of everyone nd that you might even need a push to do something nice for yourself.  This prevents stress eating.

These are only few tips of how to work through the holiday season.  Keep in mind that the main reason why we see resolutions so close to the ending of the major holidays, is due to the guilt we feel from having had indulged the last three months. For more tips, please consider signing up for my friend Ali Holman's website: http://coreconditioningtraining.com/  I swear by it!!!

Have a wonderful holiday!!! And Merry Christmas!!!

Tackling Misconceptions...

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." 

Vince Lombardi

As I read comments on my Facebook and in basic conversation with people, I have realized that people  have no clue that the bariatric surgery is a TOOL, not an end all cure all.  From day one, my surgeon and dietitians, and all bariatric staff reinforced that this is merely a tool! However, the general public thinks that you have your stomach stapled and you lose weight and everything is great!  Nothing could be further from the truth!  If you have been following my blog, then you know that I have had ups and downs as a result of this surgery.  BUT... let me take you through a day in my life!

5:30 am.  I am up and off to either take a shower or start my morning routine.  I tend to drink anything I am going to before breakfast and while I take my vitamins and supplements.  My vitamin consists of a prescription pre-natal that I take three times a day.  I also take a B-complex and follow that with Biotin and Calcium with D.  If this is a Monday morning, I take a prescription "horse pill" D vitamin too.  If it is the 1st or the 15th of the month, then I must take a B-12 injection.  Mind you, this is how I start my day off.


As I get ready for work and get Chloe ready for daycare, I cook either egg whites with protein powder or I do a high protein shake.  I am to get almost 100 grams of protein in a day along with at least 64 ounces of water.  Now my stomach is the size of a walnut so I have to figure out how to get this by eating minimeals AND by waiting 30-45 between eating and drinking.  I do not come to the table with anything to drink, which is why I drink my coffee with my vitamins and supplements. Then I head to work.

Throughout the day, I take two more chewable calcium pills with D, and another prenatal vitamin while either consuming a high protein shake or protein bar.  Now also keep in mind that I am limited to 500 calories a day.  So generally the night before I am planning my meals for the next day.  All the while, I am logging my calories to make sure that if I go over, I have a way to burn those calories.  I also work anywhere from 9-12 hours a day at the university and I travel between two campuses as well as make employer and community visits.  Somehow I find time to eat and there have been some days that I have actually forgotten to eat.

As I drive home, I am still consuming my water.  I am also thinking about what I am going to feed Bill and Chloe for dinner, since they cannot eat the way that I do.  Once I arrive home, if I have not already put something into the CrockPot, I am start dinner.  After we eat dinner as a family, Bill and I either have homework or we have bills to set up through bill pay, laundry to do, showers, bedtime routine with Chloe, reading with Chloe and a plethora of other items to do.  In the midst of it all, I find time to either train for my 5K or do my coreconditioningtraining.com fitness routine.  This lasts for about 1/2 hour.  Then I take my last vitamins, muscle relaxer, and water and I work on whatever else didn't get completed that day.  Then it is time to put Chloe to bed and then I usually shower, if I have not and go to bed.  Only to start the same routine again tomorrow.  The weekends are the same, only every other weekend I have doctoral classes and then I generally am there all day.

The shining moment is my Friday that I get off each week, unless a professional development seminar, inservice, or meeting takes place.  Then I also must attend those with my little routine in place and try to find time for me in all of this.  All to often I start a book, only to finish a month later.  Yes, me the girl who could read up to five books in a day when I was younger!  I tell you all this because I think that people think that you get the GBS and you lose weight while eating whatever you want and without having to exercise.  That is probably the biggest misconception of all!  I have seen way too many people get this surgery and never exercise, only to gain the weight back!  I do NOT want to be a statistic or a failure.  I will say that it is irritating that people think that I have nothing to do with the weight loss at all.  I wish you could live in my head for a day when I look at the skin that is sagging and stretched out and I started putting myself down for even having lost the weight.  Or when I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I AM NO LONGER plus sized but I still feel huge.  Or when I decide that this week, I need to go see my counselor who works only with bariatric patients because of the psychological effects of having gone through such a transformation.  I liken it to waking up one day and living in someone else's body!

I wish that I could scream from the mountain tops that I HAD to do this or I was faced with death.  I wonder if that would change people's perception or not.  That is part of the reason why I am writing this blog.  So that people will stop judging people who chose to have bariatric

So let me say in conclusion.  I have done this by myself, with a tool called bariatric surgery.  Regardless, I know that people will still judge me or think less of me because of my decision.  And you know what?  I really don't care, because I did it for my family and for me.  I would have had to have lived with the knowledge that I had an opportunity to do something about it and I failed to do so. So if you are reading this and you feel inclined to judge me or others like me, please remember, that this is a heck of a lot harder than anyone ever can explain to you.  It is not only physically exhausting, but it is mentally, psychologically, and spiritually taxing.  If it wasn't for my husband, family, and close friends and the opportunity to educate people about this process, I think that I would probably have opted NOT to do this.  I will end by saying, how someone chooses to do something in life is entirely up to them and whether they succeed or fail is up to them as well.  I don't care what anyone says though, because I intend to succeed at this!!!! Now excuse me while I go run my two miles...