It's been quite a month, another bout with pneumonia pretty much consumed most of my time. I decided I have had enough a being sick, so when the doctor recommended that I have my lap band removed, in hopes that it would reduce the amount of reflux I was having and hopefully reverse some of the esophegeal issues I had developed, I didn't even hesitate to say yes. At the time I felt very confident that I would be able to maintain my weight loss, I have developed a lot of good habits, like running and eating better. I strongly believed that these would carry me through, and quite frankly at that point I didn't really care if I gained back all of the 120# that I had lost, I just wanted my life back, I was so tired of being sick.
That was then, this is reality. The good news is that I can eat again, with only a small amount of residual swallowing issues. The bad news is I can eat again, with only myself to restrict what and how much I eat. The first couple weeks I had no appetite, well, it's back! I am pretty sure my scale needs a new battery, otherwise I have been gaining 3 # a day the past 3 days, and I seriously have not had that much to eat or drink, that would be a ridiculous amount of calories. I need to jump start my metabolism!
The way I have done that in the past was to run, well, it is so nasty outside, and I don't have a gym membership so i haven't wanted to do that. I decided I would do the insanity work-out with my son, a very modified low impact version. It felt OK when I was doing it, I just needed to back off when my lungs started to burn, the next day however all of the muscles I hadn't used in way too long were complaining....LOUDLY. I tried it one more time, it was easier, but it was a short work out. It was enough for me to decide that running in the rain didn't sound so bad after all.
So today I ran. I got lucky and was able to get out and back with only a few sprinkles (thank you hourly weather forecast!) Honestly, to say I ran is a gross exageration. What I actually did was more of a walk/shuffle. I did get a few good running strides in there to start with, but when my lungs started burning I figured I had to back off. I didn't want to just walk, that is not my goal, walking does not do for me what running does. Instead I did what my son refers to as the "lineman's shuffle" where I am going through the motions of running, but putting as little effort as possible in to the running process. I believe I was actually going faster on my walk breaks than during my running portions. But it was a start, and psychologically I have started running again, that's what matters because that is what motivates me to get out there and continue my runs, I am a runner, albeit a slow one. It is very different than thinking I need to start a running program, or start excercising, I may be slow, but I am doing it, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Running helps motivate me to eat better, because why waste all that effort by putting junk food in my body? So, I am off to buy a new battery for my scale, and to look up motivational quotes to keep me moving forward. I really do not feel like the same person I was before I lost weight, I see and do things differently and it carries through to all aspects of my life. I feel like losing weight gave me my life back and I don't plan to let go of it without a fight so bring it on!
That was then, this is reality. The good news is that I can eat again, with only a small amount of residual swallowing issues. The bad news is I can eat again, with only myself to restrict what and how much I eat. The first couple weeks I had no appetite, well, it's back! I am pretty sure my scale needs a new battery, otherwise I have been gaining 3 # a day the past 3 days, and I seriously have not had that much to eat or drink, that would be a ridiculous amount of calories. I need to jump start my metabolism!
The way I have done that in the past was to run, well, it is so nasty outside, and I don't have a gym membership so i haven't wanted to do that. I decided I would do the insanity work-out with my son, a very modified low impact version. It felt OK when I was doing it, I just needed to back off when my lungs started to burn, the next day however all of the muscles I hadn't used in way too long were complaining....LOUDLY. I tried it one more time, it was easier, but it was a short work out. It was enough for me to decide that running in the rain didn't sound so bad after all.
So today I ran. I got lucky and was able to get out and back with only a few sprinkles (thank you hourly weather forecast!) Honestly, to say I ran is a gross exageration. What I actually did was more of a walk/shuffle. I did get a few good running strides in there to start with, but when my lungs started burning I figured I had to back off. I didn't want to just walk, that is not my goal, walking does not do for me what running does. Instead I did what my son refers to as the "lineman's shuffle" where I am going through the motions of running, but putting as little effort as possible in to the running process. I believe I was actually going faster on my walk breaks than during my running portions. But it was a start, and psychologically I have started running again, that's what matters because that is what motivates me to get out there and continue my runs, I am a runner, albeit a slow one. It is very different than thinking I need to start a running program, or start excercising, I may be slow, but I am doing it, and that makes all the difference in the world.
Running helps motivate me to eat better, because why waste all that effort by putting junk food in my body? So, I am off to buy a new battery for my scale, and to look up motivational quotes to keep me moving forward. I really do not feel like the same person I was before I lost weight, I see and do things differently and it carries through to all aspects of my life. I feel like losing weight gave me my life back and I don't plan to let go of it without a fight so bring it on!
