PSA: Save a Carb...Ride a Protein...

ok...so....i have been reading blogs here and there the past couple days and i keep wanting to make the same comment/friendly nudge but i don't want to be a pain in the ass on a bunch of blogs....so, i will do it here.   and really, more to nudge myself than anything else....because i too am getting too comfortable with eating "normal"....

i read a lot of blogs where people feel "prepared" for the day with their food...but their menus include nutritional bars, salads, carrots, etc.   very little proteins are being listed.   and i know that the specific nutritional bar being listed is a "high protein" bar.  but it also has 30grams or so of carbs! 

my surgeon's office preaches the following:

always go for full protein first.   then a protein shake. and then worst case scenario a protein bar.   and that worst case scenario is because of the carbs.

we are taught to have a minimum of 70grams of protein a day.   and limit ourselves to 30 -40 carbs a day.

whole foods are preferred over processed foods.

good go-to high protein/low carb items are: cottage cheese, greek yogurt, tuna, hard boiled egg, a slice of deli meat rolled up with cheese (i do a slice of turkey with a half of laughing cow cheese -- you wouldn't believe how filling that is for a "mindless" snack).   cheese is always a debate at support group.  i say a cheese stick can keep me away from the snack machine.  so i will go for it and sacrifice the fat content.

i do not want to sound preachy.  i just see a lot of frustration with stalled or slow weight loss and a lot of menus with very little protein...so i thought i would point it out.

yana asked me once to share a menu.  i always try to plan my full menu out the day before.  i travel in my car a lot for work.  for years i used this as my excuse not to follow weight watchers.    now i bring my lunch almost everywhere with me.   no one seems to mind....fancy that!  lol.....

this is what i hope tomorrow will look like....as long as i stay away from the cookies i baked for the office....

breakfast: protein shake with a teaspoon of peanut butter -- 30 grams protein.

morning snack:  cheese stick 7 grams protein

lunch: canned salmon mixed up with light mayo, goat or feta cheese and a couple sliced olives 16 grams of protein

afternoon snack:  (will not be eating dinner until 9ish) 1/2 cup cottage cheese.  i like california style -- it is thicker and more filling to me.  15 grams protein

dinner:  i am having dinner with Electric Stephanie M. (!!!!).  we are going to a restaurant called Stir Crazy.  i have checked out their menu since i was only there once, and i think i am going to get the Wok Seared Tuna Sashimi this time.  last time i got an ahi tuna on a fried wonton tower and ate one of the 3 wonton crisps it came with.   i will guess i will get in 2-3 ounces of tuna so that will be 14-21 grams of protein.

i personally need to work on getting all my liquids in during the day.  i have been slacking. and coincidentally getting stuck a lot lately.   lube the tube, heidi.  lube the tube.  <---- that is also something else my surgeon's office likes to say....lol....


.

time for some kind of change...

i am in a funk.   not a depression funk.  (i did all my routine self checks for that).  this funk is more global.   it is a lack of fulfillment in my soul.   i was supposed to see my therapist today for my regular appointment but she is sick so i won't see her until thursday.    i was hoping i would go in today and she would say "pish posh, what you are experiencing is right on target for someone 13 months and 4 days out of surgery".   lol.

i have a feeling of emptiness inside.  a feeling of discontentment.   a feeling of unrest.   not sure if any of these words properlyy describe what i feel, but it is the closest i can come to describing what i feel.   all i know is i want change.    global change.   the problem is, i can not pinpoint where this change needs to come from.   and because i am a go-getter, a do-er, a make-it-happen-er....that is driving me crazy.   

i have this strong desire to leave.  move.  startover.  my life here was fine for someone who what dying on the inside both physically because of the weight and emotionally (because of the weight).   i think it is very cavalier to say that *I* (generic/collective *I*) will be the same person after *I* lose weight.   now that i am on the home stretch, i can tell you i am not sure if i am the same person. 

same ol, same ol is not good enough anymore.    status quo freaks me out.   discontent comes to mind, again.   i need....something....i just don't know what.   a career change?  perhaps.  i have put my resume out there for a couple specific "dream jobs" that have come open in my current field.  but i wonder sometimes if this is the wrong field for me.  i always wanted to be a librarian.  but it is more than that now.  i want to help people.   i have to be a change igniter in others.    a location change?  i don't know.  this one is harder.   on one side of the proverbial piece of paper i have a desire to move.   go somewhere with more culture.  a little smaller.   more liberal.  more something.   on the other side of that sheet of paper is living in close proximity to my parents and the welfare of my daughter growing up close to them.    a social change?  perhaps.  i know that some of my real life friends can read this. but i need to put this out there....the truth is, i am just not satisfied socially anymore.   i don't mean that there are not enough opportunities for me to dance on a bar.  it is something else.   my soul is not getting nourished socially anymore.  i want more.  but more of what?  i don't know.   it is not good enough for me right now for someone to be "present" or "not ______"....i am looking at them, searching for what they are.  i want more out of everyone and i know that is not a realistic expectation.   familiarity is no longer comfortable and satisfying for me.   i am a true virgo.  i rather have one true close friend than know everyone at a party.  

a big part of my therapy work this past year has been getting me to live outside my comfort zone.   because as My Therapist astutely pointed out in the beginning...where did that comfort zone get ya?   373 is my answer.   so whenever i found myself wailing "this feels so uncomfortable to me" she would push me to stay there and work from that point.   i think i have done a phenomenal job of that so far.   now i can identify being outside my comfort zone when it happens and i can personally push myself to stay there.    so....i know a lot of what i am feeling right now is uncomfortable and that is why i am trying to identify where it is coming from so i can deal with it.  i just don't know.

i know what i have written thus far sounds emotional....but i am not sad.  i am eager.  i am expectant.  i am waiting with baited breath for whatever this next change is going to be.....i just wish i knew where the change was coming from.

i am torn at times about my spot here when it relates back to weight loss.  on one hand, i am an attention seeking whore and i enjoy the compliments to when people notice the change in my physical self.   but on the other hand....and this other hand is getting stronger and stronger every day...i want to move on from my former fat self and want others to do so too.   i don't want to arrive somewhere and have people comment on my physical appearance  -- i notice they do not say that to anyone else.   ask me about the book i just read -- i am dying to talk about it with someone.   ask me what i think of Obama.   i have a lot of opinions on him.   ask me what the best way to hard boil an egg.   i love to cook.   i have worked my ass off this past year to shed not only physical pounds but also the mental pounds to longer see myself as content as fat.  i think all this hard word deserves to be recognized by not being treated like the "fat friend".   i don't want for friends to think it is "ok" to talk about how much weight i have lost to people who did not know me "when".   it is my past.   my personal past.  and i would like to gain some control in who has access to that past.   and sometimes i think the only way to gain control is to run away.  start over.   cut ties.    i am just not sure if it means small adjustments to my existing daily life here or a fresh start somewhere else.

i am bored with my life here.  not sure if it is boredom or if it is something more.   it could be that the life i have made for myself no longer serves the same purpose for me. in fact, i think that is the answer my therapist is going to give me.   and that freaks me out a little.   what if my life, the one i have made for myself to be comfortable in, is not mine afterall?  

and it is that last line that brings me back to how i feel....empty.  discontent.  unrest.  unsatisfied. uncomfortable.  

bench of reality....

i have blogged before about the "mirror of reality vs mirror of distortion".... this is my personal affliction that i still see my old self in the mirror and do not see what others see (reality) until i see a picture of myself.  until i am removed from the moment and reflecting back on it.

last night i was at a party that i frequent for parties.   i sat my sober (i swear i am going to lose these next 20 fast --- even if it means being sober) ass down on a bench.  ok.  so it is not a bench.  it is a plank of wood held up by two upside down 5-gallon buckets.   but it is the best seat in the house.  right by the door so you can see who shows up together and who sneaks off upstairs together.    while taking a picture with my friend, let's call her Kudy, last night it occurred to us two things...1.  Kudy and I sure do like to monopolize the bench and 2. my weight loss can be serialized through pictures of me and Kudy on this bench.

here is the bench of reality...

October 31, 2009 (Kudy was taking the picture)

Again, October 31, 2009 (Kudy still behind the camera)

April 17, 2010 -- Me and Kudy on the bench.  (it was a gender bending dress-up party.  she does not usually let her facial hair get so dark --lol)

April 17, 2010 -- earlier in the night in full costume.

June 19, 2010.   Kudy decided it was more important to visit family in the Midwest than sit on a bench with me.

                                                  December 11, 2010

one more time...

lest i get to full of myself here... i did get bitch slapped by a fat girl last night.   ok.  so i am bitter... she is someone i went on a couple dates with in the summer of 09.  then freaked out and disappeared.  i heard she was dating men after that.  and now she is back.  whatever.   so.... she was drunk last night and came over to talk.   and a real beanpole skinny friend walked by and she drunkenly leans into me and says: "you know what heidi, it doesn't matter how much weight we lose, we will never be that skinny."   fuck you, you fat stupid bitch.  i know she was drunk and trying to be friendly....but seriously?  you are going to try to bond with me over the fat thing?  first off, what is this "we" shit?  second off...i will...as far as i am concerned....i will be that skinny.  i was kind of pissed.  how dare she come over and bring her bad mojo to "my bench"... so i just smiled and told her that i planned to be that skinny after all my plastic surgery and that i am going to be Barbie.   then Kudy, M and I went back to our bench sitting and talked about working out while she just stood there.   like i said i am bitter.  i am over being a fat friend (that blog post has been swirling around in my head for months....).   there is so much more that i can on about...ugh.  but i just want to release it....but let me just say this....oh nevermind....stay tuned....lol.... because yeah...i hate lesbian drama, but i have a card was placed in my back pocket waiting to be played...

weird.

while nothing traumatic happened today....i feel like, as i sit here quietly reflecting on the day, that it was a roller coaster of ups and downs.   

the morning started out with a mammogram.  a couple weeks ago i felt something in my left breast.   my nurse practitioner at the obgyn felt it at my annual exam the same week and thought it could just be dense breast tissue but sent me for a mammo anyways.   i found myself all morning chanting in my head: "i can not die.  i am my daughter's only real parent.   i can not die.  i am a mom".   i am not sure who i was chanting to.   God.  a Higher Power.  Myself.   The Wind.  i am not sure.   but i emotionally exhausted myself.    my mammo was negative and there were no concerns.  i am good to go for another year.   it was not until later when i read the report that i actually laughed.  it says: "There has been interval decrease in size of the breasts compatible with interval weight loss".  LOL.  there was not conversations about me losing weight.  there was no scale.  i guess the two deflated water balloons at my waistband gave it all away!!!   as i told a friend today....should the need arise, i could tuck my boobs into my pants if needed.   seriously.  it is a good thing i can now tuck in my shirts and wear a good belt.   because now i have something to tuck in,  my boobs.  lol.

after the mammo i went to the mall.  i had a 40% off coupon and wanted to get a jacket at the Gap.  i didn't get it.   i didn't get anything.  everything looked sloppy on me.   it was weird.  not to buy anything because the larges were sloppy on me.   i was bummed.  but i wasn't.  just a weird feeling.

next stop was my department's holiday party.   i am a department director and we were sharing our party with three other departments.   the luncheon was at the Improv.    as department director i had to put on my hostess face and mingle with everyone.   i actually enjoyed that part as i have career threads back to the other three departments and it was just great seeing former employees and co-workers i never get to see anymore.   due to the nature of these departments most are men.   good ole boy blue collar men.  i love them.    they were cute.   most have not seen me for a while so there were lots of kisses and hugs and quite a few "ma'am, is it ok if i tell you that you are looking great?".   so cute.    in general terms, i can say that the women fell into three categories.... the fat ones avoided me.   the thin ones were all over me.   and the third category i will address separately below as it is one specific person.    but back to the first two categories... first i HATE that i am now the person who could possibly make an overweight person feel bad.  really.  because for my whole life i was on the other end.   but one of the thin ones said something that gave me pause for thought....we had greeted each other when she arrived.  and later when we were all eating she got up and came across the room and whispered to me: "i don't know if you get tired of heating this but i just want you to know that you really are looking great."   and i told her "thank you.  and no, i don't get tired of hearing it".   i know i sound so fucking full of myself here.   but in that moment i made a commitment to myself to embrace the attention.  enjoy it.   i deserve it.  it makes me feel good.  and it is about damn time i feel good about myself.   

so...the specific woman that has sent me to my blog this evening is the woman who talked me into not only having the surgery but directed me use my surgeon.   she is the woman that saved my life.   she is not only an employee but also a constituent for the government i work for.   in the summer of 2009 i ran into her at a council meeting and complimented her on her weight loss.   it was during a lunch break from the meeting and she told me to grab my lunch from the line and go sit in the hall with her.   and sitting there in the hall she told me she had surgery.   i told her how i looked into surgery before and was not sure if it was for me.  she told me to do it.  just like that.  she told me she did because her son wanted to do it and she was scared of him dying.  they did it together to save their lives together.   she told me to call my surgeon.  to use her name.   i don't know why, but i listened to her after avoiding this surgery for 4 years.  she is the woman who saved my life.     i have told her this many times over the last year.   the last time i saw her (a couple months ago) she told me she gained 40 pounds.   i didn't think she looked like it then.  today, i noticed the gain.  it is so much more.   i am sad.  i am scared.  i know.  i know.  i know just because she has gained weight does not mean i will.   but....sigh.  what a fucking mindfuck.   seeing her today.   nevermind, the uncomfortable greeting between us.   how i felt her eyes on me the whole time i was working the room.    the little voice in my head has already told me that i should go out to her community in the next couple weeks and visit with her and give her the strength that she gave me.    i owe that much to the woman who saved my life.  

i have to interject here that i am also happy that my holiday season obligations are now over.  hannukah has passed.  i have hosted three parties in my home.  hosted my work party.   and i am done.   done.  done with the socializing.  done with the food.  just done to enjoy the next couple weeks without many obligations.

tonight i ended up back at the mall.   the princess wanted to go to Stir Crazy and make her own dinner and i was in the mood for ahi tuna anyways.   then we went to old navy.   i got a couple sweaters.   then i bought myself faux uggs at Skechers.   i am still not sure why i did that.  they were only $30.   and they are kind of cute.  but i am 38 years old and live in florida.  lol.    the princess walked off with a new sweater and a pillow pet (unicorn to go with her panda). 

speaking of dinner... i have some crazy restriction going on right now.  not sure if it is from some work stress or the cold weather but i am tight.  not too tight but very much at a sweet spot and aware of the band doing its job. 

just a weird day.  like i said, nothing traumatic or crazy....just a lot of swings in my emotions.   like at times the weight loss is so dominant in my experience and at other times it is so far removed from what i am feeling.  

From Mama Cass to Streisand....

so....um.....well....ugh....  yeah.... so....a couple years ago a couple of the young men at work who i have always been a mentor to came to me to complain about their new boss.    their boss was my equal.   i was very sympathetic to them as i already had pegged this guy for a shitty team-member.   so i gave the guys some tools and suggestions on how to navigate this guy while we figured out a longterm solution.  at the end of the conversation i could tell they wanted to tell me "something else".    i figured it was a question of corruption or something like that.   so i dragged it out of the guys as we had all survived a previous corrupt boss together.    well....nope...with much shame in their eyes i was told that this new guy walked around their department and talked about me all the time and in his short time with us had already given me a nickname... Mama Cass.  granted, in retrospect, i did weigh at least 373 pounds and had a propensity to wear bright colored flowy clothes.   and at the time i just acted tough and told the guys some insult about the other guy.  but it hurt.  it hurt real bad.  he was actually fired within months for "performance" issues...but the comment stuck.  i was embarrassed.  embarrassed because i was told by these young guys who i was so proud of being their "work mama" and i did not want them to know me as "Mama Cass".

fast forward to the last couple weeks... i have had more than one person come up to me and tell me that i look like barbra streisand.   papa, can you hear me?  sorry...i digress.... actually more along the lines of barbra ala funny girl.  most of these comments are from folks at work.   i have always had a big nose.  and if you are being compared to barbra it is not for your ears....let's be honest...   being a greek jew (on the same side) the cards have always been stacked against me...lol....but i think my former moon shaped face and full cheeks held my nose at a different proportion.   as my face has elongated and thinned out my nose has taken a more prominent position.  i am very aware of this when i really look at my face in the mirror.

while i would prefer to hear that i look like me, heidi, at this point in my journey as i struggle to adapt to my new body and image....i guess if people want to compare me to a notoriously skinny successful woman...i'll take it.

not hungry...

i have no appetite.   well.  that is a lie.  i have no real appetite for real food like protein.  i have no problem eating when it comes to chocolate covered mickey pretzels, though. 

beginning last night and through tuesday night i am hosting 4 events at my house...last night was friends hannukah party.   tonight is family hannukah party.   tomorrow is "straight" book club holiday party and then tuesday is "lesbian" book club at my house.    lots of food, to say the least.   i love to cook and entertain.  and even before surgery, i would remember that by the time i got done cooking and serving i would be too exhausted to eat.   last night i was not exhausted.  i just couldn't eat.  it is so weird to me to have a plate of food in front of me and not have any desire to eat it.

it is the same thing with people who buy something "just for a taste".... that blows my mind.  you take a bit out of a sandwich and throw it away?  crazy.  just crazy.

yesterday i went to macys and bought myself a coat.    it is a jason kole wool peacoat.  very cute.   size large (had to get that in).   it was weird for me to buy what i was thinking as a "forever" coat.   since i have been trying to lose weight the last twenty years i always resisted buying staples like a coat because "this year i swear i am going to lose weight".  i did have one long wool coat that was useful when i lived in charlotte and atlanta and for travel....but i have had that one for almost 20 years...and i never bought anything else because that was my staple to hold me over "while i lost weight".  so the price tag on the coat i found yesterday was $185.    i did not pull it off the rack because the saleswoman ran around the floor finding me all kinds of peacoats (i have one of the most helpful macys by my house).   so....i really liked it.   liked how i looked in it and resigned myself to pay the $$$$ for it....knowing it would most likely be my forever coat.   so, i have to tell you i was much delighted when it rang up for $89!    but here is the thing... i also saw a jacket at the GAP i liked.   i have a 40% off coupon good for this thursday so i am going to go back and get that too.   they have different looks to them and i like them both equally.

this is new for me....(and a small lesson my former girlfriend helped me to discover).... when you weigh 373 pounds you are just happy "something" fits you.   you don't really pay attention to how it looks on you --- as long as it goes over your head and no buttons pop.  right?  now  that i am in a more normal range -- i am looking at how it fits and also looking for more options -- more looks.   so now, for the first time in my life, it makes sense to me to own more than one winter coat/jacket.   new for me.

taking a break from the merri-go-round of life....

a lot  is going on.  yet nothing is going on.  i am not dating that woman anymore.   i think my quest for healthiness this past year has made me too sensitive to dealing with other people's unresolved shit.   the fun parts were definitely fun, but i am no place to deal with constant emotional antics and bullshit.   it has also made me realize that i really want to *just* date and not get involved in deep relationship stuff.  keep it on the surface and fun.   i always say this to women going into relationships and then i put my guard down on this issue and i grow to resent it.   i need to work on my role in that.  my life is so full.   i have everything i need.  all my boxes are full..... all i really want is distraction from my full life.

fortunately, this one was relatively short and i got out of it pretty unscathed.  (although there were some sad and mean moments....)  right now i am really looking forward to work slowing down beginning the week of the 13th and cruising along to the first week of january.   time to be a mom.  daughter.  friend.  me.  

hannukah starts tonight.   it is early this year -- which means by next wednesday i am DONE with the holidays.  woohoo.    many years ago when being a mom was only a hard to reach dream, i was working in a library and came across a book about "unplugging" the xmas tree and making xmas more about family than gifts or even religion.   i always thought that "when i have a baby...." that is what i would do.   and so i have.  the princess only gets one presents from me every hannukah and not the gazillion presents every night for 8 nights that i grew up with.   she does not get a toy or anything plastic.   this year, tonight, she will get a journal and special pencil so that she may start journaling every night about her day.   never fear, throughout the week she will be getting lots of presents from friends and family -- and that is ok too.   i figure i spoil her all year, that this time of year needs to be a special kind of spoiling from me -- one of hugs, kisses, family and quality time. 

from a lap-band perspective -- all is good.   i have good restriction but i am not too tight that i am hurting myself.   thanksgiving was a no-brainer.  just some turkey and a taste of gluten-free stuffing my mom makes just for me.   

i am working out twice a week with a personal trainer and really enjoying it.   i see this next phase of weight loss to really be one of deflation for me.   my stomach pouch, inner thighs and upper arms will continue to deflate and that is where the movement on the scale will come from.  

i have no idea what i weigh "officially". (and strangely, i don't care).   i just know i that my pants are falling off of me and i bought a size 12 skirt and wore regular size 14 jeans yesterday.  i have a scale that i now keep at my therapist's office -- but have not gotten on it for a while. perhaps my next visit in a couple weeks i will. i am beginning to see a thinner person in the mirror and not just in the pictures i take after the fact. i had this weird sensation this past saturday at disney...i felt "light". part of it is the working out -- but i felt light, agile, normal.

nothing is happening on the plastic surgery front right now.  i haven't even had the time to work on my medical necessity appeal.  but in the mean time i think my first surgery will be my arms.   the other day i was sitting at the table in a tank top writing something and i kept seeing something run across the room in my periphery vision.   it was not a critter....it was my arm shaking!!!!!!!!!  LOL.  i.swear.to.god.   i took this picture while i sat there laughing at my pathetic body.   it was such a funny moment.   so my goal is to save up the $4K i need to get my arms done and get them done by early spring so i will be healed by summer.    that means no disney cruise this year.   sigh.   but i really think it is worth it.  you can see how small my arms will be without the flaps.  lol.

i really miss blogging and reading and gaining inspiration from everyone's blog.  i know i say this everytime i reappear, but i really hope to get more regular again.   there are some things i really want to explore but always feel like i need to catch-up before i just lay them out there....