BariatricEating.com Health & Nutrition
Rant - Annual check-up from the neck-up.
The holidays are coming up fast and this year I would like everyone to
get ready for them in advance, and that includes an annual check up from
the neck up!
I am already so over the complaining about how terrible Thanksgiving is going to be. I am beginning to hear the rumbling and grumbling.
Are you folks kidding? If I had to sit at the bountiful Thanksgiving table and eat a bowl of dirt, while my family pelted me with drumsticks and biscuits I wouldn't even think about complaining about what I couldn't eat!
We choose as to whether to see that the glass is half full or half empty... to live on the positive side of life, or the negative. What do YOU see? Full or empty? Where do you live? Positive or Negative? Really think about it for a minute. Are you one of the people who points out your wattle and flab when complimented on your weight loss? Do your friends at work feel sorry for you because of the hang dog painful look on your face while they eat birthday cake?
If you are one of those people who is already starting to miss the plate piled high with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with brown sugar marshmallow topping, green bean casserole with the little fried crunchy onions, dinner rolls with butter... oh man, I get sleepy just thinking about all of that.
CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Find happiness somewhere else. Go to the craft store and buy branches of ripe berries, fall leaves and flowers to make a gorgeous table arrangement. Crochet a throw for the living room in luscious caramel colors. Paint a set of inexpensive wine glasses with translucent paints. Learn to make a sugar free pecan pie.
This year lets start early in preparation for the rush of emotions we feel when we start to mourn the loss of our annual feast of gluttony. Lets get our heads on straight so we can be a weight loss surgery success!
This is a rant from two years ago... I am recycling it as I cant think of a better way to put it!
"I had a terrible Thanksgiving Day. I didn't have this surgery to be on a diet, so I tried to eat a little of everything but I got heartburn and had to throw up. I tried again, nothing stayed down, and then I felt sick the rest of the day. This surgery has made me miserable."
Your backwards thinking is what made you miserable! This surgery creates the need for a LIFESTYLE change. What we couldn't eat was NOT a punishment; what we COULD eat was actually a reward for the smaller sized clothing we were so proudly wearing and for the way we now feel after losing the equivalent of EIGHT 15 pound frozen turkeys.
Many of us did very well with the carb overloaded Thanksgiving holiday by planning for a few post op friendly dishes scattered throughout the day... shrimp trays during the nosh phase, turkey moistened with a little gravy and a few green beans (ok, a forkful of fav stuffing is okay too), and a lot of sugar free pumpkin custards and pumpkin pies were baked and consumed by the sliver. So a HUGE round of applause for all of us who did well and celebrated their new LIFESTYLE.
However, a smack in the head to everyone who was sad and complaining about sitting there watching everyone enjoy themselves. SNAP OUT IT and WAKE UP! You had better turn around that 'stinkin thinkin' and get the point of this surgery. We made a calculated tradeoff... gluttony for health... fat clothes for thin clothes... mountains of food for a taste of the foods we would really like to sample... quantity for QUALITY... size 28 for size 10... a bowl of stuffing with gravy for a slice of turkey with a light drizzle to moisten... Lane Bryant for Macy's. CELEBRATE what you CAN eat, and don't be sad over what you CAN'T eat. Positive versus Negative will get you a lot of mileage in LIFE, and this doesn't just apply to weight loss surgery post op-ness but in ALL aspects in your well being.
Soooooo, if you need any reason to NOT eat and a boost to do better for the rest of this landmine filled season head to the mall and accentuate all the POSITIVE aspects of your LOSS.
I have news for you if you were sad yesterday, we didn't lose potato chips, stuffing, candied yams, and mounds of mashed potatoes, we GAINED health, self respect, dignity, and additional years to enjoy with our families.
Have a great holiday season... this is just the start. Plan for the next big event; have plenty of protein, make some cocoa out of the good chocolate proteins and you wont know you are drinking it. Have a little sugar free chocolate; no one wants you to be the freak in the corner not eating or celebrating, just plan ahead this time.
Remember that absolutely 'Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!'
Susan Maria
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© BE, Inc. 2011 - Susan Maria Leach. All rights reserved.
