getting fit for your trip - a place to share & ramble

[kyl]

Also the band gave me nothing but trouble in the end I just put the weight back on. Couldn't eat certain foods with it like steakIf I did it would block my stomach and I would end up in hospital. In the end it was just so much trouble going to get adjustments all the time it was awful. With the sleeve I can now eat steak not a big serving but I can eat about an entree size meal now. I can even eat a slice of bread which u just can't do with the band. In the end my band slipped when the surgeon took it out he said he had taken every second one out that he had put in and that he no longer puts them in at all. I was concerned about the sleeve being irreversible but I can tell u now I would it again in a second life is all the better for it

 

[5ofus]

They are ninja grannies in my class! I'll be huffing and puffing and tripping over my shoe laces and these women will have barely raised a sweat! At least when I take prep for sport I can feel like a mega athlete except for duck duck goose, I always manage to trip myself over on some little kid

Little kids do have a knack for getting underfoot.

 

[alicia1506]

Hey there...happy to respond to your questions about your mum. She will need to eat protein and lots of it! My diet now is very much protein base saying that I still enjoy a piece of dark chocolate every afternoon with a cup of tea. I have lost 19kg in just over three months I weigh 78kg now It was the best thing I have ever done for my health. However it's a tool and I fear if your mum continues. To eat bad food but just in smaller amounts this surgery will not have the outcome she wants. The best thing about this surgery is they cut away most of the hormone in the stomach that causes you to feel hungry. It's a lot easier to eat healthy when u r not hungryI am now in a size 14 I feel greatLooking forward to what the future holds and a lot more positive about life now. Hope that answers some of your questions and is some help to u and your mum

kyl - love that you are enjoying your health and are now able to eat more of the foods that you enjoy, but in a healthful way.

i have previously contemplated the sleeve, but it is just so, so expensive.

i had a lot of complications from gall bladder surgery (dumping syndrome, then IBS) and am concerned about experiencing complications from any other kind of gastro surgery, but since i also have PCOS, the idea of having most of the grehlin cut out is very, very attractive

so not sure what to do, as i feel that this is the right time to take charge of my weight loss and achieve my goals, and i am 110% committed to it, but i think that having the sleeve would be an additional tool in my arsenal and would help me actually achieve that goal, rather than running in place as i seem to with the pcos...

do you have any further recommendations/literature on it? feel free to pm me if you do -- just looking for options, as my doc is pretty wishy washy on the details so far and trawling the interwebs doesn't really result in the best information

 

[kyl]

Hi Alicia
I have PCOS as well.....had lots of problems trying to have my second and third children! My middle one was actually conceived using clomid as it forced ovulation to much info maybeAnyway yes it is expensive about five grand outa pocket if u have private health cover but it's your health at the end of the day I think five grand is quite reasonableBecause my band failed and I had already made an outa pocket payment with that my surgeon didn't charge me any gap this time. Do your homework on surgeons if u r considering it. The surgeon I had has never had a leak and he was one of the first in Australia to do lap surgery! Teaching many others along the way. It's key hole surgery so u know what the pain level is like already but u have a pain button for two days and honestly I was fine. I felt nauseated on day two but it only lasted for 24hrs and then I was find.....I found with PCOS my body was in constant starvation I was hungry all the time and trying to fight my body by limiting my intake was a constant battle and my life was well miserable for it. I can still enjoy the odd naughty thing every now and then and like I said a piece of chocolate everyday! But I can take it or leave it were as before I would take it and then some!

 

[alicia1506]

thanks for the reply kyl -- really appreciate it. i'm just over 30 myself and looking to have kids soon, so i need the weight off asap!!

tomorrow i start my new job, and it's all guns blazing with the diet and exercise.

i already have a plan for what to eat/drink throughout the day, and will be doing my exercise when i get home, as i want to give myself plenty of time to get ready in the morning, freak out, pull myself together, get to the bus and arrive early.

so, dear diet diary: tomorrow i start on my kick butt diet plan. very strict calorie controlled diet, plus at least 30 mins of intense cycling to burn off some of these kgs.

if anyone else wants to jump on this bandwagon or renew their commitment to weight loss/getting healthier, we have approximately 5 hours of glorious freedom left, and then it's time to implement some change!!

i plan on going from this to this with some of these thrown in

 

[Franrose]

Thanks so much kyl! You've actually taken some of my worries away

 

[Marlea98]

I'm kinda hoping I don't get called in for work tomorrow so I can go to the gym But then again, every day I don't work is a day less that I earn money for our next trip

Tonight I had a t-bone steak with a salad. I've prepared a container with salad in it and a tin of tuna for just in case I get called to work in the morning. I've also made 2 dozen banana and choc chip muffins for school snacks during the week. And I bought pretzels and bagged them up in handfuls so I don't have to reach for a bag of potato chips if I get peckish. I hope I don't fall of the food wagon this week, DH goes away again so sometimes I find it's easier to be lazy with making good food choices when he's not here.

 

[Marlea98]

Well, no phone call for me to work so I stayed in bed until the kids left for school (I'm calling it the fend for yourself strategy ) and now I've put on a load of washing, taken out something for dinner and will shortly make some toast and coffee for breakfast before having a shower and going to the gym. It's the butt-kicking ninja grannies class today, so hopefully I'll survive.

I've got a salad made up in the fridge so I can add a can of tuna to that for lunch when I get home.

Tonight I'm having beef chow mein - 3 sachets of the Masterfoods base for $3 at Coles yesterday. I know, I'm being lazy and I should make it from scratch ...

I was wondering what are some quick, easy and budget recipes you all tend to fall back on that are relatively healthy? I keep thinking I should start to meal plan but as DH is not always home it's not as easy as I think it would be. A friend suggested putting down on a calendar everything we eat for dinner over a fortnight (or month) and seeing what we do eat and work from there. My fall-back dinners are usually homemade spaghetti or chicken and vegetable stir fry, but the kids can only tolerate that so many times in a week before they look like they're about to start a riot.

 

[5ofus]

I was wondering what are some quick, easy and budget recipes you all tend to fall back on that are relatively healthy? I keep thinking I should start to meal plan but as DH is not always home it's not as easy as I think it would be. A friend suggested putting down on a calendar everything we eat for dinner over a fortnight (or month) and seeing what we do eat and work from there. My fall-back dinners are usually homemade spaghetti or chicken and vegetable stir fry, but the kids can only tolerate that so many times in a week before they look like they're about to start a riot.

I'd love to hear some recipes too. Sick of the same old boring stuff, and we're not the cooking type of people. Help!

 

[australiankaren]

sad face

 

[Marlea98]

sad face

I went to the gym this morning and couldn't get my mind off shoes. So I headed to the shops to pick up a layby and other things I really did not need. Then I noticed my DIS app wasn't working properly so I had to stop in at Hungry Jacks for their free wifi to reinstall it and that lead to a grilled chicken burger, minus ranch sauce, with small chips and a coke. Sigh, I'll never learn. But, I did not buy shoes. I did that last week Lightning McQueen Crocs

 

[Marlea98]

Off to ninja grannies gym class this morning

Getting my butt kicked beats having to listen to the kids fighting over breakfast like they are at the moment

 

[alicia1506]

So yesterday i discovered something that i found worked really well for me .. slim druits. They are a small fruit flavoured pastille that contain soluble fibre and help reduce hunger. To be honest i bought them as an impulse purchase with a bottle of water to meet the eftpos minimum but omg yesterday I wasnt hungry at all. I ate a small piece of fruit for dinner and a handful of beans and carrots for dinner only.

 

[australiankaren]

Off to ninja grannies gym class this morning

Getting my butt kicked beats having to listen to the kids fighting over breakfast like they are at the moment

give me ninja grannies anytime....

 

[Marlea98]

give me ninja grannies anytime....

I'm wondering if I'm part wolf or something. My dogs fight like wolves over food and who has had more, who's making it, who wants what. I tell you, it is so depressing to see them fight over something so ridiculous. They were having a tug of war over a stupid bowl then the bowl got knocked over and then they argued over who started it/who knocked it over/who had to clean it up. FFS!

Anyhoo, went to the gym, got some chicken breasts and extra salad stuff for school lunches, plus some cream cheese. It's DS's birthday tomorrow so I've got to make banana and choc chip cupcakes with cream cheese icing for his class for tomorrow. Tomorrow night we're off to Cactus Jack's for dinner and chocolate nachos if I can convince DD to share them with me.

 

[Marlea98]

So yesterday i discovered something that i found worked really well for me .. slim druits. They are a small fruit flavoured pastille that contain soluble fibre and help reduce hunger. To be honest i bought them as an impulse purchase with a bottle of water to meet the eftpos minimum but omg yesterday I wasnt hungry at all. I ate a small piece of fruit for dinner and a handful of beans and carrots for dinner only.

Alicia, can you tell me where you got those please? I went to Coles and didn't see them in the lolly section.

 

[Marlea98]

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/25547/beef+chow+mein

I made this last night as an alternative to my regular chicken/beef stir fry that the kids complain about always having. It's not that different really, so I don't understand their complaining.

I didn't use the fresh noodles as I didn't have any so used a couple of packs of cooked 2 minute noodles minus the sachets. I didn't use all of the vegies listed so put in what I had in the fridge; capsicum, carrot, cabbage, onion. I guess you can add more vegies to bulk it out and make it go further. I had more than enough for the 3 of us, so set some aside to freeze for lunch at work and another small container that I can heat up and add as a side to a meal or something.

 

[Franrose]

Zumba today, woot, and beef strog tonight but in "sensible portions". (I hope )

 

[alicia1506]

ok, slight typo in my previous post -- they are called slim fruits. the website is slimfruits.com.au -- i got them in a convenience store, but the website says they are stocked at woolies and selected chemists. i would imagine they should be in the section with the chewing gum and other pastilles like 'joules' and so on... they are very, very small packets, for approx $2

link to woolies online store

i think they have roughly 20-30 pastilles in a small container thingy (the size of a box of gum/mints) and the serving size is 4-5 per day. yesterday, i had 2 in the morning, 1 at lunch and 2 in the mid afternoon (when i usually get my cravings) and i was not only not hungry for most of the day but i didn't even eat at lunchtime, and when i came home, food was unappealing to me.

today, i ate 3 in the morning (skipped breakfast) and had 1 with morning tea, and by mid afternoon, i had really bad cravings (i ended up eating some sliced carrots, so not bad for a mid afternoon indulgence). i very nearly gave into a craving to pick up burgers or pizza or something greasy on the way home, but i resisted...

i think i will prefer to spread them out more though, in the 2 -1-2 arrangement as that seemed to work best for me.

don't get me wrong, i'm not saying these are miracle workers, or that they will work for everyone, but as i struggle with mental hunger and constant cravings as a result of the pcos and hormone imbalances that causes, this is a bit of a life saver for me.

today my daily consumption was:

breakfast:40g yoghurt with berries
snack: 2 baby carrots, sliced
snack: 1 mid size apple, sliced
lunch: 1 small flat raw tortilla spread with avocado, rolled up and microwaved for 20 seconds
dinner: small bowl (approx 250g of mixed greens (beans, broccoli, bok choy) with maybe a bit of soy sauce for flavour

my food consumption was terrible prior to this, in terms of empty carbs, empty calories, high gi content, high sugar content, all of which is really bad for me so if i can keep this up, i anticipate good things. and for roughly $2/week, that's not a bad investment..

just wanted to also mention, i have been so inspired by AussieTravellers and her progress on the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation (12wbt). They have themed lessons each week and she has been detailing her progress and i have really identified with some of the lessons she has shared. they have inspired me to make some much, much needed changes in my life and the way i view food, exercise and my attitude towards my health.

i am not going to judge or pass comment on anyone's lifestyle or choices, but mine were terrible in my opinion in that they were terrible for me, and i did not want to get sick or die or experience worse health issues, so i made my own plan a week ago, determined what changes i would make... and then implemented the plan. so far, baby steps, but i would like to think that by following through on the lessons that Aussie Travellers has shared and the inspiration i have found, i can make a positive difference in my life...

 

[Marlea98]

i am not going to judge or pass comment on anyone's lifestyle or choices, but mine were terrible in my opinion in that they were terrible for me, and i did not want to get sick or die or experience worse health issues, so i made my own plan a week ago, determined what changes i would make... and then implemented the plan. so far, baby steps, but i would like to think that by following through on the lessons that Aussie Travellers has shared and the inspiration i have found, i can make a positive difference in my life...

I used to be one of those who was able to eat anything they wanted and not put on weight. I put on heaps of weight (for me anyway) with pregnancy but managed to lose at least half of it. Then, in my late 30s I find it didn't fall off as easily or as quickly as it once did. I have never been on a diet, thankfully, but now in my early 40s I am thinking I might have to start considering something like that but I'm just so lazy to stick to something. I drink way too much coke but I'm starting to cut down as much as I can. I rarely keep soft drink in the house now and buy a can when I'm out if I want. For the fizz factor I've started drinking soda water at home. I'm concerned that some of my bad eating habits will rub off on to the kids so I'm trying to be aware of what I'm eating now and not 'preach' to them, rather, lead by example.

Good luck to everyone trying to lead a healthier lifestyle for any reason