Regaining your mojo

Have you ever felt like giving up? Have you ever felt like nothing you ever did was good enough? Have you ever felt like this was just too damn hard?

I've been living in a self induced funk lately with not knowing how to pull myself out. Or rather sitting around waiting for someone else to pull me out I guess. There I was yesterday, sick again! Curled up in bed with my laptop, books, enough movies to last all day and my thoughts! And let me be perfectly honest, yesterday I ate like banderella was never placed around my stomach two years ago! Yesterday's go foods included, ice cream, almonds, jelly beans, chocolate & some popcorn. In between the grazing I squeezed in two actual meals. Not that I needed them. And today I woke up feeling nothing but guilt.

In my early twenties I went thru a bout with bulimia and yesterday was a perfect replica of a binge day. Only difference from then and today, A) no purging and B) quantities are much smaller. This morning many revelations showed up! As I sat with my journal writing out all that I was feeling, I started to list all the reasons I had lapband surgery in the first place. Then I listed all that I had learned. Then I listed all the things I still wanted to accomplish and then I needed to list an action plan of how I'd get there!

So where does it begin? Straight back to square one and the bandster rules we are all given in the beginning!

1. No drinking with meals. Stop 30 minutes before you eat and begin again 30 minutes after you finish eating. This will keep your stomach fuller longer and help you not to graze so soon after eating, I set the timer on my phone to signal when I can start drinking again after a meal.
2. 3 small meals a day. Protein first! And if needed 2 balanced snacks. But remember, if you find yourself eating snacks and your meals aren't keeping you full then you may need a fill.
3. Small bites, eat slowly and chew thoroughly. Remember to chew your food until it is of a paste consistency. Once you swallow your food, put your fork down, count to 50 and then take another bite. Most stuck episodes are caused by too big of bites that are not chewed up enough before being swallowed and then followed by another bite in the same consistency! If you find yourself eating too big of bites, use a toddler spoon & fork. You'd be surprised how much it helps! WalMart has packages or disposable ones!
4. Eat only good nutritious foods. Don't load up on sugar, fat & carb heavy foods. Make sure you are eating a balanced diet.
5. Drink enough fluids throughout the day. 64oz minimum, more if you can. I try to drink a liter on the way to work, a liter at work and a liter on the way home or while I'm at the gym. If you are working out, you need to consume more to replace what you lose during sweating.
6. EXERCISE~30 minutes a day 210/week. If you can't get 30 minutes in at once, break it up into three 10 minute session or two 15 minutes sessions. As you go on, you will be able to increase what you do. Set a goal and stick with it! Rule of thumb, always have your gym bag packed and ready to go and any time.

It felt good to type all that out and remind myself all the steps I need to take to get back to where I belong. Today I did a jog/walk for 30 minutes. Getting ready to go do some strength training for 30 minutes.

The best part of living banded life is that you can start over every time you fall because we have the rules of success at our finger tips. We just need to follow them! To those of you struggling, you are not alone! Each day is a new beginning and never be afraid to start again!