Happy Bandiversary to Me!!!

Okay gang, sorry I have been away for awhile – it has been a whirlwind of a week and one in which I celebrated my Bandiversary – yay – happy Bandiversary to me!!

My stats:

Started Optifast: 3 September 2008
Date Banded: 17 September 2008 – weight lost in 2 weeks prior to surgery = 6.5 kg / 14 lbs
Bandiversary: 17 September 2009 – weight lost overall 36kg / 78lbs

I have lost 69% of my excess weight so fair and I have gone from size 22 pants to size 12. I still have 11.5kg / 25lbs to reach my goal.

Reasons that I had the band in the first place:

· Fitter, healthier, happier
· Give myself the best chance of conceiving a child
· Reduce risk factors
· Look good in clothes
· Gain in confidence

I thought I would deal up my top 10 ways that the band journey has changed my life – so here goes:

1. Healthier and fitter – yay! This is definitely the case. I had my blood pressure checked recent ly and it was actually quite low and I found all of my tests bar one are in the normal range – this is excellent considering that I was pretty low in vitamin D before the surgery (I did make an effort to sit in the sun for 10mins a day though which obviously helped). I am going to be running the 10km run in a couple of weeks so am definitely fitter. The one test that I do need to address is that my cholesterol has risen so I need to ensure that I cut out all of the saturated fats and high fat dairy (I must admit some full fat cheese and yoghurt had crept in to my diet – no more, she cried!!). In addition, I have had bulging discs in my back and normally I would be at the osteopath around once a month to keep it flexible and normally every couple of months I would have a bad episode with my back – in the last 6 months I have been to the osteopath once and that was not even for my lower back – whoo hoo!!

2. More confidence – Before the band, I was in a real down on myself period. I didn’t want to see any of my friends because I was ashamed of my size and I barely had any clothes that fit me anymore. Now, I still don’t have that many clothes (mainly because they are all too big) but I definitely feel a lot more confident in myself – I don’t reject invitations to go out straight away and I certainly like getting dressed up again. It has been nice all of the comments that I have received from people as well – lately I have gotten all sorts of raving about how good I look and you have to love that!
3. Happier – Before the band, I would say I was pretty depressed and isolated. I was quite exasperated with myself that I had had to turn to the band to turn my life around. My self esteem was quite low. Even though it has been a tough year (not Band related) I feel that I am a lot happier with myself. Through the work that Jen and I have done, I feel like I can handle situations better (especially related to behaviours like comfort eating etc) and in general, I am very pleased with myself. The best thing that I feel now is that I am now more of a ‘glass is half full’ kind of a person.

4. More energy – Gosh, when I weighed my heaviest, I barely had enough energy to get out of bed. I was not exercising and at work I would go up and down the stairs a couple of times a day and would be breathing SO hard I would go to meetings 10mins before so that I wouldn’t be heaving for breath and embarrassed when I got there. I actually had a meeting upstairs at work today and I noticed that when I got to the meeting (1 min before it started!!) – I was barely breathing above my normal resting breathe – huzzah. Now, I confess, sometimes I am still tired and have a hard time getting out of bed but that is usually from the hectic pace of my life and not the heaviness of my body!

5. Greater choice of clothes – can I get an ‘amen’ on this one! Seriously, I was only able to buy clothes from the ‘Big is Beautiful’ type shops which was hugely depressing. I have always hated shopping but never moreso than when I have to go to those shops – it is very hard to come out looking like ‘the Devil Wears Prada’ out of there – I was more like ‘Frumps R Us’. Now I am wearing jeans and little tops and having great fun with accessories and all sorts – it has been SO much more fun!

6. Have become a foodie – interestingly, now that I am able to eat less, I have become really interested in cooking and making really nice, high quality food. This one has been a real surprise for me because basically before, I alternated between eating very strictly (on some sort of diet) and eating crap junk food. I had quite a few food hang ups from spending so much time on and off diets and thankfully, Jen and I have really done a great deal of work to move past these hang ups so that they don’t run our lives any more. I still have quite a ways to go but I’m getting there, people!!

7. Fit in everywhere better – this is a funny one but really important to me. I have mentioned before that one of the ways that I measure success is by how I fit in the bath – before the band journey, my thighs would touch (and squeeze against, mind you) both sides of the bath, now I have a fist and a bit of room in there! I fit in seats better at sporting venues, movie theatres, restaurants etc. I am not dreading my flight to Thailand later in the year because I know I will fit in the seat. These kind of things creep up on you over the journey but looking at 12 months ago – boy do I fit in places better!!

8. Take care of myself more – for me, a big part of this journey has been to change my self esteem. Eating junk food in huge quantities was a form of self punishment for me – as was dieting. The last 12 months have really been about learning how to take care of myself. Making sure that I am getting enough nutrition. Exercising as a gift to myself (rather than a punishment). Cooking interesting and yummy food to eat.

9. Celebrate my successes – I have been very guilty of the past of setting a goal, getting there and then not even celebrating my success (it is really linked in with the self punishment behavior as mentioned above). Thankfully, I have moved past that and have had a really nice 12 months of gifts to myself, massages and treatments to celebrate all of the success that I have had – gosh, I tell you – it has been nice (no wonder I am happier!).

10. I look and feel fabulous! As an overall, one of the things that I realized over the last month to 6 weeks is that I feel great and I can look in the mirror and say ‘you look good’! This is a really nice place to be!!

The past 12 months feel like they have gone in the blink of an eye. I am really proud of my efforts and am thankful that I made the decision to get the band!!

Countdown to Bandiversary!!

Okay people, it is two days since my 60min run, I need to get back into it tomorrow! I was actually really tired yesterday and today but one of the biggest problems for me is that I am a morning person and I prefer to do my exercise in the morning – if I don’t, I try to talk myself out of my session all day. So – tomorrow, my goal is to go running in the morning before work – that will set me up for the day and then I won’t have to worry about going in the arvo.

Okay, I need to talk. There is a problem going on with me at the moment and it is one that has plagued me for a good long time. One of the great things that I like about the band is that it restricts my eating and that, for the most part, has helped me to lose weight. Sometimes though, I hit a plateau – I am sure most of you can relate. The plateau’s drive me crazy. As soon as the scale stops going down, I start to panic and I revert back to my old self thinking ‘I have to cut out sugar, wheat, flour, dairy and only eat chicken, fish and vegies’ and then I try it for half a day and swing back the other way thinking ‘okay, I got the band for a reason, it doesn’t matter if it takes awhile as long as the weight is going down’.

Over the journey, I have found this pattern getting less and less though it has still been hanging on. I had a chat to Jen about this today and we agreed that we need to realise that we can’t break 20 years of undesirable eating patterns in 12 months, it is a journey and sometimes things can take time.

You know – it is only 2 days until my Bandiversary, I was hoping to have lost a bit more weight but 36kg’s in a year is pretty damn good – I am very happy!!

Chat soon!

Jodie

It's my Optifastaversary!!!

Okay people, it is my 12 month anniversary from starting Optifast – how quickly does a year go, my goodness!! So, this post is a small look at the past 12 months – I will do a full retrospective when I have my Bandiversary in 2 weeks!!

It has been an amazing 12 months for me. This time 12 months ago, I was struggling and I mean, literally struggling through my first day of Optifast. I was full of optimism though – I wrote in my diary ‘this is the first day of the rest of my life’ and truly, it has been. I got half way to work on that first day and realised that I didn’t even have the Optifast products with me, I had to turn back and go get them and of course was late – der!! I used the two weeks of Optifast to ready my mind, house and complete environment – it was a really important two weeks for me (and for Jen . I did not cheat on the Optifast period at all, not once – I am still proud of that achievement.

So what is different for me from 12 months ago – I am going to do my top 5:

I feel SO much better about myself, it is a great feeling not to loathe what I see in the mirror or feel disgusted with myself after I have eaten so much people wouldn’t even believe it. Now I am confident and happy – it’s a nice place to be!
I am healthier. I had an appointment with my haematologist today (I have a blood clotting disorder) and he told me that my blood pressure was excellent, even a little on the low side.
I am fitter – indeed, as any of you regular readers know, I am training for a 10km run that I will do in October and after my 50mins session of running last Sunday, I am confident of being able to run the whole way!!
I look great! I am wearing size 12-14 pants – a great achievement for this pear shaped girl whose size 22 pants had gotten tight. I am taking more care with my appearance, I make those little efforts that when I was feeling bad about myself – though many of you know
I am nearly normal!! I can go into ‘normal’ shops to buy clothes. I don’t feel like people are looking at me when I am eating or not being able to fit my bum into seats. I still have weight to lose but I am quite calm and relaxed and trust that the band will help me to achieve my goals.

It has been a great 12 months!

In other news, Jen and I went to a seminar with Helen Bauzon the nutritionist. Honestly, it was a brilliant seminar that I wished I had attended 12 months ago – she is fabulous. You know, she also has online support groups and weight loss competitions all very reasonably priced – check out her website at: http://www.helenbauzon.com.au/. I realised from the seminar that I had become afraid of some foods, with Helen’s help I am wiping the slate clean and trying foods again – it has been brilliant!!

Helen (as well as Caroline – the wonderful fill doctor) also let me know about www.bandbuddies.com.au – these are chewable vitamins and I tell you as soon as I heard about them, I was on the site ordering them because I had an incident a while ago with a multi vitamin getting stuck in the band – I have been mortally afraid of the multi vitamins since then. I haven’t received them as yet but I will keep you up to date on what they are like.

That brings me to my previous challenge – to have the vegetable powders from AIM. You know what? They weren’t that bad. The Barleylife was like one of those wheatgrass shots that you get from a juice place and the carrots and beets tasted exactly like carrots and beets so not horrible. I am definitely continuing on with those as I am quite concerned about getting enough nutrition.

Well that’s about it for the moment – I am off to the gym for a run (sprint intervals, not my favourite) on the tready and then am having gnocchi for dinner.

Will check in soon!!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

P.S. Have you checked out my BFF Jen’s blog – here is the link: http://mindthebandjen.blogspot.com/

Food glorious food!!

Now, I know that this topic is not a particularly good one for a Lap Band blog but honestly, after only being able to eat for around 4 days out of the past 3 weeks, well I am thankfully now able to eat a bit more!!

Yesterday I went out for brunch with my Mum and had the most divine creamed tomato soup with chorizo sausage - wonderful!! I was also able to have some fish and salad for dinner last night so this morning I was up early to do my 40min run (well, let's say slow jog to be more accurate!). I was so very proud of myself for the 40 min run I tell you. Especially because I had a personal training session on Friday morning and we used a kettle bell and my legs are still hurting I tell you!!

Basically we did 4 million squats in all sorts of different positions, my goodness, I didn't think I was going to run today but then I was actually hoping that I would run the soreness out - nope, still hurting I tell you!!
Well, back to work tomorrow and definitely another gym session, I am getting a bit scared about this 10km run I tell you!!

Check you later in the week.

Jodie

www.lapbandforthemind.com

A reverse fill?!?

Firstly, let me say welcome to my new followers - bless you, guys and thanks for the comment, Naomi - you gave me a warm feeling inside!! I am going to do a bit more work on this blog soon, put some progress pics on and jazz it up a little - so stay tuned you guys!! Just a tip for you as well - Jen, my BFF, bandster and business partner is starting a blog of her own soon, so keep an eye out for the link!!

I had a fill today – well it was actually a reverse fill, I had .2ml taken out of the band. I usually go for fills or at least a check in every 3 weeks and I realised yesterday that over the past 3 weeks there were around 4 days in total that I felt like I got enough water and nutrition for the day. With the training for the Melbourne Marathon 10km run, I was exhausted and really felt like crap basically.

I have the same fill doctor practically every time that I go now. I go to a pretty big surgery so there is actually a lot of choice for fill doctors. In the first few months after having the band fitted, I felt like I saw all of them. Then I stumbled across the wonderful Dr Caroline and boy does it make a difference having a fill doctor that I can talk to candidly and who has gotten to know me over the journey. She is fantastic and I love her – I try not to see anyone else but her these days. One of the main things that I like about her is that she is consultative. It is always a discussion between the two of us as to what will happen, she values my feelings and input, I like that very much as I like to be in control of my own journey.

The past week has been pretty rough eating wise. I have been trying out these new vegetable powders (cos I have been concerned about getting enough nutrition) but I couldn’t even swallow enough liquid to get them down – that is no good, I tell you. I realised that I was averaging only around 500mls of water per day when I like to drink about 2litres and I was barely able to eat anything. You might wonder why it took me the three weeks to realise that the band was too tight and I think it is because normally after I have a fill, it is quite tight and then eases off after around 3 days – unfortunately that didn’t happen this time

The good news is that I have now lost 35.6kg’s – whoo hooo, I am pretty damn happy about that and I have realised today that I have lost 76% of my excess weight – three quarters of the way there, not bad for 11 months hey! This means that I have 11.2kg’s to go to my healthy weight range – hurrah, that will be a great day I tell you!!

The training for the 10km run is going very well – there is under 8 weeks to go to train for this ‘race’ – I am using inverted comma’s because there won’t be much racing in me, I will be going out there to jog the whole way, that is my goal for the event. Last week I only did 3 training sessions and this week I have only done one so far (will do tomorrow and Sunday) and I feel it has been because of my lack of energy so next week for sure I am aiming for the 4 running sessions!! My session yesterday was really good, it was only 20min but I ran faster than I had over that whole time so that is exciting. Bikram yoga has been out of the question for me to for the last few weeks because I just couldn’t get enough fluid in, I am hoping to get a couple of those sessions in next week.

Well that’s about it for my Banding along journey – though I am trying to think of something good to do for my Bandiversary which is coming up on the 17th of September. Let me know if you think of anything, okay?

Chat soon!!

Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com

Inching my way to victory!

Sorry I have been away for a bit, gang – I have heaps of news. I have turned 38 – that is more along the lines of bad news than good news I would say but I did go away for a long weekend with my husband and woolly dog so that was really nice. My birthday day itself was a good one, we went to a bath house for a swim and a massage so that was divine!! I am taking my 10km run training very seriously as I even went for a run on my birthday – I was pretty proud of myself I can tell you!!

Speaking of my training, I have been going pretty well. Last week I did the first full week of training with 4 sessions ranging from 15mins of running to 30 mins by Sunday. I even did some hill sprints last Tuesday morning and I thought my lungs were going to catch on fire – boy did it hurt! The good thing is that it really set me up for some good sessions later in the week. This week I have delayed a few sessions, I have only done 2 so far, today’s was some 1 min intervals on the treadmill which I did at 12km per hour – I had never even been near that type of speed before but I thought ‘well if they do it on the Biggest Loser right?’. I am building up really slowly and am not aiming for any time records in the race itself (cos I am a real plodder of a runner I tell you!) but just aiming to finish the race jogging – hopefully in my healthy weight range!

Band-wise I have been going pretty well though it is probably just a touch too tight, I am hoping that it loosens off just a little whisker more and then I will be at perfect fill amount. I haven’t lost a whole lot on the scale but I can definitely feel it a lot in my clothes. Can you believe that I had on some size 12 pants the other day – well okay, so they were cutting me in half a little bit but size 12 – rock on!! I had a look at my measurements from the start and to now the other day and this is what I found out:

Neck – lost 2cm’s (1inch)
Boobs – lost 11cm (4.3inches)
Waist – lost 15cm (6 inches)
Hips – lost 29cm (11.4 inches)
Arms – lost 4.5cm (1.7inches) off each
Thighs – lost 13cm (5inches) off each

Wow – that makes me feel good I tell you – that is a huge difference in the time frame!! I am only a month off my Bandiversary so I am going to go all out over the next month to see how much I can lose in that time! I love the band – it has changed my life in so many ways – I just love it!!

Cheers,

Jodie

Measuring Success without the Scale

Those of us on the Lap Band journey generally measure our success through the scale – this can sometimes be deceiving. We can be retaining fluid at certain times of the month or building muscle and because muscle takes up less space than space than fat, we have lost inches but no weight on the scale – this can be frustrating! Some of us (I have been there many times in the past) even get obsessed with the scales and the numbers on there but there are other ways to measure your success on the Lap Band journey – here are the top 5 that Jen and I have come up with!!

1. Your clothes

For most of us who have been obese, we have a wardrobe chock full of different sizes – when I started my Lap Band journey, I had at least 7 different sizes of clothing in my wardrobes. I have used this to great effect on my journey. I started off in the largest size and I had a pair of pants in the next size down hanging behind my bedroom door. Every week I would try on this pair of pants and when they fit, I started wearing them and threw out the old, larger pair. I am down 4 pants sizes since the beginning of my Lap Band journey and I have my eye on the next size down which is hanging on my bedroom door!

2. How long it takes you to walk 2km or mile

For many of us who have had a gastric band fitted, exercise is an alien concept (or more like alien torture!). Exercise can be one of the best indicators of fitness and weight loss! Walking or any form of exercise becomes easier and easier the more weight that you lose because you’re not hauling around so much weight. Work your way up to walking 2km or a mile starting with 10mins of walking if that’s all you can do. Once you are walking a mile, write down the time that it takes you to complete the distance. Repeat this measure each week and see how quickly your body responds to consistent exercise and weight loss.

3. Monthly photos

You might not notice the differences that are happening every day when you look in the mirror but a picture is worth a thousand words! Take photos of yourself from the front, side and back at the same time each month and watch the changes take place! This also serves as a great record of where you have come from. If you are feeling frustrated with your journey – take out these pictures and compare where you were at the start to your latest photos, generally this will cheer you up straight away! Jen and I are only days away from posting photo’s of our journey on www.lapbandforthemind.com – check it out in the next week or so!!

4. Compliments from family and friends

It’s really lovely when we receive compliments from friends, family or even colleagues and this is a great way to see how you’re going on your journey. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time for people to notice the weight that you have lost if you have quite a bit to lose but then generally the compliments will come thick and fast!

5. Your own measure

For many of us, there are some great personal measurements that we can take. Some people like to measure the reduction in the number of medications that they are taking, some will measure it by the pain (or lack thereof) in their backs when they are in bed. For me, I have a strange measuring system and that is the bathtub! I like to have baths to for a treat and each time I get in, I check to see how far my thighs are from the edges. In the beginning, both thighs hit either side of the bath, now I they are nowhere near it and I can get my whole fist between my thigh and the bath – now I am aiming for 2 fists! What is your personal measure?

On a personal note, I am back in the exercise swing of things – thanks for staying with me through the slump!! With that said, I am off to do some water aerobics!!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

Got a touch of the when / then?

I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel like I am completely living in the future. Lately I have found myself saying when I lose weight, then I’m going to be able to wear these clothes, when I lose weight, I will be able to go out more, when I am maintaining my weight, my life will be so much better!!

I am not as bad as I used to be in the when / then stakes but sometimes it still comes up as an issue for me. I have also found that this has almost without exception been an issue with all of my clients who have a challenge with their weight. However, this is not only a challenge that is significant to those of us who battle with their weight. Many of our fitter / thinner friends have this when / then attitude to many parts of their life – for example have you heard people saying:

· When I win Powerball, then my life will be great
· When I meet my soul mate, then my life will be complete
· When I fix how I look, then I will attract the partner of my dreams

So what is wrong with thinking about the future? Well nothing really unless you put your current life on hold until you get your when / then thing – that makes the present less than it can be!! However, I think that the biggest issue with the when / then thinking is that it can be hiding a deeper issue. When I was single and overweight, I used to think – when I’m thin, then I will attract the partner of my dreams. The problem with this was that despite the fact that I was a fun, interesting, successful person, I didn’t think that anyone would like me because I was overweight.

So, what do you think happened then? I lost weight and discovered that I still didn’t think that people would like me and that was when I realised that there were some underlying issues that cosmetic changes to the outside of me could not fix. Interestingly enough, I did meet the man of my dreams and he is wonderful and completely loving though one of the things that I have discovered is that I still have times where I think ‘Does he really like me?’ This has been a bit of an underlying challenge for me and one that I continue to peel back the layers on. For me, it is important to keep on digging in to the issues that I have so that I don’t fall back into the whole cycle of ‘when / then’ and then feeling discouraged about my present life and then turning to food for comfort. Now, the important thing for me is ‘what can I do to make my now great?’

Here are some questions for you:

· How do you when / then?
· What is the underlying issue?
· What can you do to make your present more fun, exciting, excellent?

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

P.S. Jen and I released our new product this week: The 5 Keys to Pre-Surgery Success. We have opened up an offer to our newsletter subscribers. If you sign up for our newsletter, we will give you the pack (plus all bonuses!) for the one time only price of $29.95 AUD – that is a saving of $100!!!

This price will expire on 15 July so get in quick!!

Sign up to our newsletter at www.lapbandforthemind.com!!

P.P.S. Remember this special offer of $29.95 expires 15 July so get in quick to gain instant access!

Got a Lap Band already - here's how you can benefit from our eBook:

Chapter 2 - Goal setting & goal setting templates – these are useful wherever you are on your journey!

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Chapter 4 – Working out your mind – Focus, responsibility, persistence – this is really handy information to keep your eyes on the prize and move past those issues that can be holding you back.

Chapter 5 – Celebrate your success – it’s really important to continue to celebrate all successes on your journey, big and small

Plus there is an unbeatable list of bonus items that go with this product!!

Bonus items:

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Exercise calorie tracker

Measurement tracker

Weekly exercise planner

Food tracker

Shopping list tracker

Shall I compare thee to a summers day?

Okay, I had an interesting experience at Bikram yoga yesterday and it really reminded me of life with the band. Bikram yoga is all about consistency and incremental changes. Each session, the heat is the same (43 degrees Celsius / 109 degrees farenheight), the moves are exactly the same, it is only you that is different – we all bring along what is happening in our lives to the sessions so sometimes the sessions are ‘easy’, sometimes they are more challenging.

One of the lessons of Bikram yoga is that you cannot compare your progress to someone else’s. No one else has had your life experiences, no one else has had the small or large injuries that you have had in your body, your flexibility is all your own. One of the most interesting (and frustrating) things about Bikram yoga is that sometimes I find that I have a great session – I am able to hold a pose for longer or I have been able to stretch further and then this is followed by a session that is so challenging, I feel like I am back at square one.

I had a really challenging session yesterday morning. I had been away and it was my first session in a week. I go with my sister who has never had a single issue with weight, in fact she is the skinny mini to end all skinny mini’s! I had one of those really, really challenging sessions. Even though I have lost a whisker under 30kg’s, I felt like I was back at the start of my journey. I couldn’t balance to save my life and I found myself comparing myself to my sister, I knew it was crazy but I just couldn’t seem to help myself.

I really started the negative self talk and before I knew it, I was almost in tears. After the session, I couldn’t help but keep thinking about it for hours. Why do we compare ourselves to others, there are always going to be people who are better at something than us and people that are worse than us so what does it matter? For me the comparing has been about finding validation. Yesterday when I discovered this, I started to give myself the validation that I needed. I celebrated the fact of nearly losing 30kg’s in 9 months, what a great achievement. I looked at my board of successes and felt a whole lot better!

So, what has this got to do with the band? Well of course I have SO many clients who compare their progress to others and at the end of the day, what does this matter except for what you have achieved for yourself? When you find yourself comparing yourself to others, think about what it is you are trying to get from the situation and then see if you can provide it for yourself!

As for me, I am off to yoga again tomorrow, no doubt to learn another lesson!!

Chat soon!

Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com

Why would I delay a fill?!!?

I thought that this week I would talk about a situation that happened to me recently. I went through a period of not losing as much weight as I would like and an interesting self sabotage that came up was that I avoided going back to the surgery to get a fill!!

I finally went back last Friday and since then, I have lost 3kg’s – now this is a little unusual and mostly because I was retaining a good deal of fluid and keep in mind that it was not the only reason for the weight loss – the other reason being that I am having a weight loss ‘push’ at the moment, so have been focussing on a pretty rigorous exercise routine. It did lead me to examine why I would have waited (probably 2 weeks more than I should) rather than get my bottom down to the clinic asap to get the fill corrected.

So, I have had a good long think about it this week, especially considering that Jen and I had always reiterated to each other, right from the beginning, that it was really important to get a fill even if there is a little bit of shame because of the small amount of weight loss or even if we have put on – we really believe in the ‘partnership’ with the clinic and that keeping in touch with them more than necessary is way better than not being in touch enough. So I was confused about the delay!

Searching inside of myself, I found the following reasons:

· I was enjoying eating more
· I was using the food as a comfort item rather than as fuel
· I was able to eat some of the foods I hadn’t been able to for awhile

This led to quite a discussion with myself as I don’t really want to hold myself hostage in this way in the future and I thought I had addressed these issues completely and was a little surprised to see them come up again.

After a lot of soul searching, I put together a plan of attack which is really to be more consistently aware of my patterns – go back to basics and become aware again. The first step to change a behaviour is to bring it to constant awareness, the second step is to start to choose a different behaviour, the third step is to practice, practice, practice the new behaviour and I tell you, this is what I’m going to do!!!

Have a sensational week everyone!

Cheers,

Jodie

When things don't turn out quite as planned.....

So what happens when you intend to be moderate and to make healthy choices and it doesn’t quite work out that way? The reason that I am asking that question is that this is what happened to me over Easter. As you know, from my last post I was heading on up to country Victoria to watch the Stawell gift and it was all in my plan to eat my Easter treats in moderation. This is not exactly what happened unfortunately.

Some of my old patterns kicked in, especially my ‘whoo hoo I’m on holidays and can eat anything I want’ patterns!! I was quite disappointed that over the weekend I overindulged in the Easter treats and chose things that I wouldn’t normally. So on reflection, I have realised that:

a) I needed to put a bit more preparation into how I was going to handle the eating up there – especially because we stay in a Motel and there are few options except to eat out
b) I needed to be more prepared in terms of my packing and organising (I did it at the last minute, mainly due to work as well rushing off in the morning)
c) I needed to examine my ‘going away on holidays’ patterns before I left
d) I needed to let it go once it was over and done with

The last point is an important one and one that I hadn’t realised that I was still holding on to the anger at myself until I had one of my regular chats with Jen. I had spent the whole of last week holding on to this anger at myself and what happens when I am angry at myself, well, I turn to food for comfort.

So what happens when you intend to be moderate and make healthy choices and it doesn’t quite work out this way?

a) Firstly, reflect on what happened and where the snafu’s where?
b) Identify a plan for the future
c) Move on for crying out loud!!

Okay – so that’s it from me this week – I have forgiven myself now and am moving on as we speak!

Check you next time!!

Cheers,

Jodie
http://www.lapbandforthemind.com/

Happy Easter!

Okay so anyone who has a Lap Band knows that chocolate goes through the Band pretty easily, this is good but can also be challenging! Good because of the endorphin inducing sweetness, challenging to moderate the quantity that slips through the band – or that could just be me!! That is where the mind work comes in because if chocolate goes easily through the band, it becomes a question of mind power to not completely over indulge – especially at this time of the year.

Anyway, Easter is a great time of year – I love it because I get away from the city and go to Stawell in Victoria, home of the Stawell Gift – the richest footrace in Australia. I am looking forward to going to the Grampians for some bush walking and also watching the athletics – not everyone’s cup of tea I grant you but I like it! Most of all I am looking forward to a bit of a rest. Jen and I have been burning the candle at both ends getting our new products ready (stay tuned!!) and the thought of 4 days of rest and relaxation is really attractive!

So, that brings me back to the chocolate and the temptations of Easter. I love chocolate and have definitely been known to overindulge in the past. Even more than chocolate, I used to love, love, love hot cross buns but since the band has allowed me to not indulge in hot cross buns (I’m not particularly tolerant of bread) – I don’t have to worry about those anymore. Chocolate on the other hand is another matter. I don’t like to deprive myself anything anymore so I will eat chocolate over Easter though these days I am a little more discerning (in the past I have been known to eat anything resembling chocolate just for the sake of it or usually because I was starting a diet after Easter) and like to choose the best quality chocolate that I can find and allow myself a small portion each day.

So that is how I cope with the chocolate onslaught at Easter. How will you prepare your mind? What do you need to think about, what will you give yourself permission for?

Hope you and your families all have a wonderful Easter!

So tired of being tired!

It’s been awhile since my last post and a lot has happened!! My last post made me laugh considering it was about jumping on and off the scale as since then my scale has died, poor thing - no doubt from over use!! So I am feeling a bit like left arm has been cut off at the moment.

The past week for me has been an interesting one regarding my own little head games and self sabotage. I had a pretty full on weekend last weekend, helping to hang plasterboard at my sister in law’s house in the country and my sisters and nephews were is a car accident on Sunday. Happily everyone is fine, though I can tell you, it was a very tiring weekend.

So what has this got to do with the Lap Band? Well I noticed one of my self sabotage patterns rearing its head this week. Since I started the week off tired and I didn’t have time to cook up a lovely home made vegie soup for lunches during the week, or get my bag together to walk in the morning – I used tiredness as an excuse to break the new habits I had created. Even though I was tired during the week, I didn’t go to bed early so I could remedy the situation.

It has been interesting looking at this pattern this week. It is definitely not a new one, I have been doing it for a long time. So, how to break it? Well the obvious way for me is to take some time to get organised and get a good night’s sleep for starters – though it does go back before that. I firstly needed some way to recognise the pattern sooner so that I can pull myself out of it sooner – which in this past weekend’s case was to get organised on Sunday night and then have a very early night (usually I stay up later because it extends the time before I have to go back to work - crazy right!!).

Anyway, my plan this weekend is:

1. Get house organised
2. Buy beautiful ingredients for yummy healthy food
3. Do some cooking
4. Get plenty of sleep
5. Go to bed early on Sunday night

Sometimes breaking the smallest pattern can have huge results in your life. What self sabotage patterns are your running and what can you do to catch it early and stop it!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

P.S. On another note, Jen and I have been working extremely hard to get our first Workout Your Mind MP3 download created – Fear, the band and your life. We will have this on the website in the next couple of days!!

Ruled by the scale?

Okay, I have a confession to make – I am a weigh-a-holic. You know the type of person, weighs themselves at least once a day and sometimes more! I have improved over time but not quite to my satisfaction as yet. When I first got the band I was weighing myself once a week and that was it, sometimes it was actually only once a fortnight – it was a huge step for me and I was really proud of myself. However, I have lately slipped back into my old ways of weighing every day – sometimes twice!!

So, what has driven this latest fascination with the scale? Well it is all to do with the Lemon Detox diet that I am doing at the moment. I have always believed in detoxing and have tried various forms over the years to create a more healthier me. The detox consists of drinking 2 litres of this syrup that is mixed with fresh lemon juice and cayenne pepper. It has been a tough few days, I can tell you. Yesterday, I went through what is called a ‘cleansing crisis’ – in other words, I got a ridiculously painful headache that lasted through the night. Today hasn’t been quite so bad but I am still waiting for the time when ‘my energy increases and I feel unbelievably great’, hopefully not too far away. I am looking forward to the benefits after the detox as well, mainly the reset of my palate as I find that doing a detox takes away many cravings – it is great to refocus on healthier eating habits.

What exactly does this have to do with the scale, I hear you ask? Well, as one of the side effects of the detox is weight loss, I have been jumping on the scales like no tomorrow. I don’t mind so much the act of jumping on the scale, what I mind is that sometimes the results rule how I feel about my day – it takes discipline for me to refocus my mind on the positive after I haven’t seen exactly what I want on the scale. I have lost weight, that is the great news and I am hoping to lose a bit more.

So, is this a harmless habit or a destructive behaviour? Well, it is different for everyone and whilst it is not my ideal to be weighing myself every day – as I would love to reach the point where weight no longer occupies quite so much of my mental space, I am giving myself a break during this time of the detox and will then focus my mind back on creating a more helpful habit of once a week and a stretch, maybe in the future – once a month? What I will do this week is consciously choose to feel positive about my day regardless of what it says on the scale!

Till next time!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

That lovely commodity - happiness!

That lovely commodity – happiness!

For me, the nicest part of having the band and doing the work of Lap Band for the Mind, is the turnaround that I have created in how I treat myself. I had always been my harshest critic and was always on some ridiculously restrictive eating plan (no salt, no sugar, no bread, no fat and of course, no taste) which made me end up eating the same things over and over again and doing punishing routines at the gym – sometimes I would be trying to do 2 hours a day plus ride my bike and walk at lunch time (rain or shine).

Whilst this may sound like I was really disciplined – what I have realised since is that the main motivation I had came from a want to ‘punish’ myself and not to support and nurture myself with healthy eating and exercise. This made life not particularly pleasant, especially as after a while of this punishing routine of exercise and restrictive eating could not last so the pendulum would swing completely back the other way and I would then go to absolutely no exercise and eating everything in sight (and the guilt – don’t get me started!).

The band and the Lap Band for the Mind work that I have done has put me into a place where I now choose to eat healthy food that is delicious. I don’t have anything on a ‘banned’ food list, I just eat small portions of the highest quality food I can find and I give myself the gift of Bikram yoga as my exercise along with walking – I specifically call it a gift to myself (though sometimes the yoga can be tough!!) and now whilst I am to get a certain amount of exercise done per week, I don’t beat myself up if I haven’t reached my huge expectations. Overall, I am a tremendously happier person as a result.

Usually each week, I like to do 4-5 sessions of yoga for the week. This week, I was going to do my fourth session on Sunday but woke up feeling completely exhausted – in that moment, I listened to my own needs and decided to have a real Sunday day of rest. This meant that I only did 3 sessions of yoga, which in the past would have ended in me beating myself up mercilessly, though this time I felt really good about the 3 sessions that I did in the week as well as the gift that I gave to myself of listening to what would support and nurture me – I smile a lot more these days, I can tell you that!

So, the greatest gift that the band has given me along with the wonderful work that Jen and I have done with Lap Band for the Mind, is really my own happiness.

So, the questions for this week are:

· What can you do to support and nurture yourself this week?
· How can you make yourself happy?

Til next time – have a happy week!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

2009 - It's going to be a great year!

Hi, Jodie here - I am one of the partners of the company, Lap Band for the Mind. I have had Lap Band surgery in 2008 and this is my journey - I hope that you come along for the ride!

So, this time of year has always been about thinking about what program that I am going to go on to lose weight for the year. I have usually indulged over the Christmas / New Year period and my waist line (though being the classic pear shape, it is more like my hip line) has expanded significantly. I usually would be getting out a spreadsheet, calculating how many weeks it would take for me to get into my healthy weight range, reading my many, many diet plan books, considering what eating plan would give me the best results and looking at what punishing exercise routine would see me reduce my size in the least amount of time.

This New Year is a little bit different though, this year I have already lost almost 20kg's of my excess weight and I am well on my way to achieving my healthy weight range! Does that mean that I have abandoned my normal ritual of looking at my weight and seeing what I can do to lose weight? Well, yes - though now I am looking at how I can be healthier. For me, weight loss surgery has taken away the desperation from this time of year. I lost weight over the Christmas and New Year period and I can't even remember the last time that happened - I am really happy about that! I have started to do Bikram Yoga which has been tough but really fun and I am focussed on choosing healthier foods.

Focussing on health is an interesting prospect for those with weight issues as most of us also have issues with putting value on ourselves and our health. Over the years I have put more value on looking good rather than being the healthiest I can possibly be. After having the Lap Band placed, my friend Jen and I started focussing on the mind issues associated with weight. As a result of this, I realised that I needed to put my health as a priority and this has resulted in my resolutions this year.

A couple of things for you to think about:

Do you value your health above looking good?
What simple actions can you take today today to show that value your health?
What commitments can you make to yourself about your health this year?

They say that the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions that you ask yourself. What questions can you ask yourself each day to improve the quality of your life?

Until next time!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com