What new habits are you trying to build?

[gamergirl 4,609]

You know how they always tell us the surgery was on our stomach, not our brains? And that the first six-nine months are the perfect times to build good habits that set the foundation for later, when your sleeve relaxes and you can eat more?

I'm curious to know what new habits you are working on to help you into a new lifestyle, or for the vets, the habits that have stood them in good stead over the months and years.

For my husband and me, here's a starting list:

1. No saying "just this once" six times a week.

2. Not bringing food into the house that I shouldn't be putting into my body.

3. Trying to move about during the day instead of sitting at my desk for 8 straight hours caught up in work.

4. Not eating after 8 pm.

5. Drinking constantly

6. Weighing daily

7. Entering food into MFP with no excuses allowed.

How about you?

[Seela 1,187]

Hmmm... that's a tough one. I've already broken so many bad habits.

I think for me the number one thing is to eat more slowly. .. remember it's not a race and since I have such a small amount of food it's ok to take longer to eat it.

And exercise. . Remembering how much healthier I feel when I get at least some exercise even if I dont want to.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Seela

[Nurse_B 270]

Great idea! I am working on a lot of things, but mainly:

1. Making a better effort with my Water. I am usually close, but then I give it the "oh that's close enough".

2. Worrying less about the number on the scale. I am happy for the weight loss, but I don't want to focus on it so much that I am continuously disappointed.

3. Making the gym a routine, and not talking myself out of going. I have a billion excuses at the ready!

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

Great question.

I think (thank goodness) that the food stuff is pretty formulaic at this point. I need to incorporate more vegetables but I haven't even tried salads yet.

My biggest habit that I am trying to make solid as a rock is exercising 4 times per week. I'd say 5, but realistically that won't always work in my schedule. Ideally though I'd like to be at CrossFit 3x per week and swim two days.

That said, my CrossFit coach has always said that nutrition is 80% of body definition/achieving fitness goals. In other words, you can work out 6 times per week but if you don't eat clean most of the time it's an exercise in futility, if changing your body is your goal.

So, maintaining these eating habits, such as they are. Exercising as much as I can, given a really hectic schedule. Remembering that panic is futile; planning is key.

[Jerzygurl 372]

1. Keeping the house free of bad foods. If I don't bring it over threshold then it can't cross it.

2. Hitting the gym at least 4x a week.

3. Drinking a minimum of 64 oz of Water every day.

4. No late night eating (this is a real life changer for me because I was a late night/midnight snacker)

5. Not succumbing to the pressures of my life by turning to food as a comfort.

6. Taking my supplements and Vitamins religiously.

7. Telling myself how wonderful and beautiful I am every morning.

[ribearty 544]

How long do you want to read? I could write a book with all my bad habits. It's not that bad, but currently I think the bad outnumber the good.

Right now my main focus is to get in my Protein consistently and increase gym time. Once I get these under control, I'll take on a new goal.

Edited December 28, 2013 by ribearty

[homersmomma 77]

I need to certainly increase my Water intake. I am so bad about that.

[southernsoul 773]

What a great question! For me, I think the 4 main ones I'm working on are:

1. Exercise regularly

2. Weigh daily, or at least several times a week

3. Avoid late night snacking

4. Maintain a daily awareness of how much better I feel now, in order to help me not to backslide. Every day, I spend a couple of minutes remembering how much pain I was in at 320 lbs & how many things I had given up doing because I was physically unable to do them.

[Miss Mac 6,261]

First new habit is to become a Nutritarian...that is to deliberately eat clean fresh food, and maximizing my nutrition by only consuming foods that have nutritional value.

Exercise more. Exercise has been difficult due to weight and arthritis issues, but as the weight comes off, I should be able to step up my game.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

~The first one that really made a difference was looking at this process as a health process, not a looks process! When I made that change, it put everything else in perspective. So now, lots of the things I am working on have to do with that. Some I have already made changes in...like:

~Drinking Water More/enough has been hard, still working on that. I take a bath every day and put a 4 cup class of Water there... must finish it, and maybe one more if a long bath!

~Having good variety of fruits and veggies and Proteins on hand, ready to cook... and making some things ready to grab and eat. (Im a vegetarian, and its really just better if I cook most stuff myself) I have developed a few recipes I really like, including a desert everyday. I make them from scratch using the best ingredients I can afford. I have gone mostly organic as well. I have a kitchen garden and raise some of my own food.

~finding exercise options that I REALLY like. I will just find a reason to stay home if I don't like my exercise plan. Now I dance twice a week with girls I really like, I walk two times a week with a group of adults with disabilities (don't want to let them down!) and started birdwatching... I carry my camera and tripod with me every day and find an hour here and there to hike in local wild locations just for fun and birds! I have found a few people to do this with, and have gone out with groups a time or two as well. I don't even do it for the exercise, just a bonus! I wear a fitbit every day to see for myself how much I'm moving.

~ I have a history of being a bit of a lone wolf! Finding a support system that is personal and enduring. I have a group of ladies here that have turned into friends that understand. And are fun! They contribute so much to my success. I continue to work on cultivating friends out there as well... like my dance gals, we are friends and have dancing (exercise) in common. I go to class to see them as well as get a workout.

~ one I have just started to work on is: Finding time to do some loved activities that I have stopped doing. I have changed my life so much post WLS that some of the things I used to find important and interesting have been squeezed out of my day. Some REALLY important things. The time I used to use to do them have been taken over with my WLS support activities... exercise, cooking, gardening, internet, birdwatching! I have only so many hours in the day, and am trying to figure out how to do it all!

I can't just drop my support activities to make time or I will gain the weight back! I'm brainstorming that right now.

Edited December 28, 2013 by feedyoureye

[DonRodolfo 1,416]

Stealing a few from y'all (I'll add some later if I think of more)

Trying to move about during the day instead of sitting at my desk for most of the day

Drinking constantly to meet my Water intake goal

Eating slower like we're supposed to. I still eat too fast (and scarf down food if it's been too long since the last meal)

Eliminate grazing

I need to compile a collection of easy to prepare bariatric-friendly recipes. I rely entirely too much on eating out and leftovers.

As a result of WLS and too much cardio, I am a skinny fat person. I need to add weight training to my week without compromising my running goals (faster 5k, do a 10k in 2014, half-marathon in 2015).

Edited December 28, 2013 by DonRodolfo

[Comfy_Blue 285]

1. Weighing myself more frequently (in the past i would avoid the scale because i hated seeing my weight go up and the accountablity. I woukd go for 2+ months without weighing once)

2. Eating at home and cooking for myself more (I LOVE eating out and on weekends it wasn't uncommon for me to eat Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack all at restaurants/coffee shops)

3. Increasing my exercise (i'm starting slowly with a 30 minute daily walk, then I want to increase and start going to the gym)

4. Tracking my food (i bought a little note book that fits into my pocket so even days when i don't have a purse i have no excuse for not carrying it)

5. Going out for junk food (no more Chunky Monkey, raw cookie dough, potato chips, etc in the house!). If i want ice cream, i will go out and have a scoop, not a spoon and an entire carton in front of the t.v. for an hour.

6. Being nicer to myself (i avoid mirrors when i am unclothed and when i do look at my body, i am so critical of my lumps and bumps. I am trying to look at myself and focus on the good and take action to "correct" the bad rather than just saying "ugh, look at your flabby thighs. Gross. You are such a pig. Look at your double chin, those nasty, bulging love handles. You're so gross. How can your husband stand to look at you naked?" and eating another hot dog)

7. Smaller, slower bites

8. Not drowning my food in salt and sauces. I've been avoiding salt and other seasonings and am finding that i actually like the natural flavor of a lot of things. Like i used to put salt on foods before even tasting them.

9. Tiny sips of Water all day (this is the hardest)

10. Saying "no thank you" when offered temptations and NOT feeling guilty. (This is hard because in my culture "food is love". So i dread when we go home for the holidays having to tell my husband's sweet Grandmother. "No thank you")

Wow! Thank you for this question. It's really made me think and bring my thoughts to paper so they are more concrete. I'm going to copy paste these into a word document and print them out for my WLS scrapbook

Edited December 28, 2013 by Comfy_Blue

[planetheather 137]

1. Drinking plenty of Water (this was the easiest for me; I gave up coffee before the surgery and I'm allergic to artificial sweeteners).

2. Daily weighing (but not getting discouraged by the stair step stalls).

3. Workouts (now at 6x a week). This may be my new addiction but my cardio health has improved so much in the last 3 months that this is my biggest NSV.

4. I didn't know the term nutritarian until Miss Mac mentioned it, but I'd say that is an accurate description of my new relationship with food. I've even put my foot down and insisted on organic produce. DH draws the line at grass-fed beef though.

5. Replacing bad habits with "me loving habits" --Lush bath products and skin creams etc.

[LouiseC 1,029]

4. I didn't know the term nutritarian until Miss Mac mentioned it, but I'd say that is an accurate description of my new relationship with food. I've even put my foot down and insisted on organic produce. DH draws the line at grass-fed beef though.

I hadn't heard the term either but it could definitely describe my relationship with food now. Clean, fresh and good quality. If I am going to have treats, and I do have treats, then they are going to be good quality!

I am confused though, what's wrong with grass fed beef? I only get grass fed and have not ever been aware of issues or concerns.........

[Fluffnomore 1,235]

It's more expensive…but I don't think there's anything wrong with it!