my.nwi.com

A few more thoughts and actions on weight gain. The weight loss surgery I had is called a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. Of course there is a group on line to support VGers and those considering the procedure. It's very helpful and informative. I threw my problem with sweets out to the sleevegastrectomy chat group. I found comfort in the many responses from folks saying they had the same problem, that they could relate to gaining some weight back over time. One person chimed in that this was why they thought the RNY was a better procedure (because if you eat sweets w/ this procedure you get VERY ill, I'm told). Others said what I know to be true. This is a calories in, calories out equation. If you don't change your habits, NOTHING will work for you over time. NOTHING. I felt good in the company of my "people".

My work team has taken on a group challenge to get healthier. I am so proud of all of us. We set a goal to lose 15 pounds. For some that's the whole goal, for others its a really good start. Yesterday was our first day. Each of us has two goals we set for the week. If we achieve our goals by Friday, we each determined a reward: Starbucks, flowers, regular bought coffee, all inexpensive, healthy rewards. And the goals are behavior changes, not weight loss because as we already discussed, the scale is not an accurate measure of your weight. So we're planning meals and measuring food for portion control and eliminating sweets and increasing excercise. We recognize that we have different challenges and set out to accomplish different goals.

Don't get me wrong. We want to lose 15 pounds, but along the way we want to change behaviour, increase energy etc.

We feel better already.