“The Retired Cook’s Diary”
Starting Over
By Suzette Pennington Munson
Starting
over is a heavy title, but it is not that hard to start over at anything if you
set your goal and figure out a plan, then implement the plan step by step.
So here
goes!
7 years ago
I had Lap Band surgery. It was a life-changing
event and made such a change in my lifestyle that I was almost fanatical about
what, when, and where I ate my meals.
This is what made my surgery a success.
Being absorbed in being successful….that is what is important for any
life changing event….absorbed in positive steps to be long term
successful.
What
changed? LIFE!!
I was the
caregiver for my elderly father and the chief cook for my husband. In my spare time I baby sat grandchildren,
took care of the farm and animals, and tried to maintain my life style change
while balancing two households. I did
not realize how hard it could become until I was setting in a hospital
cafeteria looking at the food offerings realizing that there was nothing that
was not based in carbohydrates with minimum to low protein offerings.
It is
surprising how the only food that day on the menu with protein was a goulash
product made with pasta and hamburger meat.
For people who do not have Lap band it was probably a good item, for me
a nightmare! I have to have 60 grams of
protein a day. I can get it thru protein
drinks but that is not the best way to live.
Pasta, lettuce, bread, potatoes and rice are fillers. If you have kids you have to “fill” them up
and this is a good way to do that. I
have 1/4 of a stomach to fill up and I do not need “filler”, I need the good
stuff.
Salad is
always a choice for dieters, but not for a Lap Band patient. Salad is filler, we need the good stuff. Sweet Potatoes, squash, some fibrous
vegetables and vegetable protein if you are in to Soy products are all good
options. I tend to lean toward lean red
meat, moist cooked chicken, bacon, fish of all kinds, moist cooked pork and
venison. I definitely eat more meat than
veg and for me it works.
During the
time my Dad was ill, I was eating food that would go through the band rather
than eating to feed the body. Cheese and
peanut butter are good but not on a daily basis in the place of sometimes 3
meals. That is just foolish….and yes I
was eating that way….I would rush home to try and fix dinner after driving from
the metroplex and when my husband would say, let’s just go get something at the
restaurant, of course I jumped on it….big mistake.. During this time I gained
about 20 pounds. Not an excuse, it was
just the way it was.
I have had
two years to think about this and when my daughter, Jennifer DeMoss, decided to
have the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (aka: Gastric Sleeve) surgery this summer.
I decided it was time to “re start” my life style. Jennifer and I are attending a Lap Band/Sleeve
support group at Baylor Trinity Hospital in Carrollton. It has helped me realize that I can “start
over” and become successful a second time.
I know there
are a group of people in our area that had the Lap Band and have never “done
anything” about using it as a tool to lose weight. There are probably lots of reasons, but here
are some I am familiar with.
Don’t want
to throw up
Don’t want
to give up soft drinks/caffeine
Don’t have
time to think about what I eat
Don’t want
to give up “Fast Food”
Don’t want
to cook
There are so
many coulds, woulds, won’ts and don’ts that I could write a book, but instead
of finding excuses I hope to help make things do able for myself and others.
I don’t plan
on giving up eating out though I gave up fast food, soft drinks and not
watching what I eat. I have an
opportunity to change my “thinking” and hopefully share that “thinking” with
others.
By tapping
into resources on the internet and thru the support group I hope to offer
options and provoke thought to those who want to join me on this
adventure. I will be sharing recipes and
techniques to help make eating on the program easy, instead of a challenge. We will also talk about portion control,
eating out and how to make our life style change permanent instead of and
option. Join me as I write about the
successes.
