Does anyone need structure in their life?

haha wouldn't go that far but i do love hans!

goodness kaz is drooling already....haha

MMMM hans.....

no worries can do :)

that would be excellent Kaz....... just one for me... but maybe do a few and bring it to han's!

oh i can do it for you if you like? can mail it or bring it to hans? I could do a bunch if anyone else wants one?

Excellent idea about laminating it.... mmmm where I can pinch a laminater....

Thanks Maria!
I printed it twice, one for my (housemate) and they are now laminated on the kitchen fridge!

p.s. your spaghetti tastes really good for lunch!!

Maria - can you email it to me?
karen.mcdonough@rheem.com.au

Ta muchly!!

Yay

And just think. This is what your new life will be like all the time!

Hello Everyone
I can't believe I got my act together over the weekend - made a few soups and broths and now have a freezer full of weeny little containers for post surgery. And I can't believe how easy it was. Plus I have my vegetable cooked for the next week up until surgery.
I think this burst of activity is mainly due to my increased energy and clear thinking - its amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily.... I just made up a chart and will write in the boxes what I would like to have each day. I can send you the format if you would like to PM me your email address...... If you need any ideas of what to have let me know! I have be winging it so far but it still has worked out for me.... I have cooked 3 times this week! Yee Har!!

I definately need the structure as well and am starting the same thing myself this week, writing a menu plan for the week to stick to, about to go shopping and then I won't need to go to the shops again all week.

Hopefully this strategy will help stop me from impulse buying the crap I just don't need.

I've even checked my work calender for the week to ensure I have what I need on hand where ever I am so I don't need to duck into any shops for ANYTHING!!

Maria I would love to see your diet plan.. just decided I need to do the same. I am 6 weeks out and not eating "bad" food but feel like i'm eating constantly and wt loss is slow.

okay... 1st day....
I had muesli for breakfast, then had a coffee!
Lunch was 3 slices of ham (small), 2 pieces of tomato, feta cheese, 1 slice of normal cheese, some thin noodle salad.
Dinner was at hans' cafe - had chicken omelette....mmm

So went to a meeting tonight with a Dietitian and a few other weightloss buddies! It was fabulous.... talking about our "issues"... I have to write down why I think certain foods are bad for me as I have the "sureslim" brain! ie: Couldn't have corn on sureslim, so when I eat corn now I think it is bad for me!!

So I am going to write up a menu plan for the week, so it takes the guessing out what I am going to have to eat especially when I am not hungry or don't know what to have.... I am also promising myself that I am going to go to the gym at least once per week to start off with and increase from there to try and take the pressure off of myself as being a failure! So will let you know how I am all going!

Good on you maria,your staying in control and your aware of it and dealing with it!!
I definately need structure,my problem is im an all or nothing type person so when i stick to a plan i'll do it perfectly but when i dont whoa!! thats when i am out of control and would put all my weight back on.
im trying to work on this with my dietition!!

Thanks everyone for your input....
I was typing last night on my ipod and hoped that it came out okay.... LOL

Well this morning started off with museli for breakfast before I made my coffee! I am going to do up a chart and am seeing my Dietitian tonight. I am going to write down a meal plan for the week. I was on Sureslim which worked for me last time (alas only 1/2 worked..couldn't keep the weight off!!!LOL alas sleeve!!!!)... I think having the 3 meals per day was good for me, but with the restrictions on food was too much to do full time. This time I will do the 3 meals per day but concentrate on having protein every meal. If I am hungry for morning tea/afternoon tea, I will have crackers and cheese or some fruit.

Thinking about structure last night gave me a bit of a boost as I know that having the sleeve is a gift of a new life for me. I can and will get to my goal weight I just have to change my thought pattern until I get to my goal weight and then it will be much easier to maintain. Woo hoo goal weight here I come!

Structure is definitely necessary. I just put on 1 kg (went from just under 60 kg to just over so no big deal) while in Singapore. I definitely snacked more than normal, and probably didn't drink enough water. I also had my daughter with me, so probably ate more at dinner because we sat there longer.

So now I need to get down below 60 kgs again - and this is why I want to be 3-4 kg below so if I put a little on, it isn't a big deal.

I know that if I had been home and had scales to check my weight it wouldn't have happened. So structure is necessary - how much better would it be to just make good choices without the need to scale check constantly.

Jane, I couldn't agree more. I am having the same problem with thinking I need to eat all the time rather than have just three meals a day - altho in saying that I have read that lots of you have been told to eat 6 small meals a day whereas my dietician has said just to eat at meal times. My mind is still on the wave length of thinking about what's in the cupboard that I can eat whereas I should be thinking about maybe doing some exercise instead! I too, can see bad habits continuing!

We just need to believe we can do this and think of the sleeve as a tool that we have to learn how to use properly or the tool will break and then we are right back at the start of all our problems!!!

This subject is something ive had swimming around in my head for the last 2 days, i am 6 days post op today and doing great, no trouble eating or drinking , 2 weetbix is not a task, which started me thinking i need watch what i eat and remeber the sleeve is but a tool and not the soloution, i know Studies confirm i will loose 60% of my excess weight as a direct result of the sleeve, and thats whats required after 2 weeks of opti, i was lucky lost 10kgs on it, but 40% of it will still be up to me , whilst i would not be unhappy with a 60% weight loss, im a full hog type of person id like get close to 100%, so structure will become very important.I started thinking about this when i thought im doing so well ill reward my self maccas choc sunday, perfectly allowable on puree diet, not very smart though lol.Reward instead was a cruskit with cottage cheese, smoked salmon tomatoe and onion, i put the tomotoe onion and salmon in a pestal and morter first, was gorgeous, in all honesty even tasted better than a maccas sunday, just took more effort.
The need for structure was confirmed to me again when i visited a friend, a fit 30 yr old male strong, and about 90kgs a few inches taller than me, in general chat he asked how i was doing and i said bloody great had 2 weetbix for brekky, his answer i have that every morning, which started me thinking again about structure and the value of the sleeve and the 6 month window of oppurtunity that now exists.I have spent a life time mastering bad eating habits , i would of had 6 weetbix for brekky, and lets not forget advertising doesnt help, perfectly acceptable for a sportsperson to do 10-12, theme of the add was how many can do,.
All the research ive done including information from the surgeon is i must capitalise on the first 6 months post surgery, and with structure i can retrain my brain and like never before the sleeve gives me that oppurtunity.I have 6 months to start thinking 2 weetbix is normal and not a feet.
HOW MANY CAN I DO :::2 A DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE

I need structure in everything I do if that helps lol.. I have found out the difficult way that if I don't have structure I also get really depressed and irritable! At the moment 1 month out I pretty much eat the same stuff every day after looking back at my food diary.if I didn't keep it simple I'd also wing it and end up making poor choices. Planning is a must for my food!

Mapmar, i think you are right!!

I have found that as I get better (3 weeks post op today) I can eat more and more without discomfort, but I am tedning to graze, and I jsut don't want to get into that habit.

Problem is, I think jsut after surgery we are all so worried about getting in enough fluids, foods, etc that it becomes a daily mission just to get it all in, but I can see even now, that if I am not careful I am going to end up with some bad habits.

The thing is , we were on Opti, 3 meals a day (600 cals plus vegies: 100 cals) so maybe total, 700 or 800 cals a day and i was fine!!

I don't why I feel this need to make sure I am eating all the time, Thats what my fay stores are for!!

I completey agree, I want to start to pull back and try and have more structured meal times and ban anyhting in between becuase i cane see my self grazing myself right back to staying at 100kilos!

Good thinking 99, let me know what you come up with!

Jane xx

I have stuck with my diet plan since sleeved and its works, let me tell you!

Its only now, at goal, that I am not sticking to it as rigidly as before.

I was just about to go to sleep and this thought came into my head... The last couple of days has been a bit rough... Depression tried to set in again and I was doing the "why me" again!!! The weight has not been coming off as much as I would like... I know the reasons why they haven't but can't seem to get started again or get my head into gear! Well tonight just after I turned the lights off and tried to get to sleep I thought maybe I might need the structure of a "diet plan" instead of just "winging it". This time I can see the light at the end if the tunnel but at the moment it seems to be at the same distance and not moving closer. So maybe the structure of meal planning might work... Before surgery we had diet plans but before we knew they flew out the window because there was no light at the end on the tunnel. Now that there is an ending and I have the tool to make this work I think I am going to get some structure back and get to the end. So tomorrow is planning day.... Diet plan here I come!