I got on the scale the night I got home from Florida. I was surprised by what I saw, so I decided to check again the next morning to double check what I was seeing. When I woke up, I got back on the scale and sure enough, I'd lost 6 pounds the week that I was away. I ate a LOT of salads and did a lot of walking while I was gone and it paid off even though it wasn't really what I was aiming for. I usually crave salads when I'm traveling because it tastes real compared to all the fast food and carbs that I could be eating for a quick hunger fix. I think I ate about 6 or 7 salads while I was gone and I don't even have an estimate of how much I walked while I was away. Considering all the hiccups that this trip had, it was nice to come home to a sweet surprise on the scale.
I'm really trying not to put that weight back on now that I'm home. I'm also trying not to let myself get too obsessed with thinking about it. I could easily let myself get overly restrictive and hard on myself but I'm fighting that as much as I can.
I guess I didn't fail my psych evaluation like I thought I did because I got a call from the Bariatrics center to make an appointment for me with one of the surgeons. I'll meet with him on Monday afternoon and in the meantime, I have video links they want me to watch that explains the surgeries and risks. I've done one out of three so far and it's really imformative. It's a pretty cool system. If I have questions in the midst of the video, I can click on a link to email a question directly to the surgeon so that we can talk about it when I get to the appointment.
I'm still keeping my options open and will go to the appointment as a means of educating myself. I think this is one of the hardest things for people to understand even though I've said it many times in this blog as well as on Facebook. I'm not settled on what I want to do. I'm NOT pursuing the gastric bypass (which is what quite a few friends are concerned about and is the one that comes with the most risks surgery-wise). I'm interested in either the gastic sleeve or Lap-band, but neither one are set in stone for me. I'll be talking to the surgeon next week about my options and the risks involved, but that doesn't guarantee that he will even move me through to the next step. My insurance may decide they won't cover any of the procedures and then that decision will be made for me no matter what I want to do. I realize that people care about me and love me and have concerns and I appreciate those so much. This isn't something I'm going into lightly. My doctor wouldn't even give me the referral for a Lap-band for the last two years. I've been going to the same doctor since Zach was a baby and I know that he wouldn't give that referral if he didn't think that it would be a helpful tool for me. This is all something that I really want people to understand.
I did really well yesterday, but I'm finding that as much as I like to be home, it's a really difficult place for me to be when it comes to food. When I'm traveling, I don't crave all the stuff that I usually do when I'm home. I don't have easy access to a cupboard or fridge full of food and I have to eat out. I'm really careful with money and so I don't overeat at restaurants because I know it will cost money. Yes, I know I should think about the considerations as to what it costs to buy food for home, but there's a huge difference in buying food in the store and the minimal cost of it compared to buying a prepared meal at a restaurant. Add to the fact that I love salads while traveling and their minimal cost while dining out and it's a perfect choice for me.
I've had to reset myself today already, but unlike I used to do, I'm not beating myself up about it and I'm dusting myself off, giving myself a pep talk, and having my do-over right then and there. I'm plugging along and I have some new motivation with the 6 pounds I lost.