For April Fool's Day We're Having Snow!

This year is one of those winters that doesn't know when to quit!  Is a White Easter in store for us?  Today is opening day at Yankee Stadium and there have just been flurries so far but more snow is on the way.  Don't you just love being at the baseball stadium on a crisp snowy day?

Coming up in two weeks is our opera.  The Taconic Opera will present Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers".  We rehearsed on Monday night until 11 p.m.  I didn't get to bed till about 1 a.m. by the time I unwound.  I was super tired the next day.  I had a class for two hours after work and I had planned on going to the gym but I couldn't make myself do it.  The rehearsal on Monday involved a lot of walking and standing so it almost was like exercising.  I'm only going to get two gym days in this week since my training advisor prefers I don't exercise the same muscles on consecutive days to so there is recovery time.  Actually I didn't lift weights on Saturday because I did the exercise bike.  I went last night and did the bike again.  I wanted to make sure that the 11 1/2 miles I did on Saturday (after another long rehearsal) was not just a fluke.  The more I thought about going that far I wondered if I'd gotten on the bike and someone else's aborted workout was added up with what I did.  So last night I did twelve miles.  It took me an hour and I think I had the seat adjusted too high because my groin area hurts today.

I made my own playlist of workout music for my IPod.  It helps a lot to have my own tunes.  I can still see all the TV screens above the treadmills and bikes.  I'm surprised at the number of enticing food commercials that still look tempting without the sound.

My grandson Enzo is discovering that everyone has a belly button.  He thinks mine is pretty funny and also likes my jiggly belly.  There isn't much of me that is firm anymore but that's ok.  At least I don't have to worry about telephoto lens shots of my butt showing up on the cover of The National Enquirer.  Sometimes it's good not to be a celebrity.

I found out that the author of "Opera Sutra", my BEFORE book, has taken it off the market.  It did not sell on Amazon.  He's had better luck selling it at classical singer's conferences.  He gave me a whole case of the books for free though.  I guess I can give them as gifts.  So I guess the book won't make me famous.  Ah well.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

With and Without

This week a friend of mine, another bariatric surgery alumni passed down some of her clothes she is now too thin to wear.  They are all XL except one pair of pants that are size Large.  I have to say that I'm not there just yet.  I haven't tried anything on yet but I have a fairly short term goal to shoot for.

Gail brought the clothes to work.  Many of the items were freshly dry cleaned and on hangers.  The remainder were in a shopping bag.  For my schlep to the parking garage I was carrying the clothes, my empty lunch box and my purse (which I really should weigh one of these days).  As I lumbered down the hall with my burdens I thought that the combined weight of what I carried surely wasn't more than 25 pounds.  What a difference it made!  To think I was carrying five times that weight around all the time a mere nine months ago.

I decided to list all the things that are easier without the pounds I've shed.  The list got too long and still felt incomplete. Instead I'll list things that haven't changed at all.  Actually I can only thing of one.  For some reason I still don't have any more room in bed.  I'm not sure if my husband is hogging the bed worse than before or else I'm just ceding my territory.

Certainly exercise is getting easier.  At the gym I rode the exercise bicycle eleven and one half miles today!!!!!  One of my doctors advised me that probably I wasn't feeling any endorphin rush while doing cardio type activities was that you must keep up the running, biking or whatever for 30-45 minutes for that to work.  I didn't feel a noticeable rush but I did feel quite accomplished.  It helped to have some good exercise music on my Ipod too.  I want to bring the massage chair home though.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Not a Bad Monday Really...

The weekend was nice and sunny.  It was chilly and windy yesterday but still bright.  Today, the first entire day of spring, it rained and snowed.  Not a lot of snow but then in the northeast the spring comes gradually.  We get a little tease now and then of things to come.  A few bulbs have sprouted and a few crocus have bloomed.  Surprisingly my friend in Palmdale, California also had some snow.  She heard there were five inches of snow in Beverly Hills!!

I'm feeling pretty cheery in spite of the weather.  I get so many compliments during my day from friends and coworkers.  How could I help but feel good?  People who see me from the back sometimes don't recognize me.   Everyday I find moving about at work becomes easier.

One comment today reinforces my theory that some individuals don't really look at the obese as if they are real persons.  Today an EMS person who brought in one of my patients told me I looked different.  She asked "Have you lost weight?".  I said that I had.  Then she asked how much.  I said 130 pounds.  "Since last week?" she said.  I said that no, since June.  She looked shocked then managed to stammer out that I look great.  I couldn't believe this.  REALLY???????  I don't know which planet I might have gone to where you can lose that much weight in a week but somebody needs to tell me how to get there!

Tonight was the start of the new season of Dancing with the Stars.  This is the only reality show that I care about.   Mostly I would rather watch a classic film on TCM than nearly all of current TV.  Tonight the top two dancers were Ralph Macchio (the Karate Kid), and Kirstie Allie.  I loved Kirstie's self-depreciating comment that if someone told her to haul ass she'd have to make two trips.  Nobody should take themselves too seriously.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan.

Observations

I found out this week that St. Patrick's Day is a great night to go to the gym.  All those fitness-seeking people are  out dining on corned beef and cabbage or drinking beer.  I also went to the gym at 5:30 on Saturday night.  They are only open 7am-7pm on weekends.  There is a lot of vacant equipment so no waiting!  PF is open 24 hours the rest of the week.  I've never tried going after midnight.  If I worked the swing shift I would appreciate having that option available.

Tonight was the largest and brightest full moon in 18 years.  A SUPER Moon occurs when the orbit is in close during the vernal equinox.  (I'm not really sure if I got that exactly right but it was really beautiful.)  I'm glad it was a clear night so I was able to see it.

I had my three month check up with Dr. Jarrett, my Primary Care Physician/Cardiologist this week.  He was very pleased with my progress.  I don't remember hearing this before but he told me I had had some left ventricular hypertrophy prior to my surgery.  I'd known before that my heart was enlarged (cardiomegaly) but the hypertrophy is a direct result of having to work so hard to pump blood around.  This, of course, made the efficiency of the heart decrease which caused the chronic congestive heart failure.  On my next visit in June I'm scheduled for an echocardiogram and hopefully my heart will look much better.

This is the first year in many years that I haven't bought any Girl Scout Cookies.  Sorry girls.  I'm not doing cookies.  I'm also not buying Entenmenn's Hot Cross Buns, another of my seasonal favorites.  Coming next month is one of the biggest Chocolate Holidays of the year.  I know those Cadbury Eggs and Russell Stover Bunnies are out there.  But I'm not giving in to those either.  This paragraph is beginning to sound like FOOD PORN!!!

I thought of a little parable I'd heard long ago.  If you try to put a frog in boiling water it will jump right out.  However, if you put the frog in cool water and heat it up slowly it will not notice the heat increasing and before he knows it he's frog soup.  Now I have never tried to do this.  (OK I have cooked live lobsters but lets not go there.)

The point of all this is that I did not get fat overnight.  It took years and years of overeating, snacking, indulging, noshing, feasting, munching, consuming, nibbling, polishing off, scarfing up, bingeing, chug-a-lugging, feeding my face,  drowning my sorrows in chocolate, savoring, sampling, driving up, taking out, dining in, hitting the buffet, haute cuisine, daily special, soup of the day and comfort food.  You get the idea.

I've lost 130 pounds in 9 months. I used to get exhausted taking a shower.  Now after five miles on the exercise bike I'm not even winded.  I am so grateful that I was able to have my surgery.  Thanks Dr. Choi for giving me my life back.

Love to all, Marlena of Mohegan

Shape ups didn't measure up.

Soon after my surgery I bought a pair of Sketcher's Shape Ups for doing my walking.  They were awkward for the first few steps but then I felt really bouncy in them.  The shoe makes you walk with a rocking motion that is supposed to make your calves and butt look great.  Seems like a great idea.

When I went back to work I wore different shoes.  One day when I was wearing some pants that were a little long I decided to wear the Shape ups because they give me an extra inch of height.  They looked great with the pants and felt pretty good all day so I kept wearing them to work every day for about two weeks.

Gradually I started feeling some heel pain when I got up in the morning.  My feet bothered me whenever I walked barefoot.  These symptoms can occur with a very pesky foot problem called Plantar Fasciitis.  The last straw was when someone at work asked me if my knee was bothering me because I was limping.  That was the wake up call.  The Shape-ups had to go.  I bought a new pair of New Balance walking shoes and I'm glad I did.  My feet are feeling much better.  NB's have good arch support and they come in extra widths.

One other problem with the Shape ups was that if I wore them to the gym my feet didn't fit in the pedals of the exercise bike.  The soles are pretty thick and those pedals are like stirrups.  I'll probably still wear them once in a while.  Because of the thick soles they're great for rainy days.  The height keeps your feet out of puddles.

Another rainy day ahead tomorrow.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Another Rainy Day

We're having a really big rainstorm.  We just had one on Sunday.  Lots of flooding in NY, NJ and CT.  A railroad bridge was completely washed away and left the tracks dangling in the air.  This storm pretty closely coincides with the big snowstorm that was predicted for March 13th or 14th.  I'm glad that its rain and not snow.

I'm still getting to the gym three days per week.  Here I am in the massage chair after my workout.  Don't I look relaxed?  I took this picture with my Blackberry while the chair was vibrating.  Fortunately it didn't come out blurry.

Many years ago, when I attended weight watchers, they read aloud every member's weight loss for the week.  They would not read the gains.  At the end they totaled up all the losses to see how much weight the group, as a whole, had lost together.  Before the days of digital scales the official scales had sliding weights.  There was a small one for measuring single pounds and a larger weight for increments of fifty pounds.  It was a really big thrill to move one of the fifty pound weights.  The Weight Watcher leader was sure to mentioned any members who moved one of the big ones.

This week I moved another of those big weights.  I have now lost 125 lbs. and moved three of those big  scale weights.  It is not as graphic on a digital scale but the thrill is still there.

I have a cousin who recently was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  I spoke with him today and he said he wonders where all the time has gone.  We haven't seen each other in years.  Nobody ever knows how many years one has left on this earth.  I regret wasting years of my life with unhealthy habits.  I'm grateful that my choices have enabled such great changes in my body and mind.  Yes, my mind.  Because I know that every day for the rest of my life I must choose to be healthy.  I've been trying to fool myself for way too long.  I used to jokingly say that it was OK to eat broken cookies because all the calories leak out.  As silly as that sounds it is not too much more so than the lies I told myself when I ate a whole container of Haagen Daz Rum Raisin or a whole Cadbury Dairy Milk bar.

My daughter went to college in a town with a Krispy Kreme Donut Shop.  We used to go in there when we went to pick her up for a weekend.  There is a sign that lights up when the donuts are hot.  If you go in the place when the sign is lit they hand out a hot donut to everyone who walks in the door.  The hot glazed donuts are so tender that it isn't necessary to chew at all.  I was telling a friend who also struggles with weight about this today.  He made me stop talking about it because he said it is like looking at porn.  I had to agree.  Just THINKING about those donuts was, indeed, a pornographic mind picture.  Fortunately the nearest Krispy Kreme is too far away to be a real temptation.

Today I am praying for my cousin as he faces the formidable battle ahead of him.  My battle seems easy in comparison.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Grandma's TIRED!

This weekend my daughter and her husband went to Boston for the weekend.  Grandma and Grandpa got to watch Lorenzo, our grandson, who is 16 months old.  I even took him to church this morning.  Naturally he was adorable but extremely active.  He is at the stage where he can find trouble in an instant.  He is a good baby because he eats well and goes to bed easily but he still can keep us running after him.

It has been a very long time since my babies were that small.  A year ago I could not have managed this.  Last year at this time I was struggling to do my job.  I could barely walk without getting winded let alone run after a toddler with a goal in mind.  (The goal being running away with whatever he is not supposed to have.)  He was very happy to see Mom and Dad this evening but he had a good time with his Grandma and Grandpa.  I'm thankful to be the new and improved Grandma.

Is it spring yet?

March is here but winter is not over.  My favorite long-range weather forecaster says we will have one more big snowstorm this month.  What snow we have on the ground has been melting but the only things blooming around here are potholes.  Our driveway looks like it may soon have a sinkhole large enough to swallow my car.

I've decided that my slow weight loss lately requires rethinking of my dietary choices.  I checked out a few websites for bariatric surgery programs.  At this stage I need to focus on more real food rather than protein supplements.  Most days I work I've taken a bottled protein shake in the car and a protein wafer bar.  That starts me off with a lot of protein but also comes with a lot of calories.  There is no need for a 400 calorie breakfast.  Daily calorie intake should be around 1200 calories.  What's been happening is that there aren't  many calories left by the end of the day.

Today I made sure to eat at home instead of the car.  I had some Greek yogurt with frozen fruit and flavored with Torani sugar-free raspberry syrup.  The frozen fruit slows me down a little because it requires some chewing.  In the car I drank some Crystal Lite.  I did not have any snacks at work except more Crystal Lite.   I did eat some cheese on the way home.

Fitday.com has been very helpful for realizing what needs to be done.  Knowledge is indeed power.  Nibbling small snacks or "grazing" really can add up to way too much food.  I don't eat any blatantly fattening foods.  No sugar at all and rarely starchy foods.  Of course when one doesn't eat carbs that only leaves protein and fat.  I was shocked to find that a hot dog that was 160 calories had 150 calories from fat.  WHOA!!!

I've enjoyed the soups I've made with beans recently.  I plan to do more of those and also found some Progresso soups that are very satisfying and nourishing.

Since I've been working out at the gym I expect that I might be building muscles while losing fat.  Muscle tissue weighs more than fatty tissue.  I have no idea how much that works out to be.  It probably isn't as much as I'd like it to be though.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan.