The Holiday "Food Marathon" is Here!

The stores are flooded with discounted Halloween candy; the feasts of Thanksgiving, Hanukah, and Christmas are just around the corner and just when we think it's finally over, the parties of New Year's Eve and the Superbowl will tempt us even more!

Some sources estimate that Americans typically gain 5-7 pounds during the holidays, while other sources say it's as much as 15 pounds. Whatever the number, we all know the holidays mean parties with delicious food and drinks, big family dinners, traveling, and hosting guests – all the things that disrupt our normal eating and exercise routine.

We want you to enjoy the holidays without the weight gain, so we've dedicated this November edition of JourneyLite^SM LiteNews to arming you with helpful tips on how to get through the holidays without overindulging.

Surviving the Holidays Without Gaining Weight

Holidays are just that – days. A few days out of the year, not weeks, where we can spend time with friends and family and focus on the good things in our lives. The holidays are not an excuse to overindulge, promising yourself that a "resolution" later will shed the extra pounds.

But avoiding all of those holiday goodies is easier said than done, so we've created a list of ways to help you make it through the upcoming holidays without gaining weight:

Before the big party or holiday dinner:

1. Eat a high protein breakfast.

Protein takes longer to digest. Try eggs, lean meats, low-fat cheeses, and nuts.

2. Don't skip meals!

Trying to make "room" for extra calories at the party or the big dinner by starving yourself during the day just sets you up for a binge and you'll be ravenous.

3. Have a healthy snack or protein shake before you go out.

4. Wear snug clothing so you feel the effects of your eating.

At the party or dinner:

1. Careful with the cocktails.

Cocktails are often loaded with sugar. The average cocktail contains between 150-200 calories. Three or four drinks later, and you've consumed enough calories for one meal. If you are having a drink, choose drinks made with club soda or diet sodas.

2. Take your time and survey the foods before making your selection.

You'll make healthier choices and you won't find you've filled your plate only to find one more item you can't pass up.

3. Fill up on the healthy foods.

Veggies, lean meats, fruits, cheeses.

4. Position yourself away from the food.

If you stay close to the food, you'll end up grazing even if you aren't hungry. Out of sight, out of mind.

5. Keep your hands occupied.

Carry a clutch purse, a camera, or keep a beverage in your hand.

6. Eat slowly at buffets.

Have one plate and wait 20 minutes before going for seconds. Your brain needs at least that much time to tell your stomach that it's full.

7. Use appetizer or kid's plates to control your portions.

8. Excuse yourself from the dinner table once your finished.

9. Keep your mouth busy.

Talk, talk, talk! Conversation is calorie free. Or chew gum or a sugarless mint.

10. Say no politely.

When your host offers you more treats, politely decline.

Other Healthy Holiday Eating Tips:

1. Potluck dinners

Don't sabotage yourself and assume there'll be something healthy to eat – bring it yourself! Make a fruit salad or spinach salad. They're quick and easy to carry.

2. Sit Down Dinners

If you are attending a sit down dinner, let your host know if you have any dietary restrictions.

3. Keep a food diary.

It will help keep you in your routine and help track your "indulgences." In fact, research shows that people who keep food diaries consume 15% less food.

4. Go ahead, Indulge!

You do have permission to enjoy the holidays, but in moderation. Holidays are meant to be happy times; times to enjoy those foods that bring back warm memories of childhood and family. Choose what foods will make you the happiest and control your portions. If you do splurge on some dessert, be more careful with your entrée for dinner, or up your physical activity for the day.

5. Shopping

Holiday shopping is booby trapped with free samples of candies, cakes, and drinks, and beautiful displays of food. Never shop on an empty stomach! Have a high-protein snack before you hit the malls.

eMindful - Mindful Eating Tools

These tips above can be applied to your overall eating habits, not just during the holidays. eMindful is an online program that gives you the tools to make these changes to your everyday eating habits.

eMindful (www.eMindful.com)provides live, online behavioral education, developed in collaboration with Duke Integrative Medicine, as a supplementary tool for bariatric surgery patients - where participants can see, hear and interact with their teacher and fellow group members. The Mindful Eating for Bariatric Patients Program is fun, and evidence suggests that mindful eating tools can have a dramatic beneficial impact on your overall health, well-being, and success in losing and managing your weight.



As a participant in the Mindful Eating for Bariatric Patients (MEBP) Program,
you will:



• learn to work more effectively with your own personal eating patterns


  
• distinguish between body hunger and emotional hunger, as well as mechanisms for coping with urges and cravings
  
• become more aware of how your choices are being made
  
• learn how distorted thinking sabotages weight loss
  
• be able to recognize and better handle angry, sad, or other difficult feelings (without eating)


  
• learn the principles of, and research on, weight maintenance
  
• create a personal mission statement and set goals reflecting your personal values




  

Keep Moving!

Besides overeating, the major culprit of holiday weight gain is the lack of physical activity. Visits from friends and family, traveling, and different school schedules all work together to throw us off our normal exercise habits. Exercise will help you more than you think. It burns calories, suppresses appetite, and helps you deal with stress.

Here are some ways to keep your physical activity up:

1. Include time for exercise.

If you are out shopping, walk for an extra half hour at the mall.

2. Exercise with your guests.

Ask them to join you for a walk, or secure a few guest passes from the gym and bring them along. Or simply get up earlier than they do and exercise then.

3. Start a more active holiday tradition.

Go skating, sledding, skiing (if you're in the right part of the country). Park the car and walk to see neighborhood Christmas decorations. Make sometime to be outside and play with your kids.

4. Exercise at home if you can.

***This information provided by JourneyLite. For more information on JourneyLite, please visit their site at http://www.journeylite.com***

October 2008 Lap-Band Update

I would like to begin by giving a shout out to Melanie and say thanks for the words of encouragement. I hope everything is going well with your lap-band. The first couple of months are always interesting, but the year will fly by before you know it.

As for me, I am doing ok. I am still stuck on my plateau from several months ago. I stay between 240 and 250 every week. I guess it is not a bad thing, but I would like to reach 220 by Christmas. I still believe it can happen. I have joined two challenges to help inspire me.

The first is a slots challenge, it is the second time I am doing this challenge. I did very bad with it the first time. The slots challenge is between me and three other people at work. We all put in $50.00 each and the winner will get $150.00 to play at the Hard Rock Casino. It would be really nice to win that challenge, but it is not the one that is pushing me the most.

The second challenge is call “The President’s Challenge”. You get into groups of two or more (we are doing groups of four at my job) and you compete against other groups (could be family, friends, co-workers, whoever). The object of this challenge is to motivate you to exercise. It is not based on what you eat or how much you weigh every week, it just focuses on you exercising. It seems to inspire me the most because if I fail to exercise then, I am not just hurting myself, but my team too. I think this is a really great program and I encourage all of my readers to check it out. It is a free site and you can view it out at http://www.presidentschallenge.org/

As for the home-life, I have informed my current roomie that I am moving out, which he did not take too well and has started being shady, which sucks, but I am being the better person. I am looking for my own place where I can control what I eat and eliminate unnecessary stressors, like coming home to a crying 2 year old every night. I think once I have my own place I will be able to set-up a daily routine of good eating habits and exercise. It is going to cost me a lot, but when it comes down to it, I have to value myself and my health more then money.

As for my job, I had to tell my staff that they will not be getting raises and I might have to double their workloads. I am in the process of trying to do what I can to take care of them and get them promotions. If that doesn’t work, then I will figure something else out to help them. I truly believe that happy staff are productive staff.

As we all know, the lap-band itself is only a tool to help us and if we don’t use it correctly then it is our own fault. We have to eat right and exercise if we want to reach our goals. With that said, I will be the first to say it is not easy and other stresses in our life impact our choices. My move to Sarasota is not something I will ever regret, but it does present new stresses in my life that I have to learn to react to differently and walking has seemed to help reduce my stress level greatly. If you ever get in a jam or lose hope, go for a least a 30 minutes walk and I will promise it will help clear your head. I wish each of you the best and I encourage you to stay strong with the holidays coming up!

~Think Positive and Stay Healthy~

Where the HELL is Edd?

I want to apologize for disappearing of ya'll. These last three months have been a bit of a whirlwind for me. I mentioned in my last blog posted on June 1, 2008 that thanks to my weight loss, I finally found the confidence to apply for a management job in the agency I worked at. I went for the interview and within a week they called and offered me the position. I was so excited it was crazy because this was one of my goals that I had set for myself years ago and feared I would never have the self confidence to ever do it.

The news was great. They called me on Friday afternoon and wanted me to start on the following Monday. I was in shock, but agreed to it because I was not really happy with the position I was currently holding, plus my supervisor was already guessing I would get it. The other issue was the position was in a different location, about a hour drive south of my condo.

The whole process was stressful as hell. I was spending two hours on the road every day, searching/posting ads for people looking roommates, trying to adjust to having a staff of 12 people, with two of the positions vacant and had to be filled. I had to start off running and I have yet to stop. Our end of the fiscal year is October 1^st, so I have to fill the positions, learn about budgets and handle several major projects that got dumped on the position when they found out I got it. I have already had to dye my hair to hide the gray…lol.

I know you must think I am crazy, but I actually love my job. It is stressful and demanding, but I feel accomplished at the tend of the day. However, there is a downfall, with everything I was doing, I let my health go as usual. I only took 15 minute lunches and by the time I got home it was about 7 or 8 o'clock at night, so I started visiting Taco Bell and eating ice cream as dessert. I think you can imagine what happened.

Finally, about a month or so ago, I found a place to live close to my job. BTW, my new work location is in Sarasota, Florida. It has got to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I will try to post some picture for ya'll. About the same time, I also rented out my condo for year. Things were going really well and I started trying to watch what I was eating better and began going for walks in the evening on park that is really an island. It is really nice. I was doing three miles a day and managed to keep my weight at 240 lbs, which means I would have maintain everything for two months.

I am not sure where things went wrong, but something inside of me is really sad. I think it is because for all the beauty in this City, the gay community is ugly and the people (because it is a beach community) might be too in shape. I still see the old 308 lb me in the mirror and when you see half naked men with in shape bodies every where it sucks. I guess it should inspire me, but it hasn't so far. I even quit walking at night.

I am not sure what to do. My whole life has been focused on my career and I am finally happy with it. I am just not happy with me. My roomie is great, but there are some issues there which are contributing to my unhealthiness. He has kids and they are all poor, so I feel guilty about cooking anything and I don't have enough money to pay for a whole family.

The good news about this situation is I have been pre-approved to buy a house here in Sarasota. I think once I get my own place I will do better. I will be able to monitor my eating habits better and cook. I will feel comfortable inviting people to come over for visits. I can have friends and family visit me. I can set-up a home gym again.

I had a doctor's appointment last week and in a month's time I gained 7 lbs of just pure unhappiness. The doctor asked me what is happening and I explained everything to him. Plus I told him I am having trouble with eating fish and chicken. He told me he thinks my band might be too tight and we might need to loosen it to allow me to eat healthier food, which would be great, but I won't do it in my current living situation.

Overall, I am still doing well with my weight. It has now been a year (my band-iversary was 09/04/08) for me. I am down a total for 61lbs, which I don't think is too horrible. In fact, I have inspired one of my best friends who is over 500 lbs to go see my doctor and it looks like he might have surgery towards the end of the year. I am really excited for him because he is so talented that ya'll will know him one day if he can lose this weight before it kills him.

As for me, I need to find happiness in not just my career, but my social life because the reason I like to work late and do special projects is because I have nothing to come home to. I am in a new City, with no friends or family, and the only thing that seems to like me is food, which I don't honestly like. With all my stress, I have lost support in my new life style change. The only thing I can really eat is Taco Bell, which I am now growing to hate. I think I am also eating to punish myself for not being more outgoing and social. I guess there is a part of me that I just don't like at all. I wish I could change the man in the mirror. I guess time will tell.