My wife and I are discusing what we would like to do with our summer vacation. We had originally planned to go visit her family on the big island of Hawai'i. It has been two years since we have been able to visit and Amy was feeling like a trip was due. Of course, that was before Aloha Airlines and ATA went out of business. Combine that with rising fuel costs and a trip that cost us $1,500 two years ago is going to cost us between $2,700-3,200 this year. The cost may be prohibitive enough to keep us from going because it would prevent us from doing anything else this summer.
Amy would also like to take Elizabeth to Disneyland this summer but we could also do that on a 3 day weekend, which we have all summer. And I would like to go see my family in Colorado Springs this year because we didn't get to go last year.
I guess where my personal lameness comes in is when Amy asked what else I might want to do this summer, I could not come up with any answers that did not involve travelling to see either friends or family. I seem to have no sense of adventure or daring. All the places I suggested were places I had been before and would not involve doing anything new. It was difficult to come up with new places I want to visit, at least in the U.S.
Washington, D.C. would be nice to visit for the history and museums. Combine that with colonial Williamsburg and Bush Gardens and maybe a trip to see Ronnie and Dan in Galax and that sounds like a nice trip but expensive. Boston and the New England Atlantic coast would also be a nice trip but very crowded for the summer months. Amy talked about going to Newfoundland, Canada and it sounds like it could be awesome to me but I'm not excited about 17+ hours travel time to get there. Seeing the viking ruins in Labradour would be very cool. And just being in Canada would be a bonus, at least to me.
Amy on the other hand has been on a number of trips already this year for work. She went to the Alamo and San Antonio in January, to Puerto Rico in March, and Philadelphia in April. She has seen much more of the country than I have. And she's going to San Francisco in June for another conference.
That may be where we end up for one of our trips this summer instead of Hawai'i. Amy has been before and would really like to see the Redwood National park. I think it would be cool too. I have to admit I'm more interested in doing stuff that would keep Elizabeth entertained, at least for a couple more years. Maybe I'll develop an interest in something once Elizabeth is easier to travel with and has more interests.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Yeah for me!
I started dieting and keeping a food journal on February 7th of this year. My first official weight was taken on February 11th and I weighed in at 506 lbs. Two months later on April 14th I weighed in at 460 lbs. I've lost 46 lbs in two months. Woo hoo!
I'm a long way from done and I've learned a lot about how I think and feel about food. The big thing was to realize that I'm like an addict trying to kick a habit. It would, and sometimes still does, make me angry when I cannot eat what I want to when I want to. I mean I get really angry and nasty sometimes. Realizing that and being able to step back and focus those energies in different directions is a lesson I'm still learning but putting a lot of work into.
A big part of the lesson is not investing my personal happiness in eating. I viewed eating as a reward and treat and I have to reduce how much I value that as a reward. I haven't cut it out completely but I do try to be smart about it. Cold Stone Creamery has a sugar-free, fat-free sweet cream that can be mixed with anything and the largest size is 330 calories before the mix-in. I still think of this as a treat but have been limiting having this treat to one to two times a month.
I eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch five to six days a week, typically two packets of Quaker Weight Control instant oatmeal (320 calories) for breakfast and two ham & swiss sandwiches, 6 oz baby carrots, and fruit (535-605 calories depending on fruit) for lunch. Dinner is where I get my dietary variety and it tends to be my calorie-heavy meal. My daily intake varies from 1,650-2,050 and I try to keep the average for the week under 2,000 a day.
This work is all in preparation for having Bariatric surgery. That will be a major, life-changing event. I am working hard to get ready for this and I'll have about a year or so to lose as much weight as I can before my body starts to normalize itself after the surgery. So far, so good.
I'm a long way from done and I've learned a lot about how I think and feel about food. The big thing was to realize that I'm like an addict trying to kick a habit. It would, and sometimes still does, make me angry when I cannot eat what I want to when I want to. I mean I get really angry and nasty sometimes. Realizing that and being able to step back and focus those energies in different directions is a lesson I'm still learning but putting a lot of work into.
A big part of the lesson is not investing my personal happiness in eating. I viewed eating as a reward and treat and I have to reduce how much I value that as a reward. I haven't cut it out completely but I do try to be smart about it. Cold Stone Creamery has a sugar-free, fat-free sweet cream that can be mixed with anything and the largest size is 330 calories before the mix-in. I still think of this as a treat but have been limiting having this treat to one to two times a month.
I eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch five to six days a week, typically two packets of Quaker Weight Control instant oatmeal (320 calories) for breakfast and two ham & swiss sandwiches, 6 oz baby carrots, and fruit (535-605 calories depending on fruit) for lunch. Dinner is where I get my dietary variety and it tends to be my calorie-heavy meal. My daily intake varies from 1,650-2,050 and I try to keep the average for the week under 2,000 a day.
This work is all in preparation for having Bariatric surgery. That will be a major, life-changing event. I am working hard to get ready for this and I'll have about a year or so to lose as much weight as I can before my body starts to normalize itself after the surgery. So far, so good.
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