Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Could you eat the same thing every day?

So 2 days off from running...not 100% by choice...yesterday had Dr appointment scheduled during gym time, was ok with it because it was post 10k race day so I figured ok to rest.  I had arranged for childcare for my younger son at his school, went to my appointment only to be told that the Dr was not in and we had to reschedule! Really? They said they called my house to let me know...what happened to calling cell phone #?!!! Had to reschedule for today and this time I had to bring my son with me; not fun.  I had plan to go to the gym right after but I did not plan on waiting in the exam room for over an hour! When I got done, the kids gym was closed!  I was not happy but I have a nasty cold maybe it is better to rest and this was a sign from above to slow down...I choose to believe that!


Ok so back to the main subject of this post...Could you eat the same thing every day?
I do. 
I lost 70 lbs in about 8 months.  In 2009 I had two surgeries.  I had an hysterectomy in April of 2009.  In the fall of that year I started having burning in the chest, I thought I was having a heart attack...turned out it was heartburn.  I also had pain on my right side.  The Dr I had at the time told me to go to the ER thinking I had gallstones..CT showed nothing so they told me it was a muscle spasm and my all time favorite : STRESS! They said to take Advil and YOGA class!  So I went home and started taking Advil, well everything got worst real fast.  It got to a point where I could hardly eat anything, I was in so much pain.  I was loosing weight very quickly.  I changed Dr and my new one ordered a HIDA scan to see if my Gallbladder was working and turned out it was not so I had to have surgery to have it removed.  Taking the Advil had caused a lot of damage to my poor stomach and I developed acid reflux.  A lot of people are cured after the surgery but not me.  I have been on a very strict diet for the last year.  This means no fat, nothing acidic, no alcohol, supposed to be no caffeine but I cannot give that up 100% so I cheat.  I am a prisoner of my diet.  If I cheat, I get sick.  So far no food I tried was worth getting sick! And so I eat the same thing every day.  I eat cereals in the morning, non fat ACTIVA vanilla yogurt and a little cheese with dry toast fir lunch, a salad for dinner.  I can have a little bit of salmon in it or grilled chicken.  It is hard to accept that I cannot eat anything I want like I used to before.  No more pizza! No more lasagna! No cheeseburgers!

Yes it is nice to have dropped some weight, of course.  Obviously if I could loose 70 lbs it means that I was not at an ideal weight.  Now I am under weight for my height (5'11") and that is not all good.  I have to take supplements to make sure I am not anemic.  I went from a size 16 to a size 4.  I used to by size XL now I get S.  This is all very strange to me, I still go for the bigger sizes when I go shopping...old habit I guess.


I got really frustrated with this whole eating situation and running was the only thing to help really.  I feel that with running I can control something with my body.  The first 40 lbs went away because of me getting sick and the last 30 lbs because of the over the top healthy diet I am on combined with running. 
My friends always ask me how I lost so much weight..looking for a magic secret...well I don't have one...I would take some of the pounds back if it meant that I could have a slice of pizza with my kids once in a while!  I have now accepted that this is the way it is for now, I take meds every day to control the heartburn and acid reflux (GERD) but it does not make it ok to eat a larger variety of food. 


Being thinner does help with running and I am in much better shape now then I was in the last 15 years.  I don't eat junk food and I don't drink sodas or alcohol, that is good for my health.  Those are good things, the not so good thing is that I don't have to choice to decide to be "bad" for a day!!!!

5 comments:

Mike Russell said...

During college I did eat the same thing every day out of need. But since then, there is a little variety in my diet. Sounds like you have some limitations that are difficult. Have you tried talking with a dietitian about alternatives?

Julie @ HotlegsRunner said...

wow kudos to you! I think I can eat the same stuff everyday as long as I don't see anyone else eating yummier food. =)

Caroline said...

@ Mike...yes I did...I am open to new ways to deal with this..not always easy...but so far the choices are limited...and the portions have to be small..I try to eat more often during the day to get a min calories per day. It is hard because when I try something new and it is not good it takes several days to get back to normal!

@ Julie: well THAT is my #1 struggle!!!! My family eats plenty of yummy stuff!! :)

Jess @ Blonde Ponytail said...

I'm so glad you linked this post C. I didn't know your history and commend you for your grit and will. that would be SUPER tough. I have another level of admiration for you!!!

Anonymous said...

Lose weight, not loose weight. Please.