But according to this article from smartplanet.com based on a Purdue study, you may want to move your stuff outta there… cause moisture could be making your supplements less effective.

I’m eleven months out and my regular exercise includes bout 35-40 minutes of a walking/jogging combo. Typically a rotation of 3-4 minutes of walking followed by 1-2 minutes of jogging.

That’s huge. (yea, another size pun…)

Slight detour here; In paintball, there’s two basic types. Woods-ball where you play out in the woods, sort of the grown up version of capture the flag, or there’s “arena” based play with inflatable bunkers in a small enclosed area. This second type is often called “speed-ball” by players because where woods based games can last for hours, speed-ball games are generally over in minutes.

When I was 350+, when me and my large buddies were talking with others we would often comment how we just play woods-ball, that we’re not built for speed-ball. Heck, the last summer before surgery I hardly played at all because just walking out to the woods to play would leave me practically gasping for air.

So I’m still in a bit of shock to realize that my regular exercise includes RUNNING! I mean.. c’mon… running?!?!

Yea.

But you know what, a year ago, even though I was down about 50 pounds from my heaviest, I wasn’t running. I was walking, walking and more walking. But even that started out in small, short durations.

You have to remember that, just like when it comes to measuring weight lost, this is not a race.

We’ll use waking as an example, (keeping with the foot and race thing we have going here…) but this can apply to any sort of exercise. Pick a reasonable starting point… it could be as basic as walking to the corner of your block and back, or maybe spending 2 minutes on the treadmill.

Make sure it’s something you can handle, listen to your body, it knows what it can handle, we just have to get better about listening to it.

Now stick with that starting point for a couple days… then see if you can do it one better. Maybe instead of a few minutes once a day you shoot for getting on that treadmill twice in one day. Then, start going from 2 minutes to… 2.5… or extend that trip to the end of the block to include going across the street and back.

The point of this is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, extend the distance, extend the time, increase the speed of the treadmill. It doesn’t have to be drastic, just try to keep bumping it up in some way or another.

When I first started walking the track at my gym (I was pre-op at the time), It took me nearly two minutes per lap. Six months later, just before surgery, I had that down to an average of about 70 seconds per lap.

Now, once you have surgery you sort of start back at ground zero. That first walk once I got home from surgery was maybe 50yards. But before long I was making it around the block – though that first time I had to stop and rest a number of times.

So again, the big thing is to start reasonable and just make gradual increases from there… and you will do it… you will make a difference. And this can apply to any exercise you do, be it biking, swimming, or even working with weights.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

– Confucius

A bit about my progress at 11-months out, and look for news to come on a Minneapolis Meet & Greet this summer, the weekend of July 23.

Enter, the protein powder.

Finding a protein powder you like is key. If you don’t like it, you won’t use it. I tried a variety of stuff, found some I liked a lot, some I thought were ok, and some that were just plain nasty. Then I found trueprotein.com and discovered their unflavored, unsweetened, cross-flow microfiltered whey isolate protein. It’s been the only protein powder I have bought for the last four months now.

I like the fact that I don’t need to have a bunch of flavors around, I use this for everything from adding to my morning oatmeal to baking in to protein bars. Like I said, if you find one you like, buy it, but maybe give this one a shot, and if you do… I can get you 5% off your order.

Just use the code RBP224 at checkout.

Now, in the interest in full disclosure, if you make your initial order using that code, I get something out of it too. For every $300 in product that is bought using that code, I get 8 pounds of protein mix for free.

So please! Use my code… but I’ll even do you one better. If you contact the folks at trueprotein.com you can get your very own discount code.

See, the way this works, yea… I can use my own discount code and get 5% off, but it doesn’t count towards my earning free protein powder. So I use a code from another blog I found out about trueprotein.com from. So while you can get your own code, if you use mine I earn the credits, but you can publicize your code in the hopes of earning your own free stuff.

See… pay it forward.

And I’m not greedy either… I could see using some of the free protein I get for give-aways and such. Course, then I get ya hooked on it! heh. Oh.. this only works for new customers. Well, you can use my code to get the discount, but if you’re already a customer nobody gets the earnings off the code. Oh well.

Here’s a rundown on the stuff, 30g serving gives you bout 110 calories, 27g protein and 75mg sodium, and  160mg of calcium with no fat, sugars or cholesterol (in the unflavored, unsweetened version). There are a variety of sweetener options and flavors you can get, and they even have flavor additives you can get separately.  You’ll get about 15 servings per pound for about $11 plus shipping.

Their basic shipping is about $10, so even if you order just one pound, you’re looking at about $1.33 per serving. Order at least three pounds and that drops to under $0.90 a serving. If you really want to stock up, you’ll get another 5% off an order of 16 pounds or more and brings it down to about $0.70 a serving.

So check it out, if you decide to try it, don’t forget the code RBP224 to get your 5% discount, and feel free to get your own code and spread the wealth.

I get a number of questions on Twitter and such about quinoa, so I thought maybe I should get something posted that gets in to just what it is in some detail.

Quinoa originated in Andes mountains of what is now Peru and while it’s technically a seed, it is often thought of  and treated as a grain along with other “cereals” like rice, wheat and oats. Botanically, they’re more like chick-peas or sunflower seeds and is related to swiss chard, beets and spinach, but honestly the difference really doesn’t matter. Oh, but if you ever run across them, the greens of the quinoa plant are also edible.

Even the Incans, who were probably the biggest proponents of quinoa in history called it the “mother grain”. It is thought the low infant mortality rate that the Incans had is in great part due to their abundant use of quinoa in their diets. When the Europeans came to South America in the 1500’s the thought it was a devils food, going as far as trying to eradicate the crops and later took maize and potatoes back to Europe instead of quinoa.

Most quinoa today is still grown the Andes Mountain of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, and while there are many types from red and black to white or golden. The one you’ll mostly find in US stores is the white variety. Bob’s Red Mill packages and you can also find it at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods stores. Co-op’s and other natural foods stores will likely have it as well. You can also find Bob’s and other brands for sale online.

Expect to pay about $3-4 per pound for it on average – you’ll get about 2 cups of uncooked quinoa in a pound (compared to over 5 cups of rolled oats to a pound), and you’ll get about 4 cups of cooked quinoa per cup of uncooked.

Nutritionally, quinoa is touted as a “superfood”. It has twice the protein of most other grains, fewer carbs, and a dose of healthy fats. Plus, it’s a complete protein like meats – which means it has the essential acids needed for your body to use it in muscle building.

One cup of uncooked quinoa has 24g of protein, 10g of fat, 109g of carbs and 12g of dietary fiber. Divide that by four four your typical 1/2 cup serving of cooked quinoa. It’s also high in manganese, magnesium, iron, tryptophan and copper. It also kind of high in one other area… calories. Bout 626 in that cup (or just over 150 for a cooked 1/2 cup), so this is probably one of those foods to keep in moderation if you’re still in the early stages of being post op.

The easiest way to cook quinoa is pretty much the same way you cook rice. Take 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water (or broth or other flavored liquid), bring to a boil then simmer till all the liquid is absorbed. Me? I cook a batch up usually once a week in water using my rice cooker and keep the cooked quinoa in the fridge to use all sorts of different ways. The seeds can also be sprouted and probably used in other ways uncooked, but I haven’t gotten that far with it yet.

One thing you need to do before cooking though is to rinse the quinoa. It has a natural coating on the seeds called saphonins – It’s sort of bitter tasting and helps protect the plants in nature from birds and such. I have a wiremesh strainer I use and just run it under cold water for a minute before cooking. You can buy packaged quinoa that is pre-rinsed, but I’d skip it if possible. Rinsing it will shorten it’s shelf life.  Oh, store your quinoa in an airtight container. You can keep it in the fridge to extend it’s life even more, but I go through it fast enough I don’t bother.

After it’s cooked I’ve heated it up with some soy milk and fruit and eaten it for breakfast like oatmeal. I’ve made pilafs, stir fried “rice”, baked it in to protein bars, and used it in salads.

Like I said, most places only carry the white quinoa, but Wedge has both white and red. The white has a fairly mild buttery… almost bland flavor to it, but you can do all sorts of things with it to jazz it up just as you would rice. The red, it has a bit of nutty flavor to it. My first impression was it reminded me of wild rice. Unless I am doing something that needs a specific color for a recipe I cook up a mix of the two. I think it’s a nice balance of both the color and the flavor.

So there you have it, a sort of primer to quinoa. The more I use it, the more uses I find for it, and the more I’m hearing about all sorts of recipes out there. So while you may have some troubles finding it… if you do, you’ll have no problems finding ideas for cooking with it… and if you’re running short, hit me up on Twitter or something, I’ll probably have something new for you to try out.

References:
Quinoa: The Top Secret Superfood [Mens Health]
The Mother Lode of Whole Foods Comes to the Table [Columbia Tribune]
Quinoa [Wikipedia]
Quinoa [Whole Foods]
Quinoa, uncooked [nutritiondata.com]

Remember, I’m no medical doctor or anything, this is just what I’ve learned from reading about other peoples experiences and what I learned in my own pre-op research. This decision is a very personal one, but maybe I can give you some good stuff to think about while making it.

If you are a sweets eater right now, RNY is a good option because of the risk of dumping. HOWEVER, do not count on it. You will need to change your eating habits as well (no matter what). I’m only 11 months out and I don’t dump very easily.

The majority of what I have read/heard out there, either surgery will give you about the same results when you are at about 2 years out ***IF*** you follow your doctors program. With RNY you’ll typically lose much faster for a “brief” period (first 6-9 months) before leveling out to a steady progression, where bandsters take a slow and steady path.

Think of it like the Tortise and the Hare, where the band is the tortise and the RNY the hare. Except in this version they pretty much end up in a tie.

So if the overall end results are the same, here are some key factors to consider when deciding which one to have;

Co-morbidities: (sleep-apnea, hper-tension, diabetes, etc.) RNY will give you faster results, likely decreasing and/or eliminating your co-morbidities much quicker. I walked (slowly, but I walked!) out of the hospital off my blood-pressure meds.. and I’ve been taking meds for nearly 20 years.

Maintenance: Bandsters need to go in for fills, so they have a few more visits with their surgeon over the first year or so. But on the plus side… if something happens, say a pregnancy, you’re going out of the country (where decent bariatric care may not be available), you can get your fill taken out and basically be “normal” for awhile. But typically the majority of your fills are going to happen in the first 2 years, and even RNY types need regular check-ins with their surgeon/nurse during that period.

It’s about 50-50 for bandsters that I  know that have gone back for any sort of fill after 2 years or so. All WLS types should be going in for check-ups annually though.

Mechanical vs Physical: Bandsters have a “foreign” object put in them, They will last a long time, but nobody knows just how long at this point. If you’re under 40, there’s a fair chance it will need replacing at some point in your life time. And there is always a risk of “mechanical” failure… the band can slip (though changes in procedures have greatly reduced this risk), it can leak, etc.

Bypass, you’re re-wiring your insides, and you will become mal-absorbtive. Both RNY and Banders need to take supplements, but RNY types especially so, and usually additional supplements. And while it’s rare, the risk of being too mal-absorbtive is there.

Bypass *is* reversible by the way… but it’s very complicated, and not 100%. The unused portion of the stomach is still there, so things could be un-done to a fair extent. VSG however removes a section of the stomach.. so I would think that it’s pretty much non-reversible at this point.

There are other factors that you may personally, like the scar tissue from previous surgeries or other things that may sway your surgeon towards one procedure or the other, but they (and/or their nurses) are the ones you should sit down with and get the final answers to your questions from.

They can look at your complete medical picture and make a recommendation for you based on that and what you expect to get out of the surgery.

Remember though, ultimately, it is YOUR decision.

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Breakfast started out with my usual oatmeal… but pumpkinized.

Last time I made fresh pumpkin, I took some and froze tablespoon dollops, then stuck them in a baggie in the freezer. I found them the other night, so took a couple out to thaw, adding them along with some cinnamon and brown sugar (the Splenda blend) to my usual mix of old-fashioned oats, protein powder and flax meal. Then after cooking I sprinkled on the pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin seeds are a new MUST HAVE for my pantry… I’m finding conflicting info so far, but it seems a mere 1 ounce of these suckers have at LEAST 7g of protein. Of course like all nuts/seeds, they are high in fat too, so be careful.

Anyways, after the fish the other night and breakfast this morning… I figured well, why not use them for lunch too?

I basically did a batch of my cranberry-quinoa salad with a few variations. I just plain forgot about the carrot. I didn’t have green onion so used sweet yellow, instead of sunflower seeds I used pumpkin seeds, and used a mix of cranberries and raisins. Then, to make it more of an entree, I added tuna.

Yum.

I go to support group the first and third Wednesdays, so I typically eat out those nights. This night was no exception. One of my staples for nights like this is Subway. The Feast in fact… a nice chunk of protein. I even skipped the flat bread tonight in favor of just the salad with a lil oil and vinegar on it.

I ate all the meat (hiding under the veges there right now), and about 3/4 of the vegetables.

Oh yea, my afternoon snack was a banana (no picture, I think you all know what a banana looks like). Then when getting home this evening I made another test batch of an oatmeal-quinoa protein bar recipe I’m working on. Made some of them in to “cookies” and tried one after they were done. No pics yet, but I think this recipe is getting close to being ready for general consumption, so look for a post on it before too much longer.

I need to go get the last of my calcium for today, but other than that I got the rest of my supplements in, and all my water… so I think it’s been a pretty good day today… and Joe’s pretty happy. Not like he was last night when I over-indulged on some Fruity Cheerios I found in the cupboard. feh.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I give a bit of an introduction as well as giving some general impressions on my progress as I approach my 11-month post-op date. Oh, and talk about some NSVs I had out in Vegas.

This reminded me of an article on Zenhabits that has been sitting in my “topics” pile for awhile… and I thought it was time to hit this one up. Cause whether yer pre-op or post-op, married or single, there’s a pretty good chance the most intimate relationship you have is your relationship with food.

My basic response, or maybe even philosophy is that I still love to cook, I still love to eat, but now my challenge is to find food that I can enjoy that is better for me…. meeting my protein needs as well as being low in fat, sugar, but still just tastes good. I don’t eat as much as I did, I want to enjoy what I do eat.

But that’s me, that’s my relationship with food.

The article from Zenhabits is called It’s Time for a New Relationship With Food, and you know… I do have one. Gone are the days of “quantity vs quality”. Now it’s quality, in small a quantity.

The article is a pretty good read, it touches on how food is often used for pleasure, for comfort, for rewards, and goes on to point out that while food seems to be the answer for so much that we tend to forget it’s really there as fuel for our bodies.
One of the points made that one of the best things you can do to lose weight is to just eat less.

Despite what the food industries have convinced us, we don’t need to eat as much as we do to survive. Sure, maybe eating that much is fun, and pleasurable, and will stave off boredom, and is fun to do with friends and family, and so on. But we don’t need to eat that much. Actually, we need to eat less.

The problem isn’t that it’s so difficult to eat less. The problem is that we have a complicated relationship with food that started when we were toddlers and has become more and more complicated through the years, through endless amounts of advertising, of eating when we’re sad and lonely and happy and bored and at parties and going out and on dates and watching TV and dieting and so on.

Our complicated relationship with food makes it hard to cut back on how much we eat.

The article then goes on to give some tips on dealing with this, from just being more aware of why you are eating to finding other ways to entertain ourselves and socialize that don’t revolve around large meals.

Easier said than done for most, but luckily I have a pouch to help me out there.

That’s not to say I don’t still have my issues. I still have my lapses (like the bowl of EasyMac I’m having with lunch today), and I still am fighting “boredom snacking”. Maybe I always will. But this tool has given me a new perspective, it’s bolstered my overall changes in my relationship with food in a very positive way.

I don’t think there’s much in that article that any post-op hasn’t heard before, but give it a read… it can be a good reminder for us all.

Photo Credit – Or Hiltch