In my last post I told you about our friend, the little girl with a terrible cancer and her incredibly resilient mother who has weathered this crisis with amazing aplomb.
In addition to helping me put my trivial problems in perspective, their story has taught me another important lesson: setting goals. There are two kinds of goals, long term and short term and both are vitally important and are vitally important to write down. Not just think about, but actually document, whether that’s on paper, in a computer, on a corkboard in your office – it doesn’t matter.
I often wondered to myself how this amazing mom faced the overwhelming emotional crisis of a five year old’s cancer and I wondered how I would get through it if it were me. The answer I came up with is this: one day at a time. You don’t spend every day thinking about the months of chemotherapy, the weeks of throwing up, the literally hundreds of tests to take. You think about what has to be done today, what needs to be scheduled for tomorrow. You write it down and you do it. This mom adds the powerful supportive device of blogging about her journey. It’s not filled with profound deep thoughts, it’s filled with the day-to-day happenings in this child’s treatment and how they are feeling today. Of course, they also spend some time thinking about what will happen when it’s all over, when they get to hear the word “cure” and what they might do if they never get to hear it. They’re talking about what to do with the Make-a-Wish group and what trips to take when the chld is done with therapy.
So what does this have to do with the Lap Band? It’s overwhelming to think of trying to imagine losing 100+ pounds, overwhelming to the point of keeping most people from actually doing it. So I would adopt this family’s strategy: I would do it one day at a time, one goal at a time. Think about THEN WRITE DOWN goals for this week. “I will (not want to, will) lose 2 pounds by Sunday” or “I will walk 1.5 miles three times this week and mark those days on my calender” or “I will give up all sweet tea and switch to low-calorie drinks instead.” Like my friend, you write down today’s goals, this week’s goals, and the best of all possible worlds would be to make it public – if you’re not the blogging type, then tell your friends about your goals, tell people at support group, go to an online chat group for Bandsters. Make yourself accountable to everyone you’ve shared your goals with. Then you’ll be more likely to do them. And it never hurts to add a little punishment, too. Promise yourself – again in writing – that if you don’t meet your goals you will…..donate money to a local charity, not listen to your iPod for a week, throw away all the sweets in your cabinet, stand in the middle of the mall and yell out, “I’m an
Somewhere you need to document your long term goals, your version of the Make-a-Wish dreams. “I want to wear a size 8″, “I want to be able to quit all my medications”, “I want to be under 180 lbs.” Whatever those big dreams are, write them down, too. Don’t look at them every day, but do review them periodically as extra motivation when you really need it. If you look at them every day, you’ll just get discouraged again and that’s not the point. But if you’re taking a journey, you need to have a destination. Know where you’re going and where you eventually want to end up, otherwise you’re wandering aimlessly.
16. July 2009 at 7:44 am
Hi! I just wanted to say Thank You Dr. Keilin and Dr. Hekier! I have a renewed vitality and appreciation for the life God has given me.
I had my surgery in Dec. 2008 and have only lost about 60lbs from my largest point. I was getting discouraged because I wanted to have lost about 100lbs by now and felt like I was “stuck” at this place. My last appointment I showed a loss of 7lbs in 6weeks. I was discouraged because I felt like it should have been more, but Dr. Hekier seemed really pleased with my loss and made me feel better about it!
Goal setting is very important and I am proud to announce that I recently met one of my goals. I was a roller coaster fanatic, that is until I was asked to exit the ride because the security bar would not lock because I was too big. After that I refused to ride any rides at the amusement park for fear of security harness breaking or the car becoming detached from the sheer force of my weight. I’m sure those things have a weight limit and I was sure I exceeded those limits. I wanted to lose enough weight to ride roller coasters again, and I am proud to report that after more than a decade of abstinence I have met that goal and have a renewed vitality! I felt like a kid again! Two days ago, my husband and I took the kids to a watre park/amusement park and I was not ashamed to walk around in my swimsuit, not afraid to go down the waterslides/ and excited to ride the biggest, baddest roller coaster they had! I had the time of my life and am proud to say “My name is Tammy, and I am once again a roller coaster junkie.” So, bring on the loopty-loops and corkscrews! Thank You Dr. Keilin and Dr. Hekier!
21. July 2009 at 5:50 am
I can’t say enough about the support groups we have around our area. I attended the one in Nashville last night and left newly inspired. I didn’t get home until 8:30 so I had a slim fast and got on my exercise bike. In the old days, it was nothing to ride for an hour or more, last night I was shocked that I could barely make it 9 minutes! I did some cooling down stretches and even though the workout wasn’t long, it was a start. Now more important than losing wt.; to me, building my strength and endurance is of utmost importance and the wt loss will follow. My goal is now “more” than just losing the 115 lbs I’ve put on over the years.
The meeting was held in a gym, which that alone was very intimidating to me, but later, I thought to myself, “well isn’t the ultimate desire to have a great physique and feel great about myself inside and out?”
The gym was perfect for inspiration and the group was so friendly.
28. July 2009 at 3:52 pm
I’ve been working out alot lately and the weight I have lost has definately helped the soreness in my knees but its still painful and it seems to be keeping me back from really moving my workouts to the next level. I was on Mobic a few years back. It seemed to help my knees then and was wondering if I could still take it with the LapBand?
29. July 2009 at 9:36 am
As long as it’s a small pill or a large pill that can be cut in two. What you want to avoid is having a large NSAID pill (like Aleve, Motrin, Mobic) sitting in the pouch on top of the band for a long time as it might potentially cause an ulcer. A small pill should pass right through and should not be a problem.
12. August 2009 at 9:37 pm
I so appreciate Julie’s comments about the Nashville support group. I facilitate the group they are a fantastic group. We have a large board with 1 month, 6 months and 1 year goals. We get it out every meeting and if we have met our goal we get a big red star. I am pleased to say we have a lot of red stars on our board. One of our goals is that our group is helping with a 5k fund raiser on September 26th and we are all going
to participate in one way or another. Our goal is to help raise $5000.00 for the Howard County Christian Health Clinic (free clinic). We would like to challenge you all to a little 5k. You may walk or run. Email me if interested in more information.
moknows@yahoo.com.
See you at the race! Wendy
15. August 2009 at 8:16 am
Go Nashville! And for the biggest kudos of all, support group is held in a gym (love love love it!)