My weakness has always been mid-range planning. I am compelled to plan in the long term (like where do I want to work, go to school..home remodeling projects) I can do short term decision-making like what do I want to eat right now. How do i plan routes from place to place what do we need to buy etc. It is the mid-range stuff that I have always found difficult if not impossible. How much food should I eat now in order to not eat too much during the day, If I want to get papers finished how do I plan out incremental steps so that I am not working 12 hours or more a day to get them done just before the deadline, or saving money for larger items. This middle ground working away at long term projects is vital to success but I have just never been good at it.
This weakness means that I always struggled with dieting. I was either full on and perfect or off and making minute to minute decisions based on what I wanted or felt I needed in the moment. The band has really slammed mid-range goal setting up in my face. It is more difficult to eat effectively (or keep food down sometimes) If I do not think about what I can and cannot eat. We cannot just go running to a fast food place because I will end up in the bathroom ralphing mid-way through the meal. I cannot skip water between meals because I won't be able to after I eat food. The realization that I was a crappy mid-range planner and the lessons I have learned during this now two year long weight-loss journey has really bled over into other parts of my life.
At the New Year I set some goals for the first time that I am continuing to be mindful of and work on. Now am I perfect?...hell no...I struggle to stop from slipping back into my old habits all the time (take that damnable carrot cake yesterday). As I start really working at my two jobs (plus the on the side math tutoring) I really need to get a handle on mid-range planning and time organization. This morning I took yet another trip out to the store to buy a weekly planner to hang in the kitchen. I also bought a small calendar to carry around and a cool journal-thingy that was touted as a project planner. I am hoping that this time (can you tell I have tried this go buy organizy stuff to prompt real organization before??)..This time I am testing the limits of my changed mid-range planning skills developed in part with the band's help. Now I just have to consistently use the things.
Living with a lapband after seeing goal is just as much work as getting there. This blog chronicles my journey to qualify for band surgery, my work to goal weight and now living with the band long term. Weight will always be an issue but there is a whole lot of living to be done.
5 comments:
Well hello sister Tina.. I am completely with you on the planning stuff.. I am good at short and longterm, and like you I sometimes get lost in the middle. So what I have tried to do is to break it all down and consider everything a short term goal. Upside I see victory sooner, cumulative victories make me feel better and I do feel more in control. Instead of saying I will eat well today, I plan to do x y and z this morning (short goal 1), and then a this hour , b this hour.. Instead of just trashing the whole day, it helps me realize where I F'd up on my planning. Don't know if this would work for you.. when you get good at it you can manage larger time blocks and/or goals.. The worst thing we can do to ourselves (I am very guilty of this) is beat ourselves up for trying.. we should only do this when we don;t try or give a damn. hope this helps..
As far as food is concerned, I think traditionally men have always had the greatest advantage - they're served their meals by the womenfolk and don't have to think about it. So if they want to lose weight, they only need to concentrate on not eating between meals. Their mid-term planning is diddly squat, as they say in these parts. I'm so envious of this!
I don't WANT to think about food, I don't WANT to go into the kitchen... but I have to. So my stupid way of dealing with it is to put it off and put it off and then when something has to be done, go into the kitchen and open the fridge to see what their is. And that's when the poor choices are made...
Caroline
Hey Tina, I have a huge message for you below, that is not regarding your post.
However, I also wanted to comment on your blog, so here goes...I have to make lists of what I need to do/places to go to/things needed to buy, or I will forget it/them!!
As for food choices...most of the time during the day I do really well. The problem I have, is late night eating. This is when I really have to watch myself, as Walt is asleep, and I am up alone.....get the picture??
Well Tina...the time has come for me to really start planning our trip up to Portland.
We are going up to participate in our friends, son's, Bar Mitzvah. I am not sure how much you know about how they celebrate. But it involves a LOT of FOOD, at multiple events.
And they include us in all of their events, not just the Synagogue Celebration. So we will be with them all day on Friday and Saturday.
We will be leaving on Sunday morning for home, so the only time we have available to visit with you (if it is still a possibility), is Thursday.
Please let me know if this is still a possibility. If not, I totally understand as I know you are crazy busy!
If you can meet with me/us, please let me know what time would be good for you. We should be at the Hotel sometime between 2-3 pm, if all goes well. We could either meet for coffee/drinks early, or for Dinner/Dessert somewhere by our Hotel.
Also, if you are able to meet, could you meet us somewhere near our Hotel, as we do not know the area very well? We will be staying at the Embassy Suites at 9000 SW Washington Square Rd in Tigard.
I keep saying, meet with "us". If we will be able to meet up and you would prefer to meet with me alone, just say so. Otherwise, Walt will be with me.
But please let me know if you think this is a possibility ASAP, so I can plan out that days Ride, and our Dinner situation. So we know how hard we will need to push our Ride from Medford to Tigard/Portland.
Tina, I hope that I haven't overwhelmed you!!! Please don't feel like you HAVE to meet with me/us, I truly do understand you are busy, and that it may not be possible now. If this is the case, please feel free to just say so.
I can't wait to hear from you!! Hope your weekend is going great!
Hey Tina,
I'm sorry that I have been out of touch for so long! We are now planning our trip to Portland. We will arrive in Tigard/Portland on Sept 22nd, and we should be there sometime between 2-3 pm.
I was just checking to see if you are still interested in meeting with us. I know that you are super busy now, and that it may not be a possibility anymore. So if this is the case, please just say so, I would totally understand!!
We will be up there celebrating our friends, son's, Bar Mitzvah. And they always include us in all of the celebrating. Which means that we will be doing something centering around Food (oh my!), ALL DAY Friday and Saturday.
We will be leaving for home on Sunday morning, so Thursday the 22nd, is the only time that we could meet with you.
Since we are not very familiar with the Portland area, if you are able to meet with us, could you pick a place close to our Hotel area so we don't get lost? It's much harder to navigate on a Motorcycle, since the wind blows a map like crazy!!
We will be staying at the Embassy Suites at 9000 SW Washington Square Rd in Tigard.
We could meet you for Dinner/Dessert if you would like. Or whatever you choose!
If you would prefer not to eat, you could meet us where we will be having Dinner, and just order something to Drink.
Then we could order when you are ready to leave, so you don't feel weird. The possibilities are endless of course!
And I say meet with "us". If you are able to meet, but would feel more comfortable meeting with me alone, just say so and Walt will not come. Otherwise, he will be with me.
So here's hoping that you can make it. Please let me either way ASAP, so I know how to plan for that day!!
Tina, I just realized that my first post actually posted!! When I tried to post the first comment, it showed that it didn't go through, so I retyped a new post. Once it posted, I checked to make sure it did, and saw BOTH posts!! So I am sorry for Two Very Long Posts!!!
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