Creating a disciplined environment

The sweet beginning

Right after the surgery, things seem to be easy. Well, they are hard in their own way, but regarding food, it is all fun and games. You are not able to eat anything apart from what is exactly stipulated by your bari team, so even if you have some temptations, you are very unlikely to fall for them. First, you are too afraid to skip your diet, and second, it is virtually impossible. So why create a disciplined environment, right?

But what will happen to you once this bari honeymoon is over? Have you thought about that? You must have noticed that life out there is somewhat complicated. Everything is revolving around food. It is everywhere, all the time and it is all the opposite of what you should be eating. So you are being tempted 24/7/365.

So how do we proceed?

How do you live under such huge pressure and not fall off the wagon? Is it even possible? It seems inhumanely hard, almost impossible. I get it. Everybody was there. Each of us is facing exactly the same challenge. But things don’t have to be as hard as they seem at first glance.

I have noticed a funny fact. The more I am trying to resist, the worse things get. A small example here: I have been craving chips for days. But I was determined not to eat them. Before I knew it, my coworker ordered something for lunch and didn’t want his chips. What is more, he offered them to me. How to keep your last bits of sanity at this moment, right? Mission impossible.

Need for control

What worked for me much better was having things under control. Not military-like, but the more aware you are and under control things remain, the better outcome we usually get. I am not saying anything against chips. If I don’t have them every day or every week, I can have them. But I need to know what I am doing.

Meal prep routine

I know that if I prepare my meals on Friday afternoon and everything is cooked, chopped, and packed in their containers, I am very likely to go to the fridge and take out the respective containers and eat what I have prepared. On the other hand, if I have to improvise and figure things out on the go, the more likely I am to eat things that are not the best possible option.

It is simple, sometimes things I need to eat are not so easy to get. If you have ever seen a pre-cut box of veggies in a store that doesn’t contain tomatoes, please tell me where it was. I will be eternally grateful. With my food intolerances and allergies, it is a real minefield. That is why I prepare things ahead and I am safe.

Drinks in thermos

It is the same with liquids. I have my thermos and I prepare my tea, coffee, and Aquarius with ice. I have my bag with my thermos and I always have my drinks with me. Well, the thermos were a little expensive, but they are so much worth it. I have been using them for about two years now and they are like new. The best thing is that they keep the inside cold or hot for at least 12 hours. I have never been away from home so long. So my drinks are in perfect condition the whole day.

It would be easy to buy drinks on the go, but I don’t like the coffee we have in the office from the machine. It is very strong for me and my stomach always hurts a lot. So why suffer unnecessarily? And the vending machine for cold drinks is full of Coca-Cola stuff. No, thank you. In this case, better safe than sorry.

Protect your decisions

This was all about food and drinks. I prepare things weekly, I have my boxes and two shelves in the fridge just for me. It is my space and my containers. No one touches them. I would protect them like an angry Godzilla. They know, they don’t touch it.

This doesn’t mean that I am following my diet 100% of the time. I am human and I like to “sin” a little sometimes. I like to have some meals that are not completely bari-friendly. I have pizza sometimes, chips, ice cream, cookies, cake, and some fancy caramel coffee. But I plan ahead and I can adjust the rest of the day and compensate for the future “damage”. I have a very light lunch if I know that we are eating out in the evening and I want to be a little “piggy butt”.

I have my calorie counter, I have a place where I log my exercise, and I have another habits tracker. This all helps me to stay on track, to do the things I should do and correctly do them. It may not seem very fancy, even strict and obsessive. But let me explain.

Why all this?

After the first year of the surgery, I thought I knew it all. I was confident that I knew how to do things that I was eating right and in adequate amounts, that I met my protein and liquid goals, and that I didn’t eat too many carbs. How wrong I was! I was in total shock when I put on a dress in spring and it didn’t fit right. Some five months ago it felt very different.

What happened? I was too confident and a little stupid, I have to admit. I was thinking that I have things under control and my old habits started to creep in slowly, but very steadily instead. And before I knew it, I gained some weight. It was not a complete disaster, but well, it was a weight I had lost, so I was angry with myself that I let it happen.

It was a very good learning lesson for me. I had to go back to the beginning and admit that I failed. If I hadn’t started tracking things, having my rituals and habits, and sticking to them no matter what, things would have been very different today. I am convinced that had I continued the same way I started, I would have most of the weight back by now. Beyond horror story. A real nightmare.

Home organization

I don’t want to see any tempting food in our kitchen. If they want it, they buy it on their own and it will be in a special pantry. We plan our meals out, but once it is me who picks and the next time them. Like this, I can have some kind of control over what I will eat. We don’t buy so much processed food as before. And we eat more fruits and veggies than before. It is funny, but my family slowly started to adopt a little healthier lifestyle.

I do my workouts, and I have a special time and place for them. No one bugs me there and then. It is my “gym” time and it is sacred. We are thinking about buying bikes and going cycling together. It might be a fun time. It won’t be a Tour de France, but still, we are likely to be more active than now.

Regarding my workouts, I have gym clothes for every day of the week. It is prepared and I only take it out in the evening and prepare it on the corner of my writing desk. It is so annoying there that I rather exercise than keep bumping into it the whole morning 😀Funny, I know, but it works.

Disciplined environment

If you make things easy and obvious, you are very likely to follow through. You don’t have to think too much about what to eat, or drink, if you will exercise or not. It is all set out for you. You see it, you take it and you do it. No improvisation, no random decisions. They have already been taken (by you), so you know that this is what you should be doing.

From my own experience, the moment you start improvising and doing random things without some kind of plan and overview, it is the best way of messing things up, not doing the right thing and it almost always leads to weight gain.

We have gone this far. We know what works and what does not. So why complicate things and keep inventing a wheel again? If the thing you are doing works, keep doing it. Organize your day and your space. If it keeps all reminding you what you need to do, you are likely do to that. As easy as that.