Admittedly, most of us have addictive personalities to some extent. Anyone who has been through weight loss surgery has heard all about transfer addictions and things to avoid in order to decrease your chances of developing other issues.

Nik loves to exercise and probably spends 1/3 of her time at the Y working it out. Me, not so much. I prefer to get my exercise puttering around the house cleaning, working in the yard, or walking my dogs. I do have a gadget problem, and I am the first one to admit it! Most of my WLS friends IRL and on OH like gadgets, too, so it seemed appropriate to share a list of our Top 5 Healthy Obsessions! In no particular order, the gadgets we love and why we love them….

Bariatric Foodie’s Top 5: Healthy Obsessions!

1.) Amazon Kindle— Seriously, my life was incomplete until I got this.  I am not kidding.  I adore reading, my problem is I was running out of storage space for books, the online trading service I used closed, and the library wasn’t accepting any donations until 2011.  I have been wanting one of these since the first day I saw them on Amazon, but decided to wait awhile until the price came down.  I’m sure glad I did!  I take this everywhere with me, perfect for the beach or pool, not to mention all those wasted hours waiting in Doctors’ offices.

 A few good WLS-related Kindle books to get your download list started:  “Breaking Free From Emotional Eating” by Geneen Roth, “Passing For Thin: Losing Half My Weight And Finding Myself” by Frances Kuffle.  Right now I am reading “Eat Pray Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert in preparation for the new Julia Roberts movie coming out next week. So excited to see it!!

2.) Go Wear Fit–  I love this thing, with a deep and abiding kind of love, because that is how I figured out I burn more calories working around the house than I do walking on the treadmill. Originally I bought mine because I was not eating enough, so I needed something to remind me to eat. Eventually it got to the point where I never wanted to take it off! Nik is equally obsessed with hers.

3.) Ipod Touch— Love, love, love.  Did I mention love?? I don’t know how I ever managed to live with a plain old Nano when I could have had this baby all along. I have Verizon, so there is no I-Phone yet on their network, and I refuse to switch cellphone carriers. A friend of mine told me I should get one of these as much as I love my Ipod and am a diehard FaceBook addict. Boy was she right! It’s great because it’s much easier to check my email, FaceBook, play games, even blog from it.  I never ever ever leave home without it. EVER.

4.) Nintendo Wii Gaming System with Wii Fit Plus— Let me start by saying, I totally blame Tony H. for my Wii Obsession. One day on OH he mentioned that a totally hilarious & fun game is Raving Rabbids I got this for my birthday later that year, and I have to tell you, it’s awesome! If you don’t already have one, it’s definitely worth considering. The whole family will get into it, we spend countless hours with friends and family playing the games.

 One of my personal favorites is the Wii Boxing, what a great way to get rid of stress and beat the crap out of whoever is bugging you. (Not that I have any aggression issues, just saying.) I never realized how bad my balance was until I started using my Wii Fit
This really helps since your center of gravity changes so much as you’re losing weight. My 2nd BFF (I have 4) Kathy lives in Florida and we currently have a hula hoop contest going on since we’re both turning 40 this year. She’s one of those annoying naturally thin types, so I love it when I can kick her butt at hula-hooping!

Nik and the divas love their Wii so much they even bring it along on road trips! She likes using My Fitness Coach 2on days when she just can’t get to the gym. She says the program kicks butt (which is precisely why I do not own it!). Even the divas like to play it, along with Wii Fit and other active games.

5.) Canon Power Shot Digital Camera–Yes, mine is pink!  Y’all know that is my signature color and 99.9% of my belongings are pink (even my laptop).  This is an excellent little camera, takes great pictures, and very affordable.  There are some pricier models out there for you pro-photog types, but this works for food porn and pics of me and my peeps, so it more than meets my needs.  One important part of your journey through WLS, TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!!! Both before and after, seriously!  As you get further out, this will be the most helpful thing (aside from your clothes) to really help you “see” your massive weight loss.

So there you have it, 5 solid things you can feel good about obsessing over post-WLS, and not a scale in the bunch!  All that and you didn’t even have to lay on anyone’s couch or pay them $150 an hour.  Don’t you just LOVE us??