♥LovetheNewMe♥

Eating out was more difficult for me in the early days but much easier now. It really is not about how much you can eat as much as how much you should eat and what your choices are. In my early weight loss days I was very OCD about what I could or should eat vs what was avalible to eat. I always make sure I eat at places that serve food that is actually cooked and not processed foods. Staying away from fast food is key to nutritious food choices. I never made a big deal over not being able to finish my food, I order off the appetizer menu usually or share with someone.. I have had my share of stuck episodes eating out but usually they were due to me not following rules, eating to fast, not chewing, etc. Learn to enjoy your new eating habits and start thinking more about eating healthy than what you can't eat and than it becomes more natural.Good luck in your journey.

Believe in yourself and all these dreams will become a reality! Good luck achieving your goals!

I mix mine with Oranges, lemons, limes, cucumbers and mint. I could drink it by the gallons on hot days!

My typical day: Breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/3 cup egg whites cooked into the oatmeal with 1/8 cup blueberries, 2 pecan halves and 1 teaspoon raw sugar, substitute breakfast, Greek yogurt with 1/8 cup granola ( I love crunch) or small tortilla with egg whites scrabbled with some peppers, onions and tablespoon of cheese. ( I have an addiction for Starbucks SF Nonfat Carmel Machatta on the days I indulge I have my coffee and a protein bar) Snack mid morning: small protein bar or shake depending on how breakfast went or how busy my afternoon is going to be Lunch: 2-3 ozs of lean protein, turkey, chicken, pork. or fish. (early days I ate a lot of thinly sliced lunch meat, other meats were dry and got stuck. 1/2 cup green veggies, or a very small salad with oil and vinegar. If I am going to eat a starch this would be the meal I would do it. Mid afternoon snack, small apple or banana with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter or a protein bar. Depends on how portable I need my snack to be. Dinner: Again lean meet around 3 ozs and a veggie. Snack: 1/8 to 1/4 cup of almonds or sometimes 2 cups of popcorn. I have ate this way for over two years, I have always done snacks, I was never able to do just 3 meals. It took me months to work up to a 1000 calories a day and I try very hard to keep my calories around 1200. I am at goal and I still eat this way but now I try to hit 1400 to 1600 calories a day and yes I still weigh and measure my food and I still eat off a small plate with a big fork. I do not drink with meals. I do not deprive myself of anything I want, if I want something that is high calorie and not as nutritious, I eat it and adjust accordingly. I say that now but I am at goal, when I was trying to lose, I rarely indulged. I allowed my self one splurge meal a week on a Thursday. I find weekends, especially Sundays difficult and exercise was the key to continued successful weigh loss for me. Good luck and hope this helps.

Jealousy is the ugly green eyed monster and it is unfortunately a natural response for your cousion. I think you may want to look deeper at what she is really trying to tell you. She is scared, scared that if you loose weight and she does not that your feeling about her or how you look at her will change. Your choice to have surgery was a personal choice and everyone has to want it for the right reasons and yours are sincere and for the right reasons. Give her time and space and hopefully she will come around and realize that fat or thin you are the same person. I the am half the person I used to be but I am the same person inside that I was 3 years ago, difference is I like me better. Remember you can not change her and how she feels but you can be in control of how you respond to her comments and reactions as you loss weight. Good luck to you and wishes for great success in your new life style choice.

You are not bad, it is only bad if it becomes a habit. I call this an opps day, we all have them at sometime in this journey the key is getting right back on track and remember this is not a DIET but a life style change and it takes a life time to keep reminding ourselves of where we were and where we never want to go back. I think you will be just fine. Keep doing what your dong and good luck to you.

Take me with you, I don't eat much nor do I take up much space these days. Enjoy and have a bite of something yummy for me!

Shelly thanks for the reality check, being at goal for me it is a message to never lose site of why I did this. I appreciate your courage and honestly and you can do this. You did this before and you will find your inner strength to get back to where you want to be. Good luck!

Awesome job, keep up the good work!

Great post AJ we all battle the junk food demon inside especially during stressful times. Even at goal I have days when I battle my demons and old habits creep back in, the key is admitting and knowing when to ask for help. The old AJ and Love would continue to closet eat, the new us admits our flaws and moves forward. Great post!

Congratulations on NSV! and welcome back also!

You go girl, you got this!

What your feeling is normal, we have all been there and the feelings are pretty over whelming in the beginning. I was what I call very prepared for the surgery but nothing prepared me for the emotional rollercoaster ride I had for the first few weeks and month after surgery. I went through a period of time, I morned food. I never thought I would every be able to get all those calories down and felt I would live on shakes for the rest of my life. Enjoy your band and allow yourself some time to adjust to the new life. Good luck!

My sister in crime! lol we won't talk about Love and her wine!

Kime this was a hard lesson for me to learn. I like you was afraid if I ate more I would loss. I stalled my weight loss for 6 months by eating to little and not enough protein but once I increased my calories and protein and made sure i did not over exercise I started losing again and Dylan i agree with Terry YOU are NOT a FAILURE! Sometimes our bodies have to adjust to the major weight loss and it may stall for a few weeks or months. This is a process and it takes time It took me two years to loss my weight and sometimes I never thought I would get here but I am and have been for over 6 months. Good luck to you all!

One day guys you really will see the thinner you, it takes time to change the image in our mind even after we lose the weight. But you all are doing awesome!

Well first that is a lot of weight to lose in less than a month. Special reason you want to lose that specific amount. Some tips: Track your intake, if you want o lose that much weight you are going to have to be very focused and really know what you are putting in your body. In order to lose 1 lb of fat you have to eat 3500 calories less for every pound. You need to figure out what your body currently needs just to maintain your current weight and than work back wards. You should not eat less than 1200 calories per day and for the best weight loss you will need to exercise at least 45 minutes 6 days a week. If you can do strengthen exercise you will build muscle and burn fat faster than just doing cardio. You need to drink your water at least 6-8 glasses per day, limit salt intake and only eat lean meets and vegetables. Going to venture out here and say yes it carbs but be wise in your choices and cut them way back after the noon meal. I hate to tell you but there is no magic way to do this with out a lot of hard work. Is it it doable yes but is it worth going on a diet instead of gradually losing weight?

Good luck to you!

Try and enjoy the day with family, one day you will be able to get to place where the food thing and lack of food on your plate does not bother you or is difficult to talk about. I can tell you what I do and it drives people crazy, I say are you seriously going to eat all that food, and your going back for seconds, WOW, wish I could eat like that, NOT! Seriously enjoy the day with family!

Awesome Terry, congratulations on a new size! Keep up the good work!

Plateaus are hard, I sat at one for over 4 months and you are correct it is very frustrating. I know it is easy to say have patience but honestly that is what it takes, sometimes when we are losing large amounts of weight our bodies need time to adjust to the weight loss. One thing you may try is increasing your protein, I lost best at 90 gms and above and exercising 5-6 days a week for 40-60 minutes. If you could do some strength training to start building muscle your body will burn fat faster. Good luck to you!

Congratulations and you have hit on all the key things success with lap band, exercise,accountability, believing in yourself and having patience. So happy for your success and thanks for sharing.

Congratulations, and I agree, DITTO. Maintenance can suck!

I wish I could take credit for these words but I can't... I found them deep and thought provoking as I deal with life and try to remain positive. I hope you enjoy! The Obstacles of Life by Bill Nelson Life presents us with a wide array of opportunities. Life provides a great deal of enjoyment and happiness. Life teaches a variety of lessons And life brings its own set of challenges. There is probably nothing here you don't already know. But what about those days when everything that can possibly go wrong does. Those days when things just go that little bit left of center to the point of annoying the daylights out of you. Hopefully these types of days are very few and far between, but the reality is we have to deal with a day like this every now and then. What are some of the key obstacles of life and how do they have an ability to influence each other? Rather than try and cover every possible scenario and situation that could cause these days of frustration to come about, and then to grow and get worse, we are just going to focus on four areas: Four areas that as single entities can slow you down; and four areas that also have the ability to flow from one to another to create a decrease in momentum of quite significant proportions. These four obstacles of life are: o Fear o Worry o Anger o Doubt Let's first take a look at each one individually and then also see how they can lead from one to the other. 1. Fear Most of the time fear comes about because we believe that we are about to suffer, in some way or another, from what the future will bring The fear can sometimes be generated by fact, and at other times, by perception. But the bottom line is, we know how we feel when we are fearful. But how do we overcome this fear? Face your fears and overcome those fears. Sounds great in theory but is a lot harder in practical reality. Nevertheless, the concept is probably not far from the truth. A word of caution: if you are going to face your fears, just take your time and do it slowly and methodically. 2. Worry Life can somehow get us to worry about many different things. Some of us worry a lot and some of us have the ability not to get to worried about anything. But what is it that causes us to worry the most? Well we all know that there are a million answers to this question, but let me share this with you: our fear, or what has generated that fear, also can get us to worry. So the cycle gains momentum from one obstacle to the next. Fear can make us start to worry. 3. Anger Not sure about you, but I can get angry about some things that would not affect anyone else; while on the other hand, I don't get angered by things that I know drive others into uncontrollable tirades. A great many things can generate anger, such as situations, thoughts, people, failure and frustration. But sometimes anger is generated as a defense mechanism: a mechanism that is supposedly trying to help when we sometimes get spooked by other emotions, such as fear and worry. So now our cycle has three stages to it: Fear triggers worry Fear and worry can generate anger 4. Doubt Life continues to roll on, and as it does there can be many reasons why the element of doubt could be generated. o Doubt about our ability to be successful o Doubt about our ability to get the job done o Doubt about our ability to reach the levels to which we aspire o Doubt about what the future holds o Doubt about whether you can be a great Partner/Parent/Friend Once again, my doubts are (no doubt) different to your doubts. And our friend's doubts would be different again. So doubts can be generated by many different reasons, which are not necessarily right or wrong. But what about when our doubt is generated by our fear, worry, and anger? What happens then? Well what happens is we continue to add another negative element into our cycle of obstacles of life. Individually theses emotions can slow our progress through life. But start to see them together and they have the ability to apply the brakes to life and apply them hard. My message through all of this is to make sure that you are not your own worst enemy in this. Take care that you are not generating and perpetuating a cycle of emotions that will see your obstacles of life become stronger and longer. The Journey Continues Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/584787

Lori Jo, I think you may have a platter not a plate! Your postive attitude will take you far in your journey. My wish for you is strength and success as you move forward. Please let me know how I can support you during your journey, best wishes and good luck.