SarahS

Thanks so much!!! I didn't even think about that! I think that is a huge part of this. Maybe since my weight loss has slowed my level will go down or at least calm down, LOL!

I almost didn't post this because I am so embarassed and ashamed to admit how much I am eating. I am about 4.5 months post op and this past week I have eaten so much!!! I haven't really been feeling a lot of restriction and it scares me. I read what others eat and they eat SOOO much less than me, probably like 1/4 of what I eat. I know I shouldn't compare myself to others, but its so hard not to. Monday I had a Protein shake in the morning, and then ate Skyline (chili), and ate an entire 5 way (Pasta, chili, onions, Beans and cheese and crackers)!!! I ate it in 3 different times, but not too far apart. It's like I can be kinda full, but then 30 mins to an hour later I am so hungry again. I hate being hungry. After I ate the Skyline, I even ate an entire lean cuisine meal. This is such a HORRIBLE habit to get in to because I know I will gain all the weight back. UGH! Then Tuesday I did a little better, and ate around 1000-1100 calories, in 3 meals and a few Snacks. Wednesday was another bad day. Breakfast I had 1 egg and 2 turkey sausage patties, 1 piece of thin bread, 2oz turkey, and a reduced fat cheese stick. Snack I had a Fiber one bar. dinner was 1/4 cup of strawberries, 1/2 cup of ground turkey and whole grain pasta, and a dark chocolate raspberry weight watchers ice creams bar. Well, I was doing fine, then all hell broke loose. Throughout the rest of the night, I snacked on 4-5 more of the ice cream bars and 2 Peanut Butter sandwiches on the thin round bread. I took in almost 1,600 calories that day How can I even eat all this!!!!! I just felt like I was starving! I was very uncomfy last night, but it was more like a constipated feeling. Today has been kinda the same, though I haven't eaten as many ice cream bars, but I want to so bad. I hate to throw them out. But once they are gone, they will never be in my house again!!! And no more peanut butter because I can't control myself. Gosh, I am so ashamed I ate all of that. I feel like I wasted my money having this surgery since I can't even control myself, I am still so hungry all the time, and I still go back to bad habits. I can't even use this tool right! Sorry for such a negative post, but I am just really down on myself right now. I have had good weight loss thus far, and I just want to keep that up. I just don't know how to not be hungry. Maybe I need to make sure i am getting fluids in and that will fill my tummy. And I do need to exercise which I haven't gotten back to yet, but that usually makes me even more hungry. I currently have a part time job and I think it would help if I was working full time. It's just the night time that is so bad! I think I really need to work on why I go to food. I know it makes me feel better, but I don't know how to fix that. But I really am hungry a lot of the time too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sounds like acid reflux. Are you on a PPI? I always coughed when I ate before I knew I had reflux, but that was before surgery. Not sure what else it could be.

AWESOME! You can already see a big change!!!

So I have set a few goals for myself, and I thought it would help to share them here. I have lost 105 pounds total so far, 92 since the date of surgery. I lost 13 pounds the 2 weeks before sugery. So, I think my weightloss has been pretty good, and now it is slowing down. I can't really complain because I am still losing 2-3 pounds a week. But I think I could lose 4-5 pounds a week since I stil have 99 to lose. So, I am going to change things up for the next few weeks. I have been tracking what I eat and I am grazing way too much. Its going to be hard to break that, but I will! Right now, I am at 264 pounds. My goal is to be 240 pounds by March 28th, 2011. That is 6 weeks away, so an average of 4 pounds per week. I don't think that's an unacheivable goal for me. My second goal is to stop the snacking! And my third goal is to not weigh myself this entire week, until Monday morning!!! That will be SOooooo hard since I weigh myself multiple times a day! I think it will be more rewarding if I wait all week! And I have an NSV to share too!!! I am now severely obese, instead of MORBIDLY obese! Woohooo. From what I found, severe obesity is a BMI of 35-39.9 and I am at a BMI of 37.9, so I have been out of morbid obesity for a while When I get to 240 pounds, I will just be obese! After I meet that goal, my next mini goal will just to be overweight, hehe! As I type this, I also noticed that I have 99 more pounds to lose! That feels so awesome to have less than 100 pounds to lose when you start out needing to lose over 200 pounds!!! WOW!

That is so awesome to hear!!! I love reading your posts! They are so positive. Have fun at the zoo!!!!

It took me over 2-3 weeks before mine were closed. My steri-stripes came off and some a my incisions opened, so I put some more on. I figured it took mine a while to heal since I was around 356 pounds at the time of surgery and my skin was pretty stretched. Do you have stitches or steri stripes? If your incision is open, you can get some steri stripes most places. A little blood isn't a problem, just watch if it bleeds more.

WOOT WOOT!!!! CONGRATS!!!!! I love when clothes get too big!!! :)

Awesome! So glad you broke your stall!!! I bet you feel AMAZING!!!!

My surgery was about 4 and a half months ago

Awesome job on all your acheivements and weights loss so far!!!! Um, I didn't think a "camel toe" was a good thing, LOL!

What is the medication? It's highly unlikely that there isn't an alternative.

That's some awesome NSV's!!! That must feel so great being checked out!!! I was only a few months post-op and some guy asked me for my #! I hadn't lost much yet, but maybe I just had more confidence! That felt so awesome! I would totally check you out

Go Diva, Go Diva!!!! You can really see the weight loss in your most recent pic!!! You are SOOOOOOO pretty! I can't wait to be in a size L and 16! After I read your post, it really inspired me to want to run a 5K. I am going to start walking now (on top of what I do) and hopefully start running when I drop some more weight. I don't want to put too much stress on my knees until I drop some more poundage! But, once I start running, I want to do a 5K like you! Then maybe a half marathon, and maybe a full one after that! I have always thought it would be so cool to run a marathon. I can't even run a half mile now, so how freakin awesome would that be! I am so glad you are on this board. You are such an inspiration!!!

That is great!!!! You look totally different! I bet you feel great too! Congrats!

At today's weigh in, I am 266!! That means, I passed my half way point!!! 103 pounds total lost, 101 to go! WooHooooo!! I actually might be closer to goal, because I might change my goal weight somewhat when I get closer. 165 might be too low for my body type and height, and I already have lots of extra skin, so once I get that removed, I am sure that will be more pounds lost. We will see!

I didn't have to do liquids before, just had to do reduced calores/fat to shrink my liver. I didn't follow is exactly, and didn't track what I ate, so not sure how much I was taking in. After surgery, some days I did feel weak and low on energy, but I hardly remember those days now. You won't have to do liquids forever, so your body won't go into starvation mode. Good luck with surgery!!!!

That is awesome!!! CONGRATS!!! I can't wait to be there too!!!

Everyone is different, so you just need to experiment and see what works best for you and your body. But, I will share what has worked for me. The first month or 2 I got an average of 500-800 calories. Not sure about protein or carbs since I didn't track those then. A few months out, I started to track on myfitnesspal.com, and that helps A LOT! I even have an app for my phone so I can enter foods when I am out. In the last 2 months, I have probably ranged from 800-1200 calories a day, even a few "bad" days where I had 1500 calories. I usually range from 70-100g of protein, and anywhere from 70-210 carbs, most of the time its between 120-140. I don't restrict carbs and my nutritionist never suggested it. I do usually eat my protein first because that is what my body craves, but I do eat bread, rice, and Pasta. I think my weight loss has slowed down lately because I am snacking too much. You really have to watch that. I eat about 5-6 times a day, 3 meals and 2-3 Snacks depending on how active I am. The first few months I did some walking, not much at all. But I was kind of active packing up my house to move and putting it in storage. I am not completely moved out, but I did a lot of packing and going thru a lot of stuff and getting rid of stuff. I started working out about a month and a half ago. It was very rough at first, but I have worked up to a lot more, and pretty quickly. I haven't worked out in the past 2 weeks because I had bronchitis and it wouldn't go away! But, I am going to see how I do tomorrow. Good luck to you and everyone in your journey's!! I feel like I am just begining it, even though I am half way to goal! I think losing is the easier part, keeping it off is the challange.

It kind of sounds like hypoglycemia to me. Ask your doctor, and maybe you can check your blood sugar at home while you have this "flashes". Keep us posted.

Awesome job! You are almost to goal, but you look great now!!!

I put it in crystal light. I don't think it changes the flavor or consistency. Sometimes, I put it in OJ. I got some OJ that is 50 calories for 8 oz. I rarely do that though, mostly put it in the crysal light. Sometimes, I get a drink called PlumSmart. It's for digestive health, and they have a light one. I get that sometimes, and put the miralax in that. That keeps me very regular!! Sometimes that is too much and I just do the PlumSmart.

Sorry I can't help with the pic gallery search, but I can share my before and now pic. I just posted recently in this forum, but here is a side by side view. I have lost 100 pounds so far and I am 4 months out. I am about half way to goal. I can't wait until I can post a REAL before and after picture! Good luck to you!

Congrats!!! You look great!!!!!!

OH NO!!!! Why did they change it!!! These were the only ones I liked!!! I have the old chocolate ones still. My mom just bought me the vanilla and I did notice the package was different, but I thought it was just because it was vanilla. I thought it taste okay, but it was the first time I had the vanilla, so I can't really compare. I hope they change it back before i need more chocolate ones!