swizzly

You look FAB, Ms S!!!! I'm very impressed!!

I'm in my ninth week now? Is anyone keeping track? LOL... So am I the only one who hasn't lost ANY weight doing this? I was, this morning, back up to my highest weight since originally getting to goal (72kg). I'm still keeping on, but wha...?? I have had a few social occasions that were full of food and wine, but I've also been tracking non-fast days and most of them have been quite reasonable 1600-1800 days as usual. I'm trippin... Edit: My fast days have ALL been in the 500-cal range and I've never (yet) had to ditch one cos of eating instead. So I've had legit fast days in the double-digits now.

Oh, and did I learn my lesson with the ribs?? NO I DID NOT. Last night I made myself a 'Chinese' chicken salad, the one with cabbage and sesame oil, etc. Because it wasn't a fasting day, I made it a bit more fancy, added more oil, added almonds to the salad etc. Then proceeded to eat way too much of it. And THEN ate popcorn my husband made (with ghee, so not a total disaster), and he sucks at making it so it was semi-burnt and semi-unpopped LOL...that didn't stop me eating that either. I must be hormonal LOL. But just imagine a gut full of WAY too much cabbage, some raw cauliflower from earlier in the day, and a bunch of semi-popped corn. Ouchie. I hope I don't have a bezoar now...!! LOLOL (ETA: OMG, I just remembered I ate some stalk celery and some coconut too -- I really DO hope I don't have a bezoar...I have all the raw ingredients in there, just need to swallow some chewing gum and too many tablets at one go...!!) Today we're having a BBQ with my sleeved friend who lives here, the only one I ever knew prior to doing the surgery myself. She is interesting cos she is more than three years post-op, put on about 5kg from her lowest, but then leveled out there and maintains no problem. Makes me wonder if we're all just fighting the normal bounce back, who knows. I still want to fight it though LOL. She has several things she still can't eat -- most meat, anything fatty or greasy like sausage (BBQ staple here!), Pasta. For a loooong time she couldn't eat bread at all, but now I think she can do. Plus there are things she still can't stand the taste or thought of, to this day -- and she has vomited a lot all along as well. Almost like she has a band instead of a sleeve. Anyhow, some people really do have food changes that last...and yet she still had the bounce-back and seems comfortable with that and hasn't gained beyond that point in more than a year.

Oh everything tastes good to me!! LOL...I haven't come across anything I didn't like (or that I didn't already dislike pre-surgery anyhow). I have to say, I really must hand it to you in the US, I know what the junk food was like when I was still there, I'm sure they've 'perfected' it even more since then. That stuff is HARD to resist. Even worse is all the yummy sugar-laden stuff that is awesome and not necessarily made like 'junk' food -- eg, Georgia's cupcake (OMG I EFFING LOVE CAKE AND CUPCAKES SOOOOO MUCH). I seriously count myself lucky that it's relatively easy to stay away from super junk here cos it's just not available, and what IS available isn't very tempting. I had a taste of my US life this weekend, though, when we went to a restaurant known for its spareribs and chips (more like fries, somewhere in between). I was skeptical cos they can't do ribs here to save their lives...but OMG, they brought me this gigantic plate with a PILE of ribs and a PILE of these crispy chip/fries and it was SO GOOD. And I ate WAY too much of it and wanted to die -- really, only the second time that's happened since surgery. But it was so tasty and so plentiful, it was nearly impossible to stop myself eating it. UGH I felt so sick after (still choked down a few bites of mint gelato though LOL...at least an hour later however). That's a long-winded (what else?) way of saying that you guys are awesome for resisting that stuff on a regular basis. My hat's off to you!! Throwing away what sounds like a delicious puffy cake of some sort, getting rid of ice cream, forgoing yumminess left right and center I imagine!! You are my inspiration, all of you! :wub:

For 5:2 fasting days, I like a hard-cooked egg as a snack (they are 50g, ~78 cals) cos they are filling and good for you. I also like a pot of light jogurt (chocolate flavor is my fave) for 77 cals. Or a cup of coffee or tea with some milk in. I mostly don't snack on fast days cos I like to hoard my cals for lunch and dinner.

Sucks. One little slip or wrong step -- I swear, life is crazy eh?

Hi Daisy -- i know you've broken your wrist, but I guess I missed a post or something. How did it happen? I'm so sorry, being in a cast is awful.

I had a full-body / DEXA scan pre-op and then at my two-year post-op. I remember pre-op was in the high 30s and at the two-year was in the high 20s. I wonder if I can get another scan at three years...? My physio has a set of scales that supposedly measure body fat %, so maybe I'll see if I can pop by her office and stand on that one? Good idea, FYE!!

Hey, wait a minute -- there's me too, remember?? I'm not sure if I've lost ANYTHING yet cos of the bouncing bouncing bouncing. And I've been much better on my normal days too. So I'm trying to break into the 60s since AGES now...let's row that boat together! Cheers, Dee

Whew, done with my second fast of the week! Didn't feel too bad, but was hungry a bit this afternoon. I ended up with 532 cals, so I'll take it! The last Peanut Butter spoon always puts me over the top LOL. This fasting makes me quite more creative food-wise than I normally am. I've been having a version of a salad I love. Sliced green cabbage with chicken on it, with a dressing of sesame oil (takes only a wee bit, it's very flavorful!), vinegar, ginger, garlic and cayenne. So yummy! I eat a big heaping helping of it for not many calories and it tastes delicious. I daresay I'd eat it on a normal day.

Soul sisters!! I feel absolutely NAKED without lipstick on, I believe I'm totally addicted to it. I have it all over my desk, in my purse, all over the place at home, etc. I can't be without it. And I am almost always wearing jewelry as well, not a ton of it, but something. Minimum is usually watch, wedding rings and earrings -- but bracelets are a new obsession. And the skirt I'm wearing today came from the flea market, a favorite new find! I've always "tried hard" too, Cheri. Whether heavy or less so, it never hurts to take care about how you look. I'm never trying to put on airs or anything, but it's good to show you are proud of yourself and aren't willing to settle for only buns and yoga trousers. "Trying hard" just means TRYING full stop. Trying TOO hard is where it crosses the line I guess -- going from self-awareness and self-respect to their ugly cousins self-consciousness and false fronts. Love to all. Fasting today and feeling it!!

Me too, Daise, me too...!

OTR Sleever isn't even searchable in the members' list anymore. I didn't realise he was post-op long enough to have started gaining. I wonder if he will see the Vets' forum and maybe give it another go. I hope so! As for Iggy -- do you know if she's all better now? Did all her complications eventually clear up? I was away from VST for a few months cos life intervened, so I missed some things I had been following up till then. I have totally had the same issue. For me it's because I'm grinding my teeth a bit, or at least tensing my jaw more. I hate it! I don't know why fasting causes that, but it seems to be a thing for me anyhow. Hmm. I'm sorry to hear that you are feeling so overwhelmed. I'm in a similar situation with alcohol, but not for the same reasons. I am not feeling the need to self-medicate (though I totally relate with that, been there in the past for sure), but I'm feeling this sort of...vindication? Or maybe a bit of anger? Where I JUST WANT TO HAVE SOME FUN GODD**MIT! You know what I mean? I've been slogging through one hard thing after another, dragging my sorry ass through misery and abuse and arghhhhhh, all while being sort of perpetually fat since the start of the 21st Century LOL. And now I FINALLY effing feel a bit better and I am FINALLY feeling good in my skin and I JUST WANT TO ENJOY IT. I WANT to go out with friends, I want to get tipsy and be an idiot. And I don't want to say no to any of it. So yeah. I'll have my summer of fun and then I'll knuckle down on that part too. Three weeks in the US will pretty much mean three weeks of no alcohol LOL. Good luck, Cheri. You're good people, believe that. <3

Totally! Well done you!! I'm no pushover...

That's awesome, both of you!! Well done. I love primal, it works for me and it's also been very good for my husband too. He didn't have much to lose (but he has autoimmune issues that have WAY cleared up from being off gluten...yay!), but he's even shed a few. Yay us!!!

Coops...I'm SO EXCITED FOR YOU!! 'Twill be the weigh-in heard round the world...! Glasses will be raised in your honor in the four corners of the earth!! 150s for you any day now...!! I'm seriously thrilled for you. :wub:

OKAY!! You are all WINNING! I will count walking as exercise then LOL. I just didn't know, honestly. When it's transportation, it becomes very easy and absolutely not something I think about at all, so it never really occurred to me to count it. That said, it's probably helping keep my metabolism going, so thanks for the consciousness raising!! AND now I want a Fit Bit too!!

Hiya FM -- as you know, I'm sort of semi-doing a modified version of this (read: Nothing as good as what you're doing!!). I'm already paleo (ish) since 8 months and am coming up on two months of 5:2 as well. I started doing HIIT on the elliptical rather than the medium intensity long version and I really like it. I feel much better after doing it, less exhausted more exhilarated. I love that! I also still do my weight routine, which I've upped the weight on over the past weeks, so I'm up to 70 kg on the leg press, 40 kg on the thigh machines (both of them), 35 kg on the leg lifts, and 45 kg on the pull-up machine (so it lifts 45 kg of my weight I think, so I'm really lifting like 25 kg, which for me is pretty good), I also do the other kind of pull-ups on that, with the biceps facing forward. I do push-ups, am up to 30 of those (20 then 10) and my plank is up to 1 min at least (I often forget to count). Then a bunch of ab stuff from my physio and bob's your uncle. So I haven't lost any weight to speak of, but my clothes from last summer (which are theoretically the same size I'm currently in) are all a bit bigger, particularly around the waist. Yay!! But you're the killer on this one -- you are in beast mode for sure. LIKE A BOSS!!

Hi FM -- what does the bolded (by me LOL) part mean? I thought we had the same structural/operational setup, just with a smaller stomach. Is there more to it??

I thought I was in my eighth week, but I guess I was mis-counting (I have a hell of a time tracking anything...!). So I started 10 June I believe, and I was around 72kg at the time. I'm still in the 71kg range, and have bounced all over the place (even saw a 69.something on one day), but I don't track it so I am not too sure. Let's say I've lost a kilo in seven weeks maybe. *shrug* But I like doing it, so I'm still not too fussed about the speed of losing -- and to be entirely fair, my life has been very caloric this summer, I hope the social stuff dies down for a bit at some point.

Fasting day done, going to go to bed. Ended at 524 cals. Happy to head into tomorrow LOL. Next up: Fasting Thursday. Good luck, all!!

Hey -- couple of questions that came up either randomly or via this thread... LOL First, what happened to the poster called OTR Sleever? And also Iggy Chick? Second, what is the other 5:2 thread you referred to, coops?

Thanks for the idea, I'm not offended in the least. Yeah, I've been wondering this a bit as well, especially since my carbs are always pretty low, apart from the odd bit of chocolate here and there. I am so loath to go low-cal that I have a hard time to do it!! I wanted to do 5:2 so that I could eat 'normally' on non-fasting days, which is what I've mostly been doing. HOWEVER, a look over the past few weeks reveals the Summer Of Wine and drinking a lot of calories that way. So I just need to start doing one glass wine, one glass Water, or another similar approach to the social whirlwind we're in the middle of. It will all relax again too, it just is one of those phases. I'm willing to be patient and to try a few small compromises in the meantime. Coops is the master of this, so I have a good teacher in this area... In answer to your first question, my response is NO WAY! LOL. I am doing this so I don't have to 'diet' the whole week long. Ugh. But it clearly is helping others lose faster to do so, so don't listen to me. In re: your BMR test -- that does NOT give you your TDEE, it gives you essentially the opposite -- it's measuring your basal metabolic rate -- which is how many calories you'd burn if you did NOTHING AT ALL but breathe in and out and hold perfectly still all day. In other words, you burn 1300 just by being alive and having brain activity. So you'd have to add on activity levels to get to a TDEE number. I can guarantee you that even if you slept all day and all night, you would burn more than 1300 calories!! So your target calories could easily be higher than 1300 for maintenance anyhow. I use them heavily all the time, always have. I was raised in a Tab and Fresca household, and I still prefer artificial sweeteners to this day. So yeah, I use them all the time, including on fast days, though I've been trying to use a bit less lately. Oy, I can't give up EVERYTHING. Fasting today, doing fine so far. Will also be fasting Thursday this week. Happy Monday, all!! xoxox

coops, you're the Woman. You are my hero, always will be. Sorry, you must stay on your pedestal. :-)

Thanks you guys. Posting pics of myself is very challenging. I appreciate the kind words. :wub: