swizzly

HA!!! Someone official agrees with me! LOLOL... I feel so special. Okay, your BMR (basal metabolic rate) says you need approximately 1500 cals per day just to stay alive and not move a single solitary muscle. Then... If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2 If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375 If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55 If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725 If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9 So I'm guessing we should multiply that by 1.55, which gives us about 2300 cals per day. Now that is to maintain, not to lose. So if you want to lose, you should deduct about 500 cals from the 2300, leaving you at about 1800 cals per day. To account for a POSSIBLY slow metabolism (which isn't being helped by the sub-1K thing...), then I would say 1500 should be your minimum. Hey, you asked.

LindaS, that is hot -- you look GREAT!!! :-)

Now that's awesome! Go get 'em, tiger!!!

Meg, I'm so glad I'm not alone. I feel bad sometimes for not having more guilt/regret/shame than I do, not cos I want anything to do with those feelings personally, but just so I can be more sympathetic. (BUT, I also feel very triumphant for overcoming my own guilt/shame issues that can no longer attach themselves to (in my case) not eating. It's been years now, but I'm still glad I did the work it took.) But the work it took to get there was hard and took years and sometimes was torture and caused massive depression and etc. I don't wish these feelings on anyone. I just wish we could see food for what it is and what it can, and can't, do to/for us. There is no shame inherent in having a Snickers for breakfast, even for a post-WLS patient...so it would be good to figure out where the real shame is coming from and work on it there. Keep it out of your food, out of your mouth so to say. Many hugs, GT. I am thinking of you a lot. I know I'm no help, but I am pulling for you 110%.

OMG, super cute!! Looks SO GREAT!!! I'm totally jealous of your awesome arms. No way I'm wearing sleeveless, you look FAB!!!

I eat too fast. I never chew enough. I have been eating boatloads of dark chocolate for a couple of months now. I am currently having a problem with rice cakes and butter. Threw the rice cakes out finally. Oy. I am eating too much and am having head hunger issues. I am working out a minimum of three times a week and walk to/from work every day, so that's a good one to offset my bad ways. I feel like there's more bad stuff I'm doing but I can't think of it.

I had cottage cheese, a boiled egg and some almonds. ZZzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well if you're going to be that way about it. Probably I would too.

I only have full-fat cottage cheese readily available to me, so I have eaten it all along -- it's still not that high-cal or fat-full. I don't track fat grams at all though, I don't think fat is bad. I just try to aim for protein over 70g per day, and calories at or around 1500 (one year out).

Globetrotter...I'm not a pollyanna or anything, but I really think you need to find a bright side to look on. You are being SO HARD on yourself. You are fighting against your own body, which is the only one you've got...somehow you have to love it and care for it, know what I mean? Don't think stall and hate your body...think rest and reset and let your body have its space to adjust. If your trousers are still the same...but fit looser, then that means THEY'RE LOOSER. Body is still changing...still going. Be nice to yourself!! I think you are negativing yourself into a corner where you can't win no matter what happens. {{{HUGS}}} You are doing great, I think you should give yourself some mental hugs!! :wub:

I've not had a single problem (touch wood!!!) at all since this surgery, not even a problem drinking fluids (quantity or speed, can gulp pretty easily) or having pain or vomiting. Not. One. I don't feel guilty about it at all, but I DO know that I'm very lucky...and am grateful that things have gone so well.

Oh holy crap you look hotttTTTTttt !!!!

Hi Sharon -- thanks! We really are at the same point, aren't we. The last few seem to be a bit more challenging, but I'm sure they'll come off in time. I haven't done anything to celebrate really, didn't occur to me. LOL. I'll have to think of something... For the occasion, I am posting my progress pix including one from last month. I cut off most of my face purely from paranoia...

Thanks, my VST friends! You are all so thoughtful and kind with your words. I am not very good at sort of stopping to realise what I've done over the past year, what I've accomplished -- you actually have reminded me that I've done something very cool. I've quit smoking, had a major surgery, starting being much more active AND going to the gym, and lost 90lb. That's quite a year! I'm very grateful for it all. What a fun ride, no kidding! I'm so happy to have had this opportunity and am still excited to see where things go from here. :wub:

Oh, well -- thrush CAN also come about via immunosuppression such as HIV, but it also comes after this surgery a lot for whatever reason (I really think it's antiobiotics, which they often give during and after surgery, along with a dry mouth for a couple days). And the surgery reason is much more likely. You know what doctors say, when you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras. Meaning, the most likely cause is the surgery, not HIV. (But if you have a reason to suspect any kind of sexually transmitted disease, getting checked for it is dead easy and will put your mind at ease.)

Yeah, I think so -- I've seen a lot of cases on all the WLS boards. It's certainly not unheard of. It's also to do with antibiotics I think? I'm no expert, I've just read a lot about all the post-op issues, and this is one of them. :-)

Yeah, that sounds like thrush, a type of oral yeast infection. You have to go to the dr and get meds for it else it won't clear up on its own. Once you get the meds, it clears up pretty fast.

w00t!! Looking good! Love that you got a guaranteed sale price till MAY!! /jealous

Pookeyism, that's awful that you were attacked like that. Sleeve 4 Me (I wish there was a way to tag people on here, is there?), I would tag Coops here if I could, as she does a lot of boxing (kick boxing I think?) and she adores it.

It's possible you have thrush, is there any sort of coating on your tongue or throat? It could also just be down to ketosis, which gives you really bad breath.

I'm not very good with knowing how much is in ounces/cups, but it sounds like you are eating about how I have been eating. I've been 1000+ cals since a month or two post-op. I have never had any problems to drink liquids either. I'm a year post-op now and I usually eat between 1500-2000 kcals a day (mostly nearer 1500). I've lost slowly but pretty steadily. For me, it's good to eat enough to really have energy and feel good, so I'm not too hesitant to eat what I need to. That said, when you say you can eat a whole pizza and the toppings off another -- do you mean a whole SLICE of pizza plus the toppings off another? That seems reasonable to me, but a whole pizza is absurd, so I doubt you can eat that. I also doubt you're stretching anything -- some people just have more sleeve room than others (even with the same bougie size) and less swelling, so can eat more easily from the start. But you won't get far up from where you are, your stomach is WAY smaller than before, and you will always have restriction. That all said, the chocolate chip muffin is a bad idea because simple carbs and sugar are sliders and you can eat a lot of them usually. So just be careful about that. ETA: Oh yeah, and I eat super fast too LOL...bad me!! I think I eat faster now than I did pre-op, not sure why. I have a sleeve of steel and haven't needed to chew for 30 times for each bite either. I'm not saying everyone should be like us, just that there is variety in post-op experiences, and unless you're shoving down crap all day, it's not per se 'bad' if you are eating 'a lot' relative to others. It's still not a lot by any normal measure. 1200 cals is a very low-cal diet.

Thanks, everyone. It's been a fun year, honestly. I've enjoyed sharing it with all of you and hearing your successes, stresses, wins, NSVs, doubts and fears, victories, etc., as well. Here's to ENJOYING LIFE!!! <3 <3 <3

That. is. AWESOME!!! :wub: So presumably, you also wore your swimsuit in public as well?? How did that go? Congrats, HUGE NSV!!!! <3

Oh yay, that's three of us now! I feel so normal and not-alone, knowing that others are right about at 90lb about a year out. Seriously. I have been a relative piggy by WLS patient standards, eating 1000+ since one month post-op and 1500+ for most of the past year, so everytime someone talks about their 800 cals at 8 months out, I'm like oh ****, I've screwed the pooch for sure. But I think we all lose in our own way and time, and mine was with the full support and guidance of nutritionists, doctors and my therapist. I've said slow and steady all along, that's what I wanted, that's what I've gotten -- by WLS patient standards. By any normal dieter's standards, I've melted away over one year alone. Yeah, I still wouldn't mind to lose another 10lb, but I can see that it won't be easy or fast at all. Like my work colleague who has five kg to lose and she's really hoping to lose it by summer holidays in July. Nearly six months for those five kg. Made me remember the pre-WLS perspective anyhow. This is not a passive-aggressive sideways message to you, crosswind LOL -- I'm just thinking out loud. I can totally understand the idea of wanting to GET THERE and get it over with. And THEN think about how to maintain, which you probably will not have a problem with I don't think. I'd like to lose 10 more lb, which isn't going to go very fast based on how things have been the past few months. I really CAN'T do anything drastic in the WL arena because of my own history of obsessive behaviour...I consider myself a longterm recovering anorexic, not a grownup who fully has that stuff beat and behind me. So no, I step away from the brink when I am anywhere near it coz I don't think I will ever have full control once I get into that zone. Right. All that said, Happy Medifasting, crosswind!! I do hope you'll keep posting and telling us how you're doing, I love hearing from you and hearing the thoughts of someone else who seems similar to me in some ways. Oh, FWIW on the carb topic -- I've never counted carbs at all, except to keep them in balance with my overall eating -- which is what my nutritionist anyhow asks for. I used to get 'in trouble' all the time early out coz I wasn't eating enough carbs, so by now I'm doing much better at it. But I'm sure people would go nuts at my numbers, I don't think I've ever been below 40 for a single day. :-o So now I'm going to google Medifast, as I have no idea what it is.