Chimera

So far so good! it has been a challenging week two - isn't it funny that just about every time you embark on a new healthy behavior - there is some annual family event or festivity to challenge you. Well it was my stepdaughters 17th birthday (the food last year + cake is what started my first stall - hello sugar) and then we went to the state fair...hello corndog lol.

I am currently still in 'detox' mode from birthday cake - when I eat carbs, especially baked goods with sugar I get a mean case of the constantly hungry mouth...I seem to always be on the prowl for things that are not so good for me. and my own birthday is next month and i am getting taken to one of my favorite places on earth Disneyland! I have a feeling I will be in Detox again soon haha!

I am thinking that I might try some different pasterns on fast day - Breakfast to Breakfast to dinner time to dinnertime. Just to see how the different patterns make me feel, energy level etc. I feel great on fast days so far. I worked out waaaaay to hard on Monday lifted too strenuously with my triceps and haven't had much use of my arms all week - finally that is getting less sore.

Looked at my other step-daughter's instagram today and she is quite thin but wanted to lose more weight, she has never had issues with overweight - it took her 20 months to lose 18 lbs. Not gonna complain any more about slow losses Hope you guys are all doing well!

I think you are doing great! Remember it's just one day - the important thing is that you are acknowledging that you weren't comfortable with your behaviors and that means you have an opportunity for growth. None of us go through life without struggle - I think most if not all of us on this board deal with the psychological issues surrounding food, disordered eating, dysmorphia following massive or rapid weight loss. I know I will always be challenged by these issues - it sounds as though you have a fantastic support system at home - and you have another one here. Don't forget - it is one day among many - it is the trend over time that matters.

Aha it worked!

How did I know that I would not be able to embed a video on vst lol. Youtube link is here:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lUtnas5ScSE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I know I have read that Soup is considered a slider - I scoop up mostly shredded white meat chicken and mushy soup veggies often times - and when I want more broth I consider it a boon for my liquids total. I love hot beverages/liquids so yummy soup like the 'green chicken' soup is a go to for me - it is very satisfying and its healthy! Lord knows I didn't get to 318 lbs. eating too much broth and lean chicken haha! I just wanted to wish Lisa a happy Birthday - ironically when I saw it was her birthday I was eating a thin slice of birthday cake for my stepdaughter - whose birthday is also today - yay lucky 13! Even though that cake came on a fast day (bad I know), the rest of the day was great - came in at 478 before that cake. get this - weight this morning was 169.5 - down from 173 on Monday morning...3.5 in 5 - this is awesome and I am loving that the scale is moving and so far this feels very doable.

To slow the losses down up the quality and fat content. Little bit of dark chocolate, maybe a few full fat Greek yogurts and cheeses or lattes here and here. Nuts, especially almonds and macadamias are a good nutritious choice that are low in size/volume and high in nutrition.

^{Georgia I do use spinach - it is a great ingredient because you could use an entire barrel of it and I think it would shrink down to the size of a little golf ball when cooked - that's a lot of nutrition for our little sleeves! I am also having a great day so far - its fast day but I haven't thought about food at all - rare. I think I have gotten more work done this week without my own mental distractions than I have in ages.}

Its funny how empowered one feels when that scale starts to move again in the direction you want it too I even ran on the treadmill this morning for 4 minutes - I have short little legs and with my osteo arthritis issues - I have always been afraid of running - when you are really obese it doesn't feel very good either! I think I will have a premier shake after the gym tomorrow and for dinner mostly likely turkey and green Beans or I've also defrosted some 'green chicken soup" that I make a big pot of every few weeks and freeze - its just low sodium broth (I use vegetable, chicken, sometimes beef) a family pack of chicken thrown in there (shred said chicken after its cooked) and what ever green veggies and herbs look good at the market - carrots, zucchini, onions, cilantro, a couple of tomatoes from the garden made it into this last batch. Great guilt-free Soup when you want something easy, warm and nutritious ;)Happy Thursday fast day ladies!

Focus on change and not the scale. This really seems to help me when I doubt my abilities to succeed.

This is not a sprint - it is a marathon. And you know what is awesome? You have made the incredibly courageous decision to have a permanent tool installed surgically to help you with this for the rest of your life.

I am also no sprinter in the WL arena - at 48, 5'3" and feeling the change coming on with osteo arthritis that was a nightmare in my knees hips and ankles I too have issues to make losing and keeping it off an ongoing challenge. You will get there - practice mindfulness, patience, and follow your doctors orders.

I too, like most of us have lost and gained back hundreds and hundreds of lbs. over my life - this is the first time I am not gaining it back, the scale doesn't jump back up and keep climbing the way it used to - I know that I can gain it back if I revert to my old habits.

I lost 30 lbs. in almost a year of nutritional counseling, 14 lbs. in the 2 weeks prior to surgery (hello Atkins),and the other 103 lbs. have come off in the now 15.5 months since my surgery. I have 31 lbs. to go for the upper range of my goal - which is a "normal" BMI. Did I lose it in 6 months - gee that sure would have been cool but that is not my path. My path will simply take a bit longer and hopefully be scenic Since I have stalls often these days - I think I can wrap my mind around what maintenance at a healthy weight is - and it is great! I honestly don't feel deprived at all and that means I can practice it indefinitely. That is how I look at this now - much like I counsel my students about their artistic practice, this has become my own and my family's health and wellness practice - and it does take practice.

Yes there is a honeymoon window - yes the best chances of getting the EWL off is during the first 24 month post surgery. If I am not there on May 21, 2014 will it stop me from losing every ounce of my excess weight - heck no it wont. I plan to keep on going, I don't care if it take me the rest of my freakin life to lose these last 31 lbs. I will get there

Were the 14 - 16 month out trio Great to know you are having success Kristie. So far so good here - the scale dropped 1.5 lbs and has stayed there - normally its a 1 to 3 lbs teeter totter up/down/updown every day of the week. it dropped the weigh in after the first fast day and stayed down after a normal eating day - this in itself is shocking lol. This might actually work

Is our May 2012 group on FB carrying on?

Ohh maybe I should up the calories then for my fasting days. I will make 500-600 may target then, and keep feed days to 1200. I am not so tall, and just had my BMR tested at the gym - they said it is 1638. And my metabolic age is 38 ( woohoo thats 10 years lower than it really is) My husband is quite full of himself after finding out his metabolic age is 21

Thanks for the good advice guys - it is much appreciated! And thank you for the kind words about the profile photo, it feels good to come out of hiding a bit.

Still going to keep my feed days low compared to 'normal' women - going to try to shoot for 1000 to 1200 - which puts fast days very low 250-300.

Lisa you are so close to goal I just know you will get it

Heh those have binge written all over them for me - they are small and look exceptionally delicious I don't think I could have them in the house - I know myself too well.

I quit a 28 year/pack+ a day smoking habit prior to surgery - one of the things that really helped me get through the white knuckle moments early on was riding out the cravings, letting them pass and then noticing how long the intense craving lasts - it is actually quite short - 2-3 minutes and then it passes - of course they are constant when one first quits, but they get further and further apart the longer one goes, and now they are very rare. I do get the urge to light up here and there out of the blue - but there is no way on earth I will ever do it - because I never want to quit again EVER - never going through that hell again.

Now as we all know food is not something we can abstain from indefinitely - but rather we just have to manage it. I know for myself that I have to watch it really carefully with carbs/sugar or I turn into a ravenous, binging beast who would rip a bag of fluffy hamburger Buns out of unsuspecting folks hands at the supermarket if given the opportunity I think that is part of my next experiment - to attempt to detox from any and all sugars and artificial sweeteners - which sounds about as fun as giving up smoking!

It is a crazy bunch of emotional stuff we have to address after losing so much, after changing so much - I guess that is the constant - change, something I was always terrified of before. I know I will spend a long time working on my own dysmorphia issues - I can see how far I have come - freakishly far, my husband doesn't even recognize the person I was before surgery.

I recognize and embrace my newfound health and energy - not to mention how much better I look. Did that stop me from breaking down in tears two days ago in a dressing room because of excess skin - and I guess really realizing how poorly I treated myself in the past with my food addiction and how badly it damaged my body and health - no it didn't. Feeling deep regret for what I had done to myself...in the past.

Well I am sure most of us have had a good cry over the myriad of issues we face as we go through these ups and downs - I will take my loose flappiness over those extra 140 some lbs anyday

And for the record - I think each and every one of you is beautiful.

First day for me too! Tried posting on the group discussion but am not a full member so I cant So far so good - I've had coffee with 2 T. of organic half & half and am planning a splendid dinner tonight of lean ground turkey or 3 turkey meatballs (my fav). I love Premier Protein shakes too - the entire top shelf of the fridge has a permanent installation of chocolate flavored shakes lol.

Still reading the book and am loving the science so far - feel great, no hunger at all and have been working all morning. Think I might go kick my rump at the gym after I finish my paperwork.

Not focusing on WL but rather CHANGE, and the improved health benefits Planning my next fast day for Thursday.

Beautifully and eloquently said - well done and Pookey's post gets printed and added to the 'pure gold' collection

She stayed at 600-800 cals, 80+ Protein, loooow carbs, oceans of calorie free liquid until she hit goal - she's tiny - 105 lbs and looks amazing.

Reposting this from another board by a fellow sleeve vet I have a lot of respect for Elina_7. I have this printed out on my desk and read it all the time. Sorry for the eye-bloodying wall of text - VST wont let me edit unless it is pasted from a word document.

"This is a post for those of you that think that this surgery will get you to your goal, and I am here to share the bad news with you that it will not. This surgery alone will most likely only lead you to lose to about 50-60% of EW all by itself (on average, some people lose much less and others more). That is the bad news.

The good news is that this does not have to be your fate. You can make a choice to do much better than this statistic. You can choose to lose all the way to 100% EW and be in the top 10% of sleeve patients. You really can do this and than keep your results.

I am here at four years into my maintenance sharing this with you from my personal experience as well as observation. You can reach goal and you can keep it. This is what it takes (from my point of view) to get there and to stay there.

1) You will read about many programs on OH and your doctor will have their own program, my experience tells me that in most cases, the 600-800 cals, over 80 grams of Protein, under 40 grams of carbs is the way to go. Others will disagree, and I am OK with that. This is my post and my opinion and my observation. There is no way that I would have reached goal on 1200 calories. That is my maintenance level eating. This of course might need to be tweaked on an individual basis. If you are an athlete and workout multiple hours a day, or if you have a different goal than I did or if you have a super fast metabolism or are a guy and have tons of muscle, than maybe eating more calories will work for you. If you are a woman, petite, not a youngster, and work out an hour or so a day, in most cases, the higher calories will not get you to goal. Are there exceptions, of course there are exceptions. Are those exceptions common? No, they are not.

2) If you go into this with without realizing that the first six months to a year is all about your weight loss, you are cheating yourself. I read posts on here about how to add flavor to foods and often the point is about making this more palatable. There is nothing wrong with adding spices, or finding low carb, nutritious alternatives to some foods, however, when your focus is anything other than maximizing your weight loss, you are sabotaging your progress and your opportunity of reaching that elusive 100% EW. I can honestly tell you that I think I would have eaten cardboard in those early months if that was required of me. The dedication needs to be to the process, the rest is not that important. Find your groove with certain home made lean Proteins and mostly eat that until goal. This is not rocket science, eat 2-3 ounces of Protein and eat low carb veggies as Snacks.

3) Do not allow relationships to get in your way. I don't care if you have kids, or an unsupportive husband, or parents choose to undermine your efforts. That might sound callous, but really, I don't care and neither should you. This next six months to a year is about you and you alone. This is your selfish time, the time when nothing comes before you. If you can't have certain foods in the house, get rid of them. If your spouse sabotages you, stop them. Speak up, find your voice, set your boundaries and do not allow anyone to take your mind off the prize. You matter, you are important, you are precious, and you must find the strength to do the right thing for yourself. If the people in your life are not supportive of your efforts, minimize your contact, or set firm limits. You are in charge and you will not allow anyone to get in your way.

4) Find the warrior in you and give yourself over that part of you for now. Find your type A personality, your alpha and your OCD parts and marry them to get one heck of a fighter. This is not a passive experience, this takes guts, sweat and tears. This takes being over focused on the minutia of your eating and exercise. This is a second job, a new baby, a big deal. This is not about passively taking what comes your way. You must drive this and you must take full control and responsibility.

This will not be easy, but it is worth it, really, really worth it. Stop thinking that it will just happen, stop thinking that it should be easy, stop thinking that this shouldn't take a good deal of your time and energy or that it will be convenient. It will not be any of these things, and yet, in the end, you will love the results and remember the process with fondness. You will feel proud to own your results. This journey will change you, and I don't just mean your weight.

In the end, it comes down to an age old question; how badly do you want this?"

So inspired that I actually put a real pic up rather than the cartoon head I have been sporting for the last few years lol.

_{That is right - we will get there eventually! My hubby and I did hit Barnes and Noble for a yummy skinny latte and I picked up Michael Mosely's book - I know there is another 5:2 by another gal but I will start with his. Think I will watch the documentary again tonight (have it saved on the DVR). and I will give the 5:2 a whirl starting Monday 9/9 - you 5:2 folks have had such inspiring success!}

I did not know that caffeine can mess with one's insulin levels - I love my Starbucks 2 pump vanilla lattes - perhaps I should switch to Decaf. I usually do 2% milk rather than skim, I think a little fat is a good thing - lord knows the fat is low with the rest of the stuff I eat/drink. Heck maybe I should just switch to plain herbal tea and keep the lattes as an occasional treat. Not sure about you guys but I have a whole lot of skin to deal with (with plenty of padding left in it lol.) It has got to be at least 10 lbs. I'm guessing. I am just going to keep up the good habits - maybe someday I can have the last bits cut off and I will be at that 'magic upper range of healthy BMI haha.

I will just keep replying to my own threads then. another site that is fun is My Body Gallery - which was linked by a forum member a while back and I think I spend half a day there http://www.mybodygallery.com/