Ms skinniness

This is a great support group people.....I'll be there too.....

Be wise and see a doctor you can trust.....I do have lbp and my PCP told me to eat more salt. I also drink electrolyte drinks that are low calorie to zero....it does help....

This is a fantastic progress! You rock girl....the 5:2 diet (hate that word diet) does help us get to where we want to be if we work it...

This is extreme but when his legs are bowing etc, perhaps it's better to sleeve this little guy. I have seen other programs where a 4 year old was always hungry due to some medical issue and would continue to eat, eat, and eat and they had to lock all the food up. Perhaps this is one of those cases. As for the parents.....my heart goes out to them....who knows.......

Proud grammy you rock! BTW OP, I hate it when my DH touches my excess skin.....but other than that, it rocks! :wub:

I deal with skinny b***** by smilin and saying, "never the less, this is what I choose and I hope you can be supportive of me." My BF thought that I would continue to lose weight and not stop.....She also struggled with my getting skinny and made a remark walking out my front door in a barely audible voice, "I can't stand your skinniness!" This is where I adopted my name MsSkinniness..... Yep, that's me and she will just have to deal with it. I don't talk with her about it anymore, I'm over it. Love it... You will do fine and your boss is lost and it's totally her issue, so please don't give her or anyone else much thoughts about it now....This is for your health and the fantastic side effect of getting skinny...... You can do it...

FYE you look fantastic! Thanks for sharing.....

You look totally awesome girl! Love it.... I love my blue jeans and Tank tops too.....

Isn't it funny when we actually see ourselves in the mirror or a reflection in the window and then realize "hey that's me!" I love this too. Your DH is so funny too, he must have forgot to tell you how skinny you are now......OD I'm glad you had a good time with your bro.....Thanks for telling us Allen's name, he must be a good guy too..... Interesting thing happened to me since Saturday. i went to the USC football game and remember thinking why can't I just stop thinking about food and stop eating when I'm not hungry. Well, Sunday I actually got up, didn't feel like eating, automatically drank a Protein Shake for Breakfast, a Protein Bar for lunch and a Protein shake for dinner. i was invited to go out to dinner with a friend and declined. I actually told him I wasn't hungry.. Yayyyyyy! I never would have done this before. Today I got up with a raging HA and spent the whole morning trying to figure out if i was dehydrated or the HA was from low carbs.... Then at lunch I realized that I had a HA from fasting without even trying. To top it off. I'm also fasting today too. It's such a breeze. This is what I put out to the universe on Saturday. I am really going to learn how to do this daily.....I've always wanted to not focus on food and I did it....so excited..... M2G I am going to look for the other posting on 5:2 to find out about your blood results.... LV I love your tatoos girl! FYE I would love to see your tatoo too! You ladies rock! Keep on truckin everyone, it's a beautiful day today....

These look delicious! Thank you......

This is such a wonderful journey and you have done terrific....Can't wait to hear about how the plastics go and about how much weight will be gone...... LV you look so tiny in your pic! Keep it up girl!

We are all going to have to make our decisions. I am addicted to sugar but I still have sugar because it's everywhere. So I am doing the moderation thing too. I just find myself wanting more sweetness and not being able to stop when eating candies. This is such a learning process for me....We will learn and regulate our intakes and i will work on not beating myself up when having a little sugar....Moderation is a great goal, just not a lot....

I try to stay on the parameters of the grocery store where the fresh nonprocessed foods are.....No wonder so many of us got so fat........We've been subjected to processed sugary products...... Hard to detox but can be done.......

Good job to all the hard work that you have done to accomplish this.

Have u looked into the 5:2 diet? You eat normal for 5 days and then any 2 days of the week u eat 500 calories. There's a post in the veteran section with a really good explanation by Georgia. BTW you are a success! You look really good. The rest will come off. It takes time.

I am such a sugar addict that I found this to be of help in some ways. Hope you enjoy it... Addicted to Sugar? 7 Steps You Need to Take Before You Can Break Free Last month, I devoted my blog to reviewing some of the more surprising adverse health outcomes associated with excess sugar consumption. While most of us know that sugar is not the best substance to load our body with, many individuals struggle with tactics in actually breaking free of their addiction to sugar -- and yes, it can truly be an addiction. In fact, the results of one study showed that a greater neurological reward was provided by intense sweetness than by the drug cocaine. Similar findings occur when we look at withdrawal from sweet as well, indicating that getting off sugar may cause the same neurological symptoms as withdrawing from nicotine, morphine and alcohol. Now more than ever, we are seeing more and more associations linking addictions of sugar and drugs in the same bucket. Additionally, we all face the unfortunate reality that sugar is readily available in our food supply as a cheap fix for our cravings, 24 hours a day, in thousands of different venues and forms. Finally, we often use sugar as a reward (kid stops throwing a tantrum at the store, kid gets cookie at home) and the main food substance during celebrations (when is the last time you saw birthday candles sticking out of broccoli florets or a 1-year-old baby smashing lentils in his or her face for the quintessential first birthday picture)? So given these studies and the vast availability of this stuff, is there any hope? Can you really break free from the chains of sugar addiction? The answer may be yes, and it doesn't necessarily include admitting yourself to a rehab facility for six weeks. The start of your sugarless healing could perhaps come in the form of seven easy steps. Step 1: Don't replace real sugar with artificial sugar. In an effort to provide us with the sweetness we crave without the excess calories we dread, manufacturers created artificial sweeteners. The first, saccharin, was discovered in the 1870s by a scientist at John Hopkins University. He wasn't trying to come up with a fake way to sweeten our foods, in fact, back then food actually was actually that -- food. He was actually working on coal tar derivatives and as the story goes, some of the white substance spilled onto his hand. Later that evening, the substance on his hand transferred to the roll he was eating at dinner making it exceptionally sweet. After that fateful spill on the hands, the world of food has never been the same. Artificial sweeteners have been blamed for a lot of things that ail us -- but most recently, artificial sweeteners and their effect on our ability to lose weight have come into focus. As it turns out, a lack of calories doesn't always equate to a lack of consequences. A 2013 study in the journal Diabetes Care found that artificial sweeteners can actually alter the way the body metabolizes sugar. A 2008 animal study found that rats given artificial sweeteners ate more calories throughout the day and as a result, gained weight. The researchers found that the ingestion of artificial sweeteners essentially caused confusion between the gut and the brain. The authors of the study stated that, "sweet foods provide a 'salient orosensory stimulus' that strongly predicts someone is about to take in a lot of calories. Ingestive and digestive reflexes gear up for that intake but when false sweetness isn't followed by lots of calories, the system gets confused. Thus, people may eat more or expend less energy than they otherwise would." While these studies provide incentive from a weight approach to kick the fake sugar habit, it's what artificial sweeteners are doing to your sugar-laden diet that is most concerning for the true sugar addict. Why? Studies show that replacing regular sugar with artificial sweeteners is akin to kicking your cigarette habit by switching to cigars. You're still getting the sweetness you crave, so you're never really taking away the sweet taste that keeps calling your name. Chances are, you'll go back to the real stuff. I often tell my sugar addict patients on day one that in 60 days, I want them to crave salmon over licorice. They look at me like I have two heads of course, but after three months of truly sticking to a no-sugar plan, their cravings do actually turn. Step 2: Start an exercise regimen and add milk to your diet. Eating lots of sugar has been shown to enhance reward mechanisms in the brain, thus making it difficult to break the habit. Rats that were given sucrose for example, wanted more of it and self-fed with it if it was available in their cage. While the comparison may seem extreme, I see this as no different than the individual who keeps candy bars, Cookies and hard candies in their home or office desk. If it's there, and you've got a preference for it, chances are high you'll eat lots of it and chances are even higher that you'll feel pretty good after eating it -- at least for a little while, until you crash and need more. But what if you could boost one of your most efficient acting "feel good" effects through foods other than sugar? One study for example, showed that consumption of whey Protein (a major protein found in milk) increased serotonin (a feel-good hormone first isolated at the Cleveland Clinic that is associated with mood elevation). Other studies have found an association between exercise and serotonin increase as well. Step 3: Say "no" to fat-free products. Here's the low down on fat-free foods. Fat (something we like that tastes really good) goes out and sugar (another thing we like that tastes really good) goes in. Why? Because manufacturers are selling you on the fact that the product is fat-free -- not sugar-free. Huge culprits include fat-free salad dressing (honey or high fructose corn syrup often coming in as the second or third ingredients), fat-free cookies or cakes (angel-food cake for example has a devilish 20 grams or more of sugar per slice), fat-free puddings, muffins and reduced-fat Peanut Butter are also offenders. The solution? Keep your salad dressings and peanut butter the full-fat variety. The monounsaturated fats in them will actually help to increase your overall sense of satisfaction and slowly move away from the cookies, cakes, muffins and puddings by trying out some of the other tactics in this article. Step 4: Improve your sleep habits. A 2013 study found that our circadian sleep cycles have a whole lot to do with whether we reach for a cookie late at night. We also are less equipped to resist a high-calorie treat (sugar-laden doughnuts come to mind) if we are sleepy throughout the day, according to another study. An additional study found that when individuals were sleep-deprived, their reward activation centers in the brain were actually greater, thereby making it more difficult to say no to the candy bar. Bottom line, while diet and exercise have a lot to do with staying away from the sweets, neither of them will be as effective if you're not getting enough ZZZ's. Step 5: Keep Snacks close by. One tactic that's worked with many of my patients is keeping healthy snacks on hand. I had one patient who told me that she'd be driving her car and would see an ice cream shop and without even realizing it, would be entering the parking lot to get a fix. Her impulses were reduced though, when she started to keep trail mix in her glove compartment. She could easily grab it and have a few satisfying bites of peanuts, raisins and whole-grain pretzels. Just this simple action distracted her from the ice cream shop. Figure out what your trigger is and have something on hand to distract yourself. It could be an apple in your purse, a bag of healthy popcorn in your pantry or a string-cheese stick in your office refrigerator. Step 6: Chew gum. A 2009 study found that individuals who chewed gum hourly and for at least three hours in the afternoon reduced their cravings for sweet snacks. While the study used a sugar-free gum variety, which does in fact contain artificial sweeteners, it nonetheless provides an interesting tactic to perhaps lower your sweet cravings. Step 7: Never forget the benefit to your body. One of my patients has a serious sugar addiction. The challenges with these patients are helping them gain a greater ability to lose their sugar cravings without gaining weight. One thing this patient told me was the secret to her success was remaining constantly aware of what sugar was doing to her body. She told me she's been able to stick to her no-sugar plan partly because her desire to be around for her grandkids had become more powerful than her desire to eat a bunch of gummy bears. Remain focused and never forget that reducing your sugar addiction has benefits well beyond the perfect body. For more by Kristin Kirkpatrick, M.S., R.D., L.D., click here.

Georgia your right! Time to get the gusto going again. I know I've been a little complacent more now than ever. So here's for kickin it up. Cheri where are you? GT where are you? Are you doing ok? LV it's good to have you back...... Coops I really have to avoid those biscuits! I'd probable eat a whole lot of them... LOL OD hope your having a good day today, I believe that your fasting today........You can do it.....

You are such a winner! It just gets better from here on out...

Hey don't forget you were wearing your clothes today too which add a little bit of weight.......Stop worrying about the rate of loss and enjoy the journey. It will take longer now than before but that's ok, you will get there. Just be vigilant about eating proteins and cutting out processed foods if possible.......You got this........now "Just do it" like the pro you are.....

Georgia I'm so excited for your 160! SUCCESS! You rock girl! FYE it's good to hear about the restriction at dinner last night, sometimes I get fearful I have a stretched stomach because I an definitely eat a lot more these day and I really want to eat less. But I'm such a grazer which is considered a new binge for sleevers these days. So got to stop... OD what ever the scale says is it. No big deal because you know you will get it off! The scale is just a way to measure things so we can get back on track... Today was a good morning, I work up and I had actually lost another lb.... I've been eating basically Protein with little carbs and that has definitely helped.....So today will be a protein day and see if more comes off. I'm getting there slowly and surely.....

This is exactly what I would tell you also.......Focus on Proteins and increase your Fluid intake too.....and exercise, just keep moving......Congrats on your success and there is more to come.......

Coops that's fantastic! Congrats.......

Gosh, I really love being the smaller one in the group now......I am actually the stronger one because I have the coping skills to take care of me when all is said and done. I know what it's like to be on both sides of the coin now. It is a miracle in our self esteem as well. It will take a lot of work and will be psychologically painful at times, but the end result is so worth it! I highly recommend working with a therapist throughout this process to gain new insights and coping skills to change the old thought processes that have driven you till now. You will be a great success and will be very proud of yourself too.....

I chose this surgery because all other diets failed me and I was so tired and depressed about my weight. I intuitively knew that I needed this surgery for my health. Yes, the sleeve is just a tool and it does help with reminding me that I need to eat healthy and cut out the sugars as much as possible. It has helped me learn more about the addictive things that are put into our food that makes us want more. I can eat a ton of candy if I choose to and I always feel like I let myself down and it shows by an increase in weight. So I jump back on the wagon and cut out all sugars and the weight decreases. I am a food addict and the sleeve reminds me the toxic relationship I have with sugar......I eat mostly paleo and cut out the majority of processed foods. I don't eat anything with corn in it except on rare occasions and I love eating small portions now. OP: If you are questioning this, then perhaps your not ready for the surgery yet. It is ok to wait because this is a permanent procedure that in non reversable.... I love my new journey with my skinniness and feel so much more healthier too. It is still work and I'm learning to deal with the struggles of healthy eating....... This is the life I have chosen.........

Look at you girl! Sitting on top of the world in your skinny body! You look absolutely beautiful! You are a success.........Yep, you are just right with your skinniness! Love it you skinny Goddess!