LL112

i second the recommendation on premier Protein strawberries. Great taste in my opinion and is a staple next to a cup of Fiber one every morning. One thing that helps is to drink them cold. I also recommend the Syntrax (nectar or matrix). There are a ton of flavors to choose from. When I was drinking nectar, my go to flavor was cookie and cream (might not work for you as it has chocolate crumbs in it). I did not like the fuzzy peach flavor. Anyways, there is a big selection of flavors to choose from. The muscle milk lite cake batter is also very good.

If you are anything like me, discipline or strong willpower is not something that comes natural. I have been developing mental toughness throughout the years when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight. Does your mind race with thoughts of eating a smorgasbord of different foods? Is every food going through your mind a carbohydrate loaded with sugar or salt? Do you think, “Let me just eat or drink what I want today, and I will get back on track tomorrow?” Do you go through a plethora of different feelings? You may not even know what you are feeling. All you know is that you are consumed with this urge to eat or drink, many times when you are not physically hungry.


Man, did I feel like that today. I just wanted to check out and lose myself in literally stuffing my face with junk food. I was consumed with thoughts of pizza, nachos and cheese, Gummy bears and Ben & Jerry’s New York City super chunk ice cream. Oh, and let’s not forget the Peanut Butter cup candy. Maybe your favorite question is, “Wine, anyone?” Maybe your choice of food to emotionally zone out is different, but is any of this resonating with you?
So what do I do when this pattern pops up in me? This is where developing mental toughness will get you the desired results you deserve. Below, I am going to walk you through four quick steps that have worked wonders for me in developing mental toughness, and I know they can work wonders for you!
4 quick steps to developing mental toughness:
1. First, realize your pattern of internal dialogue and foods when you are getting ready to emotionally eat or start binge eating. Once you begin to pay attention, you will notice that you crave the same foods every time and that there is an impulse or urge to eat right away. You will have the same automatic dialogue of eating and watching TV or telling yourself you’ll just eat this one time and start fresh tomorrow, etc.
2. Stop and realize you are trying to avoid or escape a bad feeling. We automatically want to feel good. Tell yourself that having a bad feeling is not the end of the world; you are not dying. Take a moment to identify the feeling, where it is in your body and what is it trying to tell you. If you cannot find it, that is okay. Just continue to tell yourself that it is okay to feel bad. Allow yourself to just sit with it.
3. Remember to breathe. Through this time, take deep breathes, letting go with every exhale.
4. Have the mantra: “There is no tomorrow. I only have this moment. What I do right now is the only thing that matters. What I do right now is creating my future.” Repeat this over and over again as you breathe.
You will notice that as you go through this process, the feelings that were leading the desire to eat will lesson; as they lesson, your desire to eat will lesson.
The key to developing mental toughness is to become aware of your automatic behaviors to escape bad feelings. If you follow these four steps every time you have an impulse to emotionally eat, you will create a new pattern of reacting to your feelings. When you have a plan to decrease the number of times you emotionally eat, you will be amazed at how quickly you begin to see results in weight loss!

I did my first triathalon (sprint 400m swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run)Sunday. So proud of my self it would have been easy to talk myself out of doing this in the past. Too Cold 52 degrees and wind gust 20mph +, lake temperature 65degrees. I did not talk myself out of it, completed it non stop and finished 4th in my age class 64th overall. Finished in 1:32 need to work on my run and transitions but overall very pleased with these results. More to come...

Wife sent this via Facebook this morning.

When I run and don't have on proper clothing to hold in the skin it sounds like I have an audience applauding me....

424 lbs (cowboys jersey) 334 lbs (dress)

It happens all the time. Every time I went into a store looking for his herb du jour, they were out of it because of everyone's mad dash to get it.

Our food budget went down a few bucks per week. Buying less, but higher quality foods, so they cost more.
However, all the food savings are now being countered by the extra costs of buying new clothes. That's a trade off I don't mind making........

For us, we're saving a considerable amount. I was taking Vitamins before so that's no change there. When we go out to eat typically we'll share a meal and my booze bill has significantly decreased... Usually I'll have a few sips of my finances beer where before I'd have ordered my own. I love the taste but the carbonation isn't that comfortable. I can usually get at least two meals out of my entree if I order my own and recently I actually got 4 since the portion was so huge. For home cooking, one chicken breast will usually make two meals for me. I used to dine out all the time for lunch but now I have a lot of leftovers so that saves money. I will get a free Water instead of soda/tea and I have been able to order smaller portions. Chipotle my bill before was $8.40ish and now it's $2.47 because I order one taco. I was just banded in December so I'll need to look at budgets for Nov vs this month for a proper comparison. My guess is easily $100 per month but it's probably more.

This is definitely a personal choice as has been mentioned many times. It is up to your personal levels of what you are willing to do and what your risk tolerance is. But one thing just caught my attention.
I've been rolling this between my ears. What does this mean to you?
If I were to internalize this statement when I was pre-sleeve, my comments, with a filter, would be:
I would like to lose a bunch of weight, but still be able to eat what I want at times.

If I were to remove the filter and speak frankly, it would be further resolved to:
I would like to lose all of my excess weight but still be able to abuse food at times like I do now.

My definition of what "normal" was isn't anywhere close to my new definition of "normal". For me to enjoy a "normal" Thanksgiving meal, I would have to end the day in a food coma. Now, I end the day chasing my kids around and having them chase me. To enjoy a "normal" date night with the wife meant finishing my dinner with no doggy bags. Now, we split an entree and take something home.
I've been at goal for 2 years now and I want nothing to do with my previous definition of "normal". I love my new normal.
I don't think there is a single WLS which would have allowed me to abuse food like I "normally" did. If you seriously want/need/desire WLS, I think you need to come to the realization that your fundamental relationship with food is going to change. If you are not OK with that, then WLS may not be for you.

OP: are you on a restricted calorie pre-op diet?

Sounds to me like your body is going through chemical cravings for carbs. I felt that way too when I first started the pre-op diet. It was like detox from a powerful drug. And i had all these crazy thoughts. So Id take a big bite of bagel or ice cream, put it in my mouth, enjoy it, and spit it in the trash. Worked for me, to get through the carb-detox.

There's a new fitness event at Disney! https://www.espnwwos.com/events/competitive-sports/disney-fit-challenge/
Sounds like a lot of fun!

I don't need any forum butt kickers. I'm married.

If you let the Water boil first and put the eggs in it takes 3 minutes to have a hard boiled egg.

I am really excited about the Breakfast I had this morning.
I made pumpkin spice steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot overnight. I had it this morning with a couple of ounces of vanilla Greek yogurt and a half tbsp of pecans. It's a keeper.
The whole meal came to 141 calories,
17.3 carbs (a little high, but really not bad for oatmeal.)
9 g Protein
Much better stats and taste than the instant.

well... I do hear all of you loud and clear, that's the reason I posted this - I sure wish there was a book out there that published a 4 week menu of eat this and the results were proven, the food easily prepared and the portions were stated. I've been looking and looking and looking - So coping out a little here with JC because it's already done - EASY... plus I'm more satisfied than I have ever been with these foods b/c after being banded for 5 months my appetite is way down - something I believe will be maintained forever now that I AM banded... NO? Because before the way I gained the weight back was from pigging out for an entire year, day after day 5,000+ calories - something I don't believe that I'll be capable of doing ever again b/c of the band... no???
And honestly the food is good - I had Cranberry Almond Cereal w milk, black Beans corn and orzo Pasta for lunch and turkey, mashed potatoes and green Beans for dinner - how is that any different than making the stuff myself? I'll tell you how it's different, once it's gone there isn't anymore to eat - no leftovers and no temptations to eat more than I should b/c at this stage even eating 200 more calories slows the weightloss - which is different from maintenance and gaining.
I completely GET that this banded life is so much more than the amount of food you put into your pie hole - I get that I am a Food Addict and I have to deal with that - that I have to learn how not to be triggered by shoveling food into my mouth to comfort the suck ass day that I've had... so, this really isn't about that - this is simply about what am I going to eat today. And now I look at my menu, and I'm like - oh - I get to have an omelet with potatoes, tuna salad & peaches for lunch and Salisbury steak for dinner - it's just a bit of a reprieve and pressure off from menu planning - I know I'll be back to that - that's life. Simply.
I've got a question from the posts above:
Learn how to use the band... hmmmmm I think I'm learning quite well thank you - I eat WAY less than I did pre-band and I don't eat bread, Cookies and ice cream... I went from eating an average of 5,000 calories a day to eating 1200 or less and eating way more lean Protein... is there something I'm missing with my education on the band? Fortunately for me now I eat a good helping and I'm satisfied for quite a few hours and I don't snack and I'm in really good spirits - plus I made it to the gym 5 days in one week this past week and even did lunges for the first time in nearly 5 years... why, I think I'm learning quite well - does doing JC mean I'm failing and I'm not learning to use the band? I'm just wondering this - has anyone been banded and used JC, WW or NS to shed some of the weight and get used to eating small portions? With all due respect to the four who have commented - if you haven't tried this WITH the band and gained all the weight back - well how do YOU know it's bound to fail? I like facts - if you look at my posts I write facts, I don't point my finger and shake it saying you should do this or that - I say "I did this & In my experience"... Cheryl it sounds like you've got a bad taste in your mouth (no pun intended ha) from these programs like they did you WRONG... I'm interested in how they did you wrong - if you don't mind sharing? Facts please - not "why don't you"... I'm truly interested
Has anyone tried these programs post band and have you been successful - ie, lost what they need to lose and have maintained outside of the program? If you have used these programs but were not successful - why weren't you?

I'm day 5 post-op and doing full liquids for six weeks. Yesterday I got a bowl of Soup from a local take-out. I had to eat the liquid and throw away the chunks of veggies, but it was fine, satisfying and only a little wasteful. So today I think, hey, speak up and ask for what you want. I spent several minutes explaining to the cashier that due to a dietary restriction, it would help a lot if today they could just skim the top, liquid part of the soup into my container and not give me any chunks from the bottom. Questions back and forth a few times, it seems they understood. When I paid at the second window, I confirmed that it was just liquid, right? Right, no chunks. Excellent, thank you! It smelled a little too good, however. Sure enough, when I opened it up later, there was the lovely liquid soup, with almost no chunks. Plus a hunk of bread and a free order of French fries. Gotta laugh. In the trash the freebies went. Good soup though.

My WLS support group yesterday had a plastic surgeon as the guest speaker. Although skin removal and other procedures may be a distant goal for me, if ever, I went to listen. I'm so glad I did. Occasionally, insurance may pay for a panniculectomy (removal of the stomach excess skin), but only if the excess skin is causing medical problems that have been documented and treated, unsuccessfully, by your primary care physician over a period of months. Translation... Don't attempt to treat rashes or sores or moisture issues from excess skin without your PCP's help, prescriptions, and documentation. Make a paper trail, and if the skin continues to cause problems, you will have a starting point to be able to request insurance to pay for that kind of procedure in the future. Many of us just deal with it on our own from embarrassment. Think proactively!

I have thought a LOT about this. I actually haven't had any friends who have sabotaged me, but I have had friend issues. One friend has become very distant from me. The weird part? He had the surgery on 12/17! I thought for sure we would be closer than ever, that both of us having the surgery would just further bound our friendship. Instead he has virtually ignored me. It has hurt me deeply and I have all sorts of negative reasons floating around in my head. But at the end of the day I suppose it is because he is on his journey and I am on mine. I also have a coworker that I got into a fight with. This person is the type of coworker that everyone hates to have. She is nosey, opinionated, a liar, and just generally not nice to be around. But over the years those of us who have to deal with her daily have tolerated her behavior for the most part, just grew thick shells. ( because upper management obviously will not do anything about her and we have to work with her) Anyway, one day a month ago I had all I could take of her. It was a particularly bad day for me (just wasn't feeling well) and I snapped. I told her off in no uncertain words. I regret I did it at work, because it was unprofessional. But I don't regret doing it. This incident made me think about how many times people who have lost weight "change". The former friends of people who have lost weight say "so and so changed". They say our attitudes change. I think it is true. I think when you are obese you tend to go out of your way to please people. We have put up with far more BS than we should. I think it is because it is how we perceive our role in friendships and relationships. There is already a strong sense of "we aren't worthy" dealing with the obesity and it transfers over to other areas of our lives. We accept less than perfect friendships because they are better than no friendships. And many put up with bad personal relationships because it beats being alone. But then that all starts to change when we decide to do something for ourselves. By having WLS we are looking out for #1 first and foremost. It is our health, our bodies, our lives. We start to shift in our perception of life as we lose weight. Suddenly what we accepted before becomes less tolerable. It is NOT ok to be the "fat friend" because we aren't anymore. People who treat us badly are no longer acceptable because we don't accept treating ourselves badly anymore. It does change us, more than just physically. So when pondering the loss of a friend after WLS just remember it is because YOU are becoming the better person. YOU are worth better!!!!

ARE YOU NUTS I can't wait for the weekends!
Jussssstttt kidding of course except I love my weekends. I wouldn't sweat it so much right now if I were you. Looks like you're just banded and when you get your band properly adjusted many of those urges or cravings will disappear. I mean it, it's so much easier when you're adjusted properly and maybe eat something that satisfies you before you go on your trips?
But I know how hard it is. Environment is one of the biggest enemies of weight loss of any kind. I'm fortunate, my wife is rather thin and eats healthy so it's easy around here. But, when I go visit my grandkids, OMG, the pantries are full of sugary cereals and chips of all kinds. My eyeballs roll so much I need a bottle of visine to re-lube them.
I've seen so many forum members stop by here who are failing or struggling because they live in households where everyone is obese and they continue to overeat. Or, the forum member is young and hangs with kids who frequent pizza, taco, ice cream places often.
Get those fills.
tmf

Hi all
I have a new one, yesturday I went out with my husband it was the first time in a couple of weeks that I drive my car after my fall ,when I get inside my car and start driving i saw my husband smiling and I ask him why he was smiling and he said because that was the first time that I did not fight with him regarding him moving my car seat, My husband is slim and always move my seat to the front when he drive my car, one time I was so upset that I prohibed him to touch it and use his car instead of my, now I realized that I was very rude with him and he never said nothing back to me, I love my husband !!!! )

I can relate to everything you've said. I honestly wasn't prepared at all for this part. For so long I wanted to be that person that lost weight, and hoped people would notice. To be totally honest, I never thought I'd get here. I had no clue how this could bring so many mixed emotions. I love it that people notice, yet hate it when they bring it up...if that makes sense. I never know what to say, or how to respond. Sometimes just a simple 'thank you', doesn't make them stop. it's overwhelming at times. I'm a very shy, quiet person in general. I have never ever enjoyed being the center of attention. This is all new for me.
Lately I've been getting hurtful comments...basically, backhanded compliments. Things like, "you're losing too much weight", "you need to eat something", "you're getting way too skinny". I can't help but wonder why when I was 300lbs no one bothered to tell me I was 'too fat', or to 'stop eating so much', or 'you're getting too fat'? It's no less hurtful now than it would have been 148lbs ago. I know they don't mean to hurt me, but it does. Again, I don't know how to respond to those things either.

Hi--my name is Carol. I am retired, married for 49 years, mother of 3, and Grandma of 2 lovely young ladies. All reasons that I am tired of carrying around this extra weight. I have Type 2 Diabetes, HBP, High Cholesterol, and a knee replacement that required 5 surgeries in 7 1/2 months due to infection. I have a great deal of difficulty getting around, and am convinced that even though my knee won't get better, it will be more functional if I lose weight. I have yo-yo dieted off and on for many years. When I first checked into WLS, it wasn't an option due to cost. Now, that is no longer an obstacle. During a routine visit with my PCP just three days ago, I brought up the possibility of Lap Band Surgery. He was all for it. I have had the same physician for over 20 years, so I am confident that he knows me well enough to make that recommendation. The next day, I researched doctors, contacted insurance companies. and signed up for a Seminar 10 days from now. The paperwork was e-mailed to me. It is completed and ready to go. I can't wait to start this journey. I have actually started rethinking my food choices and activities already. Some of my friends have referred to Lap Band as the "easy way out". They obviously haven't researched it like I have. One friend lost a lot of weight on Weight Watchers--something I was jealous of because I have tried that route several times. I just recently realized that Weight Watchers is no more than a tool, the same as lap band. We aren't all successful with the same tool. I'm almost afraid to throw this out there for fear of bursting this high-soaring bubble, but...please tell me if you have any experience with Medicare paying for this surgery. They assured me they will cover 80% after deductible and out-of-pocket expenses and my Medicare Supplement will cover the rest of any procedure that Medicare will cover. This sounds almost too good to be true, so I'm anxious to hear of others' experiences. I'll keep you updated--meanwhile, I'll be reading.

Banded June 2010. Rid of 168 pounds!

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Regain glasses suck.
The moment regain becomes a problem we put on those regain glasses and NOTHING looks good.


A few years ago I distinctly remember reading a post from a woman that went something like this.
I hate my hair. I don't like my face and don't know how to use makeup. I hate what I'm eating every day and I'm sick of it. Oh and I gained 5 pounds.
One of my most often repeated quotes...."we are rarely upset for the reason we think". Of course I assume you can guess what she was really upset about. I wrote her and told her to get a cute haircut, go to a department store and get someone to show her how to do makeup (free) or check out thousands of makeup videos on You Tube. I also told her she could change what she eats every day. Of course none of that made her feel better because she didn't FEEL like doing any of that because she was wearing her regain glasses loud and proud.
It seems that for most people everything looks pretty awful through those regain glasses. I want to help you take them off. You say "Yeah right…like I haven’t tried… and mostly..... I don't FEEL like it. I don't feel like doing anything." I have often pointed out that when you were at this weight on the way down you were ecstatic! Do you see how your perspective totally messes with your head? Why do we obsess about the lowest weight we ever reached instead of constantly realizing what our highest weight was and being grateful we aren't there? And if you choose to obsess about your lowest weight, doesn't it make sense to move towards doing something about it instead of continuing to walk down regain road?
Unfortunately we have this big adjustment to make after weight loss surgery because the first year we are wearing the "honeymoon glasses" and EVERYTHING looks GREAT! Remember how wonderful everything was when you lost your first 30-40 pounds? Yet you were heavier than you are now. You could hardly mess up at all the first year. It was all good!
One day you wake up and you can't find your honeymoon glasses. You start to take for granted the little things like being able to tie your shoes, paint your toe nails, fit in an airplane seat..... and the next thing you know it isn't enough anymore. Some of us hang in there for a while or even a long while and eventually something shifts and you start to think about how much you miss those honeymoon glasses.... you start looking for that feeling in other things like our old friend Mr. food. He’s tappin' you on the shoulder every day..."Pssst....remember me? Remember how much fun we had? Oh come on... a little sum-um sum-um won't hurt you". All the while your old friend has some regain glasses stuck in his back pocket just waiting to slide them on your face.
One of the most extreme cases of the perspective meter being out of whack was a woman I met who had lost 485 pounds. Not a typo! She lost 485 pounds but she had gained 40 back. She was all out of sorts and literally more miserable than when she weighed her heaviest.
I asked her to imagine that 485 pounds sitting on the floor. Right next to it 40 lbs. I guess we could say it looks something like this. (For those with perfectly analytical brains please forgive me…I guesstimated it)

I told her not to give that 40 pounds the time of day and dust it off. We give that regain so much power and of course we can pile plenty of shame on top of that for good measure. Shame is toxic, shame keeps us down. Shame keeps those damn regain glasses cemented to our face.
Here's the thing....if you don't take off the glasses and begin to turn things around....chances are that you'll look up in another year with more regain. Get off the insanity train today. Of course you remember... “Insanity=doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome”
Everyone is different but here are a few suggestions. You can’t build Rome in a day but you can always do the next best thing. (Thank you Post-Op and a Doc for “the next best thing”)
Look at your before picture in the morning and FEEL what you felt like. Sit it that for a while. I do that every morning without fail. Remember the things you wanted so badly. BE GRATEFUL you aren't there. If I could put you back in that body for a week you would be SO grateful to be you right now.
Quit thinking about the perceived mountain you have to move and pick up the shovel and start with one scoop at a time. Instead of Nike's "just do it", change it to "just start". (Thank you Chuck for that one) It’s too overwhelming to plan into the next century. I can hear the questions now….how long will this take? It DOES NOT matter. Just move toward your goal instead of away from it..... just for today. Today is all that counts.
Get the crap food out of your house. I know many people who find creative ways to do this with a family that feels they have to have the crap food. Put it in a place it can locked up but you'd do your family a favor by getting it out of their reach as well. Sugar and junk food is as addictive as any drug and they will guarantee that you will still be wearing those regain glasses. See my “M&M” story in this post.
Find a way to move your body that you can enjoy. I LOVE to dance. I hate to run….I wanted to love it but I don’t. I wanted that runner's high and I just could not get it. I love yoga and if you think you can’t do it, watch this! I describe yoga as slow dancing with yourself. Abby Lentz from Heartfelt Yoga is a dear friend. Look her up, she has DVD’s.

http://video.pbs.org/viralplayer/2365170173


You won’t do anything for very long if you perceive it as suffering. When you eat healthier food envision how you are nourishing your body. Remember it will make you feel better and look better instead of putting on more weight which equates to depression, physical pain, more misery and a shorter life span. Again the most important part of this is to stop the bleeding that has begun with regain. Nothing in life is easy so here comes your choices…...choose your hard.