Globetrotter

It's funny, I used to go out of my way to make sure that the top of my breasts were smooth with the bra cup, no bubbling out or "quadra boob". Now I have 2 bras that I purposely bought small (DD) so that I get the quadra boob effect - it is the only way to make them look juicy! =P

DeaKay - Running outside IS more difficult than the treadmill, and it's not because you are doing something incorrectly! When we run in an uncontrolled environment we are using every party of our bodies, including our minds, to negotiate and navigate the terrain so it is definitely more taxing. That said, I was told by an experienced runner that 180 steps per minute is a best practice golden standard for running. You want a nice loose canter, so that you are sort of prancing along, with your arms bent at the elbow, loose fists bouncing in front of your ribcage. The next time you run take a stop watch or your wristwatch and cound how many pairs of steps you take in a minute of jogging, adjust your gait until you have 90 pairs. For me, the most difficult part of all of this has been the breathing, my throat and lungs give out on me long before my muscles do! I still need help in breath regulating. Hope this helps you!

more in the fitness NSV category! I started crossfit last week and am learning how to "lift" - I dead lifted 100 pounds last week and am learning how to "clean jerk" this week, eventually my goal is to be able to do a real pull up - so far I am just hanging from the bar with my knees up but it's a start!

Went to my third crossfit class last night, am in excruciating pain but am also thoroughly satisfied. It was effing DIFFICULT and I was capable! I learned how to jump rope "singles", like you see boxers do, I did burpees - throw you body onto the ground into a push up, pop into a squat position and then jump up and clap and then do it all over again. And, for the first time since I was 12, did a handstand! That was a true moment of realization for me - I could do a handstand and I did not crumple beneath my weight, in fact I did several! I could not have done so 2 years ago. At the end of the work out we took weight bars and laid them across the tops of our thigh muscles and slowly rolled them down the muscle. %&*#!! blindingly painful, but good. I was so sore from Monday's crossfit I didn't think I could do last night's but I did, and I'm going back Friday!

Almond milk in my protein shake, scrambled eggs, an angus beef patty, spinach, and peanuts were my foods yesterday, felt fine. Today the same minus the peanuts but plus some hummus, which is just ground up chickpeas and lemon juice and OO. Total calories today less than 800.

I want this, and an arm lift, and a total body contour, and a neck tightening and eventual facelift, and a thigh lift, and some restylane or botox in my face. Written out like this it seems like a lot, but my whole body needs to be taken in!

For my first 6 months I weighed every single morning like clockwork, after (sorry TMI) my morning BM. C'mon, we ALL know that is the best time ... anyway, I steadily lost a pound every other day, I should have recognized this fact and weighed accordingly but I didn't, I weighed every day. So, every other day, I'd be in an awesome mood! And every other day, get out of my @%$^&* way >=[. Now I haven't been on my scale in over a month, because the number hadn't changed in 3 months and it was getting so dispiriting. Maybe the morning after the last day of my next cycle I will get on and face the music =/

Yeah, that soon post-op and your hydration is the mitigating factor in everything. I went through extreme fatigue in my first 2 weeks po, I think most of us do, after all, you are taking in less calories all day than an infant in a single meal!

Oh man, I wonder what a Muscle Milk lite combined with Vanilla Latte Click protein powder, with a dash of chai spice - iced, would taste like!!! OMG!!

What are your stats Mambear? A 20 pound regain is not good of course but it's a different story if it's 20 pounds from a 60 pound total loss or 20 lbs from a 180 lb total loss. Also, there will always always be excellent brilliant excuses for not exercising. Yours are airtight of course, we who battle food addiction are very good at excuse making, just like most addicts. Have you ever sought therapy? Therapy is the final and possibly most important leg in our tripod of recovery. If you are genuinely ready to change then might I suggest: 1) A 5 day pouch reset, starting today. 2) A walk around the block, this evening. 3) Open a new tab as you are reading this and find a cognitive therapist in your area and make the phone call. now. Welcome to VST, a good place to learn and share and know that we've been there too!

A dermatologist for the skin stuff, a salon for the eyebrows, look up "threading" in your area, it gives a much more natural result for eyebrow thinning/grooming which is good for men. Some of the good new barber shops will offer these services.

As my face thins out I am developing harsh angles from my cheekbones down to my mouth corners, hard to explain but they make me look very ... harsh. They aren't frown lines or "marionette" lines, hard to explain, and I don't know if it calls for filler or not. Celebrities always look ****ed up when they mess around with their cheekbones.

This is a deep muscle so topical cremes won't do anything but botox will and the effects will be immediate, a friend of mine had it done on her "elevens", it cost $250 out of pocket, and they smoothed out almost immediately. You could also look at restylane which is a filler rather than botox, which just paralyzes the muscle so it doesn't make that shape.

It's all about the Click! Click espresso protein powder, one serving is the equivalent of 2 shots of espresso but pure protein! Some Click, some good quality chocolate protein powder like Jay Robb or Tera's Whey, ice cubes, almond milk, some SF Torani syrup, maybe even some SF whip and cocoa for dusting, put it in one of those Starbucks cups made to look like their disposable to-go cups and nobody can tell the difference! Your tastebuds will not know the difference, yum! Make a couple of protein doughnuts from World According to Eggface and you are the cleverest person in 'bux! =D

And this is why I LOVE living alone! =)

I'm so glad to see this thread, I thought I was the only one! I've been sleeved almost 2 years and I think I managed to vomit twice and sometimes as horrible as it is, you really do need to puke and you know you would feel so much better if you did so it is a strange sort of frustration to not be able to do this (horrible gross) thing. I was so ill and desperate one of the two times I puked that I actually tried to help things along and stuck my finger down my throat. *shudder* that was so so SO horrible.

I love pilates and yoga and have done both for about 9 months. The effects of pilates are gradual and you may think you aren't accomplishing anything until one day you realize that you lowered yourself into a perfect plank position without even thinking about it. I love to dance and pilates was so helpful in strengthening my core for balance. I would agree with Blackberry tho - fun and energetic are not 2 words I would associate with Pilates. =)

There's Torani and Da Vinci, most people have heard of Torani I think they are sold in more places. Also I do not know if Da Vinci makes sugar free and I know Torani does. They are super sweet to my tastes, less than a 1/4 tsp in a serving of greek yogurt is enough for me

Well I guess we'll find out.

Thanks Coops! I'm looking at about a 1700 calorie deficit today, about the same tomorrow and for the rest of the week. Plus, my exercise this week is alternating grueling calisthenics and low-impact high-intensity yoga so we shall see what happens. I also will try to make my water req's. I'm afraid of the same results that beset you, zero loss, but I have to try at any rate! When you were so strict with yourself, were you also counting sugars? Ever since I added a sugar counter to my food tracker it has made me much more conscious of my intake, it's sneaky stuff!

I ran the numbers for my BMR, how many calories I am burning on a daily basis, and how many calories I am taking in. The numbers are rough of course but if my calculations are mostly correct, and it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to burn a pound, then I should lose 2 pounds by Friday, today is Monday. People are so fond of saying calories in-calories out, so I am out to prove it true - or not. What do you think might happen?

This is pretty much how I eat already, my only dairy sources are butter and greek yogurt, if I stay away from cheese, flour-based products and too much red meat my skin improves dramatically. Then, if I eat so much as one big bite of cheese, within an hour I have the start of a gnarly painful pimple =(. I'll do it! I can't cut out the greek yogurt as it is too important for my protein but I will cut out the butter, switch spinach for my useless romaine hearts, and add in more veggies. Fruit has too much sugar so I won't up my intake and I will cut out my SF popscicles and sweetener in my tea. I suspect a whole lotta chicken in my immediate future!! =)

I have forgotten what it was like to "live" morbidly obese, and that's not good. This weekend I went to a prom-themed charity event and wore a miniscule dress the size of a postage-stamp and teetery platform pumps with what had to be at least 6 inch heels. And yet, I look in the mirror and don't properly see any difference between now and then. That's effed up! I was a 26/28 at my heaviest, why can't I remember the exhaustion, the humiliation, the constant sorrow? Maybe I am self-protecting because it is difficult to face just how horrible it was, after all, hiding and denial were how I survived for so long in that prison of my body. hmm. I don't want to go back, I want to authentically feel proud of this accomplishment, yet I don't feel yet that I've done anything to warrant such pride.

I don't have any WLS cookbooks but I do have The World According to Eggface's blog bookmarked on my computer and that is pretty much the best bariatric cookbook ever. =)

haha, it totally drove me nuts too! I think it stands for Workout of the Day, because I guess it changes daily so it's like, if it's Monday it must be such and such WOD. =) I'll be able to better report after tonight, since I've only done 1 introductory class and tonight is my first real one *gulp* =)