Globetrotter

Since I do not eat "real" carbs - bread, potatoes, rice, anything made with flour, the carbs from the Click aren't punitive. And if I just want the coffee mocha taste I can just sprinkle some Click on the top of a chocolate flavored protein shake, like how they dust on cinnamon at a coffee shop, and that's less than a pinch which is negligible. Yum!!

You are in luck!! Click brand Protein powder makes a mocha blend that has 12 grams of protein per scoop. A serving is 2 scoops and has the equivalent of 2 shots of espresso. Mix a scoop with a scoop of chocolate protein powder, top it with some SF whipped topping and you wouldn't know the difference between it and a starbucks concoction. awesome!!

Today is my one year anniversary of having surgery. Not just one year ago today, but at this very moment I was in surgery in San Francisco. My last meal as a person with all of my original parts was homemade bruschetta. I have lost 114 pounds since that morning and there are times, often, when I am unable to grasp what that means. I am also more intimidated by my own decision to have surgery now then I was at the time of surgery. I had researched bariatrics for years before making the decision but sometimes now when I think about it I am alarmed that I actually did something so monumental. I have zero regrets, does any of this make sense? I am not to goal yet. The morning of surgery I weighed 294 pounds, this morning I weigh 180.8 pounds. 30.2 pounds away from surgeon's goal, 51.2 pounds away from personal goal. According to my surgeon I should have hit his goal by my 9th month so there are some frustrations but I continue to make an effort, be accountable, and progress in my recovery. When will I feel "normal"? Will I ever be un-selfconscious in a crowd? At what number will I feel like a thin/not fat person? How do I tell a potential romantic partner, do I tell a romantic partner? How do I react if someone tells a fat joke? As a currently fat person? As a former fat person? Not at all? And if I see myself as a currently fat person and speak to a fat person as a compatriot, will they think I'm a condescending ******* because they do not see me as fat? I don't have the answers to these questions yet. I am still excited about losing weight, very much want to get to goal, and am thankful that I did this, even if now that I am no longer super morbidly obese it is easy to recriminate myself with thoughts of, "oh I could have done this without surgery if I had been dedicated enough." And a very special thank you to the denizens of this site, and the site itself; without these arrows in my quiver I would not be celebrating this joy today. Thank you.

I threw away the tea biscuits and the only carbs in my house right now are from goat cheese, greek yogurt, and raw nuts. Some a$$clown brought Krispy Kremes to work yesterday, AND pepperonie pizza. Yes, I ate one plain doughnut and yes, I ate 1/3 of a slice of pizza. BUT, I stopped. I know that's not much of a triumph but it could have been much much worse, you all know what could have happened. I could easily have eaten several doughnuts, the whole slice of pizza, but I didn't. I've danced intensely for several hours the past two days and will attend a Zumba class today. As I mentioned, those protein bullets arrived and I've started up with my protein powders again in the mornings. I am getting back into the positive habit of journaling my intake in my online food tracker and taking it one day at a time. I never put much stock into that whole 5-day pouch test but it does make sense to try to zero out the carbs for a period to reboot my system. What with the move and all I'm just feeling lonely and vulnerable in this journey right now.

Hi everybody, I am approaching my one year anniversary, 14 July. I have lost 111 pounds and am still 33 pounds away from surgeon's goal, 54 pounds from personal goal. I haven't lost anything in over 53 days. Around that time I started eating carbs again, baguettes from the bakery, chocolate, croutons, rice in my sushi. A month ago I began driving from CA to KS it took over a week so no exercise. Then it took a solid week just to move into the house so, no exercise. Then I started my new job which includes a commute so, no exercise. Finally at the end of my 2nd week of work I went to the gym and went to a zumba class but I am still making bad choices with my food, chocolate coated tea biscuits, chocolate in many forms but I genuinely think that more than my choices it is my volume that has become bad. Suddenly, I am able to eat normal portions!! The other day I ordered a lettuce wrapped cheeseburger - I was able to eat the entire thing!! Granted, it was half for lunch and half for dinner but still, time was when one bite of burger would have had me sliming and staying the hell away from ground beef. Suddenly I am able to eat 2 scrambled eggs without stopping when once half of one egg would have filled my like thanksgiving dinner. I don't know what to do my peeps. I'm afraid that I have stopped losing and am really afraid that I will begin gaining. A supply of Protein bullets has finally arrived in the mail so I will have much better protein intake and I will no longer purchase any carb products for the house or order any in a restaurant AND I have made time in my schedule to exercise daily from here out. But what if it isn't enough? What if I'm just not going to make it to goal? How could my short body want to still be fat? Because, at 5'3", 183 pounds is still fat.

I'm so glad I saw this thread. I've recently begun a new situation; new job, new city, new house, no family or tangible social network nearby. So I see myself wanting to fall back into bad yet comforting habits. Curling up with DVDs and food, or books iand food, you get the picture. Thank goodness the gym on post is free and they have zumba classes so that will now be a daily part of my life again but I know I am not getting in enough protein or water, I have slacked on my vitamins, and my carbs are insane - easily above 70g's a day (they should be 30). I started the moving process exactly one month ago and since then have not strenuously exercised on a daily basis. Also, I am approaching my one year mark and my restriction seems to have up and disappeared and I am genuinely scared, I'm frightened. I don't want to get lulled into a sense of false security, just because I can wear clothes from normal stores now. I am still fat, I am 54 pounds over goal and have not lost any weight in 55 days. I'm just feeling a little panicky.

So I haven't been around for a long time because I've been on vacation. During this vacay I have lost about 15 lbs, though it should be more like 30, =(. However, now that I have crossed the 200 lb divide, joined the century club, and started dancing, my changes are happening more often and are way more noticeable; more changes have been apparent from 200 lbs to 185 lbs then in the previous 75 lbs. My constant comment since surgery 10 months ago has been that I did not recognize the changes taking place. Though I know of course that I am much different then I was, it is difficult to recall whether or not I was able to do a particular thing or not. I find myself, for example, scratching a shoulder blade or tying my shoelaces and I think, "was I able to do this? I don't remember!!" Here however are a list of victories that -I think- I did not have/was unable to achieve before: push ups lay on my stomach on the massage table with my face in the doughnut without feeling like I'm going to suffocate. sit on the ground with both knees drawn up AND my arms around those knees. wearing a size 12 PETITE J Crew cords styling my own hair without breaking into a sweat. putting my napkin on my lap and having it stay in place. having a lap. cheekbones lay on my back without being suffocated by my own breasts. hipbones. slipping the pilates ring around my thighs. going to the thrift shop and being able to pick up things for just a few bucks instead of being forced to pay $50 for a poorly made tacky polyester shirt at LB or Avenue. Being assessed by female strangers on the street - being seen as enough of a threat that they reach for their male companion's attention.(!!) 36DD on the tightest row of hooks, from a 42F on the loosest row AND spilling out of the cups. walking miles and. NOT. EVEN. NOTICING. JOGGING. hugging people and really being in the hug. You VSG homies know what I mean. discovering, quite for the first time in my entire life, that I have a REALLY GREAT A$$. (thank you pilates, thank you tango). Name brands - The Gap, J. Crew, Macy's INC, Ann Taylor, Levi's. These are a few of my favorite things, Thirty-five pounds until surgeon's goal, fifty-five pounds until personal goal, eventual plastics (arms! gut! tatas!), and slow as molasses, but a beautiful journey that I would not trade and that fills me with gratitude. Thank you VSG family, thank you surgeon, and most of all, thank you Self for taking the risk. =) =)

Waaaahhh?!!????? You're pregnant?!! YAY!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 11 weeks, that's about the time I came back from Iraq and I stopped being as constant here on the forum. How wonderful, I know you and your husband have wanted this for a long time, how did you find out and how did you tell him?

God, Christie, I really needed to read this right now. I returned from Iraq almost 2 months ago and in that time have only lost about 10 pounds. I know people will jump on me for saying "only" but yeah, only! With this surgery and being in my first year (8 mos out), I get to say "only" because we all know it should be more! I have fallen off with attending this forum, fallen off with inputting to my diet tracker, my protein is way low. Yes I have finally crossed over the Great Two Hundred Divide, but only just. I haven't hit 100 lbs lost yet. I am surrounded by delicious food and these old feelings of inadequacy are coming back - I'm the fattest one in tango class, in zumba class, and the biggest size in regular stores still doesn't fit me right, but the smallest size in plus is too big. in the last 20 days I have lost maybe 3 pounds. I'm eating protein bullets, greek yogurt, sashimi (no rice), and baked chicken almost every day. I dance or zumba or something every day. And only a pound a week. =( =(

Hello from sunny San Diego! When last you heard from me I was a ball of anxiety, preparing to leave Iraq. That was three weeks ago. Since then I did indeed leave Iraq, proceed through the aggravating Army redeployment process, cross the country (seeing friends and family along the way), and finally drove from Colorado to California, where I am now. Now I am with a dear friend helping her out with her newborn. My eating has been disordered of course, and unconscious anxieties about returning home etc. have manifested themselves in carb & chocolate indulgences that may or may not have turned into 3 lbs. Travelling (tmi alert) always makes me super constipated though so that might just be fake pounds, a couple of courses of miralax will tell. =P I am in the two-oh's though, I thought I was even 201 the other day but today it says 205, which may be the snickers (yeah I know I know) talking. This is a healing process, coming home, and way more difficult than leaving home. I actually bought a dress in the regular women's department at Target the other day - xxl of course, but still! It is a little thin cotton sundress with a deep v neck that I wore with a tiny amethyst cardigan and little silver strap wedgie sandals. It was the first time I had worn a short (knee length) dress in 12 years. Very strange. A lot to process. So I leave here soon and will travel northward to the bay area where I will settle down for 2+ months of quiet living, I will reconnect with my food, my exercise, my self. Here's hoping those months find me slipping under the 200 lb. equator and sailing toward goal. =)

Breakfast - 1.5 sausage patties, 1/2 plain crepe, 1/4 cup oj lunch - 4 oz chicken, 1 oz steamed veg medley, 2 oz shredded imitation cheddar dinner - unknown! Snack - maybe a granny smith apple, maybe a Protein shake, maybe a chocolate chip cookie, maybe nothing, who knows yet! vits - Flintstone's gummies Water - probably not enough, but will try!

It varies, I try to keep it below 850, I'm supposed to keep it at 600.

2 years before surgery I weighed everything that went in my mouth and worked faithfully with a personal trainer for 5 months and lost 20 lbs. When I sat down with my surgeon he pulled out a sheet of paper and drew a timeline graph of how the post-op weightloss would go. He emphasised that there is a 9-12 month honeymoon period wherein the excess weight comes off and whatever doesn't come off in that timeframe would have to be dieted off like a regular person, because after a year your body adjusts internally to the surgical changes. He also expected me to hit his goal (150) by 12 months. So here I am at 7 months out with 62 pounds to go before hitting his goal, 82 lbs to hit my personal goal (130). I try to visualize when I went from acceptably chubby, the kind of fat that can be hidden, to unavoidably fat and embarrassed and uncomfortable. I stopped wearing a swimsuit in public by the mid 150's, high heels became painful by the 170's. So I am going to be at surgeon's goal before I feel capable and not obese.

I can get protein powders, but I have discovered that if I start my day with a protein shake, I stay hungry all day, so I try not to depend on them.

Overall weight loss has been very slow, about 55 lbs in 6 months.

can't wait to have these "problems"!!

I was never a stereotypical woman regarding TOM before surgery, now I am a walking cliche - give me chocolate, shut your mouth, get out of my way! My hunger rages and only chocolate will soothe the savage beast, chocolate and exercising at the gym like I'm being chased by the hounds of hell. The upside to that is that for whatever reasons - call it pent up energy, rage ... - I am able to go farther and harder at the gym during that time. RAAARRR!!

Works "too" well? Is that like winning "too much money" in the lottery?

Here is a link to an excellent article that explains why I get that amazingly pleasurable and satiatied feeling after weight sets that take me to muscle failure ... http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/phys-ed-what-really-causes-runners-high/?scp=1&sq=runner's%20high&st=cse

*GULP* Thanks everybody, I'm redeploying right now and it is just extra easy for things to get spun up and blown out of proportion in my mind right now. Plus I'm "behind" in my weight loss by surgeon's timeline so that is added pressure. I'm tired of not succeeding, I want to win! BTW - this is off topic and I'll post the rest in the Fitness tab, but there was an excellent article in the New York Times about the so-called, "runner's high". How really, it is the cannabinoid receptors in your brain responding to intense effort. This produces a euphoric almost orgasmic sense of calm and satiation. Where did I put my sneakers?!?!

I'm trying to get back down to eating only 600 calories a day but I am discovering that without liquid Protein bullets or low-carb protein powders, it is next to impossible to get 80 grams of protein while only taking in 600 calories! I miss vegetables sooo much; peppers, cucumbers, radishes, fresh peas, fresh carrots straight out of the ground, heirloom tomatoes, arugula, spinach, leeks, yams, chard, kale, baked squashes. And real cheese with no additives or anything, just bacteria and time. Same goes for yogurt, and I miss real pure unadulterated meat; fish, rabbit, pork, real chicken that hasn't been pumped full of steroids and antibiotics. I miss heirloom grains and real genuine butter and fruit that gets bruised and goes bad because ripe fruit was not meant to last forever. My homage to food. And now, back to our regularly scheduled calories.

I am a naturally anxious person and you guys, reading all of this has me in such a panic, it makes it seem like there is no hope no point that the sleeeve isn't even going to help and I'll just be fat fat FAT. I need to hear positive words of encouragement, how I'm not going to end up like that 4-year woman. I'm frightened because it feels like everything has become a slider food; steamed veggies, turkey, tuna, peanut butter. So if I want to maintain eating proper sized meals that don't tempt me to overeat, I will have to stay eating cardboard chicken breasts and that's it! In serious panic mode right now ... I miss real food, to think that I will have to eat plain dry chicken breasts 3 times a day for the rest of my life makes me want to weep.

I assume you meant "bowel" movement and that is totally normal. With surgeon's okay, incorporate a gentle laxative like miralax into your hydration. Also remember, 4 days out from surgery, there isn't anything in your system to get rid of, you're empty, like a vampire.

I'm 7 months out and the only food that doesn't work well for me so far is pasta, very uncomfortable feeling. I haven't tried rice yet, or soda so those may turn out to be unfriendly. Of all the proteins, red meat keeps me satisfied and full the longest.