Reputation from Just-A-Gem

Just-A-Gem got a reaction from TheWigster in HOUSTON Sleevers? September 4, 2014

Congrats on your surgery and great post-op loss Shiner86!! I am in Dickinson/League City! Great to see some locals in the house! I was sleeved in September 2011 and am hopping back on here for a while as I work through some maintenance issues.. The struggle is real. LOL.

Just-A-Gem got a reaction from Ms skinniness in Drinking with meals August 28, 2013

When I got to about 18 months out, I started slipping on this. I'm trying to get back into the habit, but I guess that the pain I used to have just went away.. I am at 24 months now with no regain, but I do believe in the logic behind this rule and I'm working on getting back to it.

Just-A-Gem got a reaction from Ms skinniness in Drinking with meals August 28, 2013

When I got to about 18 months out, I started slipping on this. I'm trying to get back into the habit, but I guess that the pain I used to have just went away.. I am at 24 months now with no regain, but I do believe in the logic behind this rule and I'm working on getting back to it.

Just-A-Gem reacted to LilMissDiva Irene in The Basics Boot Camp August 22, 2013

*hugs*
There will come a moment where one will realize that the sleeve is nothing more than a small stomach. Our brains will still operate the same way it did before. The whole not wanting to eat feeling only lasted for me for about 4 months. After that I still had to deal with all the same need to eat feelings I ever did before. I couldn't eat AS MUCH of it, and that was the only difference. Now there are even slider foods that I *can* eat as much as I could before. I have to really watch my portion sizes with those. Just something to look out for.
Don't beat yourself up! You are human!! We are living the same flaw, but please know as long as you really do the best you can, you can keep it muffled most of the time. I have to trick myself to keep me from eating bad foods. I now have myself on a eating schedule, much like a baby would be. Monday through Friday I'm still logging my foods, and I eat ONLY at certain times of the day. I just work really well like this. I'm a type person where I thrive under order and regimen. I cannot live life by the seat of my pants, because left to my own devices I will usually choose the wrong answer.
Here's my suggestions:
Get yourself off the bad carbs/sugar.
Do really low carbs like mentioned in this diet. It will help ease the cravings for it.
Log everything! I use www.myfitnesspal.com - I am Lilmissdiva_Irene there, send me a FR!
Once those 5 days are up, get back to a healthy well balanced eating plan. Protein first, then veggies and a few bites of good complex carbohydrates for your solid meals. Keep logging!!
Do not eat past 7 PM!! It's just not good, and believe me, I have a hard time with this one too. I am really trying hard to stop that.
If you do not already, begin some type or workout routine. Even burning an additional 500 calories per day translates too an extra Lb of fat gone forever every week that you would not have lost otherwise!
Find a regimen that works for you. Here's mine, Monday through Friday I avoid the "C"s... that being:

Candy
Crackers
Cakes
Chocolate
Cookies
Chips
Cereal
Pop Corn
Ice Cream
I do not log on the weekends though but please note, I am not trying to lose weight. If you are still trying to lose, then maybe leave yourself only 1 free day per week.
It's NOT easy!! I stress this all the time, but never ever forget - YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!

Just-A-Gem reacted to ouroborous in The Basics Boot Camp August 22, 2013

So, looking at this diet, it seems very "paleo" -- if you're eating like this, you're eating:
Very high Protein -- a good thing, especially for us sleevers. Not to the point of Atkins -- which is bad, and taking a good thing too far -- but maybe South Beach-y, which is a good, solid, sensible plan
Very high complex carbohydrates -- another good thing. Most Americans do NOT get enough vegetables (and no, potatoes don't count!)
Very high Water (more on this in a moment)

Now, dramatic short term weight loss is only possible in two cases:
Significant anorexia. "Anorexia" is actually a medical term, not a disease (technically, the disorder is "anorexia nervosa" -- or "mental" anorexia). Anorexia just means that you're eating too little, medically speaking. And it's not healthy! When you're anorexic, your body begins to do all sorts of things to conserve energy, including switching from burning fat stores to burning muscle stores. It will even begin to metabolize brain matter over time, if the anorexia is significant and prolonged enough. Medical anorexia is not a good thing.
Fluid loss. Yup, good old "water weight."

My guess is that if you lose more than a pound or two over five days (on this diet or on ANY diet), it is primarily Water weight. Five days is simply not enough time for your body to become anorexic enough to have burned any significant amount of fat (especially the stubborn superficial fat that most of us are concerned with).
With this diet, since you're eating almost no highly-processed food, you're eating very little salt (at least compared to "normal" Americans, who eat way, way, way too much salt). And as a result, your tonicity -- water/mineral -- balance will shift. In an attempt to maintain homeostasis (fancy medical speak for "keeping things in balance"), your body will dump water so that your salt concentration doesn't get too low.
Drinking lots of water will flush out more minerals, but you have to be careful. Over the long term, I believe that drinking double the daily recommended water (64oz is recommended) coupled with this very low-sodium diet might be dangerous (I'd ask a doctor about it); it could introduce a hyponatremic state -- dangerously low sodium. This can kill you (google "hyponatremia" or "water intoxication" if you don't believe me that drinking too much water can kill you). Over the short term, what you'll do is DUMP water in order to maintain your salt tonicity, so if you drop a lot of weight in five days due to this diet, I'd suspect that it's almost entirely water weight.
That being said, minus the excessive water intake -- my nut. was emphatic that over the long term I was to consume no more than 60 oz. per day -- I think that this would be a Very Healthy Diet. You'd have to introduce some fruit (a low level of fruit intake is important for maintaining levels of Vitamin C and some flavanoids), and you'd want to make sure that your Fiber intake balanced the Protein intake for bowel health, but if you could stick with it, I think this diet would be a great way to keep steady healthy fat loss. Couple it with a good exercise program, and you'd be on track for a very healthy body.