Oliver's Mom

Holy crap you sexy thing!! You look amazing!!

You are doing very well. I had surgery around the same time as you and things are at a snails pace for me. I still have 20 some lbs to lose and don't know if I will make it. Getting very discouraged. But I am very happy with what I have lost.

Ok, let's hope this ole gal (me! turning 60 in 2 months) can get these pics attached.
The one in the black top is me at my highest weight 225lbs, and the one in the Red Sox shirt is today - only 8 lbs from goal.
Weight coming off very s l o w l y now, but no worries, I'm just following the plan (high Protein, low carbs, lots & lots of Water and exercise) and it will come off when it comes off.

Ok, let's hope this ole gal (me! turning 60 in 2 months) can get these pics attached.
The one in the black top is me at my highest weight 225lbs, and the one in the Red Sox shirt is today - only 8 lbs from goal.
Weight coming off very s l o w l y now, but no worries, I'm just following the plan (high Protein, low carbs, lots & lots of Water and exercise) and it will come off when it comes off.

Ok, let's hope this ole gal (me! turning 60 in 2 months) can get these pics attached.
The one in the black top is me at my highest weight 225lbs, and the one in the Red Sox shirt is today - only 8 lbs from goal.
Weight coming off very s l o w l y now, but no worries, I'm just following the plan (high Protein, low carbs, lots & lots of Water and exercise) and it will come off when it comes off.

Ok, let's hope this ole gal (me! turning 60 in 2 months) can get these pics attached.
The one in the black top is me at my highest weight 225lbs, and the one in the Red Sox shirt is today - only 8 lbs from goal.
Weight coming off very s l o w l y now, but no worries, I'm just following the plan (high Protein, low carbs, lots & lots of Water and exercise) and it will come off when it comes off.

Ok, let's hope this ole gal (me! turning 60 in 2 months) can get these pics attached.
The one in the black top is me at my highest weight 225lbs, and the one in the Red Sox shirt is today - only 8 lbs from goal.
Weight coming off very s l o w l y now, but no worries, I'm just following the plan (high Protein, low carbs, lots & lots of Water and exercise) and it will come off when it comes off.

Ok, let's hope this ole gal (me! turning 60 in 2 months) can get these pics attached.
The one in the black top is me at my highest weight 225lbs, and the one in the Red Sox shirt is today - only 8 lbs from goal.
Weight coming off very s l o w l y now, but no worries, I'm just following the plan (high Protein, low carbs, lots & lots of Water and exercise) and it will come off when it comes off.

WLS is probably not a good thing to have if a person doesn't like rules. Most of us were given rules of some sort - as doctors vary many of us differ in what we're expected to do. If you don't want to drink the water/fluids you were told to, that's your business. What concerns me is a noob reading what you've said and thinking "if she can disregard the rules, so can I". THAT bothers me.

Can you bring a little cooler?? Yogurt, cottage cheese, SF pudding, SF Jello - things like that could all fit in a little cooler. You could bring a shaker bottle and your Protein mix, or pre mixed Protein drinks. Is it just for one day that you'll be traveling??
On the road you could get a scrambled egg, Soup etc.
Good luck!!

Can you bring a little cooler?? Yogurt, cottage cheese, SF pudding, SF Jello - things like that could all fit in a little cooler. You could bring a shaker bottle and your Protein mix, or pre mixed Protein drinks. Is it just for one day that you'll be traveling??
On the road you could get a scrambled egg, Soup etc.
Good luck!!

Can you bring a little cooler?? Yogurt, cottage cheese, SF pudding, SF Jello - things like that could all fit in a little cooler. You could bring a shaker bottle and your Protein mix, or pre mixed Protein drinks. Is it just for one day that you'll be traveling??
On the road you could get a scrambled egg, Soup etc.
Good luck!!

You know, when I'm feeling completely freaked or stressed out the first thing I want extreme control over is my diet/weight.
You've not had an easy time of it - this isn't a new thing, it's been ongoing for you for a while now.
You probably needed those calories and it is, indeed, a perfectly normal feed day tally. It's a perfectly normal maintenance tally for me these days, too.
It's still far less than the average person eats in a day, too.
So indeed, do deep breaths as suggested. Let your body heal a bit and take what it needs. Panic mode isn't allowed to happen until you see a jump on the scale! And not a piddly jump - an increase that indicates there's an issue and that hangs around more than a day or two.
And quite frankly, while I am very sorry to hear you have health issues going on, given your huge troubles with loss it's not surprising to hear your body has been busy dealing with something else.
Best, and be nicer to yourself, lady!
~Cheri

When following the 5:2 I can easily eat 1600 cals on a feed day... don't panic! If you've been ill perhaps you needed the extra cals?
And remember, you aren't allowed to call yourself negative words... x

Hi Maureen,
If you're not using the app called myFitnesspal I highly recommend it. It tracks your food / drink intake & exercise. I love it. It keeps me accountable. A stall is very common in weeks 3-6 & the alcohol & popcorn are very high in sugar/carbs. Log them in MyFitnessPal & see how your day totals up. My nutritionist said to stay under 800 calories, under 50 carbs, have at least 64oz of Water & 75 or more grams of Protein.< /p>

Great post, Globe.
For me, putting myself first in anything has been a big hurdle, and it's incredibly satisfying to me to be able to stand up and declare that I matter, my feelings matter, I can do what I want, etc. I no longer feel bogged down by years of insecurities or this insane desire to please everyone around me, as if that will somehow convince them that I am important and that it's okay to love me even if I'm fat and I can't love myself.
I do what I want for me now. I buy the damn shoes, I buy the lip gloss, I toss away half a plate of food that I only ordered because the combination of main and side dish sounded enjoyable - I get it because I WANT IT. I do not have to prove myself to anyone but myself. I do not have to hate myself or believe anything that was ever said to me as a child or young woman.
It's incredibly liberating.
Shut that inner Globe up. Tell her to go to hell, and then buy the damned nail polish. She's been enforcing the bad habits/ideas/notions/toxicity of your upbringing and you don't need her inner voice to make you feel bad about your choices.
This is about you. You did not come this far to hold yourself down or to berate yourself for every choice you make.
~Cheri

I am so with you on this. Whilst as adults we are free to make our own choices, there are deeply ingrained behaviours and patterms that are incredibly difficult just to set aside and forget about them.
But you understand what the problem is and knowing that is the start of changing things for the better. Out of everything you say, the most significant phrase is "I struggle to believe that my desires matter" ... and therein lies the root of your inability to do nice things for yourself without feeling the need to justify them against being wasteful.
You matter. So what matters to you is important. Your logic tells you that it is a better deal to buy a new lipgloss than eat fast food. But your internal voice still tuts and tells you off for wasting money.
So time to give yourself permission to live as your adult self, free to make decisions in your best interests, because your happiness and wellbeing are in your hands - and because you matter. Who sees that you took a sip of Coke and poured the rest away? Only you... so time to tell your internal critic to take a seat in the corner while you enjoy life's small pleasures, cos that's what they are. And we all need them.
Every time you do something that should make you feel good, stop and allow it to feel good, don't put the other side of the argument - just enjoy. As you know, new habits take time to develop and so you need to praise yourself without thinking "ego" or "*******". Those are other people's opinions that you've absorbed over the years - tlme to let them go.
I come from a background where I can relate to everything you say. In recent years, I have walked a tough path to let go all the associated behaviours as I knew I couldn't move forward with anything until I did. To begin, with I didn't think I could at 51 years old. But I have, taking small steps, culminating in paying $15,000 for my sleeve never having spent anything on myself in years because I didn't think I mattered...
Good luck, you look fab and you deserve to be toxin free. The rest of us are right behind you :-))))

... to be wasteful.
I was never a member of the Clean Your Plate club, that was never enforced in my family growing up, though at the same time food was considered the only justifiable expense. But I was admonished/critisized/guilted for any act of wastefulness, to the point of being denied access to many things because it was deemed a wasteful expense (including being seen by a doctor but that's another can of worms).
So, as part of my WLS journey, I am learning to give myself permission to be "wasteful". Spending 10 dollars on cheap cosmetics at Walgreen's, instead of a trip to Burger King - that's okay!! So I "wasted" my money and an antire can of Coke because all I wanted was that first frosty bubbly sip - so what, it's my money and a small sip is better than 8 oz! It's okay!! It's not as easy as it may seem, the indoctrination of youth is difficult to shake, last year I was unemployed for a few months and had to be on a budget and I found myself reverting to self-abusing habits: Not going out because that would mean a couple of dollars cover charge, but spending that same money on food - because it is justifiable. My enjoyment wasn't justifiable, isn't that just sad? I'm sad -and embarrassed- as I type this.
A new lipgloss or bottle of nailpolish from Rite-Aid costs about the same as a fast food meal or drink at a bar, with much more positive results. I struggle to believe that my desires matter, that my having ANY desire for self-care or tenderness is NOT a sign of ego or a$$holery. It is time to wash myself clean of my parent's toxins.

thank you so much Bluto and Butter for going more in depth on the Protein thing and providing additional links for further reading! Round of applause for the educational value of this thread!

First off, congrats on losing weight. That is awesome!
Second, you know that they are just using an expression. Just like when we said, "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse", we really didn't mean we could eat a horse. It is merely our way of being dramatic to emphasize a point. Unfortunately, we sleevers find ourselves a bit sensitive to these weight-related expressions, especially in the immediate weeks to months post-op. It's a hormone-stored-in-fat-release thing.
Just remember that the person making the statement is really trying to pay you a compliment and does not have deep seated meanings behind using a general expression.

I was sleeved December 3, 2012 & remember that I had my first 'stall' around week 3. It only lasted for 4 days. Since about May the weight loss is slow, maybe .4 or .2 and I hover at that for several days. Then I might lose another .2 or .4.
The last couple of weeks I've been hovering at 149. My own goal is 140 - doctor and/or medical team (NUT, RN, etc) never set or recommended a goal for me.
I've stopped stressing. I eat so differently now and it feels comfortable and right - I exercise 5-6 days a week. I drink a lot of Water - 12-15 8oz glasses a day.
I was obese for over 15 years - why do I need to derail the process by stressing that I'm 8 months out from surgery and not at goal yet. It will happen, and when it does that's great.
I'm thrilled that I'm off all but one of my medications and that's been reduced to 1/4 of the dose I was taking. When the 8 month labs come back (drawn today) it's highly likely that med will be D/C'd too.
This is a journey, sometimes the speed on the road is slower than others - it's all OK.

I was sleeved December 3, 2012 & remember that I had my first 'stall' around week 3. It only lasted for 4 days. Since about May the weight loss is slow, maybe .4 or .2 and I hover at that for several days. Then I might lose another .2 or .4.
The last couple of weeks I've been hovering at 149. My own goal is 140 - doctor and/or medical team (NUT, RN, etc) never set or recommended a goal for me.
I've stopped stressing. I eat so differently now and it feels comfortable and right - I exercise 5-6 days a week. I drink a lot of Water - 12-15 8oz glasses a day.
I was obese for over 15 years - why do I need to derail the process by stressing that I'm 8 months out from surgery and not at goal yet. It will happen, and when it does that's great.
I'm thrilled that I'm off all but one of my medications and that's been reduced to 1/4 of the dose I was taking. When the 8 month labs come back (drawn today) it's highly likely that med will be D/C'd too.
This is a journey, sometimes the speed on the road is slower than others - it's all OK.

First off, this group has been a bit of a god send. With the exception of my therapist and a handful of other people no one knows I am preparing to undergo WLS. At least this is a safe place for me to talk about things as they happen. Normally I go to friends and family to ask for support and prayers. However, because of the private nature of my decision, I am asking this group for this instead.
Here is what has been going on. At the beginning of this month I was given official notice from my job that I would be furloughed requiring me to take a 20% pay cut along with a separation notice informing me that my last day at work would be 30 Sept. I am not scheduled for surgery until sometime in Oct/Nov. Thankfully I will be able to maintain my insurance for a year at the cost of my regular contribution. I am fortunate. Here is where things get a little messy. I am interviewing for a new position that I am very excited about. I find myself getting very anxious over the idea of not being able to get my surgery done because of having this new job ad not having the sick leave available. Yet I am not in a position to turn the job down.
So far I feel I have been very blessed. What I ask from whoever feels so inclined is to please say a quick prayer or send some positive energy my direction. That hopeful the time line for this surgery and a new job will align with no complications so that I will be able to start my new life with a great job and a healthy new beginning.
Thanks for giving me a moment to get that all off my chest.

I will be completely honest, I never really tracked how long any stalls were. I know the longest one was between 2 and 3 months (that's right, months, not weeks). I actually thought I was done losing and was a few pounds away from goal. But I was actually ok with that because I never dreamed I would even reach my goal as I had never remembered even weighing that amount. When I did start losing again, I was shocked and ecstatic!
I am also a only lose for one week out of the month person. And I always bounce up a few pounds around TOM. It used to freak me out because I thought I was gaining until I actually realized what was happening. I never paid attention so closely to my weight before surgery, I never noticed the changes in weight through out my cycle.
After the first 6 months, I just started rolling with it and not stressing about it so much. I was happy eating the way I was eating and slowly losing. When I stopped comparing myself to everyone else, I was much more at peace with this whole process. Sometimes you have to let go of what you thought it would be like and embrace the way your body works.