Danilax

I lost 73, regained 17 and was completely out of the weight loss mindset, got back on track with a new plan and down 9 in the last 3 weeks.
Factors leading to gain:
- After six months my appetite increased a lot. This slowed weight loss considerably and eventually I plateaued. But I believe this is very common at the six month mark.
- My plan revolved around eating low carb homecooked meals and working out 5-6 days a week, an hour+ each day. This was working until a health catastrophe which crippled me for months and I'm still not well though at least I can walk now. But I had no idea of a backup plan. I was under a tremendous amount of stress and fear and the days I ate the worst coincided with the days I felt the worst. I would trudge to the store, barely able to see, and buy a bunch of junk I called "my medicine". I couldn't exercise or cook or clean. I ordered takeout every day and the portions were always larger than I needed.
- I disconnected from all surgery forums, didn't/couldn't go to support groups, and didn't see my nutritionist since I always had other doctors to see or I wasn't up to the trip. Also shame and not wanting to hear what they'd have to say. It's possible they would have been understanding and could have helped me but I just expected to hear everything I was doing wrong. I started the see the surgery as part of my past, no longer relevant to my life, like old diets. I know others who regained and seeing the surgery as past rather than a present factor is a major issue.
- I still have significant restriction, so gaining weight required eating many high calorie foods and skimping on Fluid intake.
My therapist, who I am able to see online, really helped me to take care of myself better. He taught me mindfulness techniques which helped me assess why i was overeating. He also encouraged me to ask for help. I found out I qualify for a home health aide. My family will come over and do the dishes.
Diet-wise, I had to stop the all or nothing thinking. So I couldn't do low carb or eat healthy meals most of the time. Even eating takeout, I could get my calories down and I did. My dad took me grocery shopping today for the first time in a long time. I was sick and will pay the consequences in pain tomorrow, I already feel it. But I have a kitchen go of ready groceries!
I am following the JUDDD plan with 16:8 intermittent fasting. I realized my sleeve is still working for me and I'm free to experiment. I love this plan and I'm grateful for the sleeve that works though I did my best to destroy it.

I lost 73, regained 17 and was completely out of the weight loss mindset, got back on track with a new plan and down 9 in the last 3 weeks.
Factors leading to gain:
- After six months my appetite increased a lot. This slowed weight loss considerably and eventually I plateaued. But I believe this is very common at the six month mark.
- My plan revolved around eating low carb homecooked meals and working out 5-6 days a week, an hour+ each day. This was working until a health catastrophe which crippled me for months and I'm still not well though at least I can walk now. But I had no idea of a backup plan. I was under a tremendous amount of stress and fear and the days I ate the worst coincided with the days I felt the worst. I would trudge to the store, barely able to see, and buy a bunch of junk I called "my medicine". I couldn't exercise or cook or clean. I ordered takeout every day and the portions were always larger than I needed.
- I disconnected from all surgery forums, didn't/couldn't go to support groups, and didn't see my nutritionist since I always had other doctors to see or I wasn't up to the trip. Also shame and not wanting to hear what they'd have to say. It's possible they would have been understanding and could have helped me but I just expected to hear everything I was doing wrong. I started the see the surgery as part of my past, no longer relevant to my life, like old diets. I know others who regained and seeing the surgery as past rather than a present factor is a major issue.
- I still have significant restriction, so gaining weight required eating many high calorie foods and skimping on Fluid intake.
My therapist, who I am able to see online, really helped me to take care of myself better. He taught me mindfulness techniques which helped me assess why i was overeating. He also encouraged me to ask for help. I found out I qualify for a home health aide. My family will come over and do the dishes.
Diet-wise, I had to stop the all or nothing thinking. So I couldn't do low carb or eat healthy meals most of the time. Even eating takeout, I could get my calories down and I did. My dad took me grocery shopping today for the first time in a long time. I was sick and will pay the consequences in pain tomorrow, I already feel it. But I have a kitchen go of ready groceries!
I am following the JUDDD plan with 16:8 intermittent fasting. I realized my sleeve is still working for me and I'm free to experiment. I love this plan and I'm grateful for the sleeve that works though I did my best to destroy it.

I lost 73, regained 17 and was completely out of the weight loss mindset, got back on track with a new plan and down 9 in the last 3 weeks.
Factors leading to gain:
- After six months my appetite increased a lot. This slowed weight loss considerably and eventually I plateaued. But I believe this is very common at the six month mark.
- My plan revolved around eating low carb homecooked meals and working out 5-6 days a week, an hour+ each day. This was working until a health catastrophe which crippled me for months and I'm still not well though at least I can walk now. But I had no idea of a backup plan. I was under a tremendous amount of stress and fear and the days I ate the worst coincided with the days I felt the worst. I would trudge to the store, barely able to see, and buy a bunch of junk I called "my medicine". I couldn't exercise or cook or clean. I ordered takeout every day and the portions were always larger than I needed.
- I disconnected from all surgery forums, didn't/couldn't go to support groups, and didn't see my nutritionist since I always had other doctors to see or I wasn't up to the trip. Also shame and not wanting to hear what they'd have to say. It's possible they would have been understanding and could have helped me but I just expected to hear everything I was doing wrong. I started the see the surgery as part of my past, no longer relevant to my life, like old diets. I know others who regained and seeing the surgery as past rather than a present factor is a major issue.
- I still have significant restriction, so gaining weight required eating many high calorie foods and skimping on Fluid intake.
My therapist, who I am able to see online, really helped me to take care of myself better. He taught me mindfulness techniques which helped me assess why i was overeating. He also encouraged me to ask for help. I found out I qualify for a home health aide. My family will come over and do the dishes.
Diet-wise, I had to stop the all or nothing thinking. So I couldn't do low carb or eat healthy meals most of the time. Even eating takeout, I could get my calories down and I did. My dad took me grocery shopping today for the first time in a long time. I was sick and will pay the consequences in pain tomorrow, I already feel it. But I have a kitchen go of ready groceries!
I am following the JUDDD plan with 16:8 intermittent fasting. I realized my sleeve is still working for me and I'm free to experiment. I love this plan and I'm grateful for the sleeve that works though I did my best to destroy it.

I lost 73, regained 17 and was completely out of the weight loss mindset, got back on track with a new plan and down 9 in the last 3 weeks.
Factors leading to gain:
- After six months my appetite increased a lot. This slowed weight loss considerably and eventually I plateaued. But I believe this is very common at the six month mark.
- My plan revolved around eating low carb homecooked meals and working out 5-6 days a week, an hour+ each day. This was working until a health catastrophe which crippled me for months and I'm still not well though at least I can walk now. But I had no idea of a backup plan. I was under a tremendous amount of stress and fear and the days I ate the worst coincided with the days I felt the worst. I would trudge to the store, barely able to see, and buy a bunch of junk I called "my medicine". I couldn't exercise or cook or clean. I ordered takeout every day and the portions were always larger than I needed.
- I disconnected from all surgery forums, didn't/couldn't go to support groups, and didn't see my nutritionist since I always had other doctors to see or I wasn't up to the trip. Also shame and not wanting to hear what they'd have to say. It's possible they would have been understanding and could have helped me but I just expected to hear everything I was doing wrong. I started the see the surgery as part of my past, no longer relevant to my life, like old diets. I know others who regained and seeing the surgery as past rather than a present factor is a major issue.
- I still have significant restriction, so gaining weight required eating many high calorie foods and skimping on Fluid intake.
My therapist, who I am able to see online, really helped me to take care of myself better. He taught me mindfulness techniques which helped me assess why i was overeating. He also encouraged me to ask for help. I found out I qualify for a home health aide. My family will come over and do the dishes.
Diet-wise, I had to stop the all or nothing thinking. So I couldn't do low carb or eat healthy meals most of the time. Even eating takeout, I could get my calories down and I did. My dad took me grocery shopping today for the first time in a long time. I was sick and will pay the consequences in pain tomorrow, I already feel it. But I have a kitchen go of ready groceries!
I am following the JUDDD plan with 16:8 intermittent fasting. I realized my sleeve is still working for me and I'm free to experiment. I love this plan and I'm grateful for the sleeve that works though I did my best to destroy it.

Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm six months out! I don't dismiss anything except the concept of good or bad foods for anyone but myself! I also realize that I am not and have never been addicted to food which definitely has an impact on my philosophy. I do track Protein and make sure I'm getting in at least 8 glasses of liquids. When I don't do those things it slows down my weight loss, the lack of fluids impacts my digestive system and low protein starts to affect hair health. Because I have problems with low blood sugar after physical activity I keep small things on hand to help with that. I eat a diet high in Fiber and note how that effects my body, because after surgery I've found there is a delicate balance between a better-functioning digestive system and dehydration from too much fiber. I have a lot of structure in my eating.
I definitely think we should be very mindful of what we eat but to me that means paying attention to how eating makes you feel and putting yourself in optimal situations to encourage your best eating behavior based on that. This is based on Ellyn Satter's Eating Competence Model, which I've known about for a few years since before surgery I worked with a nutritionist who advocated it, but I never felt the freedom to implement it before because I was certain I would just eat everything. This led to the standard overthinking-deprivation-mindlessness-binge cycle a lot of us have gone through. When I saw it was still happening after surgery, the same "I can't eat this because it's high carbs" or "I have to eat every three hours precisely no matter how I feel" and "every meal must have a vegetable or it's not really a meal," I knew I couldn't live like this forever even if I was losing weight. I would eat too much on my "reward day" (another diet concept) and feel crappy.
Reading this thread and getting fed up with the concept of guilt being connected with something as wonderful as food inspired me to get Satter's book "Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family" about a month ago. I read bits at a time and started incorporating elements into my life. The overall philosophy of making meals satisfying, delicious and important and allowing the body to adjust clicked for me, but I still didn't trust that I wouldn't just eat a bunch of donuts or something. But that didn't happen at all. I am highly aware of what I eat and why, it's just that nothing is forbidden unless it makes me feel poorly which at the moment I don't tie one way or the other to weight. I'm still losing weight, another seven pounds in the last couple of weeks.
I do work out six days a week and am training for a half marathon. Since I don't track calories I don't eat back my exercise calories, but if I check the myfitnesspal reports at the end of the week I am eating a caloric deficit. The calories consumed on a day of Peanut Butter and bacon are followed by the calories consumed on a day of chicken and spinach.
I got the surgery because I hated the feeling that my body had betrayed me, which is how I felt when I was diagnosed with diabetes. I felt the surgery was my hope for being freed from that because it would go a long way to fix my body and help resolve the diabetes and remnants of PCOS. But it was my attitude about my body that was the betrayal.

Some of the posts here are questionable, but I chose not to comment on that because while I don't agree with the idea of cheating or of breaking surgeon guidelines, it's a thread intended to be a confessional. Yes, there were posts that make MY three year old sleeve hurt.
It's rare to see someone post on VST that they're considering a poor choice. More often, you'll see people either confess after the fact or post on the forums in lieu of making a poor choice. And I suspect that even more frequently, people slip up and do things they know they shouldn't and never talk about that behavior.
Forums don't make people make bad choices. People make bad choices, period. The idea that my words are responsible for someone else making a decision and acting upon it removes their role of responsibility. I worship at the altar of personal responsibility. This idea bothers me as much as people posting "I can't stop <insert destructive behavior here>" because that's a lie. You CAN stop. You simply CHOOSE not to do it.
This is a hard road for all of us. Extremists on both sides of the fence are unpleasant to deal with. I have just as many "I love my fat body/I refuse to conform to society's ideal/watch me kill myself with cheesecake" acquaintances as "I never eat sugar/eating white flour will kill you/come eat some kelp smoothies with me" ones.
It's a choice. Nobody here is laboring under the mistaken impression that they're doing good things. Sharing ideas on how to cheat or eat around a surgeon guideline is just as repellent as sharing ideas on how to hide anorexia. But that wasn't the purpose of this thread, even if some people made the choice to take it there.
Ultimately, the addict doesn't need justification or validation. No amount of time here on VST, even in the "good" threads full of "right" choices is going to make a person overcome their problems without changes, better choices and most likely, several hundred hours of therapy.
Some of the threads here are almost laughable. Eating a cheeto? Eating a few bites of "bad" foods but staying well within healthy eating ranges? But people are posting here because they've been made to feel it's all or nothing and they actually feel guilt and feelings of failure for doing those things. They feel guilt for enjoying family gatherings, without realizing that ONE day of off eating is not going to sink the ship.
I agree with a large number of your posts, Fiddle. But the person that's going to take this thread as their reason to fly off the handle? That person was going to do it anyway.
Nobody here should be making poor choices, overindulging or eating around their sleeve as a regular habit. I'm fairly certain everyone here knows that. But there are different paths to success for everyone. I've made my share of poor choices, but I've been within 5% of my goal weight for more than two years - and was back there within 6 weeks of giving birth. I can only hope that people use their sense and work their sleeves to the best of their ability and make their need to confess something rare. But pretending it doesn't happen or that people don't slip up doesn't make sense to me, either.
~Cheri

To step in on an old argument here - the starting of this thread is incredibly helpful. Why? There are too many "there is only one way to do this" or "I can never, ever touch those foods again" or "if I slip up I'll fail completely" people here.
Fact? We're ALL disordered eaters. We didn't gain ten pounds one night and wake up opting for surgery the next day. The sleeve, for many of us, was the final effort after years of failed diets. Diets that, for the most part, followed these very ideas that are so damaging here:
"If it's not working, you're not trying."
"Slipping up means failure, so once you've slipped why not quit?"
"Success depends upon never, ever giving in to temptation or stress again."
This thread shows people that when they need support the most - when they slip - there are other people that have gone through it, too. There are successful vets here that can relate their stories, too.
The struggle doesn't end with surgery. It's part of us. This thread, humorous and off track at times, reflects that reality. It's also incredibly powerful because it shows people that you can still be successful even if you make mistakes. Because everyone will make a mistake eventually and they shouldn't feel they have to avoid these forums because of it or that they're being judged for their choices. This is about support. This is about being understood. Confession is good for the soul, or so they say. Getting it out in the open is a big step towards overcoming your obstacles.
Thanks again for starting this thread. It's popular because people can relate.
~Cheri

I get so pessimistic when I track my progress but actually I haven't been doing too bad.
Almost 6 months to the day, progress: 266 surgery weight, 202 current weight, 64 pounds in the six months since surgery and now the weight loss is supposed to slow way down argh....
Holy crap, just to amuse myself while writing this post I just put on a size 16 jacket I bought a while ago because it looked so hot. When I bought it it did not come close to closing or even really fitting my arms. I just buttoned that sucker right up! Size 24 at surgery size 16 now I'm feeling better.

Honestly, after reading all of this I don't feel bad or guilty or dirty anymore. The fear is that one "mess-up" will lead to more and more, and it is important to stay on top of emotionally unhealthy eating behaviors don't get me wrong. But it can also be pretty unhealthy to beat oneself up over things. It's that kind of thinking which can lead to binging in me. I would have felt much better if I'd just had the slices of pizza that I wanted and not worried so much over having to eat it all since I'd already begun or to prevent eating only pizza every day for the rest of my life omg. I could have had three slices or whatever and not felt bad about it, just enjoyed it.
So I made pound cake today. I made it a couple of weeks ago and had a slice or two every day and felt guilty and like I was ruining my weight loss. Well today I planned for it and I made it and it's delicious. I've even decided to give half of it away and I've just packed it up, but not because I'm afraid I'll ruin myself but because it's good and I want to share. I don't have to feel bad at all about those slices I've already eaten. They feel darn good in my belly right now.

I think I look older but unsolicited feedback from friends is that I look 15 years younger. I think my dismorphia is about my face. I have a theory...obesity was to a large extent hiding behind the fat. I think i am still getting used to seeing the real me at 49...not sometime from my 20s....but the real me now.
Dont laugh but when I started dating the hardest thing for me to get over was just how OLD looking men my age are. They werent like that last time I dated in the late 1990s...haha

Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm six months out! I don't dismiss anything except the concept of good or bad foods for anyone but myself! I also realize that I am not and have never been addicted to food which definitely has an impact on my philosophy. I do track Protein and make sure I'm getting in at least 8 glasses of liquids. When I don't do those things it slows down my weight loss, the lack of fluids impacts my digestive system and low protein starts to affect hair health. Because I have problems with low blood sugar after physical activity I keep small things on hand to help with that. I eat a diet high in Fiber and note how that effects my body, because after surgery I've found there is a delicate balance between a better-functioning digestive system and dehydration from too much fiber. I have a lot of structure in my eating.
I definitely think we should be very mindful of what we eat but to me that means paying attention to how eating makes you feel and putting yourself in optimal situations to encourage your best eating behavior based on that. This is based on Ellyn Satter's Eating Competence Model, which I've known about for a few years since before surgery I worked with a nutritionist who advocated it, but I never felt the freedom to implement it before because I was certain I would just eat everything. This led to the standard overthinking-deprivation-mindlessness-binge cycle a lot of us have gone through. When I saw it was still happening after surgery, the same "I can't eat this because it's high carbs" or "I have to eat every three hours precisely no matter how I feel" and "every meal must have a vegetable or it's not really a meal," I knew I couldn't live like this forever even if I was losing weight. I would eat too much on my "reward day" (another diet concept) and feel crappy.
Reading this thread and getting fed up with the concept of guilt being connected with something as wonderful as food inspired me to get Satter's book "Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family" about a month ago. I read bits at a time and started incorporating elements into my life. The overall philosophy of making meals satisfying, delicious and important and allowing the body to adjust clicked for me, but I still didn't trust that I wouldn't just eat a bunch of donuts or something. But that didn't happen at all. I am highly aware of what I eat and why, it's just that nothing is forbidden unless it makes me feel poorly which at the moment I don't tie one way or the other to weight. I'm still losing weight, another seven pounds in the last couple of weeks.
I do work out six days a week and am training for a half marathon. Since I don't track calories I don't eat back my exercise calories, but if I check the myfitnesspal reports at the end of the week I am eating a caloric deficit. The calories consumed on a day of Peanut Butter and bacon are followed by the calories consumed on a day of chicken and spinach.
I got the surgery because I hated the feeling that my body had betrayed me, which is how I felt when I was diagnosed with diabetes. I felt the surgery was my hope for being freed from that because it would go a long way to fix my body and help resolve the diabetes and remnants of PCOS. But it was my attitude about my body that was the betrayal.

Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm six months out! I don't dismiss anything except the concept of good or bad foods for anyone but myself! I also realize that I am not and have never been addicted to food which definitely has an impact on my philosophy. I do track Protein and make sure I'm getting in at least 8 glasses of liquids. When I don't do those things it slows down my weight loss, the lack of fluids impacts my digestive system and low protein starts to affect hair health. Because I have problems with low blood sugar after physical activity I keep small things on hand to help with that. I eat a diet high in Fiber and note how that effects my body, because after surgery I've found there is a delicate balance between a better-functioning digestive system and dehydration from too much fiber. I have a lot of structure in my eating.
I definitely think we should be very mindful of what we eat but to me that means paying attention to how eating makes you feel and putting yourself in optimal situations to encourage your best eating behavior based on that. This is based on Ellyn Satter's Eating Competence Model, which I've known about for a few years since before surgery I worked with a nutritionist who advocated it, but I never felt the freedom to implement it before because I was certain I would just eat everything. This led to the standard overthinking-deprivation-mindlessness-binge cycle a lot of us have gone through. When I saw it was still happening after surgery, the same "I can't eat this because it's high carbs" or "I have to eat every three hours precisely no matter how I feel" and "every meal must have a vegetable or it's not really a meal," I knew I couldn't live like this forever even if I was losing weight. I would eat too much on my "reward day" (another diet concept) and feel crappy.
Reading this thread and getting fed up with the concept of guilt being connected with something as wonderful as food inspired me to get Satter's book "Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family" about a month ago. I read bits at a time and started incorporating elements into my life. The overall philosophy of making meals satisfying, delicious and important and allowing the body to adjust clicked for me, but I still didn't trust that I wouldn't just eat a bunch of donuts or something. But that didn't happen at all. I am highly aware of what I eat and why, it's just that nothing is forbidden unless it makes me feel poorly which at the moment I don't tie one way or the other to weight. I'm still losing weight, another seven pounds in the last couple of weeks.
I do work out six days a week and am training for a half marathon. Since I don't track calories I don't eat back my exercise calories, but if I check the myfitnesspal reports at the end of the week I am eating a caloric deficit. The calories consumed on a day of Peanut Butter and bacon are followed by the calories consumed on a day of chicken and spinach.
I got the surgery because I hated the feeling that my body had betrayed me, which is how I felt when I was diagnosed with diabetes. I felt the surgery was my hope for being freed from that because it would go a long way to fix my body and help resolve the diabetes and remnants of PCOS. But it was my attitude about my body that was the betrayal.

Thanks for the well-wishes. I'm six months out! I don't dismiss anything except the concept of good or bad foods for anyone but myself! I also realize that I am not and have never been addicted to food which definitely has an impact on my philosophy. I do track Protein and make sure I'm getting in at least 8 glasses of liquids. When I don't do those things it slows down my weight loss, the lack of fluids impacts my digestive system and low protein starts to affect hair health. Because I have problems with low blood sugar after physical activity I keep small things on hand to help with that. I eat a diet high in Fiber and note how that effects my body, because after surgery I've found there is a delicate balance between a better-functioning digestive system and dehydration from too much fiber. I have a lot of structure in my eating.
I definitely think we should be very mindful of what we eat but to me that means paying attention to how eating makes you feel and putting yourself in optimal situations to encourage your best eating behavior based on that. This is based on Ellyn Satter's Eating Competence Model, which I've known about for a few years since before surgery I worked with a nutritionist who advocated it, but I never felt the freedom to implement it before because I was certain I would just eat everything. This led to the standard overthinking-deprivation-mindlessness-binge cycle a lot of us have gone through. When I saw it was still happening after surgery, the same "I can't eat this because it's high carbs" or "I have to eat every three hours precisely no matter how I feel" and "every meal must have a vegetable or it's not really a meal," I knew I couldn't live like this forever even if I was losing weight. I would eat too much on my "reward day" (another diet concept) and feel crappy.
Reading this thread and getting fed up with the concept of guilt being connected with something as wonderful as food inspired me to get Satter's book "Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family" about a month ago. I read bits at a time and started incorporating elements into my life. The overall philosophy of making meals satisfying, delicious and important and allowing the body to adjust clicked for me, but I still didn't trust that I wouldn't just eat a bunch of donuts or something. But that didn't happen at all. I am highly aware of what I eat and why, it's just that nothing is forbidden unless it makes me feel poorly which at the moment I don't tie one way or the other to weight. I'm still losing weight, another seven pounds in the last couple of weeks.
I do work out six days a week and am training for a half marathon. Since I don't track calories I don't eat back my exercise calories, but if I check the myfitnesspal reports at the end of the week I am eating a caloric deficit. The calories consumed on a day of Peanut Butter and bacon are followed by the calories consumed on a day of chicken and spinach.
I got the surgery because I hated the feeling that my body had betrayed me, which is how I felt when I was diagnosed with diabetes. I felt the surgery was my hope for being freed from that because it would go a long way to fix my body and help resolve the diabetes and remnants of PCOS. But it was my attitude about my body that was the betrayal.

6 months out today....slow loser but still dropping weight. I am so glad I had this procedure. I feel great and look fabulous.
Surgeon: Dr. Farrell UNC Hospital 4/24/2013:------ Preop: 239-----Current: 186.4

Yeah, the not that good thing has been something I'm noticing a lot. Those are foods I can comfortably be done with and experience neither cravings nor guilt. I am trying to just be more conscious and eat what I really want to be eating. That means I give myself permission to eat whatever I want and however much of it I want (this is part of the competent eating philosophy devised by Ellyn Satter). I just make sure I get my Protein and fluids in. I've loved doing this the past few weeks and my weight loss has been exactly the same.

I wear my socks to the gym twice before washing them.
And they stink.

If you haven't ever tried CarbQuick, I recommend that you do. It's great. I've been doing low carb for 13 years and I will say that it is the best product of it's type that I have found. I liked it better than the Atkins product which I had tried several years ago.
The best price I have seen on it is at :
http://www.netrition.com/tova_carbquik_page.html
I know it used to be available on Amazon, but I think a few years ago I was unable to find it there, but it may be there again.

Have you made any other changes with the way you treat your body besides dietary changes? Because I think you have to find a way to love and appreciate your body and weight loss alone might not be the key for you. When you look in the mirror you're still seeing your low body image and not what's really there.
I'm definitely still fat (you're really not but that's not the point) but when I look in the mirror or think about my body now, that's not my focus at all. For me, I made some other changes in the way I treat my body that made a difference in how I feel and how I see myself. I work out a lot more now, six days a week. And not just to speed weight loss but to make my body stronger and up endurance. And my body is stronger! I can dance for a long time and run and jump. My God I even tried to twerk the other day (in the privacy of my own home, and I fell over anyway but I did try). My legs have gotten bigger and my gut still flops about. I set up my trampoline in front of the mirror and let my gut hang free the other day. At first it was uncomfortable looking, then funny, then I was proud to see it fly! The point is I am really liking what my body does for me and I love being able to feel the changes.
Another way to learn to appreciate the body is through fashion and dressing it up. Experimenting more with makeup, shoes, clothes, accessories, hair. The body can really make a fashion statement and the smaller we get the more access we have to great, inexpensive stuff that can really make us into walking works of art. I am not a fashion maven and you may already be, but that's another angle. I love the way my legs look and I wear hot pants and dresses because I just like looking at them so much (sorry if vain). My legs are still big especially since they're more muscular and I could look at my thigh jiggle "fat" or I could love the way I look in tights. I can choose the latter.
ANOTHER avenue for increased body appreciation: taking care of all those niggling health problems and concerns that maybe got short shrift when you were bigger. It's all about taking care of yourself, emphasis on "care". Self-care is something so many big people neglect and often because we're told our bodies are wrong and worthless and doctors often focus on the fat. I'm not arguing whether fat is healthy or not, but you're in a better position to get quality healthcare once you lose weight and you've lost a heckuva lot. The better you feel health-wise, whether you had serious illnesses or were generally ok, the more you can appreciate your body. This can be head to toe. Migraines been bothering you, allergies, old injuries, teeth need a checkup, is it time for reading glasses and what's with that pop in the right knee? Whatever it is give it some proper attention.

This decision has actually been really hard for me and I go back and forth. Right now I am using the weight I was at my initial consultation (295). But on another site I use my surgery weight (266). I have a couple thoughts on it. For psychological and motivational reasons I think it's important for me to remember how hard I worked before I had the surgery. It could help me feel less discouraged about what I perceive to be slow weight loss from the surgery itself. On the other hand, I also wonder what other people see when they look at the ticker. Are they assuming it's the surgery weight?

Have you made any other changes with the way you treat your body besides dietary changes? Because I think you have to find a way to love and appreciate your body and weight loss alone might not be the key for you. When you look in the mirror you're still seeing your low body image and not what's really there.
I'm definitely still fat (you're really not but that's not the point) but when I look in the mirror or think about my body now, that's not my focus at all. For me, I made some other changes in the way I treat my body that made a difference in how I feel and how I see myself. I work out a lot more now, six days a week. And not just to speed weight loss but to make my body stronger and up endurance. And my body is stronger! I can dance for a long time and run and jump. My God I even tried to twerk the other day (in the privacy of my own home, and I fell over anyway but I did try). My legs have gotten bigger and my gut still flops about. I set up my trampoline in front of the mirror and let my gut hang free the other day. At first it was uncomfortable looking, then funny, then I was proud to see it fly! The point is I am really liking what my body does for me and I love being able to feel the changes.
Another way to learn to appreciate the body is through fashion and dressing it up. Experimenting more with makeup, shoes, clothes, accessories, hair. The body can really make a fashion statement and the smaller we get the more access we have to great, inexpensive stuff that can really make us into walking works of art. I am not a fashion maven and you may already be, but that's another angle. I love the way my legs look and I wear hot pants and dresses because I just like looking at them so much (sorry if vain). My legs are still big especially since they're more muscular and I could look at my thigh jiggle "fat" or I could love the way I look in tights. I can choose the latter.
ANOTHER avenue for increased body appreciation: taking care of all those niggling health problems and concerns that maybe got short shrift when you were bigger. It's all about taking care of yourself, emphasis on "care". Self-care is something so many big people neglect and often because we're told our bodies are wrong and worthless and doctors often focus on the fat. I'm not arguing whether fat is healthy or not, but you're in a better position to get quality healthcare once you lose weight and you've lost a heckuva lot. The better you feel health-wise, whether you had serious illnesses or were generally ok, the more you can appreciate your body. This can be head to toe. Migraines been bothering you, allergies, old injuries, teeth need a checkup, is it time for reading glasses and what's with that pop in the right knee? Whatever it is give it some proper attention.

Have you made any other changes with the way you treat your body besides dietary changes? Because I think you have to find a way to love and appreciate your body and weight loss alone might not be the key for you. When you look in the mirror you're still seeing your low body image and not what's really there.
I'm definitely still fat (you're really not but that's not the point) but when I look in the mirror or think about my body now, that's not my focus at all. For me, I made some other changes in the way I treat my body that made a difference in how I feel and how I see myself. I work out a lot more now, six days a week. And not just to speed weight loss but to make my body stronger and up endurance. And my body is stronger! I can dance for a long time and run and jump. My God I even tried to twerk the other day (in the privacy of my own home, and I fell over anyway but I did try). My legs have gotten bigger and my gut still flops about. I set up my trampoline in front of the mirror and let my gut hang free the other day. At first it was uncomfortable looking, then funny, then I was proud to see it fly! The point is I am really liking what my body does for me and I love being able to feel the changes.
Another way to learn to appreciate the body is through fashion and dressing it up. Experimenting more with makeup, shoes, clothes, accessories, hair. The body can really make a fashion statement and the smaller we get the more access we have to great, inexpensive stuff that can really make us into walking works of art. I am not a fashion maven and you may already be, but that's another angle. I love the way my legs look and I wear hot pants and dresses because I just like looking at them so much (sorry if vain). My legs are still big especially since they're more muscular and I could look at my thigh jiggle "fat" or I could love the way I look in tights. I can choose the latter.
ANOTHER avenue for increased body appreciation: taking care of all those niggling health problems and concerns that maybe got short shrift when you were bigger. It's all about taking care of yourself, emphasis on "care". Self-care is something so many big people neglect and often because we're told our bodies are wrong and worthless and doctors often focus on the fat. I'm not arguing whether fat is healthy or not, but you're in a better position to get quality healthcare once you lose weight and you've lost a heckuva lot. The better you feel health-wise, whether you had serious illnesses or were generally ok, the more you can appreciate your body. This can be head to toe. Migraines been bothering you, allergies, old injuries, teeth need a checkup, is it time for reading glasses and what's with that pop in the right knee? Whatever it is give it some proper attention.

Have you made any other changes with the way you treat your body besides dietary changes? Because I think you have to find a way to love and appreciate your body and weight loss alone might not be the key for you. When you look in the mirror you're still seeing your low body image and not what's really there.
I'm definitely still fat (you're really not but that's not the point) but when I look in the mirror or think about my body now, that's not my focus at all. For me, I made some other changes in the way I treat my body that made a difference in how I feel and how I see myself. I work out a lot more now, six days a week. And not just to speed weight loss but to make my body stronger and up endurance. And my body is stronger! I can dance for a long time and run and jump. My God I even tried to twerk the other day (in the privacy of my own home, and I fell over anyway but I did try). My legs have gotten bigger and my gut still flops about. I set up my trampoline in front of the mirror and let my gut hang free the other day. At first it was uncomfortable looking, then funny, then I was proud to see it fly! The point is I am really liking what my body does for me and I love being able to feel the changes.
Another way to learn to appreciate the body is through fashion and dressing it up. Experimenting more with makeup, shoes, clothes, accessories, hair. The body can really make a fashion statement and the smaller we get the more access we have to great, inexpensive stuff that can really make us into walking works of art. I am not a fashion maven and you may already be, but that's another angle. I love the way my legs look and I wear hot pants and dresses because I just like looking at them so much (sorry if vain). My legs are still big especially since they're more muscular and I could look at my thigh jiggle "fat" or I could love the way I look in tights. I can choose the latter.
ANOTHER avenue for increased body appreciation: taking care of all those niggling health problems and concerns that maybe got short shrift when you were bigger. It's all about taking care of yourself, emphasis on "care". Self-care is something so many big people neglect and often because we're told our bodies are wrong and worthless and doctors often focus on the fat. I'm not arguing whether fat is healthy or not, but you're in a better position to get quality healthcare once you lose weight and you've lost a heckuva lot. The better you feel health-wise, whether you had serious illnesses or were generally ok, the more you can appreciate your body. This can be head to toe. Migraines been bothering you, allergies, old injuries, teeth need a checkup, is it time for reading glasses and what's with that pop in the right knee? Whatever it is give it some proper attention.

Have you made any other changes with the way you treat your body besides dietary changes? Because I think you have to find a way to love and appreciate your body and weight loss alone might not be the key for you. When you look in the mirror you're still seeing your low body image and not what's really there.
I'm definitely still fat (you're really not but that's not the point) but when I look in the mirror or think about my body now, that's not my focus at all. For me, I made some other changes in the way I treat my body that made a difference in how I feel and how I see myself. I work out a lot more now, six days a week. And not just to speed weight loss but to make my body stronger and up endurance. And my body is stronger! I can dance for a long time and run and jump. My God I even tried to twerk the other day (in the privacy of my own home, and I fell over anyway but I did try). My legs have gotten bigger and my gut still flops about. I set up my trampoline in front of the mirror and let my gut hang free the other day. At first it was uncomfortable looking, then funny, then I was proud to see it fly! The point is I am really liking what my body does for me and I love being able to feel the changes.
Another way to learn to appreciate the body is through fashion and dressing it up. Experimenting more with makeup, shoes, clothes, accessories, hair. The body can really make a fashion statement and the smaller we get the more access we have to great, inexpensive stuff that can really make us into walking works of art. I am not a fashion maven and you may already be, but that's another angle. I love the way my legs look and I wear hot pants and dresses because I just like looking at them so much (sorry if vain). My legs are still big especially since they're more muscular and I could look at my thigh jiggle "fat" or I could love the way I look in tights. I can choose the latter.
ANOTHER avenue for increased body appreciation: taking care of all those niggling health problems and concerns that maybe got short shrift when you were bigger. It's all about taking care of yourself, emphasis on "care". Self-care is something so many big people neglect and often because we're told our bodies are wrong and worthless and doctors often focus on the fat. I'm not arguing whether fat is healthy or not, but you're in a better position to get quality healthcare once you lose weight and you've lost a heckuva lot. The better you feel health-wise, whether you had serious illnesses or were generally ok, the more you can appreciate your body. This can be head to toe. Migraines been bothering you, allergies, old injuries, teeth need a checkup, is it time for reading glasses and what's with that pop in the right knee? Whatever it is give it some proper attention.

This thread made me feel better. I'm five months out. Last Sunday I had a ten inch pizza, loaded with sausage, pepperoni, and grease. It took many hours to eat and by the end of it I was feeling very uncomfortable, but I was afraid if I didn't finish it then I'd eat it in the days to come. I still can't bring myself to throw away pizza, don't seem right.
Let's see, I do something downright dirty most weeks. But it's worst when I visit my parents' house which is filled with junk that they don't even eat, it's just there for their kids. And as their child I was doing my duty. Let's see, a pack or Ritz crackers one day, hmm, two pop tarts on another. So last week I thought I'd solved the problem by bringing Pork rinds to their house and eating my own snack.< /p>
And now I see they don't even count. Man.