livvsmum

Great job! You are looking awesome!

So I am at 148.8 this week! I'm super excited about that. That is a 3.6 loss for the week and 3.8 away from my 4th of July goal and my ultimate GOAL! woot! Can I lose 3.8 in a week? It will be tough, but I hope so!!!

Good luck on your next adventure in life, Bea! I appreciate all the work you've done on these challenges!

This is really insightful. I think it's great that you recognize that even before surgery. That is something I definitely struggle with. I think you are going to be very successful! :-)

I had a similar experience. At about 8 months post op I really started to struggle emotionally and it was reflecting in my eating again. I began to let bad habits and emotional eating back in. I realized what you said, that I had done the physical work, but I hadn't done any emotional work. For me, I really started to dig in and try to figure out what was behind my compulsive over-eating that led me to obesity in the first place. If you are able, a therapist that deals with bariatric or eating disorder patients might be worth looking into. I started working with one, and it has been life-changing. If you are not ready to take that step, I highly recommend the book "when food is love". It helped me start to untangle the really complicated relationship between emotions and eating.

I can't say if what you are feeling is "normal" or not, but I can say that starting therapy with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders is one of the single best things I've ever done for myself. I can't recommend it enough. ETA: Get the book "When food is Love"...read it... If it resonates at all with you, therapy might be a good option. :-)

It happens. I did great, never slipping once until about 7.5 months, then I had about a month-long slip.... Luckily I didn't gain, but for me, I had to realize that it was just that....a slip.... A slip doesn't mean you have to stay down. It doesn't mean all of your bad habits have come back. It just means you had a momentary lapse. You know better now, so you can do better. Get up and keep going! :-)

Congratulations on reaching your goal! I have 4 more pounds to go and it feels like forever. I've been working with a nutritionist during this journey and my plan for maintaining is to start to add in some "safe carbs" like fruits, etc. back into my diet in small amounts and experiment with that. As for exercise, I - like you - work out about 5-6 days/week. I run and cross train a lot. Once I reach goal I plan on replacing some of that cardio with some weight training. I was kind of hesitant to do that before because muscle weighs more than fat and I didn't want to hinder my loss .....I know, it seems kind of silly...but that is how I think lol. Anyway, now that I'm just about at goal, that is something I feel good about doing.

I think one of the biggest things I've learned is that changing your diet is not enough. you have to be willing to do the hard work to figure out why you were overeating to begin with. I can reiterate all of the diet and nutrition tips that everyone else above gave, and they are all great, but if you do all of that without getting at the root problem, you will still find yourself facing your old demons. I read the book "When food Is Love" and started working with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. That was really pivotal and important in my journey.

I have BCBS and it was 6 weight loss visits a month apart, a nutritionist visit, a psych eval, and a personal trainer visit

The surgery will work. The extent to which it works & the long term effectiveness is up to you. You just have to stick to the plan. It does work. Also if you are willing to do the tough emotional work to get to the root causes behind your unhealthy eating habits, I think you will be even that much more successful

Mainly desk job for me. I took 2 weeks off, but could have used three. I was just exhausted upon my return more than anything.

No drain for me :-)

Thanks for all the feedback!

I had a month-long stall at 8 months. I bounced back and forth between 154-155 forever it seemed. It was very frustrating. Just this morning I was super excited to have a 2 pound loss so I'm hoping that after a month at the same weight things are moving again.

So I'm 9 months post op and after running a couple of 5k's have started training for a half-marathon in Sept. and then hope to move on to a marathon on May. In the online running community that I am a part of there is a lot of great information, but currently there is a debate about whether you can mix extremely low-carb diets with long-distance and endurance running. The consensus seems to be that low carb + running do not mix well. I was actually reading up a bit on long distance running nutrition yesterday before this discussion started and it struck me that I may struggle with long-distance nutrition because of the limitations of my diet and the capacity limitations of my sleeved stomach. Most marathon info out there suggests at the very least carb loading the day before and morning of the race. I'm not sure this really would work for a post-op sleever. Also, there is the question then of nutrition during the race..... gel packs, sports drinks, gummy bears, jelly Beans, pretzels, etc. used for restoring energy. It is recommended that you take in 100 calories in these forms every 45-60 minutes after the initial 90 minutes of a run to maintain energy. I'm just not sure how this would work for my stomach....particularly since I don't eat those foods at all anymore. There is some info out there on the paleo diet and athletes, but really not much at all on post-bariatric surgery and long-distance or endurance running. I guess my question is for anyone in the midst of training for a long distance run, or any long distance runners out there. How do you balance our dietary limits as far as low-carb (30-40/day for me) or other sleeve or bypass related issues with the nutritional energy needed to maintain you for a 13 or 26 mile run. Suggestions, thoughts, initial feedback?

I started out my journey planning to have the gastric bypass. About 4 months into my 6 month pre-op program I started having serious doubts. When I really thought about what was causing the doubts I realized it was the malabsorption part of if that scared me. So I decided to go with the surgery that would give me the same results without the malabsoption side effects or re-routing of the intestines. To me it just seemed less invasive. As for the lap band, it was never really an option I was interested in.

I agree...don't beat yourself up. I am NOT recommending it or endorsing it, but to answer your question, YES! I definitely slipped up on my pre-op diet. And way worse than cherries. I am doing awesome and at 9 months post op have lost 125 pounds and am within 7 pounds of goal. I'm not saying it will work like that for everyone, but the surgery WILL work. The extent to which it works and the long-term effectiveness is up to you. If you worry I think to some extent it shows that it matters to you and you care. Today is a new day. Refocus and go for it!!!

I agree!! It's a whole different thing!!

152.6!! Finally moving again! I am still 7.6 pounds away from my 4th of July goal, but I'm still hoping I can push through!

That is wonderful!! I am happy for you! My surgeon told me that too at my 6 month follow up. He said technically speaking I was considered a "successful surgery" since I lost a certain percentage. Even though I haven't yet reached my personal goal, he said anything past what I lost at the point was "a bonus" :-)

You guys seriously are awesome. Thank you for all the really kind compliments! :-)

Sure! It's linked in my signature, but the direct address is themeiamnow.blogspot.com

Thank you! It's really humbling to hear that people are taking the time to read it and that I am having a positive impact on someone I don't even know. :-) That is awesome! I try to put in the good, the awesome, the bad, and the very ugly :-)

Thank you!