bormannk

When your 90 lbs Lab can sit with you on a recliner that barely used to fit your butt 6 months ago! When you get a Large Jawbone and realize you could or ordered a medium band! When you open your closed and all of your recently purchased blauses are really too big now.. I am extra grateful today

Gosh I know... Its awesome, yet expensive! I am officially a 8 - 81/2 - a whole shoe size lost..

I just can't seem to do well with the online dating, although it makes sense. I am not necesserely looking for a relationship, but just to get out there, since I haven't dated in about 5 years... yeah.. LOL The whole dating scene freaks me out - but I am totally ready to take the leap, take chances and reconnect with a part of me I haven't connected with for a minute.. And I do believe I would prefer something light and casual and not to dive into a major relationship. Gotta relearn how to bike before you enter the tour of France!

I was! It was perfect. I had the sleeve and had zero complications or issues! You'll be perfectly fine!

I am 3 months and a week out from my Sleeve surgery. As I mentioned before, I am in counseling for help with an eating disorder and am luck enough to have a Nutricionist that is specialized in eating disorders AND bariatric nutricion. Both my Counselor and NUT preach and teach Intuitive eating which is the notion that babies are born knowing when to eat and what to eat, and follow the needs of their bodies. They eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full - they intuitively know what they need. They hold no relationship to food other than the need to sustain their bodies. Unfortunetely over time they are taught rules that many times conflict with what they actually need - social rules. They are given food as reward, or told to finish their meals or else, they are forced to eat when they are not hungry or sometimes not allowed to eat because it's not time.. Over the years, these children - us - stop listenting to what our bodies really need, to what it's telling us. This line of teaching/therapy is meant to help us learn to listen to our body again - mindfully pay attention to what our bodies need. That goes agains any type of restrictive diet - They do not believe in diets at all, which are doomed to fail, because by restricting foods we consider "bad" in any way we are setting us up for failure. It creates in many folks the "binge" behavior, the "well, now that I fell off the wagon let me eat the whole box!" attitude - We binge, we feel guilty, then we feel anxiety and sadness and we beat ourselves up because we failed at something that never had much of a chance for long term success. In my case, we were quite poor - not that we knew that, we were so happy - but we did not have access to a lot of food. We ate mostly pasta, potatoes and eggs, or any vegetables we would grow, but rarely ate meat. Because we were on a very tight budget, we were taught not to waste any food, so leaving food on our plate was absolutely unnaceptable. if we didn't finish our dinners we would not eat anything else until we finished our leftovers... Honestly it made total sense to me and I raised my daughters that way.. My older daughter also has an eating disorder. Despite the tough times my mom always tried to have something sweet, some chocolate stashed - super special treat - and surprised my sister and I whenever we finished our homework, or if we were sad or sick. it was so loving and sweet of her, but it taught us to use food as comfort and reward from very young age. Anyway, I have been listening to the tapes (I got the audio book) and trying to be truly mindful. I started to add more variety to my diet, still high in protein, and decided that I would fight back anytime I thought any food as "bad". I stopped restricting myself. Whenever I feel hungry I sit and close my eyes and relax for a moment - what do I want to eat. Sure I have my go-tos. I always have tuna or tilapia readily available, or chicken. And my body doesn't always communicate clearly what it wants (This is so new to me), so I default to my usual. But whenever I feel an urge, I do not deny myself. What I do is really be mindful and try to identify - is this my body asking for it, or is this my hormones, anxiety, etc? Do I get it right every time? No, I don't. But I get it right more often than not. And I stick to my 3-4 oz serving! I still am terrified to eat some foods, but I know in my mind that is not the path I need to follow - so I work it out during session! Yesterday out of nowhere I had a craving for pistachios. I dont necessarily love pistachios - but I had a handful of it and it satisfied a body need - I know it did. And I am so excited that I was able to listen to my body and do what it wanted. There is so much peace in that. So I am doing all this and thinking in the back of my mind - heck I will stop losing weight.. Well, that was not the case!! I have lost 6 lbs in the last two weeks and have not denied myself once. Today I was able to sit and cross my legs comfortably, like a lady. I missed that so much! I have been wearing a very cute skinny jeans that are a size 14 - loose... Today I also ran for half an hour with my Labs. Girl, I could not WALK them 3 1/2 months ago! I would encourage you to do some research on Intuitive Eating - http://www.intuitiveeating.com/ Because losing weight is just a small (although HUGE) part of the journey. We want to be healthy and happy and keep it off for the rest of our lives. We want to stop thinking about food 24/7 and break the emotional bonds we formed with food Be mindful and kind to yourself, Best of luck in your journey, Karen

Hi Beni! Thank you! How are you doing with the wait? I had to wait 7 months! It was torture but it really help me prepare emotionally. How are you feeling?

When you sit and realize you are more comfortable crossing your legs! (Finally!!)

I haven't exercised much at all, and have lost 60 lbs in 3 months, but I feel like exercise it's just so important - I'm now working with a NUT so that I am better nourished and start an exercise program. I have an eating disorder so I need to monitoring and support!

Everything in moderation!

Hi Rena!! I am so excited to hear you had your surgery and you are doing so well! We are now, both in the losers bench! I had mine in June and have been doing really great with it as well! No complications, no issues, sometimes if it wasn't for the excessive hair loss and the occasional time I over eat by a bite and my stomach make itself known, I'd never be able to tell I had surgery. It's been a really great journey. I am seeing a counselor and a Nutricionist specialized in eating disorders and Bariatric patients, because I know I want to lose fast and will end up messing up my health I am also learning about intuitive eating and hope to learn the tools I truly need to never go back again. Tell me more about your journey when you can! 50 lbs is amazing!! Congratulations! Ok tell me more!! Talk soon Karen

Mobile, AL, Forrest Ringold. Outstanding surgeon.

I love sushi! I will eat sashimi just because I like that better - super white tuna - yumm - but you should have what you like, just in moderation!

RJ, you couldn't be more right. I have a wonderful NUT and Counselor who are supporting me and working though the process of intuitive eating, and I feel ver strong in this path!Well said!

Cacau - which means cocoa beans and - Chumbinho, which is a heavy metal, like lead..

Rena, have you had surgery? If so how do you feel? Would love to hear from you!!

FineDiva, that much walking will add leg muscle (personal experience) and those are large muscles! You are probably losing inches, and soon you'll step in the scale and see weight dropping again.

I change up my eating, for one. My NUT does not want me to count calories but she does want me to stay with portions and nutritional guidelines. Usually I will increase my meal count for a couple of days and/or change exercise. JoAnn, you lost a lot in two months - your body needs time to catch up! Usually when I lose a lot in the previous weeks - 4-5 lbs, I will hit a week where I won't see a loss, but see the inches going!

I was on normal foods at 4 weeks, my doc discourages protein shakes, he wants me to eat animal proteins.

All I can eat is 3 meals a day, 4oz max... So I have cottage cheese or an egg in the am, 4oz protein/veg for lunch and same for dinner. Virtually no carbs, rarely do I snack on a piece of fruit, and I mean 1/6 of a peach or 5-6 grapes... That's all I'm allowed. My doc does not believe in protein shakes. I do drink tons of water though!

27 lbs in 40 days is extraordinary!! Great job!!!

Please contact your dr or go to the ER!

After a month to two months you'll be able to go! Life goes as usual - except that my portions are much much smaller and I make healthy choices. The only places I avoid are fast food and bread companies and sub shops. Too much bread! But I do Mexican, sushi, steakhouse.. There is always a healthy option and Res Lobster has fish which is great! Hang in there - he was a bit insensitive, but it may take a moment for him to fully understand! Good for you though!

I am 3 months out in 2 days and have reached my first "official" stall - or so I think - it's been 7 days since i lost a lb! Tell me, when and for how long did you stall in your journey, and what did you do to get it going again?

I am just not sure you'll feel up to it. Travel is also tricky because of the blood clot risk, which is very high after surgery, so they tell you to walk, walk, walk.. I would sit this one out and focus on your body, our health. Everyone is different and I am one of those people who heals exceptionally well, but I think you will be so grateful not to have to do it! Best of luck to you!!