katesuccess

Lots of these are familiar to me too. I will say now that i'm two and a half years out from surgery (down 125, 20 yet to go!) I found the hot/cold thing pretty much stopped. I'd already been through menopause though when I had my sleeve done.

My 'skinny' rant is this; people I'm close to who would be loving and supportive about anything else in my life, when it comes to something that's hard for me at this lower weight they can't resist a snide comment or a sarcastic 'poor you' crack. Sheesh! I hate it. Case in point;

My husband asked how this day went last week knowing it was a long one and important to me. I told him the worst part was getting up and putting on what i planned to wear only to find the skirt part of the suit almost fell off. I had worn it a couple months back, but now it's way big. I switched and put something else on (slacks and kimono jacket) and it looked like a silk potato sack. It was 5am and I had to be out the door soon and in front of people all day - I was panicked and frustrated. His comment was along the lines of 'Yeah, poor you for losing so much weight.' in this sarcastic tone. He asked!! I won't be answering that again any time soon. But to his credit he circled around when hours later and apologized, though it was clear he didn't get it, just knew i was pissed.

My sister did a similar thing when i said i was sad to take a favorite piece to the consignment shop--why ask people?! And yes, both she and hubby are somewhat overweight and doing nothing about it (other than complaining).

Okay, end of rant.

Kate

Hey, wonton wrapper mini lasagna's - I like that idea @Djmohr ! All of the above sound pretty good to me.

I make vietnamese chicken meatballs and freeze them in three-packs to have in lettuce wraps.

I make mini-meatloaves varying the flavor like on the Eggface site, but i make them with ground chicken.

I seriously also love beef, so have four ounce super lead portions in the freezer, cook with a variety of things.

Love all my costco - easy foods, especially fish (frozen) portions that i cut in half and the Medit. chicken skewers.

Mixing some chocolate Protein powder with 3 ounces non-fat fage and adding a squirt of ice-coffee flavor and/or caramel flavor makes a caramel macchiato treat! Filling too.

Trader Joe's wasabi seaweed sheets - crunchy and my favorite substitute for high carb high fat crunchy Snacks. I don't even like potato chips now, I'd rather have these.

Eggface site has a great baked ricotta with marinara and cheese - tastes like lasagna without the Pasta and it's fabulous. I add chopped onion, mushrooms, lots of herbs, and even crumbled sausage sometimes. cut in wedges and into the , but it never lasts long when i have it.

One of my lunch staples is to ask for thick slices of lean roast chicken from the deli counter that I cut down into 'sticks' and bag into 4 ounce portions. Easy to eat finger food no matter where i am, and takes a while to eat. Oddly satisfying.

Oh! And Arctic Zero chocolate brownie 'ice cream'! Any flavor really. It's amazing and easily fits my plan.

Now it's only 10 am and i'm jonesing for all of this food, plus what everyone else posted. Sigh.

Kate

I do want to be very clear......even though there is pain with plastics for me, it is absolutely positively worth it.

Pain, burning and itching included. I would do it again in a heartbeat and intend to. I just want people to know that rarely do you go through surgery without some discomfort and in some cases real pain.

And if I am asked I will tell you what I know based on my experience and not what I am guessing or reading somewhere.

Some doctors love to tell you it is not so bad, I know my spine guy is one of them. No big deal......my ass. LOL then afterwards they admit they might have not given you the real deal.

Oh I would absolutely do it, @@Djmohr, in a heartbeat! If I ever win that lottery.... now if I did, I'd know the real scoop too.

Hmmm. I also don't identify as a WLS patient now (2 years out). Perhaps a former one, or a WLS 'beneficiary'', much like I was a beneficiary of a C-section once and of early detection and intervention with cancer. It's like they're my history, not part of my current story in that 'film at 11' sort of way.

And yes, my WLS still impacts me daily for all the same reasons it does any of us re eating/drinking and so forth. I also didn't have much help in the way of follow up care after the initial loss. When I asked for more help, they really didn't have anything helpful for me, and seemed disinterested at that point. I feel like that part of the journey where I was someone's patient is really over.

Not sure I'll ever recover from that desire to eat buckets full of Reese's Peanut Butter cups though. No, I won't eat them, just dream about them!

Oh my gosh- thank you both, @Djmohr and @@VSGAnn2014 - this is so helpful, and I feel in good company with such thoughtful and seasoned vets as you.

Ann, I'm so sorry for the grief, illness and roller coast this time has been for you, and I'm in awe of how beautifully you are living from your depth and strength, and not from some of those other options. The therapeutic route is so powerful, and so often dodged or overlooked because it's really hard work. Heck even finding a good therapist you like working with is hard work. Nice to hear the story of it working so well. What an inspiration you are!

Djmohr, awful that it's so painful - and that they don't give the straight story often about how bad it might be! Thanks for your honesty. I've been feeling quietly sorry for myself because my financial life doesn't allow for even the possibility of doing it (unless of course I win the lottery, which will be especially unlikely since I don't buy tickets!). The pain sounds pretty lousy, so I should at least take heart that I won't have to live through the ouch-part, just my flapping bat-wings, droopy kangaroo pouch-like thing and my thigh skin running down my legs, (chased only by my saggy breasts).

I backslid last summer on vacation and gained 25 lbs--I was horrified and stopped myself, and am now finally past the low weight from before my lapse. No longer feel like I'm "re-losing" the same pounds anyway. I'm worried about maintenance some, since for me to lose has meant being super rigid about my macros staying consistent every day. Granted I like that it's working, just not sure how much the motivation will flag once it's to stay the same instead of see the reward of weight loss.

I'll count on you all for guidance! Thanks for starting this conversation @Julie norton - so glad we can ask you Super-Vets to weigh in on these longer term things.

I feel that way too some days when I sign on and look at 'new content'. The advice is downright scary sometimes, but mostly it feels like a tone thing. Then I switch and cruise through Rants and Raves and Vets and it's usually better.

SO - here's my recent 'years out' issue; I'm two years from my VS, and this week finally hit a number that means I'm only 20 lbs from goal, (yay!) and was surprised at some of the thoughts I've had about that:

• Not much fear about not hitting it, because I'm so much happier now with my body, that if I don't get to 145 it's just not the end of the world, but still I wonder if I can.
• Although things are going well and not too hard right now, I'm wondering how hard maintenance will be, since I've never ever managed to do it for more than about a nanosecond it seems!
• I'm knowing I may not look that good at a lower weight, and am dreading people who say not to lose any more or offer helpful council about what I should weigh.
• If it's too low for me and I go up a little bit, will I even be able to stop going up, up, up?
• All things I know rationally are manageable, and yet still provoked a gut-clench response following my immediate thrill of realizing I'm getting close.

And final issue now that I'm two years out--When the heck will it cease to interest people to talk about my weight!?! Good grief people, can we talk about Orlando, Dallas, Nice, and the horrifyingly long list of such things? Heck, I might even rather talk politics than weight in public. Sigh.

Maybe I'm just cranky because I just went to a big party wearing a cute dress that showed how successful this has been for me --in nice appropriate ways-- and I swear almost every person in the room felt the need to comment!

Not for a millisecond do I regret my sleeve! Best thing in the world for me, and it got so many other joyful and healthy things going for me too. I'm two years out now, down 125 lbs, only 20 to go and happier than I can ever remember. Every day!

Sorry to hear that @@erp ! How's everyone doing this Monday morning?

I'm heading into some challenging weeks here with a conference, a backpack trip, a mini vacation trip and it'll be a beast to track my macros as scrupulously as I've been doing. Sigh. I have meals planned for the backpacking, but the conference I have to lead is awful that way, and the vacation time will be tough as well, since my usual foods aren't as easily available. I'll cope, but as I say - these will be challenging weeks for me. Thanks for letting me whine.

On the other hand, for the first time in 'forever' I lost two pounds this week! Yaaaaaaay!

It's been just over two years since my sleeve surgery, @reachbree, and I can still remember that awful feeling around the same time, that maybe I was the oddball one for whom it wasn't going to work, because I was losing so slowly for a few weeks in there. Then I heard there's very often a period like that 3 to 6 weeks out from surgery, and sure enough, the loss started up again at a slightly better pace. I never did have huge losses week to week like so many do, but it's been steady and glorious.

And you are so smart to be thinking about the gym in relation to this! So many discount the benefits you can get with working out. My biggest one early on was that it helped give me enough energy that I'd do more and have a better outlook. At first I did just walking, then 6 weeks from surgery started with gentle weight lifting work and intensified my cardio, hitting the gym three times a week. I think for me that helped my weight the most--maybe it made me a more efficient burner?

Now I'm closing in on goal and more than 125 lbs down (I'm 5'4" and 54 years old)--and I go to the gym four days a week, without fail pretty much. Three of those days I add cardio to my lifting. I don't look like a body builder or anything - but I love the definition in my arms and legs, and the energy! Oh, the energy!!

Good luck - try to not panic during this awful waiting/slow loss phase, and know you are NOT alone.

That's beautiful, @jess9395!

Okay, you inspire me to go and get it done soon now. Thanks.

These are great! YES to going sleeveless, accepting compliments, wearing heels pain-free, feeling less conspicuous because of size, and not feeling like an obstacle in the path -- and that driver's license stat honesty! I need to renew mine too - just seeing the old picture on it makes me startle now.

YAY! Welcome back to the world of posting, @s_suther!

Check-in for me is that things are going well, lost another pound and loving that over the past month or so a few clothing items fit better than before. Also mourning the retiring of a few favorites though.

I'm staying focused on being tightly adherent to my plan, and am going to factor in a cheat day for my birthday, which feels a bit scary to me, but my trainer (rightly) reminds me I need to be able to do that and get back on track.

Getting ready for vacation soon too; backpacking, a trail work party and some time at the beach on Washington's coast.

How are the rest of you doing?

How dare they!!

And if they DO leave out chocolate and Peanut Butter combo, call a lawyer. That's workplace harassment.

So, anyone have an odd or surprising milestone they hit AFTER they became "a vet"?

Mine is this: I went to the doc yesterday (for an eye infection), and I did not feel my gut clench when the nurse led me to the scale, I weighed in and did not make a comment about 'just having eaten/drank' to account for the weight, AND then realized that for the first time in my entire adult life, I did not consciously make sure to remember to pee before I went in to weigh! Yay!!!

The number just is not so important now, and I felt the most lovely realization that I'm finally taking it for granted that my weight/number does not define me.

Call me a Happy Camper.

Now, what yours?

Hi folks - and @@Alex Brecher especially - @@s_suther is having problems being allowed to post. Here's her response to my PM: Accountability Group

I can't start a thread or reply to topics, even the one I started. I sent a message to the forum and hope they can straighten out my account. I think it's just me. I tried the app and online to no avail. Keep us going while I am unable to post, maybe even share my issue there so people know I'm not ignoring or have run away.

Help?!

Kate

I'll take that rasher of bacon with a large slab of chocolate cake and a single malt chaser...or five.

Okay ladies, how's everyone doing? Are you glad to see Monday roll around again, or not-so-much?

@s_suther

@RockinRobin59

@thecamiraye

Monday is my check-in day, although I weigh every day just to see. I lost .7 lb this week, which given how freaking much exercise I did is too darned little! Hah hah. I did four gym workouts this week, three of them with cardio added on, then a 10 mile hike on Saturday where my fitbit registered 350 flights of stairs, LOL! It was expected to be a 3600 foot elevation gain, so I guess I should be glad it wasn't any more than that, eh? It rained the first half of the climb, and then misted most of the remainder, but then at the top of the mountain the clouds parted for about five minutes and gave us an INCREDIBLE view! What a nice reward that was.

Anyone have plans coming this week? Challenges? I've got dinner out on Thursday but I can plan ahead somewhat. They never cook/serve exactly as they say on the phone though. Then another evening event out on Friday--I'll take seltzer, and eat before hand and plan a treat to come home to so i'm not tempted to eat junk there.

Hope all is well with everyone! Happy Monday!

I get the Jif one too, as I can grab it on the shelf when I run out, instead of ordering it.

My favorite is adding it to my Protein 'pudding' -- I mix 3 or 4 ounces of nonfat or 2% Fage Greek yogurt with a scoop of chocolate Protein Powder and a serving of peanut powder -- I add stevia and a teeny bit of cocoa to make it stronger, and it's to die for! (best if you can let it sit in the frig to meld for an hour or so - or overnight as needed.

I agree with the above posts, and having a sip being something special for a 21 birthday. It's also a chance to think more deeply about what turning 21 means for you after such a major life-reclaiming decision and surgery.

I know I'm old, so it feels like mine was back in the dark ages (I'm 54), but I've had other recent milestones/events and loved that sip of celebratory champagne or now scotch from time to time. The surgery and weight loss progress have given me so much in terms of better health and a far greater life, it feels like honoring that now gets to take a much bigger part of my personal internal center stage.

I'm sure you already know this stuff, I just don't want you to be too surprised if the experience of the new legal permission to order a drink is less of a thrill than you'd anticipated, or than it is for your peers. What other things make this a landmark year or turning point for you? What permissions or promises are you giving yourself as a gift?

And btw, congratulations on your surgery AND on turning 21!

I've had that in my family too @Andrew0929, and it feels pretty heartbreaking. Both seemed so close and connected with me as a perpetually overweight person, and as if we shared a deeper connection. Now its as if that depth were merely a common experience of being overweight, and yet for me it was much more than that. We've gone from soul-baring to polite, and I HATE it.

My thoughts are like most of the others too - we can't change others, only our responses to them. Yes, people change of their own accord, so I hold out hope that in the future that closeness may again find purchase in their hearts.

At least know that you're not alone in this, and that its lousy to have to grieve such losses. I suspect their loss of you is even greater in the end.

Those look like calcium chews - they're nice since taking pills is not usually advised right away.

Does anyone else find their day today wait fluctuations irritating? I am still trying to lose, and am waiting daily because I get to fixated on the scale if I only weigh once a week. (I.e. One bad day out of seven is no big deal, but about the scale day when I only do it once a week makes me nuts).

Anyway, yesterday and the day before I was down to 169, today 170.6. Not a big deal, but my body things to do this all the time – and I realized today it irritates me because it feels like I'm having to lose every pound twice, LOL!

Like I say, no big deal – but still mildly irritating nonetheless. It might BE Tuesday, but it feels like Monday to me! Sigh.

That's my guess too. Shrimp is easy for even good restaurants to treat too casually and not keep it cool enough, etc.

Wine stopped agreeing with me before surgery, but prosecco/champagne was fine, and so was my favorite; single malt scotch. I stayed away from all alcohol for a good year, then let myself calculate it into my food plan once in a blue moon. Amounts to maybe once every three or four months, and then only an ounce of scotch or 3 ounces wine. I count the calories as carbs, otherwise it doesn't really work on the macro counting I do on MFP.

Anyway, just to say, a bit of the good stuff sits just fine, and once in a while hasn't bothered me in that way. Lets hope it was just a fluke of tummy trouble! Ick...ouch!

Your doctor sounds wonderfully sane!

Mine gave me the goal of 145, which I know he did based strictly on BMI charts. For me that sounds too low, and I suspect i'll look 20 years older if I get there. I'm also not sure if I'd feel good at that weight, or if maintaining it would be a torturous struggle for me.

My body fat percentage isn't too bad even now (~33%), and so I'll evaluate as I go I think. In my head I've been thinking 150-155, but I'm presently at 169 and not terribly unhappy with it. I'm size 12 these days, though I'd like to be 8-10 ideally. Either way, losing that much more this slowly feels a bit like an eternity from here!

Got to say - it still ticks me off when I think of that doc I asked for help with my weight from three years ago. He said "Have you ever thought of going on a diet?" I kid you not.

He received an appropriate and articulate response from me...that I'll be he won't soon forget. Imagine!?!

As for the ability of family to be stupid or mean, hard to fathom why we still have to call them 'family.' Sheesh.