JustWatchMe

Best. Walking through the world as an "average" person, and not drawing attention to myself based on my size. Worst. Getting stuck on food when eating with other people. That has really taught me to slow down and chew.

Just kidding sorta. I have squares from the office so maybe I'll win something.

I just started wearing scarves this year. They keep me warm!

Me too. Love my no-chip manis.

Way to go!

Yep. You're tiny. ????

I just switched to an iPhone 6 and my ads stopped. They were popping up on iPhone 5.

Beautiful!

I tightened the inner elastic drawstring in my winter coat so I have a "waist" now. I bought this coat last winter because it had that feature. Now I'm finally using it!

Oh yeah

iTunes: Recovery Radio Half Size Me Tips of the scale

I listen to the following on iTunes: Throwing Shade Half Size Me Life Changing Stories The Moth Recovery Radio Tips of the scale Political stuff including Democracy Now, The Rachel Maddow Show, etc.

Way to go!

Congratulations!!

"I feel skinnyyyyyy, oh so skinnyyyyy....." So this happened. I'm back to my lowest post op weight today. Yay. This is big. I've been bouncing into and out of Onederland for SIX months. A month and a half ago I made some big changes to my food and behaviors. It resulted in the loss of ten pounds I gained back from my low weight last year up to that point. So today I'm back down to 193, back on track, and feeling great. Less than fifty pounds to goal. I started thinking I'd make a list of what's going right. When I can't figure out why things are slowing down or going in reverse, I'll pull out this list and see what I'm doing or not doing. Here goes. Feel free to add your own tips to this thread. Tracking food in MyFitnessPal. Weighing daily. Going to OA and CODA meetings. Therapy every two weeks. Planning food the day before and committing it to my OA sponsor. Staying under 1200 calories a day. No fried food. No carby Thai noodles. No movie crapcorn. Two fruit or p rotein shake s nacks a day. Measuring out nuts instead of guessing the portion. No alcohol. Healthy, boring, simple foods like eggs and cheese and yogurt and meatballs. Way fewer processed foods. Bye bye bread. Just because I drop it in the salad bowl doesn't make it salad. Log it. (See nuts, measured, above.) Journaling. Listening to weight loss and addiction recovery podcasts. Obeying my band. It says "enough"? I stop. I have found that this same fill level that I have been at since August suddenly is just right. Before these changes, I was contemplating another fill because I was able to eat too much. But even then I would get stuck on certain foods if not chewed thoroughly. I wisely took my NP's advice and cleaned up the food and drink before getting a ninth fill. I don't need it now. I'm at the sweet spot, the green zone, the holy grail of band land. It took about four weeks for me to stop daydreaming about the perfect meal and missing my fried foods. Today I crave veggies and simple meals. It's a miracle. But I can't stress enough how important the "head and heart" work is. I am working very, very hard on the emotional and spiritual recovery from my food addiction. Like every day. No kidding. So anyway, just wanted to share this joyful stuff and ask others to pile on. What's going right for you?

First of all, congratulations on the pregnancy. Second of all, you are not a failure. You are struggling, and you're looking for help. Please, please give yourself a break. I don't think I have very much to offer except to tell you my experience with my band. I lost a lot of weight quickly in the first 7 months, and then I stopped losing. I know full well that it was because of the food choices I was making. I was not binging anymore, but I was refusing to give up certain foods, like fried foods and other delectables. I was very discouraged and afraid that I would not lose the final 50 that I needed to lose. Like you, I felt like I could eat more than I should be able to eat. I went to see my NP. Instead of yet another fill, we discussed me trying to clean up my food first, and see if that helped my restriction.I did just that. Little by little, I gave up the items that were causing me trouble. First to go was alcohol. Second to go was fried food and a carby Thai dish that I loved to eat once or twice a week. Finally, I gave up the movie crap corn. I went back to tracking my food in MyFitnessPal. It took a good four weeks before these changes became comfortable. But once that time had passed, I no longer craved the crappy food. It was easier to stay within my measured portions. It was easier to track and stay committed to what I planned. I began to get hungry only at meal times again. I began to crave vegetables instead of greasy fried food. And slowly, slowly, slowly, the weight is coming off again. I don't know if any of this helps you. I know that if I were pregnant, it would be an additional challenge. But please give yourself a break. None of us entered WLS as a short-term solution. We have made this decision for life. But the good part about that is, the solution will be with us for life. We can work with our doctors and our bands to help us get back or stay on track. Again, blessings to you on your pregnancy. And good luck to you with your band!

I've had a month and a half of very clean eating and my band is really doing its job. Slowly the weight I gained over the past six months has come off. I know without my band, this restart wouldn't have happened. It's such a gift to have this tool that helps with the hunger if I only do my part. After three or four weeks of no fried food (!!! me!?!?!) and no Thai noodles and no crapcorn, I no longer missed or daydreamed about them. Nothing short of a miracle.

OA, Bariatricpal, therapy.

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Way! To! Go!

Keeping it real, sister. I've started to actually prepare less than before, so throwing extra away is happening less. This is huge for me, since I've never learned to cook "small" my whole life. I will add, my dog is not a garbage pail either. Poor guy was getting all the excess p rotein from my plate once I felt my soft stop signal. I've lost ten pounds in about five weeks. Problem is, he is up ten pounds from last summer. Routine vet visit weigh in. I was shocked. He's a big dog but that's not good for him. So I abruptly stopped giving him the extras. Now he gets an essential oil head massage each evening instead. Healthier for both of us.

I'm not a trucker but I want to say your post is very inspirational. Planning for a healthy lifestyle and getting your ducks in a row before surgery is so smart. Best of luck to you!

Slow down your eating and chew really really thoroughly. If you do this and still PB, let your team know.

Lisa, take that nap.

Calgon, take her away. Don't you love how every doctor, therapist, etc. says it's important that we reduce our stress levels for our health? But never tell us how? Life doesn't cooperate.