PinkPolkadot619

Hello Gorgeous Gladiators!
Everytime I read the posts, its so awesome to read such progressive, positive feedback. I've been losing weight at a snail rate, but it doesn't bother me anymore! I'm one lb, to being classified as overwoverweight! How freakin' exciting, since for 20 yrs plus ive been morbidly obese. Ive lost 119lb, and 43 lb to go to my goal weight at 160lbs.
I'd love to post a pic of my progress, but I can't figure out how to do it!!
Is there any Gladiator who would like to post how to do this task!
Be well Gorgeous Gladiators!

I ran my first chip timed 5k this weekend, I didn't think I could actually run the whole time but I did!! 34:08 :-)
I had been struggling with how to transition from the mindset of weight loss to the fact I am at goal and don't need to loose more......fitness goals are helping, and my fun Fitbit
    

@PinkPolkadot619---Wine at dinner is what I was missing. The first time I tried anything, it burned my stomach. So it was a long time before I tried again. Then at Olive Garden one night I tried their little sample they give of wine. The sample lasted me throughout dinner. It was a perfect amount. Didn't get sick at all.
Way to go on your 5K!! That is awesome!! You look great!!! :D

So this weekend I ran my first chip timed 5k, and hit my surgeons set weight goal!! 140, I would like 3 more pounds so that clothed and not first thing in the morning maybe it will be 140 at the doctors office. But it was fun to accomplish my first fitness goal, and I wasn't the last one to cross the finish line :-) I finished in 34:08, I have never ran that long without stopping!!

Hi everyone,
I'm back. Stuck at 175 lbs with Luna. Misery does love company, lol.
Loved Taci's comment on the boob thing. Smiley once referred to hers as tube socks. I still laugh when I think about it. Great imagery! My boob moment was when I wore a bra that had less coverage (demi) and when I bent over, my boobs spilled over the top. Then, I stood there (in line at a register at Maci's, I think) with this unaboob over the top of the bra and I could not fix it without getting hands in there. How horrible. Now, I know my bra has to fit well all around so the girls can't run away in any direction.
I lost my pants once, I was walking along and I felt this funny feeling, they were past my butt but because my shirt was long I didn't flash anyone but it was hilarious. I still try to wear clothes that fall off my body as I obviously don't learn. I wore this pair of crop pants the other day and I was out in the garden. After pulling them up for the 100th time, I stopped and said to myself, my pants are slowing me down, lol. Had to change them pronto. I have placed clothes shopping on hold for now because it's was such a waste. All 6 pairs of jeans I bought in the past 3 months are too big. It's so hard to find a pair that fits great and once you do, not being able to wear them is like losing an old friend. All my tops look like tents AGAIN. In fact, when I go in my closet, it's a fight finding something that fits.

@PinkPolkadot619---One of the main reasons I chose the gastric bypass over the sleeve is because I KNOW sweets are my weak area. And I needed something to help control that. A close friend of mine had the sleeve and the only thing she can't physically eat is oatmeal. (of all things?!) She can eat any dessert. I didn't "Want" to be able to eat them easily.
Now....I "can" eat a small amount of sweets if I'm really having a craving. Like, one bite of a cupcake. Or 3 pieces of snack size candy. I cannot do ice cream, well--maybe one bite, but it's too much of a temptation to eat more. And then I regret it. I tried just a baby size ice cream cone, and got very sick.
So for me, getting sick keeps me in line, I like that I get sick when I eat something I find I can't tolerate. Then I KNOW it's not worth it to eat it. I don't eat the sweets often at all. But once in a while I just crave a small treat.
I was happy to find out I could drink a Mai Tai in Hawaii, but I can only drink maybe 1/2 glass of wine. Then I get nauseous. (must be able to tolerate the hard liquor in the mixed drink?) But, I do get tipsy VERY quickly!! LOL! But my metabolism is so fast, that I don't stay tipsy long either, LOL!

@@brown eyed gal
I have only had to lay down twice and only once was a on the floor lord help situation. But yes any of those symptoms can be considered dumping. And yes I am told we can change many times......but no matter if we can tolerate sugar, I know for me it is an addiction and I can not go back to normal sweets or I will have a problem. I know I needed this surgery for a reason and many people in my support group go to OA. Most people who have this surgery have some type of a bad relationship with food. If we don't do something to address it, we can slip back. That is my reason for feeling so strong about sugar and carbs. I did not do this intestinal rearranging to just slip back and let the food creep back in. I LOVE life too much to let the junk control it.
off my soap box now :-D
I am so glad I have you gladiators!! Thank you all for sharing your stories.

With our new tummies and insides things hit us stronger and often will drop faster. I know if I even have me BIG TREAT of a Fiber one Brownie (8g sugar) and I eat it too fast I get sick. I only have them if I have had a large amount of Protein first to help carry the sugars in my body. I know my body does not NEED it for nutrition so I try to only have them once in a blue moon and now that I have found Quest I stick to those more. But even eating the Fiber one to fast can make me sick.
It has been 8 months and I am still having to drill in to my brain to only eat for nutrition as much as possible. The mental part of the journey is so hard!!

@@brown eyed gal
I have only had to lay down twice and only once was a on the floor lord help situation. But yes any of those symptoms can be considered dumping. And yes I am told we can change many times......but no matter if we can tolerate sugar, I know for me it is an addiction and I can not go back to normal sweets or I will have a problem. I know I needed this surgery for a reason and many people in my support group go to OA. Most people who have this surgery have some type of a bad relationship with food. If we don't do something to address it, we can slip back. That is my reason for feeling so strong about sugar and carbs. I did not do this intestinal rearranging to just slip back and let the food creep back in. I LOVE life too much to let the junk control it.
off my soap box now :-D
I am so glad I have you gladiators!! Thank you all for sharing your stories.

@Luna222--Hey there! Missed you!
I'm doing good. (If you read back a little ways, I just got engaged! Whoohoo!!)
So you're still stuck?? Are you measuring too? Wondering if you're toning and losing inches?
TMI Alert!!---I've been stuck at about 158-159 since I got home from vacation. But it's also been at least a week since I've really "gone to the bathroom." And I take a mild natural pill to help keep things moving and still nothing...UNTIL this morning. Whew!!! Pretty sure that scale will have moved when I weigh again tomorrow morning. Wowzers! (sorry... )

@@Rogofulm
I have issues with snacking. My time is crunched at work so I grab a quick meal out the door. The problem is I grabbed a box of wheat thins and had no room for Protein. My body did not respond well. I now have Quest bar. I seem to have no time to eat at work these days.

To the OP's issue -- finding new goals that interest and motivate us -- and to the other issue mentioned above about the seduction of continuing to lose weight, either out of habit or obsession ....
Yes. Uh-huh. Me, too. Amen!
I'm now 4 pounds below goal. And trying hard (at least some of the time) to stop losing weight. My avowed new goals are similar to others' -- reduce my body fat / increase my lean body mass, get stronger, faster, leaner (but not lighter), etc.
The pattern that I'm following now (may have to shake this up) is to eat 1,400 calories during the week (with equal calories from Protein, carbs and fats) and then eat 1,700-2,000 on the weekends.
I'm still using MFP to plan and track all my menus / food intake. I expect to do that most of the time to not let this "get away from me." My nutritionist and exercise consultant and I think that my maintenance calories will be around 1,600 - 1,700 at my current exercise levels. We shall see what happens.
On the regain issues ... my shrink works with a number of bariatric patients and has seen many people go through this process. Back in January (over four months ago) I asked him, "What issues do you see patients struggling with who regain weight? And by that I don't mean that they're eating too much. I'm really asking what's going on inside them that leads them to regain?"
After thinking a moment, he said: "What I mostly see is that they're struggling to find new reasons and new motivations to focus on their weight and fitness.
"After they hit their goal weights, many of the rewards they got while losing weight go away. They're no longer motivated by seeing the scale move down. After a while, their family and friends get used to what they look like and stop commenting on their weight loss or weight. Even people who were their strongest supporters during the weight loss phase no longer offer supportive comments. And when this positive reinforcement disappears, that has a negative effect on the patients.
"So then they must find new goals and new motivations to maintain their weight and to be fit. And for some folks that's not easy."
So that's one shrink's brief observations about the cause of WLS patients' weight regain. Maybe that will ring some bells for other readers.

With our new tummies and insides things hit us stronger and often will drop faster. I know if I even have me BIG TREAT of a Fiber one Brownie (8g sugar) and I eat it too fast I get sick. I only have them if I have had a large amount of Protein first to help carry the sugars in my body. I know my body does not NEED it for nutrition so I try to only have them once in a blue moon and now that I have found Quest I stick to those more. But even eating the Fiber one to fast can make me sick.
It has been 8 months and I am still having to drill in to my brain to only eat for nutrition as much as possible. The mental part of the journey is so hard!!

Gladiators, we definitely have to curtail the sweets. In my case, after I eat sugars, infeel crappy, and then sometimes a couple of hours later is when my bld sugar will drop I get shakey, sweaty, incoherent, weak.. very frightening. So, by sharing our stories.. it really does help the group.

Dumping does not necessarily mean all the symptoms it can just be the crappy feeling like high blood sugar. But I want to pass the warning to you that was passed to me, I have been warned by many many many post-ops 2-15 years out, to not go back to the sugar foods at all. I take Quest bars with me to parties and events I know will have cake or other yummies then I eat it at the same time as every one else. Today it is brownies and lemon bars at work, I have an emergency Quest bar, but I know if I eat it once then I know I will want it again and then the problem begins. I know we are all different, I just wanted to pass what I felt was wise advice. Keep up the hard work Gladiators!!

Date night

Date night

@@amylynns OMG amazing photos and CONGRADULATIONS on the engagement!! So picture perfect :-D and you look just amazing! Health and love look good on you proud Mama!
@@LisaCO That pic is so cute!!
Thank you everyone, I felt so amazing in that dress. I am talked to my friend yesterday about altering it so I can still wear it again.

@PinkPolkadot619---I've heard of it happening to other people too, thinking, "how would they not realize their pants are falling off, LOL" Guess I know now! Haha!

@PinkPolkadot619--Thank you!! You look amazing in that dress too!!!
Funny thing happened today, or not so funny maybe! I'm wearing a skirt today that I've only wore one other time. It stretched out pretty quickly that time, so I washed and dried it, trying to shrink it just a bit.
Well, I was walking along at work and it felt odd in the back. I went to adjust it and realized it was half way down my tush!! Ooops!!! Glad no one saw me!!! Guess I won't be wearing this one again!

Pinkpolkadot- Wow! Stunning!

Here's a few more of my favorite pictures

Hey friends! Back from Hawaii! We got back Tuesday actually. Thank goodness only 3 days of work this week! I'm still in vacation mode and we missed a night of sleep the day (night) we flew back, so I seem to be having a hard time catching up on that! I got way off schedule with my meds too, so that probably didn't help!
Anyway---we of course had an amazing time! The time we spend with just our 2 oldest sons was great. Love that we are able to do this with our kids. For those that don't know, when our kids graduate, we let them pick a trip they want to go on. When our oldest daughters graduated they picked Hawaii too. My Aunt has a home there she rents out when she's not there, so we are able to stay there pretty cheap. :-)
SO!!! I not only hit my original goal of 160 (actually got to 158) on vacation, BUT.....I got engaged!! On the beach, at sunset....it was absolutely perfect.
I'll see if I can figure out how to add a picture on here, LOL...I might need to do it from my phone instead.