sweetie716

That is so exciting! It is a huge, but wonderful, life change. Just remember to take it one step at a time and even if roadblocks do pop up, it will be worth it in the end. So happy for you!

Yes, Laydee_G, it is a lifetime. I know I had that mindset going in, and I was definitely nervous about it because I was 29 at the time and scared that I wouldn't be able to make it last for life. I gained confidence as the months went by. Then with this hiccup late March/early April I felt pretty deflated. I kept thinking why am I doing this to myself.

THankfully- I've been doing great since my last post. Since Thursday I've been back to basics and have taken 10 pounds off. I am so thankful that my body is responsive to positive changes. I still have another 10-20 to go. The best part is that right now I have the peace of just doing what I'm supposed to be doing. My head is relatively quiet- no trying to justify a bad choice or crazy cravings. Maybe I just needed some accountability here. It's been a while since I've checked in and written in a forum. I have also been praying about this a lot. Thank you all for being here- it really is easier to get through when you have others who are also working toward the same goal to talk to about it.

I can do great all day long, but after a long, stressful day at work, it's like all the sense and determination and goals I have for myself just evaporate and I all of a sudden "deserve it" or can "get back to it in the next meal or tomorrow." Basically, how I struggled before surgery. It's absolute nonsense, and sometimes I know it is, but I make a bad choice anyway. I really thought that I was done with all of that struggle, but for the moment that struggle is still very real. I had a blissful year and (almost) a half with very few thoughts of food or struggles to make the right decision. I knew what I was doing and I just did it. I thought that my mind was all fixed up. This particular moment in time isn't so easy. Once things smooth out for me a bit in regards to the day-to-day, minute-to-minute decisions about food, I will be extremely careful to continue to make better decisions. I haven't had any trouble losing, but once a significant portion of the regain comes off, I have made bad decisions again and the cycle persists. I need to just stay the course until goal (again), then stay put. In general, the 5 months or so where I did maintain within the same 5 pound range were not all that easy either. It is tough right now, but I'm hoping that with enough time between me and carbs, I'll get back into the "this is just what I do" mode and it won't be the kind of struggle that it feels like right now.

Don't I know it. The thing that is annoying is that I really didn't miss carbs much when I wasn't eating them. It was easy to just block out all the things I didn't eat- no refined carbs whatsoever. The problem came in when I deviated from my zero tolerance rule. Now I'm working on getting as much time as possible under my belt going without carbs. The longer I go the better off I'll be. I just regret going off in the first place.

I am currently working on taking off some weight that has come back on recently. I ate a piece of cheesecake over easter break and since then I feel like I've opened pandora's box. I have been eating things I shouldn't and gaining because of it. I make it like a week or a week and a half of doing good and then I eat carbs again. Before this, I had not eaten any refined carbohydrates at all- not a single cracker or piece of bread- nothing. Now it feels like I can't turn it off. It has been a couple of months now that I've been struggling with things. However, I am working on making good decisions meal by meal. I find it much easier to do all shakes, I hate trying to regulate my food intake and make food decisions. However, I don't think that shakes all the time are going to be a great long term solution.

Oh, also see if you can get sample packs/individual servings before buying a whole bag/tub of something. It will probably save you money in the long run.

I used (and still use) Bariatric Advantage. I like that it has all the vitamins/nutrients in it. I just went with the one my surgeon's office recommended for the preop diet. I did try the unflavored unjury, but i was super sensitive to the Protein taste/smell at the time (due to having only Protein shakes for 4 weeks straight), so I did not enjoy it. It might be different now. Good luck! It's an exciting time!!

Awesome job!! What a great progress pic!

I still follow the rule. I think it was easier for me post-op. After the surgery everything changed so much- portions, food types, etc., that changing some of the habits around food got easier as well. I chewed like crazy, ate more slowly, and separated food and Fluid. It just naturally became the new norm afterwards because it's how I had to eat. Now that I'm about 13 months out, I still do the rules, although I've been eating faster- I need to work on that one.

I lost 200. I lost almost exactly 50 preop (about 6 months, but about 20 of that was just in the 4 week preop diet I had), then after surgery it took me just under a year to lose the other 150. I exercised EVERY day and stuck to the post op instructions regarding diet religiously. I also tracked every bite of food in mfp. Best of luck to you! Listen to your doctors/nurses/p.a.s and it will happen.

Maybe add another Protein bar? Some of them are packed with calories and Protein. Premier Protein Bars are normally almost 300 calories and 30 g of protein. There are 25 g of carbs though, if you are tracking that.

I kept one pair of my size 26 jeans. it is crazy to get in them now. i'd suggest maybe keeping one or two of your items.

When it gets to big it goes into the donate pile. When the donate pile gets big enough, it goes to the good will.

Finished last night! Great challenge- lost 4 pounds in 6 days- not too bad. Thanks!

Just had the last shake of Day 5. I'm doing one more day tomorrow. My next weigh in is Wednesday morning. Looking forward to it.

Woohoo day 5! We are in the home stretch. I'm going to do one additional day on Tuesday. I hope everyone has a great day- I'm going to try, although I'm already feeling stress. Can't wait for the weekend already

Day 4 done. Two more to go for me. part of me wishes I could do this indefinitely. I like not having to make decisions.

@@Babbs I might feel better about my dedication if it wasn't driven by a fear of losing control. I'm getting nervous about how to do maintenance because I feel like I need to keep myself on a loose schedule of eating 4x a day. I do need to stop losing soon, but I don't really know how to do that while keeping to both my meal schedule and my carb limit.

This year for desert I saved my favorite Protein Bar until the end of the day. No baked goods for me. I just don't trust myself enough to eat off plan still. I did read a low carb recipe for pumpkin pie with no crust that sounded good though. There have been a few ideas for Protein based Desserts on here as well. Happy birthday yall!

I finally got to weigh in today and I lost 3 pounds since Wednesday. I think I'll probably eat again on Wednesday. So glad I did this- it reminded me how good it feels to have a "food routine." I like the structure.

This may be a very fortunate thing that you are finding out how difficult of a time you are having emotionally. I would start researching ways to cope with stressors and emotions without food. If possible, I would also talk with a therapist as well. Make sure that you are truly ready for the changes that this surgery is going to require for you to be successful in the long term. Even if you aren't truly ready right now (I can't make a judgement on that at all), that doesn't mean that it won't happen. I would just encourage you to take an honest look and evaluate if you are going to get the most mileage out of your surgery- most people only have one shot at the "honeymoon phase." It can also be dangerous if you are not able to adhere to the post-op diet as your new tummy heals.

There are a lot of changes (diet, behaviors, attitudes, emotions, physical changes, etc.) that are taking place all at one time and it is going to be to your benefit if you can sort out your emotional stuff soon. By the time I went on my 4 week preop diet, I had already been working on a 6 month supervised diet where I had begun to make some of the changes like cutting down on carbs, meeting Protein goals, getting my Water in, chewing like crazy, etc. That made it much easier when the liquid diet did roll around (no cheats! and I'm still proud about that, lol). It is not easy to change and I remember wondering how I would ever be able to stop eating the foods I loved and how I could make it through stress and the other feelings without ever caving into my reliance on food to help me through those things, but it did happen once I was sleeved. I still worry about how maintenance will be- for me it helps to be in a regular food routine- without it I struggle/stress over it too much. Anyway, best of luck to you. You can and will do it- just take your time and don't rush the process.

I drink 4, I usually eat 4x a day so that's what I'm sticking to. I'm pretty sure it was 4 or 5 shakes throughout the day during my preop diet.

The tea was at Harris Teeter (a nicer grocery store, in case you don't have them in your area of the country). Two of the teas are Celestial Seasonings and two are Bigelow brand.

It's Day 3! Love this challenge. Last night I made banana bread for my husband and one for my work people. I don't know why, but when I go liquid I get in the baking mood. It happened last December when I had my surgery, too. This morning I'm making him a quiche. While grocery shopping for the bake-fest I'm having over here, I found 4 new seasonal teas that I'm very excited about: Eggnog'n, Caramel Apple Dream, Peppermint Bark, and Gingerbread. I've tried 2 out of the 4 so far and they are great. Happy liquids everyone!

I would say definitely not irrelevant. I have been helped greatly through your posts many times. I'm almost a year out now, but even pre-op and in the very early post-op days I loved finding posts from you and several others that had been through everything before me! Practical and down to earth advice from a successful sleever- probably more relevant than many others who weren't "tried and true" as far as having been through things and successful long term.