Forsythia

So I've been stuck at 252 for the last two weeks. Stalls suck. I have my three month post op this month (on the 19th, although it has been 90 days post surgery as of today). I desperately want to be in the mid 240s for this visit. It's a mental goal of mine based on where I feel I should be at 3 months out. I'm gonna try to low carb and cut back on weights this week (fast and light as opposed to slow and heavy), to see if that kickstarts my weight loss again. I'm going to continue swimming and taking my body works plus abs class. I love both of those things so much. LOL. I probably should better track my carbs. But I work out a lot ( almost two hours on cardio/weights days) and I know you need carbs for fuel when you are working out. Since the surgery, I do not seem to have the sensitivity to carbs that I had before my sleeve (considering that I was diabetic). But still, my guidelines pre-sleeve were to not go over 50g of carbs at a meal and 30g at a snack. That always worked for me to keep my blood sugars even. Those are the same guidelines I adhere to now. I know other sleevers are much stricter on carbs, so we will see if tweaking them does me any good. Stall busting is complex business. I know I am not cheating my sleeve and overeating. I know my sleeve has not grown because I can still only eat tiny amounts of dense protein. Calorie wise I am good. So the trick is to rejigger something somewhere to kick it back into gear. In other news, the second bathing suit I bought works divinely. It is a Land's end surplice front tugless tank. Looks better on that it looks hanging up. But my girls don't fall out. My old suit was a surplice front one as well, but it was a size 26. this one is a 20. I apparently have to buy my swimsuits for my boobs (smaller) and not my hips (bigger). If I buy for my hips, the girls will make an appearance. And it was on clearance. The suit is a bit tight in the hips, but not to the point where circulation is being cut off. Ha! The things I do for fitness. I spend a lot of money on fitness gear. But I always have. in the early 00s I used to work out at home and had all this stuff - weights, steps, mats. Now I work out at a gym and I still have all this workout related stuff.

Funny - there are people who do better with them and people who do better without them. My Water bottle has a straw in it. I use it every day. I don't think it makes me any gassier than if I were to take the lid off and drink it that way. I'm way more likely to spill if I take the lid off though (I often joke that I have a drinking problem because of this!). The official line from my nutritionist was that you could use them or not, depending on how you react to them.

I buy them cheap. Target, Walmart, Kmart.

Howdy! Sleeved on 5/5. Down 60 lbs from my program start weight and 83 from my all time high. I've been retaining water lately, so I've not lost anything these last two weeks, but I keep on track and continue to go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week for at least an hour or more, so I know my body will catch up again soon.

I don't generally worry about fat at all. I really only track Protein. I eyeball my carbs and try to keep them under 100 for the day, but I don't obsess over them.

All those fluids should work their way out of you over the next few days or so. Just keep drinking your Water and taking as many walks as possible.

I generally get between 800 and 1200 calories a day. Higher end on the days I go to the gym, less on the days I don't.

I'm relentless closet purger. But then again I am also a person who buys cheap disposable clothes that are only meant to last a season or two (see the "nerdy fashion freak part of my profile bio). I do have some fancier items that are being donated - some suits are going to dress for success here in Chicago. They are always in need of plus sized suits. And some cocktail dresses that are too pretty to just toss. I buy an item or two on clearance or at Ross/TJ Maxx/Marshall's to tide me over as I go down in size.

Everything on purees made me crabby and miserable and I was happy it was only one week long on my plan. I'm super picky though.

Liquids in the hospital (two days), purees immediately upon going home (although they said I could stay on liquids for a day or two more if I wanted). Stayed on purees for a week and was on to soft solids for a month. After that I was cleared for a general diet.

I was cleared for swimming and weight lifting after 6 weeks. Mentally it took me another four or so to actually work up the nerve to use the pool at the gym. LOL. Now I have all these accessories. Like a kickboard and these swimming paddles for my hands.

This happens ALL THE TIME. The big myth is that everyone thinks the weight is going to fall off consistently. Not so much. I had a 12 day stall two weeks after my surgery. Basically your body is all like "hold up, what?!" But the weight will begin to come off again. Just follow the plan!

You can always call them too. That's what I did. I tried to find out via the BCBS IL website but finally I just called them on my lunch hour and got confirmation of their policy for my PPO that way. I suppose I could have hunted them down. I know exactly where the BCBS IL building is here in Chicago! LOL. It's right next to the Aon center, which is the building I used to work in!

I don't regret the decision at all. I will say however, that the entire time I was going through the process (all 6 months of the program plus the couple extra I had due to scheduling issues) I was all like "Do I need this? I've lost 70 lbs before.. why can't you do it now?" The whole time. Until I was actually on the books scheduled for the surgery - then s#!t got real. I rationalized that I could quit anytime. But I never did quit, because I think deep down I knew I was not going to be able to keep it off without help. I wish I would have done it before I tipped the scales into diabetes.

I know nothing about Cigna, but I am from Chicago too! You might try the insurance forum down the page. There are usually quite a few posts about Cigna.

A food scale is quite helpful. There might come a point in time where you can eyeball 2oz of chicken, but to start off, get a food scale that allows you to tare out the weight of your plate/bowl and weigh out 2 to 3 oz of food. Mine is an Ozeri and cost about $20 on amazon. You might be able to eat a lot of cheerios, but only a very small portion of chicken or tuna or turkey. Dense foods take up more space and you end up eating less turkey lunch meat than you would that bowl of cream of chicken Soup. The first two weeks I was home I got a pang when I hit my stop point. Now at almost 3 months I don't get that at all. It's up to me to be mindful of what I am eating, and how fast. And also working past that brain want vs legit stomach need. Brain wants an 8 oz fliet mignon done medium rare with a nice twice baked potato on the side. Stomach says no. LOL.

You can take solace in knowing that most food in commercials is all fake. I used to work in advertising. One of clients was McDonald's. We had a food stylist who worked for us for all of the print shoots. Even food in the commercials was fake if it was not being eaten!

I'm sure my lack of running will come back to bite me in the ass during the zombie apocalypse! Lets just hope they are slow zombies and not fast ones. LOL! But then again, I'm much smaller now, so I will be able to run long enough to make it to safety..

Thank you.

So I imagine you are in recovery right about now! Hope everything went smoothly for you.

You should do whatever it is you enjoy doing. I always use the recumbent bike, but depending on the day alternate between the elliptical and the treadmill on an incline. I also take a Body Works plus abs class one day a week, and swim two days a week. I also lift weights on the treadmill/ellipitcal days Some people like Zumba. Some people like to run and only ever run (I personally will only be running during the zombie apocalypse). Some people like to bike. It's not about what machine is going to burn the most calories, it is about finding something that you like and sticking with it - that is how you become successful. And at first honestly you might find you hate all of the cardio. There was a time when getting on the treadmill was a terrible slog and made me so bored. So I had to mix it up in order to stay motivated.

Oddly, I have no issues with Isopure. It does kind of have an aftertaste. But I like to cocotein water. But I like coconut anything. popsicles, shampoo, lotion, toasted coconut rum balls. I could go on...

I had my sleeve on 5/5/14. Cinco de Mayo. Some people have a margarita, I had surgery. LOL. I'm in a bit of a stall right now, but I'm okay with that. I'm down over 60 lbs, so that's nothing to be sad about! I'm working out like a fiend and eating the way I'm supposed to. And I can buy clothes from Old Navy in the store instead of having to order online in the plus section now. Yay!

I bought.. well okay my husband bought me some stuff from Old Navy today. I got a dress - its a little big on the top size 18/20. I think a 14/16 would have fit on the top but been too tight in the hips. But who knows.

So I thought I would post some pictures. The one with the dinosaur is pre-surgery. In April Size 26W. The one with me in the mint top is a couple weeks post surgery 24W pants and 2x top. And the one in the dress is from today, in an 18/20 dress. And with curly hair. The top of the dress is actually a bit loose. I might be more like a 16 in the chest area. I miss my boobs. LOL! So that's that.