okelly44

Something great happened to me the other day at a theme park. Something that most "normal" people never even consider when they are out for the day enjoying the rides and fun. But it happened to me..... NOTHING! Yes!! Hooray!! NOTHING happened when I rode the rides! What? Some may wonder. But they've never faced the embarrassment of not fitting on an amusement park ride and having to pretend you're getting off because you're just afraid to ride the roller coaster. They've never known the shame of having the ride staff try with all their might to close the bar over their big stomach and fail. They've never been squeezed into a ride so tight that they ended up with bruises on their sides. They've never had to worry the whole time they were in line if one of these awful situations awaited them at the front, or try to choose carefully the rides they were most likely to fit into. Having faced all of that in the past, I am so happy to say that it didn't even cross my mind at the theme park this Sunday!! I easily got onto and fit every ride! Even rides that in the past were tight or painful, didn't even feel snug. What a joy! Small victory indeed! Just not having to wonder or worry or think about it was a wonderful thing. I felt so normal. And my heart went out to the others I saw who were bigger, and who I know from experience were having to deal with this humiliation and fear instead of having fun with their friends and families. There are a lot of little things the "normal" sized folks never have to think about or even consider, and I'm glad for them. And now I don't ever have to think about this one again either. :D :D

I also found that not only are my clothes hopelessly too big, but that SHOES are too big too! Wow! I never thought that would be the case. I have a couple of beautifully made older pairs I can wear again and am so glad. I thought i just had bigger feet with age or something, but I guess some of it was weight. And, yes, those rings are spinning constantly. I keep thinking I should wait until I'm done to get new clothes or fix my rings, but there comes a point when you have no choice. For mother's day I actually asked for new clothes. I sewed and hemmed in some old favorites but now it's just impossible unless I completely pull off sleeves and re-tailor them...and who has time for that? I have a 3 pound per week goal as well. But it's not easy! I'm smaller than I've been in about 23 years but I have to keep working hard to make the changes continue. Good Luck to you and congrats on your success!!

Hey Friend - how's it going? Looks like we've both lost about the same so far... I'm in the 240s as well. Kind of tough now that the initial loss is slowing. I have to work at it much harder now. (See my blog! LOL) Started losing again with a very strict regimen of 800-900 cal a day. Hard to do, but I go a bit easier on Sat & Sun so I have something to look forward to. Tired of waiting to be at the goal wait. Sigh. Want to be DONE already!! So what's been tough for you? I notice that even with the sleeve i get hungry. I also notice that some old habits are tough to break, like cleaning my plate or putting more on my plate to begin with than I need. Especially hard is listening to my stomach instead of my mouth and stopping eating before I am too full. I really have to be super conscious of what I'm doing when eating or before I know it I'm painfully full and have consumed far too may calories. Has the Herbal Life boost been helpful? I have found myself drinking more coffee because it fills me up and the caffeine kills my appetite too. Well, good luck!!

Since the beginning of 2015 I have been enjoying all the compliments and applause.... and have come to rest on my laurels. I enjoy the praise, but this is no time to get lazy, and I really have. I read somewhere that when people reach their goal, instead of thinking "Wow that worked so I'll stick with it!", then tend to feel like they're all done and inadvertently revert to their old habits. Yup. I am glad to say I seem to have the maintenance thing down. Staying put isn't too hard when I work at it during the week and ease off a bit to enjoy my weekends. I've "restarted" with serious commitment a few times in the last 4 months without tremendous success, and have lost and regained the same 3-4 pounds a few times. But then, one extra event takes place... a trip, a stressful week, something, and it becomes more than just a 2 day weekend of fluid boundaries. And I stepped on the scale and saw an 8 pound gain. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! :o :o So that was it - no more dilly dallying, no more cruise control, no more resting on my previous accomplishments. Sure I feel great and fit and happy, but there's more work to be done. The longer I postpone it, the longer it will be until I can just be "normal." And I so look forward to being "normal", in that my struggle with weight is no longer a giant banner I carry for all to see. I want to shop at normal stores and fit in normal places and not worry about some things normal people never think of. You all know what I'm talking about.. .we've all been in those situations, right? So, 3 weeks ago I went grizzly... attacking this thing like I did in the beginning. Seriously curbing the calories (800-900), working out 5 days a week, almost no carbs other than veggies, and writing everything down in the food log. And once again, the pounds started coming off quickly. Thank you, my teeny, tiny, sleeve!! I love you!! I dropped the 8 and 6 more to boot for a 20 year low of 244 lbs. WOW is THAT motivating!! After the first day, I kind of got into a groove where I didn't want to blow it. Normally, I can find a bunch of reasons or excuses to go easy on myself, but once I made it through a day or two of the strict regimen, I felt like all the work would be wasted if I laid off now. I think about how every time I gain back a pound, it means the sacrifice I made to lose it was wasted. I have paid for the same 5 pounds over and over, but not anymore! I want this trek over sooner than later, so I might as well be strong, sacrifice, and stop dragging it out. So onto week four of the strict regimen. Reminding myself that my sleeve is just one tool in my arsenal and I still have to work at weight loss. Granted, I now can fight with a bazooka instead of a sling-shot but I still have to do my part. I want to see the 230's this week and never see the 240's again!

Great plan. I had to do a year of prep and was kind of bummed. Once I had made the decision, I wanted the surgery YESTERDAY! LOL But I am so glad I had a long time to really retrain myself to new habits. Not perfectly of course, the old urges do surface, but for the most part I have a new routine of working out and eating less, eating more protein and using the shakes as meals, etc. I see a real difference in my success vs others who really didn't have new habits steadily in place and they're having a much tougher time. When they say this is just a tool, it's for real. It sure does help limit your intake, but you have to really keep working at it, especially once your body starts to feel the lower caloric intake is "normal". Good luck to you!!

So glad! You'll love skiing. It's such a serene and lovely experience even if you're a beginner. Good luck on your surgery - have you had it yet?

Huge Victory for me!! My ticker has a skier on it because my first goal was to lose enough weight to go snow skiing with my kids. We planned to take them for their first ski trip this January. I hadn't skied in 10 years or so and even though I've skied since I was a kid and even at big sizes, I was afraid I couldn't do it. 10 years older, heavier, etc. But I had lost 45+ pounds by the time we went and the small victories (and big ones too!) were everywhere. First, being at the gym 5 days a week was a huge help. Even big, I am stronger and more athletic. In the past I had trouble finding ski clothes that fit me, trouble finding boots that fit around my shins, trouble bending over to latch the boots. Well, no more! It was so great to shop for ski clothes just like everyone else. It was amazing (although no one else in the lodge would've realized it) to gear up and snap on my boots just like everyone else. I felt so strong hopping off the chair lift and cruising down just like everyone else and even better, skiing better than many of the other folks on the mountain! Few understand the joy of just feeling like everyone else. They take that for granted, they don't even notice it and they sure don't realize what a huge triumph that is for some of us. Just feeling normal was a sweet, sweet victory. And the very best part of all, was riding the chair lift with my boys. A year ago I would have had to watch from the balcony of the lodge as everyone else skied. I wouldn't have been able to share in the funny memories of all of us falling together as we hopped off the lift at the summit, seeing Paul ski into this huge snow pile, or enjoying the gorgeous scenery on the way up and down of snow covered evergreens. I would never have experienced the serenity and peacefulness of the ride to the top and swishing my way down along side my kids. I feel like the old me is BACK!! Now I need a new goal. A couple of years ago we did a zip-lining birthday party for my son Dane. Needless to say, I stayed on the ground. I'm sure I was over their weight limit and probably wouldn't fit the harness. So my new goal is to do the 2 hour course this summer. I've lost enough weight, but I need to lose more inches to meet the harness restrictions. But for the first time, I really know I can do it!! I have to admit, the last 7 weeks, I haven't lost anything though. I know why - drinking lots of calorie laden tea, cocoa, and coffee for one thing. Kind of hooked on that end of the day cookie as well. The bad habits of the holidays linger. At least I haven't gained anything and with all the sweets I've been eating that seems a surprise! So I have to get back my most serious focus. My birthday is 7 months away. I could conceivably be at my goal weight by then. How would that be for a goal?!?!?!?!

Technically, lactoovopescatarian but the general public doesn't understand that. Vegetarian they get.

Well a cup of almond milk, which I mix my protein shakes with, has just 1gram. Skim milk has 9 by contrast, so not all that great.

I wish bread bothered me! Would be so much easier to avoid!

Great info. Thanks! So I'll be sure to look for gluten free if I have bread!

You're exactly right. Less leads to more and more - I see it already. Thanks to all for the good reminders!

Actually, I have no problem eating bread. I don't eat much because it's filling. But on occasion it's fine. I'm trying to avoid things like pasta, roles, etc. and just have whole wheat when I need. Did avoid all simple carbs for 10 days and dropped 5 pounds in that time, so maybe that should be reason enough!

How so? I mean it's well chewed and moist when going down. ??

Other than that it may fill you up before you get to your Protein, and may provide too many carbs, is there some reason bread is a no-no? Do you think 1/2 of one of those small flat sandwich breads, whole wheat, would be ok? I seem to tolerate bread just fine but try to limit it for the sake of calories, but I'm wondering if there are other reasons to avoid it I'm not aware of? Thanks!