Catcutie

At 3 1/2 weeks I was just starting on soft foods - eating around 600-700 calories. I'm surprised you could eat the eggs and sausage and tolerate them. Were you hungry? Was this a one time occurance or can you consistently eat 1100 calories each day? On the positive side one can still lose weight at 1100 calories. But my main concern for you is that your stomach is In the very early stage of healing...I'm glad you will be talking with your NUT. Also now is the time to take every advantage of little to no appetite...it's a one time opportunity that will only last so long.

At 3 1/2 weeks I was just starting on soft foods - eating around 600-700 calories. I'm surprised you could eat the eggs and sausage and tolerate them. Were you hungry? Was this a one time occurance or can you consistently eat 1100 calories each day? On the positive side one can still lose weight at 1100 calories. But my main concern for you is that your stomach is In the very early stage of healing...I'm glad you will be talking with your NUT. Also now is the time to take every advantage of little to no appetite...it's a one time opportunity that will only last so long.

Well Sam..here's the problem with this. You are rewarding yourself by staying off the scale and eating more. I think this is a big problem we all have. Making food a good/bad thing. Yes...I know that most of us think of food as forbidden fruit. But we need to think of it as just food and not give it the power we do by making how and what we eat, the indicator of whether or not we are 'good' or 'bad'.
I see it all the time...I was good this week, or I was bad this week and we always know the reference is how we ate and what the scale shows.
How about instead of giving yourself permission to eat more, you just go ahead and do it...if you are hungry. And if you are not, don't eat more. I know that I am trying so hard to not make this all about the food. Not easy as I am a foodaholic but I'm trying. If I graze one day, I try not to beat myself up over it. If I know I haven't eaten mindlessly, I feel that I did well from a food perspective only. I don't try to make a big deal over it and work on making sure the day does not change based on how I'm eating.
This may not be the response you were expecting or hoping for but I really do believe that for most of us, food is so wrapped up in our emotional selves that it's hard to treat it in an ambivilent way. It's one of the reasons why I see a professional every week. I need to talk about my emotional stuff rather than transfer it to how and what I eat.
I'm understanding I will likely never be blasé about food but I'm trying to work on giving up all the control it has over me.

I've had two very impactful moments this week that I thought I would share!
Last weekend, I was carrying a very large and very heavy bag of potting soil from the car when I wondered just how heavy it was. I heaved it on the ground and noticed it was 25 lbs. I am nearly 5 months out and down 48 pounds. Realizing that this bag weighed half of my weight loss, I was compelled to pick it up again and walk a few more feet. Wow, was that a powerful moment! I could not imagine carrying two of these bags around all day, every day! But I did. Amazing.
Then, yesterday, I was at the pet store and picked up a 42 lb bag of cat litter. Yet another super powerful moment. No wonder I felt so tired and everything was so hard pre-op.
It's a great reminder for me when I feel I should have lost more by now or that 48 lbs isn't enough. Next time I am feeling that way, I will pick up a bag of cat litter or potting soil!
????

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

Gotta wonder what in the world makes them think 20lbs a month is slow?! In fact it is fantastic! I'm 4 months out and have only lost 42 lbs since surgery, and now it's really slowing down. So you are doing great!

I just saw this article on a Facebook post. Love these extremely creative before and after pics.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/the-beth-project

Same to you Big_mama!

When you get your old clothes out of storage that are 4 sizes smaller (12's vs. 18's), and they not only fit.......some are too big!

I typically avoid the posts on this website where people are ranting at each other. I feel like handing out a virtual cupcake to everyone and saying, "can't we all just get along?"
Seriously people, the awesome thing about an online forum is you get to pick and choose what you read and engage in. This is the main reason why I prefer this over attending the support groups at my local barriatric center. I can't control who attends those meetings and then I'm stuck with them for an entire hour.
I sign on to Barriatric Pal daily. Why? Because I know staying connected is one of the best things I can do to insure I am successful in this journey. Time and time again I read posts from people who have strayed from the site, gone off track, gained weight and come back for support. I come on this website and read these posts daily. IT'S MY CHOICE. I will be a year out from surgery on April 16, 2014. Yes, sometimes it is annoying to read the same posts over and over again about stalls, Hair loss, loose skin, food intake and Vitamins. Guess what? One short year ago I was the newbie starting on this journey anxious whether I would succeed or not. I was full of questions and eager to reach out to others as nobody in my "real" world had weight loss surgery.
I work with a lot of people in 12 step recovery programs in my profession. Bill Wilson, one of the founders of AA, early on grew frustrated when he reached out to fellow alcoholics to help them, but often those men he tried to help went on to drink. He felt like giving up and one night his wife Lois, reminded him that HE was no longer going out and getting drunk. The act of giving back to others helped maintain his own sobriety. I remind myself of this. I choose to give back and help newbies on this site to help myself. I read your posts and it reminds me of information I learned long ago and "forgot". It helps me stay on track. If a post annoys me, I can choose to ignore it.
I help you to help me.
I'm going to eat a real cupcake now.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I left an abusive, drug addicted, regularly cheating husband, who said he wasn't attracted to me because I was overweight. I had no job skills and two children. Now 20 plus years later I have a decent job, own my own home, and am so much happier. And the weight loss this time is just for me.

I am a strong, independent, self-sufficient, intelligent single female who put herself through college, owns a successful business, has a loving family, great friends and has always supported and taken care of herself no matter what size!
And if that isn't enough, I have pets that make me feel loved and super special every day.