MarceMonster

Can you please add me to the challenge. I am currently 188 and I would love to be at 175 by Halloween. That's 7 weeks away, I think I can do it!

Get a small lunch bag and keep an ice pack in it with a Protein Shake, yogurt, cheese, ect... I go to college and I there from 8:15am -4:00 pm so I have to bring stuff with me. I just keep my lunch bag in my backpack or messenger bag. Being prepared is key!

Ok. Well, I am 27 and I had surgery a little over 3 months ago - June 1st. Things have been going relatively ok so far. My stats are as fallows:

HW - 235

SW - 222.5

CW - 189

I am only 5 feet tall so I have set my goal weight to between 120-125. In terms of my diet, I try to stay on plan as much as I can. I would probably say I eat according to my doctors plan about 95% of the time. I have had a few moments so far where k decided to have a treat. Although I am not hungry very often, I try to eat every three hours, as instructed by my NUT. Sometimes this can be a struggle and it feels like I am forcing myself to eat.

I eat between 650-800 calories per day. I also workout 6 days per week and burn between 250-350 calories. I eat 60-80g Protein and try to keep my Net Carbs below 45g per day. Most of the time I am happy with my diet and can handle it without a problem; other times it's a struggle.

With regards to my quality of life, it has drastically improved. I went from not being able to walk for more then 15 minutes without being in pain, to being able to walk for an hour or more at a time. I make sure to exercise 5-6 days a week to help improve my fitness level. I also have a lot more energy then I did before.

Did you have any other questions could answer for you? I am not sure what else you want to know.

Do you mean 30 years of age and under or BMI of 30 and under?

I think everyone has given you great advice. I too get freaked out when I see I have lost less weight then I expected, but I am trying to teach myself otherwise. You need to think of it this way, so what if you "only lost two pounds", 2 lbs a week over the course of a year is 104 lbs. that's a lot of weight! Now obviously you are not going to lose at the same rate every week, but some weeks will be more then 2lbs, some will be less, but they will average out in the end.

Yayyy!!! Yes!!! How are you doing? How do you feel you are doing?

I am doing fairly well and I feel great most days. I have lost 45lbs total since the two week pre-op diet to now. My back feels so much better, I can actually exercise ( in fact I now kind of enjoy it), and I can walk for longer periods of time with no pain. I also have a lot more energy. Recently, the past month, my rate of loss has slowed a bit, but I am still losing so I won't complain.

How are you doing/ feeling? Are you happy with your decision? Do you struggle at all with the new eating plan?

I am fairly similar. I am a bit shorter then you, 5 feet even and I starting weight was 235. I was sleeved June 1st, so only a few weeks before you. I would love to help if you have any questions.

I was required to do a 6 month, doctor supervised diet as part of my insurance approval process. So yes, I did lose weight during my waiting period. To be honest, I probably only gave it my best the last two months. I was losing weight all along but very, very, slowly! I lost a total of about 14lbs prior to my surgery. Obviously, this was not enough to push me towards not having surgery. I had pretty much made up my mind though before I was even approved that I wanted to go through with surgery no matter what.

Even if you loose a significant amount of weight, I would still be concerned about keeping it off. I believe the stats are something like : only 5% of people who lose weight, on their own (not wls), keep the weight of past two years. Now, don't quote me on the number, I am trying to remember it from something I read before surgery.

Anyway, it's normal to be in the fence a bit. This is major surgery and a major life change. I can say that I have zero regrets though!

Marce, send me your Facebook name and where you live. I will send you an email or firend you so that you can join the group. Thanks!

Marcella Lawrence, Branford CT I think that should work. If not look up Lawrence.marcel@gmail.com. Thank you for adding me, I will check in everyday with you, if you would like.

You look amazing! This is also just a beautifully taken photo as well.

So 50lbs in 6 months averages out to slightly over 2 lbs per week. That is not terribly slow, but I get your frustration. For this 3 of the four weeks this month I only lost 1lb per week, then finally this week I dropped down 2.4 lbs. honestly I will probably average about the same as you in the long run. How many calories are you eating? Also do you know How much muscle you have put on? For instance this month my pounds we're really low, but my muscle mass increased by about 3-4% so that is the reason I didn't see the scale move as much as I expected.

@@MarceMonster thank you! My surgeon said I can start a regular diet, they didn't give me a list for that. They just said focus on Protein and low carbs. Where did you get carb quick pancakes?

I ended up ordering them either from Amazon or Nettrition.com. Both sites had them I just can't remember which was cheaper. They are really good, even my husband eats them (who is not a wls patient or even overweight).

Hey if you are still looking for someone, I would love to be your accountability partner; I could use one myself. I am just about three months out from surgery but I could use all the support I could get and would love to support someone else. Let me know! ❗️

Thanks guys for being so supportive. I would gladly like to report that this week I managed to break the month long trend and lose 2.5 lbs!!!! I am thrilled. Hopefully, I won't see another month like that for awhile.

I tend to have 1 poached egg with 1/2 oz of cheese (usually habanero cheddar) and 1.5oz of fruit (usually watermelon). Sometimes instead of the cheese and fruit, I will eat 2 oz of Fage Plain Yogurt with and 1/8 cup Special K Protein Cereal for crunch - it's really yummy! I also do shakes when my Breakfast needs to be quick. I have had Carbquick pancakes twice and those are pretty good. I also sometimes will eat organic chicken breakfast sausage with my eggs, the Applegate Farms company is my favorite brand. Oh yea, I also will make "cannoli cream" and eat that instead of yogurt sometimes. You just take some skin ricotta, a tbsp of milk, drop of vanilla stevia, and a drop of pure almond extract and mix together. It tastes just like cannoli cream. You can add a strawberry to it or even some a couple sugar free chocolate chips. It's one of my favorites!

Anyway, do you have a list of acceptable foods from you doctors office? I was just ending soft foods at a month out. I hope you have gotten some yummy breakfast ideas!

Wow all of you seemed to have your surgery right away. I started my appointments in October of last year (2014) and had my surgery June 1st (2015).

@@Tauni

Wait....what?? You've ONLY been eating 500 calories up until recently? And now you want to increase to 700? You need to be at AT LEAST 800-900 calories now. Keep it that way until you are 6 months out, then try to increase to 1000.

You will be surprised how increasing your calories ramps up the weight loss!

Yea I agree 500 calories is low for almost three months out. My doctor say 700-800 calories is normal for this stage. You may want to up your calories. @@Tauni Are you meeting your Protein goal? You should keep in touch, we both had surgery the same day, it would be cool to compare notes...

Thank you both for your advice. Yes I spoke to my NUT last Saturday. She said to add in at least half a Protein Shake immediately after my workouts (on top of what I already eat). I started doing that this week so we will see if it helps. Your probably right about the goal timeline thing, I have to learn to be more flexible with it. I am trying not to be too hard on myself, but that's easier said then done...

Hello Everyone!

I am struggling a bit and could use some support. Has anyone gone through an extended period of time with very little loss early on in the "honeymoon" phase? So I will be three months out from surgery September 1st. so I am still really early into this process, but I am a bit confused by my results. For the past three weeks in a row I have only lost 1 pound per week. Obviously that is better then no loss, but I just don't understand why. My tracking app says I should be losing about 3.2 pounds per week. Isn't that a big difference? Now I do know that I have gained some muscle, because when I saw my nutritionist my muscle percentage had increased, so that explains some of it. I just am getting really frustrated and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to increase my weight loss. On average I eat 700-800 calories per day, 60-80g of Protein, around 40g of Net carbs, and at least 64oz of Water. I also workout 6-8 times per week (I workout twice some days). When I go to the gym I usually burn about 350 calories and when I go to my fitness class I burn anywhere from 250-300 calories. I don't eat more because I am exercising though. What do you guys think? Is there anything I can change, add or remove. Has this happened to any of you? I really wanted to hit my first goal, but I don't think I am going to now.... Anyway please let me know because this is getting really frustrating and definitely messing with my emotions. Thank you! ????❗️

Some people say not to weigh yourself weekly because it can cause a lot of stress. Plus lots of people say that we should not be so focused on the number, I have a very hard time with that. The number matters to me! If you want to weigh yourself weekly, then go ahead, just remember not every week will be the same and sometimes you may be disappointed. I am going through that right now.

Thank you all. A few of you mentioned rest days, I usually do two rest days per week, but this week I only did one (today). There were three days this week that I did two separate workouts. And yes I definitely sweat during my workouts, 4 days per week I go to a 40 minute High Intensity Interval Training class, and 2-3 days per week I go to the gym and do cardio/weight circuits designed by the exercise scientist at my surgeon's office. I guess I am just gaining muscle.I alway hit my Protein goal of 60g, I usually eat closer to 70-80g. I also make sure to get a minimum of 64oz of Water in. I will try to relax, but it's hard, I just wanted so badly to hit my first goal, at least I will be close to my goal. I am still going to push myself the next two weeks though, I can't help it. It's probably part of the reason I got to this point in the first place; I am too much of an all or nothing kind of person. Oh well, I do still fell great. I am just impatient I guess....

So I have been really pushing myself to get to my first goal and it just not happening. I wanted to be down 50lbs before school starts on September 8th, so I would need to be at 185 within 2 weeks. For the past two weeks I have been pushing myself and working really hard and have barely lost anything. Last week I lost one pound. This week I worked out 8 times, the shortest workout was 45 minutes, and I have only lost 1 pound! It's really annoying me at this point. My nutrition has been on point as well. I always eat Protein first, I never eat more then 800 calories, usually 700 and I burn an average of 300 calories per workout. My tracking app says I should be losing 3.2 lbs per week. I don't know what else I could do! Any thoughts?

I am just about 7 months out and down 64lbs.... this started because I ate too much once or twice and i made myself sick, then I was so afraid of stretching out my stomach that even if I ate just enough I still felt like I had to throw up and now its a compulsive thing, I feel like I have to do it constantly, and not when I eat everything but if I exceed my carb limits or whatever ill make myself puke to get them out.... I am very aware that this is a problem, but im a nurse and a mom and admitting that Im doing this to myself is terrifying, mostly because im terrified that if I stop my stomach will somehow stretch out. I don't typically binge although I have a time or 2.... Does anyone have any suggestions, I know I need help I guess im just looking for some reassurance that im not alone.

hey, I was thinking about you today and wanted to check up on you? How are you? Have you worked through some of this stuff? I hope you are in better spirits.

At 3 weeks out I was getting close to 800 calories.

Months 1 - 4 I aimed for 800.

Months 5-6 I aimed for 1,000.

Months 7-8 I aimed for 1,200.

(All this was on the advice of my bariatric PA who said if I ate too little for too long I'd teach my body how to survive on a starvation budget.)

Apparently, it worked. I reached goal in 8.5 months. In the last 4 months I've lost almost 10 pounds more pounds and am maintaining that weight (141-143) at 1600-1700 calories.

Obviously, everyone's advice, experience and results on this subject varies.

How much weight did you have to lose? That's so awesome that you reached goal 8.5 months out. I am trying my best to reach goal within a year. I just had my two month check up last week and the Dr. said I was above average in my weight loss. I lost 33% of my excess weight, he said he usually doesn't see that until about month 4. I was so excited. I hope I do as well as you, congratulations!

You know what's funny, after I wrote this post I went to my HIIT class and the trainer said "wow, your getting skinny!". It confirms my belief that I just don't see myself the way others do. It gave me a great boost to keep going though!