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Thanks, everyone! Great ideas!

Oh cool! I had no idea turkey sticks like that existed. Have you tried them? Do you like them? Thanks for the great idea!

I'm super excited to be going on my first all-day hike on Sunday! (Side note: I'm glad I have you guys to share that with because you all understand what a big deal it is to be able to do something like that.)

We're supposed to bring a lunch to carry with us on the trail. Does anyone have any good ideas for foods to carry? I'm trying to think of things that are portable and won't spoil.

I've thought maybe just lunchmeat and cheese. I'm wondering if those will be good if not refrigerated for a few hours. Beef Jerky would probably be a good one, but I don't eat beef and pork.

People lose weight different ways. It's very common to lose weight from certain areas of the body before others. It may be that for you, back and stomach come off last. Congratulations on your success so far! Keep up the good work and you'll eventually see the results you want.

Makeup can help, but a genuine smile is the best enhancement.

Oh, don't get me started on how I look when I smile... my eyes get all crinkled up and I look all wrinkled and squinty...

Mine do that too. I have a few extra wrinkles around my eyes because I've always squinted in the sun because I have blue eyes and the light bothers me more. Thing is, when other people smile, are you looking at the creases around their eyes and thinking they look bad? Or are you delighted by the happiness they're sharing with you? Trust me. People are noticing the light in your eyes and the contentment of a wide smile or grin, not thinking your eyes look "squinty." Everyone has these "imperfections."

Find a pastor from a baptist or Pentecostal church and have the home blessed and anointed. :-)

Why baptist or pentecostal?

I'm actually more curious about malabsorption of food. I've been lucky and my meds have been fine.

So we all know RNY is a procedure that causes malabsorption, but I just realized I have no idea just how much malabsorption is causes. I didn't find much by googling either. Does anyone here happen to know? Is it variable from person to person and does it change over time?

Thank you for sharing! The number of reason for a goal resonated. I have many reasons for exercising and some are at odds with each other. One is to help with weight loss, obviously, which gets me feeling like I should push as hard as possible. But I also want to enjoy it so I'll stick with it in the long term.

On Friday, I noticed I was dreading my exercise for the day — a long walk with my dogs. I decided that instead of power-walking and checking my heart rate monitor constantly, I just wanted to savor being outside on a beautiful, scenic trail. I had a really good time and walked 4.6 miles. Not too shabby!

As to haunted houses, I live in central Kentucky and know of a couple of "haunted houses" that are old but very well kept up and quite nice. I guess it depends on the nature of the "haunting"!

Good point! I assumed a friendly "haunting" would be acceptable, but the OP may have meant any kind at all.

I live for chevre (goal cheese).

That's awesome! You're going to rock that half-marathon!

My ex-boyfriend is a realtor and told me some states, but not all, require they reveal if a person has died on a property before they sell it. Unless you're living in relatively new construction, there's a good chance many of us have lived in a home where someone died. Dying of old age at home doesn't sound like a big deal really.

I assume you've toured the place? If it was "haunted," whoever is managing the property would probably have trouble with upkeep. Same ex-boyfriend told me he knows which houses in our area are haunted. Maybe one or two people buy them and dump them shortly after. Then they stay vacant. The yards are a mess and simple repairs aren't made because whoever is hired to do that work quits quickly and suddenly.

If the place looks like it's been kept up, that's probably a good sign.

I weighed nearly daily for months after surgery. I was losing weight so quickly and wanted to see the losses and celebrate! My weight loss has slowed it got the point that daily weigh-ins were messing with my head. I'm staying off the scale and trying to weigh-in just once or twice a week now.

Thanks for the great info! Did you use another kind of Fitbit before your Blaze? If so, how do you think the two compare?

I recently got a Fitbit Charge HR and I've been pretty happy with it. I'm most interested in the HR function. I've tested it against other HR monitors and by taking my pulse manually. It seems pretty accurate on that front.

I don't count calories, just Protein. I usually get about 70-80 grams of Protein each day. A typical day for me might look like:

- 5 oz Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup granola

-1/2 apple with Peanut Butter

-a few slices of deli turkey with a slice of cheese

-protein shake

-hash (ground turkey, onion, sweet potato, apple and spinach all mixed together. I double the ground turkey to get more protein in.)

I exercise about six days a week. I do BodyPump twice a week, BodyStep once or twice a week (depends on my schedule), and walk 2-4 miles two to four times a week.

I'm down a little more than 70 pounds since September. My weight loss has slowed down some from the early months, but it's steady.

I have a desk job, had RNY and I took off five full weeks and worked from home for one week. Like @@JamieLogical said, the pain had mostly passed, but I was so very tired. Running one errand wore me out. It was like having the flu. I'm really glad I took that time to recover and adjust.

@@MozzaWehsha Are you still in the liquid phase? I wanted to taste and chew normal food during that phase too, but it went away when I got back to regular food.

I'm five and a half months out and cravings have started coming back. A few things I do for that:

-Use a mantra (silly as that sounds): Food is fuel. Makes me think about whether I'm physically hungry or it's just head hunger. Also reminds me that if it's physical hunger, on-plan should satisfy me.

-Exercise. Boosts my mood so I don't want a pick-me-up from food as much. Decreases hunger. Gives me something to fill my time besides eating.

-Stick to Protein. It satisfies me more and for longer than anything else.

I love shopping and I've found rewards are kind of built in because my clothes keep getting too big. I have some items I'm not willing to pay for now, but will invest in after I reach goal so those will be rewards. I'm also hoping to talk my dad into a trip to Orlando to go to Islands of Adventure and the Magic Kingdom.

In the mean time, I'm thinking about rewarding myself with a bike and/or learn-to-row classes this summer.

@@watchmeshine8 From reading your posts, it sounds like you know what you need to do and you could use some encouragement and support.

It seems that stress is your No. 1 problem. You sound overwhelmed by so many things going on in your life and understandably so! I strongly urge you to seek out a therapist or counselor. Is there someone on campus you can talk to? Do you at least have friends you can vent to?

I'd also suggest seeing your primary care doctor or a psychiatrist to evaluate whether you need medication for your depression. Even if it's triggered by identifiable outside stressors, medicine can help. I've taken Lexapro since before surgery and it hasn't stopped me from losing weight. Also, is it only depression or anxiety too? If it's anxiety too, you may need one step up from the starting dose (e.g., 10 mg lexapro works for depression, 20 mg works for anxiety).

In your last post, you said you know the muffins, doughnuts, chips, etc are sabotaging your diet. Can you find a way to cut them out or replace them?

I'm five months out from RNY and cravings have come back. Eating Protein helps satisfy my actual hunger. For head hunger, I know this sounds hokey but I've been using a mantra: "food is fuel." That's my way of reminding myself that I only need food to fuel my activities. I ask myself if I want to eat because I have physical hunger and need the fuel or I want the pleasure of munching on something. It keeps me from eating when I'm not hungry and helps me stick to on-plan foods.

Exercise also really boosts my mood and helps with my eating.

For Water, do you like crystal lite or other flavoring packets? That might get you drinking more and give you no calorie treat.

Hang in there and keep us updated!

I did some stupid shit in college, including the 2, 4, 6, 8 diet. You eat 200 calories the first day, 400 the next, then 600 and 800, and start over. I call that my eating disorder time.

I also tried some weird diet in high school that included drinking grapefruit juice at every meal and other bizarre requirements I can't recall.

So glad those days are over!

Thank you, everyone! I'm really glad I have people I can share all the good stuff with who understand. And you've all definitely helped me stay on track and look out for pitfalls too, as @@Dub says.

I've also always needed a lot of sleep. I'm five months post op and it's gotten a little better. I noticed the biggest difference when I stepped up my exercise game about five weeks ago. It's more that I feel more energized throughout the day with the same amount of sleep than that I am sleeping a lot less.

I feel best with 8.5-10 hours. I adjust how much I sleep to how I'm feeling that day. If I'm tired earlier, I go to bed earlier. I generally feel more refreshed when wake up than I did before.

On weekends, I find it harder to get back to sleep after I first wake up (which is usually by 8 am). On Saturday, I woke up around 7:30 am and did stuff till 10:30 am. I went back to sleep for an hour and a half after that.

I'm also taking less naps and when I do, they're shorter and feel like less deep sleep. I lay in bed for about 45 minutes Sunday and I'm not totally sure I ever got to sleep, but it was enough and I wanted to get up after that.

I stepped up my exercise game about six weeks ago. I do BodyPump twice a week and some other activity most other days -- walking (2-4 miles), elliptical (about 50 minutes) or class like BodyStep (60 minutes).

I'm 5 months out and I've lost 72 pounds so far. It was definitely faster in the beginning than it is now, but that seems normal.

I agree it sounds like she meant right after surgery or was trying to get people with a very sedentary lifestyle how to get started. A lot of people really have to start that small. It sounds like you're way ahead of the game and that's great!

My understanding is that eating less is what's most important for actually getting the weight off. Exercise is a bigger factor in keeping it off in maintenance.

I'm still losing weight, though, and I've found exercise helps me in many ways, by boosting my mood, staving off hunger, giving me motivation to eat well to fuel my activities. I'm getting into and enjoying a lot of physical activity, including weight training, walking, cardio machines and classes at the gym. I'd like to get a bicycle soon and am looking into learn-to-row classes for the summer. To me, becoming a more active person is an important step in preparing for maintenance and the rest of my life.