xoxococojay

Love this!!! Thanks for including the sample. I guess the key is moderation, you're not eating them in every meal.

Give yourself a list of staple protein foods and if you have a rough idea of those things then you won't even need to stress and count carbs and sugars. Keep it as unprocessed as possible. Keep cheeses, deli meats, beans, chicken, steak, shrimp, jerky, pork rinds etc on hand, some of your fav veggies, greek yogurt, approved protein shakes. Then get creative with your meal prep.

So then stop. Purge your pantry of all that stuff. If it's not around you it will be easier to not give in to that temptation. Meal prep instead, and if its rich in protein and fiber it will keep you full. Trust me you just had it done, you don't want to be that person that goes through the process and never sees their goal weight.

Love this!!! I know it helped many of us

Bmi chart- i want to eventually become an egg donor so i can't be overweight at all. So i picked a healthy range and i'll be happy if i end up somewhere in there

If your supervisor said something then you can totally go to HR. Because legally your supervisor just needs to know that you're taking time off for medical reasons. They don't need to know what you had done and they definitely don't need to broadcast your personal business.

Definitely tell him. If he really cares about you and i'm sure he does, then he wont judge and he'll be supportive of the fact that you're doing something about it. And it probably won't be an issue. But sending old pics is sort of like cat fish...and if and when he found out he could be pissed, i know i would be if someone did that to me. Because there's no reason to hide it.

Put your fears on the back burner and just do it. You'll be fine. Worst case scenario you are a little hungry, so have some more protein

It should def track workouts. And it would be nice if you could customize your own personal macro goals or have it do it for you based on your diet preferences. (Ex: someone following a reg bariatric diet will have different macros than someone following keto or a vegetarian etc) Reminders to enter food and workouts would be awesome too

I'm so in love with my apple watch. It does everything, my scale is synced to it, all of my various workout apps, are too. I can get all my calendar notifications, texts and calls through it, i'm obsessed. Plus i told myself if im going to spend the money im not going to half ass it. Until recently the fitbit couldnt do everything the apple watch can. So i wasn't going to skimp on features especially when i would have buyers remorse later.

Yeah i do. And to make it worse my office is full of secret fat kids that bring in chick fil a breakfast to share, candies, doughnuts etc. you name it they have it. It got to a point where i just had to stop keeping snacks at home and at my desk. I can't eat what i don't have. And i realize now that when i do that, it's because im bored so i find something else to do to keep me occupied.

I went through something similar. To be honest, therapy and all that was somewhat helpful but i wasn't super consistent. Because at the end of the day i got to that point because of what i was putting into my body and me starting to get lazy. So i had to start all over from scratch. I threw out every piece of junk food, no carbs, started meal prepping again, forced myself to hit the gym either right before work or immediately after instead of going back home again. I had to find other non food related hobbies and take a mental break from some friends because they love to go out and over indulge. It wasn't fun, but i had to do it and now that i am back on track i feel so much better. So maybe something dramatic like that might help you too. I started ordering groceries online. At one point i even had to ask my surgeon for an appetite suppressant. I don't need it anymore. But it helped. You can do this, don't give someone else that power over you. You can take control back. Write down everything you eat.

Given your stats and your other health problems you should at least consider it. The fact that you're comfortable with yourself as is, is amazing but it's not always about looks. It's about health and feeling amazing which is why i chose to have mine. Plus i didn't want to deal with long term health issues down the road. Most of us got to this point because we also struggled with diet. You'll go through your own journey and figure out what works for you.

I think that depends on the person, for example my body can't stand super fatty foods anymore. But some people follow keto and it works wonders for them, but in order to enter ketosis your diet must be 70% fat, then protein and very low carbs. So it depends.

What was that like? My bestie saw my results and wants the sleeve so i had to tell her that i had it already. I'm super excited for her. (Probably more excited than she is lol) I want to help her in anyway possible, and she appreciates that. Now i got her into another support group and gave her as much info as i could. She still wants the surgery but she hasn't fully grasped the fact that there will be tons of changes and rules that we have to follow (which is expected since she's still pre-op) Any tips on what i could say either to put her at ease or to make her transition smoother? We kind of differ in the sense that i chose to have surgery and i wasn't at all scared, i was fully prepared to follow whatever rules they gave me. I know she's scared but i also know she has actual health issues that would go away if she had it done. The only thing that makes me nervous is she has always struggled with sticking to things and being an emotional eater, and that's the one area where it's harder for me to advise her. (And yes she knows im posting asking for advice)

You look incredible!!!! Congrats to you!! I was sleeved around this time last yr too

Idk where to post this but i had to tell someone lol. Story time: so i was at xmas dinner with my friends and family. I'm doing really well with my eating, then things start to go left. I decide to taste the mac and cheese. So i get up for a second to mingle with other guest and when i get back to my plate. My friend had poured salt ALLLLLLL over my food so i couldn't eat it. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] I'm actually glad she did that, i so don't need those carbs. I'm secretly glad she didn't put salt in my wine lol.

Super long post alert---my apologies. Hi guys, I totally forgot to post this. So on 12/20/2016 i celebrated two milestones. It was my birthday, but most importantly it's the day that i finally made it to the loser's bench and took control of my life back. So this year i had a milestone birthday and my gift to myself was my progress. I've spent so much time beating myself up because i'm still not at my goal yet, and i do realize that i will get there. But i forgot to actually look back at my progress and see how far i've come and actually enjoy that. Not just physically but mentally. I'm so grateful not just for this tool, but for the support of all the other amazing wls patients i've encountered thus far. I've learned to trust the process, actually stick with it and that i can stick with it because i'm not alone and there's tons of people out there can relate to everything i've experienced on this journey. So thank you! i've been getting lots of questions about what i did (which is basically the same thing everyone does lol) but a long time ago i posted something in the rants section called "what's wrong with overly sensitive assholes..." it pretty much explains all the things i do. There are a few things i've added along the way since then so feel free to ask and i'll share. Before: Life in general just was starting to suck, it was more than just my weight and i realized that i was not happy at all and a little depressed. In regards to my weight- it was spiraling out of control. I had tried every possible diet imaginable, even prescription weight loss drugs. Nothing was working. So one day i literally just started researching all of my options. I had never even heard of the sleeve before. I thought i wanted the lap band because that's really the only thing i had heard of. I went to a weight loss surgery seminar in my area and i realized that there were so many other procedures available. I was overwhelmed and about to give up. Then one day at work the elevator broke down and i had to go up 7 flights of stairs with my laptop bag and i literally thought i was going to pass out. I was soooo out of breath and out of shape and this was after starting to regularly go to the gym. I was so humiliated because i walking up the steps with men twice my age and twice my size and they were just fine. They could clearly tell that i wasn't. I've never been that embarrassed before. I interviewed 5 different top notch bariatric surgeons in the DC area i finally just decided to go for it. I was finally mentally ready. That was key because if i wasn't, i definitely would have kept old habits. I really didn't tell anyone. I didn't tell my family until the day before because i didn't want anyone talking me out of it or judging me. Especially when everyone in my family is naturally thin so they wouldn't be able to relate. After: Literally the best spur of the moment decision i've ever made for myself. I'm so much healthier, to the point where i never even wear makeup because my skin is always glowing. I have so much energy. I'm happier overall. Everything else in my life is finally on track. I've met amazing life long friends through this process. Nobody is ever judging me for being the "big" or "funny" friend anymore. I accidentally found my passion- i realized that i love helping support and mentor other people who are struggling to lose weight. So i've started volunteering in my spare time at my local surgery center. Now i view working out as therapeutic instead of a chore. I literally couldn't be happier. I'm amazed at how i've changed mentally, i'm a lot nicer, less judgmental and more determined to accomplish other goals that i have set for myself. That alone is the one thing that i'm most grateful for. I realized that if i can stick to this which has been my biggest struggle my whole life, there really isn't anything life could throw at me that i can't handle. I also learned to stop comparing myself to others because who really cares, it's easier to focus my energy on the things that i really want to do. Now i'm doing everything i want and enjoying it. I've realized that there's so much more to life. Happy holidays to everyone btw, wishing everyone continued success on their journey and a prosporous 2018!!! Merry christmas! Anyway- enough of me rambling. Now for the fun stuff: bombarding you with a million and one progress pics lol 😊 Hw:244 Sw:227 Cw:155 Gw:anywhere between 115-130 Size: 4 Height: 5'1 ** and no i have not had any plastic surgery yet...someone really asked me that 🙃

Thank you! It's funny how the whole world can see the difference but we can't see it in ourselves until we see side by side pics.

Thank you

I had very similar stats to you so i understand completely.

So in my head i already still view myself as still fat. I don't always see my weight loss. But one the reasons why i still view myself that way is because my heavy friends sometimes still group me in that category of being one of their fat friends. I think it's probably subconscious. Like they might complain about clothes or men or food and say something like "oh it's because we're bigger". But it's starting to get to me a little. Mostly because it's making me feel like i'm either regaining and not noticing it or still have a lot more weight to lose. It's killing my self esteem. So why do you think they do that? And what should i say to them (politely), because in reality i'm not quite at my goal weight yet, but i'm tiny. I worked really hard to finally get down to a size 4.

I love this and you're right!!! Every single one of us knows what it feels like to be the biggest person in the room. Or to have someone try to make you feel small or different because you're overweight. Regardless of how anyone sugar coats it. It hurts, period.

Omg!!! Preach!!! You are so right. There definitely is a link between mental health and obesity. (For some, myself included in that) many people are so unaware of it. I was. There are so many things can cause us to develop food related disorders. In my case i had a mild case of binge eating and i didn't realize it. An eating addiction is no different from a substance abuse addiction. It just manifests itself slightly differently.

You're soooo right about trolls and super judgemental people. The one thing i've learned on this journey is that you never know what someone else's struggles are. As for trolls- buring out someone else's candle doesn't make yours burn any brighter.