Losebig

Wondering what folks are doing in terms of drinking. If I want to go for a night out, but don't want to get plastered what can I drink if I don't do beer or wine? Beer is too fizzy and wine puts me to sleep, so I stick to low calorie mixed drinks, problem is they tend to be way stronger so over a couple hours I can easily have more than I want. Anyone have any low cal / low alcohol mixed drinks?

Wondering what folks are doing in terms of drinking. If I want to go for a night out, but don't want to get plastered what can I drink if I don't do beer or wine? Beer is too fizzy and wine puts me to sleep, so I stick to low calorie mixed drinks, problem is they tend to be way stronger so over a couple hours I can easily have more than I want. Anyone have any low cal / low alcohol mixed drinks?

Just curious for people who are out a ways, how often do you weigh yourself? Is there a set weight at which you take action to get back on track? Do you still track food?
For me I'm still a relative newby, I weigh in weekly usually, bi weekly worse case. I focus on staying within 2.5 lbs above or below goal, if I get to either end I adjust my eating to fix it. I stopped religiously tracking foods about 6 months ago, though I do track off and on and spot check days for macros if I feel like I'm off.

Wow!

Super helpful, I was afraid I was weighing too often. Daily I fluctuate a lot (water), so weekly works well for me (same time and day every week). I just returned from a 3 week vacation with no scale and am 1.2 lbs above my 5 lb range I usually fluctuate in, so working to get that corrected over the next couple of days... Agree about staying on track, that's what got me in trouble every other time I got thin, but not this time!

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been on vacation for a few weeks and not online. She didn't say what a good ratio was, just to have complex carbs if I was going to work out (she suggested oatmeal for example). One other thing that helped me a little with light headedness was to have a beverage containing electrolytes at least once a day. For me that became a 20 oz Powerade zero, its way too sweet for me, but I religiously have at least one bottle a day and that does help.

Honestly though I still have days when I nearly pass out when I stand up quickly - especially if I'm really exerting myself. The DR's don't have any answer for that and I did have a full cardiac work up shortly after surgery due to a complication, so there's no issues there. My theory is that you have a lot of extra vascularity when you're heavy (more blood vessels to feed all that fat) and when you get thin the blood vessels don't go away. No one has been able to tell me if that is the case or if they go away over time - but in my case my blood pressure went from borderline high to on the low side, but my resting heart rate has also increased even though I'm in good shape.
TLDR: Try an electrolyte beverage to see if that helps and have complex carbs before a workout - a lot of other stuff could be going on too and the DR's don't have all the answers unfortunately.

Just curious for people who are out a ways, how often do you weigh yourself? Is there a set weight at which you take action to get back on track? Do you still track food?
For me I'm still a relative newby, I weigh in weekly usually, bi weekly worse case. I focus on staying within 2.5 lbs above or below goal, if I get to either end I adjust my eating to fix it. I stopped religiously tracking foods about 6 months ago, though I do track off and on and spot check days for macros if I feel like I'm off.

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been on vacation for a few weeks and not online. She didn't say what a good ratio was, just to have complex carbs if I was going to work out (she suggested oatmeal for example). One other thing that helped me a little with light headedness was to have a beverage containing electrolytes at least once a day. For me that became a 20 oz Powerade zero, its way too sweet for me, but I religiously have at least one bottle a day and that does help.

Honestly though I still have days when I nearly pass out when I stand up quickly - especially if I'm really exerting myself. The DR's don't have any answer for that and I did have a full cardiac work up shortly after surgery due to a complication, so there's no issues there. My theory is that you have a lot of extra vascularity when you're heavy (more blood vessels to feed all that fat) and when you get thin the blood vessels don't go away. No one has been able to tell me if that is the case or if they go away over time - but in my case my blood pressure went from borderline high to on the low side, but my resting heart rate has also increased even though I'm in good shape.
TLDR: Try an electrolyte beverage to see if that helps and have complex carbs before a workout - a lot of other stuff could be going on too and the DR's don't have all the answers unfortunately.

I made exercise a big part of my weight loss and have tried to keep that up in maintenance. I'm not great or super formal about it, but I try to be active most of the time. When I was closely tracking I would work out on average 3 - 4 days per week, usually cardio oriented exercise like running, biking, walking, hiking, or vigorous yard work. Now I have less time, but I try to incorporate exercise into little stuff - making dinner for the kids? Lets see how fast you can do it! Or bringing out the trash? Great Run! After you do it enough it becomes a lot of fun. I for example used to HATE running, now I love it. In fact I find myself running anytime I can and it's socially acceptable. Its great stress relief and for me at least is key for sanity

I made exercise a big part of my weight loss and have tried to keep that up in maintenance. I'm not great or super formal about it, but I try to be active most of the time. When I was closely tracking I would work out on average 3 - 4 days per week, usually cardio oriented exercise like running, biking, walking, hiking, or vigorous yard work. Now I have less time, but I try to incorporate exercise into little stuff - making dinner for the kids? Lets see how fast you can do it! Or bringing out the trash? Great Run! After you do it enough it becomes a lot of fun. I for example used to HATE running, now I love it. In fact I find myself running anytime I can and it's socially acceptable. Its great stress relief and for me at least is key for sanity

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been on vacation for a few weeks and not online. She didn't say what a good ratio was, just to have complex carbs if I was going to work out (she suggested oatmeal for example). One other thing that helped me a little with light headedness was to have a beverage containing electrolytes at least once a day. For me that became a 20 oz Powerade zero, its way too sweet for me, but I religiously have at least one bottle a day and that does help.

Honestly though I still have days when I nearly pass out when I stand up quickly - especially if I'm really exerting myself. The DR's don't have any answer for that and I did have a full cardiac work up shortly after surgery due to a complication, so there's no issues there. My theory is that you have a lot of extra vascularity when you're heavy (more blood vessels to feed all that fat) and when you get thin the blood vessels don't go away. No one has been able to tell me if that is the case or if they go away over time - but in my case my blood pressure went from borderline high to on the low side, but my resting heart rate has also increased even though I'm in good shape.
TLDR: Try an electrolyte beverage to see if that helps and have complex carbs before a workout - a lot of other stuff could be going on too and the DR's don't have all the answers unfortunately.

Nope - you didn't make a mistake. You will feel like you did for the next few weeks though. What you did do was embark on an incredible difficult journey, which is going to be both terrible and absolutely amazing. When you come out the other side in 6, 12, 18 months or whenever you'll look back on it and it'll be one of the best decisions you ever made in your life.
Focus on the day to day right now. Follow the plan as closely as you can, keep on top of the pain, call the DR if something isn't right. It took me weeks to get to the liquid goal and my calories were like ~300 per day for the first month, it got much easier after that. Once you start seeing weight loss (a few weeks) it'll be more motivating. For now keep busy, sip constantly (try watering your shakes down) and try to walk a lot gently as that helps with the pain.

Just curious for people who are out a ways, how often do you weigh yourself? Is there a set weight at which you take action to get back on track? Do you still track food?
For me I'm still a relative newby, I weigh in weekly usually, bi weekly worse case. I focus on staying within 2.5 lbs above or below goal, if I get to either end I adjust my eating to fix it. I stopped religiously tracking foods about 6 months ago, though I do track off and on and spot check days for macros if I feel like I'm off.

Sorry for the slow reply, I've been on vacation for a few weeks and not online. She didn't say what a good ratio was, just to have complex carbs if I was going to work out (she suggested oatmeal for example). One other thing that helped me a little with light headedness was to have a beverage containing electrolytes at least once a day. For me that became a 20 oz Powerade zero, its way too sweet for me, but I religiously have at least one bottle a day and that does help.

Honestly though I still have days when I nearly pass out when I stand up quickly - especially if I'm really exerting myself. The DR's don't have any answer for that and I did have a full cardiac work up shortly after surgery due to a complication, so there's no issues there. My theory is that you have a lot of extra vascularity when you're heavy (more blood vessels to feed all that fat) and when you get thin the blood vessels don't go away. No one has been able to tell me if that is the case or if they go away over time - but in my case my blood pressure went from borderline high to on the low side, but my resting heart rate has also increased even though I'm in good shape.
TLDR: Try an electrolyte beverage to see if that helps and have complex carbs before a workout - a lot of other stuff could be going on too and the DR's don't have all the answers unfortunately.

Nope - you didn't make a mistake. You will feel like you did for the next few weeks though. What you did do was embark on an incredible difficult journey, which is going to be both terrible and absolutely amazing. When you come out the other side in 6, 12, 18 months or whenever you'll look back on it and it'll be one of the best decisions you ever made in your life.
Focus on the day to day right now. Follow the plan as closely as you can, keep on top of the pain, call the DR if something isn't right. It took me weeks to get to the liquid goal and my calories were like ~300 per day for the first month, it got much easier after that. Once you start seeing weight loss (a few weeks) it'll be more motivating. For now keep busy, sip constantly (try watering your shakes down) and try to walk a lot gently as that helps with the pain.

Nope - you didn't make a mistake. You will feel like you did for the next few weeks though. What you did do was embark on an incredible difficult journey, which is going to be both terrible and absolutely amazing. When you come out the other side in 6, 12, 18 months or whenever you'll look back on it and it'll be one of the best decisions you ever made in your life.
Focus on the day to day right now. Follow the plan as closely as you can, keep on top of the pain, call the DR if something isn't right. It took me weeks to get to the liquid goal and my calories were like ~300 per day for the first month, it got much easier after that. Once you start seeing weight loss (a few weeks) it'll be more motivating. For now keep busy, sip constantly (try watering your shakes down) and try to walk a lot gently as that helps with the pain.

Nope - you didn't make a mistake. You will feel like you did for the next few weeks though. What you did do was embark on an incredible difficult journey, which is going to be both terrible and absolutely amazing. When you come out the other side in 6, 12, 18 months or whenever you'll look back on it and it'll be one of the best decisions you ever made in your life.
Focus on the day to day right now. Follow the plan as closely as you can, keep on top of the pain, call the DR if something isn't right. It took me weeks to get to the liquid goal and my calories were like ~300 per day for the first month, it got much easier after that. Once you start seeing weight loss (a few weeks) it'll be more motivating. For now keep busy, sip constantly (try watering your shakes down) and try to walk a lot gently as that helps with the pain.

Nope - you didn't make a mistake. You will feel like you did for the next few weeks though. What you did do was embark on an incredible difficult journey, which is going to be both terrible and absolutely amazing. When you come out the other side in 6, 12, 18 months or whenever you'll look back on it and it'll be one of the best decisions you ever made in your life.
Focus on the day to day right now. Follow the plan as closely as you can, keep on top of the pain, call the DR if something isn't right. It took me weeks to get to the liquid goal and my calories were like ~300 per day for the first month, it got much easier after that. Once you start seeing weight loss (a few weeks) it'll be more motivating. For now keep busy, sip constantly (try watering your shakes down) and try to walk a lot gently as that helps with the pain.

If I'm creeping up to the top of my maintenance range I try to eat stuff that will very quickly fill me up and keep me full so I can't eat more without feeling sick. Steak is good for this, 4 oz and it's like a rock in my stomach for an hour+, you could also eat a little something that's pretty solid and have a few ounces of Water, that does the same thing - but use extreme caution with this.
You still have the restriction, so you can use it to your advantage by eating stuff that will keep you full so you can't snack. Resetting is a good idea, I don't know that I'd go back to liquids because that will be very hard, but maybe back to just simple Protein and no carbs for a while. The protein will fill you up and after a week of that a lot of the cravings and hungriness should subside a little.
Good to see you on here again and good luck!

If I'm creeping up to the top of my maintenance range I try to eat stuff that will very quickly fill me up and keep me full so I can't eat more without feeling sick. Steak is good for this, 4 oz and it's like a rock in my stomach for an hour+, you could also eat a little something that's pretty solid and have a few ounces of Water, that does the same thing - but use extreme caution with this.
You still have the restriction, so you can use it to your advantage by eating stuff that will keep you full so you can't snack. Resetting is a good idea, I don't know that I'd go back to liquids because that will be very hard, but maybe back to just simple Protein and no carbs for a while. The protein will fill you up and after a week of that a lot of the cravings and hungriness should subside a little.
Good to see you on here again and good luck!

I've been in maintenance for just under a year and had hit goal really quickly (6-8 months), so still had a large restriction when I started. I switched my diet to nutrient dense foods and try to eat stuff that I really like.
Even now I'm still very restricted (5 oz of solid stuff max per meal and if it's like meat it takes a long time to digest (~hour). I'm really active so I have to get in enough calories or I lose weight and if I move off my current weight I just don't feel good. My BMI is still on the high side, but I'm not a good BMI body type (lot of muscle) so the DR's are very happy with me at this weight.
food wise I'm consuming about 2300 calories per day with a range of maybe 1500 - 3k depending on what I'm doing. I tracked in great detail for the first year. Now I still track but only spot check days here and there. My big tracking is a weekly weigh in and as long as my weight is within a 5 lb range I'm happy. If I'm low I make an effort to eat a little more, if I'm high I make an effort to eat a little less or more lean stuff. Foods for me consist primarily of Protein with limited carbs and very minimal fruit and vegetables (I would love to eat these, but I don't have time / room and if I eat them then I don't get enough calories).
I generally eat when I feel hungry and this works out to 3 meals and 3 Snacks per day. Here's an example of what I might eat on a normal day:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 slice american cheese, 1 bagel thin with butter ~10am snack: Apple fritter (450 calories - yeah not the greatest...) lunch: 4 oz chicken salad with light mayo, 1 bagel thin with butter, sometimes 1 oz of crackers or pretzels ~3pm snack: 10 crackers and 3 oz of cheese slices Dinner: steak 4 oz (or 1 sausage or repeat lunch or breakfast) ~8pm snack: Plain popcorn with salt or bagel thin, or crackers and 3 oz of cheese or italian ice or if I worked out a lot or am starving repeat a meal I shoot for 64 - 100 oz of Water I don't eat every snack / meal every day and on days when I'm running a few miles, biking or other calorie intense exercise I'll eat more. If I get busy I forget to eat or run out of time so am low on calories. If I feel like I'm eating too much I'll have something that fills me up quickly like 1/4 cup of rice or steak or something else that makes me full and won't let me eat additional foods. I generally don't eat potatos, Pasta or rice as I'm immediately full with these and can easily end up in pain.
Great thread and hope this helps someone. I'm really happy with my new lifestyle and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything food wise and generally just eat when I'm hungry.

Froze at first when I was losing. I got about 10 lbs below where I am now and didn't feel good, so adjusted goal up a bit. As soon as I put on the weight it actually helped a huge amount. Now I'm not cold all the time, yes I run way colder than I used to and lack insulation, but its not like it was before.. it's actually nice I don't need A/C. My wife is the exact opposite, hot constantly so we have quite the battle in our house with the HVAC
Another thing that happened was it HURT to sit, I lost the tailbone fat pad and it was painful, gaining the 10 lbs back solved that too, which was nice...

I've been in maintenance for just under a year and had hit goal really quickly (6-8 months), so still had a large restriction when I started. I switched my diet to nutrient dense foods and try to eat stuff that I really like.
Even now I'm still very restricted (5 oz of solid stuff max per meal and if it's like meat it takes a long time to digest (~hour). I'm really active so I have to get in enough calories or I lose weight and if I move off my current weight I just don't feel good. My BMI is still on the high side, but I'm not a good BMI body type (lot of muscle) so the DR's are very happy with me at this weight.
food wise I'm consuming about 2300 calories per day with a range of maybe 1500 - 3k depending on what I'm doing. I tracked in great detail for the first year. Now I still track but only spot check days here and there. My big tracking is a weekly weigh in and as long as my weight is within a 5 lb range I'm happy. If I'm low I make an effort to eat a little more, if I'm high I make an effort to eat a little less or more lean stuff. Foods for me consist primarily of Protein with limited carbs and very minimal fruit and vegetables (I would love to eat these, but I don't have time / room and if I eat them then I don't get enough calories).
I generally eat when I feel hungry and this works out to 3 meals and 3 Snacks per day. Here's an example of what I might eat on a normal day:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 slice american cheese, 1 bagel thin with butter ~10am snack: Apple fritter (450 calories - yeah not the greatest...) lunch: 4 oz chicken salad with light mayo, 1 bagel thin with butter, sometimes 1 oz of crackers or pretzels ~3pm snack: 10 crackers and 3 oz of cheese slices Dinner: steak 4 oz (or 1 sausage or repeat lunch or breakfast) ~8pm snack: Plain popcorn with salt or bagel thin, or crackers and 3 oz of cheese or italian ice or if I worked out a lot or am starving repeat a meal I shoot for 64 - 100 oz of Water I don't eat every snack / meal every day and on days when I'm running a few miles, biking or other calorie intense exercise I'll eat more. If I get busy I forget to eat or run out of time so am low on calories. If I feel like I'm eating too much I'll have something that fills me up quickly like 1/4 cup of rice or steak or something else that makes me full and won't let me eat additional foods. I generally don't eat potatos, Pasta or rice as I'm immediately full with these and can easily end up in pain.
Great thread and hope this helps someone. I'm really happy with my new lifestyle and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything food wise and generally just eat when I'm hungry.

Good point on the carbs. I used to do almost none, but when I would go for a run or other exercise I would get light headed and kind of shaky. The nutritionist had me start eating more carbs and that made a huge difference with energy level and endurance training exercise. I do try to have the carbs in the AM with the pastry being my largest carb intake of the day, usually i work out right after having that because it's an instant energy boost. If not working out I skip it

I've been in maintenance for just under a year and had hit goal really quickly (6-8 months), so still had a large restriction when I started. I switched my diet to nutrient dense foods and try to eat stuff that I really like.
Even now I'm still very restricted (5 oz of solid stuff max per meal and if it's like meat it takes a long time to digest (~hour). I'm really active so I have to get in enough calories or I lose weight and if I move off my current weight I just don't feel good. My BMI is still on the high side, but I'm not a good BMI body type (lot of muscle) so the DR's are very happy with me at this weight.
food wise I'm consuming about 2300 calories per day with a range of maybe 1500 - 3k depending on what I'm doing. I tracked in great detail for the first year. Now I still track but only spot check days here and there. My big tracking is a weekly weigh in and as long as my weight is within a 5 lb range I'm happy. If I'm low I make an effort to eat a little more, if I'm high I make an effort to eat a little less or more lean stuff. Foods for me consist primarily of Protein with limited carbs and very minimal fruit and vegetables (I would love to eat these, but I don't have time / room and if I eat them then I don't get enough calories).
I generally eat when I feel hungry and this works out to 3 meals and 3 Snacks per day. Here's an example of what I might eat on a normal day:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 slice american cheese, 1 bagel thin with butter ~10am snack: Apple fritter (450 calories - yeah not the greatest...) lunch: 4 oz chicken salad with light mayo, 1 bagel thin with butter, sometimes 1 oz of crackers or pretzels ~3pm snack: 10 crackers and 3 oz of cheese slices Dinner: steak 4 oz (or 1 sausage or repeat lunch or breakfast) ~8pm snack: Plain popcorn with salt or bagel thin, or crackers and 3 oz of cheese or italian ice or if I worked out a lot or am starving repeat a meal I shoot for 64 - 100 oz of Water I don't eat every snack / meal every day and on days when I'm running a few miles, biking or other calorie intense exercise I'll eat more. If I get busy I forget to eat or run out of time so am low on calories. If I feel like I'm eating too much I'll have something that fills me up quickly like 1/4 cup of rice or steak or something else that makes me full and won't let me eat additional foods. I generally don't eat potatos, Pasta or rice as I'm immediately full with these and can easily end up in pain.
Great thread and hope this helps someone. I'm really happy with my new lifestyle and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything food wise and generally just eat when I'm hungry.