sillykitty

Exciting and fun .... right now I'd describe it as stressful and overwhelming "I think IF may also have some hidden, behind the scenes benefits with hormone regulation that helps us process the foods we do eat." I think it may, but if so it is a benefit I have long had, being breakfast averse. So just being stricter about it doesn't seem to be doing anything for weight loss, for me. It can help me control the total cals consumed though. "Like if I know I'm gonna have a huge dinner of calories and wine, I would be abstemious the rest of the day so the cals balance out. Instead of like I used to do where my rationale would be..."Oh I'm having an ass-buster meal tonight, the day is tanked, might as well go have a huge brekky and pound a Big Mac and fries at lunch since I'm splurging today." So the insult would be compounded by 3. " Same here. I feel like I have gotten past that thought process. I can mix and match "good" and "bad" behavior in the same day, week, etc.

Here as well .... It will take a few days for any good or bad behavior to reflect on the scale. Maybe that's my stall explanation. Have not had any streak of consistently good or bad. Been a total mixed bag. (Well except the fact my cals have been consistently in the deficit range, arrgh)

I am also glad I have learned that I can get back on plan when I go off track. That is something new. In the past once I went off the rails, I just threw in the towel.

Hello! Been MIA, crazy busy work and travel schedule! Sorry you're not feeling well @FluffyChix, hopefully the walking and Matcha will get it all beat! Not much to report here. Have done IF when possible. Had 2 breakfast meetings this week, so not those days. My food choices have been both good and bad. I'm counting the small victories like not eating the Andes mints that were left on my pillow. The scale is holding steady at 153.2, the same as Tuesday morning, my last weigh in. It's .5 lbs up from my low of 152.6. I don't think IF alone works for me as a weight loss tool. Maybe because I had inadvertently done IF for a lot of my life? I've never been a breakfast eater, so I naturally have a long fast. Unless I have reasons to eat in the morning, like brunch plans or meetings, etc.. I have some dinner plans this weekend. Nothing to prevent me from doing IF. Making good choices is the much bigger struggle. Next few weeks are going to be a b*tch! Solid travel, even gone one weekend, with only an overnight home to repack. Lots of meetings, meals, wining and dining. Weekend with a girlfriend and Mai Tai's. There will be a trade show with every type of junk food imaginable. Then straight into my gelato, pasta & wine vacay. I'd really, really like to start dropping weight again. Although my choice haven't all been good, my cals have been well under 1000 (yay restiction). So I'm hoping this is a stall ... but still scared if it's not.

It's funny, I've literally never worried up until now. Not even pre op, not early days post op. So I'm not a worrier, so me being worried, worries me

@FluffyChix Thanks for your thoughts and support. I hope this is just a combo that weight loss becomes hard fought near goal, combined with a regular old stall. I don't want to be one of those people, but I also have legitimate fears about metabolic damage I know that a lot of vets are low carb. I would love to see more from those that aren't. I'd love to know if it is possible to maintain on long term moderate carbs, with high carb splurge days? Being real, a low carb lifestyle will be a constant struggle for me. This month is not bad in total weight loss wise, but only due to a steep drop I had post vacation. My issue is between 9/5 and today I've only lost 1.8 lbs, and it's been dramatically up and down (for me) during that time frame. I'm very analytical, and like to see the end game. This is the fist time I've been scared during this entire process.

Thanks @esskay77 I appreciate your advice. I'm really hoping this is just a regular old stall. If it's that I can totally deal. It's the "what if this is my new reality" that has me freaked out. The whole "must eat clean" is the part that scares me. Eating clean while I'm at home, that takes will power, but is manageable. So much of my life is work travel and entertainment. Eating relatively healthy is do able. Eating perfectly, just isn't.

Hi .... real talk, I'm frustrated, and more than a little scared. So yesterday was a bad day for everything but IF. But one day, whatever. But I'm scared of the big picture. I've basically in a stall for 3 weeks now. I don't want to be one of those "sky is falling" people, but, I'm scared right now about what this means. Ok, so over these 3 weeks I've had some bad days with poor choices. But on the whole I've made a lot of good choices too, and had more good days then bad. Even my bad days are nothing compared to pre WLS. My highest cal day was 1442. I only had 5 days out of 25 where I went over 1000 cals. On average over the last 25 days (to account for my 3 week stall, and then plus a few days), I averaged 554 calories. I'm scared. Is this just a set point? Have a wrecked my metabolism like in the Biggest Loser study? What is my long term quality of life if I have to eat sub 600 cals in order to even maintain? Sorry, I'm having a Monday morning pity party here.

Nice, post! I think though, one thing that is missing, is that ketosis just means your body is burning fat for energy. So you don't need to be ultra low carb to be in ketosis. You just have to have a significant enough calorie deficient that your body has no option than to use your fat stores.

I had nothing but food funerals the 3 weeks between approval and my surgery date. I have no regrets whatsoever. It has not hindered my weight loss post op.

Had another good day yesterday. Ate within a 5 hr window, and hit all my protein, fluid, supplement goals. It was a hungry day though, once I broke my fast! I had one weighed serving of rice cakes. Those made it into the house from the ill conceived Aldi visit. Totally sliders and I was severely tempted to go back for more! I had to get them out of the house, so I gave them to my neighbor. Today should be a good day for IF. But going to a street fair. So food choices may not be great, and/or I may not make good choices. I also most likely will not hit fluid goals, cause, porta potties are not an option for me! Scale is back down again, almost to what I have listed on here

@GreenTealael Happy Sukkot!!

Nope, not sweet. No need to avoid Thai food, there are plenty of really yummy protein based dishes, not sweet at all. It helps if you go to a place that has some focus on Northern Thai dishes. But some are Larb, Nam Tok, Nam Sot, Crying Tiger, Nam Kao Tod, Thai Jerky. Of course most places have stuffed wings, satay, and Thai BBQ. I do eat curry. When I'm being good, I of course have no rice and ok with the sauce that clings to the meat a veggies, even though it is both sweet and fatty, but I figure it's not much. Here are some of my MFP entries for these dishes Of course these are just rough estimations. I know the Nam Sod (Sot) has more carbs than listed (it has peanuts), and don't think the Nam Tok has as many carbs as listed. But they are lean and protein based, so good choices no matter what.

No worries. There were several of us going through it at the same time. We tried seemingly everything, and we still lost hair, lots of hair. As @Matt Z said on another thread: "Nothing you do at this point is going to stop or help the hair that's falling out. That's because your body decided months ago that it was going to stop feeding that hair that's falling out now. The reason it's falling out now, is because new hair is pushing the old hair out. Google Telogen Effluvium. It's when something shocks your system (stress, surgery, stressful surgery, etc) and your body has Hair growth cycles, the surgery causes a much higher percentage of hair to go dormant than normal. So, when the "Grow" cycle starts up again, all of that "Rest" cycle hair, gets dumped. It's just a temporary change to your normal shedding cycle. Nothing you can do about it now except deal with it until everything grows back in properly."

It's not a matter of hair being pulled out, it literally falls out.

I never counted them all together ... but I guess I did

I'm totally going to do that!

I had another good day yesterday with IF and macros. I ate within a 4 hr window and had all my supplements and met my protein and fluid goals. Of course the scale doesn't agree and has bounced up, but whatever. One win from yesterday. I ordered in Thai food, which is pretty much a mine field, since my favorite dish is a noodle dish. BUT, I stayed strong and only ordered lean protein dishes!

@FluffyChix I absolutely count all of those as wins! For myself, eating perfectly is not sustainable long term. But what is sustainable is making better choices than I would have in the past.

@GreenTealael That sounds awful, hope you are all recovered!

Definitely won't like those then

I had a half bottle of Premier Protein with coffee, and it went well ... no issues!

I'm with you ... I don't get the cake or mac and cheese recipes either. I just use it for things like soups, stews, etc. That's where you get the time savings. The pasta thing was just laziness. I was planning to add the pasta after I had pressure cooked the res of the soup. But at the last minute I decided to throw it in as well. So, yeah, overcooked, as I suspected it would be.

Thanks! It feels good knowing that even when I fall off the wagon I'm capable of getting back on again! I have made good choices in the past. It is way easier for me when good choices are also what I really want, like the tuna tartar. As for the dumplings, the restaurant only serves noodles, rice, and dumplings, so again, what I really wanted, was also the best choice. Well, they also serve greens, but not a chance in h*ll I was just going to order a plate of spinach I've done so little drinking compared to normal, lol. I was only tempted yesterday because my friend makes amazing Micheladas. I had one over the weekend and it sucked and cost $10! Cooking, since I live alone, is pretty pointless considering how much I can eat. I didn't cook just for myself much even pre WLS, cause cooking for 1 sucks. The ironic thing is, I am a pretty good cook, and actually love cooking for other people.

Most of my pics are meals out, without the ability to take home leftovers. At home I generally only serve myself what I know I can eat. If I'm eating out near home, then I usually order leftover friendly food, and take it home. There is still usually a lot of waste though because you can only eat so many meals of the same leftover until you just want to throw it out.