looly

I am a stunningly beautiful Brit with an IQ of 200, a mountain of gold doubloons and my own castle right next door to Buckingham Palace. The Queen is my BFF and she is always asking my advice about public speaking and borrowing my shoes.
I also have no difficulties separating fantasy from reality and am proud to say that I have never told a lie. 😉

You don't look old to me, GradyCat! You look smiley and youthful!
I'm 53 and I only started running in March. I only did it because of lockdown, but now I love it...I'm continually surprised by what my body can do now. You might be surprised too. 😉

I've said it here several times before: exercise is not the key to weight loss--it's all about the diet. I did essentially no exercise during my weight loss phase (aside from walking) and lost consistently. Exercise is great for strength and stamina, but it's not going to be what determines the success of your weight loss journey.

I ran 10K again on Sunday, 20 minutes faster than the first time I did it (and I had surgery In August, so I had a break in training). I actually put weight on during lockdown, but I feel fitter than ever!

Ha! Hysterical!
Have you considered drawing a face on it, squishing it up and making it say terrible things to other people??!

I feel for ya. I'm sort of in the same boat. My weight loss has largely flatlined in the last year with a pound or so lost here/there. Then with COVID stay at home orders, I got a little lax. Maybe too much snacking. Maybe too many sweets/bread/etc. Gained 7 lbs. When I saw that on the scale I was shocked and ashamed.
So, last week I just went back to basics. Focus on Protein, low carb, etc. I started logging my food again. But the biggest thing was that I realized if I didn't start the day out right, I had trouble controlling my cravings. So, instead of my usual Breakfast routine, I started doing Protein Shakes. These seem to keep me satisfied until well after my normal lunchtime and no snacking/cravings! So far, I've lost 2 of those pounds!
My advice: go back to basics. Do what you did during your early weight loss phase. I considered a "pouch reset" diet but didn't think I needed to go that drastic. If these 2 lbs hadn't come off in the last week, my next step would have been to buckle down and do that.

I had some knee pain after about the third week of C25K. I bought some elasticated knee supports and they really helped. I don't wear them all the time, but if my knees twinge, then I wear them on the next run - they work a treat!
As for me running 10K, it was by accident really. I planned to run 5K downhill and then phone my other half to come and pick me up. But I felt OK and just started to run back. I walked up the really steep hills and I kept thinking "I'll phone him in a bit", but I was having such a nice time pootling away, listening to music and generally nosying into other peoples' gardens, that I just kept going. Before I knew it, I was home!

That is awesome @looly! I had to abandon my plans after three weeks as my knees were in pain. I’ve been resting and hoping to try again next week. I went to a running store to get fitted for shoes and they said mine were fine so probably just pain from getting back outside! Well hopefully.... 10k. That is awesome!

That's an interesting point of view, summerset: I hadn't considered that possibility.
I suppose there's a fine balance to be struck between feeling contented with your weight loss and avoiding significant regain. Life's complicated, innit?!

I can absolutely see the difference when I look in the mirror.
However, I sometimes forget that I'm no longer enormous when I'm doing every day things. For instance, I still look for wide parking spaces when I no longer need them. And I forget that I can use the ladder to get out of the pool instead of the sloping steps. And the other day, I was teaching an unfamiliar class of children about healthy eating and I said, "You don't want to end up with a big tummy like me!" - and they just looked puzzled. Old habits die hard, eh?

I was due to have my gallbladder removed today, and it got cancelled at 3.15pm yesterday. I was upset for a while, although I understood that coronavirus patients had to be prioritised.
On the plus side, I had to do a liver shrinking diet for 5 days, and I lost 5 lbs. 😊

That's an interesting point of view, summerset: I hadn't considered that possibility.
I suppose there's a fine balance to be struck between feeling contented with your weight loss and avoiding significant regain. Life's complicated, innit?!

…..However, as regards when you know you've lost enough weight - it's when you're happy with your loss and feel good surely?

This is an interesting question, because I thought I'd finished losing weight after 19 months. However, I recently had to do another liver-shrinking diet in anticipation of another operation (subsequently cancelled). I had to diet for 5 days and lost 4 lbs. I ate about 600-800 calories a day. I was surprised that I could manage this and it made me think I could use this again in the future....I could lose weight for 5 days, then just carry on maintaining my weight the rest of the time. Hmmmm….could work!

The second liver-shrinking diet has done me a favour, because my weight loss had sort of bottomed-out, 19 months after the sleeve. It's a boost in troubled times!

I was due to have my gallbladder removed today, and it got cancelled at 3.15pm yesterday. I was upset for a while, although I understood that coronavirus patients had to be prioritised.
On the plus side, I had to do a liver shrinking diet for 5 days, and I lost 5 lbs. 😊

I haven't particularly suffered with GERD since the op (about 18 months ago). Constipation was a bit of a problem, but that's easier to deal with. However, I do now have gallstones, which is a possible consequence of rapid weight loss. I wasn't made aware of this at the time of the op, but I think I would have gone ahead even if I'd known. I am now waiting to have my gallbladder removed, but I still absolutely recommend the VSG - the positives heavily outweigh the negatives.

Oh and you likely never will. We can never replace the fur babies we lose, We can only fill the empty spot with love for another. At least, that's what I've found...there are many out there, waiting for love!

I'm pretty excited I started losing again after a three month or so stall. I got the sleeve a year and a half ago. All I did was lower my calories from 1,500 to 1,200 by stopping most Snacks and I started doing more pilates. So without doing anything dramatic or particularly challenging, I'm now losing about a pound a week again. Very exciting!

Sure thing! LOVE to show off my fur babies. Daisy (the gray) her and her brother Duke (as kittens) and Duke with his pal Nugget You're kitty is quite beautiful as well!

OMG amboyle, your cat is gorgeous! Can you post a bigger picture please?
(BTW 600 cals early on is fine!)

It all depends on what your surgical/dietary team told you to do. Medical opinions differ considerably. Some doctors tell you to eat Protein and very little else...my team told me to eat a healthy balanced diet. There's more than one way to make the surgery work.

OMG amboyle, your cat is gorgeous! Can you post a bigger picture please?
(BTW 600 cals early on is fine!)

OMG amboyle, your cat is gorgeous! Can you post a bigger picture please?
(BTW 600 cals early on is fine!)

Gosh - I feel quite guilty - I could sleep on my side from day 1!
My other half says that I no longer snore when I roll onto my back now - how fantastic is that?!