Sheribear68

Okay so yesterday I found myself googling “low calorie mint juleps” in honor of Derby Day. Then I remembered that actually going to the Derby is on my bucket list. In fact, hubs and I have talked to all of our friends and family and whoever is interested is going to go with us in 2021. Even though that’s still 2 years away, I decided I want to look as FABULOUS as possible on that day and I will drink my mint julep in 2 years rather than yesterday.

Hello February people! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Day 5: didn’t do gardening, but hubs and I are busy getting the pool ready for summer. Had to dispose of 2 huge piles of leaves by the pool and then sweep off the deck and start cleaning the furniture. Then it was off to Pilates for back to back classes and I tried out doing plank with my toes on the box. Was able to do it for 30 seconds which I’m proud of.

1. Gestational diabetes at the age of 28 with child #2 in 1997 (also my last pregnancy). Gained 96 pounds during that pregnancy and lost 12 so by the time it was all said and done, I was carrying an excess of 80 pounds more that. Would. Not. Stay. Off. 2. Triple negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2009 at the age of 40. Mandatory year of chemo/radiation which completely finished wrecking what little metabolism I had left that the gestational diabetes didn’t wreck. Gained 15 pounds during that year that. Would. Not. Stay. Off. 3. Hysterectomy in 2014 because of complications due to chemo-induced menopause at the age of 40. And at the age of 41. And just for fun, again at the age of 44. Went through menopause 3 times. Gained another 10-15 pounds that. Would. Not. Stay. Off. 4. Bariatric surgery in February 2019 after 21+ years of fighting a losing battle with metabolic syndrome caused by all of the aforementioned issues and yo-yo dieting. When I was 28 and got pregnant with my daughter I was about 140 pounds and a size 8. When I started the bariatric process at the age of 49, I was 259 pounds and a size 20/22. Throughout my years of yo-yoing, I’ve always been a SLOW loser. I was the girl who would diet/exercise for 4-6 weeks before even 5-6 pounds would come off. Then after it would finally start to come off, I could count on losing about 6 pounds/month eating 1200 calories daily and exercising like a maniac. Then the instant I would stop that brutal routine, the weight would insta- jump back on. Since my surgery date on February 6th (where I weighed 244 pounds) I’ve lost 46 pounds. Honestly it’s been “slow and steady”. Besides the first 2 weeks, I’ve not had a single week where I’ve lost over 3 pounds, but I’ve also not had a single week where I’ve lost under 2 pounds. So if I can lose weight with my history, honestly anyone can

Thanks! Lol, I realize the stick figure is probably a bit of an overreach, but why not goal-plan big. ???

????. This was my exact thought! Can you imagine being pulled over by the cops and having to explain that being in your car??

??? Just 2 more days til the next episode!!!

Update: I’ll be 3 months post-op next week and I just hit a milestone earlier this week. On April 30, I was officially under 200 pounds!!!!!! I was even brave enough to weigh again this morning and I’ve dropped another 2 so I’m at 197.8. Takes my total loss post-surgery to 45 pounds. All of this in 12 weeks

Happy Friday everyone! Well no rest day, no performance for me. It was up early, off to Pilates, and now grabbing lunch before showering and heading off for a 10hr shift later. I’m thankfully off work tomorrow so that will be my rest day after I go to support group in the morning.

Okay. So had a morning Pilates class and I have about a half hour to eat before getting ready for work tonite. Here is my first of two meals for today. I’ll have an 8oz cup of fairlife milk between lunch and dinner. 2.5 oz leftover steak, 1/2 oz Brie, 1/2 cup cottage cheese. Lol, I’m protein girl today.

Nice! Lol, I’ll be joining you in about another 55 pounds. ??

Agreed with this. I’m more of a glamping gal. If there isn’t a hot shower and comfy bed at the end of the day, I’m not truly enjoying myself.

Okay so we are going to be pushing each other this month to hit that goal! ???

Lol, then I should be safe because my weight loss is anything but quick. ???

Day 2 of challenge. Got a smidge of outside time, but it was cold and rainy most of the day. Got my 5 non-modified pushups done for yesterday and today. I’m very artistically challenged, but I drew a picture with May goals.

Okay so as I’m winding down for the day, I’m listening to my stomach gurgle and I ate dinner over 2 hours ago. It used to bother me a ton more than it does now, but I’m getting used to it and thankfully there’s not really a “hungry” feeling associated with the gurgling. Re stalls: not gonna lie— a stall is the the thing I fear the most. Now that I’ve seen that magical number starting with a 1 I’m scared to get back on the scale. I know I will in a couple of days, but seeing anything starting with a 2 after working so hard to get to this point will wreck me. I’m truly hoping since I’ve yet to have a single week with over 3 pounds lost that I’ll avoid a stall. Recidivist, my goal weight for May 31st is 189. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and working like mad to get in 10 pounds/month. I was lucky in April because I dropped 11.6. I’ve got to admit that sometimes I feel guilt reading about y’all who aren’t feeling the greatest. I’m extremely blessed to have a tummy (even a surgically altered one) that just doesn’t get upset all that easily. All in all, I feel great most of the time and when I don’t, it’s easily attributable to a poor night sleep, stress at work, or not eating/drinking enough and I can fix it fairly easily. I’m so sorry some of you guys are still feeling bad. Emzbee! So glad to see you back and congrats on 81 pounds. That’s a major big deal! The hair will come back. Heck I went a whole year with zero hair when I was on chemo. My best friend is a hair stylist and I had her shave me bald a week before my 3rd round of chemo because that’s when everyone loses their hair. It mostly came back. Some thinning, but I remind myself that I could be dead with hair or alive with a little less. This is the same except maybe not quite as dramatic. We will be healthier, thinner, BETTER , and less hairy versions of our old selves ???

I have 2 answers. 1. I love messing around in my garden. 2. I have a swimming pool. Sadly the pool hasn’t been opened yet and we’ve been suffering cold days, but by this time next month I’ll be lounging poolside on days off

IN!!! A week away from 3 months PO May goals: 1. Drop down into the 180’s. April 30th weight: 199.8 (barely squeaked my goal for April of hitting ONEderland) Should be doable since it’s “only” 10 pounds. I’ve been a slow but steady loser so far so fingers crossed I don’t hit any stalls this month. 2. Try out a Pilates 1.5 class. So far I’ve gone from struggling like the dickens to keep up to almost being able to do everything in the level 1 classes and I’m going to work up the courage to try out a 1.5. It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone and if we don’t do that, we don’t grow. 3. Self care. Some weeks I’m good at this, some weeks..... meh. Later today I’m going to pencil in meditation time and write in a bedtime and set my alarm every day for sleep. Going to do this for the entire month. I’m also going to schedule a cut and color and pedicure for later this month.

This is FABULOUS news!!! Congrats on your hard work paying off

The app I posted that from is from the scale I purchased at the beginning of March. It’s a Weight Guru scale and the matching app. I like it a lot and it also syncs with apple health and my fitness pal. Scale was about $50 at bed bath and beyond and I used a 20% off coupon for it so I thought that was a decent bargain.

Thanks! I found that quote back 10 years ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing chemo for a whole year.

Okay guys. I HAVE to post this because I’m sooooooooo freaking excited I can’t stand it. My big goal for April was to weigh under 200 pounds and I’ve got to admit I was absolutely sure I would miss it by a couple pounds because I lose so slowly. Friday morning I was weighing 202 and I was afraid to get on the scale so soon, but since this is the last day in April I just needed to know. Anyway, this happened and it’s the lowest I’ve weighed since 2005 when I hit the upper 180’s for about 5 minutes. Can’t wait to actually hit the goal of weighing under 186 (the lowest I’ve weighed since 1996), but that will have to be a goal I set for June. ??

Okay so I love the idea of a goal board, but will have to create in May. Just zero time this week to make that happen. However, speaking of goals, my goal for this April challenge was to come in at under 200 pounds, and today I barely squeaked in. Honestly I didn’t think I would make it, but between Friday and this morning, 2 pounds magically fell off.

Nope. I was a pack a day smoker for almost 15 years. One day decided I was fed up with something so stupid having that kind of control over me. Got angry enough that I stopped mid-pack and never smoked another one. That was almost 13 years ago and while it had its white-knuckle moments at first, I too took myself out of situations where I was tempted to smoke and with time it got a lot easier. Basically my mindset now is to relearn how and what to eat and to incorporate as many healthier swaps and choices as I can. It will be a learning process, but at least I do have this FABULOUS tool of a smaller stomach in my toolbox. Also, I get a good metabolic reboot so most of my previous errors/bad choices don’t follow me around for eternity. I’m seriously reading Dr Fungs books on intermittent fasting and as soon as my body finishes the honeymoon phase, I’m going to use IF as my primary method to control my weight. Right now it’s just too soon post surgery.

This!!! Omg, this! One good/bad thing the “house” psychologist did was to instill in each of us the paranoia that this honeymoon period is a one-time only reboot to the metabolism so don’t mess it up. Overall it’s good, because I don’t want to fall into the trap that I can still “cheat” and lose and I also don’t want to fall into the “other skinny people can eat like this” trap either. Kind of like recovering alcoholics, ex-smokers, or drug abusers, I am a fat person no matter what my current weight/size is. My brain and body will NEVER be able to handle food like many other people can. Having this surgery and the resultant weight-loss doesn’t change any of those facts just like a recovering alcoholic staying sober for years upon end doesn’t change the fact that one drink could put them back on the road to hell. Even though previous failures weren’t necessarily my “fault”, they are the reality of my past. It’s what my body does with food and i realize now that I’ve got to be as diligent as possible and still find a balance that I can live with for the rest of my life. It’s never going to be easy. I can never forget—even after I hit goal weight— that this will be a lifetime of daily choices to either keep me on track or derail me.