Sheribear68

So it’s been a while. Casual dining outfit portrait. Let me know what you think! Still single ladies hahaha

Anna, I'm so sorry you have had that verbal abuse! It's disgusting. 'fat shaming' seems to be the last 'acceptable' kind of discrimination out there and I cannot wait until it stops. You look absolutely beautiful - and happy. I'm so glad that things are much better for you now with your health.
I was also terrorised by an ex-wife. My husband and his first wife (married only because she got pregnant) were only together for 9 months after their daughter was born, and then she walked out on them - went to live with another man and left my husband to raise his daughter on his own. I came along 6 years later and that was it... license for her to call every day and harass us. Get to us through her daughter by questioning her over everything that happened in our house and then call my husband to complain - it got to the point where my step-daughter would just lie about things because she realised that her mum gave her attention when she told some juicy story.
My husband would be so traumatised by it all (he had panic attacks) that he would beg me to just go along with it all and not rock the boat, so I was silenced too. It was just a horrible horrible time and all while I was in a new country away from any family and friends. Ugh! She would call and swear down the phone and call me fat. This went on until my step-daughter was no longer receiving child support from us. The day she turned 18 the calls stopped. I really, really understand what you are going through. Are your step-children grown and out of the house now? The day that there are no longer any ties and reason to communicate is just THE BEST.

Wow wow wow! Everyone! Wow!!!
It was an awesome year, amazing results for everybody! I get lost in the negative and forget to Celebrate the positive. Body dysmorphia? I don’t know but I’m so happy to read from you guys because everybody is so positive and I have zero regrets about doing this surgery.
The surgery resolved all of my hip and ankle pain, abdominal pain I was having from scar tissue, and a “TMI“ issue I was having as well! Also, I have never had good self-esteem but I do now.... better. Probably best to say “better”. I think I look beautiful but I still have my insecurities just like everyone else.
My husband’s ex-wife taunted me for 13 years. 13 years of being called FAT, fat b****, huge, “waitress from Mel’s diner”... whatever that means, among many other appearance-related insults that were constantly flung at me. She would text me, email me, approach me in public... anything she could do to rattle me about my weight. She started harassing me and my kids again this past week (yes, I called the police) and previously had reached out to me through a text message (she uses my stepsons cell phone and pretends to be him to engage me in conversations which is how this one from a couple of months started, below), and... (I won’t say that this is all about the weight loss surgery) BUT it was such an amazing feeling NOT TO CARE. She has not seen me in over a year and assumes I still look the same.
She can never BULLY me about my weight again. I’d like to say that didn’t play a part in making me feel like **** or didn’t motivate me to make change. It’s sad that adults over the age of 40 have to stoop to that kind of level. I just usually don’t respond or if I do, I try to be positive and rise above it.
I’m sure I’m not alone in knowing what it’s like to have someone constantly verbally tell you how fat/ugly you are. Even if it’s somebody’s opinion whom you do not respect. My ex-husband also used to tell me I was fat and I would take diet pills to try to stay within his ideal range. His coworkers started calling him Cheeto at one point because he was telling them how he told me not to eat Cheetos. I weighed 115 pounds at the time and had given birth to his twins less than a year before. The guys he worked with ultimately started teasing him because he was being verbally abusive to me and THEY thought I was attractive. He even wrote me a letter about a year ago and said that I had passed my “fat gene” on to our daughter. I’ve had a lifetime of beating myself up over this. Even my Mom would tell me that I needed to “tone up”. I just look back and think - I’ve lost 30 years worrying about my weight!?!
So, this has been so much more than losing 60+ pounds for me. Now I have started watching my calories and walking. I am fluctuating back and forth 3-4 pounds now as the restriction has decreased. It’s a small effort, and just a start after months of not having it under control and not really watching or staying on plan.
Regardless, I feel great. I took this picture a few days ago and I know I’m healthy now and no regrets...
Thank you to everyone here who has supported me and lifted me up through this process. Each and every person who has made any comment or contribution here is important to me. Whether we talked directly or not, all of the input was so greatly appreciated and continued to motivate me to stay positive. I’m so happy that everyone has had success!
Group FEB ‘19 is the best!

Not gonna lie... maintenance scares the heck out of me.
Also, I’ve got people telling me all of the time that I’m too skinny and “can stop at anytime, ok” and I’ve started learning how to tune that all out.
I’m really not used to being the skinny girl in the room. Heck, just typing that out felt weird, but it’s the truth now.
There are days when I log everything and days when I don’t even think about it.

Anymore, my focus is on becoming stronger and losing some fat%, and trying to gain some muscle. Even a month ago I was freaked out by weighing under 140 pounds and now it’s like “meh, this is normal now and I have tons of energy and feel fabulous.”

I’m to the point now that if I lose more it won’t freak me out too much, but I’m not actively intending to lose. I figure my calories will eventually climb up so I’m not gonna panic.

Love these updates!

The first place I’m getting plastics done will be face/neck.
Never realized how “old” losing >100 pounds would make me look.

Then maybe— maybe this time next year I’ll think about other parts of my bod (I’m looking at you, thighs)

5’7”, female, 51YO, 13 months post VGS.
HW: 262
SW: 246
GW: 155
CW: 134-137

MANY of us who are WLS all start in different places and have had different routes getting there.
I personally think that the human body is a wonderful and mysteriously frustrating thing.
As an adult, spent many years “normal” or slightly “under normal” body weight. It was only when I hit my late 20’s that I became MO. And stayed there for 22 years.

When I had WLS, I had to maintain my BMI (which was hovering right at 40) for 8 months so I could stay qualified. I’d love to see insurance companies lower that number to 35, because I could’ve been practicing healthier habits in the months leading up to WLS rather than INTENTIONALLY trying to keep my weight >252.

My point here is that I hit a “normal” BMI fairly rapidly-within 8 months of WLS- and I’m now struggling to keep my weight over 135. I feel like most of that was because I had a lower-than-typical SW, and that my body “remembers” being a skinny girl as a teen and young adult and therefore when I got my resetting from WLS, my body adjusted beautifully.
I’ve lost >110 pounds from my surgery date, which is way over 100% EBF.
I’m not a super-hero, I just happened to be a girl who (mostly) followed what her team recommended, worked out, and did my homework daily,weekly, and monthly to get and stay on track.

Honestly it take me getting creative some days and I still struggle trying to get in >1000 calories sometimes bc I refuse to eat crap.
Other than dealing with a weird Tomato and Kimchi craving right now, I’m not feeling deprived at all.

Absolutely @Sheribear68! I too use IF as an additional tool for MM (maintenance mode). Works like a charm.

Yes, and I forgot to mention that I have intermittent fasting in my toolbox along with my sleeve and I feel like not only does the IF naturally restrict calories,but the other health benefits might greatly contribute to extending life span

5’7”, female, 51YO, 13 months post VGS.
HW: 262
SW: 246
GW: 155
CW: 134-137

MANY of us who are WLS all start in different places and have had different routes getting there.
I personally think that the human body is a wonderful and mysteriously frustrating thing.
As an adult, spent many years “normal” or slightly “under normal” body weight. It was only when I hit my late 20’s that I became MO. And stayed there for 22 years.

When I had WLS, I had to maintain my BMI (which was hovering right at 40) for 8 months so I could stay qualified. I’d love to see insurance companies lower that number to 35, because I could’ve been practicing healthier habits in the months leading up to WLS rather than INTENTIONALLY trying to keep my weight >252.

My point here is that I hit a “normal” BMI fairly rapidly-within 8 months of WLS- and I’m now struggling to keep my weight over 135. I feel like most of that was because I had a lower-than-typical SW, and that my body “remembers” being a skinny girl as a teen and young adult and therefore when I got my resetting from WLS, my body adjusted beautifully.
I’ve lost >110 pounds from my surgery date, which is way over 100% EBF.
I’m not a super-hero, I just happened to be a girl who (mostly) followed what her team recommended, worked out, and did my homework daily,weekly, and monthly to get and stay on track.

Honestly it take me getting creative some days and I still struggle trying to get in >1000 calories sometimes bc I refuse to eat crap.
Other than dealing with a weird Tomato and Kimchi craving right now, I’m not feeling deprived at all.

5’7”, female, 51YO, 13 months post VGS.
HW: 262
SW: 246
GW: 155
CW: 134-137

MANY of us who are WLS all start in different places and have had different routes getting there.
I personally think that the human body is a wonderful and mysteriously frustrating thing.
As an adult, spent many years “normal” or slightly “under normal” body weight. It was only when I hit my late 20’s that I became MO. And stayed there for 22 years.

When I had WLS, I had to maintain my BMI (which was hovering right at 40) for 8 months so I could stay qualified. I’d love to see insurance companies lower that number to 35, because I could’ve been practicing healthier habits in the months leading up to WLS rather than INTENTIONALLY trying to keep my weight >252.

My point here is that I hit a “normal” BMI fairly rapidly-within 8 months of WLS- and I’m now struggling to keep my weight over 135. I feel like most of that was because I had a lower-than-typical SW, and that my body “remembers” being a skinny girl as a teen and young adult and therefore when I got my resetting from WLS, my body adjusted beautifully.
I’ve lost >110 pounds from my surgery date, which is way over 100% EBF.
I’m not a super-hero, I just happened to be a girl who (mostly) followed what her team recommended, worked out, and did my homework daily,weekly, and monthly to get and stay on track.

Honestly it take me getting creative some days and I still struggle trying to get in >1000 calories sometimes bc I refuse to eat crap.
Other than dealing with a weird Tomato and Kimchi craving right now, I’m not feeling deprived at all.

5’7”, female, 51YO, 13 months post VGS.
HW: 262
SW: 246
GW: 155
CW: 134-137

MANY of us who are WLS all start in different places and have had different routes getting there.
I personally think that the human body is a wonderful and mysteriously frustrating thing.
As an adult, spent many years “normal” or slightly “under normal” body weight. It was only when I hit my late 20’s that I became MO. And stayed there for 22 years.

When I had WLS, I had to maintain my BMI (which was hovering right at 40) for 8 months so I could stay qualified. I’d love to see insurance companies lower that number to 35, because I could’ve been practicing healthier habits in the months leading up to WLS rather than INTENTIONALLY trying to keep my weight >252.

My point here is that I hit a “normal” BMI fairly rapidly-within 8 months of WLS- and I’m now struggling to keep my weight over 135. I feel like most of that was because I had a lower-than-typical SW, and that my body “remembers” being a skinny girl as a teen and young adult and therefore when I got my resetting from WLS, my body adjusted beautifully.
I’ve lost >110 pounds from my surgery date, which is way over 100% EBF.
I’m not a super-hero, I just happened to be a girl who (mostly) followed what her team recommended, worked out, and did my homework daily,weekly, and monthly to get and stay on track.

Honestly it take me getting creative some days and I still struggle trying to get in >1000 calories sometimes bc I refuse to eat crap.
Other than dealing with a weird Tomato and Kimchi craving right now, I’m not feeling deprived at all.

Okay so I want to urge caution and patience here.

I too got freaked out a few weeks ago with my continued loss and then I finally realized that should embrace it
I mean, I’ve been fighting a war with my body for over 2 decades and I’m sick and tired of it.

So for 20+ years I couldn’t lose enough and now I’m gonna stress bc I had WLS and I’m losing “too much??”
Nah, instead I’m just gonna relax and see where this ride stops.
I talked to my NUT last month and she reassured me that my body won’t let me die, and I just had my 1 year labs done and they are BEAUTIFUL!
I have zero deficiencies and personally I feel better than I’ve ever felt before.

I now that I’ve spent almost 2 months <140, I kinda like it and it’s becoming more of my comfort zone.
Give yourself time and TLC before doing something radical and fighting against your body.

I am NEVER hungry. I feel stuffed all the time. I eat a lot of plant based foods which are very filling and very nutritious. I never feel deprived. I would never have "the will to eat so little...forever." You don't have to! It's all about what kind of foods you eat. Honestly, I wake up and get on the scale every morning, just knowing I must have gained weight, since I ate so much the day before, but the gain doesn't happen. For example, today I have already eaten a bowl of cooked grain Cereal, with milk, raisins, gogi berries, and a sliced apple. Then I had at 1 1/2 cup of shepherd's pie for lunch, an orange, a kiwi, grapes, and a cup of cooked greens. Then two cups of raw veggies for munchies in the afternoon. (Red cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, red and greed pepper, radishes). Then a rice cake with Peanut Butter, and some nuts. That is BEFORE dinner. For dinner I will have a plate of General Tso's tofu over rice and stir fry vegetables. Later I will have popcorn and yogurt with berries, seeds, and granola. Does that sound like a little? It sure doesn't feel like it. I am eating better than I have in my entire life, and feeling great with 110 pounds gone.

Sheribear, you have had an amazing year! Congratulations on your weight loss and improved health. Oh, yeah--you also looking fantastic, which is a nice side effect. 🙂
I don't think anyone in the February 2019 class will object if I hereby crown you our class valedictorian!

Still new to my weight loss journey.
Height 5’8”
Hw-289
Cw-247
Surgery Jan 14,2020

My rather unique outfit for the day to honor and Celebrate my plastic surgeon and our 6 week post op check-up. Mrs. Frankenstein 2020 is our inside joke teasing her she gifted me with 60" of suture lines! LOL. She just loves sweets! Great local cupcake shop in town. Afterwards, met a friend for lunch at the beach. Our Atlantic ocean here is magnificent due to the Gulf stream and more shallow depths. Thought you might enjoy the view. ;]

My macros are all over the place and often vary greatly day to day, so I'm not sure if I'm much help...but GENERALLY on a daily basis:
to not lose nor gain weight, I try to keep calories: > 1500 and < 1800 on AVERAGE (during current non-exercise phase) > 1800 and < 2100 on AVERAGE (when I was exercising, and when I WILL be exercising - soon hopefully) aim for minimum 60g Protein aim to keep NET carbs low, soft goal of <100g NET carbs but have been known to go 200+ on some days (and this is mostly comprised of sugar! I don't really eat bread, Pasta, rice, potatoes, Beans, etc...), but have also been known to go sub 25g on other days. I don't really care about fats, so no real goals, but looking at MFP, it tells me that I'm between 50-100g post PS, and was about about 75-150 pre PS.

Congrats everyone for hitting their 1 year post-op milestones and thanks everyone for sharing your journey.

I had a fabulous weekend, and I’m fluctuating between 134-137 right now, which is all I could’ve ever hoped for and more.
Included are a couple of pics that a year ago would’ve had me floored to see.

Thursday night hubs and I treated ourselves to a thunder game (yes, that’s a glass of white wine and it was my splurge day) and the next is from Sunday when we went to a new park in town.
The weather was in the 70’s and I overdressed out of fear of getting out and about and being cold.
Lol, need to figure out how to dress for the spring and summer months coming ahead, which will honestly require a new wardrobe.

Quick question guys:

What is y’all’s typical breakdown of macros?

My March goal is to be diligent in getting my macros more in line with where I think I need to be.
Right now, this is my breakdown:

Quick question guys:

What is y’all’s typical breakdown of macros?

My March goal is to be diligent in getting my macros more in line with where I think I need to be.
Right now, this is my breakdown:

Greetings from down under, everyone!
March 2 is my one-year anniversary of gastric bypass surgery. Most of you have followed my progress along the way, so I won't repeat everything here except to say that I feel great and could not be happier that I made the decision a year ago to improve the quality of my life by taking this step.
I've been on maintenance for several months now. After reaching a low of 132 pounds, I've been hovering around 140 for the last couple of months (which truly amazes me based on how much I feel like I've been eating).
I'm attaching a (very unflattering) photo of myself in the hospital right after my surgery and the most recent photo I have, which was taken on a ferris wheel in Melbourne, Australia about five weeks ago during the Australian Open.
I want to thank all of you for being such an inspiring source of information and support over the past year. Congratulations to all of us!!

Strange indeed.
I am now the skinniest girl at work, my circle of friends, and my family and it’s a bit mind-blowing.

Now when I go out in public, nobody knows that I’m actually a fat girl trapped in a skinny girls body.
They can’t understand that I know their pain, their shame, their mental battles. It’s kind of like once I got >2 years out of chemo and I didn’t look like a cancer patient anymore.
I will always be a cancer patient, but I no longer look the part so people dealing with cancer of their own tell me as a health-care provider “well you can’t understand what I’m going through...”.
Um...yes. Yes I most definitely can.

It’s the same now, and honestly it’s even weirder for me bc I was MO for most of the last 22 years and it was so much part of my identity that there are aspects I probably won’t live long enough to get over.

I’m sensing in your post here, AZhiker that you’re feeling a bit “lost” as to which group you can relate to. Our previous acquaintances can’t relate to us like they did before and new people we meet never knew our previous struggles.
I can relate completely to this feeling of “where do I belong now?” And this is why forums like this and support groups are absolutely vital for our continued growth and mental health.

Of of y’all in this February group are near and dear to me as we were all starting about the same time and went through this together. I will be forever grateful for the last years worth of humor,frustration,fears,setbacks and triumphs that we’ve shared.
As we move into year 2, there will be new challenges and I’m looking forward to navigating those together.

Saturday morning Pilates

Saturday morning Pilates

Saturday morning Pilates