Nomorecookies

11 hours ago, Arabesque said:

That’s always an interesting question @Nomorecookies. I always tried to eat (drink) a lot of the excess liquids first then eat the solids. Same with Soup. (Actually still sort of do this but I think it is a habit now.) But I also look at it as the milk & the liquid stock in a chunky Soup actually are a food too, containing Protein & nutrients. I also took ages to eat cereal & soup in the first several months (may be a year 🤷🏻‍♀️) so it was a way of giving the liquids a little time to pass through my digestive system before starting on the solid components.

But check with your team to see what they say.

Makes sense. And At one year out I tolerate it better than earlier on.

11 hours ago, Arabesque said:

That’s always an interesting question @Nomorecookies. I always tried to eat (drink) a lot of the excess liquids first then eat the solids. Same with Soup. (Actually still sort of do this but I think it is a habit now.) But I also look at it as the milk & the liquid stock in a chunky Soup actually are a food too, containing Protein & nutrients. I also took ages to eat cereal & soup in the first several months (may be a year 🤷🏻‍♀️) so it was a way of giving the liquids a little time to pass through my digestive system before starting on the solid components.

But check with your team to see what they say.

Makes sense. And At one year out I tolerate it better than earlier on.

What about Cereal and milk? Is that considered food and liquid together?

4 hours ago, KathyLev said:

I've always thought - "the surgery was the EASY part " .... now the work begins .

Haha yes very true!!!

Great post. I’m a year out, and I like to think I’ve changed my eating habits somewhat. Then again, I’m on vacation now with some friends, and every time someone puts out food or Snacks I’m like a kid let loose in a candy store. I marvel at the non sleeved people who have greater self control than me and just know intuitively when to take a bit and when they don’t need any. Umm, where was I when they gave out that intuition? Maybe it’s because to me, vacation mode always meant indulging all the way? It’s truly one step forward, 2 steps back when it comes to changing my deeply ingrained habits, learning how to really listen to my hunger and fullness cues, and to tune in to what my body needs nutrition wise. It’s not easy!!! It took me years and years to develop these bad habits, I guess I can’t expect it to be so easily changed. I try to remember how good I feel when I listen to my body and give it the healthy nourishment it needs and how gross i feel after going on a junk spree…

On 3/1/2023 at 1:52 PM, Tomo said:

For me, 100% this too. I never want to be morbidly obese again and all the things that go with it, including not being able to fit in seats or pain from unnecessary health problems. That is my main motivation.

Even naturally thin people will sometimes have too big of a meal, or eat unhealthy foods. It doesn't even phase them. So after all these years, I have finally wrapped my head around the fact that it is not an all or nothing situation anymore, I just go back to my normal routine the next meal. It took me a long time not to take one slip too serious. So the majority of time, my fridge is stocked with nutritious food so if I get the nibbles, I can reach for a handful of strawberries but sometimes I just really feel like having an apple fritter lol. It is a meal to meal, day to day, month to month, year to year consistency for following my plan 80 to 90% of the time.

This is so so true! I'm so all or nothing. I need to work on that.

You guys are great! Your advice is spot on and so helpful

Right! So the hard part is those days when it doesn't feel like honeymoon, but like a diet. When the scale doesn't budge, and the hunger and cravings are there big time.

On 3/1/2023 at 5:57 AM, qtdoll said:

Remember, you are still in your honeymoon stage. Take full advantage of this time!! Those Snacks will still exist after you hit your goal 😊

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply! I really appreciate it. Great advice, all of it. Please keep those helpful tips and viewpoints coming!

Hi Everyone,

I've benefited immensely from reading all the content on here and am wondering if you guys have helpful advice for me. I'm 7 months out and have been losing nicely till about a month or 2 ago. My appetite and hunger have returned and I'm finding it very difficult to stick to my plan without cheating, reach my Protein and fluid goals somewhat, and push myself to work out. Some days my cheating is so bad, it scares me. Obviously the scale hasn't moved downward, it only keeps fluctuating by a few pounds according to my intake. I haven't seen a significant loss in a while. While I'm so happy about my weight loss, I still really want to lose more and am scared about being able to maintain the loss if at 7 months out it's so easy to eat so much junk. I'm slowly building new habits, but at the same time, old habits die hard. I want to hear from you what helped you stick to your plan like glue, what motivated you day after day? How do I resist the urge to cheat? Any and all advice welcome. Looking forward to your replies!