isaviolinist

I didn't fall off the horse for 2 years, but I started giving up (or just getting lazy, actually) sometime around Thanksgiving last year and started back up this past September. Part of me is happy for the experience of regaining 50 pounds because I think I have more insight into myself and my eating behaviors. I also know that I never want to regain that weight again as I just felt so terrible about myself and I hated that feeling of failure so badly. I feel so great now that I got back into the gym, back on this site, and back to food logging. But the hardest part of everything was taking the first step to get back into the gym, logging back in, etc. Now that I'm in a routine, its not as hard. I don't love exercising but I know that and I just tell myself I need to do it anyways - we don't always love the things that we have to do, but we just have to do them anyways. In the past 8ish weeks I've relost 36 of the 50 pounds I gained and haven't felt better. You can do it! Go back to the doc, I'm sure he's seen this before. You might get a reprimand, but maybe it would be good to hear. And start tomorrow with revamping your eating and go to the gym, even if its just for 20 minutes. Joining a gym and getting a personal trainer to help keep me accountable has been really helpful. Its hard to not show up when someone is waiting for you :wink2: Whatever you do, don't say, "ill do it tomorrow"! You'll never do it :smile2:

I'm much colder than I have ever been but I just assumed that it was due to weight loss. I have hypothyroidism and haven't had blood work in awhile to see if the synthroid is doing what it should be, so I'm planning to do that over the holidays. I'm not complaining though - I love not being hot all the time.

I just posted a great recipe for pumpkin pie cupcakes on my blog: Violinist With A Band: Happy Halloween! And Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes! I love these cupcakes, and they are relatively low calories (under 100 calories per cupcake). A great holiday dessert! I don't eat meat (well I eat seafood, but not poultry, pork, red meat etc) so I can't offer too much info about the turkey. Just take VERY small bites and chew chew chew! And I guess try not to get wrapped up in everyone around you stuffing their faces. Just eat until you feel satisfied and then stop.

Happy Halloween!! :wink2: I'm going to stay away from the candy today. Instead, I did my 1 hour cross training class and then went for a 2.3 mile walk. Now headed to the supermarket to grab ingredients for a nutritious high-protein dinner (which doesn't involved reeses peanut butter cups - the devil's candy :smile2: I can't eat just one). This is one of my favorite times of the year, and I'm going to enjoy the weather and the beautiful foliage and not make it about food, for once!!! Good luck everyone and stay warm trick or treating tonite!!

Haha thanks :laugh: I think we all can relate to that sad feeling when we see a dress in the window that we LOVE but can only dream about wearing. Shopping has always been a depressing event for me and I can't wait to partake in some retail therapy :laugh: I really want to feel like "all the other girls" that love to shop. I can't wait to go into the burberry outlet and buy something OTHER than a scarf And actually, my biggest splurge will be for my wedding gown. I'm not going to skimp at all. I have been dreaming about a dress from Amsale (its called Maribel) and I can't wait to visit the Flagship store in NY and slip right into one of those sample sizes :smile2: I will probably take 2 days and go to NY with my mom and sister and future sister in law and go to Amsale, Vera Wang, Priscilla of Boston, maybe Kleinfelds and the Bergdorf Bridal salon and I cant wait for it to be an amazing experience that all brides dream of. I have been dreading wedding gown shopping for years, but not anymore!! I can't wait :mad:

I take synthroid. I take it in the morning before I eat (at least 30 minutes). I'm bad at consistently taking vitamins, but when I take them, I take them at night so nothing conflicts. I haven't gotten blood work for my synthroid levels anytime lately, so I'm not sure if what I'm doing is effective. I should probably have some blood work done soon.

PB2!!!:Bell Plantation - PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter and More! Best thing ever. Peanut butter without all the calories and fat - amazing!!

Over the past few years I've gotten a lot of things that are stretchy (stretchy wastebands, stretchy skirts, stretchy shirts). So I'm hoping that Ill be able to use them for a really long time (hopefully until Im almost at goal). Some of them may look a little big on me, but some of them will obviously look better because they won't be SO stretched. But when I reach my goal, I'm going to go on a CRAZY shopping spree and buy everything Ive wanted since I was young but couldn't wear because I was too fat...

Gah - I actually just gave in and ordered it from the PremierNutrition website lol. I'm anxious to try it out!! It wasn't crazy expensive (28.00 for the case of 18 I think) but the shipping was expensive! Well, I really hope its good and not lumpy or anything (I REALLY hope there are no lumps - I think it would make me throw up :wink2:). If its good, then I'll definitely drink this over the MM.

Wow, that is so nice of you! I don't live in Cali, otherwise I would totally take you up on that :wink2: I don't really want to pay for a membership because I have a Sam's club membership. Maybe I will see if we know someone with a membership who can buy a gift card for me (I heard you can shop with a gift card if you're not a member). Anyways, thanks for the info on this new Protein drink! It sounds great and I'm anxious to try it out!

I dont know what your height or goal weight is, but seems like you started with a smaller amount of weight to lose. The less you have to lose the slower it will go. The heavier you are the more calories your body expends to function. I don't know if you are exercising, but that would be an obvious way to speed things up. How many calories a day are you eating? If you're exercising and eating the appropriate amount of calories, perhaps you could increase or change your workout, vary your calories or change the types of foods you're eating (if you're eating a lot of carbs, cut down, if you're not eating any carbs add a few in, same for fat and protein). How much water/liquid are you consuming a day? Most of us don't drink enough so adding more Water daily can also help with weight loss. Good luck!

I had 3 days of clear liquids. Then 2 weeks full liquid (and very liquidy puree), 2 weeks pureed/mushy, 2 week soft, and then regular foods slowly. It seems fairly normal. Ive read about people not following that diet (like eating pizza and stuff a week out of surgery)...maybe thats what you were reading about.

That sounds awesome!! Good for you - sounds like you've really gone for it!! Plus your weightloss is amazing! Can't wait to lose 100 pounds! This is my workout routine: 3-4 days per week we (fiance and I) do a combination of high intensity circuit/interval training (burning anywhere between 700-1000 calories depending upon how hard we work). It is part group training and part personal training. 2-3 days a week we do 55 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. Usually alternating 60 seconds high intensity and high resistance and 60 seconds moderate pace with lower resistance. If I'm a little tired I do 30 seconds of super high resistance/intensity and then 60 seconds of moderate resistance/intensity. I take 1 day a week off for recovery. I've hit a small plateau and so today I added in a 2.6 mile walk outside. I may try to do a 2.3-2.6 mile walk everyday in addition to my regular workout to kick start things.

WOW! 160 calories and 30 g of protein!! I wish I was a costco member so I could try that! That sounds amazing! I just googled it and I was reading that there are some quality control issues (weird lumpiness, shakes that are spoiled). Have you had any experiences like that? I'm thinking maybe I'll order some online and try them out. The nutrition facts are amazing - better than Muscle Milk nutrition (although I do love MM).

Yay!! The more the merrier! :wink2:

Hey does anyone know about a website that you can put in a route (say Pennsylvania to California) and as you walk/run/go on the elliptical, you can input your miles and it will tell you where on your "route" you are? I saw a website like that once, but can't find it now. I would like to do that and then when I walk the amount of miles to complete my "route", maybe I'll take a vacation to the destination. Seems like a fun challenge, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a website that did something like that. Thanks!

I don't know if this will be of any help bc I'm not from NC, but I have bcbs and the hospital where I had my surgery was designated as a BCBS bariatric center of excellence. I had no issues at all getting approved (it took like an hour for them to tell me everything was all good). You should see if there is a BCBS center of excellence near you (or if you've chosen a dr, see if his hospital is a center of excellence).

Hm what are you doing for exercise? If you haven't started, it would be a great way to kick start things. I'm also on a little plateau and for the next 2 days I'm going to do no carb (normally I don't do no carb at all so I'm hoping to shake it up a little by eliminating the carbs). I'm also going to change up my exercise (instead of doing an hour on the elliptical I may do 55 minutes in the morning and 20 at night...today I walked for 2.5 miles which I don't usually do). I'm also going to make sure I drink 70 oz of Water a day. How is your Fluid intake? Are you getting enough water a day?

I'm in a similar boat. Last week I lost 6 pounds. The week before I lost 5 pounds. This week so far, I've gained a pound!! :thumbup: I'm so frustrated. I might try a modified version of the Plateau Buster diet too. Maybe I'm eating too many carbs. I'm going to try to low carb it for the next 2 days and stick to protein mostly. I haven't done anything differently - I work out 6 days a week for an hour (3 days of cross and interval training and three days of interval training on the elliptical). Because my workout vary, I feel like I'm keeping my body guessing. Erg. This is frustrating but I'm trying not to lose motivation, since plateaus are often where I fail myself. If you do the Plateau Buster diet, let me know how it works out!

My surgery wasn't delayed for weeks, but it was delayed for one week. So although I didn't go through exactly what you're going through, I totally understand that sinking feeling when you find out it has to be delayed. What made mine so upsetting was that it was delayed unnecessarily (an incompetent physician who worked in pulmonary made a wrong call a few days before my surgery saying I needed a CPAP and needed ANOTHER sleep test. She said I would need to use it for a week before I had surgery, thus pushing my surgery back...I went ot the sleep test and they said, again, that I DIDN'T need it...it was frustrating). Anyhow, your surgery will be here before you know it!!! You can use this time to start exercising and eating right and stuff and maybe get a few pounds off before the surgery...it will make it even safer! Good luck!

Here are a few of my fav soup recipes!! Red Lentil Soup Ingredients: Olive oil Salt Pepper Water Lemon juice 1/2 tsp Cumin 1/2 tsp Coriander 1/2 tsp Basil 1/4 cup Beef bouillon powder 1 Onion 1-2 Garlic cloves 1 bag Goya red lentils 1/4 cup Barley 2 can (15 oz) tomatoes (any kind) 1 quart Rice dream Grated orange rind (half an orange) In a large soup pot, saute onion and garlic in very very small amount of olive oil (you don't need much!!) until translucent. Add all ingredients to pot and cover with water (fill the cans of tomatoes with water and pour it in), about half way up. Let this cook for 2 hours. Then pour soup in food processor or use immersion blender to puree. 1 cup: 112 calories, 1.8g fat, 20g carbs, 4.1g Fiber, 4.5g Protein Gazpacho (love this soup, no actual cooking required!) Ingredients: 1 Hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled 2 Red bell peppers, cored and seeded 4 Plum tomatoes 1 Red onion 3 Garlic cloves, minced 23 ounces Tomato juice (3 cups) 1/4 cup White wine vinegar 1 teaspoon Good olive oil (or leave it out if you want) 1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt 1 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess! After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop. 1 cup: 85 calories, 3.7g fat, 12.6g carbs, 1.8g fiber, 2.5g protein And lastly, here is a recipe for Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Soup from my blog (nutritional info is on there as well): Violinist With A Band: Recipe: Soon Dubu Chigae (Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew) Its one of my favorite soups/stews ever. If you don't have access to a Korean market for soft tofu, silken tofu works great!

I drink the ones with 22g of Protein for lunch. I LOVE them. And I love being able to just grab it out of the fridge. I also slack when I have to make the shake. And there is over 1g of protein per 10 calories which is great. I buy the huge cases at Sams Club.

If I understand what you're saying correctly, I know how you feel. But I'm trying to get away from that thinking, because I don't want to get into any kind of eating disorder type mindset. I'm trying to get over compulsive overeating disorder, so I don't want to go to the other side.

This is how I think about it too. I guess its probably the size of a fingernail, but I just try to eat like a lady. I always wanted to look like a lady while eating, so I like it :thumbup: I was always jealous that all the skinny girls could sort of pick at the food like little birds and I felt like I was desperately shoveling it in and then looking for more! Sometimes at home I do use a smaller salad fork instead of a dinner fork which also helps to prevent the shoveling lol.

That's great! I think around day 8 I was at about the same point as you - getting back to life, but still not 100 percent. The thing that took the longest was the port pain. It wasn't constant but every now and again I would turn in a bad way and get this burning hot pain near my port. I don't know how long that took to go away, but it lasted a bit longer than any other pain. Glad to hear that it went well and you are starting to get back to yourself!