Welcome to my personal thread. I will detail my journey here on my final countdown. I have 27 Lbs to my ultimate goal!!

As I already mentioned in the other thread:

Hi I'm Irene and I have 27 Lbs to my ultimate goal. I'm finding that in the last few months my weight loss has really trailed off. I have to really workout hard and eat so perfectly just to post a 6 Lbs loss for the entire month. It stinks!!

However, that said I am extremely happy with my results so far. I was a size 24W/2X on surgery day and today I'm wearing 10-12's and size M tops. I can even wear some smalls if they allow the room in the bust area and arms (darned extra skin!!)

I would like to make my final goal to be in sizes 4-6 bottoms and around 165 Lbs. My tops will probably just end up in mostly S which is fine. My target area is pretty much my booty and thighs anyway. Not hating my top!!

Anyway, I thought I'd start this social group because the wind down to GOAL can be very tough to lose for the majority of us.

Join in, let us know how far you've come and how much more you want to go. WELCOME!!!

So... here I go!! It's probably going to take me 4 more months to get to this goal, however I'd really REALLY love to reach it by my Sleeversary which will be on September 15th. Just at the tail end of Summer. *Sigh*

Wish me luck!!

To start off fresh I'm going to write myself up a new workout routine and ensure I'm eating as healthy as possible. I have 27 Lbs to lose in just a little over 3 months. Ugghh!!! That's 9 Lbs per month average!! Gonna be tough but I think I can do it.

Just wanted to make it clear -- today is Day 1 and I have 98 Days left to reach my goal!!! I will post later this evening and spell out what I consumed today, what I did for workout/activity.

My weigh in day is Fridays and I don't intend to change this at all. Just sayin'!!!

Helloooo okay today is day 2 and I have 97 days to reach goal.

So I'm down one pound from last weeks weigh in. I could've done better sure, but oh well. I'm not upset about that, especially since it's close to TOM and I've been snacking a bit too much in the last few days. That's why I've set this thing up so I can push myself and be motivated to reach my goal faster. 26 lbs now and I'm on my way! Anyway the snacking stops TODAY and I get on this ball. I will keep a log (minor log nothing fancy) on what I eat today. I know what I should be eating and what I shouldn't. I don't care about the calories/fat/carbs - any of that. I lose weight when I eat healthy and I get my workouts in. Simple as that. I do keep my calories up anyway when I'm doing my runs, that stuff burns a lot of energy, so I'll usually drink an extra power and calorie packed Protein Shake. Yes, I still drink Protein Shakes, and no I'll never stop. I need them and I like them.

My Protein shake is usually the EAS Carb Advantage 11 oz in either vanilla or chocolate and half a scoop of unjury any flavored - or Bariatric Fusion one scoop. Both are low carb and and very high in protein per scoop. I also add crushed ice and shake that up in one of my mixer cups. I got them from GNC, its a plastic cup with a whisker ball inside. It works great.

I have to fast this morning so no coffee, no nothing. I'm having my panels taken this morning at 8 am and as soon as the results come back I'll be sure to post them. It will be interesting to see if I'm lacking anything. I mean if I'm low on anything I think it's my electrolytes - other than that I think I'm doing good. I need to keep up on those. I really don't like to skip Breakfast so as soon as I'm done I'll come back home and make me some eggs and turkey bacon. Yum!!! I'm going to put some salsa and reduced fat cheese on my eggs. I can't wait. BTW my eggs are one whole real egg and one quarter cup of egg beaters (equiv to one egg). So I can have the real taste of eggs and cut the cholesterol by one half. Who says you can't have the best of both worlds??

My Dr. Appt yesterday went extremely well and my Dr. couldn't believe how much weight I've lost. She said... "You've lost One hundred anndddd... well you've lost a lot!!!" LOL That was pretty funny! So she left me with a panel request to check all my nutrients and a slip to have my yearly mammogram. Fun times I tell ya! I don't have much in the way of boobage anymore so that is not something I'm looking forward to.

See you all tomorrow! I'll have my food log done and I'll share what I did for my workout. Yesterday I didn't do any workout so nothing to share. Oh I need to change up my routine. I have it down as Thursdays and Fridays off, but I'd rather have Mondays off. I hate Mondays... ugghhh... LOL

Irene

That is fantastic!! You are such an inspiriation for us former bandsters.

You can do it!!!

Today is day 4 and I have 95 days to reach goal.

Wow!!! I haven't posted in here all weekend, sorry for that! I've been busy and I find that my weekends are usually that way. I did take some new photos for my 9th month post op (check my photo gallery). Yay!! 9 months out -- WOW!!!!!!!

So I was 281 Lbs at the start of my pre op diet. I was 272 on surgery day. On my last weigh in I was 191 Lbs!!

My largest sizes I wore was a VERY tight 28W and 3-4X tops. On surgery day I was wearing 24W and 1-2X tops. Today I can fit into sizes ranging from 8's and all the way up to 14's. 14's are my max though, anything larger is simply too big. I am almost out of 14's though and I have to wear them with belts. I just don't want to give them up!

My largest bra size ever was a 44D and I was wearing 40D on surgery day. Today I wear a 34C.

Panties, largest ever were 13's!!!! On surgery day (iirc) I was wearing 10's. Today I wear a 6.

My ring size largest ever was a 9. On surgery day I was wearing 8.5. Today I wear a 5.5.

All that said, I actually have not been feeling too good lately. Every time I eat I feel kinda nauseated and just... blahhh... So I read my post op instructions because it's been awhile. I guess I don't remember seeing it before but Dr. A suggests if you're feeling like that after every meal it's best to go back and do one day of Clear Liquids. So I put my dinner aside after feeling sick after about 5 bites. I pulled out my unjury chicken Soup and heated me up a mug. It was delicious and it made me feel so much better. So from the rest of today I'll just drink Water. And I'll finish it off by doing clear liquids tomorrow. After that I'll do full liquids on Tuesday. Then hopefully by Wednesday my stomach will be feeling much better.

Who knows, but something I must have eaten did upset my stomach. I've been eating more beef and pork actually the last few days and seeing I don't really eat those, that might be the reason. Ever since, every time I eat anything I can only eat a few bites and then I'm feeling yucky. :(So, it's back to square one! Not because I want to but because I HAVE to. That's the only way I'll do those liquids... LOL

I didn't workout at all today, and I won't tomorrow, nor Tuesday really except maybe a little bit of something. Nothing too strenuous because it's hard to do any major training and do liquids for days. I'll get too hungry and I'll fall off the liquids and I really need to stick to it. Once I get back to solids I'll get back on to doing my morning runs. I might just do a 30 set on my spinner, kinda light - just to get the blood pumping a little bit. Gotta do that at least.

I do still need to create a new workout schedule, but priority one right now is for me to feel better. Gawsh no more pork or beef!!! They just don't agree with me at all. My stomach is so sensitive anymore. Oh well it's what I signed up for and I am forced to follow the rules. It's working for me that's all I know!!!

See you all tomorrow.

Irene, you're such an inspiration. I joined this group, even though I technically have more than 30 lbs to my goal. I feel like I'm in the home stretch, but the weight is just hanging ON! I have lost only 4 lbs. in 2 months, and I feel like I could do better, so I am going to work harder. I love reading what you're doing and it's helping me be more motivated. Congrats on coming so far, and I'm so proud of you!

Irene, you're such an inspiration. I joined this group, even though I technically have more than 30 lbs to my goal. I feel like I'm in the home stretch, but the weight is just hanging ON! I have lost only 4 lbs. in 2 months, and I feel like I could do better, so I am going to work harder. I love reading what you're doing and it's helping me be more motivated. Congrats on coming so far, and I'm so proud of you!

Hey lady welcome!!! Anyone is welcome here - we make our own rules to where we are in our journeys. It really is so hard when you get closer and closer. I know I'll be SO glad to finally be finish. I wish I were finish now! I would be if my scale didn't still say the 190's... *sigh* LOL I like the way I look right now but it is what it is...

Anyway, at the end of the day we all have to do what will keep us moving forward. I'm looking forward to watching your progress to the final finish line!

Regarding the pork and beef: I find they don't agree with me either. Its a completely different way of thinking because beef was my primary food when I had my lap-band. Now, the only meat I can really eat is chicken. Luckily, I realy missed eating chicken from my band days :-)

Good for you to go back to basics - I hope you are feeling better.

Hello everyone! I wanted to post this:

Hi bookleen, I'm a few months shy of being a year out - and by now you know I'm close to goal but not quite there yet. I was never really given a set goal by my PCP nor my surgeon so I've just been "winging it". I originally chose the higher scale from the BMI charts which was 154 Lbs. However the closer I got I realized that would be too light for me and my frame so I bumped it up to 165 Lbs. Anyway I'm very sure that once I have all this skin removed it will be around 10ish pounds!

Anyway, here is what a typical day for me would look like:

Early morning snack:

Protein shake

Breakfast:

Hi Fiber oatmeal packet -OR-

2 eggs (equiv Egg Beaters) and 2 slices of turkey bacon

Mid morning snack:

Something around 100 calories - usually a string cheese...

Lunch:

2 oz of meat, and good carbs -OR-

Protein shake -OR-

Some kind of salad

Dinner:

2-3 oz of lean meat (I only eat poultry or seafood/fish)

Small serving of green veggie and a couple bites of good carbs

Snack:

Serving of almonds -OR-

1TBSP of chunky Peanut Butter (yummy!!) -OR-

Whole Grain Saltines

This is my most common foods. I try to mix it up sometimes to bump around my calories to keep my body guessing. I will also tack on extra Protein Shakes from time to time if I burn lots of calories.

Typical workouts (spread out):

An hour on the treadmill walking/jogging/running

30 Minutes on my Spinner/Stationary Bike

30 Minutes on my Elliptical

30 Minutes of Calisthenics

45 Minutes Brisk Walk at Work

I want to incorporate more DVD style workouts and some yoga!!

...and the reason being because I want to share what a typical day looks like for me. Now, please know I'm not this perfect every single day! I might squeeze in a few things here and there, and most likely its around TOM due to stressful cravings...

Things are going quite smooth today. I have not had any negative sleeve issues and my food is going down without a hitch! I feel really good and I'm just getting over TOM and my cravings are at a Two right now (Won't say zero because before lunch I wanted an extra snack but was able to ignore it!). Yes, I grade scale my cravings! I was a 10 (Maximum) last weekend which I think is the main culprit in me eating so many forbidden foods. Even a taste here and there got me feeling sick!! Oh yuck... Blechhh!!!

Here's something I just noticed... me being so close to goal and actually feeling quite comfortable with how I look allowed me to nearly fall apart. I would not normally allow myself to eat so many bad things and haven't since surgery. I have not been perfect!! Not at all but this last weekend I really let loose. I can't do this! I have to stay on track. I'm sooo close, and I just need to stay on the straight and narrrow for a few more months! It always sounds a lot more daunting than it is... LOL I do have to remind myself though because I DON'T want to ever do what I just did. I don't think I can anymore anyway. With my surgery my Dr. also took my ability to eat junk food!

Anyway, I'm feeling back to my normal self and I'm ready to tackle these next 3 weeks where I get the most out of my sleeve and weight loss.

I'm really going to push for 11 Lbs by the 15th of July. Wish me luck!!!! Or should I say fortitude.

Hello hello HELLO LOSERS!! And of course I mean that with the best of intentions... Well I can tell you this, I'm a loser and darned proud too!!

Anyway today is Day 8 and I WILL reach my goal in 91 DAYS... *faint* Hahaa!! Well I'm going to give it one heckuva try anyway.

So, the whole sick sleeve thing is now a past issue. I am days away and feeling back to normal. I've been eating solids regularly and drinking tons of Water. Here is my menu from yesterday:

Breakfast: Atkins Shake

Snack: String Cheese

Lunch: 2 oz chicken, mixed veggie & brown rice w/1 TBSP of red fat cheese

Snack: 1/2 single serv container of Fage w/blueberries

Dinner: 3 oz. Grilled chicken on green salad w/whole grain crouton, ranch dressing & 1 Tb of full fat grated cheese.

Snack: Whole Grain Saltines

Water: 120 Oz.

Hmmm no workout either. Whoa!! Thank goodness I'm doing much better today... LOL I guess it could have been worlds worse, so I'm not too mad at myself.

Pro's of yesterday:

I felt good about my eating. I did pretty good. I know I can still do a little better but there's always tomorrow for that (or should I say today - lol). I finished my minimum ration of water. Whooohooo!!! That's super important.

Con's of yesterday:

Here's something I notice - I've forgotten to take my Vitamins and Iron supplements twice in a row now. This is NOT okay! I need this to function properly. Also, I didn't do any workouts yesterday, and it wouldn't of hurt to do a little something. Yeah, well - again there's always today and today is a success. One more, I didn't go to bed on time last night. A good night's sleep is super important for good health! Also, it ensures I'm going to get up for my early morning run. *sigh*

What I can improve on:

Definitely my eating. I ate a little too many carbs yesterday in my opinion. Mainly the crackers I guess. I know I don't want to eat meat for a snack. I need to make sure the night time snack isn't carb loaded... LOL I created my new workout schedule so that's already helping me get back to my schedule.

Tomorrow is weigh day. I really don't want to because my TOM is just getting over and I know I retain water during this time. However, to keep myself on schedule I will. I'm already doing better so I know my next weigh in should be ok.

See you all tomorrow for the check in!!

Hello hello HELLO LOSERS!! And of course I mean that with the best of intentions... Well I can tell you this, I'm a loser and darned proud too!!

Anyway today is Day 8 and I WILL reach my goal in 91 DAYS... *faint* Hahaa!! Well I'm going to give it one heckuva try anyway.

So, the whole sick sleeve thing is now a past issue. I am days away and feeling back to normal. I've been eating solids regularly and drinking tons of Water. Here is my menu from yesterday:

Breakfast: Atkins Shake

Snack: String Cheese

Lunch: 2 oz chicken, mixed veggie & brown rice w/1 TBSP of red fat cheese

Snack: 1/2 single serv container of Fage w/blueberries

Dinner: 3 oz. Grilled chicken on green salad w/whole grain crouton, ranch dressing & 1 Tb of full fat grated cheese.

Snack: Whole Grain Saltines

Water: 120 Oz.

Hmmm no workout either. Whoa!! Thank goodness I'm doing much better today... LOL I guess it could have been worlds worse, so I'm not too mad at myself.

Pro's of yesterday:

I felt good about my eating. I did pretty good. I know I can still do a little better but there's always tomorrow for that (or should I say today - lol). I finished my minimum ration of water. Whooohooo!!! That's super important.

Con's of yesterday:

Here's something I notice - I've forgotten to take my Vitamins and Iron supplements twice in a row now. This is NOT okay! I need this to function properly. Also, I didn't do any workouts yesterday, and it wouldn't of hurt to do a little something. Yeah, well - again there's always today and today is a success. One more, I didn't go to bed on time last night. A good night's sleep is super important for good health! Also, it ensures I'm going to get up for my early morning run. *sigh*

What I can improve on:

Definitely my eating. I ate a little too many carbs yesterday in my opinion. Mainly the crackers I guess. I know I don't want to eat meat for a snack. I need to make sure the night time snack isn't carb loaded... LOL I created my new workout schedule so that's already helping me get back to my schedule.

Tomorrow is weigh day. I really don't want to because my TOM is just getting over and I know I retain water during this time. However, to keep myself on schedule I will. I'm already doing better so I know my next weigh in should be ok.

See you all tomorrow for the check in!!

I wish you the very best of good luck. I am behind you all the way and cheering you on.

Keep up the good work!

I think that first thing in the morning is a good time to have the Protein Shake. For me it works anyway.

Bookleen

Hi everyone!!! I'm here to tell you that I have chosen an amazing GOAL PRIZE that is going to help me stay on track until I get there. I have ZERO doubt at all!!! It's all good folks, however - my goal prize will remain a secret until the time comes. In the mean time I'll just work my tail off until I get there. I'm back to full time logging and doing my workouts. Whooohooo!!! Oh I sooo needed this. I needed that carrot to keep chasing. Got it! And away I go!!!

Here are my totals for today:

Calories In:

Breakfast: 179 AM Snack: 140 Lunch: 269 Dinner: 202 PM Snack: 170 Totals: 960

Calories Out:

AM: Treadmill 35 Mins – 469 Noon: Walk@Work 45 Mins – 327 PM: Elliptical 30 Mins – 531; Yoga 12 Mins – 86 Basal Metabolic Rate: 1622 Totals: 3035

Difference: -2075 Calories

Nutritional Breakdown:

Protein: 36.74% Fat: 39.46% Carbohydrates: 23.8%

Daily Intake Totals:

Water: 138 oz. Protein: 88g Carbs: 57g Fiber: 9g Sugars: 22g Fat: 42g

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The only thing I can see that I messed up on is my fiber. Whooppss!! I'll need to do better tomorrow. I forgot to do my chews during the day and now the day's over and it's too late.

Oh well... have a great day tomorrow all and I hope to see some check ins!

Wow... well it appears I haven't checked in here in a few days... whoops!! It's not for any reason other than the fact I have been extremely busy at both work and at home. I haven't had a lot of time for posts at work which in all honesty is where I do most of this. At home I've been giving at least an hour a night to my workouts and that comes first! I need to be able to post here someday that I have made goal.

Right now I am averaging a - (Neg) on my calories in and calories out. I burn about 400-500 more calories per day than what I'm consuming in food. Then there is also the lovely BMR... which I adore!!! Thank goodness for burning calories every second of the day huh?? LOL

It seems I will end up with about -2,000 or -1,500 calories for the day. Awesome!!! That's about half a pound a day! Of course in my body it doesn't happen like that. I just stall until my body wants to *finally* release some pounds and then I'll lose like, 5-6 Lbs in one week. Crazy stuff... I don't know the science behind it, but it is what it is and I know as long as I'm doing the right things I'll see my big losses really soon.

I realized just recently that I have been in the 190's for the last 2 months. This is NOT okay! In fact in the last 2 months I'd only been posting about 5-6 Lbs loss each. That just stinks to be honest... I know I'm capable of doing so much more. I guess that's why I started up the Journey to Goal forums. I needed some kind of motivation to get me back to my workout routines 100% and to eating as good as I can. I was slipping up way too much and it showed.

I guess in my latter years I would have gained significantly otherwise. Now that I'm sleeved I'm still losing weight even when I'm not being ultra strict. Well I'm definitely back to that now! Pushing tons of Water, eating Proteins first then veggies... and the occasional carb. I'm averaging about 80-100g Protein per day and 60g carbs. I'm fitting in all my fiber too, so yeah I'm really kicking butt.

I'm also getting in about 2-3 hours of physical fitness per day. My running is the mainstay of what I do. I cannot give enough good word about this activity. It really raises the heart rate, gets you all crazy sweaty and out of breath but when you complete your task its the BEST FEELING!! You YOU CAN!! OMG I just love it. I'm doing this 6 days per week now. Ohhh yeahhh!!!

Not only that the side benefits of this is I notice my skin is really snapping back great. My muscle tone underneath looks nice and best of all its burning off that stubborn FAT on my thighs!! That has always been my biggest foe in weight loss and I looked in the mirror yesterday and was actually pleased with what I saw! I can't remember ever feeling that way when looking at my thighs...

So with that I will KEEP IT MOVING!! As I always say. I can't get the last two months back but I can look forward to the next two and say they will be much better. I hope everyone is reaching for that elusive goal -- we will get there!!

Blessings!!

Hello hello hello to all of you! It has been another week since my last check in. I guess I just don't ever have a whole lot to say... until I start typing anyway. LOL

So me weighing the exact same as I have for the last two weeks really did kinda P'd me off a little bit. However, that said - I have had some really amazing developments in the last few days.

I tried on my size 6 pants and yup I was able to get them on!! Hooorraayyy!!! So, that means I am but ONE SIZE AWAY FROM GOAL!!!! I always did say that once I got into those size 4 pants (same make/style as the recent 6's I fitted and former 8's) that THAT would be it for me. So what am I looking at now as far as weight? 15 Lbs?? 20 Lbs at the most? We will see!! All I know is that I am SO CLOSE!! I'm really going to do it! It feels SO DANGED GOOD!!

I really just put 165 Lbs as a guesstimate. I DO NOT want to get any smaller than a 4. I would have a hard time shopping in normal stores at that point. Especially my favorite Kohl's. They don't go any smaller than a 4. In my world, Size 4 is very thin, and when I get there I'll know I'm finish.

My weight on the scale is pretty meaningless to me, except that I'd really like to stop losing now. If any of you knew this already it is that my original goal was to fit the size 8's. However, I got into them at 200 Lbs!! No way was I going to stay at 200 Lbs... so my scale has had SOME say on where I end up. I didn't want to be near the 2's anymore. I just don't want to see that number again in the front of my weight. EVER!!!

My routines have been going excellent. I'm staying low on my carbs (Good Carbs) and I'm getting in all my Protein. I recently found out I may even be getting too much protein. My genetic makeup gathers muscle tone quite easily. Of course muscle weighs a lot, so that is actually going against the grain at this point. My original target was 100g or more of protein per day. However, I'm notching it down to 80g of protein MAX per day. I'll see if that helps.

Also, my workout routines might be a little stagnant. I don't think I need to do less in any way, however - I have done circuit training and I did get good losses by doing this. I think I might get back into this and see if that helps. So tomorrow morning I think I'll start my early morning routine with 20 Minutes on my stationary bike, then do about 35 Minutes on my treadmill. I'll try that for a while.

I hope my scale is kind to me on Friday! Sheesh... I've been working my tail off and eating like an Angel and it's not giving me any love!! However, like I said - I'm getting lots of love where the clothes are concerned.

So... until next time folks!! Keep reaching for the stars... never give up and do NOT let that scale define you! As long as you are doing the right things, the right things will come back to you. Trust me.

I just posted this new thread in the Success Stories threads:

Hmmm... well - here it goes... I guess I'm just mentally drained where hard core weight loss is concerned quite frankly. Before I continue let me be clear I may still lose some weight... however as far as really working my butt off and continued food restraint... I think I really am done. Period.

Yes I'll continue to do my early morning running, I'll still do my workouts (this will be always and forever) and I'm probably going to add in some muscle toning exercises. I bulk up really easily so this is actually going to slow down the losses a bit. However, I'm NOT going to actively push more workouts to post higher losses anymore. I'm also NOT going to do low carbs anymore, in fact I'm going to add in more per meal.

Slowing down the routine will probably get me about 3-5 Lbs lost per month. I do believe I am very much ok with this. Physically I am very satisfied with how I look. I am wearing sizes 8-10 in pants right now and I just bought a bunch of size Small shirts and they are all fitting. I even bought size XS at Old Navy (my first time there ever!) and those even fit. Crazy huh? Well... this got me to thinking, how small do I really want to get??? I weigh 185 Lbs. So what??? This is how GOD made me, and I accept this.

I've lost nearly 150 Lbs from my heaviest weight!!! Why am I torturing myself just because of a stupid made up BMI scale??? Its just insanity I tell you!!!

I know we tend to continue losing with the sleeve even once we have decided we are at "goal". I imagine this will be true for me too. I have picked up really good habits so it's inevitable I will still continue to lose from here, I just don't want to try as hard anymore. If I want a tortilla with my dinner, guess what... I'm gonna have a freakin tortilla with my dinner. If I want a slice of bread, I'm going to have a slice of bread. If I want to some white rice one night, that's what I'll have. I can only eat one or two bites anyway!! If I want a few potato chips with my lunch... you get the idea. I just wanted to put it out there that *I* Irene am calling myself nearly done. If I lose a little more, great. If not... OH WELL!!! I'm HAPPY with ME right now and that is ALL THAT MATTERS!!!

It is possible that at some point I may change my mind. Well, guess what I'm a woman so that's my right. LOL!! None the less, I just feel happy and very much ready to let go of the diet mentality. I'm ready to just live my life and enjoy the new me... get used to the new person I've become. I can seriously actually look at myself in the mirror now and be ok with how I look.

I decided to put this in the Success threads because this is a huge success to me... saying goodbye to diets and hello to "maintenance"... whatever that entails (which usually for sleevers is still a little more losing but not breaking our necks for it). Well, I'm here!!! Say hello to the new and improved me. Again, if I continue to lose a few more here and there I'm ok with that. If I don't, well take me or leave me. I'm happy and content.

Blessings!!!

I am so excited for you Irene!!!