Hello fellow sleevers,

just thought I would start a thread for all those who want to get to goal in 2012, regardless of where we are in the process.

I posted it the 'Slow Loser' thread, because that is what I am!! (I am not complaining by the way, just pleased to be a loser...lol)

For me to get there, I know that at 18mths out I need to be strict, accountable and have support from those in the same 'place', who understand that the sleeve isn't a miracle but a tool.

I have done well so far, but the weight hasn't 'melted' off me and since 6mths post op I have had to fight for each and every pound. At first it made me a little bitter, frustrated and I started to get into a 'dark place' about it, now the scale victory tastes sooooo sweet!

I have taken the month of December 'off'... I needed to rest from the constant worry of food, cals, water, carbs and protein... my head was spinning and I was starting to feel very frustrated and overwhelmed at not being at goal again. I needed time out!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas period and I have eaten what I wanted and when I wanted it; this includes ALL foods, no food was off limit and I let my sleeve do its job! The quantity was low but I still enjoyed every mouthful. Interestingly, I found that my cravings were satisified very quickly... 1 or 2 biscuits/sweets, and so on, hit the spot, instead of 5,6,7,... you get the picture. Subconscious damage limitation? I don't know but I like it!

I have learnt a lot by doing this. I now know that I can eat a little more if I 'try'... I know that I can enjoy food again without feeling guilty and I know that food doesn't have to be the enemy. So, with all that, what was the outcome? Yep, I have gained 2lbs above my personal bounce! Oops!

I am not, in the slightest, worried about this because I KNOW what is the cause... sugar and salt! And this time, I am sure it will come off as quick as it went on!

So, what is the plan?

Per my surgeon's instructions: I am going back to basics... yep that ole one...lol

• 3 meals a day - no snacking.
  
• Weighing my meals between 6-8oz depending on what is on the plate.
  
• Protein first, followed by veggies.
  
• Plenty of water.
  
• A limit of 1000 cals a day.
  
• Continue with my exercise - boxing twice a week, gym in work 1-2 times a week (depending on work load) and walking my dog (just over a 2 mile circuit). The exercise is the only thing that I have stuck to in December... I actually enjoy it now!!
  

As a side note, and I ain't sure if my American friends can get this, but here in the Uk, on SKY there are a few fitness channels. I have recorded some aerobic workouts that are really good... they're free and can be done at home... this is saving me some money on classes and DVDs and if I don't like the workout I can delete and look for another!! Bonus!!

Ok, who is ready to join me on the final stretch to goal... hope on board and enjoy the ride my friends...

Just thought I would post a quick up date... been a long and tiring week. I am sooo bloody tired all the time! I am having a little trouble with food... get terrible heart burn and gas whilst eating... after eating and it continues for at least an hour or two after eating. Not had this problem before. I haven't really eaten much because of this over the last three days.

I am also getting headaches again... could be hormones, could be stress from work - boy is it stressful at the moment!!

To top it off, last night my thoat started to get dry and sore... blocked nose and aching glands! Could all be related?

Just generally feeling blurghhhh... no energy to train either!

Any ideas how to get out of this rut?

You might be getting a but. Are you getting enough protein and fluids? Eat clean, meaning more organic, bright colorful veggies and meats that are more lean. Keep it simple and see if this boosts your energy level. When I don't get enough fluids, I start getting light headed, head aches, and my stomach has a tight feeling to it. Then I get confused not knowing if I'm hungry or thirsty. And then sometimes, we are just tired.

FYE, are you talking about going to Jazz Fest? It's a BLAST! If you're coming to town on Friday, definitely let me know--maybe we can just meet up and say hi. I'll be at work (teaching uptown New Orleans) on Friday afternoon and can easily get away for a quick cuppa. :-) At any rate, enjoy the Fest and the great music!

Here's a link to the food offerings at Jazz Fest so you can try to plan some vegetarian protein--looks like there are a FEW offerings but it's definitely challenging for veggies! http://www.nojazzfes...d-list-2012.php

HI Meg, I am in NO today (fri) We are just going out to dinner at Pie then on to DBA for the 10 pm show. I take off around noon. Im afraid I will miss meeting up this trip, but than you so much for the invitation. Your countrymen and women were awesome! and the music sublime. I did eat almost ALL carbs while here, but did find odds and ends of great healthy stuff. Really enjoyed myself. I am guessing I gained 5, but maybe not...just won't know till I get home.

Hey FYE, sorry we won't meet up, but glad to hear that you had a rocking good time! It's hard not to have a great time at JazzFest, that's for sure.

Coops, sounds like you're getting what I not-so-affectionately call the end-of-semester CRUD. So sorry you're not feeling well--take good care of yourself. It's so hard to deal with all the stresses at the end of term and stick to a good eating/drinking/resting/exercising schedule! Hang in there.

Around here, this weekend is a goof-off one for me (thank goodness!!!)--no work projects, no final exams, no concerts, no rehearsals. Just me and my iPad and Words with Friends and some coffee. My husband has to work, so I have a lot of down time, FINALLY, and I plan to make the most of it. Might even get my butt off this couch and go for a walk or two!!! :-)

HI Meg, I am in NO today (fri) We are just going out to dinner at Pie then on to DBA for the 10 pm show. I take off around noon. Im afraid I will miss meeting up this trip, but than you so much for the invitation. Your countrymen and women were awesome! and the music sublime. I did eat almost ALL carbs while here, but did find odds and ends of great healthy stuff. Really enjoyed myself. I am guessing I gained 5, but maybe not...just won't know till I get home.

Only gained 3, the sleeve is a miracle worker! Back to lower carb and lots of veggies. Brought back lots of spice mixes, a red beans and rice kit, and bottles of great products from the Tabasco plant to make Louisiana style veggie dishes. I'm cooking as I type!

Oh guys, it is the end of a very long day... I still feel like poop... the sore throat is worse, the sinuses are blocked, I think my glands are swollen, they certainly hurt more and I have developed a nasty cough... this is what I like to call 'man flu' (sorry guys, this is based on my dearest husbands reaction to the aforementioned symtoms..lol)!

Anyway, I have not dealt with it very well... I have indulged in all sorts of crappy food... flapjacks, crisps, biscuits M&Ms and ice cream - that was good on my throat!

I know the quantity wasn't huge, unlike the calorie value, but I've just had a 'I don't give a sh*t' day... I am going to bed now, I refuse to feel guilty about the sweets but ... well, I suppose I am aware that this close to goal I should be 'trying harder' to keep things in check.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I am going to try and focus on Water, if only to keep my throat moist!

Meg, I think you are right... this time of year is stressful, but usually calming down a little... however, at the moment work is just awful... not in the classroom but the admin and paperwork. This side of the job is relatively new to me and I am struggling a little with it; finding time and motivation is proving the hardest as it is so boring! And that isn't to mention the huge amount of marking that is mounting up.... *ugh*

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FYE, your holiday sounds brillaint... glad you had a good time and those 3lbs will be gone in a blink of an eye... probably water?!

Hey Coops, sorry to hear you are experiencing the end of semester CRUD! Ugh! I say get as much rest as you can! When I'm feeling super crappy and I don't really feel like eating healthy, I will usually also get one of those Odwalla super juices just so I get some good healing Vitamins in my system. I don't know if they have those over there, but I bet you have something comparable. Don't worry about eating the sweets, it's no biggie! Just make sure you get in a good amount of Water to help flush your system out. I hope you feel better soon!!!

GT: any more updates on the crossfit? Loving hearing about this!

Crossfit update: I have had 6 classes so far, they are Mon-Wed-Fri from 8-9pm. Friday we practiced squat thrusts with medicine balls; one on the floor between you legs, the other held in your hands. We squatted down keeping shins vertical until our bottoms touched the ball, then stood up with enough momentum to throw the other ball in the air high enough to hit a certain point on the wall. We did a LOT of these. Also, sumo squats with the ball and slanted pull ups on the rings, feet resting on the ground.

The bad news: I got on the scale 2 days ago and I am NEARLY NINE POUNDS up from my all time low achieved in early January. I am devastated. 2 or 3 pounds can be explained away by our "bounce" range, but not 9 pounds, that's real gain. Since the old lie about muscle weighing more than fat we used to tell ourselves is just a myth, I am devastated. I average between 700-1100 calories, depending on how much I work out, keep my carbs lower than 40, take my vitamins and work out 5 days a week. IT'S NOT EFFING FAIR.

Thanks Lila... it ain't getting any better to be honest. I am trying to stay positive and all that... but the tiredness is really getting to me... I am going to go to my GP and ask for some bloods to be checked. I have an appointment this week with my physio - been waiting over 4mths - to see why my groin/back keeps playing up, so that should be helpful as it has been going on and off for a week or so.

I will let you know how I get on.

On the weight front, well no change... still in the bounce range and getting nowhere fast. I stopped logging a while ago, and I don't miss it... the scale still reads the same and my clothes still feel the same so I ain't doing anything 'wrong' at the moment. I think, for now, I just have to focus on trying to feel 'well', if that makes sense. When I get back into the right head space I will try again to lose the last bit of weight.

GT... I am loving the description of crossfit, it sounds like an amazing work out (I just don't have the energy at the moment to do any form of exercise!) ... are you 'seeing' any results? However, I am not loving your scales... how can that even happen. You are soooo bloody right... it is not effing fair... why are we struggling soooo much and currently you more than me. You deserve to see the scale move, I don't so much as I am not being uber vigilant as you are!!!

I really don't know what to suggest... but I DO know that the work outs aren't doing you any harm!

Coops ~ sorry your not feeling well. It isn't fair to have these struggles. I've been dealing with the death of my FIL and now SIL and BIL are acting as thieves. It's so stupid..... Anyhooo, after the funeral services on friday, went up the mountain for the weekend and I gained 3 lbs last week. I am still working on getting all my water in but do much better when using a straw. Let me know how your doing and what the culprit could be with yourself. Sending healing energy your way. You still ROCK in my book!

BTW, I love your pic!

Yeah Coops, cute pic!

Hey all.. thought I would just drop you a quick note... went to see the physio on Friday after a waiting for nearly 5mths!

She was really good, actually - the same one my hubby had post op for both his knee surgerys, so I immediately felt at ease.

She asked me the general questions and then had a little look at my hip, back and groin area. Not really sure what has caused this, but it would seem that my back and hip flexor are taking it in turns to support my groin and surrounding area.

She has given me some stretches to do at home and I have to go back in two weeks. She basically said that I am not to do any exercise that will aggreviate the area, to modify the circuit training in the boxing gym and rest when it hurts.

It looks like having two kids fairly close together and being morbidly obese have left me with a weakness in this area ... but I can work on it to get it stronger! So, that is good news...

I have an appointment with my GP on Tues to discuss why I am soooo bloody tired all the time... I am just gonna ask for some bloods to be taken. I've felt like this for too long now and it is just awful.

On the weight and diet side of things... again no change... I am still not logging, and generally watching what I eat, making pretty good choices 90-95% of the time. I am trying to up my Water, but I find this quite difficult.

How are the rest of the gang doing... well I hope... let us know x

So sorry I've been out for a bit. My husband and I do travel-related stuff, and we took a group of students from my university on a post-graduation cruise. It was a blast--the kids were fantastic, very nice, very mature, and the trip was wonderful start to finish. BEST NEWS: Despite drinking more than I usually do (I probably had 2 fruity rum drinks a day plus a glass of wine with dinner) and eating dessert every evening (chocolate melting cake--yes, with ice cream), I got back on the scale this morning and celebrated that I am exactly the same weight as before we left. Yep. No gain. No loss, either, which I didn't really expect--I think everything balanced out, since we did a LOT of walking and running around, swimming, snorkeling, sailing, and I actually did use the ship's gym and walking track a couple of times.

I had no trouble finding food that was appropriate for me and my still-picky sleeve. I discovered that I still could not tolerate prime rib or pork roast (had bites off my husband's plate to check), but sleevie LOVED most of the seafood options. Also really, really loved the wok-cooked vegetables available at every lunch--you select your own veggies and they add meat (I just did veggies) and sauce and cook quickly in a wok--fresh and delicious and very good for me!

I ate fruit and hard-boiled egg whites for Breakfast, frozen yogurt or soft-serve ice cream as a snack, some peanuts, veggies for lunch with a couple of thin slices of cheese, and the dining room dinner (appetizer, usually Soup for me; entree, usually seafood or vegetarian; and dessert, always chocolate melting cake for me!). It was easy, delicious, and I felt GREAT during the trip--not stuffed or uncomfortable.

I will say that the plate/bowl size was incredibly large, even by American standards--they held a ridiculous amount of food. And the serving utensils were designed to give out big glops of food--even things like sour cream were self-serve with these HUGE serving spoons. salad dressings were provided in squeeze bottles that had really wide-spout tops--designed for fast service, but the end result is that people poured on HUGE amounts of these things really easily. And I noticed that in fact, you could correlate the food choices to the body type of people eating them--thin people of every age ate fruit, veggies, and a modest amount of heavier Protein food; heavier people ate really big portions, fattier foods, and several different Desserts at a single meal (it's an all-you-can-eat buffet at every meal on board). It was really kind of eye-opening, having so recently been in the "other camp," as it were.

My sleeve has made it possible for me to see/smell/be around food and NOT WANT IT. This would never have been the case before. I would definitely have overindulged, and if I didn't, I would have felt like I was missing out on something. We went to a "midnight Mexican buffet," and I had--NOTHING. Nothing looked good enough to eat just because it was there. It was kind of strange--I noticed into the second or third day that I wasn't even thinking about food--I was just enjoying the activities and the company. :-) Normal relationship with food, maybe?? is it possible?

Well, I killed this thread right off! LOL Everybody doing okay?