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...

Meg ~ this is so true, we are so good at taking care of others and that's what we have be taught and reinforced in so many different ways. Now it's time for us. It was hard for me to focus more on me, because after all, I wouldn't have to take responsibility for me, and I could blame it on others if I so desired. now I am totally taking care of me first, hubby, and family. I have more to give others when I take care of myself. The only person to blame for my past poor choices in food is me. It's time to be forgiving for the poor choices and not taking better care of myself. Now i focus everyday on me. It has made my whole life more rewarding and I am very thankful for this opportunity to take care of me. I had to hear the underlying messages I got from my mom which became big core issues. the message I got was "I didn't know what I was thinking, I had an attitude when I was crying, etc, etc, etc. That was a big wake up call because my mother is the type of person that places blame on every one else and was a very depressed person. So it's taken a lot of work to over come this. So thankful I have done the personal work and now I am so proud as to where I am in my life. It's all about me. Yayyyyyyyyyyy! So for the rant!

So, I know I am a big talker and have mentioned this before but have never done it properly, the 10 day pouch test. Is there anyone interested in doing this with me? We could message privately, mapping out exactly what and when we will be drinking our shakes, etc. I really feel the need to do this but know that I cannot do it alone, whaddya say, who's with me?

I can't believe I have missed coming on this thread (the whole d@mn site actually) for three weeks now. With the almost 3 month inlaws visit, vacations to New Orleans, Sonoma, and the north coast of Cali.... eating WHATEVER I want... +wine tastings, happy hours and mucho Snacks.... It is a bit Miracle that I only have gained 5 pounds. I can eat like a horse....luckily that horse is not as big a horse as it used to be. (thank you thank you thank you little tummy!!!) I have really killed some of my hard won good habits... and need to get back to them. I have also been off the dance classes for almost 6 weeks because of knee problems. I do have an appointment later this month with a sports medicine Doc and hope to get some good advice and perhaps some physical therapy to get myself back to class and the gym. At least I am still walking 2-3 times a week. So lets see what I have been NOT doing....

1- not coming to this site regularly

2- not eating Protein first at times

3- not logging my intake regularly

4- not exercising as much as I had been...

5- not watching my carb intake

6- not measuring myself every couple of weeks

7- not weighing every day

In all fairness, I have been having a good time, but a more regular healthy routine is in order.

Nice to be back.

Well, here goes! Amazing, how FAST pounds come BACK on with only a few days deviated from plan. I've been basically doing low carb for a month or so. Been pretty stringent about it. Started the July 4th challenge - 9 lbs lost over 3 wks.- exercising more, etc. Last Thursday got sidetracked with LIFE - really did not OVER DO in any form but ate more carbs in small amounts. For example, I had a 4 cracker pack of Peanut Butter crackers yesterday. Half a hamburger (with one slice of bread removed). etc Well, guess what? (smile) In FOUR DAYS, all but 2 pounds back! I'm over two years out - reached goal - re gained about 10 lbs and stayed there but Wow! It is so frustrating to realize that if I vary AT ALL I will gain right back in a a few days what takes weeks to lose ! Not a happy camper but determined not to regain anymore and get back to REAL comfort zone. I'm happy with my size 8-10 clothes but I truly worry about regain over the coming months/years! Again, THIS IS A TOOL and a lifeline NOT A CURE ALL!

This is true for me also!!! If I limit carbs, and track everything I eat AND keep my calories to 1,000 or less, then I can lose, but it only take a few days of varying off that plan for the weight to come back on...and QUICK!!! I guess that has always been the case, taking days/weeks of being super-careful only to have one big meal or day off plan and whammo that weight comes back fast. Frustrating for sure!

2 weeks ago I did the low-carb and kept my calories around 1,000 and lost some weight. Then took the weekend off from tracking, had some carbs, went to a retirement party for a family friend and enjoyed a drink (single) and a small piece of cake (again single piece!) and by Mon. the scale was right back up to almost where I had started the previous week. Now I know when I'm eating "off plan" I can't expect the scale to comply to my wishes, but OMG it took a week of fastidious meticulous counting of each and every morsel to go in my mouth, to have it all undo over 2 days. SMH.

This week was a bad week to try and get back to tracking and eating right, as I was off from work all week and had several BBQ's, etc. to attend. I hope to refocus next week!!!

I'm starting to wonder if the naysayers might have been right about a few things, I'm starting to wonder if we screwed ourselves royally by spending so much time on such severe diets and now, like anorexics, we have destroyed our metabolisms to the point where we are now required to be on severe diets the rest of our lives or risk seeing gain where a healthy normal person wouldn't. =( =(

Globetrotter, I DO believe that has something to do with it. Once our bodies reach a level of GOAL it likes unless we HOLD that weight for at least 6 months (according to info I've read) it will try everything in it's power to go back to it's set point. I know for me - I reached goal, started little by little adding back in bad carbs etc and gradually the pounds came back until I had regained approximately 13 lbs. I've successfully whittled that down to about 8 or so I need to lose to be where I'd like to be FOREVER. THEN gotta "hold" it for a longer period of time so that my "set point"/metabolism agrees.

It is truly amazing how quickly it comes back with a vengenance if I even take a few days breather from low carbs. AND I did prove again to myself and my body that if I eat too many carbs (sweet ones) at a time, I DO get "dumping syndrome" and get the shakes/sweats. Happend last Tuesday when my old, old friends I was with in Louisiana decided to go to the cupcake shop for dessert. Of course, I had a wedding cake cupcake! And an hour or less later experienced the low blood sugar/shaking/sweaty feeling. Truly weird.

But you know what? I am SOOOO happy to be in a size 8/10 (bought SMALL teeshirts Tuesday! even if they were "relaxed fit") and otherwise healthy. God is good and so is my sleeve! Best to all for a happy weekend!

Somewhere on the site here is the scientific description of why you gain weight (water) when you come off of a low carb diet style to a higher carb eating style. I dont remember the details but I think it had something about storing glucose in the muscles needs water.... anyway... I was following Southbeach phase 1 for a few days last week, and lost 3 pounds easy peasey....while eating lots of food... but it bounced right up when I introduced carbs again. I am aiming at eating less carbs, but very low will never happen in this life for long.

GT: this is totally frustrating for everyone. However, for me, I have decided that I will not ever be able to let my guard down and indulge in the high carb foods again. I will gain my weight back and plus will become diabetic again. So low carbs for me. In addition, I focus my foods on more naturals, non-processed foods, organic foods. I eat less and therefore, I really want to give my body the healthiest foods out there. I haven't been able to get this methodology into eating in restaurants. So now I just focus on getting side orders of a Protein. I love salmon but won't order farm raised salmon, and most restaurants serve farm raised because it's cheaper. I also would prefer grass fed beef, but cringe at the price. So I have some adjusting to do.

Your body will adjust, it will take a little time, we have time, we just want it now, not later, but right now! LOL Anyhoooo, I am going to look up that info from feedyoureye because I am totally curious.

I'm just so SO angry right now, I want to punch and cry and kick and scream, for so many reasons. I'm angry about losing my job, I'm angry about still being goddamn fat, and I'm SO ANGRY at losing the ... idea/assumption/hope that I would have the choice to bear children or not. That makes me ANGRY, I am SO ANGRY. Sure, there are surgeries out there to correct my malformed uterus, which just brings me right back around to the anger over money - my not being wealthy is now going to preclude me from bearing children, nauseating. And nobody around me gives a $h!t, not that they should, but everyone is so glad it's not them (this time) at work, they can't be bothered to show more than relief that it's me not them. People I thought were friends suddenly can't return phone calls, now that I don't have a brag-worthy job. And I just CANNOT listen to my well meaning Mother natter on with her perky little platitudes, I'm not ready to hear that kind of positivity. And I'm angry for everything else, for my life, for my shitty genetics, for parents who used the excuse of my being so smart to not bother helping me with anything so that I had to educate myself on everything because they are so COMPLETELY IGNORANT, I'm angry angry angry! And I HATE BEING FAT, HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE.

thanks for listening.

sad that your going through all this. Friend (or so called friends) do drop off our grids when we're in crisis. There's no excuse for it. Your body is going to continue to lose weight with your sleeve even if your angry. Please keep us posted as to how your feeling and if there's anything we can do, please let us know.

How are you taking care of you at this moment? This is a high priority, you will get another job and meanwhile you will get unemployment to help. This can be a time to reinvent yourself. You are very intelligent and have made your way this far....... keep plugging forward!

Meg: I love your new pic! What a wonderful transformation! I love your insights and feedback that you give us. I find it totally beneficial. Thank you so much!

GT... I know there is nothing I can say to help you, but just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you... this weight loss business is a right royal pain in the ar*e ... especially when we are ticking all the boxes and not getting the rewards on the scale! Try to keep your chin up!

FYE... good to hear from you... glad you've enjoyed some time out... you know those pesky pounds will go as quick as they came...

Nanny & M2G - yep! Carbs are the work to the devil... but a nice 'treat' now and again! I think, at this stage, we all know what we can and can't tolerate... doesn't make things easier though!

Dorrie... you always have such kind words for everyone... you certainly are a great cheer leader and a voice of reason! Keep 'em coming, cos even if I don't post I enjoy reading ...

Meg - I agree with Dorrie, your new pic is fab! You look great! and look at your ticker... below target weight! Good on you!

As for me, well I am ticking along, counting the day/hours until we break for our summer holidays. I am soooo tired of working now! I need to get out of school. The weather here is absolutely shocking - we've had the wettest June and July for many, many years and I have to say, it really effects my mood... I hate rainy summers - I sorta feel short changed cos I want SUN!!

My back is better - physio is going well and I am on to more and more exercises now! I am standing better and have more flexability - not so much pain and when I do get troubles; they are more of an ache than a pain. I can try the air walker now... so at least that is progress on the training front. I am hoping to try the boxing gym after my next session, which is in 3 weeks but I suppose I will have to wait and see. I have been really stressed in work and it is times like this when I miss my exercise the most as I have nothing to take my frustrations out on... and I can't eat them away either!

I have stopped taking my HRT tablets; they did not agree with me AT ALL so for now I am just taking tablets to stop the flushes and I am going to see what happens over the next couple of months.

The good thing is that I am back to the bottom of my bounce range, so I believe that the HRT were defo causing me a lot of Water retention... I have also rec'd a few comments lately saying that I look smaller.... I just wish the scale would bloody move down a bit! I really think that I would be happier being in the overweight section rather than the obese section of that stupid BMI! *sighs*

Well, I hope you are all well... keep posting updates; good, bad or indifferent and together we will get to wherever we need to be! x

So glad to hear from you Coops! I nearly fell down a cake hole today, one of those horrible cheap sheet cakes bought for a birthday in the office, the kind that wafts the stink of fat and sugar. I put a tiny amount of frosting in my mouth and quickly spit it out and ate a couple of tablespoons of plain greek yogurt with a handful of fresh cherries instead. I'm counting that as a victory!

GT: Great job! Ditch the cake, throw it in the trash! You are doing so good catching yourself. So proud of you. I hope I can do this too.

Coop: I love hearing from you. You are an inspiration to me. Now I'm thinking about the last few pounds I need to lose. Yep, gonna jump back on the wagon.

Hey everybody! This is my favorite forum-within-a-forum so I thought I would post here that I have submitted a blog entry here at VST

http://www.bariatricpal.com/blogs/entry/29627-two-years-come-and-gone-so-fast/

I hope everyone can take a minute and check it out, today is my 2 year surgiversary and though I'm not at goal yet, I'm a hell of a lot farther along than I was the morning I walked into the OR! Thank you all for your support, I've uploaded pics!!