My Experiment

[LadyIvy 159]

I am a very A type personality and have been obsessed with making sure I do everything the right way. Between this site and sparkpeople.com, I kept track of every tiny little thing. I do believe this is important, but I am an all or nothing kind of gal and have a tendency to go overboard. I was working out 5 hours a week and eating between 600-900 calories daily as my NUT recommended. I had lost something along the lines of 2 lbs in 3 weeks, and although I was losing, needless to say, I was rather frustrated. Last Saturday, two good friends of mine got married. The next morning, I woke up and left with the family for a 5 day camping trip (which included apartment searching, meeting with my grad advisor etc.) to the beach. I decided that I was going to take the week, not do any more exercise than I would naturally get on a camping trick. Jot down what I ate for when I got home, and just trust my tool. I followed the rules about drinking and listened to my pouch. We carried a lot of Proteins but we did eat out 4 times on the trip (everyone who hadn't seen us in a while insisted on taking us somewhere). When I went somewhere, I didn't order what I used to, even though it was vacation, I paid attention to my new lifestyle. I moved food around a lot on my plate and pawned lots of stuff off on my husband (who still managed to lose some weight on this trip). The only junk I ate during the trip was a smore I made when we did a midnight camp fire on the beach. I felt a little guilty, but allowed the feeling to pass. I also found out that I get very frustrated when I cannot snack and drive. It is the first time since surgery that I had to give myself an attitude adjustment about food. I felt successful when I couldn't get snacking out of my head, and literally purchased and apple (which was a major NSV because I was completely pleased and satisfied). I stopped eating when I felt full, ate slow, kept people distracted from my intake with conversation and did my best not to obsess. The results: When I weighed myself this morning, I found that I had lost 4 lbs in 5 days! I used my log to plug everything in to sparkpeople and found that I was managing about 1200 calories a day (all those times we had to go out). I found that when we did have to go to a place that was not so healthy, listening to my pouch and making smart diet choices led to a 300-350 calorie meal, vs the 2000-4000 that I could have easily consumed at a restaurant before!! What did I miss the most? Vegetables! I knew I needed my Protein, so I got them whenever I could. However getting veggies in while camping can be quite difficult. I learned so much on this trip and need to keep reminding myself to just listen to my body. It knows exactly what it needs!

[Happy Camper 266]

Hi Lady,

You found the secret, the beauty of our sleeves. Listening to your body, and making good head choices. Congratulations!

Best to you,

Sent from my iPad using VST

[shelleyrn22 78]

Wow... You just made my day! Thank you for sharing!! So proud of you!

[lizzyshade 56]

Great example for us, thanks & congrats to you!

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Amazing little surprises.

[LadyIvy 159]

BTW. I don't know why I keep calling it a pouch. I guess I have just seen it so much from my FB groups that have had other types of bariatric surgery

[K33 87]

I am happy for you that you have internalized listening to your body for true hunger clues coupled with incorporating good habits. You are amazing