My biggest dilemma is that I have to take medicine in the morning. I don't want to eat until around 11 am because I like to have a late night snack of 100 calorie pack of cocoa dusted almonds. I've been putting off taking my medicine but the one I can't put off is an anti biotic.

I guess I can share this ,lol. I have to take an antibiotic before have sex or I will get a UTI.I have to take it with food.

I guess half of a Greek Yogurt would be 50 calories. I need to look up string cheese and baby bell light.

How about you? Is the 5:2 plan working with your life? I also don't like working out with my trainer on an empty stomach.

Will this not work if you have 11 hours in between instead of 12? There must be some reason you have to have 12 hours off.

I'm so glad we have each other.

 

I've gained back 10 and I am not happy about it either. It's so freakin hard to watch other people eat all the time.

 

I don't agree with you about the exercise though. Exercise is good for our mental health as well as helping us to burn more calories. I am not saying go back to the heavy lifting you were doing, but keeping your cardio up and doing weight routines you're used to,  ( squats, lunges etc) will only make you feel better.

 

I wish I could do Zumba. I loved it so much, but it really hurt my neck and lower back. I'm going to have back surgery pretty soon ( not because of Zumba) and the thought of not being able to exercise for 6 weeks freaks me completely out.

 

We all have to remember this is a life long battle. I'm going to be 62 on the 25th and I am so glad I don't have to wear old lady fat clothes that look like moo moos like some of the 60 something old ladies I see around town. I'll keep fighting a good fight to keep it off! I don't want to buy bigger pants!

I weigh 147 and i want to weigh 140. It is frustrating but i have decided that my mental health, which is good right now, is more important than the scale. My main goal is to stop gaining and hold er steady.

I saw an awesome blues band last night. I invited someone I met fairly recently (not dating) and he told me it just him how gorgeous I am. I decided to remind myself of that when I feel a bit down about the scale.

I bought a blingy western style belt. I visualized wearing it when I go to country bars with boot cut jeans but last night I wore with skinny jeans tucked into chunky heeled short boots. I got alot of compliments on the belt .. I think it worked because my whole outfit was fairly plain.

I found a vintage rodeo queen belt earlier this year, and so love it! I too wear it with more simple cloths... like the "Johnny Cash" look...all black... its a big sterling engraved buckle with "rubies" and the date and name of a Central Valley California rodeo. I am not a cowgirl, but wear boots all the time, and it fits my look. Like you said Sheryl, I have an "artsy" look and big jewelry is part of it! Post a pic, I would love to see your belt!

I don't wear belts at all.

 

I went out dancing last night and I felt like I looked like a cow. I have to do better and take off another regain. I gain it all in my stomach and my shirts look awful because now they are too tight across my stomach.

 

I did have fun though. tomorrow night is ballroom dance class. I love that class.

Bling belt!

Cathy, your words are beautiful and go right to my heart like a hug, thank you!!

We all need a hug when we are feeling crap. How's it going?

Wearing belts is one of my NSV! I NEVER wore them when i was obese. I don't always wear them, but since I have no butt, it keeps my pants in place - ha!

I feel like my words often don't come across as supportive, so I was hesitant to respond to the very sobering wakeup call of the scale and clothing sizes - I have been there countless times and really do know the pain. My intention is to be supportive, but my own views of things are perhaps not commonly shared - I don't know. If what i have to say does not reasonant, then just leave it be - we all need to find our own way of the emotional/mental part of this weight management thing.

What I can share is my personal experience - I come from a LIFETIME of obesity and overweight. Seriously, starting about age 5-6 until my sleeve I was overweight, obese or SMO except for maybe about 2 years total during my teens and early 20s - I got slim a couple of times but freaked out and quickly regained, so I am probably exagerating to say I was normal weight for a total of 2 years - maybe 2 weeks - ha!

So, lets say I have about 40 years experience beating myself to a pulp over what the scale says and how awful I felt like I looked. It didn't work and just made me feel bad. I look back and remember weighing say 160-170 and feeling like a huge cow - ridiculous! How much better my life would have been had I been able to accept that weighing more than other "girls" was okay and natural for me? Heck, this morning I was at 145.8 and you know what crossed my mind? A close friend that is my age, is 2" taller and weighs 117. She weighs 30 pounds less and is a real hottie - damn, why can't I be that? Totally ridiculous line of thinking and I shut that down right away! That shame cycle is part of why I gained and got to such a high BMI. Shame and self loathing never really helped me and I have alot of practice at it.

I no longer feel humiliation over being up a few pounds. I don't want to regain, but I know statistically it is very likely to happen to me - at least a partial regain. I am diligent but I also recognize I am worth more than the scale or a clothing size and you are all too. I think we all need to remind ourselves that we are worthy people, we are not the only ones who struggle with maintaining a healthy weight and our value as a human being has nothing to do with how we look or what some chart says we should weigh or what society says we should look like. (or what a close friend weighs or looks like!)

Yeah, easier said than done, but for me personally, I need to be in that head space or I risk freaking out and needing to use food or SOMETHING to feed the internal demons that rear their heads. I am making alot of progress on slaying those demons and not feeding them to keep them quiet... it is an ongoing process but it feels like a good direction for me.

Now that I am dancing again and, because when I was at my lowest weight in Afghanistan I was also lifting weights like a beast, my horror and anger and humiliation over the weight gain isn't solely from a place of self-loathing because I gained. Like you Cheryl, I recognize that regain and the struggle and the quest are all part of our being sleevers, but gaining so much so swiftly because of depression after having been so incredibly fit and strong, the difference is remarkable and I feel like a walrus on dry land.

Guess what I had for dinner last night? A piece of bacon. One.

No Shame! It is a journey and this disease is chronic - we will always be wrestling with in in some form. You ladies are my own personal super-heroes dontcha know!

 

Sometimes we are up - sometimes we are down Right now I am miraculously maintaining after a few days of maniac per-menstrual munch mouth - I actually had cereal (which like peanut butter and rice are on my big no-no list - as I tend to abuse them. Luckily I enjoyed what is the actual recommended serving size and I feel full to the brim.- which per-surgery would be a non satisfying snack as I my own serving size was about 1/2 the box). My 50th birthday is on Thursday and there will be some cake involved, and a dinner out next week with family but I am hanging in there - still 20 over my lowest, but the scales upward movement seems to have been arrested. 183 this morning.

 

Sheryl I can relate to you posts - I am not here on the forums everyday, and when I do post my replies are more like journal entries - as I am inspired by all of your thoughts, so thus they spur my own. I have often thought these ladies might think I am some kind of self centered asshole ( all roads lead back to me lol) as I don't always respond directly by name to other members in my posts - I think it is more an issue that I am bad at the quoting, cutting and pasting thing - so I actually take notes with pen and paper, and have 30+ new posts to read usually.

 

Again you guys are heroes - we are not weak, we are strong! And we are human so we are never perfect. No shame if the numbers are higher - awareness, discipline, and never forgetting how great we feel when we make those smart decisions for our health that also help our bodies shed pounds and reward us with lower numbers on the scale and in the closet. I too would like to get down to my low point by the first of the year but I also know that this is the most challenging time of the year to do it - how you had such significant losses last year Florinda is truly an achievement!

 

One good thing - even a short shift in my new retail job is enough to put me over my 10K steps on the fitbit - if I cant get my walks in with my friends in the morning as I have all summer - at least I am getting more movement in all day

 

Love you guys! No Shame!

I thought this post asked a good question of veterans... suggesting some of you might want to post to it because I think this little group has alot of insights about the long haul...

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/321715-long-termers/

Today's recipe - vegan pumpkin scones! coconut flour, coconut sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, salt, baking soda and powder, and coconut butter. I threw in some bitter chocolate chips. yum!! The best part, not a single sneeze yet!

Well, I am over 2 weeks off my meds (nearly 3 I think) and doing pretty well. I had a few occasions of feeling a little off, but coped with it and quickly it passed. I still feel like i am overeating, but i weighed 146 this morning... so hanging out at approx same weight... even though i would rather weigh 140..haha! My tummy feels big..lol... but my jeans fit fine. i use no stretch jeans and a scale as my "measure" but my tummy still feels poochie.

I have been having problems with bacterial vaginosis that seems hard to get rid of. It isn't horrible, but annoying. not currently in a sexual relationship (darn it!) so no big impact but i sure wish i could cure it. Back to having probiotics, using boric acid inserts etc.

Work is really stressful right now.

If you have recurrent BV then you need a course of macrobid, it is a bacteria specific antibiotic. As someone who has recurrent UTIs I am familiar with the multitude of cures, staphisagria is a good homeopathic remedy that I have been using, you can get it in co-ops.

Has anyone ever heard of Warrior Food protein?

What a bunch of thoughtful posts ladies!