New member introductions

[No game 14,436]

I thought I would put this here so that new members can tell a bit about themselves.

On that note welcome new member ima loser !

[Ima Loser 197]

Thanks for the welcome! I followed this thread from the beginning but never posted. I have been following the 5:2 method (I like using the word method instead of the dreaded D word...DIET) for about 8 weeks. My nutritionist actually recommended it to me. I typically do my fasting days on Tues and Thurs... I love it... My only concern has been moving around the days I go to the gym. I run most days typically 6-7 days a week. I try to go to the gym 5 days... I have found I am exhausted if I run AND go to the gym on my fast days so I usually run after my lite dinner meal for the day and skip the gym. My nutritionist felt the 5:2 way of eating would be great for me... She felt it would really help me even surpass my goal weight and she definitely suggested I continue 5:2 eating even after I reach goal and if I keep losing after I am satisfied to switch to 6:1

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

That's great news that your nutritionist approves of this way of eating.

I got the lap band after going to my daughter's wls support group with her. I found out about it and was thrilled to learn I could possibly lose weight. Life basically revolved around the band. I could only eat certain things, and I had better know where the bathroom was,if I went out to eat.

I found out about the sleeve and got to goal quickly. I was pretty much at goal from all the vomiting with the band, so life with the sleeve was so normal, I just loved it.

The first 3 years it was pretty easy to stay at goal. If I ate wrong, I could make up for it by getting right back on track and lose a couple pounds that I had gained. Then all of a sudden, I could not lose the few lbs after the holidays. I kept trying, but I kept gaining another lb here and there. Pretty soon, I had put back 15 lbs on. I kept trying to lose it the only way I knew how. Protein first, lots of Water, exercise, but it wasn't coming off.

I heard about this new way of eating . I read it was a good way to stay in maintenance after losing from a regain, so I decided to give it a try.

I really like it because I am not hungry, and the 12 hour fast has stopped my late night snacking. I hope I can lose a total of 15 lbs slowly but surely!

[feedyoureye 3,087]

_{I have dieted my whole life, I lost 17 pounds when I was 10 years old! I was under 175 for years, I am 5'9". Around 20 years ago I suddenly gained 50 pounds, then slowly 30 more. I managed to stay under 257 (set point?) for years. Then I started to creep up, and nothing I did seemed to get the weight off. When I started to have other problems, blood pressure, and cholesterol... I knew I had to take things to the next level. WLS. My Bariatric Doc recommended the sleeve, and it looked SOOOO much better to me than RNY, I jumped on it. I was one of his first patients. I have been very happy with the sleeve, but never got to my modest goal (my doc never set a goal). I was about 5 pounds away from goal, when I hit a serious stall... then I gave up some accountability, and gained 22 pounds over around 4-5 months. I had long term company, a vacation to New Orleans, bone spurs that kept me from the gym and walking until I got through the whole sports medicine system... and a few other things that made it very challenging to stay on track, and in a blink... 22 pounds up. At the first of this year I got back on track, logging everything, getting a fitbit to keep track of exercise, and try a couple of eating plans to try to kick start the weight loss. I tried "eat more- lose weight" I started to gain (around 4-5 pounds) which is normal on that plan, but I chickened out because... well it was gaining weight! I then tried the Southbeach phase one... which is good, lost a couple of pounds, but lets face it, its a diet. I am a vegetarian, and that adds some extra carbs. I was still coming to VST, getting support from my buds here, but stepped that up. Some of us grouped together who had gotten to goal and gained, or others that had never made goal, and that conversation started here. Georgia introduced the 5:2 fast diet into the conversation, and some of us jumped on it around 6 weeks ago. We have had varying degrees of success, but it has had positive results besides weight loss for all of us. As of this writing, I am down 7 pounds at 5 1/2 weeks, (was at 8.8 pounds a couple of days ago) after some very slow loss (around 1-2 pounds a month). I am getting close to my lowest weight after surgery, and to goal. I had my surgery January 19, 2011, and am over 2 1/2 years out as of this post.}

[Georgia 2,908]

Hi, my name is Georgia and I'm a former "fatty!" (How's that for breaking the ice?!!) No, really, I hear this all the time from others but I TRULY was a nice looking obese person. I could handle a lot of weight and nobody ever thought I weighed as much as I did. (250) I can actually remember starting a diet in the 4th grade! I was unlucky enough to have a sister 7 years older who had the thin, beautiful body I wanted. I used to tell her she got the looks and the brains and all I got was the fat! LOL No, I kept it down to a size 12/14 until after I married and little by little each year added a little more. Babies, life, etc. I would lose 50 and gain back 60. Lose 25, feel good about myself and slip up. Had sleep apnea, high blood pressure and lots of arthritis pain in my knees and feet.

My Mom also battled her weight all her life and developed a host of problems including Type 2 diabetes. Christmas morning, 2009, we went to pick her up and she didn't answer the door. My son opened the door for me while I waited in the car. She had had a massive stroke and was lying on the floor. I had just spoken with her a few minutes before. I was with her when she passed away three hours later. THAT did it for me. I made up my mind I would do something about myself and if at all possible, it WOULDN'T be from obesity. I went to the seminar initially for lapband. My surgeon spoke of this "new" procedure that he had just begun doing and was high on it. My husband was with me and I told him I WANT THAT! He agreed but was totally against Bypass surgery as was I.

Long story short - I was approved three weeks later Federal BCBS, first try, sleeved two weeks after that! Very quickly accomplished. Lost 100 lbs within 8 months. Managed to hold off most until around year two and then got lax concerning junk and grazing.

Tried low carb and it just didn't do it for me long term. Found 5:2 method and gave it a try. To my surprise, within 5 weeks I have lost 18 lbs. Within 5-7 pounds of getting back to original goal and plan to go below a couple to have a true BOUNCE. Life feels great right now! I have a true sense of accomplishment again and thankful most of all for my Sleeve and the lifechanges it has allowed me to reach and hold!

Love to all my fellow "sleevers!" You motivate me to be a better person!

[lovin life 4]

Hello thanks for the add...A little about myself...I have posted some but not in a long time on this site...trying to come back here for more accountability..i had sleeve surgery in march 2011...things went great for me, i lost a little over 100lbs in less than 7 months was still loosing but it slowed down considerably... i still had about 30lbs to go...well in oct 2011 i tore my meniscus and had to have some other repairs done to my knee, rehab/recovery went well and the doc thought I should go ahead and have other one done so in December another knee surgery got thru that ok but just wasn't feeling good, was struggling with pain in my back and just felt off & was tired all the time... i visited chiropractor several times...he told me I needed to go to dr and have more extensive tests done, so in July of 2012 I did and come to find out had a cyst on my ovary, they went into remove cyst but ovary was not salvageable so they took it out...so long story short since march of 11 to July of 12 I had 4 surgeries and I think they have taken their toll on my body:/. From dec11-July12 I only lost like 6lbs...but hey it was a loss:) in July of last year I felt i just needed a break and i stepped back from eating right and logging, and weighing regularly(big mistake)...well a month turned into about 7months and with that came a 20lb regain:/...I have been working to get back on track and will do well for 3 days then BAM life gets in the way. I have lost about 7lbs since feb of this year but really want to get serious and get the rest of this weight off. So unfortunately I have about 40 more lbs I want to loose...

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Welcome! I think you might like the 5:2. It gets things going, and theres lots of support here for it. You came to the right place!

[M2G 1,836]

I'm Sheila, and gosh where do I start? I was always a pretty big girl...I remember being about 8 years old and wearing a ladies size 8 pants. Never was a 0 or a 6, lol. I graduated HS weighing around 175 and felt like a big ole fattie. Sigh. I wish I could go back in time and tell that 18 year old girl that she looked pretty damn good. Instead of the college "freshman 15" I think I gained about 25. And each year I would gain more and never even owned a scale. Just would go and buy bigger clothes. Finally I was up around 265 at age 26 and fed up and tried Medifast (my first ever real DIET) and lost about 80lbs (medically supervised and had to see a dr. once a week for the Meal Replacements back in the stone age before the internet was popular and you couldn't buy Medifast online.) Then got pregnant with my first daughter and regained all the weight, ending up about 262. Lost -10lbs after birth and regained that in the 10 months after she was born bringing me back to 262, and quickly became pregnant with my second daughter and because I was so large, somehow I only managed to gain 18lbs with that pregnancy and delivered at 280 at age 30. But sadly even 280 was not my highest weight. And after having my girls I began the yo-yo dieting and tried just about every diet in the book and I would lose weight and gain what I had lost back PLUS MORE! Every single time. At one point I dieted down to a range between 220-225 and loved it. But of course that was not the end of the story because all that weight came back plus more. Again.

So I had finally had enough in 2010 and started researching bariatrics. I had always known and thought of RNY but was scared about it and so I had done some research on the band and decided that was the route I would go. Called my insurance and found it it would cost me about 5K out of pocket for surgery and they said they covered the band, the bypass and the sleeve. Never before had I heard of the sleeve. Went to the seminar and NO ONE on the panel had the sleeve and the dr. sort of 'glossed' over it. I still wanted the band. Then hubby started being interested in surgery and said "what about that sleeve thing" and after doing more research I knew it was right for US, something we could both do and not have to have a second surgery (if the band failed) or live with constant vomiting. And so had my sleeve surgery in Oct. 2010. I was my surgeon's 15th sleeve. Lots and lots of trust in my surgeon (Dr. Snyder in Denver Colorado) because he had done thousands of bands and RNY's but not many sleeves because they were relatively new.

I was always a slow loser but initially lost about 100lbs. I was at my low weight for a few days (almost back to HS weight!!) and then I bounced up +5lbs and stayed there for a while. Then somewhere between 1 year post-op and 2 years post-op I gained an additional 9lbs in about 9 months. And I have been at this higher weight now for a while. Earlier this year I had lost about -9lbs but then I quit tracking my food and went on vacation and somehow that 9lbs found me again. Grrrr.

So right now I'm the same weight that I was in Jan. And frustrated. I average anywhere from 1000-1500 cals daily. In order for me to LOSE weight I need to usually do less than 800 cals. Which just doesn't seem possible every day.

But 500 cals, 2 days a week?

Okay, now I'm listening. Because believe me I have TRIED to consistently keep my cals >800 for days on end and it's just exhausting and next to impossible to do. Not to mention I work out. 4-5 days a week. 3 days are HARD, I drip sweat and the other 2-3 days are lighter. So living on >800 ALL THE TIME just isn't doing it for me.

Thanks ladies for letting me into the club. Sorry this is so long!

[Supersweetums 1,164]

I'm a Sheila too!

I come from a family that has weight issues and my weight struggles actually started in Kindergarten and only progressed from there. In grade 5, I was on the Slim Fast diet for a while (I looked back and think of why my mother thought that would be OK, but she was desperate to help me and also struggles with weight). And I just kept on gaining and gaining all through middle school. Then in grade 10 I decided to do something about it, started exercising everyday and watching what I ate. I started at I think around 225lbs or 230lbs, it took over 2 years and I got down to just above 150lbs. I felt great! But it didn't last long.

In the fall of 1997 I had a serious accident which left me unable to exercise. Also moving away from home made a difference, having no money and buying the cheapest foods possible (think Mac&Cheese and instant noodles). I gained back some weight and was back up to around 170lbs, then lost down to around 160lbs. Then, I met my husband at age 20, and that is when it got really bad! He was thin and could eat whatever he wanted. My weight just ballooned until I was my heaviest on my wedding day at 265lbs.

Shortly after my wedding, I really started working at it again. I wanted to have children and knew that being so heavy was not healthy. For over 2 years I worked my butt off, losing just over 70 lbs and getting down to around 190lbs. Then I got pregnant and ended up 30 lbs heavier. And that is where I sat, at around 225lbs. Even after having another baby, my weight just stayed there and I gave up. I was exhausted from always having to work so hard for every pound lost and resided in the fact that I would be fat forever.

I had looked into the band, but was a little unsure. I had thought about RNY, but it made me nervous, plus I was not big enough for it to be covered. Plus, I live in Canada, and the wait list to get it done even if I qualified was 10 years. Then, by chance, I was searching around on the internet and found a local company that was facilitating sleeve surgeries in Mexico. I talked to my husband about it, did some research, and knew it was what I wanted. We had to use our line of credit, but I got my surgery done on November 29th, 2010 and have never once regretted it.

It took me 18 months, but I got to my goal and even dropped a few pounds below, and I maintained it easily for almost a year. Then a few months ago, I switched medications (I struggle with depression and was trying a different med). In 3 weeks I gained over 7lbs. I stopped taking the medication because the weight gain was worse for my mental health then not being on any medication at all. The weight gain stopped immediately, but it never came back off. Then I started reading all the posts on the Gonna Get to Goal thread and when Georgia started posting about 5:2, I knew it was something that I thought I might be able to do! And here I am!

Another long post, but I find it therapeutic to lay it all out sometimes!!

[coops 1,790]

Loving this thread!

Ok, so here I am... good ole Coops who never got to goal despite trying her hardest... sighs!

So, long story short - fat kid, fit teenager but 'chunky' back in the day never smaller than a UK 12, mainly 14s but I was fit and healthy. I think I had some sort of body image problem cos when I look back on ole photos I seem to look small! Still, those days are over and I've learnt a lot since then.

When I got married I was about 147 - a high weight for me as I tended to stay around the 140 mark and from that day on I slowly gained and gained and gained. I put on a shed load of weight with each pregnancy and never lost it despite spending a lot of money on different diet clubs and plans.

I started thinking about WLS many years ago, but the truth of the matter is that we couldn't afford it - in the UK it is really hard to get it on the NHS and private surgery costs a fortune.

I never lost hope though and once we were a little more financially stable I researched properly and went to a few WLS open evening which is where I learnt about the sleeve and instantly knew that is was perfect for me. I wanted something that would last forever; like I was giving myself a commitment to gain and maintain health. And, although I am not at goal, and still medically obese, that is exactly what has happened.

I truly am a different person today than I was 3 years ago.

I absolutely and utterly refuse to give up on the goal quest... even though there have been times where I hit really dark places emotionally and psychologically because I did not see the numbers I wanted to. They were hard times and I have to say that a lot of people, who I now consider friends, on here helped me out more than they will ever know or realise!

I have to say that the 5:2 way of living has given me new hope to see at least my surgeon's goal of 154... maybe even lower. I would be happy to see that number as I feel that it has been laughing at me for so long. However, I have also learnt that even if I never lose another pound I am healthy and fit and that was my main objective - that box is ticked!

From here on it is aesthetic! I want to look as good as I feel I hope that makes sense and doesn't come across as if I am someone who has a massive ego, because I don't! I am self aware now though and I appreciate, for the first time in many year, ME!

I am so pleased to have this support, encouragement and advice in the form of this thread... especially for us Vets, and that is no disrespect to the newbies... we all have our own 'journey' and it is always nice to travel with people who are in a similar position. At three years out I feel that weight management is really starting to make sense. I

t's been a long ride and it isn't over yet!

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

There is a common thread to all of this. We've been dieting for years. We know how to diet . I did the Atkins diet the first time when I was 13.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Hi, thanks for letting me join.

I have been a VST member for quite awhile, I currently post mostly on the vets and band to sleeve revision forums. I had the lapband in 2001, removed in 2011. I was sleeved in Dec 2011 and made it to goal in about 14 months, losing 150+ pounds. That is about half my starting body weight!

Maintenance has been going okay, but I had a small regain and used 5:2 to get 5 pounds off. I have been following it for around 4-6 weeks, but noticed that in recent weeks (probably due to work schedule) the fast days are getting hard to follow - I could use the support!

I plan on getting plastic surgery Oct 15, so I need to maintain good health and nutrient levels, but would like to drop another 5# if I can!

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Hi Jane! Welcome! Great support here. You can do it!

[No game 14,436]

Hi Jane,

Happy to have you on board.

I find it such a help to have the support of all the 5:2 girls here.

My suggestion? Post! Post a lot like I do. It really helps me to get through my days (fast or feed) knowing I'm not alone

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

Hi Jane, I am so glad to see you posting

I do my fast day on a work day and that day is easier. Thurs. are harder with being home with food in the house.

I am sure you will do well and I hope you'll consider keeping it up after you lose the other 5 lb you want to take off. I think it will keep me in maintenance without another regain.