My surgery was Dec. 11, 2011. You can see my stats below. Life is great. This summer I got back from a trip where I had to hike 13 miles in and then back out of a canyon. I'm climbing mountains and loving it.

The only problem I'm having is the extra skin which is bad, but not bad enough to be covered my insurance and these last few pounds I would like to loose.

I am afraid that I've gotten my body into a metabolic syndrome by restricting calories for so long. I'm short and don't seem to need much, but am still at 800 calories. If I add carbs or more calories, I gain rather fast. To loose I'd have to drastically cut back, but what will that do in the long run?

Anybody dealing with this? Anybody have a guess about what I should do to get going again. I think I have been gaining and loosing the same 5 pounds for two years now.

our BMIs are similiar - to some extent there is a "coming to peace with it".

I love that I am in the low 150s instead of the upper 150s now, but, my life was just as good with those few other pounds.

Having said that, i recommend CHANGING things. Try the 5:2. Change exercise to low duration, high intensity. Look up high intensity interval training.

I was seriously thinking about doing a modified 5:2 with normal eating on the 5 days and shakes and broth on the 2 days.

My favorite exercise is the hike which is extremely long duration obviously. I will look into the high intensity interval training. I have to admit that as the days get shorter, I turn into a slug -- or hamster? and want to hibernate. Pair that with an hour commute each way to work ... Whine, whine, whine ...

How do you do the 5:2. I read about that Brit and he ate anything on his non-fasting days. I don't think so ....

I was seriously thinking about doing a modified 5:2 with normal eating on the 5 days and shakes and broth on the 2 days.

My favorite exercise is the hike which is extremely long duration obviously. I will look into the high intensity interval training. I have to admit that as the days get shorter' date=' I turn into a slug -- or hamster? and want to hibernate. Pair that with an hour commute each way to work ... Whine, whine, whine ...

How do you do the 5:2. I read about that Brit and he ate anything on his non-fasting days. I don't think so ....[/quote']

On the 5:2 we don't go crazy on non fast days because for sure that would be a recipe for disaster!

On fast days we do 500 calories so not a fast I'm the traditional sense the night before you do not eat after 7pm on fast days you consume you calories in a 7 to 8 hour window to allow the rest time from eating from the day before and going into the next day..,

I'm going to give this a try. Which days do you fast? I can't do it on the weekends obviously. It would be much easier at work. Since Monday sucks anyway, I'm not going to make it any suckier.

I think Wednesdays and Thursdays.

I'm going to give this a try. Which days do you fast? I can't do it on the weekends obviously. It would be much easier at work. Since Monday sucks anyway' date=' I'm not going to make it any suckier.

I think Wednesdays and Thursdays.[/quote']

I do Tuesday and Thursday... There are a lot of girls here that do Monday and Thursday.

You don't want to do it two days in a row

You want to put at least a day in between

There are several threads on the vets forum also we have a private group but you can read through there and look up the links to the plan

Oh nice to see you back!

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/93442-starting-my-first-fast-today-on-the-52-diet-plan-questions/

You can find some links here..

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/groups/show/252-eating-the-52-way/

I has been while, hasn't it? I think I started to drift away when the boards started the weird little wars (aka: when can I eat Cheetos again -- You shouldn't do that -- have a little compassion -- stop judging me). I haven't been outside the veterans board and don't think I will.

Check! No two days in a row. Tuesday/Thursday for me then.

Thanks for the links!! I think I'll hang around.

5:2 has made a huge difference to me. I think it's a great way for sleevers to lose the last little bit and to use for maintenance. I was not doing maintenance myself on my own very well. I gained weight and I could not lose it until I started eating the 5:2 way.

Welcome Catracks, the Vets forums rock. Yes, the 5:2 worked for me when nothing else would. I had gained 22 pounds last year, and couldn't get it off until I started the 5:2 in June, I am now 4 pounds from goal, and think that using the 5:2 or 6:2 will be just right for maintinance. Do read up! Best of luck.

I applied for membership to the group without first reading that I should try it out for two weeks. Oops!!

I can't really buy the book right now. I will read through the posts, but I imagine there are some modifications for a sleever. My usual calories are 800 a day. The rules say fast is a quarter of the recommended calories which is 500 for women.

Hmmm, it's still a deficit, but much more than a quarter of what I take in. I won't go to 200, but should I do 500?

You know what I love about this forum... maintenance really scared me when I was losing weight. Now, I have all these others to get support from, give support to, and just keep myself focused.

It may come as a surprise to those of you that regained a few pounds... I am MOTIVATEd and INSPIRED by you. You regained a few... not a few hundred...LOL. You are taking control and working back t where you want to be. I hear that "normal" (non obese) people do this! It is that ongoing ownership of maintaining our health/weight/good eating habits that i have never mastered before.

I feel for the first time... this might be possible. I might really be able to stay in the range of normal over the rest of my life...not just the rest of this year.

I think the idea of once being so successful and gaining weight back is utterly intolerable to us. I am not going back to what I was in 2011 - NEVER!!!

Meant to ask you Cowgirl, How has weight loss impacted your riding?

I rode when I was heavy... but only my horse, a very steady eddie paint. I mostly walked, a little trotting, very little cantering. I would never do speed work, gaming or anything for fear of hurting him... or of me just rolling off so since more core was weak and I had so much weight on my upper body.

Last winter, I practiced with a very fast and competitive drill team. My old paint LOVED it - I felt like he was saying "I have been waiting for you to be ready to GO". We had a ball. I didn't compete with that team due to the time committment, but riding with them was a thrill.

this summer, i borrowed a friends endurance racing Arab. i rode him at breakneck speeds everywhere...haha... in a teeny tiny little flat seated endurance saddle. He took issue with mountain bikes on chairlifts up at the pass when I was heading for the pacific crest trail... and shot sideways about 50' as arabs are prone to doing... and i rode it out, no problem. I would not have felt confident to keep my seat in that situation when I was so topheavy and not as strong.

I feel like my body is finaly caught up with my skills... i can do lots of stuff now

I just aquired a young horse and plan to do some speed stuff with her. Cowboy mounted shooting is something I have my eye on for 2014.

My riding has improved about 1000%

How about yours?

I think the idea of once being so successful and gaining weight back is utterly intolerable to us. I am not going back to what I was in 2011 - NEVER!!!

Meant to ask you Cowgirl, How has weight loss impacted your riding?

I applied for membership to the group without first reading that I should try it out for two weeks. Oops!!

I can't really buy the book right now. I will read through the posts, but I imagine there are some modifications for a sleever. My usual calories are 800 a day. The rules say fast is a quarter of the recommended calories which is 500 for women.

Hmmm, it's still a deficit, but much more than a quarter of what I take in. I won't go to 200, but should I do 500?

I do about 1200-1400 depending on exercise on feast days, 500-550 on fast days.

A strong core makes all the difference. I don't ride as much now as my neighbor moved with her horses. I used to ride a sturdy Morgan. She had real issues with people on her back off balance so even when heavy I was pretty good. She did not startle easily at all, but one day, not paying attention, she jumped back at a rabbit and then spun half around. I was unseated and fell off still clutching the reins (boxed in by major streets). I landed on my side and messed up the ligaments in my lower back. Took me an age to get over that.

My profile picture was on a horse in Supai, Arizona. This one was owned by a Havasupai Indian and he was busy with a pack train so he said, "Ride ahead. I'll catch up." and "They will run." BTW, If you heard that the Havasupai don't take care of their horses, that is bullsh**! That is their bread and butter.

Anyway, that was the first real ride I had taken. The way in and out of Supai is horse, mule, hike or helicopter. It's a 12 mile ride with the last (or first) mile up a VERY steep canyon wall. All the horses and mules take the whole trip at a fast trot with either mail or supplies. They are in the best condition of any horses I have seen. Our weight, or lack of was probably a mini-vacation for them. That and I let him play in the Water at his leisure and intermittently walked. When the trails forked off, I trusted him to know the best way. That was funny because he would pick a path and then look at the other path not taken, sigh and move on. I could actually hear horse brain gears turning. He probably thought I was stupid.

My point of this long story is that I rode fast and rode well. The pack train only caught up to us as we were heading up the canyon wall.

Cowboy mounted shooting!!! I like. I would probably like competitive trail riding.

I applied for membership to the group without first reading that I should try it out for two weeks. Oops!!

I can't really buy the book right now. I will read through the posts' date=' but I imagine there are some modifications for a sleever. My usual calories are 800 a day. The rules say fast is a quarter of the recommended calories which is 500 for women.

Hmmm, it's still a deficit, but much more than a quarter of what I take in. I won't go to 200, but should I do 500?[/quote']

It's ok I'll just keep it pending until you decide if its something you want to do long term...

If you read the links and post you should get a good idea about it..

The two week thing was because a lot of people said "cool I want to do it" Yeah then after a few weeks hey got over it..

The girls that are there now are doing this for long term health benefits and realize this is not a quick fix (nothing is is it )

We do not go lower than 500 on fast days so yes it slightly modified on "feast" days