As @FluffyChix stated in the original thread:

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Let's share all our sophomore experiences, our angst, our struggles, our suggestions--let's talk about life! Let's become friends! You can be on any kind of food plan, do any kind of exercise or not, be gay or straight, engage in cardio or not--you just have to be in the "tweener" stage post WLS.

Not a Newbie but not yet a Vet - Sophomores have different challenges and are coping with an awkward middle stage, so please only post if you've passed the six month post-surgery mark!

17 hours ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

Sure, only requirement is 6 months post-op! Happy to have you!

Yay! @proud grammy So glad you found us!!! Post like a ho!!!! You know you want to!

6 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I appreciate you sharing this article. It really resonated with me.

YVW! It hit me the same way so had to share with my friends! I remember when I first realized I was capable of #1! It literally meant the end of panic attacks and also crippling depression. Realizing I had the power to change my life was the first step in the path to healing and to bringing me to where I am today.

15 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

soooo get THIS! Me too, right?!!! For some reason, the "BIG" goal feels unattainable/scary/meh...something. And then I get to feeling so complacent with how good I'm doing "where I'm at" that I just lose sight of the big finish and so never finish. I feel like having mini, attainable goals, helps to at least let me feel some sense of continued accomplishment? But...I haven't been successful fully with this method, so maybe I'm missing that second step of "the big picture" down the road that will require deferred gratification

I was try to explain this to a friend the other day but he didn't get it either.

I always meet and complete my goals, often surpassing them but they often feel empty. If i'm solely goal driven I have a focus like you've never seen in your life, but when I get there and the blinders are removed, I forget why I was doing it in the first place or at least why I needed it.

Then it feels less important. That's no way to live a life. I niw know that I have to stop and take siestas.

I also recently played with the idea that I should never get exactly what I want (since I'm so ungrateful about it) just ever so slightly less, so I have something to continue to grasp at. The slightly unattainable.

FML thanks MASLOW

Edited January 2, 20197 yr by GreenTealael

I think I'm going to join you Intermittent Fasting lunatics. I'm pretty sure I'm accidentally doing it anyway, but with a final string cheese/almond brittle 9-10pm cheat that probably isn't doing me any favors. I don't like eating in the morning and typically want to start eating at noon, and if I pay attention I can shut down at 6-7pm, but I do have one question...

What can I drink while on the fasting segment of the day? Is it just straight up water and tisanes, or can I drink a coffee with cream in it or Crystal Lite? I'm having a hard time envisioning morning without a coffee or tea in it.

Edited January 2, 20197 yr by sideeye

48 minutes ago, sideeye said:

I think I'm going to join you Intermittent Fasting lunatics. I'm pretty sure I'm accidentally doing it anyway, but with a final string cheese/almond brittle 9-10pm cheat that probably isn't doing me any favors. I don't like eating in the morning and typically want to start eating at noon, and if I pay attention I can shut down at 6-7pm, but I do have one question...

What can I drink while on the fasting segment of the day? Is it just straight up Water and tisanes, or can I drink a coffee with cream in it or Crystal Lite?

Do you need the link? Here it is!

I think it's a matter of preference and belief. We all do it a little differently and meh, that works! If you're hard core, then it's honestly nothing with calories/carbs/protein during the fast. So anything that doesn't make your body think it's having to digest food--including artificial sweeteners.

But few of us are purists. So whatever gets you to the finish is what works. Some days for me it's only plain water, black coffee, and black - green tea/Matcha (flavored non calorie tea bags are fine). But other days, I need a cup of broth or a splash of protein drink in my coffee or tea, or a squirt of liquid stevia. But in the end, anything that you can do to improve is good news. Right?

Welcome to our clubhouse the dark side!!!

Edited January 2, 20197 yr by FluffyChix

49 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

I was try to explain this to a friend the other day but he didn't get it either.

I always meet and complete my goals, often surpassing them but they often feel empty. If i'm solely goal driven I have a focus like you've never seen in your life, but when I get there and the blinders are removed, I forget why I was doing it in the first place or at least why I needed it.

Then it feels less important. That's no way to live a life. I niw know that I have to stop and take siestas.

I also recently played with the idea that I should never get exactly what I want (since I'm so ungrateful about it) just ever so slightly less, so I have something to continue to grasp at. The slightly unattainable.

FML thanks MASLOW

Oh Maslow...that beast! hahaha!!! I get it! I get it!!!

Why do you feel your ungrateful? Do you think you don't deserve the goal? Do you feel anticlimactic?

Edited January 2, 20197 yr by FluffyChix

Thanks for this! I am up over the holidays-7 lbs. lost 2 lbs today, and want to lose another 10 to be at goal, which will be 110 lbs down from highest weight. I am purging the house of sweets post holiday and I’m going to do a dry January. Had a few cocktails and glasses of wine over the holidays.

47 minutes ago, sideeye said:

I think I'm going to join you Intermittent Fasting lunatics. I'm pretty sure I'm accidentally doing it anyway, but with a final string cheese/almond brittle 9-10pm cheat that probably isn't doing me any favors. I don't like eating in the morning and typically want to start eating at noon, and if I pay attention I can shut down at 6-7pm, but I do have one question...

What can I drink while on the fasting segment of the day? Is it just straight up Water and tisanes, or can I drink a coffee with cream in it or Crystal Lite? I'm having a hard time envisioning morning without a coffee or tea in it.

This is me. I do IF without trying really, and if I want to I can narrow the eating window down pretty easily. Like you I rarely am hungry in the morning. It is just a matter of pushing myself to eat as late as possible, sometimes 2-3 pm, and then shut down any eating late at night. Though if I'm truly hungry I will eat, even if it's late, but try not to if it's just cravings.

I can't speak to the strictness, calories in coffee cream, etc. All the beverages I drink are calorie free (except alcohol and protein shakes), so I don't have that challenge. The theory behind IF is about keeping your body pulling energy from fat stores instead of from what you have ingested. So if you can eliminate or minimize calories during the fast then theoretically your results will be better.

Edited January 2, 20197 yr by sillykitty

Just checking into the new thread!

Have a great day sophomores!

3 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Oh Maslow...that beast! hahaha!!! I get it! I get it!!!

Why do you feel your ungrateful? Do you think you don't deserve the goal? Do you feel anticlimactic?

Totally anticlimactic

25 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Totally anticlimactic

Hey, maybe you outsmart yourself? Maybe as you see the goal getting close, you quickly make a post goal goal? Like a back-up plan. And you start practicing gratitude and being proud of yourself. Then you move on to the next goal.

So who all turned over a "new leaf" and re-began their appointed lifestyle today? How'd today go?

I started eating at noon, and am now watching the clock in near-panic wondering what else I can eat before 8pm. So: FINE.

1 minute ago, sideeye said:

I started eating at noon, and am now watching the clock in near-panic wondering what else I can eat before 8pm. So: FINE.

How much/what have you had? (protein) and are you hungry? What are you thinking about eating?

I'm kinda in the same boat. I'm trying to get my protein shake in before dinner. *sigh*

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How much/what have you had? (protein) and are you hungry?

I've had coffee, a cheese stick, two ham and swiss wraps (literally, ham and swiss rolled up), Crystal Lite, four pieces of tuna sushi and a piece of egg sushi. Oh, and about a half cup of milk and a small cookie. I've just put a frozen cannelloni in the oven and will likely be able to eat half of it, and then the clock strikes eight and I turn into a pumpkin.

I'm hungry enough to eat some of that cannelloni though not starving, and a little apprehensive about when the munchies inevitably strike at 10pm. Honestly this is mostly a sort of "what if I thought I wasn't hungry but actually am and oh my god food" mental thing.

Edited January 3, 20197 yr by sideeye