February 2019 weight loss buds

[froufrou 678]

I haven't been feeling great lately (very tired, anxious, etc) so had some blood tests. I just got the results and it looks like (I haven't talked to the doctor yet) that I am anemic. Also Vitamin D deficient... again. I am not good at taking Vitamins but this is a wake up call and I'm going to get on the nutrition wagon! I guess to answer your question Sheri, taking my vitamins and taking it seriously has been my biggest issue.

[AZhiker 2,253]

Like you, SheriBear, I am focused on whole foods, as nutritionally dense as possible. No junk, nothing artificial or processed. Since going plant based, I am eating way more than I ever thought possible, and much more carbohydrates in the form of whole cooked grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fruit. It has been a real challenge to overcome the "low carb" mindset, now that I am maintaining. I feel absolutely fantastic, have more energy than I ever thought possible, absolutely no soreness after workouts, and still slowly losing weight - about a pound a month. I could lose a total of 10 pounds more, but absolutely no more than that. I am fine the way I am in the low 140s. I get plenty of Protein, even with very little supplementation with Protein Powder now. I log all my food, but do not count calories any more. I still practice 16: 8 IF.

I have become a fan of Dr. Michael Gregor, author of "How Not to DIe," and "How Not to Diet." The books are summaries of tens of thousands of studies about weight loss and longevity - and all the information is evidence based. There are lots of small tweaks that can be made - like timing of exercise, timing of eating, cognitive behavioral changes, etc, that are based on science. Anyway, one of the huge take-aways I am trying to wrap my mind around is that portion limitation usually fails in the long run, but if you eat the right foods, you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight. This is more successful than any form of deprivation. (Now I am talking from a maintenance perspective - not fresh post op patients.) I have been testing it on myself, and I can honestly say that I cannot eat all that I usually outline for the day. I feel stuffed all the time, yet still lose weight. I am shocked each morning when I weigh and the scale continues to edge downward. It is counter intuitive to all my previous experiences with dieting or even the prevailing information that is out there.

This year has been absolutely amazing. I love how I look, how I feel, and how much of my life has been regained. I honestly think I feel better than I did 20 years ago! Wooo Hooooo!

Edited January 23, 2020 by AZhiker

[Sheribear68 3,201]

On 01/22/2020 at 15:16, froufrou said:

I haven't been feeling great lately (very tired, anxious, etc) so had some blood tests. I just got the results and it looks like (I haven't talked to the doctor yet) that I am anemic. Also Vitamin D deficient... again. I am not good at taking Vitamins but this is a wake up call and I'm going to get on the nutrition wagon! I guess to answer your question Sheri, taking my Vitamins and taking it seriously has been my biggest issue.

Okay, so I discovered these a few months ago:

The multi ones are awesome bc you have to take 6 daily.
I like it bc I can divide it up into 3x daily and it isn’t as concentrated and therefore doesn’t upset my sleeve.
The Iron has vit C with it, which is critical for absorption. 3 daily is the dose and I take them with food (but not with dairy)
Then of course is the generic Miralax. I mix 1 scoop in my morning bottle of Water and sometimes I need to mix a second if I get behind.
These 3 things I do religiously every single day. It took awhile to build that habit, but it’s totally worth it

[Sheribear68 3,201]

On 01/22/2020 at 19:42, AZhiker said:

Like you, SheriBear, I am focused on whole foods, as nutritionally dense as possible. No junk, nothing artificial or processed. Since going plant based, I am eating way more than I ever thought possible, and much more carbohydrates in the form of whole cooked grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and fruit. It has been a real challenge to overcome the "low carb" mindset, now that I am maintaining. I feel absolutely fantastic, have more energy than I ever thought possible, absolutely no soreness after workouts, and still slowly losing weight - about a pound a month. I could lose a total of 10 pounds more, but absolutely no more than that. I am fine the way I am in the low 140s. I get plenty of Protein, even with very little supplementation with Protein Powder now. I log all my food, but do not count calories any more. I still practice 16: 8 IF.

I have become a fan of Dr. Michael Gregor, author of "How Not to DIe," and "How Not to Diet." The books are summaries of tens of thousands of studies about weight loss and longevity - and all the information is evidence based. There are lots of small tweaks that can be made - like timing of exercise, timing of eating, cognitive behavioral changes, etc, that are based on science. Anyway, one of the huge take-aways I am trying to wrap my mind around is that portion limitation usually fails in the long run, but if you eat the right foods, you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight. This is more successful than any form of deprivation. (Now I am talking from a maintenance perspective - not fresh post op patients.) I have been testing it on myself, and I can honestly say that I cannot eat all that I usually outline for the day. I feel stuffed all the time, yet still lose weight. I am shocked each morning when I weigh and the scale continues to edge downward. It is counter intuitive to all my previous experiences with dieting or even the prevailing information that is out there.

This year has been absolutely amazing. I love how I look, how I feel, and how much of my life has been regained. I honestly think I feel better than I did 20 years ago! Wooo Hooooo!

This is wonderful!

I’ll be honest and admit that I still very much feel like a bariatric patient.
I too don’t eat all of the food that I prep and log, so even though my logs say one thing, the truth of the matter is that many times I’m eating 3/4-7/8 of the food I’m packing and logging.

I wish MFP had an option where you could just autocorrect the calories and macros down by 10-20% across the board bc then that would be a lot more accurate.

My carb struggle is a very real and daily thing.
Yesterday I logged over 40gm and it felt very odd and reflexively I wanted to cut back today to “make up” for it.

Gotta get over that mindset bc I’m in the high 130’s and I don’t want to slide too much farther down.
It’s a mind game. I’m wondering what on earth my subconscious is doing , and I’m working on working through it.

[november11 970]

HI GUYS let me give you some visuals of my progress so far. I have been lurking on your page since you were 5 months out and I was 4 months pre...well im almost 10 weeks out .

[AZhiker 2,253]

Sheribear, as for the carbs......

I find that whole grain carbs don't hurt me at all. I make up a cooked Cereal consisting of steel cut oats, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth and teff, slivered almonds, ground flax seed, raisins, and cinnamon. I cook up a pot of this and have some everyday as a desert! It is naturally sweet and yummy, and a nice tummy filler. I warm it up and eat with a plant based "milk."

I also am using a lot more legumes - whole Beans, lentils, chick peas, etc. - adding to salads and as side dishes. Also adding sweet potato to meals. The calories from these whole foods absorb slowly, provide great nutrition including Protein, and feed the gut biome.

I have also discovered that carbs in whole grain and legume pastas break down much more slowly than bread products. I have started using some pastas and also find them to be satisfying and not at all harmful to the weight maintenance goals.

Edited January 24, 2020 by AZhiker

[Gottajustdoit 220]

9 hours ago, november11 said:

HI GUYS let me give you some visuals of my progress so far. I have been lurking on your page since you were 5 months out and I was 4 months pre...well im almost 10 weeks out .  

"Weigh" to go! You look fabulous.

[Gottajustdoit 220]

Thanks to all who are continuing to share your status. One of these days I'll post a side by side before and after photo. I'm loving all the photos so keep sharing.

My "maintenance" phase includes a Premier Protein shake for my Breakfast during my commute to work; either Chili, string cheese, tortilla chips and pimento cheese dip, avocado toast, or ham and cheese slices for lunch; and then chicken, eggs, or beef for dinner. As you can see, my vegetables are severely lacking (as they have been my whole life). I am focused on getting in my liquids each day, but my recent dizzy spells when I stand up remind me I need to drink waaaay more Water.

My biggest issue right now is that my sweet tooth has come back in full force and am snacking on too much chocolate (think Hershey Kisses). I'm at a stable 150 lbs and I like the way I look so I'm very happy overall. I am scheduled for a breast reduction and possible panulectomy in October (the panulactomy will depend on whether insurance pays for it). I'm grateful--so very grateful--that I survived the surgery well and am wearing size mediums in tops and size 10 in pants. I'm just in a really, really good place right now!

[2Bsmaller18 437]

On 1/22/2020 at 12:16 PM, Sheribear68 said:

Hello February family!
Can you guys believe it’s been almost a year since we’ve had surgery?

I’m curious as to what many of us are struggling with now vs what we THOUGHT we might be struggling with.

I’ll go first:
Never ever in my wildest hopes did I think a year ago that I would be struggling to eat enough calories to slow my loss. Guys, I’m planning menus more now with more attention to detail than I ever did during this process.
Any day that I can actually eat up to 1100 calories (my goal for the last 2 weeks) is a major celebration.
I mean, I could eat CRAP and get there, but I’m determined to do it with whole,healthy food, which is still incredibly challenging with this sleeve.
Also, I still struggle with BD, and have to take pics a few times a week to really “see” how thin I am now.
Wow.... typing out that I’m “thin” was difficult.

Anyway, I’d love to hear of y’all s thoughts and see if we can work together to deal with some of our issues and move together as a group into year #2

I could have written this except I am at 1600-1800 calories and basically maintaining between 125 and 127 for 3-4 months now. Someone at work said the word skinny describing me to someone else and I thought that was nuts. For the BD I have googled famous people to see compare their weight and height to me. If I am close to their size/height I am so surprised that they look thin but I don't think of myself as comparable.

The only way I am getting in that many calories with a restriction is to add not so great high calorie food. I purposely eat a lot of nuts, nut butters, but also have a cereal bars or some crackers every day since they add Fiber and I can get them in easily. I have a piece of dark chocolate everyday too. Not the best habits. I often don't even crave the chocolate I just think well, its easy calories to slide in with some antioxidants and Calcium. I am a little worried that it could be a slippery slope but I am not eating bread and cakes.

[AZhiker 2,253]

21 minutes ago, 2Bsmaller18 said:

Someone at work said the word skinny describing me to someone else and I thought that was nuts. For the BD I have googled famous people to see compare their weight and height to me. If I am close to their size/height I am so surprised that they look thin but I don't think of myself as comparable.

I know what you mean. I compare myself to people at work who wear the same size scrubs, and it always surprises me when I see that I am actually the same size. Even 100 pounds over weight, I never "saw" myself as obese. Now that I am normal, I "see" myself as heavier.

PS: BeSmaller, try making up some whole grain cooked cereal that I described a couple of posts ago. Sweeten with some cooked in raisins and banana. Add some cinnamon. I make a pot of this and have about half a cup every day with milk. It fills, digests slowly, adds really healthy carbs/calories, good source of fiber and even Protein. It is way better than crackers or cereal bars.

Sweet potato is also a good healthy carb. I also make a pot of lentil/bean Soup, with lots of veggies that I eat before meals. I just freeze it in small portions. Again, lots of fiber, protein, healthy carbs, digests slowly, and helps stave off overeating the main meal.

Edited January 25, 2020 by AZhiker

[froufrou 678]

On 1/23/2020 at 9:40 AM, Sheribear68 said:

Okay, so I discovered these a few months ago:

The multi ones are awesome bc you have to take 6 daily.
I like it bc I can divide it up into 3x daily and it isn’t as concentrated and therefore doesn’t upset my sleeve.
The Iron has vit C with it, which is critical for absorption. 3 daily is the dose and I take them with food (but not with dairy)
Then of course is the generic Miralax. I mix 1 scoop in my morning bottle of Water and sometimes I need to mix a second if I get behind.
These 3 things I do religiously every single day. It took awhile to build that habit, but it’s totally worth it

I'm not sure if I could do six tablets. I might try to see if I can find some liquid mutli Vitamins. My stomach is really really sensitive.

My Dr called back and I do have anemia and am Vitamin D deficient so I'm on some mega Iron for a while. For some reason I always seem to be D deficient - even before my surgery. Not surprised about the anemia as I'm vegetarian. As for Miralax... I have the opposite problem! lol.

[froufrou 678]

12 hours ago, november11 said:

HI GUYS let me give you some visuals of my progress so far. I have been lurking on your page since you were 5 months out and I was 4 months pre...well im almost 10 weeks out .

You look amazing! Well done!! ☺️

[DrSchaffner 11]

I am scheduled for surgery on February 24th, and I am very ready!

[Sheribear68 3,201]

On 01/24/2020 at 07:41, november11 said:

HI GUYS let me give you some visuals of my progress so far. I have been lurking on your page since you were 5 months out and I was 4 months pre...well im almost 10 weeks out .

Omg!!!!
You my friend look simply transformed.
Your before shot shows how beautiful you already were, but you’re positively glowing with happiness now.
Congrats on all of the hard work so far and I can’t wait to follow your continued success

[Sheribear68 3,201]

On 01/24/2020 at 08:43, AZhiker said:

Sheribear, as for the carbs......

I find that whole grain carbs don't hurt me at all. I make up a cooked Cereal consisting of steel cut oats, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth and teff, slivered almonds, ground flax seed, raisins, and cinnamon. I cook up a pot of this and have some everyday as a desert! It is naturally sweet and yummy, and a nice tummy filler. I warm it up and eat with a plant based "milk."

I also am using a lot more legumes - whole Beans, lentils, chick peas, etc. - adding to salads and as side dishes. Also adding sweet potato to meals. The calories from these whole foods absorb slowly, provide great nutrition including Protein, and feed the gut biome.

I have also discovered that carbs in whole grain and legume pastas break down much more slowly than bread products. I have started using some pastas and also find them to be satisfying and not at all harmful to the weight maintenance goals.

My secret confession is that I truly hate to cook.
I do it a lot, but I can quite effectively hide this “deficiency” by using lots of shortcuts that I’ve depended on for years.
Pre-packaged salad packs, pre-cut veggies, P3 packs, deli meat and cheese roll ups, store-bought hummus (rather than homemade), etc....

I love your cooked cereal (sounds delish) and yet I know I’ll probably never do it bc it won’t be something I’ll follow through on.