I am scheduled for February 18th. I will be first in. Wow, this process takes forever.

BTW, Azhiker, I am in Havasu. Where are you?

Frou Frou--

I can only imagine how stressful things are for you. My son is also on the autism spectrum, and although he is 19 now, I remember those days when he was younger. I rarely got a solid night's sleep and he needed support all day long. The lost of a therapist is huge, I know. Also, respite time is so important. I can also imagine the extra stress on your child too right now, exacerbating the symptoms of autism. I feel for both of you and your husband, who lost his job, so I'm sure the financial stress is also awful. I agree with Recidivist--don't beat yourself up! My only recommendation is to NOT let the "escape food" into your house. I am so guilty of that myself, so I'm not judging at all--but just an idea! So glad you have this site as a outlet to express your stress. Just take it one day at a time (I actually live by the "just take it 10 minutes at a time" rule). I'm praying for you--wishing you and your family some good times amidst the bad.

11 hours ago, AZhiker said:

Tell me what your plan is. Let's get this done. We can come out of this pandemic craziness back nat our goal weights and stronger than ever. All is not lost if we learn from the experience and can come back with resilience and a successful new plan. This will not be the only time we regain a few pounds because of stress or situations or illness, so the lessons we learn now will help us down the road. I'm pulling for you. We got this! New day tomorrow, right?

Thank you so much for your support. I'm going to basically stop eating everything in sight lol. But, really, I'm going to cut down on portion size. Stop going for carbs. Get more active. Drink more water/zero water. That's it really - back to basics. If I do have something like icecream, then it's a SMALL amount. That's what I was doing before and it was successful... just a little of what I like, not the whole hog. But for now, I'm going to cut out all sugary things and stick to protein and vegetables.

You're right - we definitely need to learn from these moments and move on.

9 hours ago, bethow said:

I am on on board with you. I fell off my exercise and three pounds crept back on. So, tomorrow I am climbing back on the wagon and the exercise program. I am down 125 from my maximum weight and only have 50 to go to get to my goal weight. When I started this adventure, I didn’t think I could possibly get to 135 but I plan on still trying.
We can do this!!

Yes, we can do this! I'm cheering you on!

3 hours ago, Gottajustdoit said:

Frou Frou--

I can only imagine how stressful things are for you. My son is also on the autism spectrum, and although he is 19 now, I remember those days when he was younger. I rarely got a solid night's sleep and he needed support all day long. The lost of a therapist is huge, I know. Also, respite time is so important. I can also imagine the extra stress on your child too right now, exacerbating the symptoms of autism. I feel for both of you and your husband, who lost his job, so I'm sure the financial stress is also awful. I agree with Recidivist--don't beat yourself up! My only recommendation is to NOT let the "escape food" into your house. I am so guilty of that myself, so I'm not judging at all--but just an idea! So glad you have this site as a outlet to express your stress. Just take it one day at a time (I actually live by the "just take it 10 minutes at a time" rule). I'm praying for you--wishing you and your family some good times amidst the bad.

It's been really hard for my daughter - she is very anxious around kids, but she considered the kids in her class to be her friends. She was in Grade 5, so Elementary School came to an abrupt end and she'll now be going in to middle school... I'm sure you know what it's like when we 'go off script' with our spectrum kids. She's dealt with it very well, but I know it's hurt her.

Yes, I must not let food be the escape - that's how I ended up at 360 lbs in the first place. I was also turning to drink there for a bit too... not much, but enough for it to hurt my weight loss. So I really don't want to come out of this fat AND alcoholic.

Thank you for your thought and prayers - I really appreciate it. I appreciate all of you letting me vent on this thread. I know you will understand and it's a safe place with no judgement.

Hey Guys it's November 11 , Your stalker lol!

It has been a long journey. Starting weight 349 and current weight is 230. How is everyone doing

Congratulations! Looking good! I had a breast reduction and panniculectomy (together) in early October. What a difference it was getting rid of the extra skin. If anyone is considering going down the road of additional surgery, I’d be happy to share my experience. Insurance covered both operations.

5 hours ago, TheMarine79 said:

It has been a long journey. Starting weight 349 and current weight is 230. How is everyone doing

Marine!!! So nice to hear from you again--and you look amazing! Congratulations on your success!

I'm doing well. I gained 15 pounds from my low weight, which in retrospect was a little too scrawny. I've been able to maintain that level for more than six months and feel great. I'm still amazed at how much more I'm able to do than at this time two years ago. I'm also quite surprised at what a wide range of foods I'm able to eat--in very small quantities. Having surgery was truly one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Yes, wide array of foods I can eat now. Still in smaller portions. Weight is coming off slow yet, at this point, I am happy to maintain where I am. Keep up the good work. I like running by myself, but my son usually goes and pushes me to run harder. We did 7 miles on Thanksgiving day. 5 today in about 52 minutes.

Looking good! My weight is pretty steady at 155-157. I’m only 5’3” so I could stand to lose 20 more but I’m thrilled to be where I am. Body doesn’t look so great with the excess skin. Maybe one day I will get that taken care of, but I’m ok with it for now.

I'm enjoying life so much more. I still struggle a bit with feeling fat - like walking into a new place and automatically looking for a large chair or thinking that people are mentally fat shaming me. But then I realize I look like everyone else - actually thinner than 60% of the population, and I can sit any where I like! I gained 7-8 pounds during the whole Covid stress thing, but have lost that and maintain pretty easily at my goal weight or a couple pounds below. I've adopted Whole Food Plant Based eating and I feel really great. I've lost the gaunt look I had originally. A lost of my loose skin has tightened up. I am very happy I had the surgery to get the weight off quickly and now WFPB lets me eat as much as I want so I am never hungry or feel deprived. I hope all of our other Feb 2019 buds are doing well.

So I actually did go out with my staff for a Christmas dinner last night. There were 8 of us there and I was the smallest! 2 years ago I was the biggest. So surreal still, sometimes. Like how did this happen? But then I looked at the plates and meals............... Hmmmmmm. You are what you eat. I am starting to feel a little anxious about regain during the 3rd year which will be starting in a couple of months.

10 hours ago, AZhiker said:

I am starting to feel a little anxious about regain during the 3rd year which will be starting in a couple of months.

I understand and agree, AZhiker. I've been doing well so far, but I fear it will get harder to stay at my current weight as time goes on. Let's all check in here from time to time and compare notes--even if we've gained a bit. It will be good to know we aren't alone!

Glad to see everyone is doing so well

I lost down to under 130 last April at the start of the pandemic.
I’ve gained about 5-7 pounds and stay generally between 133-138.
I hit 142 right after the holidays, and went strictly bari-keto with IF and now I’m sitting at 137.

The first shot was when I dipped down below 130 and I feel like I look quite skeletal.
The second shot is from late summer, and the 3rd shot is from a few weeks ago (I was probably 3-4 pounds “heavier” than I am currently.)

Sorry I’ve been gone for so long, but it’s been a rough last year and unfortunately the frenetic pace isn’t slowing down for me.
I’ve had 2 days off since January 1st with no end in sight