First of all, any advice for getting off the last 20lbs? I swear it is taking forever and they are not moving. Did anyone else have a hard time closer to goal and if so how long did it take to finally get there?

Also, for the ladies, any suggestion on where I can buy a great strapless bra? I have always bought mine at Lane Bryant and they are so nice, they hold everything in place even without the straps, the problem is the smallest size they have is a 38 and it is too big for me now. Anyone have a recommendation on reasonable priced bra's that are supportive? Thanks!

I am down to the last 20 myself . . . and I am still consistently losing. It is getting harder however and I find I have to "tweak" things regularly.

I will stay on a particular "plan" for a week and if I see that my weight is moving in the right direction, I stay the course.

When I start to stall out or don't see movement, I make changes to exercise, calorie intake, Protein intake, food choices, etc to change things up and hopefully make them move again. It seems like keeping my body "guessing" seems to be the best way to peel off the pounds at this point.

I also do not keep my calorie intake the same every day to avoid a rut. I have very low calorie days (800-950) mixed with higher calorie days (but never above 1250 calories). I usually do two low, then one high but it is not always the same. At six months out, I have found that I stall at any calorie level if it is always the same. I also can stall if I eat the same foods every day (which is in my nature to do).

This works for me, but of course our bodies are all different. I suffered through many plateaus in the beginning, and once I learned how to break them, I turned plateau busting into part of my regular routine . . . and it is working beautifully for now . . . who knows if it will still work the last 5-10 pounds to goal . . . or if it will work when I bypass my original goal and go for the smoking hot goal of 125???

So Heather O what is a typical day for you on food, can you give us an example of a low calorie day and then a higher calorie day? Might help some of us that are at plateaus and still have quite a bit to go. Congrats on loosing so much!! Great for you!

So Heather O what is a typical day for you on food, can you give us an example of a low calorie day and then a higher calorie day? Might help some of us that are at plateaus and still have quite a bit to go. Congrats on loosing so much!! Great for you!

Each day varies of course but an example of a low calorie day would be something like:

• Breakfast: String cheese with grapes or half a banana
  
• Lunch: Two egg omelette with a little reduced calorie cheese with onions and green peppers inside.
  
• Dinner: Salmon or chicken or steak baked or cooked on the stovetop with non-stick cooking spray and either a salad or broccoli or some other veggie.
  

A higher calorie day might be as follows:

• Breakfast: 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with a little fruit thrown in (maybe half a peach or banana).
  
• Lunch: Salad with lean meat such as turkey, chicken, tuna, salmon, etc.
  
• Dinner: Small steak cooked on the stove top with non-stick cooking spray. Maybe a small baked potato with fat free spray butter, salt & pepper and sometimes a little sour cream, cheddar or parmesan cheese depending on what I want. A salad with guacomole added or veggies such as cauliflower or something along that line.
  
• Snack: Maybe a little hummus or cream cheese on a couple of crackers some point throughout the day.
  

I never eat canned veggies because the best part of the nutrition is leached out in the canning process. Frozen veggies are rare. Almost all veggies, and we eat a lot of them, are fresh. Because of the expense we buy them in alternative places like Arabic or Indian stores or farm markets where we can find them cheaper.

Salad is the most frequently eaten item in my diet and it is one food that is not varied often. My family is Turkish so when I reference salad, it is not the typical American salad but more of a Mediterranean variety. Lettuce is a minor ingredient. It is usually equal parts lettuce, parsley, onions, tomatoes and cucumber all chopped finely. Sometimes I have green peppers or other things added on when I have them. Sometimes I will roast an eggplant which is later chopped finely and forms the base of the salad. I never use dressing but use the traditional Turkish salad topping of a teaspoon of olive oil, some fresh squeezed lemon and salt.

I think the biggest hurdle for me was realizing I had to cut more calories out---or expend more through exercise.

I have chose not to have tight restriction, and in fact have no fill in at all right now. It was removed for my TT a few months ago, and I have not had a need to fill again, so am letting it ride.

It takes less calories to support you at rest as your weight drops, so you either have to take in less, or do more. I tried really hard to do a combination of the 2. I eliminated calories I figured to be unnecessary---and re-examined my portion sizes. And at the same time, I consciously made an effort to just add some more physical movement to my day. Little things.....not like an extra 30 minutes at the gym. But like rather than carry a whole stack of towels to the linen closet at one time, then juggle them while putting them away, I made 4 trips---carrying each size of item to put away.

Or while swinging my granddaughter, I would not just stand still and push---I would do a couple of leg lifts between pushes, or swing my arms.

I rethought how I cooked some items and tried to cut some snack calories out, instead having SF popsicles.

It eventually dropped......

Now the last 6 pounds come off in a hurry, and I do not recommend it, but a virus hit me, and nothing went in my stomach and stayed!!! It passed thankfully---and left me at goal....for now!!

As for bouncing the calorie intake I totally believe in that, I discussed it with my band surgeon, and he said doing so keeps the metabolism burning at a higher rate. He also said even if it was just a couple of bites, to eat first thing in the morning. For the same reason it amps the metabolic burn.

When I would plateau, I would totally go off track for a day, eat whatever I wanted, and ignore calorie counts completely, then hit the straight and narrow for a couple of days and it usually helped.

I was a pretty slow loser, but it was steady----and it worked!!!

Good Luck!!!

Kat

HEATHERO i must say have been reading so many of your poss, and some inspiring ones to me, you have come such a long way in 6 months, i had my banding 18 seo 207 and am now down 96lbs since then, think with plastics the last few pnds will go.