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I heard somebody say this the other day and it really resonated with me. She said, "Reward yourself for consistency." Too often we set unrealistic goals over which we have no control, like "I've got to lose 5 lbs by the end of the month and if I do, I'll buy myself a new sweater." But what if instead we rewarded our BEHAVIOR instead of relying on the results, which may or may not come by the scale. Say, for instance, we rewarded ourself for tracking our food every day for a month. Or we rewarded ourself for every 10 times we exercised. It can be small things like a mani/pedi or a new outfit or a foot massager or movie tickets or anything, but reward yourself for making the effort.

Go on youtube. THere are so many of these videos. I probably watched 20 of them from different people who made a video regarding this exact subject. Was very informative.

I've got the one sure-fire way to avoid stalls: Get off the scale. Scales are crazy-makers. You know the saying that a watched pot never boils? Well, a watched scale never moves. Trust your plan and the weight will come off. Good luck, Tek

New to the forum, here is readers digest of my story. I am a 47 year old Caucasian male. I am on my third career. One kid to graduate HS this year, one to graduate in 2 years. Married 21 years. And I'm pretty good at lying to myself. I always told myself I was really good at dealing with stress. Never recognized I was a stress eater the entire time. I spent 15 years in EMS right out of college, 3 as an EMT, 12 as a Paramedic in a high performing urban 911 system. Then I went into the labor union world for another 10 years, negotiating contracts and working in workplace disputes. Now I work in Medical Insurance as a teacher/trainer/adult education specialist, teaching others how to handle appeals and complaints. I have some unique abilities that helped lead to me being 364 lbs (6 foot tall) in December 2020. I remain fluent in the 7-11 diet. I can look at a hot dog on the roller and tell roughly how long it has been on it. I consumed up to 2 liters of soda per day for many years. My partners all used to smoke, but I watched my grandfather die of COPD from smoking as a kid and have never touched a tobacco product. So in essence, I replaced cheap ass convenience store food and soda for smoking during my EMS career. My metabolism changed around age 30 and I just couldn't keep the pounds off anymore. And, this is important... I DIDN'T CARE. I was pretty burned out, crispy as a medic. I got a job offer to move into the labor union world, negotiating contracts and representing other EMTs and Paramedics around the country. I moved my family (wife and 2 young kids) to another state to work for a startup labor union. I took it. And I stopped exercising as I tried to conquer a new career field. What they don't tell you about labor work is that it is also high stress work. I cut soda out during those years but drank a lot of sweet tea and despite what my doctor, family, and friends would say.... I DIDN'T CARE about my size. The union I worked for went through an old fashioned union labor coup. My life was threatened and people intentionally harmed me personally and professionally. At the same time, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The union I worked for was absorbed by a big national union player. I signed on with the big national player because I needed the insurance for my wife. We weren't in a good place, survival mode. I spent the next few years traveling for the new labor union, in order to have the insurance to pay for my wife's cancer treatments. When my wife was well enough (she still is chronically ill, years later) to travel, I moved our family back to our home state of Oregon. The labor union I worked for (who had approved my move) promptly laid me off. So back into survival mode, I became a statistic. Middle aged man, laid off, starting a 3rd career. I was hired by a Medical Insurance Company that paid very little, but jobs were scarce and it was what I had. I took a second job at a local grocery store and worked 60-70 hours per week for a few years. There's no such thing as dietary control when you are working that much and are that tired, and frankly....I DIDN'T CARE about my size. Over a few years, my financial situation has improved and while we are not well off, I no longer work 2 jobs. My PCP asked me 3 years in a row to look into bariatric surgery. I finally looked into it, and this is important... I CHOSE TO TAKE THIS PATH. The choice is important. The surgery is just a step to get there. It was time for me to grow up. I'm 47 years old, Life is damn hard and I need to start taking care of myself... I already have several other medical conditions associated with middle age. I frankly still don't care what I look like physically, but I can see the road ahead and don't want to go down that path (obesity gets worse, diabetes, HTN, Stroke, High Cholesterol, Heart Disease). I did this to myself by not being disciplined. So to make this lifestyle change, I need to be as disciplined as possible. I was ready. I CHOSE. IT IS TIME TO GROW UP. December 2020 - 6' tall - 364lbs RNY Surgery December 2021 - 316lbs I am 4 days post surgery writing this today. And I worked my ass off to change my relationship to food. That's my story... For what it is worth. I finally decided to grow up.

Does anyone have any suggestions for protein intake struggles? I have a very hard time getting protein shakes down. I know I need them and I find myself becoming super anxious when it’s time to drink them.

Good luck to all!!!!

Okay so yesterday I felt like I woke up hungry and nothing I was doing was fixing this. So I called my nurse for my program. Turns out since I’m younger- 27 my swelling and healing is going faster than normal and I’m not getting enough calories on clear liquids. Due to this she has recommended me to start drinking protein shakes a day early. I did my first one watered down just to be safe. This morning I have a mixture of a shake and fairlife milk just so I’m getting the most protein I can. It’s going really well so far. I still start my day with a bottle of water so I can take my meds without something thick. Also out of curiosity I weighed my self again- it seems like I’m loosing just under 3 pounds a day! I hope this progress keeps up. I can’t wait until I can get into the gym. 3 more weeks until that can happen. I debated taking a walk but it’s so cold here and slippery I’d be afraid of hurting my self. So I settle with walking my house as much as possible- something my dog is entirely entertained by. :) Last night I didn’t wake up to take my dose of Tylenol and I could definitely tell in the morning. All of my pain is focused around the larger incision to the point where I was starting to get nauseous. I sat in my bathroom on some cold tile- sipped some water until I felt confident I could take the Tylenol. Thank heavens it worked. So far I haven’t thrown up since the procedure- I’ve been reading others stories about how they have been and I couldn’t imagine the pain that would cause. I’m being very cautious- when I first tried my protein drink with water I took a tiny sip and just waited about 15 minutes before trying another sip. Thank you for taking this journey with me. It’s honestly really helpful writing it here and sharing it with people who understand. 💙

My sw was 280… I’m a little over 9 months out and I’m down 101lbs. At 3 months out, I was down around 45lbs. I’ve had a few stalls here and there but I couldn’t be happier. Remember - it’s a staircase, not a slope.

My starting weight was 252, surgery weight was 236, today I am 212. I will be 6 weeks on Tuesday. I dont see much movement on the scale the last week or so however I can see other changes in my body.

It took me a good month before I wasn't constantly tired. And it gets better, and fast. I have so much energy now it's hard to believe (though I do crash around 8:30 p.m.... but I get up at 5 a.m.).