M2G

Congratulations! I love the cute way you presented your photos!

From my general understanding, at 14 months you *should* be able to take any medicine necessary for whatever ails you. That being said, it sounds as if you had quite the reaction to what you took, and if I were YOU, I would call my doctor for advice.

http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ She posts some really great WLS-friendly recipes. Lots of good pictures and step-by-step instructions. Sounds like you are getting a handle on things!

Thanks for sharing this!! I agree that sugar CAN be an addiction. And it's just as powerful as cocaine, drugs, alcohol, etc. Totally 100% agree with that. However, for me personally, I am in the moderation camp. I know that is not always a popular decision. A about a year before deciding that I wanted the sleeve I went on a very strict, NO sugar, NO carb diet, and in 6 weeks I lost -17lbs. How exciting right? Then I spent the next 9 months trying to stay on that strict diet and failing, and ended up gaining +25lbs in those 9 months. So for me, I do practice moderation because I've been there done that before with eradicating it from my diet, and because I do enjoy a piece of cake, or ice cream once in a while. I chose to have the sleeve OVER the bypass because of several reasons, but one of them was because I didn't want to have my surgery tell me when and if I could have a slice of cake at a wedding. I wanted to be in control and while there are some days I wish that someone WOULD take sugar out of the equation for me, I am reminded that sometimes enjoying something sweet is one of the greater joys in life. I think everyone has their own take on this. There are some people who cannot in all honesty enjoy moderation. Because a little ice cream sends them over the edge and they can't stop. I know that, (again for me) when I indulge in extra sugar and carbs, it truly does make me want more (hence agreeing with the addiction aspect of the article) so I have to be very intelligent and reasonable about when and how much sugar I consume. Again, thanks for sharing!!!

2nd that. The weigh loss phase naturally slows down the further out you are from surgery (or if you were like me it slowed down in month 4...still bitter about that but whatever...lol). This is your tool for life, keep using it wisely and you will make goal. Looking forward to seeing the dress!

Yay! Congrats ilegal! I agree with Grammy...we miss "seeing" you around, but I totally understand! Thanks for popping in and congrats on your 3 year anniversary of the new you.

Okay new numbers: 88.17 Yesterday I did an hour of spin (and I think I must have still been on that exercise "high") because I came home and decided to mow the lawn (it's huge and always a big ole chore) but at the end of the day I was quite sore and exhausted. My only consolation is I get to enjoy the weekend without the chore of mowing the lawn hanging over my head.

OD - I do NOT open 2 windows. I think I stated before (when GT was upset that we missed her post) I just scan through the all the posts since I last was ON, and then my brain tries to remember what I've seen. And then I just write. With that being said, I openly apologize to anyone if I miss or forget to address you. Just happens, and my brain is happier doing that rather than opening 2 windows. LV - Glad you are back! Cathy - liver....yuckity yuck yuck yuck. But if YOU like it then by all means...you are right it's probably a GREAT source of lean protein! (but yuck...lol!) Okay Coops - this is FOR YOU. I saw this a while back and totally love it. Georgia - thank you thank you thank you. I NEED to be diligent about the holidays. LAST year I had steadily gained about 10lbs from April until the end of Oct. Then from Oct. 31 - Jan 1st, I put on another staggering +10lbs. It did NOT magically disappear when all the Cookies and fudge were gone. So I am bound and determined this year to either maintain in that time frame or freaking lose. I WILL NOT DO THIS AGAIN! Yes missing Cheri, GT, SuperSweetums, and what about the "others" who have joined but don't ever post here? Come out of hiding y'all! As for me, couple of updates: 1. My new low weight is sticking, it's solid, it's real and I'm soooooo happy! 2. Fasted yesterday AND it looked like this: 539 calories INTAKE while I also did an hour of intense spin AND mowed the big a$$ lawn and fertilized the lawn so my calories burned were in the neighborhood of 1039...and I had to say NO to pizza. I was TIRED, and SORE and went to bed early after drinking some hot tea. 3. I did get my lab results from my blood draw (finally!) and the nurse ran through them so fast, I asked her to PLEASE send me a copy. Apparently the only issue or concern is my Iron is low. They wanted me to know that I'm NOT considered anemic, but that I might try more iron rich food. Not telling me to supplement yet. Anyway, when I have the actual paper results I will share. But so far all looks good on that front. Have a great Friday gals!

http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2008/05/life-is-short-eat-dessert-first.html That is just a link to ONE of her desserts...Eggface (Shelly) makes Protein ice cream, cake, all kinds of stuff. She has the RNY so pretty much avoids all sugar but uses alternatives. Just go to her blog, and type in desserts in the "search" function.

Okay update time: Start date: July 16, 2013 Today's date: September 17, 2013 So basically 2 months of fasting 2x a week has netted me an -11lb loss Not sure if it will "stick" today as yesterday was a "fast" day and of course hopped on the scale today to see another lb gone. Hoping it wasn't a phantom weight...we'll see if it says the same tomorrow. LOL. Anyway, for the last 3-4 weeks I've seen this number once but it didnt' stick around. Now that I've seen it twice, I'm hoping it sticks.

Coops....YEAH girl that is some serious celebrating going on .. well deserved round of applause! OD...I'm sure it will be sooooo good to get back to routine. Family is fun though and going out is fun, I'm just glad we don't have to do that all the time. MsS...I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. I had homemade french silk pie on Sunday. We had MIL over (FIL is out of town attending to his ill mother and MIL is here by herself) and I basically ate 750 calories for the DAY so that I could end up around 1,100 once I indulged in the freaking pie. CrazyI I wanted to stay under 1,200 so I met my goal and the pie was some good chiz, but sheesh! Now we have at least 1/2 of a pie STILL STARING AT ME IN THE FRIDGE! Gah! FYE...I wanna follow you around for a day, your life sounds very exciting and fun! LOL! Well, we are alive and well here in CO. Sun yesterday, today and hopefully tomorrow is helping. We are done hauling buckets of Water up from the basement for the time being, so that made me happy. Oh another thing that made me happy...finally lost another lb. I will post in the weight dealio here but just thought I would share...I think I'm a little over 2 months into the 5:2 and down -11. Nothing to complain about here. Still don't have my lab results (even though I'm still all bruised up from the blood letting!) but need to call them because it's been almost a week now...where are my results? Pffft!

Thank you! We had some basement flooding (from a window well) but our basement is unfinished and we were able to move everything before it was water-damaged. It WAS a long weekend though keeping on top of all the Water that kept rushing in. Really nothing compared to those who have lost everything. Thanks for asking!

Just popping in with an update: 9-17-2013: 70.1 Before I never really kept track, so that Butter for starting this...keeping me accountable AND keeping a goal in mind!

http://www.thisonebody.blogspot.com/ I also have a lot of other blogs listed on my blog...

Happy Monday ladies! We got yet MORE rain again on Sunday, but I think the forecast for the next few days is to dry out...at least I sure hope that is the plan. Dee, we are in Colorado. What part of the states are you traveling to? Ohmygosh, you described exactly how I am when we are traveling. If it's by plane or driving, doesn't matter, I'm a little nutty until we are settled on the plane or in the car. LV - I'm sure your kids will be fine, your mom will be fine, and time away with your hubby sounds fantastic. This is why I love the 5:2. When you are gone and on vacation you SHOULD enjoy and indulge (within reason) and then we you come back, it's time to get right back to it. Both of you ladies have safe travels and check in when you can or when you get back!

That is awesome! Congrats on hitting your goal (with a good couple of week to go still!) YAY!

Haha...but prob. more true than funny. I heard on the news if we had gotten the same amount of snow as we did rain (not including today) so from Wed-Fri it would have been something like over 120 INCHES of SNOW! Just can't win right now. Hey Oct. is a GOOD month to be sleeved (I'm coming up on 3 years Oct. 22!! Woo hoo!)

I know everything is SO unpredictable right now. I will be thinking of you!!!

Popping in ladies... Just wanted to say we have like round 6 or 7 of storms that are causing havoc all over the mountains and the city...and we finally had our basement flood. Gah. Just one window well was filling up with water...but sheesh what a pain. My oldest daughter and I had to dig a trench outside the well to get the Water to move downhill, then inside it was scooping up buckets of water that were spilling into the basement (at least it's unfinished.) What a day. Oh and while we were out digging the trench not only was it storming but it was HAILING also and the tornado sirens were wailing to boot (not sure if there really was a tornado or it was just a generalized warning for all that the skies were opening up and letting loose.) Such a long day, but SO SO SO happy that I did NOT turn to food. I'm sitting at 1,162 cals after dinner and thinking I might have some hot tea and call it a day. Here are some photos of our fun adventures today... Here is the trench, we had to peel up landscaping fabric (grey pile on the left) and dig under the fence so the water would go downhill. Here is the accumulation of hail Here is our basement flooding And finally a pic during the storm from our front door

Wow, I am hoping you can make it also!!! Who is your surgeon?

Just checking in on all my Colorado peeps...how are you all faring with the floods? We have had some basement flooding but I am hoping it is under control. The weather has been just plain CRAZY! Anyway I hope you all are well, please check in when you can! Here are some funnies for you all...

Well, Fiddle has some great advice for ya, and so does HoosierGirl... I suppose it doesn't help to point out how incredibly far you have come and how quickly you have lost your weight and how you haven't had a stall (I'm going to go out on a limb and say that losing only -2lbs in the last 2 weeks certainly does NOT qualify as a stall.) Because you already know all of this... And all you can see right now is that you have a GOAL and you want to GET there. I totally understand, appreciate and respect that. Please trust the process. Keep your healthy habits and as others have said you could try to shake things up, either with your workouts (adding in weights is a great idea...getting ready to do that myself in a few weeks, I'm more of a cardio-lover but my weights only 1x a week aren't enough so I'm taking a class soon and will be lifting 2x a week for an hour, in addition to my weights already and my cardio routine) or you can switch up your diet....or you can be patient and realize that there is no expiration on your sleeve and it might take you a little longer to get to goal than it did to lose the weight at the beginning. Stay faithful, keep working your sleeve, and you will eventually get there. And if not, you are really looking at 12lbs in frustration? In the grand scheme of things, how much will those 12lbs change who you are and what you are about? Keep it all in perspective...and congrats on a job well done!!!

Congrats on a date! Oct. 7 will be here before you know it! And Oct. is a good month for a sleeve...had mine almost 3 years ago in Oct.

Looks good G! You can add chopped kale to soup and it's quite yummy. I made my own version (I omitted the cream all together, subbed turkey meatballs for sausage...etc.) of this soup a while back and it was given a thumbs up by everyone in the family. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zuppa-toscana/

Thanks FYE. I saw it once and it just hit me so hard. I truly do believe having the right "attitude" when it comes to happiness, struggles, the ups and downs, sure does make a big difference in life!