M2G

I think you will find a wide variety of opinions on this topic. I gave up coffee for about 6 weeks post-op and when I returned I really tried to cut down on the caffeine. While the link between caffeine and ulcers is not 100% proven, I do NOT want to get an ulcer on my tiny tummy. At home I brew half-caf to cut down the caffeine. That being said I very much love my am cup of coffee! I'm 3+ years post-op btw...

Aaaah Florinda, you are right I AM a hopeless romantic...I can't help it. Even when good friends tell us they are divorcing (seems to be happening now that we are in our 40's instead of our 20's and 30's...hum maybe there IS something to that "midlife crisis"...always kind of thought it was hogwash...lol) I'm like " but did you try everything else first??" Ha ha. Even when they have I'm sad to see people part ways. The question of 6 months...will you be able to to physically? Can you even answer that question? You won't KNOW how you are going to feel in 1 month, 2 months, etc. I would say if you are feeling relatively "stable" now with what is working then 6 months would be good with the idea of saving some $$$ and giving you more "time" to look for that career, place to live, etc. It also gives you a definite timeline to work with: you can calculate your savings, and start a master plan that includes a place to live, etc. My only question would be what happens if you suddenly don't feel OK and you need to leave? What are the parameters for that situation? What is at stake? Sarah, OMG I love that NSV. What a cool thing! Something happened recently with my 11 yo and she found a photo while cleaning her room. She was like "you don't even look like the same person" but I waited --holding my breath-- and she didn't mention fat. LOL I can't remember what she said but she noticed a big difference in my face. Interestingly enough someone at the gym just said something about how good I'm looking and (not that you looked bad before...lol always gotta throw that in but this person only knows me from the gym in the last year or so, not the BEFORE surgery me...) but she mentioned how my face has changed in the last few months (just me getting older ha ha!) but anyway, I think my body composition must be changing a bit due to the weight workouts. 3+ months now...woo! I did NOT fast yesterday. I don't know what happened...worked out for an hour (intense mix of cardio, weights and abs) but did okay until AFTER I picked up the kids from school and then it just went out the window. I didn't eat probably more than 1200 cals but certainly NOT a fast day. Where is my brain??? Anyone seen it lately? I think I'm going to try and do an all liquid day today to beat the carb monster back into it's cage. Gotta do something...

WOW! What a great thread this is, definitely feels like old home week around here! Loving it! I'm 3+ years out and also put me in the regain (20lbs for me) and also put me in the 5:2 boat (although reeeeeeally struggling to do it now, but was awesome from July 2013-Novemberish and lost -13 from doing 5:2, but now am barely holding on to that loss, blah blah, so now it's more like 9...bah the numbers make me cray cray!) Diva, I too am curious about the low Iron. In Oct. 2013 I had labs done for my 3 year and 10 out of my 11 iron tests were normal. My "ferritin" was just falling outside the normal range and was considered low. I consulted 3 doctors (PCP, OBGYN, VSG Surgeon) and all said not to worry. I still take my Vitamins (fairly) regularly (like I miss a day here and there but usually I'm on top of it) but I DO NOT supplement with iron. I just don't want to be on the slow train to anemia. Can you share more about the low iron. You said you stopped taking vitamins (was daily iron part of what you stopped taking or were you never taking iron to begin with?) I totally and 100% understand the boredom of meticulously counting calories, Protein, taking vitamins, etc. We all *know* this is "FOR LIFE" but living it out is just a little bit harder than understanding it in our heads. I'm GLAD you are BACK here and I'm so happy to see some cute doggies. We just had to put our 16 year old cat down due to cancer 2 days after Christmas...we no longer have pets and it's saaaaaad I tell ya! I'm sure you will fight your way back, you have the determination to make it happen. WELCOME BACK!

Oh gosh I missed this post! Thank you COOPS! I can honestly say I wouldn't be here with out you girl, you have walked with me step by step, always "getting it" no matter if I was talking about weight, food, relationships, etc. You have been MY biggest cheerleader and I KNOW I would NOT be here today if it weren't for you. Definite hug coming from across that big ole pond from me to you!! I too remember the good ole days when VST was fairly new and Tiffy and Diva were my personal heroes because they had walked before me on this journey but more than that they were willing to SHARE their experiences with all of us. And now I find myself 3+ years later and sharing MY experiences with others. And yet I still come here because I too need support along the way. I used to love Butter's quote that was something along the lines of "The Longer I'm Here the Less I Know" um, yep, I will admit to being a vet who doesn't have all the answers. I don't know "The Recipe" for losing weight, and keeping it off forever. Being someone who had hit a "low" weight (not goal mind you) but a "low" for me, then losing focus and gaining about 20lbs back has truly been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I waffle between applauding the fact that I didn't regain all 100lbs, and that I stopped the regain train in it's tracks, and still feeling bad that I allowed some weight back on. At the end of the day though I would do the sleeve over again, 100% !!! I believe the sleeve unlocked PART of the huge puzzle that is this complex condition of obesity. For everyone who has walked before me and everyone who will come after, we all share this journey together. No matter where we are at, coming together forms a bond that others on the "outside" might have trouble understanding but no words needed for us to all "get it." Thanks Happy Camper for starting this post, this is one place that I'm honored to be called an "old timer"...

Oh and WANDA...shout out ... woo hoo, the scale is moving for ya!

Wow, a lot going on here. OD, I have no idea how to remember everything, I just comment on what I can and a lot of times I miss stuff but it's better than opening 20 multiquote windows. I just go from memory. Chimera...so sorry about the job loss. It's so hard when that happens. When it happened to me, I decided to go back to school and learn about web design. Now that I'm nearly done with that (Spring 2014 I will have my "certificate of web tools") I've been looking for jobs and ZERO interest. Lots of NOs, and "we'll keep your info on file" blah blah blah. So it's going to be an epic battle to find a job in my career field which is why i jokingly think I should just go back to doing art for arts sake. Sheryl, I *try* not to fast on my 2 hour workout days. You are right, I'm with a trainer 2x a week for an hour each and directly after being pushed to my limits (that is what trainers do...lol) I go and take spin for an hour from someone who is a regular OUTDOOR BIKING ENTHUSIAST...oy vey. Like for her a "relaxing" weekend is a 2 day race/ride in which she will place in the upper part of her division. She pushes us really hard too. SO yeah, I try not to fast on those day but I can and I have and sometimes I will, but usually not. And this is totally just a side note, I've never been on any type of medication or anti-depressant, etc. I'll be 42 on Friday and I don't know if it's just because I'm normally a glass is half-full type of person or what. I do very much believe that some people have a chemical imbalance, and I honestly think that drugs are VERY appropriate for many people. It's probably not easy finding the right "mix" of what works because it's probably like trying to treat obesity...there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to treating chemical imbalances, etc. in people. I like to think that I'm an eternal optimist, always looking for the sun shining behind the clouds, but I certainly have my days that are filled with more clouds than sun, but I guess I'm always trying to chase that sun... Dee, any news on your place? How are you doing? FYE- OMG that ball sounds like so so so much fun! I love the corset idea, hey it will prob. keep you from eating too much, ha ha! What a fun and interesting thing to get an invite to go to. LOVE IT! Please take many pics, maybe consider getting a small point and shoot camera, or even just pics with your cell will work for me. lol nothing fancy, just want to "see" and "live" it through your lens... Sarah, how are you feeling? You are so good about responding to everyone, I always enjoy reading your posts because you always summarize everything so nicely. GT, wow, that article...wow. Hugs to you. I'm glad you are getting some real-life hugs from your "gentlemen caller" but am I the only one who is sad that he has "someone back home" agreement or not about relations whilst deployed...I'm a hopeless romantic and I hate to see something be 100% purely physical. In fact, I don't think I could do that. That is just me though, I feel everything with my head, my body, my heart and I can't separate them. So part of me wants to believe that the "someone back home" is also out dating and finding connections with other people so that you could take this relationship to a deeper level.... When do you know for sure about leaving? Is it your call alone or is there more to it? Georgia, I need your strength and resolve. I keep "trying" to fast and doing a half-a$$ job at it. WHERE DID MY MOJO GO? Remember when my surgeon saw me in Oct and said "let's lose -10lbs by Jan and get you thinking about something other than your weight?" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I think I have an appt scheduled next week to see him. Planning to cancel it. Why pay $120 to go see that at best I've maintained over the holidays and at worst be up a few lbs? I love the intent behind his comment but I can't shake the feeling that I will NEVER be able to NOT think about my weight. Ugh. And I'm circling back around to the possibility of plastics again. Sigh. I saw a PS in May 2013 and practically ran screaming away at the thought of spending so much and having so much work done. But when I see myself at the gym, it is hard to know about the skin, extra rolls of fat, etc. I keep asking myself WOULD I want to spend the $$$$ and time recovering and the scars to maybe still end up in the same size jeans that I'm currently in (size 12?) Would I be happy or disappointed? I think that might be a very real possibility that I could go through all that and still end up basically the same size with less fat rolls, etc. Ugh. Just don't know. I do know that I would need another consult with a DIFFERENT Plastic Surgeon because I really didn't jive well with the one I saw. SIgh. I am determined to FAST TODAY! JUST GOTTA DO IT!!!!

Kathy, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!!!!!! You are right, age is *just* a number, it's not a definition of WHO you are. Who YOU are.... Fabulous, awesome, wonderful person who is a friend to many here (me included). I know I've told you this before, but I always love seeing your posts!

Brown, I did Curves religiously from April 2004-May 2013 that is 9 YEARS that I belonged to Curves. I actually love Curves. It is a great place to "start" for exercise and it's quick (30 minutes) you get as much out of Curves as you put in. Some people jog hard in between stations, some just move their arms, that is UP TO YOU. You can push the machines hard, or take it easy. Again it's up to you. What I got out of Curves: 1. New friends 2. A good workout 3. Energy for the rest of my day (I was there at 5:30 am and sometimes I didn't "want" to go but I never regretted it when I was there.) 4. A place to do something that was good for me What I did NOT get out of Curves: 1. A workout that was so hard it left me sweaty and breathless 2. Nothing in the way of personal training (this probably varies from club to club and from employee to employee, I belonged to 2 different Curves in those 9 years and other than the basics of showing us how to work the equipment properly, there was little else in the way of instruction.) 3. Weight loss I was morbidly obese when I began working out a Curves 9+ years ago and I never really lost weight by "just" doing Curves. I could lose when I combined working out with paying careful attention to my diet, but Curves alone never gave me weight loss. I quit because I found that Curves wasn't challenging me enough physically. It gave me a great foundation, a place to start (free from mirrors and other distractions that the regular gym has) but in the end I needed to move onto to something more physically challenging. I was double-dipping at Curves and my local gym for about 3 years and I finally let Curves go so that I could concentrate my efforts (and my $$$!!!) at my gym. I don't regret ANY time that I spent at Curves, but I love where I am today. I think you should try it and be 100% committed. After all, those people at Curves are lapping the people sitting on the couch... Hope that helps...

My biggest downfall pre-surgery was grazing, and we all know that surgery doesn't really help with that aspect. 5:2 does. It totally freezes me from grazing and the effect of that lasts longer than the day of fasting.

Sorry for confusing QofC with Kris... It looks as if Laura hasn't logged on since Jan. 6th. I know for me personally sometimes I need a "break" from here. We all have lives, and to be 100% honest, sometimes being "here" means I'm not as "present" as I want to be in my own life. So I take a hiatus, whether it be a day or a week or whatnot, but sometimes it's good to just take a break and come back when you feel like you need to. Maybe that is what's going on?

Fasting today, and since we are mood evaluating, I'm just feeling melancholy... Not sure why. Probably because I picked up my fur-baby's ashes today, brought them home and put them up. Went out shopping ...I usually *love* January clearance and just NOTHING was right. So I spent $1.08 on a McDonald's hot coffee with cream and splenda and I'm back home ready to start dinner and pick up the girls from school. We have a busy night of volleyball practice for both girls tonight, so I have to plan our dinner as we'll rush out the door by 4:30 and won't return home until probably closer to 9pm. Just feeling blah... I'm fine with is it Kris (Queen of Crop?) joining? However, a while back weren't we discussing her plastics scars and hoping they would get better with time? How do we feel about her reading those posts? I saw Susan pop in here about 20 pages ago, but Susan are you still with us? No Laura and No Cheri (I PM'd Cheri to say she was missed... but haven't heard anything back.) Missing a couple our sweet girls...calling all 5:2ers...c'mon back we miss you!

Wow, I can see I've missed a lot of good discussions going on over here. Let's see, I love what you said Coops about how you deal with things. I've been in a bit of a funk myself since Christmas, hubby got into a row with my brother and it kind of ruined Christmas. Then 2 days later we had to put our beloved cat to sleep and things have just been "prickly" since. We haven't had time to process everything, hubby has apologized to me, mom, and brother, but it really was a perfect example of him building up with little things, then mt. vesuvius explosion over something stupid. gah! Still process our fur-baby and haven't been able to bring myself to donate his unused food, toys, etc. Love that my girls are back in school, but hubby who usually works from home has been called into the office which I'm excited about having a house to myself but sad about timing, as we could use the extra time to "iron out some kinks" in our relationship. Sigh. I don't think kissing on a first date is wrong at all. I'm a hugger, and usually greetings with friends (male and female alike) are with hugs. I do think that the pace you are keeping Sheryl with the dating is exhausting. It would exhaust me emotionally and physically to have so many dates all the time. I've been married 17+ years and with the same man for 22 years so I don't *remember* what dating was like but just listening to the stories (which I love don't stop posting ...I think this is a safe place for you to sort your feelings out) about this man, that man...just seems like a super-quick pace. Florinda, I'm happy for your HAWT encounter, and sad for the issues surrounding the death. I hope you can make a decision about what to do that has NOTHING to do with the death of this person. You need to make your decision based on YOU for YOU and be all about YOU. Hugs. Nothing worth having is ever easy.

Dee, that article is beautiful! SO TRUE! I loved reading this thank you for sharing it.

Wow, really well-said. Losing weight, having plastics, etc. NONE of that will help if you don't LOVE YOURSELF CGJ I think you've done a great job expressing your feelings and exploring who you are and where you want to be. I have no doubt that one day you will find your happy place.

Cathy, I think you need to CROP in on JUST your FACE. Try to make the shape more of a square instead of a long rectangle. That way when you post it, it should sort to your face and not your stomach.

No plastics here...not yet anyway. Not sure if I will ever have them for several reasons but mostly because of the cost. Sturdy undergarments help and knowing how to flatter your figure also helps. Anything that is pulled tight across the tummy doesn't work so well for me (unless it has camouflaging ruffles or the fabric is more drapey than pulled tight.) My dress was more A-line style.

Deedadumble...nice dress, great price too! I bought mine at Ross on clearance for $15. Love Ross for good cheap dresses. Cathy...love the dress and the hot pink lips and totally loving the sexy pose...you go girl!

Congrats! 100+lbs is fantastic!

You look so wonderful, I love the sparkle in your dress! And yes, hands on the hips always...gives you an invisible belt...now that we actually have a waist!

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with tracking my food. I use caloriecount.about.com and find it preferable to MFP in the way you can enter your food amounts. However, I've had a long-standing argument with my surgeon about whether or not to track calories. I like to "know" my caloric intake and my surgeon hates it. He is very much in the camp of just "counting your Protein grams" and not looking at the calories. And my argument goes much like yours Misty that you put in your FOOD into a TRACKER and guess what it SHOWS you the calories. I suppose that I could just enter the food, and then jot down my protein grams on a piece of paper or in a note on my phone, etc. and not actually LOG the food into a system that automatically gives you a calorie count. I'm NOT OCD but you are right that it does smack of OCD when you are logging every single bite of food that you ingest. I've actually sat at the dinner table with my little food scale and measured out everything before I eat it. Now on the other end of the spectrum is my also-sleeeved-husband. He has ONLY tracked when I FORCED him to (he was probably about 4-6 months post op when I was like dude, that handful of mixed nuts you just ate was probably a good 250+ calories...maybe you need to weigh/measure/track) and so he did for a little and quickly lost interest. He has maintained his weight MUCH easier than I have, with little to no weighing/measuring/tracking. Sigh. I'm much looser now with my tracking and it really came down to ME trusting ME. I didn't for a looooong time. I felt like if I didn't track then I wouldn't KNOW and I felt like tracking kept me honest and I needed that honesty with myself. For a while my brain did this "if I don't track my food, then I will gain weight" but in reality I have to give myself more credit than that. I also did some little tests of myself. I would "portion" out a bit of food and do a guess as to how much food it was. For example I buy greek yogurt in a huge tub. So I would spoon out a bit into a bowl and say to myself, that looks to be about 3oz of yogurt. And then I would weigh it. Whenever I would do this I was literally within grams of accuracy. So that exercised helped me to get over the fear that I didn't know what I was looking at. Sorry this got long...I hope it helps you...

Wanda you said that so beautifully... Florinda...sending you a giant hug!! Also, I love the world of the Visible Girls. Omg. That is brilliant and so true. I'm sorry that one of your guys is in "shutdown" mode but you are smart to realize that everyone deals with death and grief in a slightly different manner. Nothing we do is the perfect recipe and everyone deals in different ways. Keep reaching out to this person... Laura glad you are "back" here and things are "back" to normal...sending you a giant hug also. Coops...I *forgot* that you have a mini cooper...how fitting, and I love her name. Don't beat yourself up over a bad day, we all have them and like you said thank you sleeve for preventing me from shoveling in more. As for me, after a proper "fast" day and a half-assed "fast" day, I've lost the 2lbs from the holidays and today I weigh what I did in early Nov. So now I need to keep things going...except we are joining a friend tonight for drinking...he had a birthday last week that most people forgot so he is throwing himself a party and naming quite aptly a "Pity Party" ...no kids but please bring your favorite alcohol...just hoping to keep it a few...New Years Eve I think I had about 6-7 drinks and somehow miraculously did not have much of a hangover except for a headache.

Yep the holiday season caught up with me in 2012 (when I was just at 2 years post-op) now being 3+ years out, I'm glad I had a holiday season like I did in 2012 because it taught me some hard lessons. This year I did gain, but only 2lbs. Still I would love another no-gain holiday so that is my goal for the holiday season 2014. At any rate, this just illustrates why we have a Vet's Forum and why you should be at least a year before posting in here...

Well, gosh you sound exactly like I did at the beginning of 2013. I spent all of 2012 going UP on the scale instead of down. The final straw was the +8lbs that I gained from JUST Oct-Jan 1st. Let me tell you it was a definite eye-opener. You are in the right frame of mind right now. You realize that by not paying attention you can easily gain extra weight. So from now on, you will be paying extra attention to your diet, exercise, Water habits, etc. This is for LIFE! Not just a journey with an end that says GOAL...NOW GO PARTY. We all basically "get it" in our minds, but living it out is a little bit harder. I'm 3+ years out and sometimes I still need a knock on the head to get me going. Hang in there...you are in the right place!

New Years Eve - 2013. Had a wedding to attend at a fancy hotel...perfect evening for a LBD!

Coops... YOU ARE GOING TO GET TO GOAL THIS YEAR!!!! YES YES YES....I totally agree!!!! I did it, I fasted yesterday. A good proper fast. Finally. And I may do it again today too. So even though I threw the gauntlet down and said NO GAIN for the holiday 2013 season, I am up. +2ishlbs. Which is waaaay better than the +8 I gained JUST from Oct-Jan back in 2012. So I'm happy with 2 but I want to see it GONE asap! I forget how good I feel when I fast. So powerful. I need to remember this feeling...