feedyoureye

You have lost 12 inches in that time, you are replacing fat with muscle tone... I think you are WAY a winner coops... Dont let that scale number bum you out, that measurement number is more important to the way you really look! Big Congrats!! Keep up what you are doing! I want some of that, I need to 1. measure again, and 2. go to the gym more! I got to "goal"...( high end of my bounce range goal) two and a half weeks ago, it lasted one day and I was bouncing above it for the last 2 1/2 wks... today I finally got back to the 60's.... so I am now one pound below my highest bounce weight. My goal is to keep my bounce, high and low end, in the 160's. So very happy about this....at least for today! Surgery date: 1-18-2011 High weight- 259 two days before surgery- 247 one year after surgery- 174 two years after surgery (3-12-2013)- 196.3- back on the wagon, trying TDEE then Southbeach phase1. start the 5:2 plan (6-11-2013)- 190.9 almost 3 years after surgery First Goal, get to the 160's (11-7-13) 168.7 still on the 5:2! 22.2 down on the 5:2 in 5+ months

^^^^ What?^^^^ I love this site for many reasons, but this ain't one of them.

I have found I need to track and weigh everyday... but I have tried to take that "obsessed" mind part out. I just do it like brushing my teeth. When I don't do it, I gain. I am finally at goal, (well, working on losing a little bounce range) and how I act is mostly the same as I did when I was still in the losing phase. I use the 5:2 and luckily I don't get too cranky, wouldn't like that! It has gotten easier with time. Its a good maintenance tool too, you might even get away with one day a week for that(6:1). (not me so far, but after the bounce pounds are gone... 3 or 4 I may go to one day a week and see if I can keep the weight off) Just do what your doing, its not a race, you will get there! I was 5 pounds from goal when i started gaining, and it took me almost a year to get back there and then to goal. I'm still learning how to do this right!

Jane, I would never want you to stop wearing what you like or pursuing your personal happiness! (spoken by the 60 year old in the skinny jeans and high heel boots with the pierced nose and purple hair!) I don't even think that is necessarily vanity... I'm really talking to myself out loud... the vanity I am talking about is more insidious... hefting around the feeling like I look/am not quite good enough(then what/who?)... and spending precious time being motivated from that... its just like some devils work....

Part of how you can judge where you are is by measurement. Sounds like your body is making some composition adjustments. Do get back on track, use MFP, as time goes by, it does get easier for most to eat more (I took the opportunity to eat more veggies at this time), and really, the need for attention to detail never ends, before, and after all your weight loss. 5 can turn into 20... unfortunately, I know first hand. I have managed to get to goal, at three years out..., but it was not easier the second time to get the weight off. Do the work now if you can get back on track. It may be slow going, but thats ok too... as long as you are heading in the right direction! Congrats on the 85, that is an awesome achievement!

On fast days I make an iced mocha using an ESA chocolate fudge shake and espresso (decaf) or a Thai Iced tea with an ESA french vanilla with some brewed thai ice tea and extra stevia.... I absolutely love them both. low carb, 100 cals, and low or no caffein.Give it a try. Target is the cheapest place to buy them. 4 for less than $5. Way cheaper than Starbucks! I have to stay with the scale and MFP every day. I would rather not, but really, it's the only way I can make it all work. I'm resigned to doing it.http://www.target.com/p/eas-advantedge-chocolate-fudge-shakes-4-count-11-fl-oz/-/A-11061366

Occasionally I realize how many hours, days, months and years that I have spent wanting to look different, spending money and time on trying to change the "not ok'ness of my body/me" when I could have been having fun, or helping someone, or making something magical happen, or learning something new.... What a waste. It really pisses me off! It moves me to go make up for the lost opportunity! I heard a method to get rid of negative behavior.... schedule it. I will now go plan on spending 5 minutes hating my body. The rest of the day? I will work on one of the other activities that are more worthwhile. We have a powerhouse of talent and heart here ladies! AN ARMY. don't you forget it. We can change the world, one little bit at a time. Sarsar, you know the main topic of my (art)work? Vanity. I know its a problem. Its a deadly sin, and a poison. Hating ourselves is a vanity. Thats what I think anyway. I have been working on this one for a while. Vanity and impermanence.

go girl go! I love meeting up with my dance pals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/howard-schatz-photos-women-professional-athletes_n_4297902.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Marfar, perfection is not one size fits all. Im sure you look fantasticly YOU just as you are!

I taught in the California State Prison system for a couple of years. Mostly at a womens prison in Stockton. Also Folsom and Napa. Most of the artists that I worked with from Arts in Corrections via the William James Association were such fantastic people. So much talent. At least as high quality as college or university in my opinion. I will have to look up those books, looks interesting!

Thanks all! Just wanted to say I am deeply grateful for my life. Rocks and all. I have met remarkable people and other beings, I have learned something now and again. I have unlearned much more. I have had adventure, exaltation, pathos, and a deep human experience. My weight is really an illusion floating in the mix of experience. It is attributed dependent on illusory circumstances... it is not real from its own side. Its ultimate value is ever changing. This body is a vessel that carries me through this world. You can't hate it and live the most expansive life possible. ....unless you choose to live a tragedy... Just saying.

http://feedyoureye.com

Lovely how he did that. I love TED talks! Hope we (human beings) find an answer to Metabolic syndrome and Obesity soon... and in the mean time, spread the compassion around liberally. Honestly, I hope there are research Drs reading this site, there is a wealth of information and direct observation here to learn from....

Not surprising, revolting really. These people are desperate, and this is just a money making scheme. It compares to Gladiators fighting for their lives in ancient Rome!

Good one Globe! I'm going to read the rest of them too...

I tell you ladies, we could write a book! Reading your stories was like looking into a secret world. Of course, its not secret to me, I have had much of the same experience, but its not the story that gets told in public that often. I started dieting at age 10, my family doc put me on Dexedrine, can you believe it!? Mom figured it out, and took me off right away, but that was the era for ya... Honestly, I look at photos of myself from then, and I was not even fat. I sure did think there was something wrong with myself that I needed to "fix" though. Like you Jane, In highschool I was bigger than most of my friends, but probably weighed 150 pounds. I wore a size 10 shoe, and was 5' 7", not even fully grown. Twiggy was the ideal when I was post puberty. I could never look like her, but always wished I could. I was always a cloths horse, loved to dress up, and got lots of attention for it. I wore a 13 until around age 30 something... then the weight started creeping up. Of course I was on a diet the whole time. Thank goodness I never got into any long cycles of binging or barfing... I did get so depressed I couldn't eat in my 30s, lost 35 pounds pushing away green salads and dancing at the clubs every week. I had a split mind on how I looked, I could dress up, and felt ok about the results. and at the same time, was never quite happy with it, I thought I was a little too fat, too big. (I was 5'10" for heavens sakes, with big bones) Diets I went on did not really get me to goal, but how could they! My goal was to feel a certain way, which was not totally weight related. In 89 I went to India for 6 months, had a great time, lost 35 pounds without going on a diet, but when I came back things changed. I gained over 50 pounds in a couple of months... eating what I wanted, (which I was doing when I lost the 35 in India) That got me to the 250s. I Really felt fat then. I never got out of the 200s after that. Only when I started getting co-morbids did I really think about WLS, and for a change, it was not motivated by how I looked (read that "how I look=my worth as a human being, how I am seen/valued by others, my desireability....) After many attempts at losing through the years, without success, I did work on feeling good about myself whatever weight, knew fat acceptance people, had friends of all sizes I loved and didn't judge for their weight, did affirmations, and generally tried to accept myself how I was.... I bought clothing all the time, because, they never quite made me feel the way I wanted to...(slim!) I have always worn black, but that was the only color in the closet. I stopped going out as much. It started effecting my creativity. In the arts, it doesn't hurt to be the "whole package". Most of the ladies artists look great/sexy in photos, as well as can make art.... Anyway. I was still looking in all the wrong places for my happiness. Now I don't even want to be the same size I was when I thought I was still to fat... 150. That is an accomplishment anyway. We are sold this bill of goods by example, advertising, sample sizing, how character actors traits are sometimes size dependent (the fat and jolly, the fat and boyfriendless, the fat and ridiculed, the fat sidekick... the fat and sexless, the fat and lazy...) I was afraid I would be seen as all these things, obscuring all the hard work I have done on my other skills. Now that Im not fat, I have transferred all that to my age! Ha! I AM wiser now than I was then though, and want to be an old lady roll model for younger ladies. So I really try and wear my wrinkles with pride. As part of a larger culture, we are seen through a filter, but not by everyone, and hopefully not by ourselves. It may be frustrating, but its not true unless its true. (sometimes I am lazy )

Miss Georgia, you still have a pic of a lady drinking a beer at a bar. No kidding!

Have you ever had a scar... that was numb early on? The docs say no heavy lifting for at least 6 weeks... then take care. The staple line is considered fully healed at 6 months. Thats when the swelling goes down and you get back to "normal", the honeymoon is over, you can eat more, tolerance to a variety of foods come back...some who find raw food, skins, chilies, milk a problem early on, can eat them again. Things just seem more normal, and it may get harder to lose, too feel full. Use your early time to the best advantage you can, it does not get easier to lose later. You will get to eat "normally" soon enough. Just my take on things from personal experience, and reading the posts of other vets through the years. Take care, no reason not to early on.

Lots of things change over time. Just keep in mind that you have had many nerves cut from your stomach, and you may not be able to feel over eating early on. Stay on plan as much as you can, chew chew chew anything off plan, and the funnel (had it) gurgling (had it) will go away at some time. Your stomach still does not know what hit it... be kind! Pizza, cake and lollies can come later, after little sleevie has healed up.

Wow! So many thoughtful posts over the night and early am... Globe, I do know where you are coming from, being the "fat girl" in the room, but remember we all have experience with that, remember just how it felt... Honestly, I doubt anyone here thinks of you as fat, we think of you as you... and all your complexities. Same to Wanda! Of course, we cant see your bodies unless you post a pic, and Im sure if you post a before and after, even if your not where you want to be yet, we would all stand up and cheer for your success so far! Its a damn hard road. This is the FIRST time I have gotten to a weight goal... ever! I have had waaaay more experience with not getting to goal, and regain than being at goal. I feel you. Cathy, Change is so challenging... and moving is my least fav thing to do! But life IS change, and your attitude is lovely. Sometimes the hared thing now is the best thing later, I understand that. Its an opportunity. Best of luck to you both. Im fasting today too. My knee bone spurs are acting up, and I am staying home with my leg up and an ice pack. SOOOO boring... but I will try to head this off at the pass... last time I lost 4 months at the gym... and that was part of my regain problem.... Thank goodness this time I have the 5:2! OD, and Jane, Relationship can sure be complicated! If I were putting myself back in the "market" I think I would use the internet too, and maybe spend some time on meetup doing super fun activities. Shelia, I really like your rewrite for Daisey....more to the point and well rounded. Kim

Probably the weekend of the 14th, when I get a real day(s) Ill let you know!

I used to be 5'10".... the last time I measured I was 5'8 1/2" WTF? Its because Im getting old, and the spine is compressing. I like the fat feet and head theory though... I split the diff and say Im 5'9" now.

You look so much younger Butter, and sporty! You have really made this all work for you, and have been generous to others on the way. Congrats!