sarsar

2.5 years out, 119 pounds lost and I finally feel like me again. A different person? Not sure but I know I'm the person I had been wanting to be for a long time. No, I honestly do not discriminate against big people. I remember where I came from and I remember how I felt and I don't plan to forget it. I do look at big people and feel bad because I remember how I felt. I feel compassion for them. I've been in their shoes. I don't eat only healthy but I do eat healthy a lot of the time. I don't look down on those who don't. They will change their life when they are ready. I don't let how other people eat bother me. I choose not to let it bother me. Instead, I am thankful that I was given this chance in life and that I can't eat like that anymore. Some things that are different are the usual things you hear...I'm happier, more confident. I can do more, I feel like I am living life now instead of sitting on the side line. Now, I can say these things as someone who is far out from surgery. Right after surgery, my emotions were going crazy and I'm sure I felt a lot of different things. It takes quite a while to settle into a "normal" life and figure things out.

Nine pounds is a lot of weight to lose in a week! I gained 8 pounds from the surgery and it took a couple weeks to get that off. You will be fine, keep doing what you're doing.

Sheila, thanks for the list. I'm going to write it down till I remember everyone. Are your girls feeling better? I found the fudge recipe (p.169) and I'm going to make it this weekend. I was going to make it today but I don't have any marshmallows only marshmallow fluff. It looks quick and easy and yummy! Jane, seems like you have got this dating this figured out...have fun with all of those guys and keep us updated! Denise, keep us updated, too. One day the right guy will come around. At least you can make a couple of friends in the process. Question for you two...Jane, I know you said you aren't looking for husband material. Do these guys you two are seeing want to get married? Does that come out in the discussion right away or is it on their profile? Like I said, this stuff is so interesting to me. Wanda, yes, I love having my daughter as my friend. It's one of the greatest things in the world. I am so happy God gave me a girl when he did. The boys will grown up and have a different relationship with me but my daughter and I will always have a special relationship...for that I am thankful! Keep hanging in there Wanda, one foot in front of the other, that's all you can do sometimes. Kim, I know the feeling of wanting to eat everything! I hate it when I go through those times. Usually I go through this once a month for a few days right before I get my period. I don't gain from those days so I just try to go with it and not eat too much and realize that soon I will feel "normal" again. This time of year is hard with so many treats. Your pie sounds delish! Do you eat mostly organic? Laura, I LOVE garlic cheese curds. I live in WI where the cheese is heavenly and abundant! You should try heating up the curds for a few seconds...they taste so good like this. What do your kids mean by wanting the "old mom" back? I'm wondering what the "old mom" is compared to the "new mom". Coops...see I forgot your name already but you said people call you Coops anyway so I guess it's ok. I understand now what you are saying about the pooch. When I went to a plastics consult the surgeon told me that the upper part of my tummy wouldn't be removed unless I had an incision that went up and down so he could go high enough. Now I don't know if that's true bc I just went to one consultation so far. I think it's something you notice but nobody else does. You look great! Globe, are you doing ok? Didn't hear from you today. Usually when I get up there is a post from you. Let us know how you are please. Susan, are you still here? Did you have another fast day this week? My fast day yesterday went just fine. I came in about 530 calories. I have no appetite today and I feel like I'm getting sick. Yuck. I have absolutely zero Christmas spirit this year. My shopping isn't done, the tree isn't up....I'm just not into it. I usually do a bunch of baking to give out to my husbands clients and our friends. I don't think I'm going to do it this year. Oh well. Happy Friday all!

GEORGIA!!! This is so exciting! I am very happy for you.

Sheila, love the take charge kind of attitude! Denise, yes, thanks so much for starting this group!

WTG, Lynda! So much easier to put the breaks on after a few pounds!

A list...good idea...will someone post that? I am terrible with names. I still don't think I can stop calling CGJ, Jane! Laura, is your name really Laura? Thanks, Kim! Not just blowing hot air up your....LOL. I was dying over here with that one! It's hard to tell from the pic but my hair is no longer thick thanks to the sleeve and thyroid problems. I seriously lost 1/2 of my hair after my sleeve. I had quite a bit bf that. The thing that saves me is that my hair is curly. I style it bc it doesn't look good "right out of the shower curly" like Jane's hair. Because of the curl it makes it look much thicker than it really is. It would be such fun if we could all meet up someday, somehow!

M2G, I love the stripes now, too. I never used to wear them but now a lot of things I own are stripes! My daughter is a wonderful girl, I know my husband (not her biological dad, but he adopted her so he has always been her dad) and I did well with raising her. She isn't perfect but she really is a good, responsible young lady. I am proud of her. Now, if she would just finish college. She went for 2 years and then decided she didn't want to major in elementary education anymore so she took some time off and is working 2 jobs to support herself right now. It's fun when your kids grow up and you become friends! I love this time in my life with her right now. I just wished we lived closer. I am pretty sure that CGJ is Sheila also. Jane, I just can't picture you as a Sheila! Georgia, thanks for your kind words! Whoa, I'm chatty today...

Yes, yes, yes!!! When it ends, then what?? Same thing with me! But, this is a part of me that I'm trying to work on....always a work in progress.

Ha...made total sense! I understand, it's like I still see the old body/skin/stretch marks/whatever but yet I can still see that I look different...now does that make sense??? Basically the same thing you said! A couple of weeks ago I was out shopping with my sister and daughter. I was in the dressing room with them trying some stuff on. Earlier that day my sister had mentioned that I looked like I lost weight. I told her I had lost 14 pounds since starting the 5:2 plan (and then explained 5:2 to her). Anyway I was getting all naked and trying stuff on and she said, "Sarah, why do you want to lose 10 more pounds? You won't look healthy if you keep losing." She sounded a bit worried about me and it scared me a little (anorexia issues when I was young). I said I want to lose it here...pointing to my butt and hips. She was like, there is nothing there but extra skin. So frustrating trying to be content with what I have and not take things too far...

I drink water and green tea in the morning/afternoon.A lot of water! I usually fast until around 3. You don't have to do it that way, I prefer to eat my calories in the afternoon/evenings. I have a protein drink around 3 and that includes spinach and ground flax seed. I will have some string cheese or some greek yogurt a couple of hours later. Today is a fast day for me and I am craving green beans so I will have some in a little while. Sometimes I much on something called Healthy 8 chopped veggie mix that I buy from Trader Joe's. I also save calories for some skinny pop before I go to bed. I usually come in at 500-550 calories for the day. Most of us try to stick right around 500 calories on fast days. I also fast on Monday and Thursday. I had to change that up for Thanksgiving and I will do the same the week of Christmas.

Awww...thanks, Laura. It's funny bc I do not feel "tiny" at all. It seems like most of us are like that. I see pics of everyone and think they look so tiny but most of the time people come back and say they don't think they are tiny. I think it's bc we know what we look like under the clothes!?!? Who knows???

M2G...no apologies needed. I should be much older having a 23 year old daughter! When people meet me and find out I have a 23 year old they always say I don't look old enough to have a child that old. Guess what? I'm not! I don't go into the whole story with them but it's still uncomfortable for me at times.

Ok, I'm going to post a couple pics. This is one of my outfits I wore in Arizona but you can't see the cutest part which were the shoes! This is me wearing my first pair of skinny jeans with boots! This is a picture of the mountains in Sedona. I know a lot of you live near mountains but they are so beautiful to me because I rarely get to see them. This is a pic looking out of the hummer in Arizona when we went into the mountains

M2G, (Sheila, right? Although I can't call you that because we have too many Shelia's in the group!) I don't know if I'm older than you. You look like your younger than me...I'm 42. Remember, though, I had my daughter when I was 18. My boys are 10 and almost 14. Coops, I'm confuse about the pooch, didn't you have a tummy tuck? I forgot to tell you you have awesome looking legs from your pic. You calves are nice and little ankles. Might sound funny but I hate my calves. I have stretch marks all down the back of them and hanging skin when I am sitting. I had terrible cankles when I was heavy (remember the bike pic I posted????) M2G, I cannot believe your fingers are sooo tiny. When I got pg with my first son, I had to have my wedding ring cut off because my fingers got so fat I couldn't remove it myself. A couple years after he was born I had is resized to wear it again....a size 9.5!!!!!!!!!!!! So as you can imagine, it became huge very quickly when I started losing weight. I haven't had it resized yet but I had this thingy, some kind of sizer thing, put on it so that I can wear it still. When I measured my fingers at the jeweler I was a five and a quarter. So I have to pay to have the rings resized and I asked the guy what he does with the extra gold that he cuts off...he didn't have an answer for that! I think he should give the gold back to me that he takes off! Hi Cathy! Sorry about your back. Take it easy. I think stress does have a lot to do with us getting sick or injuring ourselves. And, you are under a ton of stress. Hang in there!

Bump for TheNewSusie

I'll bump it up for you.

Scroll down a little in the vets forum and you will find a new 5:2 topic, there are some people on there who have started recently. Feel free to ask any questions and we'll try to answer any that we can.

Ok, one last thing. Laura, I was thinking yesterday that I wish you would just take a straight on pic of yourself and post it! You don't need to do tricks with the camera anymore! You are beautiful and you are skinny!

Yes, Skinny, pic please! I am pretty sure I saw one of you a while ago on another part of this forum. If it's you I am thinking of you have nothing to be concerned about...you are so skinny! And if I remember correctly, didn't you change your name to Skinny after you got to your goal? Did you used to have a different user name? See...procrastinating again...I'm really leaving now for a while. Don't type anything interesting while I'm gone!

I totally agree! I love reading about these dates! I love seeing the pictures of outfits, too. And I really would love to see their profile pics! Can't you sneak some pics of these guys so we can see what they look like? lol Thanks for sharing the info, Jane. Congrats on the new low! I am procrastinating over here. I need to get out of this house before it's time to get the boys from school!

Jane, I gotta ask...when do you decide to share with the person you are dating or have dated that you used to be heavy? Is it something you share? Is that something that is discussed down the road if it turns into something? Did this guy ask why you were eating so little? Are you open and upfront about your sleeve? I love asking questions and finding out things like this because I may never experience it being married for 18 years! The whole online dating thing is also fascinating to me. My daughter does it but I think it's different for someone older and more mature.

Susan, I am in full agreement with Kim and Daisy. We, a group of truly dedicated longer term sleevers, began this group because we desperately needed to find something that worked for us and that was 5:2. In doing that, we became fast friends and confidants. In every way imaginable! . Knowing that I could "bare my soul" to this group whom I've never met face to face but linked heartbeats with has been life changing for me physically and I will say, sometimes emotionally. Yes, there are others who need help and we willingly offer it On Other Threads And will continue. This place has become sacred to us. I would hate for that to change. I, personally, hope that we maintain the integrity of our group as it is. I could not have said it better myself...I feel the same as Kim, Georgia and Daisy. I can see both sides of it but I really do love the closeness of this group. We have all formed a bond here, it is something special. I am thankful I was able to get in when I did! I also understand that nothing is private on the internet. Anybody in this group could copy and paste and put any of the pictures or anything that is written anywhere for the whole world to see. I hope that will never happen. Fast day for me today. I need to go out in the cold and finish my xmas shopping. I am FREEZING! Seriously I have so many layers on and I'm still cold.

Brown...DO NOT GIVE UP! We are here for you! I was wondering if you have ever had your thyroid checked?

We have all become quite close in our little group. Like I said, it's much more than 5:2! I love having a place to come that I can open up and say what I need or want to say without judgement and I can receive honest feedback. I don't think any of us fast on the weekend as a usual fast day. Why are you considering a re-sleeve? Have you had yours looked at? Did it get bigger? Not enough taken out?