UK Cathy

LV glad to see you are back in contact, FYE I'm off to Portugal -Europe might seem an exotic location to you ladies but don't forget I live in the UK. This must be my 5th trip to Portugal we find it so relaxing there and relaxation is just what my husband needs at the moment. GT I understand completely about missing your dad, mine died when I was 6 (RTA- hit and run) and there is not a day go by when I don't miss him and I'm 54 now. I don't know about addictions and the relationship to weight but I do think that all large people have some sort of history that affects our weight and we have to deal with that as well as the physical weight loss to move forward. I still haven't dealt with mine yet but I do know that I have to. Have a lovely weekend ladies and I will log my weight before I leave tomorrow.

Hope everyone is well. I fasted yesterday and I'm having a light week in anticipation of my holiday next week. I just had to share with you ladies and I hope it is not TMI but I just had a 'never trust a fart' situation. I had one of these a couple of weeks post op but never since and I am 18 months out now! I went out with husband and MIL for lunch and I ordered a starter portion of poached salmon and because I don't eat many salad leaves I thought I would have a side order of mushrooms. I ate the salmon and about half of the mushrooms. Fast forward about 30 mins after meal and I was hanging out the laundry and 'it' happened. I immediately had to shower and change. Thank goodness I was at home, if it had happened anywhere else I would have been mortified. I blame the mushrooms, I haven't had many since being sleeved and I might just take them off the menu again. I could do with popping out to the shops but I think I will leave it for now and make sure my tum is OK. I'm going to the theatre tonight so want to make doubly sure. LV- hope your tuning in and that you are feeling better about yourself. You give lots of love and support on this site, let us now return the favour and give you the support you need. Georgia you seem to be wasting away, those scales love you at the moment but it is just the reward for the hard work you have put into the 5:2 Brown your head seems to be in the right place now, I don't love the exercise but I do make myself do it. The first year I went to a ladies only gym that is the equivalent of curves and I found that fine. The past few months I got a trainer who comes to the house, I booked 10 sessions initially and she came once a week, I then booked another 10 and she comes every other week. I do the exercises myself about 3 times per week. Ido enjoy this more as the exercises are tailored to me and what I want to achieve. Coops, you on half term next week? If so enjoy the rest. I fly Sunday so I am going to make my weigh in day Sunday this week (instead of Monday ) then next week I am going to enjoy myself but not overindulge, most probably no fast days and then just back to it when I return.

You are inspirational ladies, I think I need to regroup and work a bit harder.

FYE what a great chart, healthy and younger I would take that any day!

Here is that chart I bring out now and then that links age and BMI. Though I agree that an 'ideal' weight is one that you feel comfortable at and can maintain. The way things are going with me I think I might well still be in the overweight category when I hit my goal.

Nice to see you OD, know what you mean about posting a real picture.

Sorry it would not let me edit previous post. I am on an ipad on mfp go to more, edit food and exercise, recipes then in the top corner there is a + sign and you can add a recipe (ingredients). You should be able to follow it from there. Then when you are adding foods into your daily diary you can just call up the recipe by name. Hope this helps.

You can use my fitness pal, you input a recipe, say how many it is for and it gives out the stats.

Suzanne, it is great to get re- confirmation of this surgery from someone who is so far out. To the best of my knowledge ( not that great) I think your post is from someone who had their op the longest period ago. Bad English but I hope you know what I mean. Surgery 18 months ago for me and it has been slow (very slow in places) and steady. I have lost 92lb and have 8 to go to my goal. I love my sleeve and I could not have been in this position without it. We have a vets forum here please drop in and say hi, I'm sure we would have lots of questions for you.

You will be fine, deep breath and off you go...

Looking good!!

Thanks for the pictures, it's so good to see your transformation. You look amazing now. Well done. Also thanks for the input you have on this site, words of wisdom just flow from you. XX

Well done Allan, I'm dreaming of joining the 100lb club.

Georgia, chuffed definition - to be pleased, happy or proud of yourself. Sometimes people say "chuffed to bits" which means the same.

Hi ladies, haven't sent any messages in the last week but I have been reading. Work is so busy at the moment and I had SIL and family staying last week and then I travelled to see my mum at the weekend. I have had a very lazy day today though. The scales have finally moved after 3 weeks and I am down 1.5lb, so chuffed. That makes me 172.5 so less than 10lb to my goal (163), I might re-evaluate when I get there but being at 163 would be a 100lb loss. OD I think you are really brave, you have chosen to put yourself in a situation you do not want to be in but in your heart you know it is for best. There is a wonderful person out there just waiting for the beautiful you to walk into their life. Totally understand about eating this weekend, is it the change in weather? LV I too wonder about my increased capacity for food. I have to make a determined decision to put a small portion out, I reason with myself and say "if you are not full after that you can have some more", usually I don't but if I put the larger portion out I guess I would make a good job of getting it all down. I do still eat off a small plate so that my portions do not look too small. Fasting tomorrow and looking forward to it. In fact I am going to try and have a light week on non fast days as I go away for six days on Sunday. Sorry not to mention everyone by name but I am thinking of you all.

Have you been cleared for exercise? You have had a major operation. Also so that you do not go crazy rein in your expectations of the sleeve, it is for permanent weight loss not fast weight loss (though some people do lose fast). You will lose at the rate your body can cope with, to help things along you must keep up your Protein and Water intake. Some people are hit by the post op blues so look out for them. Also at 3 weeks post op lots of people have a stall. I'm not trying to chide you but this is going to be a long haul so you have to have a little patience. Best wishes for your journey.

Jules read my comment, the 25lb you have lost what is that as a % of what you want to lose?

What is your weightloss as a % of the weight you want to lose. I think sometimes we can see posts that say "lost 100lb in 6 months" and we nowhere near that number we feel disappointed with ourselves. But if the original poster has 300lb to lose they will have lost 33% of what they want to lose. Your smaller number expressed as a % may be in the same ball park. Whatever, do not feel disappointed in what you have lost, every lb down is a lb nearer to your goal.

Cheri, glad to see that you are back, it's hard to be off the board for a few days isn't it? It's funny that on the days we do post not a lot seems to happen but the day(s) we don't log on the site explodes with stories and feedback. It is good that you are getting the hormones under control and are returning to the 5:2 method. Hubby is OK now, still stressed but no other physical signs so that is good.

Wow!, just Wow!

CGJ sounds like you are doing so well especially after so much work. What is twilight sedation, are you actually awake. Don't know if I could do that. I had a good fast day yesterday and have done a good session with PT today so am feeling a bit virtuous. I forgot to get on scales first thing and I refuse to believe the scales at any other time during the day so I will have to look at my weight tomorrow, here's hoping it looks good. Coops glad you are recovering and that your trousers are loose! Non fast day today. It sounds like lots of people are going off on trips the next couple of weeks, or have gone already, and are trying even harder so they have a couple of lb to play with. I'm off to Portugal on 26th so I would like the scales to take a downward swing before then. Have a good day everyone.

Well a nice quiet weekend for me and hubby. We were not able to see MIL as the home had a bout of winter sickness and all visits were cancelled. Bad for her, we did tel, but good for us as we had a complete break and hubby got a bit of a rest. The scales are the same again this week (2 in a row) and I have to admit I am a little disappointed. I do think though that my fluids have decreased a lot over this past week and I must put that right. The temperature has dropped significantly and it is hard to drink the plain Water. Sorry to hear you are feeling bad coops, hope it is not this sickness that is doing the rounds. Visitors this week (SIL and family), hope I can keep it altogether. My fast days are tues and thurs and as I work both those days it should be ok to stick to them. I must be careful on the other days, I have planned out the food to avoid any pitfalls. It sounds like people are having a bit of a tough time at the moment so come on all gather around and let's have a group ((((HUG)))). Love to all

M2G congrats on your new low, your new exercise regime must be paying off, well done for sticking with it when the weight was going up. Are you after a weight on the scales or a dress size or a combo of both?

Swizzle you can't get cake!!! Where are you? Viewing on ipad so don't get access to profile/ signatures etc

Weigh in Monday, 174 same as last week. Busy weekend with work, getting son back to university and husband in ER! He is fine but in church on Saturday pm he felt strange and had chest pain. Luckily a doctor was in the congregation so he checked him out, he thought he was fine but suggested a trip to hospital to confirm. The kept him 24 hrs for obs. Everything looks ok but they are going to do a ultrasound and stress test as an outpatient. I think I know what the problem is he is under an incredible stress with work, he is the CEO of a manufacturing company and manufacturing is so tough at the moment. He is in competition with cheaper goods from the Far East and component prices just keep going up and up. He is back at work today! I am fasting today and I am having 2 of my yoghurt combos: I use frozen raspberries (thawed) add 0% Greek yoghurt! oats and I keep a mixture of stevia/cinnamon in my cupboard and add that. The 80g/100g/20g combo comes in at 154 calories and I will have a larger portion tonight 120g/150g/20g which comes in at 196 which gives a total of 350. I will have the smaller one about 12.30 and the larger one about 6pm. I am working a 1-9 shift today and everyone in work always think that my dinner looks delicious. I explain I am doing the 5:2 and it is a fast day (no one knows about op). It means that when I get home from work I still have 150 calories to play with. I will more than likely have some cold chicken as the combos only give me 32g of Protein and I will need to pump that up, if I don't feel like eating I will use a Protein Shake to get the protein in. Coops my trainer gave me a sheet on coconut oil ( just something from internet) and it recommended stir frying with it, baking or using it to replace spread. When you on half term? Send a pm. Georgia hope your neck/back? Is feeling better. I have one of those mattresses, I love it, but it is heavy to lift at the corners when changing the fitted sheet. Hope everyone else is fine and that they have a good week