Globetrotter

2-3 hours a day. at only 3 weeks out? That's a lot, puts the system under a lot of stress ... plus, cardio may be good generally for your health but it isn't good for weight loss. I am a 3 year veteran and my two cents opinion is to concentrate on weight lifting/muscle building, and keep your carbs as low as possible to maximize your honeymoon phase, I'd say lower than 35grams per day.

Here's two cool sites ... http://www.rawmazing.com/avocado-coconut-oil-hair-mask/ http://nouveauraw.com/raw-recipies/soup-salad/

I did not realize that acid and hernias were linked, I too have a hernia which is about to be repaired, though I think mine is umbilical..

You've lost 160 pounds, and have had your plastics, sounds to me like you don't need any help! But if you are only 2 weeks out from plastics, I imagine your surgeon gave you recommendations? I would also imagine that if you weren't given suggestions, that common sense would tell you to eat easily digestible foods that won't make going to the bathroom complicated right now after the TT. Basically, return to mushies phase.

TwinsMama, thank you, you are so supportive, it is meaningful to me, thank you! In the ongoing saga of Ye Olde Head Case, I am battling a paradox at the moment: I am at least 60 lbs over goal weight, at least 20 lbs heavier than the last time I felt good about myself, and am more out of shape then I have been since surgery - I have not exercised faithfully/regularly in 3 months. So here's the issue: I need to get to the gym more than I've ever needed to since surgery, yet I am afraid/embarrassed/humiliated/ashamed to go *until* I lose the *extra* weight. So I need to go to the gym in order to lose the weight, but won't go to the gym until I've already lost the weight, wtf... It makes zero sense, I know, but that's how I feel. When I was at my best - my lowest weight, my most kick-ass strength, I really felt like I was accomplishing something at the gym because I could feel it in my body. I want so badly to feel that way again but feel like I can't get there without a weight loss jump start, a shock to the system that smacks my metabolism upside the head and goes, "giddyeyup! we're losing weight here!!" anyway, ramble ramble ramble ...

I too agree, my body enjoys ADR - or I thought it did! I mean, I feel good, it makes me enjoy my eating days and look forward to fast days as days I don't have to think about food. But after 19 days and no loss, I'm pretty bummed.

I have enjoyed doing ADR, so I was unhappy to read that ADR and women don't seem to have positive results. Last night I was thinking about my weight loss bell curve; it took 6 months to lose the 20 pounds between 184-164. It took 4 months to lose the 20 pounds between 204-184. It took 2 months to lose the 20 pounds between 220-200. Even though I was still 30 pounds overweight, I bottomed out at 164. Judging by the amount of loss vs time to lose it, I lost best and most swiftly when I was doing 600 cals. Is that because of the timeline, because I was still in honeymoon and it actually didn't matter how many cals I took in? Or is it that my body only responds to severe calorie restriction? argh!

Thank you all for your kind words, the word stress is so puny it really doesn't describe the feelings one has after such a shock. The difac is back today, who knew I would ever be grateful for the heat lamp food they make but compared to MREs its great! As for things I need, I'm desperate for Clorox wipes or something similar, just-add-water or boil-in-a-bag type foods that aren't loaded with sodium, and Kleenex. I'm making today a feed day, in honor of actual food being available for the first time in a week, but I will not consume any overt carbs, no bread pasta rice etc.

I refuse, REFUSE, to believe that my body is happy being obese, which I still am. At 5'3", there is no WAY 190 pounds is acceptable, and I feel terrible, awkward and ungainly and FAT. The Paleo for Women article was thoroughly depressing, it basically told me that any sort of calorie restriction spells doom for my female brain and body. what the EFF. Has anyone considered whether or not the only people here who are successful at 5:2 are women who are post-menopausal?

OD - I sent you a PM Swizz - The concussion was strange, I felt sort of spacey, and couldn't recall things right away, and was very tired. I rested for 2 days and feel pretty much okay now. I have cookie dough, apple pie, vanilla almond crunch, and banana nut muffin flavors of Quest bars, all delish but also very sweet and rich and I can only have one or two per week before they become overpowering. I've been doing ADR, haven't lost a pound, and if you averaged out my cals, I'm getting about 900 cals a day. so how the EFF am I not losing weight?????? I think I will switch over to 5:2 instead, see what happens.

FOB stands for Forward Operating Base, any sort of US military installation outside the US is considered "forward". Yes, there were casualties, many. I received a concussion. PRT stands for Provincial Reconstruction Team. Re-reading the first post, I realize now how it could have been confusing, talking about the attack and then hernia without differentiating. It's a good thing that Fiddleman and wife sent me some protein powder awhile back and that I mailed several gross of Quest bars to myself, unfortunately they are Quest bars, ie delicious and high in carbs As for my eating right now, we get one meal a day at the moment so I'm averaging about 900 cals a day and my exercise consists of wearing my body armor for a good portion of the day (35 lbs).

I thought the TDEE or BMR or whatever, was the amount of calories you expend just being alive and laying in bed? The only time I have lost consistently since surgery was when I was on strict 600 cals, that's just not a possibility anymore.

M2G - Nope, didn't lose during that time

Gak, so confused! those 1660 cals I eat on feast days, should I be eating more than that? And, the only time I've ever shown steady weight loss was when I was a strict 600 cals a day, during my first 6 months, after that it's been a pound here, a pound there and lots of frustration. I've been doing ADR for 17 days now and haven't lost a single pound. On feast days I eat about 1600, on fasts about 600. My exercise has been nil but I've heard that as far as weight loss is concerned, though muscle building is important, diet is moreso. So, what the eff!!

I have tried NYDJ, and I love them, but even they do not hide my bulging pouchiness

17 days into my ADF reboot and haven't lost a pound.

Wow, gotta say ladies, more than a little hurt that nobody commented or showed any interest/concern, even though you keep saying hope everyone's okay! I posted that my FOB was attacked, and that it was pretty scary, and that's why I hadn't been up on the boards, yet the very next post after that just coasted on by, like I hadn't said anything ... Like I said in the post, google "attack on Ghazni". It was terrifying. As for my food and 5:2, every day has been a fast day since the attack, I'm rationing out my horded cans of sardines and Protein Shakes.

Massive attack yesterday, been in hiding. Just Google "Ghazni PRT attack". Don't know if it is hiatal or umbilical. All I know is that everything I eat gives me excruxiating diarrhea.

Feed - no, I had mine done by Dr Jossart in San Francisco CA. I was going to work out every day, until I discovered I have a hernia, that and two pulled groin muscles are keeping me out of the gym atm.

I rebooted my 5:2 efforts on August 18th; I do ADF, 1700 on, 600 off. Today is 10 days in, and I have not lost any weight. I wasn't going to weigh myself for 30 days but caved. I am 60 lbs above personal goal weight, fighting 25 lbs of regain from the last year.

Popcorn goes down easy, so I guess it's a slider, but it also sticks and stays and makes me feel very full for a very long time so ...

You are very lucky, TwinsMama, you have a flat lower pelvic region, that makes all the difference... My goal-weight-reward outfit is going to be custom made skinnies in a very dark wash stiff denim, a close fitting cashmere turtleneck (black), a perfectly tailored tweed jacket, and some very expensive leather riding boots! I think the key for my shape is going to be having a much higher waist then is currently available in off-the-rack jeans, one that come in at my actual waist/belly button. I have a very awkward shape: hourglass, technically a long torso but in reality a long waist-to-crotch and short wide ribcage. Very broad shoulders (a lifetime of competitive swimmning), wide hips, flat butt, short curvy legs, T-Rex arms, small head. I would have to be nearly skeletal to have my head look proportionate.

FYE, really about the carb Water? I did not know that! Interesting ... Coops - my favorite WLS blogger, Eggface, has the neatest wls-friendly high Protein Desserts. She has one for protein pudding, I bet you could tinker with it and make your own version of the ice slice! btw, I was thinking it was a popsicle of frozen citrus slices M2G - This set of Christmas books was a stocking-gift when I was very little, maybe 4. It's called "My Little Library of Christmas Classics", the books are only about 3 inches by 2 inches, one is a collection of carols, one is the Nutcracker, one is The Christmas Tree, and the other is The Night Before Christmas. They get taken out along with the Christmas decorations and put away, every year. I open them and I smell Christmas, I smell the joy and excitement, the Douglas fir and orange peel and nutmeg. I feel my Father's voice and hear my Mother's laugh, also the anxiety and tension and need for everything to be exactly perfect, to keep everyone happy. Keeping everyone in good spirits meant I was safe. It was a careful dance upon the head of a grenade pin. So, in those books is 30 years of family experience. My Father died this year, right after Christmas, and it was a painful wrenching non-Christmas, filled with every ugliness a small family could muster. I do not know how or if I will ever be able to Celebrate Christmas again and in a way I'm grateful I will still be deployed come this years. Wow, that got WAY off track, I apologize everyone!! I went down that dark rabbit hole FAST As for the severity of the Christmas Tree story M2G, you are totally right! I think we used to be a little less squeamish about telling stark or grim tales to children, have you ever seen some of the old illustrations to fairytales? And Hans Christen Andersen's stuff (before Disney got ahold of them) was DARK. I guess the thinking used to be, "well, life is harsh, better prepare the kids". Okay, on to actual 5:2 business - yesterday I clocked in at about 1600 cals but my carbs were just stratospheric!! They are really reducing at the difac so the only way to get my protein is with the shakes but then I can't get in the calories for feed days ... suggestions?? Today is a fast day which is no problem since I .... ...... have a hernia v_v. Went to the clinic yesterday and they confirmed it, also said that may be responsible for the pain in my guts and the bouts of diarrhea. So, not keen on putting much in my stomach beyond warm tea and mylanta. Starting to think I must've been a real bastard in my last life ... v_v.

Oh Coops, thank you, that means a lot to me! Considering that I have never even begun to get close to goal and you have, I think it should be the other way around! Thor lol, just call me Freyja ;P What is an ice slice? Sounds cool and refreshing. Just came back from lunch, I could have had ultra-creamy mac and cheese, ultra fried grilled cheese sandwiches, cookies, deep fried pollock. But I didn't. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread with a few bites of salad, a sip of root beer, and came back to the office and am having a double protein shake, and it's a feed day, 500 cals 41g protein in total, I bet that mac and cheese alone would have been 400 cals. I'm teaching a yoga class on Saturday so I really hope my two pulled groin muscles are healed by then!

I'm three years out and last night I had boiled shrimp for dinner. HUGE mistake, those little suckers sat in my chest and stomach for hours, I felt like I was going to burst, I had the slimes, and even this morning I still feel a little blechh.