livvsmum

Can I add one to your list? "When food is Love" by Geneen Roth helped me immensely with the emotional side of things. I highly recommend it. :-)

You're doing great. You will have these little pauses along the way, but it's a good idea to double check what you're doing like you are. I try to stick to 40 or less g of carbs per day and that works for me.

That sucks! I got a tentative date, then they sent in for the approval, so it was a pretty seamless process for me. I hope that you get a date soon. That's gotta be frustrating!

I find that show fascinating, but it does bring up all of my emotional eating issues, so I probably shouldn't watch it. It is really sad. I wish that they got more help for the emotional/food addiction part of it rather than just advice on the diet.

I track everything in MFP. I pay the most attention to Protein, carbs, and Water. I shoot for 80g protein, less than 40g carbs, and 100 oz of water. If I get that in, the calories, fat, sugar, etc. seem to just kind of fall into place on their own. If you're asking for an avg of calories, though, I would say 700-800 at this point would be a safe average.

Thanks everyone! :-)

Ok weight for first weigh in is 138.6. Goal will be 132

Finishing up at 138.6. Missed my goal of 135, but I'll take it over the holidays!!!

I'm in! I'll shoot for 130 this time. My current weight is 138, so that would be 8 pounds. It's a stretch, but I need to get there!

139 for this week :-)

My husband and I have been married 17 years and he has never had a weight problem, but like your hubby, you eats like total crap and could eat a ton of junk at one time and not gain an ounce. The weight loss has challenged our relationship in a couple of different ways, but I can honestly say that ultimately this process has made us much, much stronger together. First of all, since I am the one who does the grocery shopping and cooking primarily, it has changed the way my family eats to some extent. I don't buy the "junk" that he likes anymore. If he wants it he usually eats it at work, etc. He has also had to become a little more considerate in his eating habits. My biggest temptation is potato chips. So he tries to be really considerate and not sit there and eat a whole bag on the couch beside me. If he has them he will go in another room ro something. It wasn't an automatic thing, but he has started to be better with things liek that. He also had to make a lot of sacrifices in my time as I've trained for a 1/2 marathon and a marathon. He gave up time with me and took over some responsibilities that I dind't have time for during my heavy training times. Finally, it has raised some jealousy issues that were never there before. He sees how drastically I've changed on the outside and the confidence I've gained and he was from time to time I think afraid that I would change on the inside as well.It's taken me going out of my way sometimes to reassure him that I haven't changed who I am or the fact that I love him. It's definitely been a learning curve for us as a couple, but like I said I'm stronger individually, and we are stronger as a couple for sure. I sense a blog post coming on..... :-)

Just curious....has anyone had any success having skin removal surgery approved by insurance for stomach or arms? I have highmark bc/bs and have been working with my PCP to document skin problems related to the excess skin. So far I have 3 visits worth of documentation. I'm wondering when I should submit it to insurance and if anyone has had any success in doing this?

Wow! Thank you for reading! I actually get that a lot. I get told a lot that I look like their sister and not their mom. They are 16 and 13. I'll take it! I think it kind of annoys them, though. haha. I'm 38.

I think you will hear different surgeons say different things about caffeine, just like you will about alcohol and other "gray area" things. I have coffee every morning, and have since probably 1 month post op. My surgeon said the concern would be that it can be an appetite stimulant. I haven't had any issues though.

Good for you! I SO wish I would have discovered that book and started working on things before I had surgery. I think you are doing yourself a huge favor! :-)

I definitely ate off the plan the past couple of weeks. I've also noticed, as a result, my energy level has completely plummeted, I feel hungry all the time & just feel icky. I'm excited to get back on track. I start tomorrow back on 3 days of liquids to re-set & break those bad habits!

Milk of magnesia works like a charm for me.

I've done my version of a reset a couple of times when I've felt like I let some bad habits sneak back in. It has helped to (1) break those habits quickly and (2) for whatever reason it helps the restriction to return more it seems. I usually just return to liquids for a few days. Some people go back through the stages of post op eating (liquids, purée, soft, etc).

I guess it depends. My surgeon told me he typically recommends waiting until 18 months post op. That is also the time requirement for my insurance. I'll hit 18 months in March & cannot wait!!

Here are my most recent ones. 140 pounds lost (12 months post op pics). Size 20/22 to size 4.

For me the turning point was reading the book, "When Food is Love" and starting therapy weekly with an eating disorder therapist. It's a LOT of hard work. Way harder- in my opinion- than the actual food/eating behaviors themselves. Good luck to you ! :-)

Here are my most recent ones from 1 year post op. 140 pounds lost.

Thank you for reading! I appreciate it!

I recently wrote this as a blog post and thought I would share it here too. It's taken me a good 15 months to start to make sense of how to view or "treat" the "old, fat" version of myself. It's easy to look back on that person and hate her. Talk about how much better i look and feel now. But I found that hating the old me was actually pretty damaging. Hope this makes sense! "This is a question worth struggling with. What if our badness and mistakes are the very things that set our fate and bring us round to good. What if, for some of us, we can't get there any other way?" (Goldfinch, p. 771). It has been such a huge issue for me to try and find a way not to "hate" the person that I was before - the person I let myself become. I am realizing that hating that person so much has been fueling a lot of my fears of failure and fears of waking up one morning and finding myself back at 280 pounds. I thought this quote was so beautiful and really helped me to start to see that the person I was before was not to be hated, but she was an essential piece of the puzzle - an essential starting point. Without her - without having experienced all of the things I did that led me to eating myself almost to death - I may not have discovered who I really am. I may never have found the beauty of a life actually lived and not just endured. I may never have realized the importance of self-care, self-advocacy, and self-love (still working on that one). I may never have realized how strong I really am. I may never have known the feeling of being an example of health and physical well-being for my daughters. I may never have known what my physical body is capable of. I may never have called myself committed to a goal. I may never have known I was an athlete. An athlete. Imagine that. I may never have known the real, authentic me. The me I am now. "What if our badness and mistakes are the very things that ...bring us round to good?" SO in the spirit of viewing the old version of ourselves as essential pieces of the puzzle.... What are your thoughts on the value of the you that you "used to be" and how he/she "brought you round to good"?

That's great that it is not something you struggle with. I'm jealous! I don't think it's necessarily a positive thing to view it as an old me/new me kind of thing. In fact I think that kind of thinking has been somewhat harmful to me. That is what I am trying to get away from. But, I definitely have changed, grown, developed into a different version of myself. Self-hate, low self-esteem, caring for everyone before myself is something I have struggled with for years and years and years. So learning to love myself is definitely something new and something I work on daily.