katesuccess

I'm with you all - if I bring it into my house or car, I'll likely eat it. Since the best place to make that choice is BEFORE I buy it, (and I often have to shop at times my defenses might be down), I've started a new thing; When I get out of my car and head for the door of the grocery store, I say out loud "I'm not buying any Cookies today!" or whatever it is I'm jonesing for in the moment. It's helped me several times I was afraid I'd cave in. Silly, small, but there it is.

I love how we have all found what pretty well works for us. I too weigh daily, and find it keeps me sane. I only consider what my average for a few days running is though, since a day fluctuation is common. Donating those first couple of pairs of really big pants was wonderful! It was so good, that I kept doing it as I went. When I saw Eggface's website and her picture in her (half of the) largest size pants and sort of wished I'd kept a pair! Still, I'm okay now that I didn't, because knowing me - I think I'd just feel bad looking at them. Thanks to you all for being on here, being so candid, and so generous in offering ideas and advice!

Hi there AvaFern! I have to say I agree – donate anything bigger than a small--I think that may be a better guide than the scale, since our clothes come with built in incentives! I had to say, I agree with cowgirl Jane – this sounds a little unhealthy, and I encourage you to consider scheduling a couple sessions to check in with a good therapist. It's natural to be highly aware of anything that my company returning to old habits and the old weight, but I'll bet putting a couple of those beautiful pictures you posted from months ago up inside your closet would be far better incentive than the larger clothes! Just think how excited somebody would be to get those clothes from Goodwill, especially if they couldn't afford them to buy them new. It could be a joy to them, instead of a drag for you. Good luck with this, and thanks for all the times your posts have been an inspiration for me!

My biggest help has been wanting to see results on my body now that I've gotten more of the layer of fat down - I do lift weights in a gym, and just watching some of the muscles getting slightly more defined is rewarding for me. As for personal trainer and costs, I hear you! Here's a bit of info that might help with that; my daughter is a personal trainer, and what I hear from her is how much she cares about her clients' health--far more than about the money. No, she's not going to train anyone for free, but she does work with a person to set up (and write down!) a good routine for them to follow, and one they can work with for 4-6 weeks running, and then they buy another session and she changes it up based on the new changes and working the body in ways that challenge and mix it up. It's what she does for me, since we don't live near enough for her to train me every week, and it's been great! Hope this helps for those of you (and me!) on a tight budget. I find it's good incentive too, knowing she'll review progress at regular intervals.

It was moved to the New Maintenance Forum. Okay, I've given it some thought, (and am sorry to break my own plan of not posting on a thread I don't 'qualify' for yet) but I'm not seeing any other threads about the Vet Forum, so here goes: I MISS IT! At 18 months out I'm down 120+ lbs, and still working on slow loss, so not yet at Maintenance, and at the same time I don't want to wade through the scores and scores of great new people posting all the pre-op and newly post-op things they need to post. It leaves nowhere for folks like me to connect and peruse those things more in line with the stage of the journey I'm in, and when I find such things in Maintenance, I"m super-hesitant to post there prematurely. Does anyone else miss the Vets Forum?? So, not that anyone asked, but it bites to have lost the Vet's Forum!

I'd like to say something encouraging, like your inclination will return eventually, but for some folks it doesn't seem to. It's no help to hear that some of us wish we had that problem (I can hear chocolate calling me from the next county!) and yet it's a good reminder to hear there's struggles even in maintenance and for you have have done so incredibly well. I'm going to hope it's a phase or stage though, and cheer you on from here-- I do have to ask, does anyone know what happened to Veteran's Forum? I don't qualify for "Maintenance Forum" yet, (so I won't post on here again - sorry for that!), but I appreciated the set of conversations that went beyond all those new-to-WLS posts that were on Veterans. Thanks, and good luck on this one, Lipsticklady! Kate

New one for me today - I felt warm sun on my upper arms! Yup, for over two decades I've fastidiously avoided wearing anything sleeveless because of my fatty upper arms and mum's training not to bear them (or my thighs!). Today I wore a sleeveless shirt to work for the first time, and walking outdoors felt that warm delicious sun on my arms and realized it was a startlingly new feeling. I love it!

I did my first sprint triathlon yesterday, and I finished!! (And didn't even need the aid car - wow!). A sprint tri is 1/4 mile open water swim, 14 mile bike ride, 5k running - well, slow jogging by that time, and some walking...and I'm so proud of myself. I really wasn't entirely sure I could do it honestly, since I didn't train for it, but rather depended on being in good shape generally. Yay!

When I can get out of my car and step between the car and the garage wall (a small space for two cars) and don't get my clothes dirty from squeezing against the car!

I"m in too! My weight today is 169 and by July 4 I want it to be 160,,, I didn't make my last weight loss challenge, and I've been really struggling to lose anything at all these days, so this will be good incentive I hope. Thanks for doing this!

Yup. Wanton wrappers fall into that pasta/bread/cereal/grains category. Sorry. Good news is that the more i eliminated it from my food plan the less I craved it. I never thought I could do without pasta and pizza, and I don't care a whit about it now--not even tempted. I'm still loving bread, so once in maybe a month I'll have a little piece if it's really good bread--otherwise no big deal.

These are great - so many of my own frustrations are in here it's laughable. I also agree with @LousPeachy about the plus departments on upper floors where no one has to look at big clothes or big galls in the pretty and accessible part of the store. Add this to the dressing room rant--they are so darned HOT and the always have horrible lighting!! Maybe to go along with the dreadful colors (or lack thereof) in stock? After sweating my way into two outfits i used to feel exhausted and depressed, and force myself to do one or two more before leaving feeling worse. A cooler dressing room would have been wonderful and clothes hang better when they're not plastered to my sweaty self too.

Okay - got to ask, exactly what nutritional value will you gain and retain from Kix?? Sugar cravings are hard, and unfortunately for many of us, feeding that craving only makes us crave more. Go for nutritionally dense foods, and cut out all the empty calories you can. I don't know what surgery you had, but I haven't heard of any of them advising eating foods like that, but rather the less processed ones that are lower in carbs and higher in Protein. Sorry to be the wet blanket here, but at 16 days out it's a great time to cement those better eating habits. Good luck!

My gripe is jeans with bling and splash and stuff on the back patch pockets! My rear is large enough without dressing it up like a movie marquee!! I'm also 53 and those just look silly on me in most circumstances I'd wear nice jeans. I also hate that SO many pants I try on have higher waists than mine. I know it's how I'm shaped, but at 5'4" I'm not THAT oddly proportioned I don't think. And ditto that high heel gripe--dang!

Wow, me too. The term really bugs me--I read the OP when it was on new threads list and then tried to tell myself not to be offended by it, since it wasn't meant to be read by me...still...???? Does anyone else wonder what the masculine gender version of those (literal!) mud flaps would depict? (You know, those ones that are actually on trucks with the side silhouette of what can only be an enhanced Barbie doll with...ahem...perky parts). If so, post in ladies room maybe...

I make up mini egg things from the site Theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and freeze them. I can grab two of these little mini muffin shaped protein things for a great filling breakfast. I also do protein drink with espresso and almond milk most mornings, and both are super low carb if your protein powder is. I also keep mini light baby bel cheeses handy to grab and the P3 meat/cheese/nuts packs from the grocery deli area - perfect size! Oh, and quest bars (I only eat half a one at a time) are also quite low in carbs compared to other protein bars – and they taste wonderful to me.

Oh my gosh @Jean McMillan You said it all so well! I feel much the same way at one year out, and hope I'll be right where you are when I'm 8 years out! I can't count the number of things I now enjoy doing, and reminding myself are new gifts I've given myself in doing this. Congratulations, and thanks for such a heartening message! Kate

I know many meds are affected by hormones, and those tummy hormones are now very different than before. Also I found much mood-swing stuff going on as I lost weight after the first 30 pounds, almost as if my fat were holding on to old emotional stuff, and as i got down to those later pounds it was all surfacing as I said goodbye to it. Weird-sounding as I write this, but it's how I felt in the moment! Absolutely check in with the doc who manages those meds, and maybe even email her/him ahead of time about it so to give time for a bit of pre-visit research. A psychiatric nurse may be even more helpful actually - at least from what/who I've worked with in this area of care with people. So sorry you're going through that though! I hope it begins to normalize and even out soon. Maybe keep a journal of specifics for when you talk to them?

I always preview menus on line when I'm going to restaurants, and that helps a lot. I try to pick two things on the menu i could happily order, so in case one has been dropped or they are out of it, I still have options that don't make me have to re-think things in the moment. Since I've not told many people about my WLS, and my job requires that i eat out or at people's homes fairly regularly, I have a cadre of things I say now! I'm really trying to eat carefully and eat less, and this tastes great - thank you so much for making it. I'm so sorry, i seem to have a bit of an upset stomach...(not exactly a lie, since removing 85% of my stomach is definitely an 'upset' to my guts!) Could you give me just about half that much? I'll come back for seconds if I can, but I'm working hard on my weight right now. And when they ask about restrictions ahead of time, I usually just say, I'm avoiding starchy carbs these days (and maybe include beef or pork in that) and I'll be fine eating a bit of whatever you fix. When leaving food on my plate, Gosh, thanks - this was great! I just find I'm needing to eat less these days. So far no one has been hurt or bugged by this, and after I get over saying it (if I even need to) I find people really don't much notice what i eat anyway. Now that I've been visibly losing weight too, people have noticed and are happy for me, so they really don't say much about what I chose to eat because they've seen that whatever i'm doing is working for me. So nice!

Such great replies - all of them! And yes, do Celebrate how well you're doing instead of how badly you think you've done--and with what's been going on for you, I think you're doing really well. So sorry about your husband! The only thing I'd add is my own experience when i find I've let myself slide into Sugar-imbibing or other habits fall away is ONE BIT AT A TIME. And I do mean "bit" as in, not a big step, but a tiny one. The first day I tell myself I'm going to replace those sugar Snacks with a half a Quest bar each time I'm tempted to each those tasty sweets (chocolate chunk rocks!) and ignore calories for the day. This also gets my Protein up and helps my energy a little bit. The next piece I add back in is more Water, then after a day or two of success with that, I'll make it on a good walk or to the gym. Don't think it has to be all or nothing, or all at once. That's too daunting for me when I'm feeling so drawn to eating the wrong stuff in too large of quantities or like I'll never have the will-power to lose again. Little bits all add up. That 80+ pound loss you've maintained is great, and you did it one ounce at a time, day by day, hour by hour. Make this hour one with a tiny step in it. Good luck to you too! Kate

Oh my gosh! That is hysterical @@JustWatchMe !! I sent it to my daughters, reminding them of how hard i worked to get them to eat veggies and try new foods! ROFL - Thanks - you made my day.

How frustrating! And I imagine also scary. We work hard to lose, and then the tools feel like they're failing and the loss seems to be reversing. I'm so sorry this is happening! I'm only one year out, and have noticed a real slow-down to my weight loss AND that anything at all above my super low carb food and low calories will absolutely make me gain weight now. I hate it. I've read several people have had good luck with re-activating their sleeve benefits by doing the 5-day pouch test. Do a search on this site and it'll come up. It might be worth a try anyway. Wish i had something to suggest for the heartburn/acid issue. Ouch.Any chance of considering a homeopathic practitioner or acupuncturist? Both have helped me with other issues (sleeplessness with racing thoughts was improved a good deal with coffea cruda, and aching/body pain with arnica montana, acu for headaches in my case). I'll keep a good thought for you as you struggle through this one - hope you find a way forward that helps!

Yup - it's one of my all time favorites! I also love taking it backpacking for my morning punch of caffeine and protein all at once!

I'm like many above - a great experience and no nasty stuff! I had some post op shoulder pain which was easily remedied with Gas-X strips and minimal pain killer use after I got home. It felt more 'weird' to imagine my guts moving in new ways as I'd bend over, etc., but literally the first day afterwards they had me able to completely bend over to pick up something off the floor--amazing! I walked the halls as often as I could, about every 90 minutes for as long as i could manage it energy-wise. Once home that increased in length/distance immediately, but fewer walks per day. I could easily have returned to work after one week, and even had good energy by 7 days out, but chose to stay home the 2 weeks and feel at my best AND it gave me time to get used to transitioning to mushy foods. Honestly, it's been great, I've lost 110 pounds and i'm one year out. Good luck! Oh, and Biotin started before the surgery and continued the whole first year took care of my hair thinning beautifully--it was only slight and bounced back quickly. Kate

Hooray! Great work and way to go! (And, you inspire me to get out for a run this week - I slacked off all weekend .)