clairec

Hi, I too am now at a standstill and now we are in Italy for 2 weeks it could be worse than that by the time I get back! As Janette says the portion size is still holding for me and I always prioritise Protein and here in Italy that is working a treat. The protein foods seem to be more digestible here than when I try them back home. However, from past experience I know that I can put on weight in Italy, despite my best efforts, so I will try not to be disappointed if that happens when I weigh when I get home. Hopefully it will only be temporary. I am trying not to worry too much about carrying on losing. If I do I do, if I don't I can cope. It is not nice to plateau though. As for bad habits I try to snack on healthier things. Through the winter it has been easy peel oranges, dates and very occasionally yoghurt covered raisins. I also have Rich Tea biscuits when I need to silence the rumbling stomach gurgling which is very unsettling. They are just very plain biscuits but they seem to work. I have tried a little chocolate but it is not something I really want and so I have only done it twice. It was enough to tell me that I didn't really want it though. Keep going Lynn, all your exercise regimes are just wonderful! Take care Claire

Hi Janette, How are things going with the baby? He looked so scrumptious in the photo. You must be a very proud grandma! Have a great time with them and with Andrew in San Diego, I hope you get to see Kim too. We are off to Lake Garda in Italy on Easter Monday for a couple of weeks and can't wait. I need the sun to pep me up regularly I think. Take care all of you and keep chatting on here, I miss our contact. We are all moving on with our lives and that is great to see, it is just nice to celebrate this with others who know how far we have come. Take care Claire

Hi Kim and Deanna, How nice to hear from you both. My weight loss seems to have stopped completely and is also tending to go up a little. It could be just a phase but I am nowhere near "normal" weight as a lot of people seem to be in my UK group. I am 25 pounds over my target of two thirds of my excess body weight from my starting point (not just what I was at the point I had surgery because I had lost a fair amount by then). However, I am not expecting to get that low either, according to the dietician and Consultant they are not expecting that and they are both very happy with what I have achieved and said that the weight loss might stop here. I am fine with that, I just don't want to go up to much in the bounce back which seems to happen to most people. I am planning to have skin removed so perhaps overall I will end up where I am now weight wise. Any more than that would be a bonus, and that's how I am trying to think of it. I do need the skin removal and my consultant sees this as a medical issue, which is good. I just want my trunk done, including the pubic area, because that is where the main problem is, and that is making my back problems worse too. I don't think that I will even contemplate arm or leg area, I think that is really difficult and the leg area involves no sitting, including on the loo, for weeks! I have a referral to discuss the timing of this in May but probably will aim for next Feb (our 2 year anniversary), unless they advise me otherwise. I have an umbilical hernia which they will deal with at the same time and that is causing problems, so that might change what they say. As you say it is not a pretty sight. I might look better on the outside but it all falls apart underneath our clothes! Congratulations on your marathon training Deanna, that sounds amazing. You are both doing so well. Let's keep in touch. Take care Claire

Wonderful news Kim, it is great to hear from you. Take care Claire

Hi, I think that the important thing is not to panic and not to over obsess on the numbers. I know how hard that is but really there is no way that you won't be losing weight. It just sometimes doesn't happen as we want it to. I know in the early days it is the thing you are hanging on to but you can make yourself crazy with worry. Just carry on getting stronger. Take care

Hi Deanna, Wow you look so great and so different from before. You have a lovely smile in both pictures though, and that wasn't even a particularly good one of you I suspect. I can't believe how slim you look but then you have lost 110 pounds! You have only got a few more pounds to go but you don't look as if you have any at all to lose. Congratulations! As you say it is not an easy option and we do have our challenges , not least the maintenance stage. I am so glad that I have not been sick at all, I hate that with a passion. I don't wish that I had done it earlier because it is the right time for me. I couldn't have done it with doing my old work role because my new lower energy levels would not have made that possible. I am so glad that it is not this time last year and that we have our epic year of change behind us. Let's all keep in touch so we can carry on giving each other invaluable support. Well done again, you are awesome! Claire

Hi Janette, Just back in the UK. I honestly feel so much better after my time away in the sun. I did a lit of work over there and am very busy workwise, and could do with a better work life balance, particularly when I am meant to be on leave, but I do enjoy my job. My bloodtests are up to date and were already planned for a week or so. Everything was looking absolutely fine in September. I am asking for hormonal bloodtests because my hormones have always been all over the place and it would be good to know if things have improved. I think that a lot of us feel worse in the winter, certainly my UK group people have been. I do miss my energy and hope that returns. I am seeing my hairdresser today and she has bought me hair extensions, so we will see how bad I am at trying to get those in myself. Alan will have to help I think. As for food while we have been away ... I have found that having choices available (through other people's orders too) works well. Sometimes I can manage only a couple of bites, other meals much more. We will see what my weight is like having not weighed for a few weeks now. I managed the long trip home with the use of anti diarrhoea stuff and everything was fine. The upgrades to Business Class also made a huge difference. Thanks Janette for your concern, I am feeling much better and I am sure that I am fine. I hope that everyone else is ok too, not long until our one year anniversaries, time to celebrate. Such a change for all of us maybe we should all put on here what those changes are. Take care Claire

Hi Deanna, How strange and no it hasn't happened to me. It does seem as if suddenly things can happen from nowhere. I heard about someone in my UK griup who had a lot of pain and something she ate got stuck and she ended up in hospital briefly. They told her to try some Diet Coke and it worked, which is odd too. She had never had that before and she is 5 years post surgery. If only things would stay the same and predictable for us all that would be easier. I hope that you feel better now. Take care. Claire

Thanks Kim, That is good to know! Take care Claire

Hi Deanna, Thanks for getting back to me. Mine didn't really start falling out until around 5 months and then it carried on. It stopped falling out quite so much but it is still looking as if the breaking is much worse now than it was. I have a lot of fluffy bits because of that. I am hoping that some of that is new growth and I am hanging on to that, however I think a ;lot of it is where it is breaking off. I am looking for positive signs and I think the shine might be starting to come back a little and as I say I am hoping that there could be regrowth. So watch this space and as you say I will hang on in there. I hope that you are feeling raring to go, it sounds like you are doing so well. Take care Claire

Hi to you all, Deanna that is great news about starting to lose again and Janette your trip sounds amazing. I am not ignoring your personal messages, just trying to work out our travel plans for the year, and I knew that you were away. Now trying to mark student work while we are here which is a pain but being here is so wonderful. We are having a wonderful time in Maui. The weather is much better and warmer than we thought that it might be. Slightly less whales too because we thought that we would be nearer the peak of seeing them than we are when we come later in the Spring, they are there though. I am feeling so much better being here. I really thing that the English winter was doing me no favours at all. I was getting more and more run down and tired and I had a very prolonged feverish cold that hit me so much worse than anyone else and went on forever. I was looking paler and paler and feeling more and more tired and just physically below par, which was also making me feel less happy. My hair is also getting worse and worse but as long as it stabilises soon I will be happy. I am being a brave little soldier about that, because my hair is important to me, but I just want it to stop getting thinner and stop breaking. However, some sun and a bit of a tan can do wonders. I am starting to feel much better and I am looking better too which has a positive knock on effect. I think some winter sun was what was needed and I think that we will plan for that next year too. I would like to prescribe it for us all! My weight started to go down again before Christmas which was good. I am not sure quite what it is now but eating is going fairly well. Some meal times are not working so well whatever I eat, but others are going better. I am trying to keep up the protein and rare steak and tuna work best but as those are often main courses I can only really have any of that if they are starter dishes, or if someone else is having them. The food here is wonderful and I am happy to just have mouthfuls of whatever works. Is anyone else feeling more jaded or unwell at the moment? Also how is everyone's hair, is it improving yet? I am topping up my batteries really nicely over here but if I had not had the holiday I don't think that I would be getting stronger as I am now. Take care all of you Claire

Hi, Tammy and Kim well done on reaching ondeeland, i know how important that is for you. Erin you look just wonderful, you must be so pleased. I was on a plateau for a few weeks but i seem to have started drifting downwards again over Christmas. When i look at my overall loss i seem to still be losing about 5 pounds a month which surprises me because it doesn't feel like that. A big miliestone for me was hitting the 19s not the 20s in terms of stones. I did that a few weeks ago now and although i have not quite weighed this on a Silmming World night yet i have now lost 11stone in total from the beginning of my weight loss journey, and am not far off 8 stone loss since surgery. We are going to Maui for a couple if weeks on Monday so i am not sure what will happen there but it is all good news. It will be lovely to be somewhere warmer than here. Congratulations to us all and i really look forward to celebrating our successes through 2015 and our one year surgery anniversary. One unexoected bonus of the surgery for me has been meeting such a great group of supportive and like minded people to share challenges and celebrations with. That is such a wonderful thing to have. Happy New Year to you all. Claire x

Hi Tammy and everyone , Brilliant! Excellent news. I am plateauing too but people in my local group said that not losing at our stage is sort of normal, but that then they started to lose again. So I am hoping for that. Either way I am fine with it for the time being and if we have odd things that are not ideal then it is Christmas after all and we won't be doing that in January. Take care all of you, it is so great to know you all and to be traveling on this road together. A new start with some new friends (at a distance) is such a bonus. Have a lovely Christmastime. Claire x

Hi, it is a worry but this is a temporary period of time so maybe try not to worry too much and get back on track after Christmas. The surgery is a tool for life so it should carry on helping and this is a long term change for all of us and it is a marathon not a sprint. So hopefully it will all be ok in the long run, we mustn't beat ourselves up about small lapses. We are worth more than that. Have a great Christmas Claire

Hi Dreaming, How exciting for you both, what a year for you as a team. You are an old hand now though aren't you! Almost 100 pounds lost since Feb and doing just great. Have a great Christmas and take care Claire

Hi to you all, I am so glad that you all had a really good Thanksgiving. You all sound as if you were able to manage the new eating patterns very well. I am like Janette in that I can have tasters of things I didn't allow myself before, well on a good day I can. Other days I wouldn't want to, so that is fine too. The amounts are small of everything and I don't miss, or want, more so that is great. Erin, you look wonderful! How critical we all are of ourselves. You look just great to me. Onwards to Christmas now... Claire x

Hi, I went to my UK group last week and apparently stalling at 10 months post surgery can be very common. Well several people there had done the same anyway. In some cases it lasted a up to several months but then the weight loss started again. So seeing as how a few of us seem to be doing this too, it could be an encouraging message that this is normal. I have no evidence for this other than what people were saying, but let's hold that thought... I am sorry that you are having difficulties with food sometimes Tammy and Deanna. I am not being sick thank goodness but I do have my ongoing gastric symptoms still being an issue. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, having never been in the States over this time it is difficult to imagine it but Janette gave me a quick run down when she was over here. Take care Claire

Hi to you all, I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. The first since your surgery and we have a lot to be thankful for in terms of our new lives. I hope that you can enjoy the whole day and eat what you can and enjoy that without guilt or repercussions! Not long until Christmas now too, so have a wonderful Christmas and let's look forward to our first year's anniversary in February and a wonderful 2015. Take care Claire

Hi Janette, Well that was a heck of a walk! Sounds as if your winter exercise regime is really kicking in now. I have tried to eBay some of my clothes that can't be taken in and there doesn't seem to be much interest. Others have been successful in my UK group and they are nice clothes. I just want them to go to a good home, rather than just send them to a charity shop where there might not be any takers. I would never have thought that a charity shop was the place to look for supersize clothes, and I am sure that others who are the size I was wouldn't either. I am happy to give them away free for someone who wants them. Postage can be expensive in its own right though. I have lots of long shirts, short jackets and some dresses. As you say large clothes, even those we have had taken in, are not as flattering as those that are our new sizes. I hope you are doing ok and looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do stay in touch Claire

Hi Tammy, A wonderful picture of your journey so far. You look absolutely great! Thanks for posting these. Take care Claire

Wow Samantha a size 18 Calvin Klein, what a milestone! All the marathon training etc that is going on is so impressive too. I am not more hungry... yet. I have days when I can eat a little more, and others when I can't. But really those just cancel themselves out and I don't think that I am overeating. Snacking I could see could happen. Various people in my UK group who are further down the line than we are are going to Slimming World, or the equivalent for much the same reason and that seems to be really helpful for accumulative bad eating habits and weight gain. I have never stopped going but I would be stricter again if I was having problems with my eating/weight. At the moment as I am having such small amounts and focusing on protein so I find that I sometimes eat things that would not be on the plan, like occasional nuts. There is no reason to ever be hungry following SW so that is a real bonus. Take care all of you. Claire

Hi, What wonderful pictures Esthor and Daeanna. Congratulations! Good point Janette, about the pictures before Slimming World. That would have been so much worse again. I will look, but I tried to avoid full length pictures for obvious reasons. I think you are right my face is different, but I had no idea how much that showed until I looked at the comparison. I am so sorry Janette about your bowel crisis. How dreadful, and as you say just what I am afraid of. If you weren't going straight home there would be no way to sort that out. Isn't it odd how reactions to foods etc can change and new symptoms emerge that we haven't had before. Very strange! It is great to see all these pictures and discussions of non scale whatevers, you are right they are victories! Take care Claire

Hi, Wow Janette, thin enough to slide past, how wonderful! I am not sure about NSA or NSV, but I thought if A stood for Advantage, then it should be A. I have posted two new pictures from today, and two from the day before my surgery. I can't quite believe it myself, I don't seem recognisable even to me. Take care Claire

Hi, Great news. More pictures and more NSAs would be good to see and hear when we all get a little discouraged. We might all start slowing down or stopping losing weight in the coming months and we need to support each other through this and widen our views of the tremendous changes we have made, and are still making in our lives. We should celebrate together, because we are phenomenal and such a support to each other. So I will start with a couple of personal NSAs... I can cross my legs!!!! That is really important because by taking the pressure off my lower spine it reduces my back pain on hard chairs. I have never been able to cross my legs. I have a small gogo scooter which would not have been possible at my old weight. It gives me amazing independence and I dash around all over the place when we are out. Being pushed in a wheelchair is very limiting. When we were on holiday in the States I was dashing ahead of my mother and Alan, and I went into a park and circled the fountain three times, just because I could! Who else has some NSAs to share? I will try to find a before picture and also post something more recent, but I just haven't really got any. Janette keeps telling me to change my picture on here, because my face looks so different and I really must. Take care Claire