JustWatchMe

I was thinking maybe I missed grilled cheese sandwiches, but it's been decades since I ate just one. So I would have to write that I miss four grilled cheese sandwiches -- but I don't! Not one bit. Just like pizza. I never crave just a slice. Ever. And I don't miss it at all. No desire whatsoever for either of these binge foods.

I've been off BP this week but I'm doing really well. Clean food plan, and I can't believe it, but I'm losing weight again. But it sure has been strict. I gave up the fried food three weeks ago. Planned and portioned meals. Working closely with my OA sponsor. I'm starting to believe I might actually reach my goal weight this year.

"You're going to feel so much better once you put down the food." I thought this meant I would feel happy. What I found instead is it means I "feel" better. I feel anger better. I feel happiness better. I feel resentment better. I feel fear better. I feel. I really feel. It's what I was running away from all the time. I just have to feel it now. Not eat it. Here's to living life and feeling the feelings. Sometimes they're wonderful, many times they suck. But today I'm not going to eat them.

Looking great, Debbie!

Good luck!

Have a friend do karate chops on your neck and back a few times a day. Walk as much as you can. Swing your arms like a windmill. The only thing that gets rid of the surgical gas is time and movement. Good luck.

I miss the mental and emotional "click" I got from overeating (and from alcohol and from pain meds) that put me (oh so temporarily) into my mellow happy place. I don't miss hating myself. Life is a million times better clean, sober and abstinent from overeating.

Inner Surfer Girl, I love your posts and have no doubt you will create a wonderful novel. My big goal this year is to buy a house after my divorce is final, which looks like it could be in May. I'm scared to death of this huge financial step while I still have girls in college, but I'll do it. While I do, I am keeping my food clean, measured and committed, and I will reach my weight loss goal in 2016 by doing so. This will be my year!

Congratulations!!!

Happy New Year, Alex!

Venting is better than eating! Or getting drunk. Vent away!

Love love love this! You inspire me every day. ????❤️

Good luck! Scared is normal. I've been stuck but it's not a choking thing or breathing thing. Like Julie said, it's a sensation of having to spit up food that just won't go down. Lots of salivating but not nausea. No retching either. Hope this helps. Sounds gruesome but for me it's not that bad. And it sure taught me to chew thoroughly and slow down.

Thanks for the heads up!

Get to goal weight. (Actions to get there are tracking portions and committing my food plan.) Non weight loss goal: buy a house after this flipping divorce is final.

Thank you for your pictures and for all the instructive and helpful posts you share about your life as a successful bander. You help me all the time. Merry Christmas!

I often have reheated leftover meat from the night before. Lately I've been having hard boiled eggs. I like cheese sticks for a grab and go. Scrambled eggs are always getting stuck these days. Why hard boiled doesn't, who knows? Greek yogurt with slivered almonds is also good.

I'm breaking a one year stall by weighing my food, measuring my portions, tracking it in MyFitnessPal, and committing my food plan in advance to my OA sponsor every day. Today and tomorrow are just Thursday and Friday. The food may be different and fancier (and prepared with love by me for the family), but it's still just fuel, not my reason to live like it used to be. WLS operated on my stomach, not my brain. The brain work is the hardest part, and I do it for life. One day at a time. Merry Christmas to you all. As my sponsor says, a clean food plan is the most loving gift I can give to myself. Today I happily open that gift.

True. Stall is the wrong word. It was definitely due to the types of food I was eating. And that's okay. It's where I apparently needed to sit for awhile. It's taking more effort and stricter food choices to drop every pound now. And interestingly, it's consistent with the literature about post op weight loss. The surgery itself can be expected to account for 65% of my excess weight to be lost. And to the pound, that's what I've dropped so far. Not super easy, but not particularly difficult either. But from here on out, each pound is work. And that's okay too. I feel the energy to get it done now.

Good for you! In a similar boat. Happy to be free of the pain and starting my new life. Thanks for your post!

Very inspiring! Congratulations!

Update: still working my plan. Feels good to have food in its proper perspective. I've averaged 1375 calories over the last four days. Maintaining but not losing weight. It's getting harder to lose weight these days. I'm motivated, but it sure isn't as easy as the early post op days. Oh well. Keep on keepin' on, right?

I'm picking up my daughters from college for Christmas break next week. I'll meet my youngest's boyfriend for the first time. I told her I'd take us all to lunch. She suggested I wear my new black maxi dress because I look "cute" in it. I had such a wave of emotions after I hung up the phone. I'm so happy to share her joy, and thankful she wants me to meet her boyfriend. It's the first serious fella since her senior year in high school. It also made me think of all the years I was the frumpy mom on the sidelines, hiding from the world, avoiding social events. It had an effect on my kids. I didn't realize how much until my life changed 180 degrees and I became a part of the world. She told me she's proud of me. We've been through a stressful year and a half after moving out of our house when I filed for divorce due to emotional abuse. Through it all, my girls are amazing and strong. My LapBand surgery and 100-pound weight loss not only helped me reclaim my life, but improved theirs as well. They now have a mom who can hold her head up high, can walk into any room and feel equal to the people there, and will never settle for less than respectful treatment again. I'm the good example I've always wanted to be. And their mom is "cute" to boot.

The visit was great. Her fella is very nice. Here's a pic of the dress. And another pic my daughter took of me on The Magnificent Mile last weekend in Chicago. Life is good!

This was a great post to read! I love long term success stories. Congratulations!