Forsythia

Good afternoon friends! After 9 days of nothing, I lost 2 lbs. Yay! I have my 3 month post op visit this month (more like 3 months and three weeks actually). My goal is to be in the 240s for this visit. I'm now at 250 even. My post op is on the 19th. 242 is a stretch for that visit, but if I hit it, that will have me down 70lbs since my surgery and 93 from my all time high!

When I do make my own shake, I also pulse my blender once or twice or else it gets too bubbly. Most of the time I buy a premade. I just can't tolerate home made ones anymore. And I am not willing to go to the store and spend $30 on a container of one powder only to find out I hate it.

I usually eat about 1000 to 1200 calories on my gym days. I do 30 to 60 minutes of cardio. Then I do about 45 minutes of weights twice a week. My lifting these days is slow and heavy. Once a week I take one 55 minute cardio/weights class (a fast and light class). Two days days I swim for 30 to 45 minutes. I do not think I could do that on 600 calories. My nutritionist said at this point I should be eating 800 to 1200 calories. Most days (since most days I am at the gym) I am eating 1000 to 1200 calories. On rest days I usually eat around 900 or so calories.

I have a follow up this month with my surgeon, and then a follow up with the nutritionist next month. Realistically both are short check ins, but it is nice to have that - to touch base and make sure I am on track! Having the surgery and having no post operative support seems to me like Wyle E Coyote when he runs off a cliff and realizes he is over nothing but sky. Also, it's way easier to enjoy life when walking up a flight of stairs doesn't make you want to die!

I have not had subway post op, but I have no issue with bread or anything like that. I work right next to a subway, but I prefer to just eat my frozen meals for lunch since they are only 200 to 300 calories. When it comes to sandwiches or subs, I always end up taking a bite or two of the bread and eating as much of the meat/cheese as the tummy will allow. A six inch sub is going to be about 3 meals for me.

I had to do a mandatory six month program with my insurance, and my surgeon also required us to go through a six month program to to even be considered. But I am glad I had that six months. Each month we would have nutrition classes, we'd go over good and bad. I had psych evals and couldn't gain any weight over my start weight lest I get sent back to remedial classes. It was a good thing and really prepared me mentally for this process. Because it's a process. The surgery won't work unless you follow the process! And for surgeons to give people no guidelines post op is mind boggling. Now, I'm not saying I'm a saint. Occasionally I will have pizza or go to Starbucks and get a giant iced coffee. But by and large I follow the plan. I go to the gym 5 days a week and put in the hard work. I still have all of the nutrition instructions the nutritionist gave me and refer back to them if I have questions. I'm not interested in going back to 312 lbs (where I started in my program) or even worse, my all time high of 335. I do not want to go back on my diabetes medications. I don't want to have a heart attack and die.

I think any of those are fine choices. I would go for E personally as I am not an egg person. But if you do go for chicken sometimes breast can be dry. Thigh tends to be a juicier choice and easier to go down.

Ah, pop. Every once in awhile I will miss the sensation of an ice cold freshly poured glass of Dr. Pepper. But honestly once I gave it up I didn't miss it. Even the diet pop was bad for me since I'm diabetic. It just made me crave the sweets and still ratcheted my blood sugar up. I miss the idea of pop more than the actual pop. Again, it's the thought of the fizz over the ice, and the sweat dripping down the glass on a hot day; not the actual pop itself.

The issue with women's clothing is that there is no standard. The other day I went to Old Navy with my husband, He needed a new pair of jeans. He picked up the fit he wanted (loose) in a 36 x 34 and bought them. Didn't bother to try them on. A 36 waist is a 36 waist, and a 34 inseam is exactly that. Meanwhile, I tried on a couple of dresses and some work out clothes in a size XXL (ON 18/20). They all fit differently. One dress was slightly tight in the hips, the other fit perfectly over my hips but was actually a bit loose in the bust. I know if I ordered something from J Crew or Gap those would also fit differently. Some brands vanity size (like J Crew). Some do not - like, bridal. A bridesmaid dress is going to be significantly smaller than a regular casual dress in the same size. Even something which does use measurement sizes - like bras, all fit differently - even from the same manufacturer. I can go try on two playtex bras in a 42C and one fits great and another is too tight.

I like to get undies with spandex in them as opposed to all cotton. All cotton seem to lose their shape and roll down over your gut. Ugh. But a little spandex goes a long way to shape retention and keeping the undies up where they belong.

Depends on how big he was to start with. Men tend to lose quicker than women. Age. If he is exercising or not. A whole host of factors contribute to weight loss speed.

I was cleared for non-impact cardio a week after my surgery. So I joined the gym and just did the treadmill/ellipitical/bike until I was cleared for everything six weeks out. Then I started lifting weights and swimming as well.

I love Quest bars but think that the Think Thin bars are not flavorful or tasty at all. I'm glad it was only $1.59! A good grocery store alternative (since the Think Thin bars are in your local grocery store) is Power Crunch bars - they have wafer crisps like vanilla wafers, which was always a favorite snack of mine pre-surgery. Otherwise I go to GNC and get Quest bars.

I've not been able to get more than 50g of Protein without a shake or bar to supplement my normal food intake. I have days where I will have a Quest bar and a particularly meaty food day and have gotten 70 or so grams of protein. But without either a shake or a bar? Nope. There is just no room in the tank. As it is some days I just feel like all I am doing is eating or drinking and I'm still below protein goal.

I did. It is bland and terrible. The fruits and veggies aren't bad, but the chicken/turkey/ham... gag inducing. And that is even AFTER seasoning the hell out of it with things like sage and thyme and rosemary.

You look so good!

So I've been stuck at 252 for the last two weeks. Stalls suck. I have my three month post op this month (on the 19th, although it has been 90 days post surgery as of today). I desperately want to be in the mid 240s for this visit. It's a mental goal of mine based on where I feel I should be at 3 months out. I'm gonna try to low carb and cut back on weights this week (fast and light as opposed to slow and heavy), to see if that kickstarts my weight loss again. I'm going to continue swimming and taking my body works plus abs class. I love both of those things so much. LOL. I probably should better track my carbs. But I work out a lot ( almost two hours on cardio/weights days) and I know you need carbs for fuel when you are working out. Since the surgery, I do not seem to have the sensitivity to carbs that I had before my sleeve (considering that I was diabetic). But still, my guidelines pre-sleeve were to not go over 50g of carbs at a meal and 30g at a snack. That always worked for me to keep my blood sugars even. Those are the same guidelines I adhere to now. I know other sleevers are much stricter on carbs, so we will see if tweaking them does me any good. Stall busting is complex business. I know I am not cheating my sleeve and overeating. I know my sleeve has not grown because I can still only eat tiny amounts of dense protein. Calorie wise I am good. So the trick is to rejigger something somewhere to kick it back into gear. In other news, the second bathing suit I bought works divinely. It is a Land's end surplice front tugless tank. Looks better on that it looks hanging up. But my girls don't fall out. My old suit was a surplice front one as well, but it was a size 26. this one is a 20. I apparently have to buy my swimsuits for my boobs (smaller) and not my hips (bigger). If I buy for my hips, the girls will make an appearance. And it was on clearance. The suit is a bit tight in the hips, but not to the point where circulation is being cut off. Ha! The things I do for fitness. I spend a lot of money on fitness gear. But I always have. in the early 00s I used to work out at home and had all this stuff - weights, steps, mats. Now I work out at a gym and I still have all this workout related stuff.

Funny - there are people who do better with them and people who do better without them. My Water bottle has a straw in it. I use it every day. I don't think it makes me any gassier than if I were to take the lid off and drink it that way. I'm way more likely to spill if I take the lid off though (I often joke that I have a drinking problem because of this!). The official line from my nutritionist was that you could use them or not, depending on how you react to them.

I buy them cheap. Target, Walmart, Kmart.

Howdy! Sleeved on 5/5. Down 60 lbs from my program start weight and 83 from my all time high. I've been retaining water lately, so I've not lost anything these last two weeks, but I keep on track and continue to go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week for at least an hour or more, so I know my body will catch up again soon.

I don't generally worry about fat at all. I really only track Protein. I eyeball my carbs and try to keep them under 100 for the day, but I don't obsess over them.

All those fluids should work their way out of you over the next few days or so. Just keep drinking your Water and taking as many walks as possible.

I generally get between 800 and 1200 calories a day. Higher end on the days I go to the gym, less on the days I don't.

I'm relentless closet purger. But then again I am also a person who buys cheap disposable clothes that are only meant to last a season or two (see the "nerdy fashion freak part of my profile bio). I do have some fancier items that are being donated - some suits are going to dress for success here in Chicago. They are always in need of plus sized suits. And some cocktail dresses that are too pretty to just toss. I buy an item or two on clearance or at Ross/TJ Maxx/Marshall's to tide me over as I go down in size.

Everything on purees made me crabby and miserable and I was happy it was only one week long on my plan. I'm super picky though.