Forsythia

50 is fab! I gained a bunch of Water this week. I feel like ass. LOL. Stupid period. But I persevere, despite this...

Funny story, it's shark week and last week I bought the equivalent of Samoas/caramel delights at the Aldi. I was feeling snacky and was all hormonal. Anyhow. I literally let them set there on my counter for a week. I didn't even think about eating those cookies once I brought them home. So I guess I'm not as weak as I think I am? I've gained a bunch of water weight though - I can always tell because my ankles swell up. Stupid period. Anyhow, I've added swimming at the gym and took my first group fitness class (Body works plus abs) this week. Fun times. I love to swim but it is hell on my pink highlights. And the body works class was surprisingly difficult for using light weights.

Right after my surgery, those first two weeks, it was like I had stepped off a cliff like Wyle E Coyote in a loonie toons cartoon and just lost weight freakishly fast. I went to bed, and woke up one day, and was seven lbs lighter. SEVEN LBS!! So of course I figured something was wrong, but nothing was. After the first two weeks I hit a stall for 12 days before my weight loss started again and regulated itself to something more gradual.

I think he is interpreting the 60% wrong. You can expect to lose 50% to 60% of your excess body weight. Many many people lose more if they stick with the diet and add in exercise as well. There are tons of people on here who have lost all of their excess body weight with commitment and kept it off. So if you are 100 lbs overweight, you can expect to lose 50 to 60 lbs. That's not failure at all. If you are 210 lbs, 60 lbs puts you at 150 lbs. I've already lost over 60 lbs in just under 3 months. I am at my lowest weight as an adult in over a decade. My diabetes is basically gone. My blood pressure is normal. My aches and pains in my knees are significantly reduced. I go to the gym 5 days a week and am fully committed to this.

I had a lot of deli lunch meat - ham, chicken, turkey. Cheeses. Yogurt. Eggs if you like them (I don't but lots of people do well with scrambled or hardboiled eggs). Chicken/tuna salad. More robust soups - vegetable soup, chicken noodle soups. A lot of programs ban pasta and white bread (not whole grain which is too robust for your tummy), but at this stage my NUT allowed it. A lot of people have a hard time with pasta and bread though. Edited to add - I was allowed watermelon at this stage. Make sure you pick all the seeds out. Fruits w/o their skin - so a peeled apple, peeled mango. Fruit cups packed in water or juice but not syrup. Veggies should be a bit overcooked. So if you like broccoli it's gotta be mushy rather than firm.

This is basically what my nut said. If you can handle salsa or spice, go for it. In fact she had a whole presentation about spices and flavorings as opposed to frying your food to add flavor while keeping it low cal.

Oh wow! That is crazy scary! I hope you are feeling better. And take it easy!!

My boobs are always the first to go. I'm down to a 42C from a 44D, and I think at this point a 42C is generous. I'm probably more like a 40 or 42B. My problem area is the tummy and ass. That fat holds on for days. I don't mind having junk in the trunk but seriously butt, some of you need to leave the party and migrate back to my boobs.

As soon as I got home from the hospital. So, two days. They advised if I wanted to stay on liquids I could for another day or two but I chose not to because my stomach tolerated the purees fine. But I hated my time with purees. I was so happy a week later to be on soft solids.

Actually see my collarbones. Oh, and to not be so fat that I am the last person left to get a seatmate on the blue line. I always feel like people are all like oh.. that seat is open because she is so fat. Not for long!

The broccoli has to be mushy. So if you like firm broccoli you are out of luck. I will say that the Atkins Beef Merlot meal the broccoli is soft enough to constitute mushy once you microwave it.

Genetics also play a part in this. Sometimes people who are older bounce back because of good skin genes. Sometimes younger people do not because of bad genes. But either way, think of how much happier and healthier you will be once the weight starts to go down.

I still feel there is only one occasion for running: Zombie apocalypse. I find cardio is a necessary evil. I do it, but I don't like it, save for swimming. But I only swim two days a week. It's really hard on my hair. Most days I just grind out 30 minutes on the treadmill or ellipitcal and another 30 on the bike. I really do like strength training though. So in conclusion: Running is for the Zombie apocalypse.

OMG he is adorable. The hedgehog, I mean!

I literally had the same experience. My dad is better than anyone I know at respecting personal boundaries. But I went to church and someone came up to me asking how I was doing. I was so pissed at my dad and the situation he and the individual put me in. I just thought it incredibly rude of the individual to ask me the way she did. My wife was even blown away. I thought I had gotten over this but reading your post brought back the memory. I don't have a clue how it can be made right. Time. And the knowledge that your Dad loves you. But he's human too and made a mistake. At least that is how I dealt with it when my Mom told her sister. I gave her a talking to and she apologized. Then I let it go.

What flavor did ya get? I'm nosy. Last night after my swim I had the Cookies and cream. Delish! And it's a nice change up to have a bar which feels more filling to me than a shake, imho!

For stuff like shredded cheese and meat, I will measure that on my food scale - so if its a 1 oz or 2 oz, I mark it accordingly on MFP. For veggies, they are so low cal, I don't sweat it if the amount listed is 1/4 a cup even though I ate roughly 75% of that amount. For condiments I will measure out a tablespoon or whatever the serving size is if need be and document accordingly with the meal

Spinach, or salad if you can tolerate leafy greens. Those things fast track right through ya. Quest bars have lots of fiber in them if you are into Protein bars.

I had to get my HgA1C down below 8 before my surgery (my hospital will not do surgery on you if your diabetes is not well controlled). At the time I started at my hospital, it was over 9%. By the time my pre op testing rolled around several months later, I got it down to 6.1% You can start slowly - just walk 10 minutes a day. Then after a week add in 10 more minutes a day. Doesn't have to be super fast. If you have access to a treadmill you can just walk 1.5 or 2 miles per hour - whatever pace is comfortable since you have bad joints. In regard to food - use myfitnesspal.com to log what you are eating. Maybe invest in a food scale to monitor portions. Even if you aren't eating the healthiest things, it is kind of eye opening to find out how small a serving size of something is. But by all means, don't try all these things at once. You'll just get frustrated and overwhelmed. Try one or two suggestions at first. Get comfortable with them, then incorporate more changes into your life.

I need photographic proof of the adorable crankiness of this hedgehog. HEDGEHOG! HEDGEHOG! HEDGEHOG!

My pre-op diet was really ... Atkinsesque. High Protein, low carb, but not liquid. I took this as an invitation to eat lots and lots of delicious meats. Steak. chicken. Bacon. But mostly steak. Then, the night before no food after midnight. I lost weight on this meaty diet. From 312 to 294.

I was 335 at my heaviest and 312 when I started my surgeon's program. Was 294 on the day of the surgery. We're the same height, but I also had Type II diabetes and borderline blood pressure. I chose the sleeve because I was not interested in the plumbing reroute and malabsorption. My surgeon has a lot of people who are really heavy do a sleeve then revises them to a RNY, but I have no intention of doing that. I'm still a work in progress since I was sleeved in May. Double check with your insurance if both surgeries are covered. I had it in my mind I wanted a sleeve but needed to make sure it was covered. Sometimes since it is newer, it is not covered.

Exercise is difficult if you do not enjoy it. For me walking on a treadmill is always kind of a slog and not enjoyable (and honestly I'm not an outdoorsy nature person so walking outside isn't any more motivating or fun for me). So I had to find something more likeable. I love swimming and have decided to incorporate it into my routine two days a week. So maybe you like Zumba because you like to dance or step aerobics because you like the variation Or maybe the treadmill is your thing because you can zone out. But the key is to try as many things as you can in order to find something you look forward to doing. Also, hello @@DevilDog! Pleased to meet you!

The thing is that everyone thinks because this is elective that it is their business to make a judgement. But these people don't know your personal history, or how many times you have tried to lose weight or anything. People are jerks. But shake the haters off. Your body, your decision, your life.

I feel your pain. I told my mother and she told her sister who told my cousin. The next thing I know is that my cousin is congratulating me on my lap band during one of our games of Words with Friends. I was salty. I didn't have a lap band! And it was not my Mom's business to tell my private medical decision to her sister. So now I know that the entire maternal side of the family knows because once you tell my aunt, the information is out there. Ugh.