IcanMakeit

@@AR40 The real key to weight loss is caloric restriction, not exercise. Do you use MyFitnessPal? I find its projections and caloric goals very helpful and reasonably accurate. You could also talk to your nutritionist if he/she is available and knowledgeable about bariatrics. Once you determine the number of calories your body really needs to maintain your healthiest weight, you will have a much easier time.

I agree that trying to encourage people to lose weight is bound to cause friction. The best way to support your loved one's efforts toward health is to share your new healthy habits with them. Invite them (without insisting or nagging) to participate in your activities/exercise and share your healthy foods with them. You can't force people to change, you can only support the change once it begins to occur.

Welcome @maymae51951. There are a lot of us 60 something's around here. And we're all fabulous.

I'm back up to 105 after being at 104 most of last week. My extra snacking is working, but I hope it doesn't work too well.

At this stage, it is important to adhere to your surgeon's program very strictly. Check back with them to confirm the types of meals and the amounts you should be eating at your current stage, and then measure to make sure you don't exceed those amounts. Because you are still healing, the feeling of fullness is an unreliable guide.

I think you may have to put this activity off for a little while. This soon after surgery your energy level may be a little low and making sure you get your protein and hydration needs met is hard enough when you're just living your day to day life, let alone when you're hiking all day 10 miles from the nearest road. You can make the next trip extra special to make up for the delay.

Welcome to the forum. I've learned a lot from the people here. Most people here are very helpful, but some are so much fun that I want to check in every day. I hope you enjoy it as much.

Wow. I'm amazed that some people believe that because something is true, it must be public. I disagree very strongly with that notion. I have the right keep information about my body private. Period. It sounds like your co-worker does not believe in a right to privacy and she should not be privy to medical information. I understand you not wanting to rock the boat and I respect your decision, but I might have reported her.

Getting up after being seated for an extended period of time and walking without pain. I still revel in this. I was so used to being in pain all the time that the lack of it is a marvel and definitely my top NSV.

I can't count the number of brilliant, important posts that were eaten by my iPad! No, seriously this is very irritating and I hope there is a solution.

My husband bought a new deep fryer and I made fried chicken for the first time since I started losing weight back in January 2014. Yes, it's still delicious. And yes, if I were able to do so, I would have eaten 2 pieces. Even with all that I have learned over the past year and a half, I haven't lost the urge to overindulge in my favorite things. It's not a big problem now. I made sure to save up calories today for the chicken and my sleeve kept me to my planned allotment. But what about the future, when my restriction is less? Maybe it's too soon to be worried about this. I'm currently far below my goal weight and at this point I'm still following all of the rules that I set for myself. But I see so many women regaining after their second or third year, that I must conclude that regaining is not that hard to do. It's too bad that this surgery was not a magic cure. It looks like I'm going to have to continue to log, count, plan, etc. every day, forever.

@@lmhelmick and @Mooseknuckle: Enjoy this period of low appetite. Believe me, it passes.

When at my heaviest, my breasts were so large that my size 48G bras could barely contain them. They were watermelons. Once I was down 100 lbs, my breasts became tube socks with rocks. I had breast reduction surgery at that point, which gave me normal looking 36D breasts. Unfortunately, I continued to lose weight and now I have flattened little 34B's.

Believe it or not, I've only been in a Walmart when traveling. There is a newish one about 20 miles from my town, but I've never been to it. I usually go to Costco.

I have two good reasons and one stupid one for not posting pictures, 1) I haven't told the world about my surgery, 2) I am a very private person and don't relish the thought of sharing intimate details about my body when I can be readily identified by my photos, and 3) I use an iPad and uploading photos to this site from the iPad is not easy. Oh, and one more: 4) I hate the way I look in photographs. I thought I took bad pictures because I was heavy. It turns out that I just don't photograph well whether fat or thin. @@Elode you do not have that last problem. You look gorgeous.

The isolates cost more, but for bariatric surgery patients, they are probably worth it. We don't have the option of just eating more to make up any deficit. Everything we eat should have the best benefit to calorie ratio possible.

Prunes have a lot of sugar and they didn't work for me. My doctor told me to be more aggressive with the laxatives and not worry too much about developing a dependence. Since I started taking his advice, I have been 10X more comfortable.

Fiber is not used by the body for energy, that is why it can be subtracted from the carb count on a low carb diet. However, lots of low carbers count everything. It's a personal preference thing. I have always paid attention to the net carbs, even though all carbs are logged. I do think subtracting sugar alcohol carbs might not be the best practice. Sugar alcohols are metabolized differently by different people. To be on the safe side, I count them.

My pet peeve was that in the beginning, I lost most of my weight from my butt and legs, just where I needed it the least. It took months before my waist was noticeably smaller. I realize that this is a ridiculous complaint since the weight eventually came off everywhere, but I was so disappointed in the way I looked early on. Now my new peeve is that I have a great deal of loose skin and am not sure I can afford plastic surgery and have been denied by my insurance. After losing 140 lbs, insurance should cover some skin removal. This amount of loose skin does not look normal.

Don't feel guilty for doing so well. Be grateful and enjoy it. Every journey is different and yours just happens to be one of the good ones. I wish you continued success and good health!

@MarceMonster: Early on in the weight loss phase I was eating 700-800 cals per day and keeping my carbs in the 40-50 (net) grams range. Later this increased to 1000-1100 cals and around 60 grams (net) carbs. I am now working on raising my caloric intake to the point where I stop losing. I'm eating around 1250 per day and still losing very slowly. @stacyg1: I think you should try your doctor's and nutritionist's suggestion for a month. It might be beneficial, but you won't know unless you try it. If it doesn't work for you, you can go back to your previous plan. A slow down or break in your weight loss for a few weeks is not a long term disaster.

@@MarceMonster My surgery date was May 12 2014. I started at 244 in January 2014 and hit 104 this morning. My original goal was 135 (set by my surgeon and definitely too high for my height), was reached in December 2014. I hit my personal goal of 125 in January 2015. I was fine all the way down to 112 lbs, but now I think I look scrawny. They used to say a good rule of thumb for weight goal is to start with 100 lbs and add 5 lbs for each inch over 5' (adding a few pounds if you have a large frame). That would put my ideal weight at around 115. I'm hoping after all this shakes out (after the normal regain), that I will end up about there.

I second the comments of @@Bndtoslv but would like to add the good news that even though people who have had bariatric surgery are prone to regain at the three year mark, most of us will not regain all that we lost, plus a little more as had happened to most of us in the past. My unprofessional theories about the prevalence of regain are that 1) habits are difficult to overcome and many of us slowly return to our previous eating styles and levels of activitity; 2) our bodies seem to have a memory (those lurking, deflated fat cells?) and a preference for our former high weight and through hormones and hunger encourage us to eat more; 3) our bodies adapt to the surgical changes and restriction gradually diminishes in both RNY and VSG patients, and malabsorption of macronutrients diminishes or disappears for RNY patients.

@@MarceMonster I would definitely get a second opinion from my own nutritionist. Some people can eat that many grams a day or more and still lose weight, but I know I couldn't. You need to do what works for you, though.