summerset

Still fighting with my insurance over plastics. That I will an at-least-partly self-pay is something I have accepted already (I want a lower body lift as well and a thorax wall lift with breast skin-removal). It will be four surgeries in sum I guess, each being 3 months apart. I'd like to have it in two rounds as well but the surgeon I chose (seems to be the most realistic and honest one plus his results seem to be good and I don't want to travel far away) won't do that. Oh, well... Germans have a different stance on everything self-pay than Americans, I notice it again and again. It also irks me that I have to take vacation days for surgery. What I also notice again is that every time I think "Ok, weight loss is finally done!" there goes some more weight. I already noticed that I started losing again after my board certification on 22nd March. (So much for that "window of opportunity" regarding weight loss.) Since a weight loss of e. g. 3 kg or so really shows once you seem to be past a certain BMI I'm saying once again: glad I've waited!! @sillykitty: wasn't it you who said something in that line as well? Like a rather small amount of weight made a hell of a difference you didn't expect?

If you had your gallbladder or appendix taken out - would you still wonder about having no energy and feeling exhausted one week after surgery?

Fruitbowl with almond butter that got too dry.

Pasta salad:

Red lentil penne with a tomato sauce:

Needs to be hot to taste good: mix of oats/millet, cinnamon protein powder, some dark chocolate and bananas.

Also "low sugar".

Junk food got the better of me. Today's dinner will be tomorrow's lunch now. 😂

Leftovers thrown together that didn't really match: sticky brown rice with green curry paste and mixed vegetables with tofu with "meat" made out of pea protein that had to go, seasoned with sweet soy sauce.

You won't feel "abnormal" for very long. Promised.

The people who're complaining about others being so judgmental about their choices seem to be pretty judgmental towards these people as well. Funny.

I don't need to be anyones example and guiding light. Only adults here. People need to recognize that eating is neither a crime nor a sin, that you can cheat on your spouse but not on your sleeve or bypass and that eating something one "shouldn't" (back at "shoulding" again, huh?) is nothing that needs to be blown out of proportion.

And maybe fewer patients are suffering from dieting burnout as well.

This. It's like a weird competition. For many patients it also seems to be very pleasing that circumstances are the complete opposite of what they once were. --- Not being able to stop eating -> not being able to eat more Not being able to stop gaining weight -> passing their goal weight and still losing People telling them to lose weight -> people telling them they should stop losing weight Struggling with eating less -> struggling with eating more Only being able to shop at certain stores because of needing big sizes -> having problems finding really small sizes --- It's like many patients are taking a morbid pride in this and simply love the humble bragging. Like things being the complete opposite of what they once were is some kind of wonderful badge of honor. People still love to engage in the extremes - just different extremes. Maybe the worst thing about this is that too many patients seem to think that they're actually engaging in "healthy behavior" when going to extremes.

This.

I think it's more of a "as long as you don't have a BMI of 21 or less you have to keep your mouth shut"-thing. Like anything you write while having a BMI of 28 is not even worth thinking about but it suddenly becomes gospel when the same is written by someone having a BMI of 20.

Getting really sweaty is nothing I'm really pleased with so I like colder temperatures. As for the fun part: I had lots of fun when playing volleyball as a teen or doing martial arts competitively - there were always other people involved so that is definitely something to consider when people are talking about exercise "being fun". With sports like running or biking it's different. I like zoning out on the treadmill. After having reached a certain level of exertion I can't really grab a thought anymore and follow it. This kind of "inner silence" within the brain is something that feels kind of soothing and pleasing. Also if you're more of the hyperactive kind you're maybe going to enjoy the feeling of slight tiredness after exercise as well. The space can indeed be a problem. The programs you don't have to use. As for the price: if you can afford it - it's a piece of equipment you're going to use for quite a few years to come.

That's definitely a warning sign. I experienced it with the gym and the pool. Simply not my kind of exercise. However, with the pool it's a bit different. If I could get a coach who trains/teaches adults (which seems to be impossible to get for some weird reason). My technique is just horrible and I guess part of my shoulder pain years ago I can blame on wrong swimming technique. So no swimming for me unless I can get my hands on good swimming lessons! With the gym it was always time consuming - I prefer working out at home. One can get all the benefits with a home workout (mind you, we're not getting any younger and I don't want to be one of these people who break a vertebra at age 60 out of nowhere or their hip at the age of 70 because they tripped over the doorsill). What exactly do you hate about exercising? Maybe a different exercise would be more fun? Can be a tough one. I always remind myself that it could be worse with the intolerances. I worked together with a celiac person for a while and he always had to bring his own bread etc. when staff had b/f together during weekend shifts. One wouldn't think that e. g. some spice mixes contain gluten as well so he had to be really careful. It's way easier to avoid dairy as I have to do.

I think that was me. At least I can remember posting the link to the free PDF and I mentioned the concept of "best weight" more than one time in the past. IMO the concept of "best weight" acknowledges some very important things: - food is not only seen as fuel in our culture (and that's not viewed as something pathological here but as something common and perfectly normal) - there is more to life than a diet and an exercise schedule - not everyone can be thin without tremendous effort and it's ok to decide that going below a certain weight is not worth the effort to a person Again, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be e. g. BMI 19 and being obsessed with eating and exercise (if that is what that person truly wants) - it just irks me that extreme and radical approaches are touted as "the way to go" on this board way too often, putting/leaving people struggling with their eating in a rather bad place to be.

Aaaaaaaah, I can't really object to this one. I experienced it myself. That "feeling of thin" or "no longer feeling fat" has indeed a tendency to "wear off" or something like that. That doesn't mean it will happen to you as well of course but it might be. (However, it wasn't pointed out to me. It was something I noticed with time.) The reason I'm not going for lower ("ripped" - as much as I like that look) is because I hate hate hate that feeling of everything has to planned and managed and tracked and all - I'm not a person for detailed planning and every-minute-and-morsel-has-to-be-planned-and-timed. I clearly realized this when I prepared for exam while working full-time. During the last 6 months and especially during the last 3 months everything seemed to be pressed into a tight timeframe. I had to cut time to make room for studying. Exercise, food shopping, food preparing, sleep and more. So things had to be planned and scheduled in a way that felt way too much like overwhelming and disturbing micromanaging for me. You can't imagine how good it feels to be free again of this meticulous micro-managing time and stuff and the bad conscience that comes with not-sticking-to-the-plan!! It was necessary to get the result I wanted and I got it but (and in this "weight loss" is so much different) now it's over. Finished. Done. So it was ok. However, I don't want to have that kind of stress in my life for an endless timespan.

Yes to everything on that list. Especially to the last one and extra-especially to the first one. I don't think it's the ED (well, maybe in the end it is the ED after all, I have no clue). It maybe feels a bit like watching someone getting good grades without having to work as hard as many others. They still have to do some work but they don't have to work as hard.

I think this depends on how you define "successful". If one only cares about being skinny, doesn't matter the cost (this is a decision that should be respected as well IMO) people can be very successful with restrictive diets. There will always be people who maintain a very low weight, just like there are people who maintain weight loss without surgery. I just wish this wouldn't be touted as the one and only acceptable outcome. Not everyone is interesting in rigid control. There comes a point for everyone at which you have to ask yourself: "What am I willing to sacrifice for a few lbs less?" For some people that question might arise at BMI 29 or higher, for others it might boil down to the question if they want to proceed to get and maintain a "ripped" look with not an ounce of body fat on their frame. Lol, so much this.

This. People are making too much steep claims, talking in absolutes, then get all upset because not everyone is agreeing with them and then they try to take their claims back.