Crafty-in-Carolina

You are doing great! Some NUTs are obviously better than others. FWIW, I started out in a size 18 also and am down to a 6 or 8 petite now depending on brand and my surgery was 8 months ago. At my last appt, I was told that I'm doing great. So it sounds like you are right on track too. Don't let them get you down. We all stumble. Whats important is you get up after each stumble, dust yourself off, and try to figure out ways to avoid repeating the same mistakes. It's a marathon, not a sprint. Congrats!

Thank you so much for this info. I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. I lost my mother 18 months ago. It sucks. I'm very relieved to hear your results from nephrology though. It's reassuring.

Thank you! I'm probably around 100-120/day. Docs office says 80 grams is the goal. I'm pretty comfy with 100 as that's probably a 1:1 ratio with lean mass. I'll find out for sure at my 1 yr check up. Just not sure if that's ok long term or only for the short-term losing phase. I'm a little paranoid about my kidneys due to watching my mother lose hers. Dialysis is no way to live if you can avoid it. [emoji22]

Looking back at MFP diary, it looks like a lot of 25/35/40 carb/protein/fat lately. I am a bit concerned for my kidneys with maintaining such high protein over the long term. I should also say that I'm just as concerned for overall health as weight maintenance, so I do want a good macro balance. I don't seem to be super carb sensitive. My surgeon tests metabolism again at 1 year, so I have a few more months before getting a precise measure. So for now I can only estimate.

So I'm 8 months out and gone from a size 18 down to a size 6. I'm 5-3 and 135# right now. I've been consuming roughly 1400 calories per day. Pre-op testing showed that I had a very high metabolism (blessing and a curse). I don't want to trash it. I have no trouble getting in my fluids and proten. I do a combo of either walking/running, yoga, and interval training 3-5 days per week. I have struggled with hunger from very early on post-op.... real hunger. Anyway, I'm still losing about a pound per week, but am thinking I want 130 to be my new goal. So I'm thinking ahead to "maintenance" nutrition. What would a healthy, balanced macro profile look like for me? I'm thinking I should do another follow-up with the nutritionist, but wanted to solicit input here too. I am not doing keto, nor do I desire to. I run and feel that I need some carbs for energy, though I stick to whole food/whole grain carbs and way less quantity than pre-op, think black beans, whole fruits and veggies. I do oatmeal and yogurt on occasion too. Anyway, I'm wanting to tweak my macros on myfitnesspal toward maintenance. Any suggestions? I was thinking 35/35/40 carbs/protein/fat??? Does that sound reasonable? Gotta figure out what maintenance calorie count looks like at this activity level. I get 12k - 15k steps per day. My lean body mass is supposedly around 96 pounds. Oh and here are a couple pics just because. No regrets!

I am loving yoga now. I do some sort of walking/jogging, yoga, and/or interval training each week and actually enjoying it. Last summer I struggled thru some hiking on vacation. This year I'm actually looking forward to it. Life is good. Love the kitty litter idea.... very resourceful.

Yes! It certainly does. You look fabulous. Congratulations!

ROFL!!! OK, you made me snort-laugh with that one. I call it snaughing. Wise words, my friend and I've taken them to heart. :-)

Wow, that is an amazing transformation! Did you have to make 2 trips? I'm just curious how they decide on which procedures. I know that here, we would typically have an initial consult before scheduling surgery. So I didn't know how it was handled when traveling.

It will happen before you know it!

Sadly, it's not difficult for me. I've had no food intolerances, no nausea, no reflux/heartburn, and my body reminds me to eat every 2-3 hours via hunger, though smaller portions than before and much healthier, nutrient dense food now. I was initially concerned, but my nutritionist said it meant my metabolism was revved back up again. It was not head hunger, boredom or emotional eating either. So I am eating 3 healthy meals, plus 2-3 snacks per day. In a way, I wish I had had at least some intolerances, but my surgeon confirmed that I was on track and actually surpassed expectations, so I guess I shouldn't "borrow trouble." But truly, I can see how easy it would be to eat around the sleeve over time with junk food. That's why I track everything, to keep myself accountable for both quantity and quality of food. The restriction is a wonderful tool, but my program stresses lifestyle change and establishing a healthy relationship with food during this "honeymoon phase" because eventually you are able to take in more, and if eating the wrong foods, a lot more. Sigh. It really isn't a simple fix, but I wish it were.

It is confusing. I've read that caloric intake for women less than 1200/daily over an extended period of time will wreck your metabolism. Last thing I want is to be 5 years out and gain weight from merely looking at a piece of chocolate, lol. I tested at a very high metabolism and my doc had me at 1200-1400 calories by the 3 months out. I'm pretty active and started out with a lower bmi (with co-morbidities). I was losing only about 1 pound per week, but sure enough when my calories/carbs bumped up, I noticed my weight loss bumped up to 3 pounds per week. Crazy and seems counterintuitive. This also happened around the time that I added strength training to my normal cardio, do who knows. I imagine it there are huge variances between individuals. The down side to a fast metabolism is that I'm hungry.... all . the. time. I can foresee getting back into serious trouble if I'm not extremely careful about food quality and watching the macros. So I track everything. It's a pain, but less so the longer I do it now that typical meals and recipes have already been entered.

Hi, I'm in charlotte too! I can highly recommend Dr Voellinger with Novant. The office in Matthews is wonderful and I hear great things about Dr Kolash too. My PCP initially referred me to the Carolinas group (Carolinas Weight Management), but my experience with that office was horrible, so I switched and have no regrets. Let me know if you would like more info.

OMG, right?!?!? He was a puppy then. He is a full grown hound now, a stinky, drooly mess, but so sweet and full of love. Wouldn't trade him for anything! Yes, bassets are great!

Thank you for posting these. I watched them last night and again this morning. I really hate the "dumbed down" explanations we get for so many of the rules. This was very useful info and further cements my commitment to a complete lifestyle change as opposed to simply relying on restriction. I will be looking for more of his videos on youtube.