Ezma

Shiny - It's so good to hear about something wonderful happening for you. Well, something other than all the weight you lost. :redface:

I've been doing fairly well with the ice cream. That's the good news. Sweets, not so much. I'm trying to get rid of them and it's been a slow process but I think I'm making progress now that I don't really crave the ice cream anymore. Yesterday was going really, really well until after dinner. Overall not horrible but could have been better. I should do even better today as I feel a bit less stressed after taking a day off from the hospital. I really want to do the South Beach phase 1 thing so I've been researching it and will probably start it soon. I would really love to lose another 20 pounds by Christmas. At the rate I'm going I'll gain 10 by then. I am optimistic though. I know I can get back on the right track.

You're getting so close SNT. Do you have a pre-op diet at all? Bet you're getting excited. :crying:

Two things - 1. 25 pounds in 8 or 9 weeks is a fantastic rate to lose weight. It's not slow by any means. You're doing great! Enjoy. 2. You have to want to exercise to fit it in your schedule. I have to exercise now that I've worked it into my schedule. I hated it at first and had every reason in the world not to do it. I work full time, have 1 child and have a husband in the hospital and I still find time to exercise every day. I hope you give yourself a chance to get used to doing it, you'll end up loving it.

Nice! Would be great to have a boss like that. I'd even tolerate the butt part for $500. Hell, he could touch my butt for $5.00. LOL

House and hospital. Doing so much better today, so far. I think I needed to get that out of my system. It was a culinary scream of stress. Just need to stay on top of it and make sure it doesn't get the better of me.

Sure sounds like you're doing everything right. I've got all my fingers and toes crossed for you that your body adjusts soon for you. It seems like you have a good attitude about it. And I'll celebrate every 1/2 pound with you.

Tap - Are you close to your goal? Because you've been so good that I can't see why it's not flying off you. Do you have good restriction? What does your doctor say about why you're losing so slow? Just curious about whether or not anyone is helping you with this. Do you think there's any reason why you aren't losing? Thyroid, portion size, life's cruel twist of fate? I feel so bad that you are fighting so hard and not getting anywhere. I wanna help.

Tap - that wasn't too bad at all. You've been doing so well. Once in a while you have to experience the sugar so you can remember how yucky it makes you feel. Ready - sounds like I have good company in my misery. I had a couple things that weren't the best choices on Saturday but Sunday was like an out of control sugarfest. I didn't end up with that many calories because I didn't eat too many other things. Oh, now there's something to be proud of - I ate the junk, not the stuff that actually would actually nourish my body. Gonna put it down here so maybe I will not do it again. I didn't have ice cream yesterday but that's about the only thing I didn't eat. Are you ready for this? It's horrible. I ate 3 small cream puffs, 2 cookies, a chocolate-covered donut, 6 chocolate truffles and 2 servings of popchips. Wow! That sucks! The healthy food for the day consisted of 1/2 cup 0% fat plain yogurt and 1/2 cup of berries, 1 1/2 cup serving of thai chicken soup (no noodles, basically chicken broth with chicken breast and some veggies) and about 4 bites of sausage and peppers.

Think I'm going to have to give that some serious thought. I forgot how fast it can fly off when you get rid of most of the carbs. I still think it's better and more satisfying to eat some complex carbs in your diet but a jump start to some more loss would be really nice.

You're doing great Diva. I think Crystal is very right when she says that most of the VVs are right in the same range as you. Most of us that have lost closer to 100 pounds had a lot more to lose. And some, like me are counting from our first surgeon's appointment or highest weight. In my 105 pounds off is the 18 from the 6 month weight monitor required by my insurance and the 16 from the 2-week pre-op diet. I've lost 72 since surgery and have a bit over 100 left to go. I do find myself getting discouraged at times too. I feel envious that I'm not closer to my goal like some people in our group. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic for them, just wish it were me too. I still have a long road ahead of me but I don't see me failing (if I can stay away from the ice cream :tongue2:) since it's the way I live now. It has to come off eventually.

I am about to start another day too. Yesterday was less than perfect. Plus, I think I ended up getting too much sodium with the hospital food and junk so I'm holding a bit of water again. I was up 1 pound today. Time to pump the water in me again. How's it going for everyone else?

Way to go Ready!!! And I don't think it's a scale trick. You got a fill and were on liquids, it's gonna go down. Keep it tight and watch what goes in the body and I know you'll fly down the pounds over the next week. Thanks for the motivation guys. Hubby and I made the call to insurance and they show it's still pending, no decision showing on their side. Now I just have to wait for the hospital person to get in so we can check their side and if we have to, do a peer to peer or appeal. Last time, when they found the first tumor, the only thing that brought me to my knees was dealing with all this kind of BS. Same this time - I lost it last night as was a total bitch to the insurance. Hubby was crying this morning. Gahhhhhh!!! Doing much better now though. I really understand "Live Strong" better now. Gonna go watch "You Are What You Eat". That show makes me laugh and inspires me.

I've now lost a 2 month old horse and an ostrich egg. Woo hoo!!!

Nice Tap! Love to see you made the most of that time. It probably burned another 300 calories for you. Yay! How's everyone doing today? I lost another half pound so I only have 1 more to go to get back to where I was. I have been eating halfway great and halfway crappy. I do well for most of the day but at night when I'm home trying to unwind and get rid of some of the stress I turn to junk. At least the sherbet is almost gone again. I know I won't have the last of it tonight because I got stuff to make the yummy Balsamic Strawberries with Ricotta Cream. Mmmmmmmm and only 180 calories. Well, I'm off to shower and get ready to deal with the insurance company today. They denied my husband his acute rehab and want him to go to a nursing home instead. The occupational therapist, physical therapist, several doctors, nurses and social workers all think he needs intensive therapy. They said if the insurance doesn't approve it they might as well send him home since the other is worthless. I spent all day yesterday dealing with insurance, the hospital and food services. Looks like today will be another uphill battle. Damn I wish it counted as exercise. LOL

Jaime - I'm so glad to hear you don't have to deal with a brain tumor. It sucks!!!! Hopefully it will be something really easy to fix for your husband.

I do full liquid for 24 hours - basically soup and yogurt, maybe mushies for dinner.

Tap - You will probably love the edamame (ed-a-mommy for those that might wonder how the heck to say it so you can ask where they are - LOL). All it is is the soy nut before they dry roast or fry em, what ever they do to them. We love em here, even my 13 year old son like them. They remind me quite a bit of boiled peanuts if you know what those are. They sell them frozen in the shell and already shelled plus you can also get them at trader joes in the fresh produce section of the store, near the mushrooms I think.

Jaime - Things I like are lite Jarlsberg cheese or lite Laughing Cow cheese, both about 50 calories. Strawberries, heck, any kind of fruit is good. I also Quaker rice cakes, especially the cheddar ones, are great. Only bad things about the rices cakes are that the sodium is high and you really have to measure out your 9 cake serving and hide the bag. It's only 70 calories but it's so easy to eat just one more. Lil - Congrats! I bet that has you inspired all over again. It's just what you needed to find that long lost motivation. Ready - I'm so happy that you got a good, solid fill. It will help you so much. And the days of liquids and mushies should give you a good jump start on the weight loss. You inspire me. Even though you've been having a tough time because you don't have good restriction, you hang in there. You always come back to motivate yourself again and are upbeat and positive most of the time. I wanna be like RSG!! Tap - Good morning. How are you? You've done so well controlling your nut addition. I'd love to syphon off some of your willpower. No, it's more like I want to clone it as I'd hate to deplete your supply in any way.

That must be my problem. I'm in Arizona and it is wicked hot here. Luckily Cold Stone is about 10 minutes away so I don't think about it often. That stuff and Hagan Daas is so full of fat and calories and deliciousness. Mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm mmm - sweet cream or mint with macadamia nuts and Nestle Crackle bar.

Jaime - I'm so sorry to hear you're having to deal with something as stressful as health problems in a loved one. He's in our thoughts and prayers. Hope all works out well soon.

Hi guys. Just a quickie update on me and the hubby and a "Way to go!" for all of you. Sounds like everyone is doing well. I was coming here thinking I have to confess again because I had Low Fat sugar free ice cream at the hospital today and I just had sherbet last night. Then I realized that even though it isn't how I'd like it to be and I still am fighting the ice cream fiend, it's so so so much better than it was before we started this thread. So I'm determined to not beat myself up. 2 or 3 days a week instead of 7 days a week is really something to Celebrate. Now I also need to get back on it and banish it for a while. Hubby is doing a bit better today. They have given him a higher dose of steroids to shrink some of the swelling in his brain around the tumor. They also have figured out what is wrong with the right side of his body. It's not actually numbness and weakness, it's a sensory thing where the brain sends a signal to do something but is not receiving the signal back from the body part involved. So if he looks at his hand he doesn't drop things, if he doesn't look at it he sometimes does. If he gets the visual signal he's able to overcome it for the most part. They want him to do 1-2 weeks in an acute rehab facility to retrain himself and because he needs 24 hours care due to the risk of falling. Now the insurance is saying they won't pay for it so I'm off to fight them. Joy! Keep on it, we will overcome! And congrats to all of you that are beating the brute addictions.

I think you have to ask yourself at least these two things. Will it kick in your addiction to nuts and make you crave them more? And is this how you want to spend the calories? I looked up the nutrition for soy nuts though I'm not sure that the ones you have are the same. 1/2 cup as in 86gm roasted soynuts contains Calories: 387 Protein: 34g Carbohydrate: 28g Total Fat: 18.6g Fiber: 7.0g Ultimately you're the only one that will really know. I think substitutions are a perfectly wonderful way to work this craving thing. I had sherbet last night. And while it doesn't have the fat that ice cream does, which is part of what I'm trying to avoid, I think it triggers me the same as ice cream so I count it the same thing. Now the strawberries and ricotta cream I had, I don't think of as the same kind of trigger. I was rich and creamy and cold but it wasn't frozen and it was too rich tasting to eat bowl after bowl.

What do you wanna do tonight Ready? I did good again. It was so hard to resist last night. After taking hubby to the ER and having him checked in to the hospital it would have been so easy to have a little pity party. But I made it! Woo hoo!! Go team go!

Okay, I'm down 3 pounds from last week but still have 2 more to go to get back to where I was. I think those 3 were Water cause I felt that go away. Working hard here to get those back off and mad as can be at myself for doing it in the first place. It's hard enough to lose them and I really don't want to have to lose them twice. I think it was a lesson I needed. You know when you go back to something just to make sure it wasn't what you wanted. Not sure how much sense I'm making this morning but, oh well, need coffee and a lot less stress. I'm going to try to keep posting at my normal rate just to keep some part of my life normal but if I don't it's cause my husband is back in the hospital and I'll be spending a lot of time there without a computer. They do have some computers in the family room but I don't see myself going down there much. Keep up the good fight guys. This really is a battle we can win.