Apple203

Exactly -- it helps you with the meal you are eating. For instance, yesterday, my son got pizza and I had a piece. By the time I got to the crust, I was full, so no crust, and no second (or third or fourth) piece. That is the advantage of the sleeve, IMO. Tonight, I had steamed salmon. Did you know you can throw a frozen piece in a pressure cooker and its ready in 5 minutes?? The piece was over 6 ounces, and I ate until I was satisfied/satiated, which was about half of the piece. Shared some leftovers with my dog and saved the rest for breakfast.

I feel emotionally terrible that I had such a bad food day, so keep resisting! :-)

I'm evidently a slow loser, and its frustrating. So I rationalize that if I can lose even 3 pounds a month for the next 9 months, I'll be 160 pounds at the one year mark, and that is a respectable weight for a 54 year old woman. On a positive note, like others have reported, I'm in normal size clothes, it doesnt hurt when I walk, I joined a gym, my sleep apnea is better, etc, already.

What a timely topic -- I went off the reservation yesterday. Its honestly the first true binge I've had since surgery. I was at a conference, had a Think Thin protein bar mid-morning (I typically avoid protein bars), then I was famished at 1 when lunch was served and ate half a turkey wrap for lunch with 6 potato chips (there were no good options at this meeting), and by the time I got home I was in full binge mode. Not sure if the trigger was stress from the conference or carbs from the protein bar (22 g carbs), then half wrap and chips (39 carbs guesstimate). Day ended with 1,663 calories and 126 carbs, ugh!! Glad to read that this has happened to others, and I feel back under control this morning. Oh, and I tracked it all in its awful glory...

Ooooooooooo.... we had an extraordinarily stinky pooper in the office for about a year. I always wondered what the problem was, and now I think I know!!

That's great!!

I've had a very similar experience. I rarely felt any restriction until until I joined a gym a couple of weeks ago (2.5 months after surgery) and increased my lean protein from 3 ounces to 4 ounces per meal. Now I feel more satisfied (emotionally and physically) when I eat and the restriction kicks in. I also (finally) get the telltale hiccups that people talk about.

The reality is, you WILL be able to eat all of the bad stuff after about a month or so. Not sure I agree that burgers are bad, but with a roll and sugary ketchup, yea, they are. What are you going to do then? I ask because its hard, and you need a plan.

Maybe its been mentioned already, but the alarms and timer on my FitBit.

I got a front zip bra from Athleta and I really like it.

Those skinny gym women are in awesome shape. aren't they???

I was lifting weights and watching an advanced TRX class today -- kept thinking, damn, I'll never be able to do that!! But I probably will, just not for a while.

I haven't noticed more wrinkles, but there are definitely loose areas developing as the fat goes away in my legs and arms -- neither of which I considered all that fat before. My skin has been drier than normal, so I am using bio oil after my showers. @millerla4 You look great! Very inspirational!

Good job! I joined a gym last week and I'm really enjoying it, too. But I'm terrible at pilates

Its just something I stumbled across in my web wanderings Here's one link: https://www.livestrong.com/article/489271-minimum-protein-intake-per-lean-body-mass/ You'll find references all over the web.

Help! My weight loss stalled after 8 weeks, and I'm not sure how to get things moving again. I track every bite with MFP, and limit my calories to 800/day (40 grams of carbs). Has anyone had a pattern like this? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe. I am being hyper-vigilant with my diet until my appt to rule out the error being mine, as in, untracked morsels adding up.

Wow, I am sorry you have had such a tough time since surgery. FWIW, I don't think you should cut calories any lower. Feel better....

well, yea, but I may be wrong? :-) Its just what I've uncovered in research!

I am obsessively consistent on vitamins and protein, 12 weeks out, watching and waiting for hair loss... I did have pretty severe anemia a few years ago and lost a ton of hair.

^^ all of this, I am learning. Its not a sprint but a marathon, incluing maintenance. So its not 6 months but 6 years you gotta be looking at.

I think the ideal is 1 gram of protein per 1 pound of lean body mass, right? e.g., I am 190#s, 46% fat, 100 pounds lean mass, so 100 grams protein a day -- not 75% of 190, which would be about...150 grams-ish. There's no way a typical obese person would be 75% lean...

This is very true! I need to re-establish some regularity in that department.

DEXA and RMR tests -- so cool! My RMR (resting metabolic rate) is 1,512 calories a day, which, when combined with lifestyle and exercise is slightly lower than average, but nothing drastic. This puts my total energy output at about 2,122 calories a day, less than my Fitbit's 30-day average of 2,330. Either way, with my calories-in at 800/day (1200 on a WILD day, lol), I should be losing weight. DEXA confirmed that I am still fat -- 46%, to be precise. And that I have extremely heavy, dense bones (go, genetics), which is good news since I've been on Synthroid since I was 18 (is associated with bone loss).