Sheribear68

I think it’s wonderful that you’re identifying foods that are triggers and then making a plan to conquer those cravings. All of us are in this together and it’s HARD sometimes. We will have each other’s backs and bounce ideas off and learn from ourselves and from each other. For me, meal planning is essential. Without it I find myself wondering around lost and grazing in my own kitchen When I find myself doing that, I can usually recognize the behavior and get out of my own way, but without the planning I’d be lost most days. You got this!!!!!!

Ahem, so those of us who are taller might give those a test drive. Just saying’.

Another weigh in and I’m down to 135.4 Looks like maybe I was in a 2-3 week holding pattern and now my body is still inching down. It’s weird doing 5:2.... I’ll have a couple weeks where I lose/regain the same 2-3 pounds, then I’ll go super low carb for a couple of days and I get a 3-4 pound “whoosh” and then start defending a slightly lower weight and still do the 5:2. It will be interesting to see where my bod decides to “stay put”. Just when I think I’m finally and forever in maintenance, I drop a smidge more weight and we start the cycle over again.

Honestly I’m not sure if this is the best strategy or not. Going all liquid diet might lead to feeling deprived and making poorer food choices later. Instead, forgive yourself that piece of cake and make a food plan for the next 2 days and stick to it like glue! Also, have an honest convo with yourself on why you’ve pre-determined that you’re going to have cake. Why is it already decided???

Yup. Till 9pm. 😔

I’m not a purist, so I don’t count an ounce of milk, protein shake, or cream. Some people do, so I’m not entirely sure what the right answer is.

Omg. Legs to die for! That looks amazing

Lol, I bookmarked ALL of her selections. Wonderful choices and I do need to get outside my comfort zone just like you did. It’s a weird mental battle to have a fat girls brain trapped inside a skinny girls body. Eventually I’ll adjust

Lol, she totally nailed blue as my favorite color! Love the virtual shopping for all of us!

Omg, so my husband is generally just the best ever at spoiling me and taking up the slack when work gets crazy, except for when he’s feeling under the weather. Then you would think that the world is ending.

These look very nice! Of course, maybe a little sparkle wouldn’t be amiss either

We’ve narrowed it down to either St Thomas or Aruba. I’m definitely a Bermuda shorts and tank top kind of gal, but I might splurge on a flowey dress and make him take me out somewhere fancy one night. Of course I’ll be bringing my yoga pants for beach yoga....

Lol. Yup, as winter continues to hang on, I’m fighting the urge daily to not buy spring/summer clothes. Must Not Buy New Clothes

Lol, so I weighed myself again this morning (gasp! TWO DAYS IN A ROW???) and I’m down another 0.8 pounds to 136.6, which is currently my all-time low PO. I REFUSE to panic or react to that number because I’ve come to a head space where I’m going to do my thing and trust my body to do the right thing. This kind of trust has been something that’s taken me months to come to grips with, but through group and individual therapy, I’m learning to trust that my body won’t actually let me become deathly ill/or die from malnutrition. I’m still 10-12 pounds over my adult low weight of 125-ish pounds from my college days. Wow. When I think of how “fat” I felt whenever I got >125 and then would diet and exercise like a maniac to get below that magical number, I realize how messed up our ideas of body perfection truly are. Back in the 80’s/90’s a woman weighing over 125 was considered “too fat” to be good partner material, even at a height of 5’7”. Now we wonder why so many of us in my age range struggled with MO as we dieted ourselves into that condition trying to reach this fairly unrealistic goal.

I have coffee (hot and iced) all the time. Full caffeine even. I also take acetaminophen/caffeine pain relievers (excedrine migraine without the aspirin) regularly because I’ve suffered headaches all my life. I fully admit I’m a caffeine addict, but I have noticed I don’t use it as much as before. Those headaches though.... really was hoping that WLS would help with those as my blood sugar is so much better now and I know I’ve eliminated many of my insulin spikes with a low/slow carb diet, but alas..... still get headaches almost daily. On the upside, my stomach is better able to handle the acid from the coffee (as long as there is milk/protein shake in it) and the caffeine doesn’t increase reflux, which has almost disappeared PO, so as long as I don’t notice an increase in reflux/acid/stomach pain, I’m keeping my caffeine in my diet.

Your transformation is awe-inspiring. Beautiful lady, beautiful clothes. 💕💕💕💕

Omg, this is so relate-able! Lol, anytime I purchase an outfit ahead of time, it doesn’t fit like it should on the day of the event. So hubs and I are in the midst of planning a beach vacay for June and I’m sooooooo tempted to buy shorts and tank tops, but I’m really having to reign myself in bc it’s still 4 months away. Thanks for your post (you still rocked that dress even if it was a bit loose) because I was getting restless and dying to order some clothes and now I’m going to grit my teeth and wait a bit.

Great job Angie! I totally forgot to weigh last week, which may sound weird, but it’s the honest-to-goodness truth. Anyway, after our group meeting last night I set a reminder on my phone to weigh myself. I didn’t SS the results, but I’m at 137.4, which is very close to my lowest weight. So I did meet with my NUT last week and thankfully she’s reassured me that I won’t die if I eat under 1,000 calories daily, 🤣🤣🤣

Oh and here’s a pic from yesterday. Feeling strong and accomplished and I refuse to feel one bit apologetic or guilty about it.

Not gonna lie... maintenance scares the heck out of me. Also, I’ve got people telling me all of the time that I’m too skinny and “can stop at anytime, ok” and I’ve started learning how to tune that all out. I’m really not used to being the skinny girl in the room. Heck, just typing that out felt weird, but it’s the truth now. There are days when I log everything and days when I don’t even think about it. Anymore, my focus is on becoming stronger and losing some fat%, and trying to gain some muscle. Even a month ago I was freaked out by weighing under 140 pounds and now it’s like “meh, this is normal now and I have tons of energy and feel fabulous.” I’m to the point now that if I lose more it won’t freak me out too much, but I’m not actively intending to lose. I figure my calories will eventually climb up so I’m not gonna panic.

Strange indeed. I am now the skinniest girl at work, my circle of friends, and my family and it’s a bit mind-blowing. Now when I go out in public, nobody knows that I’m actually a fat girl trapped in a skinny girls body. They can’t understand that I know their pain, their shame, their mental battles. It’s kind of like once I got >2 years out of chemo and I didn’t look like a cancer patient anymore. I will always be a cancer patient, but I no longer look the part so people dealing with cancer of their own tell me as a health-care provider “well you can’t understand what I’m going through...”. Um...yes. Yes I most definitely can. It’s the same now, and honestly it’s even weirder for me bc I was MO for most of the last 22 years and it was so much part of my identity that there are aspects I probably won’t live long enough to get over. I’m sensing in your post here, AZhiker that you’re feeling a bit “lost” as to which group you can relate to. Our previous acquaintances can’t relate to us like they did before and new people we meet never knew our previous struggles. I can relate completely to this feeling of “where do I belong now?” And this is why forums like this and support groups are absolutely vital for our continued growth and mental health. Of of y’all in this February group are near and dear to me as we were all starting about the same time and went through this together. I will be forever grateful for the last years worth of humor,frustration,fears,setbacks and triumphs that we’ve shared. As we move into year 2, there will be new challenges and I’m looking forward to navigating those together.

Okay so I had a moment like this today at the Pilates studio. An instructor I hadn’t had in awhile was back at our location and she made a comment to me after class about how fantastic I looked and how strong I had become. Another gal in class piped up saying she was noticing the same thing about me and then it turned into a discussion on how much I’d lost since joining the studio last March. So I told them all that I’ve lost 120+ pounds since January 2019, and there was a part of me that wanted to add, “but it was bc of WLS, so please don’t look at me with awe and admiration,” Then I mentally took a step back and realized that 1. I didn’t owe anyone an explanation of how each of those pounds came off, and 2. I am amazing and awesome for sticking to my program like I’ve done for the last year. I could’ve “settled” for losing 50,60,70, etc pounds, but at the end of the day I pushed myself beyond anything I ever thought I could’ve. And you know what? I am actually very strong and dedicated to this lifestyle. Yes the compliments sometimes can make us feel guilty and awkward, but I challenge each and every one of you guys to give yourself credit for the incredibly brave and wise decision to have WLS in the first place. This choice isn’t the easy way out. There’s so much involved in it that will be with us forever and we chose forever altering our digestive tracts to get back our health. There are many people out there who will -for a multitude of reasons-never make our very difficult choice.

It gets easier, but it’s still rough sometimes. On the upside, hubs and I rarely go out to eat anymore bc of this, therefore it’s great for our budget. On the downside,I’ve had to learn to tell myself repeatedly that IDGAS what the servers or restaurant staff think of me when I I order an appetizer as a meal (honestly it’s so tedious sometimes to explain that I want it brought when everyone’s meal arrives because IT IS MY MEAL) or when hubs and I share an app and I take small bites off of his plate and ask for an extra smaller plate. You would think with more and more bari brothers and sisters out there that this would be so common, but it’s still hard for people to understand. It’s like our society exists to stuff our faces with as much crap as we can when we go out rather than enjoy the experience of going out.

Lol, my first non-exercise gear OOTD in awhile. This is from yesterday morning as I was heading off to work

😂😂 I’m in-between. I’ve got a handful of the $30 Amazon finds, but dozens of things