Sheribear68

Hello. Well since you had surgery in February, I’m assuming that you’re right there with us on the slowing down portion of this journey. I’ve read where many people hit a bit of a stall around this time. I myself have hit 1 minor,and 2 major (lasting over a month) stalls since surgery. It happens, we just need to keep on program and it sounds like you’re doing everything you can. If it lasts a total of 2 months, then it might be time for a consult is what I’ve heard.

Lol, except for my first 2 weeks PO, and one other week (that came at the end of a 5 week stall) I’ve never lost >3 pounds in a week so this slowing that everyone is noticing is how my loss has been the whole time. This week I’ve had a 1 pound loss, and that’s a bit slow. Lately I’ve been averaging 1.6-1.8 pounds lost per week. This is down from the last few months where I was averaging 2.2-2.6 lost/week in the prime of my honeymoon phase. Slow and steady has been the story of my PO life. Of course I’m also NP (no poop) for 6 days and counting so that could definitely be a contributor to the lower number seen this week. That and the wicked allergy-related headache I woke up with this morning I’m feeling pretty lucky ATM that since I’ve been doing TRE (time restricted eating) since month two I’ve got a good grip on food cravings. Not saying I don’t get them from time to time, but they’re pretty rare. Today I’m 15 hours into a 24 hour fast and feeling great (besides the headache) and not going to miss food at all today.

Hahahaha. 6 days of NP (no poop) and counting. I’m totally there with you and will be doing this tomorrow

Awesome news. Yeah, this shift today is basically skipping a meal and a snack. Ugh, woke up this morning with a blinding headache. I live in Oklahoma and this is late August so it’s 98% allergen related. Took an anti-histamine, 2 Tylenols and have had a cup of coffee with a half-tablespoon milk and skipped the trivia packet. I had planned on skipping the morning coffee, but my headache said “no”. So I settled for the compromise of cutting way back on the amount of milk I add to it. Weighed in at 168.0 (up 0.2 pounds from Sunday am, but I’m also at no poop for 6 days and counting now....). Sigh.... gonna prolly need to resort to some MOM therapy today. 10 hours left on this fast. Wow this doesn’t seem daunting at all since I regularly do 16:8 and 18:6 all the time.

It will be over before you know it. Remember, all of those guys in the OR have had years and decades of training and hard work to be in the position to be trusted enough to be in that room with you. As a healthcare professional myself, I take great pride and joy in a job well done and a patient well served. These guys are all gonna be there to make sure you have the very best outcome possible. Once you get there you will almost certainly have a few moments of panic. Operating rooms are cold and sterile (which is a great thing) but they appear scary to a newbie and you do feel so alone. Everyone seems so distant because they are focusing on their #1 priority for the next couple of hours ... which is you. Please keep that in mind to help alleviate the isolation you might encounter. The day I had my surgery, an ice storm moved into town. I made sure to thank each and every person in that room as they wheeled me in and set me up because I wanted to make sure they knew ahead of time I appreciated their time, effort and sacrifice to be there that day to help one of my dreams come true. It made me feel more connected to them as I was being hauled into the table and as they were about to put me into lala land. I actually had them to focus on instead of my immediate terror and it helped.

Hahaha. I would sure hate for that chip to get messed up and turn “off” all desire for sex instead of the food.

My brother-in-law now always refers to me as “hey skinny” even though I’m still about 20 actual pounds overweight and at a BMI in the “overweight” category. Oh yeah, and his wife (my sister) is still thinner than me. There’s just zero logic to his comments

Congrats! Think on how far you’ve come and how close you are! I spent 8 months from the time I started (which doesn’t include the 6 months prior to that thinking, researching, and trying to decide if I wanted/needed to do this) and had my surgery 2-6-19. I’m close to 7 months post-op and would do it over and over and over. Zero regrets! Make sure you spend these last few weeks leading up to your big day prepping as much as you can. Spending time here posting will be a great experience and you’ll learn a lot.

Suffering from BD definitely helped me get to the state I was in prior to surgery. When I was 22, I graduated college at 5”7 and 132 pounds. I was fit because I worked out all of the time because I always felt fat. I was always heavier and thicker than my mother and my sisters. And a few of my cousins. The truth was that I’m naturally curvy. I had 36DDDs at that weight (boobs have been removed since then due to breast cancer in ‘09.) I had hips and thighs and a teeny waist, but all I could see was how short and curvy I looked alongside my long and lean relatives. The only cousin who had my body type was MO and that’s what I identified as. At the weight of 132 pounds and a size 4/6. Ridiculously isn’t it? I remember being 13 years old when I went on my first diet. And that was back in the early 80’s when nobody had a lick of sense at all about those kinds of things. By the time I gave birth to my daughter at the age of 28 in 1997, I’d gained 90 pounds, had suffered gestational diabetes and was hopelessly screwed metabolically. I’ve spent the last 22 years as a MO person, ranging from 209 pounds (oh how sweet it was to be sooooo close to ONEderland) up to my all-time HW of 272 in ‘08. I probably spent time on every single pound in-between and sometimes would yo-yo 40-50 pounds in a single year. For 22 freaking years! Now I’ve lost down to 167 and I’m residing in size 12 clothes and I’m 8 pounds away from what I weighed when I became pregnant almost 23 years ago. I take selfies almost every day for the OOTD thread because I need that reminder of how far I’ve come and how great I’m looking now compared to 7 short months ago. There are days even now when I cringe upon seeing a fat roll or some pudge in those photos that the mirror seems to have magically hidden. Do I still see some of the “trouble” spots that haunted me over half my lifetime ago? I wish I could say that time, lessons learned and maturity have made me able to forgive those, but I still struggle. I tell myself that I still have 15-25 pounds til goal—maybe my body still has room to magically morph into something I’ll like better. Honestly though, I know that while I’ll be smaller, those trouble spots will still be there, and will also be there with some extra skin. And yes.... it will still bother me. I’m thinking there’s a better than 50/50 I’ll do plastics before this is over, but I’m also giving myself time to get used to this new new body. I’m making an effort to appreciate not being in constant pain and discomfort. I want to spend time living the new me and figuring out where all of this is going to settle before I make any decisions on how to “fix” problem areas. I also need to make sure that my head has time to catch up with my body.

Lol, work today was pretty much cardio for 10-11 hours. Not even September and we’ve gotten so busy. Relaxation is happening now that dinner and dishes are done

Okay so I’m planning on a 24 hour fast tomorrow with some salted bone broth midday. I’ve got the day off and have many errands to run and a dental appt at 2:30. Pretty sure I’ve got a new cavity as the entire left back side of my mouth HURTS and I can’t even chew on that side. Weirdly I get cavities galore whenever I go through health and life stressors. My year of chemo in ‘09-10 left me with 4 of them. After tornadoes here last night left my Pilates studio still closed bc of lack of power, no classes today and I’m taking 3 classes tomorrow evening. Basically that means that it’s the perfect day to try a 24 hour fast. I plan on breaking it with an 11oz premier protein for 30gm (plus I’m sure my mouth will thank me for it). Question is what should I try to eat or do the NEXT day after this fast?

Yeah. I’m shedding worse than my cats. Fingers crossed that means I’m still in losing mode.

Okay so Anna, I’ve seen your recent pics and it’s possible that instead of having 9 pounds til goal, you’re already there. Not saying you should quit, but just saying please don’t beat yourself up if that 9 pounds takes a while. You’ve lost so much excess fat and that coupled with the fact that you were just at 35% BMI on surgery day that it’s gonna be a struggle. My college graduation weight was 132. I was 5’7”, in great shape and was upset because I’d gained 7 pounds from my all-time low from a year before. Looking back I was pretty darned skinny and I felt fat. SMH. My goal will be to end up somewhere in the 145-155 range. Of course I’d feel better about it if I live at the lower end of that range, but since I’m still in the upper 160’s now I honestly have no clue if that’s achievable and/or sustainable. One thing for sure though is that ever getting back to 132 just isn’t realistic and I’d just be setting myself up for a lot of mental angst to even try. Re snacks for your daughter: Mostly that depends on her personal tastes. I’m completely a savory freak. One reason this program is working so well for me is that I love meat and dairy and cheese. My snacks are p3 packs, beef jerky, cheese sticks, a handful of olives and feta cheese, cottage cheese and pumpkin seeds, hummus and pork rinds with veggies, etc... If I have something sweet it turns my hunger into overdrive and I start craving things I don’t need and it takes half the day to get it back under control. Therefore I don’t even dare have things like flavored yogurt or protein shakes or fruit. Don’t even get me started on wine and other alcohol. Sadly those things also turn on my hunger.

New khakis, new shirt. On my way to work. Lol, I’ve got such a vanilla wardrobe

Beautiful!

Well I had a couple of bites left of this deliciousness, but hubs ate the last of the waterchestnuts and asparagus. This was 10 shrimp, onion, water chestnut, asparagus tossed in some Thai hot garlic paste over some tofu shiratski noodles tossed in Mongolian fire oil. Sprinkled lightly with parm cheese. 16gm protein and 205 calories

Sorry. Should have explained more. It’s a type of Pilates class that has to contain certain basic moves and elements. 1.5 is the middle level. No way I’m trying a level 2 class til I get a bit more weight off.

Yes! It’s amazing for sure. I’m basically went into WLS primarily bc I desperately needed the metabolic reset. I knew my head was in the game. Hell, my head has been in the game for a very long time, but my poor body just would not do what I needed it to do. I would find myself constantly watching a clock and wondering how in the world I was gonna make it to the next appropriate eating time bc my body was CONSTANTLY sending out “I’m starving, feed me now!” Hormones. I bet my insulin resistance was off the charts because I could eat 2000k calories and want to punch someone in the face if they caused my eating to be delayed. I spent most of my awake time “hangry”. The suckiest part is I would eat low sugar, high protein and it wouldn’t make any difference. I didn’t want the food, my body was demanding it. Since surgery, it’s been a 180. Sweets never appealed to me anyway and I’m perfectly happy sitting down with 3 ounces of steak and a 1/2 cup salad. I meticulously log my food, but it’s because if I don’t, I will accidentally eat not enough. There are still many days where I struggle to get in enough. I literally just don’t desire it

Oh I do so look forward to your OOTD! I’m by nature sooooooooooo conservative and I just love the way you so effortlessly express your style and personality. People like me will always gravitate to people like you bc we can totally appreciate and groove on your unique-ness

I LOVE how you’re having a blast with that! What an ingenious idea! I’m quite impressed!

I’m so glad you’re taking to health care pros and to us about this. Maybe it’s also time for a mental health pro who specializes in bariatrics? In addition to logging food, make sure you’re logging your mental state when you find yourself wanting to graze. Also, I find it extremely helpful to put myself on TRE (time-restricted eating). Today my eating window was 8 hours. I broke my fast at 11:45am and I have 8 minutes left. After my window closes, no food til the next day. Trying to push my protein and calories in can be a challenge and I make a game out of it some days

Yeah I’ll ask this Thursday as well. I dunno. I still get pretty full, especially when I try to eat meals too close together. If I try to eat less than 2-3 hrs apart, I struggle hard core. But before my first meal of the day (usually not before noon) I can flat out guzzle water. Once my first meal hits it slows waaaaaaay down. I hate to sound like I’m constantly pushing IF, but I really think IF is helping me so much on this journey. Last week I did a couple of 20:4 days and I swear my sleeve is tighter now.

Nope. Need to try some of that as well. Thanks for the idea

Italian sausage, kimchi, bean salad, cucumber salad.

Okay. Down another 1.2 pounds from Wednesday. I’m now 167.8. And that’s with 3 days zero poop. Today I gave myself a 10 hour eating window and I’m packing in the protein. As a result, it’s also a much higher calorie day (I’ll hit around 950 before all is said and done) and I’m feeling like a total glutton. It’s intentional though because I’m going to go very light over the next 2 days. Lol, I actually need a day off work to eat >900 calories in a day. I can remember sometimes that would happen in a single meal, and I sure didn’t get in over 75gm protein with those 900 calories.