inpursuitofhealth

You mention that you're struggling financially to buy healthy groceries, so apply for food stamps if you can. With that said, bc your stomach is smaller and you're eating less calories, you can make more expensive nutrient dense foods last longer/more meals. It says you live in CA, so try Food 4 Less, the 99 cent stores, Aldi's and Trader Joe's, they all have good prices. You don't mention your age or height or level of activity or the amount of fluids you're drinking, but here's my experience: I'm 5'4 (female) and 35 years old. I had surgery on 1/11/23. started at 252 and I'm now 211.... 42 lbs down and down 6 inches on my waist. Fluids: at LEAST 32oz + 12oz protein shake, so 44... I try so hard to drink more water but cold & room temp liquids make me super nauseous since the surgery. Activity: Since and including the day after surgery I've strived to walk a MINIMUM of 5,000 steps a day. I live in a tiny apartment, and for the first 3 weeks after surgery I was still able to hit this goal simply by walking back and forth in my small apt for 5-10 minutes every hour. For the past 3-4 weeks, I've made it a priority to go to the gym and do cardio for 30-60 minutes 3-4/week. Some days I don't have time but will still force myself to do at least 10 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill. If you can't afford a gym, go walking, preferably somewhere with hills or stairs. (Walking flat is great but it doesn't get your heart rate up high enough). If you can't find/drive to hills, throw a backpack on and load it up with books (or weights) to add weight to your flat walks. Diet: 800-1300 calories (the 1300 end is if I workout really hard and my body needs to refuel) .. I am LAZY (I like cooking but hate dishes), but also a busy non-traditional college student with lots to do. So simple, quick, easy foods have been essential to my success thus far. I'm still basically eating the same as I was when I was on the soft foods diet but now I eat chicken and beef here and there. My go to food staples are: Cottage cheese 1%, OWYN - elite pro 32g protein shake, Simple Mills Almond flour crackers, soft/hard boiled eggs, small omelet, whole grain toast with avocado on it, refried beans, homemade turkey chili with beans, shrimp, turkey bacon, Sargento reduced fat string cheese (it had the lowest fat compared to the other string cheeses in my store). Example of my day: Every morning I have either 1-2 eggs, or 1/2 cup-1 cup of cottage cheese, then mid-morning/lunch I have the protein shake, then lunch/mid-afternoon I have 2-3 string cheese sticks, then for mid-afternoon/dinner I either have cottage cheese again, or 1 slice toast with tuna or chicken salad (I use either mayo or avocado mashed up), or shrimp and avocado slices, or rotisserie chicken and carrots/brussels/string beans. After dinner if I'm still hungry I have crackers. If I'm hitting my protein and still hungry, then I know I need more dense carbs and I'll have 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of sweet potatoes/mashed potatoes, etc. I don't SNACK anymore. I eat if I'm hungry. If I'm not hungry then I don't eat just to eat and have a snack bc I want to, that's what got me fat in the first place. If you're not physically hungry-don't eat. If you haven't already, learning the difference between physical hunger, thirst, and mental hunger/boredom/filling a void is essential to success. On Easter I had like 8 snack-sized kit-kat bars as a meal lol... I'm not advising it, but I've still lost weight since then. Don't beat yourself up over 1 day or 1 meal, it's not gonna completely kill your progress. Just make sure it's not every day or even every week. A lot of this journey is learning what YOUR body needs, not just what is written on a diet plan.