Clark Griswold

OMG this is so relatable (aside from the cheating/abuse part - I am sorry you had to go through that, some people are horrors to put it mildly). You are doing so so well, you should be really proud of yourself and your journey so far.

Happy Thanksgiving to our American members and to all! Let's see those Thanksgiving before and after food pics!

Really struggling this week and for no particular reason. Its hard to articulate, but I feel fat even though I am still losing and am now living an active lifestyle. I cant place my finger on why but having a 'fat' week where I feel like I've gone back to pre-surgery feelings about my size. I was doing so well mentally until this week. Anyone else feel like this randomly

It's such a mindset shift isnt it! The old me used to dread going shopping so much in case they didnt have my size (most places didnt) so literally had to be dragged shopping. Congrats btw, we keep hitting new milestones and I for one am so much happier in my own skin, and i'm only just past half way to my goal.

Great to hear you got on so well on hols! Keep on smashing it

Echo all the comments so far. You are doing so well in spite of the gym, put it that way! You are absolutely killing it so far regardless, and you aren’t even 6 months in! You got this and we are all here to support each other and all on similar journeys so you’ve done the right thing in posting your feelings (and thanks for doing so). Hope you feel better about it all soon

Thank you and good luck for yours!

Amazing feeling isn't it? The 'OMG this smaller size actually fits me' moment is something I was not prepared for. Hope you have an amazing time on your holiday - we just booked to go to Lanzarote in October (scottish) school hols, so cant wait!

Thanks all for the advice on breads! I tried a cracker and gouda cheese at the weekend and that went down ok so assume melba toast would be ok. I tried a wrap last week and it was not pleasant at all, and couldnt keep it down.

How long did it take you all to tolerate bread? I’m 2.5 months post vsg and really struggle to tolerate most breads and especially wraps

I would definitely recommend staying away from platform training shoes like converse and vans as they will not support your feet enough. If possible I recommend what someone said above and find somewhere where they'll measure your feet and take into account your arches and foot width. I ended up going with New Balance running shoes as they suited my foot measurements, and boy are they comfortable to walk and run in.

Thank you!

RE Exercise, i found I was like that at the start and now strategically plan gym sessions carefully around eating i.e. I'll eat then exercise an hour later, so I am getting that energy in before expelling it. I also found at the start of exercise, I struggled at the gym, so I started walking 2-3 miles per day, which actually boosted my energy levels, and hence also enabled me at the gym. You are still doing amazing though, you should be very proud of the progress you've made this far.

Honestly, I am feeling amazing! I have hit a little bit of a slow down on weight loss being 2.5 months post op, but I am now hammering the exercise and still losing inches off my body. When I say a slow down, I mean I've gone from losing 4-5 lbs per week to around 2lbs per week. An example of the exercise, I never imagined i'd have felt comfortable on a treadmill pre-op, and I am about to go onto week 3 of the 9 week couch to 5k program on the treadmill at the gym! How are you doing this week?

Yes I can completely empathise with this, and it kinda feels like a natural reaction to put some sort of negative spin on it or to put yourself down - feels kinda like our old barriers are still up when in reality we should all be really proud of our achievements. And I think that is all to do with the psychology behind it all, which is hard to overcome or reset your thinking both with eating habits and appearance changes - hopefully that improves/comes with time. Let's make a pact that we'll both just say thank you very much next time