Newly Green Zone: What's Working for Me

[lekanto 50]

Background: I am female, 40, and 5'5". I got up to my high weight of 260 last spring. I was 245 when I started my pre-op liquid diet on Nov. 8, 2012, and something like 237 on Nov. 14, 2012 when I had my surgery. I currently weigh 195 lbs. With my last fill on April 22, I got up to 6.1cc in my 10cc band. I had only lost 3 lbs in the 6 weeks before that, and I have lost 6 lbs since.

I think I may have hit the Green Zone this time. It's not that I feel a sense of restriction, it's more that I feel ok with stopping when I have finished the amount of food that I have allotted for my meal. I could still easily eat more if I didn't have my food planned out. I still have to use some willpower to keep from snacking out of boredom, but it's not a big struggle. I kind of feel like a normal person.

Stuff that is working for me, in case it helps anyone:

As much as I don't want to measure and count everything for the rest of my life, I have realized that I will need to do it at least for as long as I am in weight loss mode. To that end, I got the myfitnesspal app on my phone. Every bite is documented. I shoot for 1200 calories a day.

I love my food scale. It's easier to use than measuring cups and measuring spoons. No way am I going to measure Peanut Butter in a spoon and then scrape it out when I can make my sandwich directly on the scale.

I don't do diet desserts/sweets. I keep my sweets few and far between, but I get the good stuff!

I eat 4-5 times a day. I usually have a pretty small Breakfast, especially if I have to eat early, so I will have some calories left for later.

I eat the hell out of sardines. Most days, I take a can of sardines and an apple to work for lunch. I keep a big container of almonds in my car so I can eat a handful between work and the gym (and yes, I have measured my handful!).

Screw the rules. I drink diet soft drinks and I drink with meals! I sip slowly while I am eating and immediately afterward. It works for me. I can't always drink at work when I'm not on a break.

I try to exercise every day, alternating weightlifting at the gym with walking/jogging/biking in my neighborhood. I am very fortunate to have a 24-hr gym between home and work and a nice neighborhood to jog in. I use the mapmyrun app to see my routes and compare them. Can you tell I just got a smart phone? I am also starting the 100 Pushups program (again), for which there is also an app.

When I realized that part of the reason I was on a plateau was that all the change was freaking me out, I decided to change a few other comfortable things just to prove to myself that I could. I got a short haircut and three new ear piercings! That made me feel pretty fierce.

I am working very hard on patience. It doesn't matter if the scale goes up one day or holds steady for a few more. If I keep doing what I'm doing, it is physically impossible for my body to maintain its current weight.

[dawalsh 919]

You're doing great! Congrats OMB getting below 200

Lbs! That's awesome!

Unfortunately, I can't do as much physical activity as I'd like as I physically challenged due to two strokes and two brain surgeries but I've lost 45 lbs so far since Dec. 2012.

I look forward to the day I go under 200 lbs! 24 more lbs to lose before that happens.

I was told I would be in a wheelchair the rest of my life. I'm proud to say that I walk with a cane and I try to walk as much as possible, I'm hoping someday to be free of my cane!