Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers

[Krystal0528 118]

Krystal0528! You guys are looking great! Congrats on your success! I bet you are getting lots of compliments!!

Thank u so much, an yes I have. I'm so excited for what's going to be next;)

[WhoKnows 288]

Oh gosh, that means this is week 8 for me today! I totally forgot! It feels so normal now. I can't believe it's only been two months.

[Niquee 43]

Hi all

I see a lot of you talking about the weight the lost since surgery, but didnt you have to diet for a month prior to surgery?

I am on vacation at my parents where there is a lot of goodies and for the past 2 weeks all of sudden i am able to eat a lot of food and drink more water...so i have been munching on bad stuff and gone back to carbs( since i dont always cook here). My weight lost is slowing down. At least i can say i have reach the 50 lbs milestone ( 18 lbs prior to surgery)

Are any of you affraid of 2 yrs from now? I hear a lot of story where people got operated lost over 100 lbs in a year than the year after they were back to their original size.?.

Do any of you use an electronic fitness tracker, if so which one do you recommand?

Thanks

[tattoogirl233 9]

I take chewable Flinstones they are the best! I found some yummy b-12 at the Vitamin shop! I really have not been watching anything I eat to much I kinda just eat what I want, but just a couple just of couple bites! This has been a lot harder for me than I thought it would be! My brain keeps telling me to eat but I'm not hungry! It is a daily battle. Maybe you can tell me I'm 8 weeks out tomorrow and I'm only down 30lbs is that the norm or should I be changing what I'm doing?

[WhoKnows 288]

I've lost 40lb overall, including the two week preop diet. It seems like I'm a slow loser compared to the others, but I think it's because of my PCOS. I'm meticulous about weighing and tracking what I eat. I hope I don't have to do it forever, but for the time being, it's keeping me on track and accountable, and it's teaching me what's the right amount of what sorts of things to eat. @@tattoogirl233, if I were you, I'd be careful about just eating what you want, even if it's only a little bit. That might not be why you're losing slowly now (everyone's body is different), but it could be the thing that keeps you from being as successful as you could be long term. Do you have any idea how much Protein you eat vs. carbs? Or even how many calories? What about your Water? These are important things to know.

Also, there's no reason you can't eat what you want, as long as what you want is healthy food. I've been pretty lucky, because even though I ate some junk food in the old days, I've also always loved good, healthy whole foods (I just used to eat waaay to much of even them). Yeah, there are some things I miss, but I'm certainly not feeling deprived now or forcing myself to eat things I don't like (with the exception of my morning Protein Shake perhaps). I realize already liking "healthy" food gives me an edge up in this, you'll feel so much better without all the processed stuff.

To give you an idea of what my high protein (vegetarian) diet looks like, here's today:

Breakfast: 1 slice of protein bread, mustard, 2 slices of Tofurky deli slice, half a slice of cheddar cheese, lettuce (I ate half)

Lunch: second half of the above sandwich

Dinner: I made a yummy curried chickpea yogurt dip and I'll have a couple tablespoons of that with some veggies

Snacks: I have some Babybells and blueberries in the fridge. I'll probably have one Babybell and some point and maybe 1/3 cup blueberries. Also, dry roasted soybeans (they basically taste like peanuts and are like high protein crack!).

I'll also intersperse two Protein Shakes throughout the day.

This is what works for me. You need to find what works for you, but it should be something that will set you up for long term success. The extreme restriction won't work forever, so my bet would be that eating a little of whatever you want, isn't going to do that.

[jajmj 40]

Niquee - my fitness pal app is the best way to track your food intake!

[devint 162]

For food choices, I eat when I'm hungry (not often enough) but I always choose to eat high Protein. I find its harder to carboload if you are protein focused (unless you eat cans and cans of beans). I don't do meal plans in advance but I've just found a routine that includes greek yogurt, lots of chicken, deli meat, cheese sticks and a Protein Shake a day. I've stopped tracking on mfp the last two weeks and regret it, although I haven't steered too far off my routine I established while on it. It conditions me to make good choices when I'm "off the clock."

I literally can't believe that in 2 days it will be 8 weeks for me, it seems like it was both "just yesterday" and that I've been living this way my whole life cause I feel "normal." I am feeling cheated because I wish I could "enjoy" the benefit of being able to start strength training/lifting more than 20 lbs and eating "no restrictions on texture" as tolerated that comes with the 8 week mark. But both of those are being held up by my necessary gallbladder removal surgery, scheduled for Aug 13th. After that it's another 3 days of liquids and then another month of "taking it easy" as my abdominal openings heal back up again. Good news is they can reuse three of my scars (bonus? I guess?)

Tomorrow I am going on a two week vacation to the inlaws, who happen to be professional photographers. So the confidence I'm getting from being two sizes down should really show up in some family and professional head shots we're going to have done. I've been sneaking out at lunch time with some stash cash and have picked up about 4 new shirts and a new pair of jeans so I'm feeling pretty good about how I look; it's hard to remember I'm still clearly morbidly obese (and yes spandex leggings are still NOT a good choice) because to my own eyes I look and feel great!

Today I'm 244, that is uncharted territory for me as an adult can't remember being below 250. The only historical weight I remember as being accurate was 10th grade/15 years old 225lbs (sized for band uniforms, awkward), and 5th grade/11 years old 155 lbs (I remember because this was the age I started to lie about my weight because I started to become embarrassed about it; crazy how impactful that decision point was)

Edited July 23, 2014 by devint

[tattoogirl233 9]

My fitness pal is great

[Krystal0528 118]

I take chewable Flinstones they are the best! I found some yummy b-12 at the Vitamin shop! I really have not been watching anything I eat to much I kinda just eat what I want, but just a couple just of couple bites! This has been a lot harder for me than I thought it would be! My brain keeps telling me to eat but I'm not hungry! It is a daily battle. Maybe you can tell me I'm 8 weeks out tomorrow and I'm only down 30lbs is that the norm or should I be changing what I'm doing?

I to have been kinda doing the same thing. I don't deprive myself of things I just take a bite. My typical day consists of:

530am Breakfast: jimmy dean Breakfast bowl (meat lovers 1) has 28g Protein. I can usually do half of it.

930am 1st snack: a few bites of the morning breakfast bowl leftovers.

12:00 lunch: turkey cheese an cracker lunch-able with a few grapes

3:00 snack: 2 pieces of beef Jerky (3 pieces is 17g protein)

630-700 dinner: a smart one/weight watchers/ or some kind of high protein low calorie microwaveable TV dinner.< /p>

This works for me. I still cook dinner every night for my hubby but of course I can't eat that, so I have got into my own groove. For instance last night I fried him homemade big bacon cheese burger for him an for him to take for lunch today, but I ate a grilled chicken Fettuccini TV dinner that had 14g protein an had Fiber noodles instead of carbs. Tasted good but I still couldn't finish but like half of it! Good luck ladies;)

[Krystal0528 118]

Hi all I see a lot of you talking about the weight the lost since surgery, but didnt you have to diet for a month prior to surgery? I am on vacation at my parents where there is a lot of goodies and for the past 2 weeks all of sudden i am able to eat a lot of food and drink more water...so i have been munching on bad stuff and gone back to carbs( since i dont always cook here). My weight lost is slowing down. At least i can say i have reach the 50 lbs milestone ( 18 lbs prior to surgery) Are any of you affraid of 2 yrs from now? I hear a lot of story where people got operated lost over 100 lbs in a year than the year after they were back to their original size.?. Do any of you use an electronic fitness tracker, if so which one do you recommand? Thanks

I didn't have to diet a month before surgery. Now my dr did have me do a liquid diet 1 week prior to surgery, but I go by the weight I was when the hospital weighed me the morning of surgery

[tiredtwinmommy 30]

Hi sorry I have not updated on this thread in a while. So first my stats as of this am:

Sw 189

Pre surgery weight 183

Current weight 153

So I was in colorado visiting my family (who all live there now). We had lots of fun, plenty of different activities and lots of walking! I also asked my sisters-in-law and my Mom to take me shopping at places like Ross, gordmans, clothes mentor, and other lower priced clothing stores to find clothes that fit me. Now keep in mind I have bought plus size for years now, and so I automatically went towards plus size clothing out of long habit. Everyone hollered at me to get back to the misses and juniors side, I started to look in the XL sizes and they were like "humor us and try these things on instead" sizes medium, smalls, a few larges, 10s, 12s, and even 8s! I then would go try stuff on and come model for them... I was completely shell shocked to learn that size large was actually too big on me! They kept telling me I had hid in oversized baggy clothes for so long, and they said I have been working too hard to hide my body now. They reminded me that I used to love to wear fitted clothes that showed my assets off a little bit more (I am a naturally curvy girl even when I was 90 pounds soaking wet). They also let me know how proud they are of me (which made me a bit teary eyed).

So I ended up coming home with new clothes that fit, in a wide range of sizes (it is true, a size 8 in one brand is not a size 8 in another). I then went to my closet and did some serious cleaning, planning to wash and take clothes to sell at clothes mentor in a few weeks. I even found a huge stash of clothes I had stored in the hopes I could wear them again soon- and I can wear them now!

I am sorry I just went on and on in the paragraph above, it is just that it is such a huge nsv for me, and a very emotional thing at that. I am actually typing with tears running down my face right now. Both for fitting smaller clothes and for the absolute love and support from both hubby and kids, as well as my extended family. I am so very very blessed.

[WhoKnows 288]

@@tiredtwinmommy That's wonderful! Clothes are representative of so much for us. Good for you!

[Niquee 43]

Tiredtwinmommy....yesterday for the first time i was able to play with my 3 1/2 yr old son, chasing and running after him in the yard. I just couldnt believe it...me running!!!

[devint 162]

I flew without a seatbelt extender. The lap band fit in coach! Bam NSV!

Love the clothes shopping experience and playing with the little one! Congrats to you both!! Everyone else What nsv's are you guys having?

Edited July 24, 2014 by devint

[Niquee 43]

I flew without a seatbelt extender. The lap band fit in coach! Bam NSV! Love the clothes shopping experience and playing with the little one! Congrats to you both!! Everyone else What nsv's are you guys having?

Sorry i am a French speaking Canadian,I have sometimes a hard time with abbreviation...what does NSV stand for?

Thanks