So glad to see you on here again.  I have thought of you often,.  This is the first post for me in a real long time. I usually only lurk around about once a month or so.

I had chicken for dinner.  This is what I did. I got my idea from Hungry Girl.  She is on the cooking channel. She does everything low fat, low carb, low calorie if she can.  I took boneless chicken breasts, used low fat refried beans (1/2 cup) then stirred in 1/4 cup Fat Free shredded cheese with a little taco seasoning. Now this is where I ventured off her recipe. She used fat free nacho chips. I used corn flakes (1 cup) ground them up a little,  put in some onion powder, and taco seasoning.  Assembly was as follows.  take the boneless chicken breasts that was pounded flat,  spoon on about 2-3 tablespoons of the refried beans cheese mixture on the breasts and roll up. Now take the ground corn flakes and after spraying the chicken breast with butter flavor pam to make them moist sprinkle the corn flake mixture over it. bake covered about 20-25 min then uncover and bake another 20-25 minutes.  A great change of pace for chicken.

Have you tried the Nectar. I know BJ Bariatrics in Carmel, carries this at a really good price. He has sample packs that are very economical so you don't have to buy the 2# tub and then throw it away if you just can't tolerate it. There are several different fruit flavors. I am not fond of the fruitty ones though. I personally like the sweets line and I like the chocolate the best. My husband ( not a WLS person but who has lost about 50# the other way, following my lifestyle change and exercise) only likes Strawberry anything.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and soon to enjoy a very happy New Year. I use Sunday of each week to weigh myself because I only weigh one time a week because I could be obsessed with what the scale is showing me. My clothes have started feeling a little snugger so I know they are showing me I have had larger portions, one bite too many, and so on. So this morning was a real dose of reality. I could just lie to myself and tell me that that ham yesterday was very salty and it is water weight but that would be a lie. I have found I am more tolerent of sweets and I have a true passion for them. I can't seem to get things sweet enough. So now I am really paying for my dietary indescretions the last few weeks. Time to get a reality check and stop this behavior before I put more back on. I did not have this surgery to let myself relapse back to what I was before. If anyone else is in this same situation I am I  wish you good luck in your struggle. I know it is going to be an uphill battle for me to take back off those 10-15 pounds that have crept back on since the middle of 2010. I went on vacation in July 2010 and was very proud of myself for maintaining. I know it was because we were on a shoestring budget and packed salads in an ice chest for each day of travels, making portion control the top of my list, exercising whenever I could. I still exercise at least 5 days a week but find I am using that as an excuse for the extra bite in the last 6-8 weeks and the scales are reflecting my stupid thoughts. It's time to get back on the plan that was set out for me 3 1/2 years ago and not let this go any further.

Of course you can do it.  You made the decision to have the surgery that has given you a tool to help keep you motivated.  It is extremely difficult to lose the come back pounds. But I know you ladies can do it, Just take one day at a time. Sometimes it requires you to do only 1 hour at a time.  Just stop and think before you take that bite of whatever you have in your hand.  Am I really hungry or am I eating for  """Just because"""  That seems to be my problem   I eat for  Just because I can.  I am maintaining my weight though.  I told my DH the other day if I didn't exercise like an exercise addict I would put it back on in no time at all.   But I don't want to do that, I didn't have the surgery to be that big glob that had a hard time moving from place to place waddling around like a duck.  So some days I struggle more than others.  No one said it was the easy road even though most of the general public thinks that it is and we will never regain our weight.  Boy are they wrong. We can regain our weight and it is not the easy way out.  Each person still has to be accountable for what goes into their mouth.  As one of the spin instructors keeps telling us   """ It is a mind over matter, you can do anything your mind tells you to do""""  Of course she is talking about going the extra distance and pushing harder and working through the  aching muscles while spinning.  Her theory is that your body will only do what your mind tells it to do.  I would like both of you ladies to post your progress in a week after you put your mind to it.  I know you can do it!!!!

Tracey, I have been thinking of you a lot recently. Wondering how you are doing. You give such good suggestions. I have done some of those since I am almost 3 1/2 years out. I have managed to maintain my weight. I think my body has found its happy place. I want to be 9 -10 pounds less but no matter what I do it just hangs on. If I do get it off then it creeps back on little by little until I am where I am at today. I personally am not going to attend a couple of parties because all they serve is cakes, cookies and goodies. Just too much temptation for me to go through. I have enough every other day of the week. I find I can overeat on the good for me food without it being loaded with sugar and fat. I struggle on a daily basis keeping my eating where it needs to be to maintain my weight.

I have been wondering the same thing. It seems that none of the familar board names to me are popping up anymore. It seems like it goes days without a new post at all. I hope everyone is doing Okay and that there is not a crisis in their lives that is keeping them from coming to the boards.

I also don't know much about Dr. Clark and St Francis but I also had RNY surgery 3 years ago. I think of myself as a success I am now down to 140# from my all time high of 280# in June 2006 but my official starting weight was 246# in June 2007. I won't kid you though trying to tell you it is a fix all, it is a tool you can use and re-use day after day. But it is only that. You can still overeat and gain all the weight back if YOU allow yourself. I have told many people that I can eat 6-8 ounces every 2 hours ( even the good for a person foods like fruits, sugar free, and fat free ) food and gain weight.  I do feel I struggle to maintain my weight but I'm okay with that most days. I am no different than the skinnie minnie that works out at the gym and watches what they eat to maintain their weight. I exercise and eat a sensible plan most every day and have maintained my 140# for the last 2 years. Good Luck to you in your quest.

My DH and I are also going to attend. We are not staying at the hotel where it is being held though. I hope I get a lot of good info and knowledge from this. I am just over 3 years and I find that my head tells me I need to lose more weight and my family says, YOU ARE THIN ENOUGH, I do feel I struggle every day with my eating and it takes great fortitude and will power to not overeat beyond control.  But from everything I have learned it  will always be that way. NO BRAIN Surgery was performed.

But on a good note, walking is deemed the best exercise. You work a lot of muscles just walking (legs, butt, stomach, and if you use the other arm you could swing it and get in some arm and shoulder muscle group) and and you could speed walk and really burn those extra calories!!! Because at the end of the day it is all about calories consumed versus calories burned.

I had signed up for the mini last fall and I am such a frugal person I was not going to keep kicking myself all day long if I didn't at least put forth an effort thinking of the money I would have lost. Well even though I thought I was not ready and that I would never finish, and be put on the bus back to Military Park. Well I went and participated. I work out every day doing something. I go to the YMCA Monday through Friday working out through a spinning class, treadmills, ellipticals,free weights, nautalius for at least an hour a day. I have built my leg muscles tremendously. Still I did not feel I was ready to do this. Both my husband and I are walkers so we signed up as a walker. I just knew that I was not going to make it. My mind was just go, and attempt it. I so wanted to just finish in the under 4 hour requirement. Well to make a long story short, I FINISHED!!! The bus did not bring me back even though it was threatened at the end of the 1st mile because we were standing in a port-a-john line,(we were in corral X, so 30 minutes to the start line and the 16-17 for the 1st mile) NO I did not take my water pill in the morning but did have 1 cup of coffee. So we got out of the line got back on stride and then about the next mile we were way out in front of the 18 minute mile nazi's so we got to go. I did make one other potty break and still finished in 3 hours 32 minutes. One minute slower than last year. My husband did say at about mile 10 he wanted to beat that 3 hours 31 minute 2009 time. I attempted to walk faster that mile but then slowed down just a tad. I was feeling the 13.1 when I finished. I am sore today but am tring to increase my protein to help rebuild those muscles. I was really disappointed when I picked up my time. I felt like such a failure causing him to not make his goal. He would never have walked ahead of me to get to his goal. He has said all along that we are in this together and together that will be! I wish we had been over the time limit or put on the bus to have missed that by just one minute. Oh well can't cry over spilt milk, the past is the past and I can't change that now, I have to accept the fact I finished, was not put on the bus, and have to this day (almost 3 years later) maintained that 108 pound loss because I would not have been able to do the 2007 mini if I had even attempted it. This struggle is not easy, it is a day to day battle with eating correctly, healthy, and wisely. Some days you can miss your mark by just a little and others are Red letter days that make you know that you are the best person and doing everything correctly.

I know that my weight ticker indicates that I started at 271 which was in November 2006 when I had my first consultation with Dr. Huse. After approval I went to the nutrition class was weighed in at 246. I had been watching what I ate, trying to do the right things. Then on surgery morning I weighed 239 and today on my scales here at home I am 138. Yes I did gain some back. Right before Christmas I was back to 148 but through hard work and perservence I have managed to take 10 pounds off. It has not been easy but you can lose some of those gain back pounds.

Linda is only partially correct when she said muscle weighs more than fat. If you have 16 oz of marshmallows and 16 oz of steak. They are both 1 pound. The same goes for our bodies. 16 oz or 1 pound is still 1 pound. Muscle is more dense meaning they are tighter together similar to the steak and fat is similar to marshmallows fluffy, so if the scale is not moving you need to measure yourself. If that hasn't moved either then you have more muscle to take up the same amount of space making the muscle be more dense so you have lots more muscle which in turn weighs more. But this is a good thing because it takes more energy to fuel those muscles which raises your BMR so make sure you continue the course and measure your food and watch your portion sizes. Sometimes changing just one thing can jumpstart the metabolism enough to start losing again. Change your exercise routine or add more weight, that may be what is needed to get it going again.