Monthly Evaluation. How are you doing

The point of this to take a few minutes to evaluate how you are doing with this WLS thing. Are you as successful as you should be? Is there anything that you can be doing that will make you more successful. Think back to your early post-op days and how you felt. Do you still have the motivation. For me, a few things that I need to get back to are more solid protein and cutting out needless carbs. In that past few weeks I have gotten my protein grams back to where I want them after a few months of slacking. With all the running I have been doing, I am consuming lots of carbs. More than I need. This needs to change for me. I also need to eat the dence protein like chicken to get that satisfied feeling and to stay full longer. Lastly, I have gone 32 days without ice cream (for those who have followed this little saga, it is my issue) and have decided that moderation will not work with this. It is all or nothing. All this being said, I am doing many things well. Exercise, stretching, vitamins, water consumption. How about you. Take a few minutes to think about what has worked and what you may need to improve to be as successful as you want to be. Good luck all! Scott

Well, all in all I think I am doing ok. I am a little more than 6 months out and am down 105 lbs. I really need to get to the gym more-and I will beginning tomorrow (it is closed today!) The last month I have only lost about 5 lbs-but with Christmas thrown in the mix I guess that isn't too bad. My protien intake is good and I get my vitamins and water everyday. Just had more carbs than I should this month and need to move more. It is a new year and a new beginning. My desire and motivation to shed this weight is as high as ever. A new and improved me is emerging and I need to let him out. I will lose the 70 lbs I need to reach goal this year. My goal weight is 195-my goal date for reaching that is September 1st. 70 lbs in 9 months should be resonably attainable. That would be less than 2 lbs per week. The average loss with the band is 1 to 2 lbs-so I am confident I can reach that goal. Best wishes to all of you fine gents here and special thanks to Dx-for your sage advice to Dan-for your daily doses of humor-the list goes on. I do not post much here but I do read the posts most everyday. Thank you all! Bob

Good for you. Your desire is there and you know what needs to be done. Go get em. Scott

I'm gonna bare my soul here because I had a weird dream last night but first, I'm a bit like you Scott, all or nothing. I've worked so hard at my weight loss in the last year that I wonder if I'll keep it going. Just a fear but a real one just the same. Even my g/f said that's my MO when we sat with the surgeon during our first consult. You know I had one of those "naked" dreams last night. Ok, sick but those dreams usually mean you're afraid of being exposed for something you're not. The only thing I can think of is that I'm not this thin guy, or muscular guy everyone says I am. A funny thing happened yesterday. We go hiking several times a week with our friends and we take our dogs to the canyons. Well we started walking down the hills and I had a brand new pair of jeans on and that goddamn sticker was hidden on the back leg. Well everyone got a kick out of, funny I admit. But then one of the young girls in our group said, hey, he wears the same size as you! Now her husband is young, in shape and a 32" waist. I think it freaked everyone out a little because a year ago I was a 52" waist! So maybe that had a real impact on me and I dreampt about it and thought that can't be me. Who knows? Just making the point that part of this journey is dealing with the new us and it can really play some serious head games. I kind of wonder about my eating habits. Because I'm losing weight no matter what I eat and what I do, I'm starting to graze again at night. Now so far this hasn't hurt me but it's getting back to a bad pattern for me. Someday I'll get off the pain meds and then I wonder about my appetite and metabolism. Sorry for the long answer but I think what I've done right is keep the calories down, kept bad food out of my life (except for a sample here and there) and I exercise. The bad is grazing at night again and still drinking protien shakes instead of eating food. I just can't handle a lot of food when I eat hence the protien drinks. I also dumped in the beginning and this year I tried a couple of sweets and found I could eat them. Now I have to make sure I don't go down that road. We're really good about keeping crap out of the house but it's just the two of us and she doesn't eat crap anyway. I wonder how tough it is for others with big families who have chips, cookies, ice cream and all that other good stuff around. I couldn't handle it! Carbonblob

You have done as well as anyone. Sorry to hear that you can tolerate the sweets. I know how that goes. I am lucky in that I have my son and me. I am the sole decison maker on what comes into the house. Anyway, keep up the good work. Scott

I have exceeded my expectations...I reached goal within a year's time. I never thought that would happen. However, I too have been slipping back into some old habits. The late night snacking on those needless carbs that you speack of Scott. Have you tried Absolutely Free Ice cream bars Scott? No sugar, no fat, no cholesterol 80 cals & 5 grams protein. It's a bit carb heavy (27 gm), but the portion control factor & low calories balance it out I think. Tastes good too..not Ben & Jerry's good, but a decent substitute. Guys like us have to remind ourseleves that it's OK to endulge once in a while & not feel like we "blew it" and then just go nuts. Last night I had a year end blow out...beer, chips, nachos, dinner with family & friends & then a party back at my house. The scale shows that I gained 2 lbs. But I am not in the least bit worried about that because I had a great time & that slight (temporary) gain was worth every second of fun. It's not an "all or nothing" situation any longer. We all need to stay focused on long term goals in our lives. Health, happiness & confidence in ourseleves. Confidence that we have done so much in this relatively short period of time. Stay the course & when you stray, well, that's OK. You've been down the road before you (we) will find it again. CB, I have 3 young ones running around & more snacks that you've ever heard of. It's tough sometimes to resist (I do give in every now & then). I am trying to swing them over to sugar free & fat free types of snacks. It's slowly working. I hope that in the long term my family will benefit, as I have. You guys have been, and remain, an inspiration to me & many others in the locker room. Today, I am getting back to the basics of adequate protein intake, more whole foods & less carbs. I am focusing now on repairing my health instead of on weight alone. Happy New Year Men. keep up the good work. Jay

hey Jay, We had some bashes at our place for the holidays and so there was an abundance of crap around. I was really pretty good overall. Chips are my downfall. However, I did experiment with some pie and found I could eat it. Dang. Didn't need to know that. My hat's off to you because it would just unscrew my head to know where the good stuff is stashed in the house. If there is anything good in the house my g/f hides it for me. what a sweetie and then takes it to work the next day for her crew. I think swinging everyone over to healthier snacks is a great idea for the whole family. way to go....Carbonblob

I wish that I could hit the ice cream on occation. Just does not seem to work that way with me. Congrats on getting to goal. Have a great 2007! Scott

I started this journey 6 months ago at 5' 11" 346 lbs and I now tip the scales at 228 lbs. Still a long way to go to reach a goal weight of under 200 lbs. I also live in a house with my wife and my 2 teenage sons none of whom are overweight or battle a weight problem. Consequently there is always tons of junk and snack foods around in abundance. Deserts are never in short supply either. For me to succeed at long term weight loss I will have to succeed in the face of these challenges because eliminating from my living environment apparently doesn't appear to be an option. I continue to very successful at getting all of my protein and water requirements in every day. I typically don't seem to get enough calories daily so that's a bit of a problem. I faithfully log all my food intake on fitday.com so I can keep track of how I am doing. Snacking hasn't been much of a problem until the last 2 weeks and then my only weakness has been about 1/2 cup of fat-free pretzels. But I can see how the snacking (grazing) could become a problem if not kept under strict control. D.

hey D, i read one of the best ways to achieve goals is to write them down daily or track them. I would have to use every trick in the book to abstain from what your family members had in the house. My hat's off to you too! I'm beginning to think I have it easy now......Carbonblob