ObesityHelp

Today is the day!  My most recent goal has been reached... I weigh 159... exactly 1/2 of the 318 pound girl that I was 15 months ago.  I only have a sec to write, so I wanted to mark the occasion here and say thanks to God for answering my prayers and giving me yet another miracle... and Dr. Cywes for everything and for caring and believing in me.  Thanks to my band and to all of you here at OH.  I am happy with where I am... not worrying about the extra skin today just enjoying the milestone.  If I don't lose anymore it's ok and if I do it is bonus.  I know about 15 pounds of this is excess skin so I am choosing to believe that I am no longer overweight!  I just wanted to share... Have a great day. 

Going through some stressful life things right now.  Luckily I didn't turn to food.  It has been the complete opposite!  No desire to eat, and gagging at the thought or smell of food.  I'm still trying to work through my personal ordeal and hoping and praying everything will turn out for the best.

On the upside I am now down 123 pounds~ so that is a positive.  I went a few days without being able to eat then I started doing shakes to get in my nutrition, but I am eating a bit more now and having cravings too so I have to be careful!  I went to Carrabas 2 nights in a row and I was careful but had a little bread both nights.  just the crust from a few pieces though.

I coughed and gagged and through up a lot for a few days.  Stress does that to me.  Luckily I still have restriction and feel pretty normal band wise, so I don't think I made it slip or anything and I was so afraid that would happen.

I am happy to be in a size 14 jeans right now (down from a 28) and Lane Bryant shirts are now too big... I bought a couple of size Large at Penny's the other day!  I thought I would need XL!  That was a pretty cool thing.  Oh yeah, and did I mention that I am in Onderland?  Yeah~  195

Luckily I avoided the plateau for a long time...  it is very unmotivating!  I was thrilled to lose 102 pounds then when the plateau hit my weight would fluctuate for 3 weeks between losing 102-105 back and forth, back and forth.    I had my *5TH FILL* and then had to get some of the 5th fill taken out the next day

How on earth can I keep doing everything right and my body not lose weight?  I couldn't understand it. I would step on the scale and get frustrated.  I questioned myself... Was I eating more food?  Was I sticking to my plan?  I couldn't be positive on the quantity and if I was eating more.  I knew I was a teensy bit hungrier between meals and so maybe I was eating more without realizing it.  My surgeons words popped back to me and he told me many times that if the scale stops moving not to give up, but to get to the office and see him.  That is what I did.  I got a fill. 

That night I was a bit uncomfortable.  I slimed on unsweet tea.  I thought it was that I was swollen and decided to wait it out.  The next day was another liquid day, but the liquids, even warm liquids kept coming back up.  I didn't want to get dehydrated so I went back for a partial unfill.  He took out 1cc (luckily he put in like 1.5 ccs so I didn't have less fluid than I started with).

So I did liquids Tuesday (fill day) Wednesday (unfill day) and Thursday.  That helped the scale move by 8 pounds! I was at 216 (102 lb loss) for 3 weeks basically and this morning I weighed 208 (110 lb loss).  I hope that when I eat real food today I won't gain any of it back, and I hope the normal weight loss will resume!  Wish me luck!!

~Kim

I have to lose 50-70 more, but for today I will celebrate the century mark of 100 pounds!!

3 cheers for the lap band!  Hip Hip Hurrah, Hip Hip Hurrah, Hip Hip Hurrah!!

Thanks for always being there for me.  This support has been nearly as much a help as my band.  I am doing the happy dance today... please join me

Kim

A friend asked me what I eat and a few people here have asked the same question, so I spent some time analyzing my new way of eating and will post it here in case it will benefit anyone who is looking to see the various 'diets' bandsters follow.

Keep in mind when I say I eat 30 or fewer carbs a day this does not include carbs in non starchy veggies.  I am allowed to eat unlimited carbs from say green beans but I eat the green beans after eating my protein.

I will attempt to list what I eat and give you an overview of how I eat.  As far as exercise I still do about 15 minutes of walking during my breaks.  I get to walk around a little more at work than before so that helps too I guess.   I just started trying to do some strength stuff this week (with 5 minutes on the treadmil at 3.5 to warm up, and this is the 1st week that I haven't really lost much... This week I lost 2 gained 2 lost 1 and it is frustrating).  I wonder if exercising makes me hold water to try to heal the muscle or something?  My legs are really sore in the big muscle area above my knees up to my torso!

There are things that I don't eat at all...  Chips/candy/cookies/pie/cake/pastries/ice cream.  I just don't eat it at all.  Not even a bite.  It is just as much poison to me and what I am trying to do as eating bug spray!  I will not even taste one of these until I am at goal, and even then, only on the most special of occasions if ever.  I just don't need it for survival and there are pleanty of acceptable substitutes.  I know of alcoholics that can never have a sip of alcohol again, and I think that these types of foods are not necessary and it would be beneficial to me to just keep them out of my life.

This is as 'bad' as I let myself get...I  don't eat bread, tortillas, potatos, stuffing, oatmeal, popcorn, rice etc for the most part.  These foods add fluff and filler and no nutrition really (with the exception of oatmeal).  I do sometimes have the smallest tastes of these things though and use them as an accent to the protein and veggies I am eating.  I may have 4-5 croutons on occasion (mashed up and sprinkled on a salad so the flavor is throughout the salad).  I sometimes eat a small amount of fried foods that have a bit of flour coating (like a few pieces of calamari at Carrabas or a piece of fried chicken).  If I have bread it is usually 1 slice or less of the low carb bread toasted with fried eggs to make a fast and easy dinner.  If I am out to dinner and I really want fries, I might eat 3 max, but I just eat a few of my daughters or husbands I don't get my own.  Sometimes I get onion rings as an appetizer and I may eat 3-4-5 but I peel off all the breading except for a tiny piece and wrap the onion around the small piece and dip it in ranch and nibble it.  On occasion I have 1/3 cup of plain oatmeal with cinnamon and splenda but very rarely. Maybe 1-2 times a month I may have about 5 cups of popcorn while watching a movie, but I try to keep it only at the movie theatres and make it a special treat.  The thing is, if I am going to have one of these things at all, it is the only carbs I eat that day and I am sure it is stil under 30 and if not it is at least under 50.

Desserts...  I like something sweet once in a while and if I have it I count it into my carbs.  The only sweet things I eat are... coffee with splenda and cream, sugar free pudding, Carb Smart ice cream (trigger so only rarely), and 1/2 slice on rare occasions of the low carb cheesecake at the cheese cake factory with 1/2-2/3 of the crust removed.  On very rare occasions I have had a little sugar free chocolate covered popcorn (or sf chocolate) from Peterbrook as a last resort to fight a craving for chocolate.

Snacks...  The only snacks I eat on a daily basis (if I am really hungry between meals or in place of a meal would be cheese or peanuts.  If it is peanuts it is 9 carbs or less and I count it into my daily carb allowance.

So here is a typical day for me 2-3 'meals' and sometimes a snack...

Breakfast - coffee with cream and splenda and if I want breakfast (which usually a few days of the week I don't eat breakfast just coffee) it may be 1 hard boiled egg, or a piece of bacon and a fried egg, or 2 ounces approx of leftover meat from the night before.

Lunch - is usually salad with ranch and cheese and ham or turkey.  I make it at work and It is about the size of a hamburger box.  I make it in a styrofoam container.  I usually can eat most of it and sometimes I eat the meat (which is 2-4 ounces) off the top and  a bite of lettuce and thats all.  Sometimes I might have a piece of chicken for lunch or steak but about 4 ounces and on a big day maybe 6 ounces.  Sometimes I want fast food so it may be a cheeseburger with no bun or a chick fil a without the bun (for that I count the carbs since it is breaded).

Dinner - is usually the same as lunch, but I can eat a little (2 ounces) more meat.  I like to have crab legs and butter a few times a month.  I also like shrimp dipped in butter.

Snacks - During the day I will usually have a pack of peanuts if I don't have any carbs with my meals, and 4-5 (maybe more) days a week I have something sweet after dinner like coffee with cream and splenda or sugar free pudding.  I just make sure to keep it under 30 carbs. 

Fats...  I don't limit fat, but I don't sit there and eat a stick of butter either.  I eat butter on crablegs, shrimp, steak and pork.  I eat chicken skin and some of the fat on my steak.  I have a couple of pieces of bacon sometimes.  I eat ranch dressing on my salads and sometimes as a dip for chicken.  I even put a pat of butter in some oatmeal the other day to make it creamier (I wanted something sweet for breakfast that day, so I had that with a hb egg.)

I think avoiding all of the first group of junk foods completely is what helps the most.  If I don't eat those and stay under 30 carbs I don't see how it would be possible to gain weight and it should help me to continue losing weight.

***SIDE NOTE***

I am now down 99 pounds!  I keep seeing fluctualtins with water.  I hope to wake up tomorrow and see that I have lost 100 pounds so I can start to focus on the final 70 pounds that I still need to lose!!