Holiday Results!!!!

WELP, The Christmas holiday is over. I am SOOOO happy to report that I did not gain anything!!!! I didn't loose a thing but HEY I DIDNT GAIN!!! for the first time in... well... forever it seems!! and thats something to celebrate! I am counting every little blessing!!!! I am at 227. Just stuck there but happy to be stuck there during the holiday season. I gain every year... ALOT every year so this is actually good news to me. I ate alot of shrimp... lots and lots and that really helped with the hunger cravings I am going to have shrimp on hand all the time now since it is easy finger food ... just reach in the fridge and grab type of food. That and the little cheese cubes I did munch on some cookies...but not that many the past 3 days which has been good. I did try a couple of little pastry treats...you know the finger pastries...those little guys...I paid for it...got nauseous and everything. SO I didnt go too overboard! I am excited to start cutting the sugar out of my system again. So far just this morning I have avoided twislers and cookies! ITs hard but I really want to loose some weight before my birthday on Jan 26th! SO I am going to vow that if I "require" cookies or some sort of tasty treat that it will be SUGAR FREE!!! AND not full of fat!!! SO no potato chips and crap like that! I noticed that since I got in so much shrimp that my hunger cravings aren't as bad. So of course as always...the more protein the better I am and less cravings I have. Well I just wanted to "check in" with everyone and confess...and explain how I survived this holiday so far! How has everyone else done? Its super hard thats for sure Elizabeth M

Hi Elizabeth, I'm proud of you for making the shrimp choice. I should have thought to have some shrimp on hand. I think I may have eaten my weight in ham over the last three days. I didn't gain and I even lost 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm about to break an arm patting myself on the back. As soon as my butt gets off this chair, the leftover cookies are going in the garbage and I'll have turkey and cheese for breakfast. Hugs, Connie

Elizabeth! What an amazing feeling to go through the first holiday and not gain weight! I too would gain every holiday prior to this one. I made it through with a 5lb loss since turkey day - and that is just amazing to me! To get me through I also opted for some grab from the fridge type food. Cheese and sliced roast beef from the deli helped me make it. I did test my limits for the first time since surgery though and I'm a bit upset that I did. I ate a small slice of apple pie at a friend's house. Now it was totally lovely - but I didn't dump. It was crumble top and I avoided that - but still - I'm getting close to finding out my limits and I don't want to know. So far since surgery, the fear of dumping is what has driven me to make the right choices. All in all though - once in 9 months isn't too bad and I can make the right choices from here on out. Good luck! Leah 302/177/140ish

WOW you guys that is awesome!!! 5 pound loss since thanksgiving!!! woo hoo! that definitely warrants a huge pat on the back for sure! Yeah my aunt brought this massive tray of shrimp that was already shelled and it was super soft, not real rubbery like the big plumpy shrimp, and man did they go down easy! I ate a ton of them! Which is good because they are packed with protein. I also made this wonderful tuna pate type of cracker dip. I finely chopped up carrots and celery and onions and put in about 1 1/2 eggs and mixed it up really well and added the hellmans light mayo and it was really good and tuna is sooooo full of protein. I tried to be cautious. I figured if I was going to eat some junk I HAD to get in the best protein that I could. I also ate fish and such so it was big on seafood. I think I will be alot more successful if I stick with seafood. Oh and cheese of course gotta have that for a rich grab snack. I am still avoiding these darned cookies here at work! I keep passing by them! oh and I have a mini krackel in my pocket. The bite sized ones! I have to get rid of it fast!!! its really calling me... and I dont want to eat it!!!! I am doing good so far I think I am going to make some sugar free chocolate crispy things to keep at home so I have a chocolately treat to eat once in awhile I gotta get cracking on that! Elizabeth M

Elizabeth, Step away from the Krackle. Throw it in the trash right away. I did that with the leftover cookies and feel pretty good about it. It kills me to throw away food, but it's better than fighting the temptation. Connie

Shrimp is a wonderful choice. It was one of the first solid foods I ate after surgery and it agreed with me, and I still try to keep it on hand. You can even run in the food store and get one of those little "shrimp ring" things for lunch. I always make sure I have cheese on hand and also Carb Well high protein bars. Only a small amount of sugar/sugar alcohol, as I can't tolerate more than a few grams of this at a time, 140 calories and 10 grams of protein. The Cinnamon Raisin tastes just like a cinnamon bun. It's good to keep one in your purse/glove box in the car for when you've GOT to have something to eat and don't want anything bad for you. I wish I could eat the sugar free chocolate, cookies, cheesecake etc...but the sugar alcohol does not agree with me. My chocolatey treat? My 3 Viactiv chews a day. It satisfies my chocolate craving. I also bought sugar free/fat free jello pudding mix and make it with fat free milk. It's not great but works for me...I might have it 2 or 3 times a month...I can't eat it on a regular basis because of the gas issue. I love reading about what other's eat at this point of our "journey" and am always looking for new ideas. Take care!

Hi, Elizabeth - Good for you!! I also find that keeping good choices easy at hand really helps me. So, I just wanted to share an idea with you about the shrimp (a real staple food for me, too) - I buy those bags of frozen salad shrimp and ****tail shrimp and keep them in the freezer. It is easy to take however many I need out at one time and keep the others from spoiling. They are also great this way for tossing into salads in the morning to be defrosted by lunchtime. If you want to eat them right away, they defrost quickly in cold water. Happy New Year! Dee

Congratulations on maintaining through the holidays. I did the same thing and am also excited. Not gaining is definitely a win! I like the shrimp idea too! Joy

Elizabeth, I was actually quite suprised with myself too. I was so worried about stepping on the scale on Monday. I didn't think that I had done that well with my eating. I did'n eat any sweets or anything, but I did seem to eat more. I still ended up loosing three pounds this week. I was thrilled !!! Nick

Since Thanksgiving to Christmas, I lost about 9 pounds. I did gain one pound this last week, but I am hoping it was water weight. Oh well, in the past I would have gained at least ten pounds during Christmas and would have felt like crap because of all the stuff I ate. Wendy Ann 369/217/-152