Back~ Challenge~My thought....(LONG)

BRAVO TO YOU TOO......YEAH FOR ANOTHER GOODIE TWO SHOE!!!!

 

First off! CONGRATS!!  ~ongetting back to goal !!!  and on 5yrs.......what an inspiration!

Second, WOW! You answered all the questions, and honestly!!  I admire that!  I am sorry to hear about your mother!  You are so right about the choice we make!  Thank you soooo much for your input!!!  Glad to see ya around!!
Hugs

1) Older Post-ops:  Are you happy where you are?  If not, what are you going to do to get there?  Being a year out and down 140lbs I would say yes I'm happy with where I'm at. There is still more weight that I would like to lose and lots of hanging skin I would like to tone. My goal is to continue to do the best at following the program provided to me by my clinic and to exercise more often. It took me 11 months to realize how important exercise is. Why I'm not sure. Probably because I just hate exercising. Since I have made this realization I think I have done really well at exercising.

2) EVERYONE:  Are you following the rules?  Why not? I follow the rules fairly well I think. There are things that I just refuse to try like sugar, if its not a natural sugar like milk or fruit I do not tempt fate. This is one thing I'm really good at and have not even tried. But, there are other things that I might eat that perhaps I should not. I have days where my eating is exactly where it should be and there are time where it was not the best. I think those days are full of stress so perhaps finding better ways to handle stress is something that I need to work on.

3) EVERYONE:  Do you want accountability?  And what exactly does that mean to you? To me accountability is so important if I do not have that I know I will not be as successful. Accountabililty to me is support from others I'm very grateful for all of those people I have met and support me in all stages of this journey, I love the excercise and food posts, the scale, my husband, and me. I need to be responsible for my weight and health and therefore I need to make sure that I do the best I can on this journey. If I want to be successful its up to me.  

4) EVERYONE:  What is the motivation that brought you to your WLS journey?  Is that motivation still as strong as it was?  Is that motivation strong enough to keep you on track?  My motivation for WLS was my health & son. Having a child with special needs I realize that I will be caring for him for most of his life and mine. I need to be around for him and be as health as I possibly can. My weight hinder alot of activity with him and would potential be the death of me. Now that I have lost a lot of weight we are able to do things together I'm not longer a sideline mom!! My motivation is just as strong today as it was when I started this process. He will forever be on my mind and in my thoughts as I travel this weight loss journey.

Sandy, thank you for the thought provoking post. Great things to think about!!
Best wishes to you!!! Glad you are back!!

Thanks for your response and your answers!!  AWESOME!!  Thanks for your encouragement!!  YOU my dear have been a blast to watch shrink!!!  AMAZING and WELL DONE job!!!!!  As far as the skin, mine was worse at one year out then it is at 2.  Somehow it tightens and tones with exercise and push more water......You are doing great and are an inspiration to many!!!!
HUGS

1) Older Post-ops:  Are you happy where you are?  If not, what are you going to do to get there?  I'm thrilled with where I am thus far!  My PCP is also thrilled with me, said he doesn't care if I never lose another pound, as long as I stay where I am now.  But I'm about 20 - 25 pounds from my personal goal...

2) EVERYONE:  Are you following the rules?  Why not?  I do not follow the rules perfectly, no big secret there.  But I follow them pretty darn well, and I live my WLS life in a way that I can deal with - I forgive myself for the "bad" choices I sometimes make, because know that it's not over - it never will be.

3) EVERYONE:  Do you want accountability?  And what exactly does that mean to you?  Honestly?  I'm not sure I get what accountability means.  I'm not saying that to be a smart a$$, I just don't quite understand it.  Do I want to check in with someone everyday to be sure I stay on track?  No.  My life is chaotic enough, I hate adding more to it than I need to.  Do I weigh myself regularly?   I never did for the first year, at the advice of my nut.  But I did buy a scale, and I weigh about once a week now - I don't want to become obsessed with the number, because there's just too much normal fluctuation.  I figure if I check in with my scale once a week, that ought to give me a good idea of how I'm doing, without making me crazy!
 
4) EVERYONE:  What is the motivation that brought you to your WLS journey?  Is that motivation still as strong as it was?  Is that motivation strong enough to keep you on track?  I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Diabetes, high BP, on cholesterol meds, insulin, bp meds, and somewhere along the line I realized that I had accepted an early death as my fate.  Stupid.  I knew some people that had gone the WLS route - some successful, some not.  But the more I educated myself about HOW it works, RNY in particular, I realized it was MY answer.  I'm off all pre-op meds (except synthroid, which will probably be for life).  Am I still motivated?  ABSOLUTELY!  I had spent 45 years obese, had NO IDEA what being a normal size would be like.  I LIKEY!  I'm eager to see what the rest of my life will be like as a "normal" person!  Size wise. 

LOL...Normal.....what's that?!?!  Only my BMI is normal!!!!.....at least one thing with me is!!!
THe whole scale thing is crazy~!!  I was obessed in the begining to the point of 2 times a day(highly reccomend not to in the 1st year!!).  And now at 2 out I really don't need I scale.....I can tell if I am up 1 pound or down 1 pound.....OOOOO the fun of maintaince!!
THanks for your input!!  MUCH appreciated

Sandie:

I am very glad to see you back!  There is just something so very sweet and honest about you (good thing we don't dump when we come across sweet people......that's it......who needs to eat anything sweet with you around here on  the board?!).

I am only 6 months post-op, so I can't answer the first one yet.

I follow the rules, but I am not perfect about it, for which I manage to forgive myself.

I want accountabiity....I am inclined to to be oversensitive to criticism with a nasty habit of comforting myself with food instead of dealing with my overwrought emotion.  Accountability to me means having a support network tha****ches out for me....to cheer me on when I am on track and to point in the right direction when I falter.

My motivation was my to improve my health, both physically and mentally.  I still have more work to do on the mental health front, so that motivation is still strong and perhaps a bit better focused than when I started my journey.

RP

RP....you sure have a way of making me!!!  I try to live my life with HONESTY being the utmost importance......I have had the truth dealt to me and it hurt for a moment but let me tell you I SOOOOO appreciate and cherish THAT friendship!!!
As far as only 6 month out DUDE YOU are rocking that tool and should be very proud and happy at where you are right now!!!!  Might not be where you wanna stay but hey you WON'T stay there long!!  BRAVO TO YOU!!  Keep rockin the tool!!!
I can relate to the accountability thing!!!  And as for the mental status~ join the club of "Work In Progress"
THanks!!  Good to hear from you!!

1) Older Post-ops:  Are you happy where you are?  If not, what are you going to do to get there?  I don't know that I'm an "older" post-op (except for my age), but I'm very  happy with where I am.  Totally wasn't expecting to be this tiny, but that's the thing with WLS -- it kinda does it's own thing when you are in the losing stage.

2) EVERYONE:  Are you following the rules?  Why not?  I followed the rules to the letter until I hit maintaining mode.  Then I started experimenting a little with more carbs because I could not stop losing.  I've been able to maintain following the rules 99% of the time -- have a glass of empty calorie wine or popcorn every once in a while but I make sure I get in ALL my protein every day.  And I did go through another holiday without eating any of the goodies.  I don't have a problem with the carbs because I keep them in check and only up when I drop too much weight.

3) EVERYONE:  Do you want accountability?  And what exactly does that mean to you?  I am accountable to myself everyday.  It means I have my list of foods for the day to meet my caloric and protein goal and make sure they are done.  I also track on Fitday.  My hubby is my other accountability check -- he asked before I had the surgery that if he saw me stray, could he mention it to me.  Thankfully he hasn't had to and I'm pretty proud of that.

4) EVERYONE:  What is the motivation that brought you to your WLS journey?  Is that motivation still as strong as it was?  Is that motivation strong enough to keep you on track?  My motivation was the desire to live.....and yep, still just as strong.  I always encourage newbies to remember the passion they had for getting approved and getting this surgery.  Just like a marriage, if you lose the passion, it is harder to succeed.  And just like a marriage, you  have to work at it everyday.

LOVE LOVE LOVE your answer for #4!!!!  You are soo smart and wise my dear!!!  You ROCK!!
HUGS