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I'm on optifast right now and am just starting my second week. So far, it's fine. I don't feel hungry and feel fine physically. Emotionally, it's tougher. I really love eating, obviously, and feel an irrational hatred towards people who can eat food. I still have to prepare food for my kids and feed my two year old twins so that part is tough. I haven't felt the urge to cheat at all yet, which is good.
I have about 90lbs more to lose now, and have lost 9lbs in the first 9 days on Optifast.

HW: 299 CW: 165 GW: 150
Started Optifast on April 21, 2017 at 248lbs through the Ontario Bariatric Network medical program.
Anyone currently using optifast? I am doing a week of Slimfast while I wait to get my assessment to be on optifast. Thought this would give me an idea of if I can tolerate the shakes for meals. I need to lose 75 to 100....I'm on metformin to keep my a1c down. Also on thyroid meds. I'm on other meds for depression and anxiety, had heart surgery in January for genetic issue, breast cancer survivor, have chronic back leg knee pain
....I'm a mess. Im a chronic late night overe eater.....I'm 48 and want to be around during to enjoy my future grandkids so I need a huge change.
Congratulations! You look great! What an accomplishment! About 7 years ago I was 600lbs and lost 347lbs naturally with diet and exercise then developed heart issues. Once that happened I was unable to workout as hard and began to gain back. I went back up to 490lbs and was suffering severely and decided to go with the sleeve.
Edited to fix a typo.

5'5" HW: 484, SW: 455,CW: 325
Surgeon, Darren Tishler
Right - I have no "higher power." So OA was ineffective for me. Thankfully other things were :)
VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)
Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170
TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)
Gwen,
I'm sorry to hear of your experience. You do need to have a higher power even if that means that the room full of people is it. That being said, an option for you would be to start your own meeting. I actually did that too because there were no other meetings close by. The meeting has been open since October and we have 6-16 people there every week.
Cathy
Congrats on your success! I tried out OA last year and it definitely wasn't for me. No matter what they say about accepting atheists, my local meeting definitely was not atheist-friendly.
VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)
Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170
TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)
I wanted to get RNY at this time last year. The place asked questions and I answered honestly. I told them that I had a history of bulimia, but was bulimia=free for 6.5 years. They did not like that answer. I had to go for psychiatric consults 3 times and then they still made me go to the diet doctor for 3 months in a row and THEN when I was done, they would make a determination. In the mean time I tried Overeaters Anonymous again. (I had tried it once before and did not like it.) This time, I stayed. On July 19, 2016 I decided that if I could lose the weight without surgery and that surgery would NOT help me keep the weight off, then I didn't need surgery, rather a program that could help me work toward a healthy body weight and stay there permanently.
Now, 9 months later I am 18 pounds lighter than the weight I told the weight loss surgeons I would be happy at. I am no longer obese, but still have 22 pounds to lose to be "normal". I have gone from a size 26W to a missy size 16 or XL. I have lost 91 pounds. I am helping lots of people too! My life has changed dramatically for the better.
OA has no dues or fees. They help people with all kinds of eating issues whether it be bulimia, anorexia, binge eating, chewing & spitting, or even "needs to lose 10 pounds". Try it out. What do you have to lose, except for the obvious- weight! You can find a meeting at www.oa.org.
There ARE OA meetings online, yes. A suggestion is that you can start your own OA meeting if you have a few people interested in doing it with you. You can get information from www.oa.org.
Try Overeaters Anonymous! I opted for this while going through pre-surgery stuff and have lost 91 pounds in just 9 months! It is not easy, but it is very simple. You can find a meeting at www.OA.org. There are no dues or fees, you just a little bit to support the expenses of the group!
Thank you for the info! I'm going to start and do my best! I have a lot to lose!