Char S.

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Today was not a good day.  I was fine up until I went to the retail store at the hospital where I work and I could not pass up the Murrays Suger Free Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.  They were supposed to be for my grandkids when they come to visit this weekend.  Unfortunately, I opened the pack and ate 1 serving then 2 servings plus one more cookie for good measure (7 cookies total).  I had to talk myself into throwing the rest away because I didn't want to eat the whole pack and my grandkids don't need them anyway.  Other things that I ate today that were not on the plan was 2 pieces of fried chicen and 4 ritz crackers that were on the dreaded "help yourself" spot in our kitchen at work.  According to My DailyPlate, I ate almost 1800 calories today.  At least I stayed honest with myself and entered everything I age today, good or bad.  1800 calories might not sound too bad but my calorie goal for today was supposed to be 1500 or less. Well. instead of dwelling on what I did wrong today, I am going put this bad day behind me and to try and do better tomorrow.  I'm so ready for the challenge of Day 5.

No, I decided not to do Day 2 again; hovever, I  successfully made it through Day 3!!  This comes directly from MyPlate on www.thedailyplate.com.  I found it easier to use than www.fitday.com.  This is what I ate today:

Item Name	Serv	Calories	Carbs	Fats	Protein
Coffee	2	2	0	0	0
Low-carb Pumpkin & Sausage Soup	1	376	9	32	15
Sugar Free Butter Toffee	1	45	13	2	0
Pepomint Sugar Free	1	35	14	0	0
Peanut Marshmallow Eclipse	1	180	19	6	19
Split Pea & Ham Soup (5dpt)	1	184	25	4	13
Baked Tilapia (5 Day Pouch Test)	1	235	6	9	31
Sliced American Cheese	1	70	2	5	4
Water, Bottled	1	0	0	0	0
Jilly's Gelatin Sugar Free	1	10	0	0	2
Pepperoni Slices	1	130	0	12	6
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese	1	110	1	9	7
French Vanilla Coffee Creamer	2	70	6	2	0
Sweet N' Low Sugar	6	30	0	0	0
Totals		1477	95	80	97

I drank 1 L of water on my way to work, sipped water (and coffee) all day, then drank 16 oz on the way home from work and another 16 oz this evening.  Boy, am  I glad that my bedroom has a bathroom in it!!  I'm getting used to sipping water while using my computer at home instead of eating junk and getting crumbs in my keyboard. This seems like a lot of carbs and fats but they explained on the 5DPT website how this works to "reset" your pouch.  Bring on Day 4!!

I reviewed my goals and made some changes: I plan to meet these goals by consistently tracking my food intake using "The Daily Plate" at www.dailyplate.com. I found out that it has a bigger food data base is easier to search for foods than  www.fitday.com.  I didn't rejoin Curves when my membership expired but I plan to start walking again for 30 mintes each day at lunchtime during the work week, I will also use the fitness center and the swimming pool at our apartment on the weekends, weather permitting of course, 
1. My first goal is to weigh less than my husband.  He weighs about 150# fully dressed and soaking wet!!  I will be very happy if I reached this goal by 8/28/08 which is my 8 year post-op anniversary
2. My ultimate goal is to get down to 145# and maintain that weight.  I will weigh myself at least once a week and do some damage control if I see a 3# gain.  I'd like to reach this goal by the New Year.  Losing the weight that I regained is a very tough battle that I never want to fight again!!

I'm near the end of Day 2 of the 5DPT  and so far I had:
Drink--20 oz K2O Protein water on my way to work
Drink--Coffee with Sweet n Lo and powdered creamer
Breakfast--5DPT Pumpkin Sausage Soup
Snack--Sugar Free Gelatin, 5 whole grain crackers
Lunch--5DPT recipe Split pea & ham soup
Snack--Sugar Free Gelatin (no crackers this time)
Drink--More coffee with Sweet n Lo and powdered creamer
Drink--Another bottle of K2O Protein water on my way home
Dinner--5DPT Split pea & ham soup with a tbsp shredded cheddar
Snack--SlimFast Lo Carb Chocolate Shake or some sugar free pudding
I also sipped on plain water throughout the day.
Today was really not that hard.  I had such a busy day at  work that I never felt hungry.  I might even do Day 2 again!!  I'll have to slap myself on the wrist because I know that the crackers are not on the plan but a co-worker left them out on our "help yourself" counter and I couldnt resist!!  I was able to stop at 1 serving, though.  There will always be times when someone brings in bagels, donuts and other goodies...I mean baddies,,,for the  "help yourself"  counter.  I guess this is a common practice at almost all workplaces and is something I'll have to learn to live with.  I'll ask them to use another spot for the "help yourself" counter.  It should far be away from the microwave oven so that I won't see that stuff when I'm heating my soup!!
I hope I can have another good day tomorrow!!

So far, so good.  Today I had::
8 am--Cup of coffee with sweet n lo and half n half
10:00 am--SlimFast Lo Carb Vanilla Shake
12:30 pm--5DPT recipe Split pea & ham soup (very filling!!)
3:30 pm--Jello SF Chocolate Pudding
5:30 pm--5DPT Pumpkin Sausage Soup, Sugar free Gelatin
7:30 pm--Atkins Chocolate delight Shake
Sipped about 1L water, 20 oz K20 protein water and 20 oz Crystal Lite Peach Tea all day. 
9:00 pm--I'll probably have another shake or pumpkin soup before I go to bed if I get hungry.
I feel that this day was successful...hope I can have another good day tomorrow!!

I'm going to start the 5DPT tomorrow.   It think it will be easier to do during my 5-day work week than to start on a weekend. I did it a few weeks ago and felt that I was successful even though I deviated a little on day five.  I know the main purpose of the test is not to lose weight but  to "reset" your pouch to "newbie status".   Last time I did the test, I got a double bonus.  Not only did I become more aware of my pouch and listening to it when it tells me that I've had enough to eat; I also lost 3 #!!  So far, I kept off the 3#,  I just made a batch of the pumpkin sausage and the split pea with ham soups and put them into 1 cup containers.  I got 4 packs of 6 containers for $1 per pack from the Dollar Tree store. I'm also going to use the Lo Carb Slimfast shakes because they have 20g protein and 2g net carbs and are more affordable to me than the protein powders.  I got a 24 pack of sugar free gelatin and a pack of K2O protein water powder that you mix with bottled water.  I already have some Crystal Light Peach tea. All this stuff cost me around $35.  It seems a little expensive but I think $7 a day for 3+ meals is a good deal. I would spend more if I buy my breakfast and lunch from our cafeteria.  Breakfast in our cafeteria costs ~$4 and lunch costs ~$6.  That's ~ $50 for 5 days and that doesn't include dinner!!  Each morning I'll pack my lunch box with 2 shakes 2 soups and 2 gelatin snacks and a pack of K2O. I will also sip water and Crystal Lite all  day, except for the 30 min after I have my meals, of course.   I'll probably have another bowl of soup for dinner and a sugar free pudding for my pre-bedtme snack.  Good luck to all of the Monday morning 5DPT'ers. 

I started my 5-Day Pouch Test  last Sunday and finished on July 3rd.  On the first 4 days I was able to stick to the plan.  On day 5; however,  I deviated a little by eating some seafood stuffing.  I went to the store to get some fish when I saw this roll of seafood stuffing.  I looked at the ingredients and saw that It contained bread crumbs but I got it anyways.  I rolled some of it into fish filets and baked them..  I also put some of it in mushroom caps and added a little mozzerella cheese and baked them also.  Of course I had to make a small salad to go along with this. My stuffed fish and mushrooms was very yummy and I'll probably make some again but not during my next 5DPT! Even though my Day 5 was not perfect, I feel that I my 5DPT was successful because I was able to "listen to my pouch" telling me to not overeat.  I also lost 3#!!  Even though the 3# was probably just water weight It still felt good to get on the scale and see a 3# loss. This puts me near the 150# mark which is pretty close to one of my goals.  On the 4th of July, I was able to stick to grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs and 2 bones of baby back ribs.  The potato salad, corn-on-the-cob and all the other picnic foods were very tempting but I managed to stay away from them.  I'm going to try the 5DPT again 5 days before the next food occasion.  Wish me luck!!!

Hello Family!  It seems like I always run crying back to you when I need a shoulder, but that's what families are for...Right?  I started our Biggest Loser challenge again at a weight of 158#.  Yep, four pounds heavier than I was at the end of the last time.  During this last 12-week session I only lost 4 pounds which puts me back to 154#.  I'm happy that I lost the 4 pounds I regained but I really expected more.  I continued walking the tunnels and making pretty good food choices, but to no avail.  Even though I made some good food choices I'm beginning to feel that I'm able to each too much.  I still continue to eat even though I'm full.  I see that many of our members are doing the 5 Day Pouch Test with success.  I started the test this moring and so far I'm hanging in there.  I had to go to the store to get the right foods so I asked my hubby to go with me and asked him to not let me get any "contraband".  Hopefully this test will help me to get in touch with my pouch again and to listen to it when it tells me that I'm full!!  In spite of my dissapointment I'll try to continue to look at the bright side noting that I lost 27 of the 42# I gained and I've pretty much maintained the weight loss. Four pounds to get to may goal of 150#.  I can do this!!!!!

It is wonderful knowing that this site and family is available when I need some inspiration and encouragement to help me stay on track.  The Biggest Loser contest at my job started again on March 14.  I weighed in at 154# and would like to lose at least 9 pounds during this 12-week session.  After my weigh-in last Thursday, I still weigh 154#.  A little disappointing but I am happy that I haven't regained since the last session.  I stopped eating in my car, at the computer, at my desk or in bed.  I'm still working on trying not to eat in front of the TV (it's a good thing that I don't watch alot of TV!!).  I also carry water with me at all times. When we eat out, I immediately ask for a take-out box and put some of my meal in it to save for the next day.  When I get full and there is still food on my plate, I put water or a pile of salt or sugar in in it so that I don't eat any more.  Most of the time, I am able to avoid fast food places, food courts or buffets,  When I'm out with others and can' t avoid eating there, I try to eat the foods that would do the least amount of damage to my new lifestyle. I'd be lying if I say I'll never eat candy again.  I can bypass the chocolate, but I usually crave chewy candy such as Twizzlers, Skittles, Tootsie Rolls, etc.  If I drink some water and am still craving I'll have a snack box of raisins or fruit snacks. I try to keep some in my purse in case cravings hit while I'm not at home. This is usually helps but sometimes that mean ol' candy demon takes over and I have to give in.  In that case, I make sure that I share instead of eating a whole bag.   I realize that food is a big part of our lives and it is up to me to not let it control my life.  I'll check in again soon with my Biggest Loser Progress.

Last January 22, 2007 I began my new journey to lose the 42 pounds I had gained beginning with my 3rd year out from wls.  The VA hospital where I work started a Biggest Loser contest and MovEmploye campaign to promote a healty lifestyle of eating right and exercising.  I wanted to get down to 150# by the end of the year.  Well, today I weighed in at 154#.  Not quite at the goal I set for myself but I do not feel like i've failed  This is a couple of pounds up from last November but I considered that small weight gain as normal considering the holidays.  I am still 27# lighter than I was at this time last year.  I continually pray for the strength to keep up with this lifestyle and to lose another 15# to get back to my lowest post-surgery weight.   For now, I am setting a smaller goal of losing 9# by the end of the next 12-week Biggest Loser contest at my work beginning somtime in Feb.   I have to remember that there is no magic to losing the weight; just eating right without eliminating entire food groups from my diet, using my 30 min lunch break for walking during the work week, going to Curves 3x a week and drinking lots of water. Some of us may not have the time to do all this but I learned to make time for myself and not feel guilty of selfish about it!!  I also have the support of a few co-workers with similar goals.  When I get to goal, be it 139# or 145#, I will continue this lifestyle in order to maintain my weight loss. I am happy to say that I am STILL ON TRACK!!!