Hi Everyone

Just Checkin in. Its been a little while. I see that alot of us have been struggling. Myself included! ITs been really hard. I keep starting over time and time again. I broke down the other day and picked up a case of my old isopure protein drinks (had been drinking the icky powder stuff) starting to get sick of the powder stuff. the isopures seem to help the best but they are so darned expensive. I also picked up some glennys slim carb protein bars, man they really are the best. excerds had them for 99cents. I have been eating sugar 'sigh' in the form of popsicles!!! eee gads. nothing like the darned ol' ice cream trucks... there are about 8 kids at my house some days and its a little hard not to accompany them with their treats! I try to be careful about it though. I LOVE popsicles so i have to be careful to have only ONE and thats it. again its all about portion sizes but then again once i get that sugar in my system its sooooo darn hard. I am going to have to make up a grocery list of protein items i can snack on instead of crap like chips and popsicles! AAAAAh the stuggle continues guys. i did take up a new activity! Biking! My husband gave me his old cannondale bike which is a wonderful bike and i have been riding it everyday. I was sooo excited about riding a bike again. its so fun and i totally forgot how fun it was... although my butt HURTS!!! OW! I dont know why i cant get my eating on track and stay there. i keep thinking back to the basics but never quite get there. its a good thing that i am reminded (like you happy ) that when i get that big ol taco or burger that i KNOW i cant eat it and im glad that i cant and when i do eat that much and the pouch pain happens i am so thankful for the surgery. i just get so mad that i let myself get to that point. somehow we will find that balance we are looking for. it is just going to take some time. in the mean time we can help each other when we get out of control. God bless you guys!! hang in there Elizabeth M

I'VE MISSED YOU!!!!!! What about sugar free popsicles? I can't stand popsicles, but I hear the sugar-free kind are pretty good. I'm not so fond of the protein shakes so I'm trying to stuff down protein bars. Congratulations on the bike. I keep thinking I should break out my bike and go for a spin. I've got an expensive mountain bike that I never ride. Connie

It's good to see you are back. Congrats on biking everyday. I seem to only find time to go on the weekends, but I agree I forgot how much I enjoyed it and my butt hurts afterward to. I might go invest in some of those padded bike shorts and see if that helps. Hell I might just start wearing a pair everyday if they make me look like I have a butt again. Oh well I guess you can't have everything. Just keep hanging in there with the rest of us eventually one of us will have an epiffany and share with everyone why we are all having such a hard time with food at this stage. Anyway good to see you back, Leslie

Biking is great, Elizabeth, terrific exercise! The eating issue for me seems to relate to my lifelong thinking of "I gotta have this now or it's going to disappear!" It's hard to explain; the cravings are definitely linked to a GOTTA HAVE IT trigger - and that just is not true! If we can figure out a way to ride out the craving instead of giving in to it...anything we crave will still be there an hour from now, or later on, or tomorrow...if we can just get through the immediate gratification trigger, which for me is all about soothing the soul in times of extreme emotional crisis or anxiety...that's the answer to winning the battle -- or at least staying in it. In the meantime, get that physical activity in. I love you guys! Reenie

Hi Elizabeth; Welcome back......we missed you!! Connie's right....try the sugar-free popsicles. I'm addicted to the fool things, but they're only 15 calories each, so you can't get in too much trouble with them and they're not bad tasting. It's great that you're enjoying the bike... it's terrific exercise. I'm still a walking fool and I find that if I don't slack off on the walking, I can get away with an occasional bad food day without weight gain. It's when I eat to much and get lazy about the exercise that I get in trouble. A lot of us seem to be having food issues these days, so don't feel alone. Share your troubles and we'll try to work them out together. You might want to try a "Gel" seat cover for the bike... I hear that they ease the butt pain considerably. Take care and stay in touch! Mike