March 2010 Surgery Peeps - how's everything?

I constantly worry about regain and need to start tracking what I eat.  I don't always make great food choices either and I seem to be able to eat anything although I have learned a lot more about normal portions.  

In fact I worry so much about regain that I am scared to throw my old clothes out.  Ugh.  I don't want this to just be a break from being obese, but I know if I don't commit to eating healthy I am headed back down the same road.

I love to work out. It is my way to get away from stress and is my transfer addiction.  I feel lost without it and feel elated when I can push my body to the max at the gym or on the track. 

On the other hand, I have four kids and a husband that compete for my time and attention and right now I am the sole financial provider for a family of six so my biggest nemesis is STRESS. 

I think counseling would be a great help to me to sort through all the reasons I became obese to begin with, but right now its not feasible with my current financial situation.

Are you still losing?  I am but very slowly and I seem to stall frequently.

You made a powerful statement, about not just taking a break from being obese.  That one idea floats in the back of my head, and fills me with both dread and determination.  It's the main reason I do measure and record everything.  At times, it's the one thing I think is under my control when life gets crazy.

I, too, can eat anything...as long as it's not too much.  The idea of just about everything going down depresses me.  What I wouldn't do to have the issues with certain foods again!!!

I also love exercise.  Running has become my savior on days when the job or the husband have driven me crazy.  Kudos to you on being the sole provider.  I can imagine the stress you are under.  But for this surgery, it may not have been possible to have dealt with your obesity alone.
My husband wants children so bad; I am in so much fear to have children.  We aren't financial well-off.  I make more than my husband.  And with looming federal shut-downs...I don't know if I will have a job come Friday.

I'm losing at a record SLOW pace.  Stall is my middle name.  I stall frequently.  I don't really mind it; I figured the bulk of my job is done.  I don't mind taking the next year, even 2, to get the rest off.  I have decided to use year two to learn healthier habits that will get the rest off, and keep it off.  However long that takes, I look at it as an investment...that I don't mind.

As most of you reading this sub-forum, I'm one year + one week since my surgery on March 11, 2010.  I've lost 140 pounds since surgery for a total of 205 since I was at my highest.  So good news there. 

Bad (well, not as good) news is that I have been in the same five pound range (340-355) since early November and am currently at the high end of that range.  Although my initial goal was to get under 300, I've adjusted and set my goal at 325 (before any plastic surgery which given the amount of skin I could lose should be at least another 10-15 pounds.

In order to get back on track - I have started my first go-around on the Five Day Pouch Test this morning.  Anyone else tried this yet?  Any suggestions?

I'm glad we have got in touch with each other, as we seem to have a lot in common. 
We even have the same middle name, Stall, lol...  At least you are under the 200 lb mark.  I still have about 10 more pounds to go to get there.  I really want to get to a "normal" weight which would be 168 for my height.  I have never been under 190 as an adult so I have no idea what to expect and am extremely fearful of the unknown.  I was obese as a child so my weight has always protected me from the world so as I shed more and more weight, I feel more and more vulnerable.  No one understands that fear so it is something I never talk about.  I don't think anyone that hasn't experienced a life of obesity can understand that thought process.  I don't have any friends that are obese or even overweight so sometimes I feel alone in my struggle. While I can't wait to be normal I am afraid and think that is why I don't put more effort into "watching" what I eat.  A sort of self sabotage.

As far as kids, don't wait till your ready or you will never have them.  I have a 13 year old stepson, and 11 year old step daughter, two daughters of my own 9 & 6, and 2 year old twin boys.  They are the joy of my life.  I support my family on a meager teacher's salary and although sometimes we don't have enough money to last from paycheck to paycheck, they make life worthwhile. 

I love to run too, because now I can!  I am working on stamina and endurance because I have very little of either one. 

Glad to hear from you and hope we can keep in touch, because this board is dead.