When, Where, Routine...

Weighing In... - When do you weigh? FIRST THING IN THE MORNING - Where do you weigh?(Home/Doctors etc?) HOME - How often do you weigh? DAILY - Do you have a routine you do before weighing? GET UP, GO POTTY AND GET ON THE SCALE Measuring Up... - Do you measure? YES - How often do you measure? WHEN I AM IN A STALL - Do you have a routine you do before measuring? NOT REALLY - Where do you measure?(Home/Doctors etc?) HOME Getting the picture... - Did you take before pictures? YES - How often do you take pictures? ONCE A MONTH Whats to eat... - Do you track what you are eating? YES - Do you measure what you are eating? YES, HOW ELSE COULD I ACCURATELY KEEP TRACK?? - What is more important to you to watch... carbs or calories? FOR ME, IT'S CALORIES. - Are you eating low fat? YES, OTHERWISE I - Are you still learning to eat or do you feel your an old hand at this now? I FEEL LIKE I LEARN SOMETHING EVERYDAY ABOUT THIS. AND, I FEEL AS IF THIS WILL BE A LIFELONG LEARNING PROCESS. - Do you miss "quantity"? (eating a WHOLE hamburger instead of 3 bites with out bread) NOT REALLY. WHAT I MISS IS BEING ABLE TO EAT CERTAIN THINGS - LIKE MY FAVORITE BREAKFAST TACO. I CAN HANDLE BEING ABLE TO ONLY EAT A FEW BITES THOUGH OF SOMETHING. AS LONG AS I GET THAT FULL FEELING, I'M GOOD. Finding you... - When you look in the mirror... Do you see progress? YES YES YES!!! - Are you half full or half empty about your weight loss? Meaning do you see the better ( ie weighing less, fitting into smaller clothes) or do you see the worse ( sagging skin, not losing fast enough)? HALF FULL, DEFINITELY. - Are you changing your mental along with your physical? Basically are you fixing the things that helped you get heavy in the first place? Or do you feel that WLS did that already for you? HMMMMM....THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THIS ONE. I THINK I'VE DEALT WITH THOSE DEMONS, BUT WE WILL SEE ONCE I'M ACTUALLY ABLE TO EAT MORE FOOD AND MORE VARIETY. I HAD A LOT OF ISSUES WITH SELF WORTH, LONELINESS AND DEPRESSION (DIDN'T REALIZE IT THEN THOUGH) AS I GAINED WEIGHT. I THINK THEY ARE NOW RESOLVED....BUT WHO KNOWS..... SUSAN

- When do you weigh? Monday - Where do you weigh?(Home/Doctors etc?) Home - How often do you weigh? once a week - Do you have a routine you do before weighing? Naked as a jaybird and right after I pee 1st thing in the morning Measuring Up... - Do you measure? Yes - How often do you measure? Once a week - Do you have a routine you do before measuring? nope - Where do you measure?(Home/Doctors etc?) Home Getting the picture... - Did you take before pictures? No but got married in Aug so have WAY a ton of them - How often do you take pictures? Once a month now Whats to eat... - Do you track what you are eating? Yes (love fitday) - Do you measure what you are eating? Yup - can;t track it if I don;t know how much there was - What is more important to you to watch... carbs or calories? Carbs...they hate me - Are you eating low fat? no - Are you still learning to eat or do you feel your an old hand at this now? Always learning but have a pretty good handle on it - Do you miss "quantity"? (eating a WHOLE hamburger instead of 3 bites with out bread) Of course I think everyone does wether they admit it or not but it is not like I think abotu it all the time. It is more of a convenience thing I think. Would love to be able to just pop through the drive thru and pick up a bacon cheeseburger and it is on the go. Finding you... - When you look in the mirror... Do you see progress? A litte - Are you half full or half empty about your weight loss? Meaning do you see the better ( ie weighing less, fitting into smaller clothes) or do you see the worse ( sagging skin, not losing fast enough)? Definetely half full. This is a start of a new chapter in my life. Hubby and I are growing old and getting skinny together while most couples grow old and get fat together! - Are you changing your mental along with your physical? Basically are you fixing the things that helped you get heavy in the first place? Or do you feel that WLS did that already for you? Always fixing. It is a daily process. You have to change your mind over from your old ways or you have achieved nothing. Hugs, Melissa

Weighing In... - When do you weigh? FIRST THING IN THE MORNING - Where do you weigh?(Home/Doctors etc?) HOME EVERY DAY, AT DR'S WHEN I GO THERE AND AT MY PCP'S IF I GO THERE. - How often do you weigh? EVERYDAY (I'M OBSESSED WITH THE SCALE, TOO) - Do you have a routine you do before weighing? I GO PEE, GET NAKED AND GET ON THE SCALE AS SOON AS I GET UP Measuring Up... - Do you measure? YES I DO, BUT NEVER KNOW IF I AM DOING IT RIGHT - How often do you measure? ONCE A MONTH, RIGHT AROUND THE DAY OF MY SURGERY - Do you have a routine you do before measuring? NOT REALLY, JUST DO IT WHILE NAKED - Where do you measure?(Home/Doctors etc?) AT HOME Getting the picture... - Did you take before pictures? I HAD A FEW PICTURES BEFORE THE SURGERY, BUT TOOK ONE 5 DAYS POST-OP THAT I USE AS MY REFERENCE. - How often do you take pictures? I TAKE PICTURES ABOUT EVERY TWO WEEKS OR SO AND POST THEM ON MY PROFILE PAGE. Whats to eat... - Do you track what you are eating? I BOUGHT THE FITDAY PROGRAM, BUT HAVE NOT BEEN GOOD AT TRACKING WITH IT YET. - Do you measure what you are eating? NOT AS WELL AS I SHOULD. I EYEBALL IT, TOO. - What is more important to you to watch... carbs or calories? I WATCH BOTH, BUT MOSTLY CARBS - Are you eating low fat? YES, I AM EATING LOWFAT - Are you still learning to eat or do you feel your an old hand at this now? I AM STILL LEARNING. ACTUALLY, JUST THREW UP TODAY BECAUSE I DIDN'T CHEW ENOUGH OR SOMETHING. - Do you miss "quantity"? (eating a WHOLE hamburger instead of 3 bites with out bread) NO, I DON'T MISS QUANTITY. I GET HUNGRY FOR SOME OF MY FAVORITES, BUT IT PASSES. IF I AM HUNGRY FOR SOMETHING AND IT IS THERE, I HAVE A TASTE OF IT AND AM FINE. Finding you... - When you look in the mirror... Do you see progress? HELL YEAH!!!! - Are you half full or half empty about your weight loss? Meaning do you see the better ( ie weighing less, fitting into smaller clothes) or do you see the worse ( sagging skin, not losing fast enough)? I THINK I AM HALF FULL!!! I LOVE TO SEE THE CLOTHES FITTING BETTER AND LOVE TO SEE THE SMALLER ME WITH THE THINNER FACE. I LOVE IT. - Are you changing your mental along with your physical? Basically are you fixing the things that helped you get heavy in the first place? Or do you feel that WLS did that already for you? I AM TRYING TO FIND THINGS TO ENTERTAIN MYSELF WHEN I AM BORED. I USED TO EAT WHEN I WAS BORED. WORKING IN THE OFFICE HAS BEEN HARD LATELY BECAUSE I WORK MIDNIGHT AND SIT AT A COMPUTER ALL NIGHT, WITH LITTLE TO DO BUT SURF THE NET, SO I USED TO MUNCH ON CHIPS ALL NIGHT. I ALSO USED TO EAT WHEN MY HUSBAND WOULD GO PLAY CARDS, LIKE ME STUFFING MY FACE WITH ICE CREAM WHILE HE WAS GONE WAS GOING TO MAKE HIM STAY HOME WITH ME. I'M WORKING ON IT.

Hmm...I had surgery on a Tuesday, so weigh myself every Tuesday mornign and record it. When I see my family doc or surgeon, I check their scale against mine. Other than recording it, I weigh myself more than I should. Once or twice daily, which is down from my old lifelong diet days of six or more times per day. I took all my measurements, along with my weight and BMI, the night before surgery, the 30th, and check all these again on the 30th of each month. Did the same thing with pics, though I have these taken on different dates, just keep track of when. I don't write down what I eat, but I do keep mental notes as to how much protein I'm getting. I read all labels and don't eat anything that's not less than 8g sugar per serving. I never count calories and plan never to do that again - 40 years of calorie counting is enough for anyone, thank you! I eat low-fat most of the time. I feel I am still learning to eat, as I still can't be sure how I will react to anything. Funny you should mention hamburgers, as yesterday I was craving a big cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a roll. I didn't have it. Mostly, rather than it being a poor choice, I didn't eat it because I figured it would just make me sick and be a waste of my money anyhow. I did buy a single bbq'd pork rib and only got a few bites out of it; it sat there feeling so ugly the rest of the night, I am in no hurry to try it again. Sometimes, I resent not being able to enjoy foods I like the same way. Usually, I feel this way when the scale has not moved in awhile. Like now! Lost nothing this week. In the mirror...I see progress every so often. Sometimes, I have to look at before and after pics to see anything. I try to be positive about it all. When I try on clothes that were too small last month and they are already too big, that feels great. Usually, when I am negative, there are other things going on - like knee pain or bloating or other stuff that just makes me feel fat. The only thing I am truly unhappy about it the excess skin under my chin/at my neck as I lose. I posted to the PA board about that the first time I noticed it and I felt completely chastised by the other posters, who seemed to think it was a small sacrifice. To me, 45 and single and hoping to date again, it is a very big deal. I don't want a granny neck. As far as changing the reasons that I got heavy, I have to approach that on different levels. First the old family b.s., the stuff my mom gave me so long ago, I have been working on for some time now, since before ever considering surgery. So I have certainly made progress there. Second, my feelings about food...I have developed a taste for better foods over the years, so, even before surgery, junk food was not a major problem for me. I liked good cheeses and baguettes and Lindt or Godiva chocs. Aside from the chocs, which I have not dared yet, I feel I can still indulge my tastes, just in smaller quantities - which is good, because, while I like this stuff, I am not wealthy! While visiting Pittsburgh this weekend, I stayed in a place with its own little kitchen, so I went to a gourmet market and bought some Havarti cheese, olives, and gourmet crackers...I brought most of it home with me, but I've absolutely enjoyed what I've eaten so far. The third factor for me gaining weight was physical - the sciatica and diabetes (and the depression that came from both). The diabetes is under control. I am working on the sciatica, trying to get enough exercise in without doing myself any damage that would leave me unable to exercise for weeks. I'm also fighting very hard against my tendency to isolate myself, which was certainly something that came from and led to problems with my weight. Interesting questions! Lisa

Weighing In... - When do you weigh? on Fridays in the morning before I eat - Where do you weigh?(Home/Doctors etc?) Home - How often do you weigh? once a week - Do you have a routine you do before weighing? go potty lol Measuring Up... - Do you measure? Nope Getting the picture... - Did you take before pictures? Yes - How often do you take pictures? Haven't since pre op Whats to eat... - Do you track what you are eating? yes - Do you measure what you are eating? yes - What is more important to you to watch... carbs or calories? carbs - Are you eating low fat? not really - Are you still learning to eat or do you feel your an old hand at this now? old handb - Do you miss "quantity"? (eating a WHOLE hamburger instead of 3 bites with out bread) nope Finding you... - When you look in the mirror... Do you see progress? yes - Are you half full or half empty about your weight loss? Meaning do you see the better ( ie weighing less, fitting into smaller clothes) or do you see the worse ( sagging skin, not losing fast enough)? Half full - Are you changing your mental along with your physical? Basically are you fixing the things that helped you get heavy in the first place? Or do you feel that WLS did that already for you? I have been changing along with my physical and WLS has just given me the tools to make it easier for me to do that.