Through my reading I see people who have had WLS and now "diet" or what I call "diet" to get to goal. No Carbs No Refine Sugars No Fat Low Carbs Low Fat Atkins South Beach Yada yada diet plan lol You know them you have been on them lol. What I wonder is do you feel you are "dieting" now or are you learning to eat better? For me I eat Low Carb / Good Carb. What does this mean? I choose to limit what I consider bad carbs. Basically *they come in a box* type carbs. Do I eat them on occasion? YUP! But I feel better when I limit them. I feel like (again this is for me) that if I go back on the "diet roller coaster" I am setting myself up for failure. Why is it bad to eat a piece of chocolate? We didn't get fat eating ONE piece of chocolate we got fat eating the whole bag of chocolate over and over. I agree there are trigger foods for people. There still are for me ( CRUNCHY ANYTHING LOL) but I am working really hard at retraining my brain to say "this much is enough" and walk away instead of "I can not have that" and then long for it endlessly till I have it ( and eventually way more then I should have had). I read on the main message board the other day where one person was proud of the fact that they had, had no "real" sugar since surgery. Why is this something to be proud of? Are we now to punish ourselves? I have to wonder what will happen by once again going on the "I am not allowed to have that" diet what the end result will be if they ever falter... They then went on to state that although they had cut out sugar from their diet but still was eating high carb processed foods such as chips, pretzels etc... Doesn't this just defeat the point? Isn't it the changing and limiting and controlling of what we eat now more then the "I am not allowed to have that or will never have that again" type behavior? I am "proud" of the fact that I am learning to LIVE a new life style with my food. I do eat anything I want but for me I now never say "I am not allowed to have that". I found that once I adopted this, the things I thought I "had to have and lots of" do not bother me anymore. For example. I LOVE LOVE LOVE rice crackers. OMG I used to eat them by the bag full daily. Now I have a bag of them sitting on the shelf that has been there for the last month as I slowly ENJOY the occasional munching on them. I used to think "Ok eat as much as you can cuz this is the last time you will be allowed to have them". Now I don't do that anymore and they don't talk to me anymore lol. I feel like I have *changed my mind* about food and how I think about it. I feel like because I put food in its proper place it no longer invades the rest of my life. I don't know. Just rambling here I guess but I just wondered what you all thought about "dieting". Do you do it? What "food plan" have you chosen for not only weight loss but life? *huggles* Felicia =0)

Hey felicia, you keep on having those "wow" moments, you so deserve them. You have made such great strides in your weight loss journey. Is'nt it amazing what makes us happy these days? Who would have thought a year ago that we'd be thrilled about fitting into a booth. Not me! I still find myself asking for a table when we go out to eat. I guess old habits take a while to leave. It's also amazing how different we're being treated. I don't think it's right, but how do we get people to realize that they're being indirectly nasty to over weight people. I think most of those being nasty feel it's their right, and funny to treat us the way they do. I for one have always treated people the way I want to be treated, w/ dignity and respect. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm getting tired of going out and buying new clothes and uniforms all the time. The first time I bought new items I went from a 5x to a 3x. Stayed in the 3x till everyone at work kept bugging me and I went and got 2x. Now they're bugging me again. I'm in an xtra large and they're saying those uniforms are to big, not! As far as I'm concerned. I did go and buy some new tops and pants for the crusie comming up and they're a size 18. Never thought I'd ever see that size again. I'm so proud of all you've accomplished up to this point and will con't to support you and be proud of you through out our con't journey. Again, sorry about not sending out any cards this month. Donna, sfy

GOOD AFTERNOON SURGERY BUDDIES, I SAY GOOD AFTERNOON BECAUSE IT'S 1:17 HERE IN THE CAROLINA'S. TODAY IS ONE OF MY DAYS OFF AND I'M JUST LAZING AROUND ALL DAY. WE HAD A ROTTEN THREE DAYS AT WORK ON MON, TUES, AND WED. DELIVERING BABY AFTER BABY AND DEALING W/ CRAZY FAMILY. GIVE ME A WOMAN IN LABOR AND HER HUSBAND EVERYTIME AND LEAVE THE WAITING FAMILY IN THE PARKING LOT. I WON'T GO INTO IT, IT WOULD TAKE THREE YEARS. I MAY DECIDE TO START PACKING LATER TODAY OR AT LEAST GET OUT THE CLOTHES I PLAN ON TAKING W/ ME. MY SISTER AND I, ALONG W/ FOUR CO-WORKERS AND TWO OF THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS ARE LEAVING FOR SEATTLE WA. NEXT THUR. FOR A SEVEN DAY CRUISE TO ALSAKA. CAN'T WAIT, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMMING. WE ACTUALLY BOOKED IT LAST JUNE. THE REASON FOR STARTING TO PACK NOW IS THAT I'LL BE WORKING NEXT SUN, MON AND TUES. SO THAT WOULD ONLY GIVE ME ONE DAY (WED) TO PACK BEFORE HEADING OUT. WELL, HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT DAY AND A FABULOUS WEEKEND IF I DON'T POST AFTER THIS. DONNA, SFY

Congrats on all the wow moments. What a great day that must have been. You must be so excited about how much your life has changed in the past year. You have come so far. I can't even pretend to know how you felt before the weight loss and now how you must feel after. You have got to be so proud of yourself. No wonder you have that silly grin on your face. Keep on grinning like that. Keep up the great work. Hugs, Tabby

Dear Patty: What an awful evening!!!! I am sorry to hear about your horrible eveing, but VERY glad to hear that things are brighter today. I hope you enjoy your "mini-break" and come back all refreshed. I also hope your project is finished soon.....I can SOOOO relate. I vote we all get jobs like Tabby.......where do we sign?