Hi there Mic, Congrats on all your good work. I have found (and this is only me) that if I get TOO compulsive I'll crash and burn. I am trying to find a comfortable way of life where I can relax in my relationship with food and live a healthy lifestyle. The gift now is that the restriction keeps my appetite low and portions small...particular if I keep carbs below 40 a day as recommended by my docs and stay away from white carbs entirely. I have also been having fun with exercise. Re sugar alcohols...my docs say in their manual " Sugar alchohols are slightly better than sugar as they will cause less of a spike in your blood sugar, but they are still calories you absorb. The manufacturers try to claim they do not count, but they do." Try and find balance and moderation...I think it will serve you well in the long run. I am single and live alone too...if you need a friend, give a holler. Jo

Michelle, You sound like you want honest responses - so in response to that here goes. I say this with love... I have rewritten this a 100 times and don't want to sound harsh but want you to think about a couple of things...and remember this is coming from one who is travelling the same road as you....and dealing with the same issues.....so I say this also to myself as much as I do to you. I understand you have the time to be this obsessive about your intake... but do you really want to be????.... It seems to me that you have traded one kind of obsession for another... .instead of eating all the time or way too much.... you are spending that time planning, eating, recording, analyzing....you are still spending an enormous amount of time and energy around food.... The other statements you make that really conern me are 1. ....."I want to be finished with this and start my life" - what will be so different when you reach goal? This sounds like a set-up situation to me.....there are two possible outcomes that scare me about this. What if you never reach that "goal"???? Most weight loss surgery patients lose about 50 - 75% of their excess weight (notice losing 100% and maintaining that loss is the exception, not the rule). What if you DO reach goal??? What will have changed in your life that suddenly you will be able to start a life. I have worked 3rd shift before and as a single person - that in itself is very, very isolating....My fear is that you will wake up with or without reaching goal and realize that nothing much has changed except the numbers on a scale??!!!! 2. ......."then later I can learn social eating behaviors". Your life is happening now.... why not start learning those behaviors now when you are still in weight loss mode and the consequences are a little less since you aren't absorbing as much as you will soon... I think that is one of the goals of surgery that you learn during this phase so that you have well established habits when you enter "maintenance" phase. I know for me that deprivation or diets do end one day and usually with a massive binge... I applaud you for your efforts and your diligence - but don't let your life slip away while you pursue some arbitrary "goal". My doctor kindly pointed out to me that one of his most successful patients...lost the weight, had made goal, and wa**** by a truck.... she comes up in his statistics, but her death, although tragic, had nothing to do with WLS. If she had waited to live her life joyfully ..... how sad would that be.... Holding you in my heart and in my prayers... B

WOW, I still only eat about 4oz-5oz of food 3x a day and drink two protein drinks (about 15g protein each) each day. Sometimes I have a snack as well usually cheese or sun flower seeds. I usually get no more than a bite or two of veggies/fruit but do usually eat 4oz of protein each meal. Lise 11/29/04 409/281/180

Stellar Andrea!!!!!! I am so happy for you! Pam 304/226/155 November 11

Hi Heather - Boy you've had a rough do of things - I'm sorry to hear this... I think I was luckier - had really no problems (knock wood) except the psychological issues - eating too much, too fast or the wrong food. You're weight loss has progressed really fast. maybe because of the very small amount you're able to eat. I wish I had good advice for you - but I don't my good thoughts are with you however if that's helpful... I agree with Sphinxy - we don't get the psych help we need - this is a HUGE change & for all of our advance study & understanding of the issues - until you live it - it's hard to know exactly what you'll experience. Again, my good thoughts are with you