Happy Tuesday ** WEIGH IN

Good morning, I thought I would go ahead and get us started. Question for today: How was Thanksgiving? This time last year, we HAD NOT had surgery. What did you do differently this year now that you have had WLS? What surprised you? Any WOW moments for Thanksgiving week? How was your eating? My answers: Thanksgiving was wonderful, spent time with my family. What I did differently was wear TIGHT JEANS to Thanksgiving dinner. I knew I could not get FULL and need to unbutton my jeans so I didnt bother. I was surprised by the amount of food that I wanted this year but my eyes were tricking me, no way could I eat even half of what I thought I wanted. I could not eat a full plate of anything, was not able to sample all the casseroles and that was major for me. It felt good though to not WANT to eat all of that and not WANT to eat multiple times throughout the day. I ate my normal 3 meals for that day and was done. Now, to the weigh in: HW: 241 SW: 233.6 LW: 137.8 CW: 137.4 I lost .4 pounds this week which is really good considering I didnt workout all week and we had an eating holiday. I didnt get back on track with my workouts but plan to next week. This week is still real busy for me with school and working late so I have to sacrifice that. I plan to get back in the gym next week and drag my formerly skinny husband in with me, thats our plan for the new year. Good luck to everyone and have a great week! Angela

Good Morning Beautiful Angela!!! Happy Tuesday Weigh In! I love love love the idea of wearing some "tighter" clothes to dinner to keep you from overstuffing! That is a very unique and thought out planned way to avoid temptation to overindulge! You should be so proud of yourself! Congrats on your accomplishment! Life sure has changed, no belly up post eating turkeys this year eh? I loved that! Thanksgiving was wonderful for me this year. I was able to still eat all my favorites but used lowfat options or splenda in place of sugar. I still had a good amount of white turkey with some salad (mixed with mayo/splenda), and when everyone else was eating sweet potatoes, I nuked my own and put SF cinnamon syrup on mine and had only a few bites. Few bits of green bean cassarole made with low fat soup/milk. Later I enjoyed eating my pumpkin protein pies while everyone else indulged in all the desserts.. I was so happy NOT to feel deprived. It was such a "freedom" for me. I think I ate 1100 calories that day.. that is such a triumph for me.. a complete VICTORY! Last year I was on a clear liquid diet preparing for surgery so I actually had to work also.. So really I didn't have an actual thanksgiving on the day of but I did go home early before thanksgiving and my mom prepared thanksgiving dinner as my "last meal". Well being that I was already on the weight loss path, I had one helping of everything and we shut down the kitchen and I never returned for seconds.. my mom said later that night to me (and I will never forget it). "You aren't even gonna have seconds before you start your clear liquid diet tomorrow morning?" I said "Nope, why? I am not hungry and its just more calories I don't need.. Mom I am so ready to start my life over." She said "You sure are." On with the stats.. I had an good week but battling a bit of a cold now. HW: 328 SW: 280 LW: 139 CW:136.2 Everyone stay focused and keep your eye on the PRIZE! You can do it, start preplanning your Christmas dinners/celebrations to PLAN for success!! WE did good of Thanksgiving and now we just have to get through Christmas! *Hugs*

Hi, Glad your Thanksgiving was a good one. Bummer that you have a cold but it will pass soon enough. My mother in law is really beginning to get the menu to be healthy, different from years past. She made 1 pie!! 1 pie!!! I was glad later on because I was planning to "sample" some sweets for the holiday. I didnt get a chance to. What I did do, is make your 5 minute fudge. It turned out wonderful but I had to take it to work on Monday to get it out of my house. I would have eaten the whole pan 2 pieces at a time (I can only eat 2 pieces--really 1 piece because 2 pieces makes me feel warm and sweaty and causes my heart to race). I also made the sugar free pecan pie that I got from the Texas board. My mom, who is diabetic and watches her sugar intake, thought it was very good. I took it to work on Saturday and my coworkers enjoyed it too. I think more people would have eaten it if I hadnt told them it was SF. Oh well, such as life. I know what you mean about "life changing". It was so refreshing to be comfortable all day instead of miserable. Now, if I can just catch up on my sleep..... Angela

Hi Angela! The numbers before I forget: HW: 268 SW: 230 LW: 133 CW: 131 This is a personal record for me...never in my ENTIRE LIFE have I lost weight after Thanksgiving. I LOVE my wls!!!! The whole Thanksgiving week last week was dreadfully stressful and I was so afraid of a gain going into it but I did plan out my eating and did very well. To me, Thanksgiving boils down to the turkey, the potatoes/stuffing and desserts. Since I no longer eat potatoes and bread my plan was to mostly go for the turkey and desserts. Was pretty successful too...I only ate one tsp. each of the no-no's and it was mostly to please my sister who had made them. And I enjoyed each taste, too! My desserts...mmmm baby, let me tell you I never knew I'd ever enjoy sugar free treats so much. Wow, they made me happy. The one huge culinary disappointment? Alcohol free wine (Fre brand). It was so not worth the calories that I didn't have more than two sips of it. Oh well, now I can say I have tried it and won't be having it again. Last year's Thanksgiving was an eating fest and the cap of a whole autumn's worth of 'saying goodbye' to my formerly favorite foods. This year I wore a dress and I can't even remember the last time I wore a dress on Thanksgiving or any other day for that matter. Like your tight jeans, this one helped me remember to eat well because it was clingy and I didn't have my faux spanx on either. Sure didn't want that belly flab to fill up and pooch out. I'll eventually get around to getting the pictures on my profile. Have a great week! Molly

Hey Molly, Thanks for your post! You are passing me up on the weight loss. I am happy for you, you deserve it! I made a sugar free pecan pie and it was really good. I also made the recipe that Melissa posted for the 5 minute fudge--it WAS NOT sugar free and was dangerous. I had to get it out of the house. I cant have those trigger foods laying around because I might try them. The fudge really makes my heart race and makes me sweaty so I shouldnt have a problem saying no to it. Last year at Thanksgiving, i didnt realize that I would be having surgery so soon, I really didnt expect to have it until after the holidays--in January sometime but thats not how it worked out. I'm so proud of our group and how well we did for the holidays. Have a great week, I'm looking forward to your 1 year post in a week or so. Angela

Hey Angela...I think next week's question should be what are we all planning to do on our surgiversaries. It will be our first December weigh in for the 'big month' for all of us and we should begin planning. Like you, I'm really looking forward to reading all our various posts about the one year mark. Your new avvie is so beautiful...you look like a model!!! Your Thanksgiving sounds so great, I'm happy to read that food just wasn't so important. The food was a fun part for me but it was more about enjoying the preparation and serving it to family than eating it. (Except for the desserts...I'll be honest there!) Was your pecan pie the famous Susan Maria one? I made it this year with that Steel's syrup and didn't bake it long enough. So embarrassing but another trip in the oven fixed it right up and was it ever delicious. However, if I make it again I'll do it in my silicone baking cups so that I can avoid the crust. That stuff is hard not to eat! For Christmas I'm going to make Melissa's protein fudge balls instead of my usual fudge. I'll prob. make a batch of my usual cheater fudge (the condensed milk and chocolate chip thing) for the family but for sure without me eating it one batch will be all that is needed instead of the three or four we used to go through. ::shaking head:: Molly

Hey Angela and Gang Well Thanksgiving was good for me too. I put a little bit of everything on a plate and ate part of it for lunch then covered it up til dinner then ate a little more and at the end of dinner I still had some left over. So one plate of food lasted me all day. Now last year at Thanksgiving was surely a different story as it was my last holiday before surgery. I ate alllllllllllll day long. HW: 340 SW: 330 LW: 205 CW: 204 I lost one pound which suprised me cause I ate a bite or two of the fattning things too. Take Care and have a wonderful week Mini Me

Wow! Mini Me!!! You are Soooo close to Onederland! Go for it!!! Ro Thanksgiving Eats were in moderation and yummy. Instead of a crescent roll, I ate 1/2 cornbread muffin with butter. My favorite food was roasted winter squash and veggies. I served FF Heinz turkey gravy to the guys. They did not complain, but didn't empty the bowl either. I tried a bite of pumpkin pie, but it was just OK (seemed overly spiced). I mentioned in an earlier thread that I over-indulged with Extra Sharp Cheddar, but now I am just fine with it. So glad that we are all on the same page about "family" over "food"! I am looking forward to the rest of the Holiday Fun!!! Ro

Hi Ro, Ok, so the scale has not been friendly this week! I understand. I had to take a fluid pill this week because of all the sodium that I had. I think I have gotten rid of it but its a bummer to have the scale "show out" on you. You seem to have done well over the holidays with the modifications. I know you are proud of yourself, even if the scales are being temperamental. I look forward to your 1 year surgi-versary in the next few weeks. Have a great week. Angela

Hi Mini Me, That is a great idea to keep the same plate. I didnt do that this year but will try it for Christmas. I really got tired of the food long before I expected to. Even when I went back and fixed more food, it didnt feel good sitting there so I really didnt eat a whole lot of food, but I did eat about 3 times that day. You are so close to ONEderland I know you can't wait. Last year, I knew I was having surgery but had no idea it would be 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. So my Thanksgiving meal was not my "last meal", although I did eat a lot. I look forward to seeing all of your 1 year anniversary posts within the next couple of weeks. Have a great week. Angela