What's on your Menu today (Wednesday) RNYers?

Hi Daisy and menu crew,

Daisy, what an interesting QOTD!  I didn't have a crying breakdown, but getting to maintenance for me was a mindful*k.  I had been chasing this goal for a year - being super hardcore and eating low carb, exercising, weighing, following the rules.  When I reached that "goal" (my arbitrary goal weight of 160) I was sort of like, so what now?  What do I do now?  And I realized that reaching goal is not a milestone.  I realized that I am not cured.  I can never say "100 lbs gone forever!".  Maintenance is just a continuation of the things you do during the honeymoon phase, but HARDER.  It's not like, "Oh I am 160 so let's have pizza, let's have ice cream, let's graze".  It's a daily slog of making good choices, turning down unhealthy options, and remaining vigilant.  I think I had thought of maintenance as this point in time, and it was honestly just another Tuesday (or whatever) and nothing changed after that.  

I don't say this to be a downer, I just say this because I know I was somewhat uninformed about what "reaching goal" was.  It was just like any other day.

On a more positive note, it's going to be in the 70s today and tomorrow, which is a-ok with me in November!  Eats for the day:

Time since surgery: 3 years next month

B: Egg salad on wheat crackers

L: Leftover Hawaiian chicken (didn't love it, but I think that's my fault)

D: Apple chicken sausage, sweet potato fries, green salad

E: Elliptical for an hour at the gym

Have a great day, all!

It's not November. It can't be November. Stop saying that.

Your answer about maintenance couldn't resonate with me more. Even though I'm done "losing" I'm not done with the fight. Every day there are choices, and every day it gets easier to eat one extra bite or try one new thing. I'm not cured and I never will be, but it's tempting to think that I don't have to be as vigilant now, even though reality is that I probably need to be more vigilant...

Thanks for posting this. I think it's probably important for me to read...I've been struggling this week with choices and your post makes me realize that even when I do get to 'goal'--it's just another day of doing more of the same. Cannot ever quit.

Emily I think you and I should be partners in the menu board, you have such amazing answers!!!!!  Everything your wrote I am at my desk nodding "yes, yes, yes!!"  Chasing that goal, we went so hardcore and were so "good" eating our tuna & egg salad everyday LOL LOL!! Your line Em of "reaching that milestone was great but also very anticlimactic because "now what' oh right I am still not effing cured of wanting to eat the world!!  Maintenance is just a continuation of everything we learned and did to get to goal.  All I gotta say is awesome answer, thanks for putting that out there for all of us and the newbies!

Yay for egg salad on crackers!  Have a great evening!

QOTD:  I can be sort of a control freak when it comes to my food and vitamin intake (especially now when so much of my life seems out of my control - my eating and vitamin intake is the one thing I can control..), but I've been noticing myself starting to go down some roads the last couple of days that I do not want to go down.  For example, yesterday I had a frozen protein pumpkin pop when I got home from work, a homemade "skinny" latte around 9:00 pm, and then I ate ten sugar free Werther's while lying in bed coloring.  Seriously?   Any one of those treats would have been OK (except maybe eating candy in bed.  SF hard candy isn't a bad choice if you're going to eat candy anyway as an occasional treat - but 10 of them?  And in bed?  Horrors!).  Anyway, one of the treats would have been acceptable, but not all three.  Calorie total for the day wasn't horrendous, but it was over my limit (I had slightly over 1300.  1200 is my limit).  If I would have had only one of the treats (pumpkin pop, latte, or SF Werther's), I would have been under my limit.  Today I feel fat and bloated and my weight was up to 160 from 158.8.  Probably sodium or intestinal contents, but I'm blaming it on the treats so I won't do it again!!

17 months out

B:  L&F vanilla yogurt with added protein powder, 1 T flax seed, 1 T Kashi Crunch granola, 10 raspberries

S:  coffee with half & half, protein shake

L:  1 C chili, baby carrots

D:  going to Outback for my niece's birthday.  Will order either fish or chicken tacos and just eat the innards, or the grilled chicken breast with vegetables

probably another Greek yogurt or protein pumpkin pop

Hello Everyone,

QOTD: I'm too new with all of this so I haven't gotten there but I'm certain at some point I will. 

B: L&F yogurt, chamomile mint tea, benefiber

L: Tuna with Balsamic 

D: chicken tender with salsa 

S: proti shake, 2oz shrimp, baybel cheese

calories: 491, protein 83, carb 25, fat 10

QOTD. Good question DD2. Diet fatigue is for real. I think most people hit that wall at around one year postop. It is really hard focusing and bearing down so hard for longer than that.

I think that year is what some call the "honeymoon period." Everything goes smoothly, everything seems easy. And then it gets really hard. For those new folks who think it's easy, enjoy it while you can. It won't last.

Diet fatigue, honeymoon period, or whatever we want to call it is another reason why it's important to lose as much as you can before surgery. It's like a free extension on that magic year. Surgery day flips a switch and starts the clock running on our "free" year. We can prolong it by getting an early start.

Stop saying that.  My honeymoon is sure to last forever.  I think I had a different surgery, anyways... the kind that does not require work.

Oh, that's good. As long as you paid extra for the extended warranty, you'll be fine

You did buy the extended warranty, right?