AMAW/CAMAW final thoughts

Happy Sunday my fellow meat eaters! I wanted to post today to let anyone who does a weigh in on Saturday or Sunday to post your AMAW week results here, or anyone who missed posting on Friday can post here.

Also wanted to post my final thoughts and please feel free to share with us anything that you loved, hated or had any "aha" moments.

I will be crowning a Meat King & Queen, give me a few days to tally up all the results and posts, this was a busy AMAW and I need a few days LOL, and that post will be big so be prepared to read a long post!

NOTE: for the next AMAW we are going to do it for a FULL 7 days, I think this will be a huge challenge for a lot of people as on the weekends we all tend to have "no plans" or routine so eating is all over the place. I am thinking we do it in September after Summer is over and we all need to get a few lbs off.

MC (Meat Coordinator) final thoughts:

I am a creature of habit and routine. I have no problem eating the same thing day in and day out. I pretty much eat CAMAW 99% of the time but I do eat veggies with lunch & dinner and I did miss my bell peppers and recently I have been adding in fresh raspberries to my yogurt in the evening and I missed that as well, but do feel eating this way for 5 days was pretty easy. Even when we are not doing an AMAW week I plan all my meals & snacks the night before because for me if I don't have a plan or a routine then is chaos for me. I feel out of control and that gives me anxiety.

I got MO because I just ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, I had no self control, my portions were massive and I had (still do have) a major sweet tooth and eating a birthday cake for dinner was a regular occurrence pre surgery. I need to have control over my eating and that is why weighing, measuring, making my food for the day the night before and posting on the "What's on your menu today RNYers" is so important to me and I feel a huge part of my success. I am sure that many of you could care less that I eat tuna every day for lunch but I need to be accountable to me and by posting on the menu thread it makes me feel like I have a plan and I stick to it.

I love how AMAW weeks brings the OH people together. I love the support, the new food ideas, the camaraderie and sense of community this brings. I love that some people feel ready to post and introduce themselves after months of "lurking." I love that I get to know a lot of you better and get to know some new people!

Some people lost weight on this challenge and that is amazing! Some of you didn't but even if you didn't lose weight you got to reset and "get back to basics," you met knew people, you discovered something about yourself that was not easy to recognize until you joined the challenge and that is also amazing!

I also had an "aha" moment. On Thursday evening (day 4) I had no plans, I was tired, bored and had a headache. It was around 7pm and my husband brought out a bag of Doritos and I legit almost rolled him for the bag. I was so "hungry," but I actually wasn't hungry. I had just had 4.5 oz of chicken breast and was not hungry, it was total head hunger, I was feeling emotional and my immediate first thought was "I need those Doritos." I got up, made a decaf coffee with vanilla PP and white knuckled through it but man it was so eye opening because I was not hungry! Head hunger is real and its a fight everyday for me at 3.7 years out.

A lot of you had a stressful busy week with things happening in your lives that don't normally occur yet you stuck to your AMAW/CAMAW menu, that is incredible and I am so proud of you!! It must have proven to yourself that you CAN stop the eating off plan when you get stressed or emotional, its hard but its totally doable!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who posted menus, posted pics of your food, supported your fellow challengers and joined in this week, I am in awe of you all, so THANK YOU!

So tell me your thoughts!

Keep up the great work!! Stay Meaty!

MC Daisy

( I lost 4.5 lbs doing CAMAW when I weighed in on Saturday AM)

Thank you again Master Meat Coordinator Daisy!! This is a big and time consuming endeavor !!

My biggest ah-ha was the BLT during meal prep for my family. I really had no idea... I enjoyed seeing what was on the menu for everyone, and got some good ideas. I, too, have no problem eating the same thing for days. I did have a VERY stressful Friday, got lost going to my Dr's. new office. The navigation system said there was no road by that name in the town. My cell phone died right before I took the exit, why my charger in the car wasn't working is another story. Oh the tears were flowing. By the time I found the doctor he thought I was having an allergic reaction my eyes we so swollen. I can laugh now!! NO STRESS EATING!!!

Mt weight started at 227.4, jumped to 228 and landed at 224!! With what I learned I think my losses will be picking up!!

Edited for spelling

Great job!

Congrats!

Thanks Daisy for your leadership through this past week. It was a good experience for me even though I ate mostly CAMAW anyway. I did miss the few veggies that I've been adding in though, so I am glad to be back to those.

I didn't have much weight loss during the week, but I woke up to a drop on Saturday morning for a total of 2.8 pounds over the week. Not bad.

I look forward to the next AMAW week and will debate about whether to go AMAW rather than CAMAW next time.

Thanks to all of you who participated!

2.8 is great!

Downward trend in the scale is always a win!!

Any loss is great! Congrats!

CAMAWer here...15 year post op...

Most of you know I am not a RNY poster child. I jacked around, gaining 70+ pounds, before ever reaching goal, then finally hitting "the number", at 9 YEARS post op. While I am not particularly PROUD of the delay, I DO believe it makes me a better "mentor", in paying it forward, for others, when they struggle, and especially for spotting Trolls, and BS, a mile away ("I only eat air! WHY can't I lose weight?!?)...I still struggle...Sometimes I gain...But now I try to stay CONNECTED, and don't let it get away from me...This past week, I got SUPER-CONNECTED !!!!

In my "normal life" I consume 900-1200 calories/day, and maintain fairly well, as long as I exercise/drink my water/etc. In doing CAMAW, I recognized I had been eating more FRUITS, than I was being honest, with myself, about. Fruits are HEALTHY, right????? 12 Grapes is a serving---not a POUND bag--Truth hurts...I missed my veggies, but I honestly only ate the GREEN ones, not the starchy ones, so fruits were really the MAJOR thing I need to concentrate on, going forward...

I really, really, really enjoyed reading ALL the posts, and seeing all the PICTURES!!!! I got so many awesome ideas. It's hard for me to get out of my "food comfort zone" - and- it won't happen all in one day - or all in one week - but I WILL try new things !!!

Okay...in ADDITIONAL news:

With measuring B-W-H: I lost 4 inches (under the skin flaps--that counts-right?!?!?)

Weight: 152 lbs !!!! I lost freakin" EIGHT LBS !! At 15 years out, and nearly 60 years old...and I drank coffee...with CREAMER I seriously remember weighing 150 in the 6th grade...when the other girls weighed 95, and gym glass was such a horrible experience...152 is so surreal...I would have taken a picture of the scale, but I am in serious need of a Pedi. Yes, I realize I will have some bounce up gain, when I reintroduce fruit and veggies, but I'm NOT going to be eating POUNDS of grapes now, so I'm planning to STAY in the 150s

DAISY---Thank YOU..a million times, over

Love your honesty! Thank you!