What's on your Sunday menu RNYers

Another brisk day in Illinois--27 whopping degrees when Lily and I got our coats on and walked. We got our 3.6 miles done though and will do another mile after supper. QOTD I started my journey at 273 and set an initial goal of 160 which seemed impossible after a lifetime of obesity. When I blew past it I wanted to be 145 which was the top range for a normal bmi. My dietitian said it was unattainable that obese people rarely reach a normal bmi. That was all I needed to hear. Before I knew it I was there and still losing. My rheumatologist suggested I go as low in the normal range as I could to make life easier on my joints. I lost down to 118 to 120 range which is near the bottom of a normal bmi(117). Accountabillity was good yesterday. Post op 5 years 2 months and weight at 118.2 today. Heres the food for maintenance today B 1/2 c steel cut oats with protein and peanut butter added L 1 c chili D 4 oz strip steak 1/2 c green beans S sm apple with 1 T peanut butter. Have a great day everybody. Got to get readynfor church now.

Good morning. It is cold here. Someone kick me out of bed please so I can get to the Gym. Seriously winter in October can we finally admit that the Mayans were right but just off by a few years! It is the movie 2012. Hurricanes tornadoes rains floods fires earthquakes a president with a Twitter account. Help!

i was digging around to see what I had warm last night. I put on a winter coat I bought in 2002 at my adult low point of weight. During my marathon period. It is artic rated and XL. So it is expensive, thus boxed vs donated over the years. My wife walks in from taking the dogs out. I am sitting on couch wearing the jacket. She almost wet herself. I was wearing a 7x last winter. Damn!

My big goal is to walk my dogs - 3 now - on a long outing. I could not walk a block last year. I am up to a mile now. I am really happy as I approach goal. 50 away.

B yogurt with a half portion of protein pancake

L cheese and lunch meat turkey

D left over chicken and sausage from a tiny Italian bistro last night. Wine sauce made light.

S syntrax strawberry kiwi and popsicles

Hello all... I'm back.... I have missed you all! I have been a little MIA the past week or so work has been really busy and life life has been crazy as well. However, I am going try my best to look forward and not back. This next week is busy as well but tomorrow hubby and I are heading to Boston to go to the Celtics game and to say I am looking forward to it is an under statement! Today however I need to finish wrapping Emily's birthday presents and packing up her package so I can ship it out tomorrow.

QOTD: When I started I weighed 380 pounds and currently I am below what my doctor predicted I should be and I am still losing. My goal is to have my BMI at a normal weight but I guess even if I stopped losing right now I would not be unhappy because I could live with the weight I am now and not be unhappy. But you know Erin I agree with you about just being a person in the room. I find that when I'm in a room now I don't look around and see if I'm the largest person in the room now like I used to do and I just sit in a chair I don't worry about am I going to fit. I love the energy and stamina I have now. For example hubby and I have been talking about where we are gong to eat dinner tomorrow night before the basket ball game. A couple of years ago when we went to the game we just picked the place closest to the venue because I could not walk far now that is not a factor for us.

Food for the day:

B: Coffee w/premier and sausage

L: prime rib

D: sausage w/peppers and onions

Have a great day!

Good morning everyone, happy Sunday!

Karen, I'm so glad that Blossom is ok! Poor girl, how scary! I hope her labs will confirm that all is well, too.

QOTD: At 4.5 months post-op, I am 85 lbs. down (as of yesterday - I stopped weighing myself every day as it seemed to make me more frustrated than weighing every few days. Once I'm in maintenance I will weigh daily). In general, I feel better. Movement is easier, walking, getting up and down, my knees aren't quite as tormented, etc. And when I make an effort with a little makeup, my hair, etc. I am beginning to recognize my face in the mirror once again, which feels really good.

When I met (at 353 pounds) with my surgeon, he told me that he could get me to under 200 lbs. I told him I was thinking of getting down to under 150. He told me that to do that, I would have to do everything right. He didn't discourage me, which I appreciated, but just emphasized the need to follow protocol on an ongoing basis. Now I honestly don't know how low i will go, I guess I will see. For many good reasons I would like to get down to 137-142. I weighed in that range for a long time (I am 5'8.5") though I weighed in the low 120s for a stretch as well when in my early 20s. Basically I would like to weigh as low as I can go but I don't want my face to look too stressed and drawn. I am 64 which is facial challenge enough, so I hope to avoid that. It may be unavoidable without surgery. So I guess I will see!

I have been struggling with food. I have been trying to leave the soft deli meats i had been relying on (along with all of their nitrates, sodium, etc.) behind, and have been cooking fish, chicken, etc. But I am finding these very hard to eat without discomfort or even pain. Last night I ate only about an ounce of chicken thigh since I had had a tough day discomfort-wise and didn't want to overload my system. Though I chewed well and took my time, that ounce sat in my stomach for hours, sending up distress signals. I finally fell asleep, still hurting. I couldn't drink without making things worse. This morning I woke up very thirsty and had a few sips of water, which triggered the foamies, and then I threw up - many hours after dinner! Anyway, today I will stick to yogurt, cottage cheese, SF jello, maybe some soup, etc. I am tired of the soreness. I hope that soon I will be able to eat more meat, poultry and fish without pain. On the other hand, I take this as a sign that I have a good tight pouch!

first: Protein Drink

B: Yogurt

L: Soup w a little chicken soup flavored protein powder

D: Cottage Cheese

Hope everyone has a sweet day today!

Do you use any sort of gravy or sauce with your meat? I always have no sugar added BBQ sauce or mayonnaise or gravy with meat as I will get discomfort if the meat is too dry. The small amount used is negligible calories but allows me to enjoy my protein.

Hi Karen,

No, I havent been adding those things, only a little lemon juice with the fish, which didn't much help. I am going to order some SF/no-cal items today - mayo, BBQ sauce, ketchup. It makes sense that these would help. I am tired of feeling sore! Thanks for the sensible tip!

Happy Sunday everyone~ Today we are taking the pups to the dogs park, going out for breakfast and watch football, then home to watch more football and get ready for the week and relax.

QOTD - After seeing what is poossible on here I did get caught up in what is possible, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I've adjusted and readjusted my goals along the way. It has been one ideal number or another for many different reasons. I think everyone should choose for them selves where they are happy. I gave up on a normal BMI recently. I'm pushing 50 and feel that I will look and feel better at a higher weight. I also do not have any health issues to consider so unless I do, overweight is fine with me. I don't need to be a certain size, just comfortable. I think the thing I have loved the most about losing is how much simpler life is, fitting everywhere,not standing out, feeling wonderful andhealthy - but most recently -is being able to wear anything I want any style, cut or fit. At 300+ I would change my clothes 10 times before choosing an outfit because it didn't look or feel right. Now everything looks and feels right. I love it.

Accountabliity - ate more calories than I planned - lots of veggies and there was a cracker and a couple cheetos...

11 mo post op - 168.7 figures

b-coffee w/hc, SB grande triple shot latte w/splenda

brunch-eggs and bacon

dinner - chicken

v/l on track

Have a great day everyone!!

QOTD: I am only a month out but I have hit 2 mini goals, -11lbs (11 is actually passing 10 so I set that) and I am officially the weight I was when DH and I were married. I have 5 more mini goals through the process: -21lbs; 199lbs; the halfway to my 'goal weight'; 180lbs which was the lowest stable weight (i.e. non Bernstein low weight which spiked right after goal); 149lb for another 50lb mark.

Accountability: I had my first meal not prepared by me since surgery yesterday. My brother and SIL were sweet and tried to do hamburgers since I could have one without the bun. That would have been fine and I could have made it work under my targets for Cal and Carbs but I also gave in on both 2hour drives and had a tall skinny decaf vanilla latte both ways. The scale didn't move, which I was worried it would go up. Back on track today.

Officially 1 month post-op

B: 1 scrambled egg with cheese

L: 1/2 can tuna and 1 tbsp mayo

D: ricotta bake (with ground beef). My husband saw the recipe and wants to have it. It will actually be our first time preparing one meal for both of us since surgery.

S: Babybel

Cal: 748 Carb: 12g, Fat: 49g, Protein: 65g

Afternoon everyone! Rainy day here in the Norheast. I ran indoors (Boo!). But I got to test out my new Apple AirPods - love'em! I bought little arrangement so they hook around my ear. I've was antsy about buying them initially since I feared losing one on a run. No real plans today- I really need to clean the bathroom. My laundry is done.

Qotd: thanks everyone for the thoughts on my post yesterday. I feel really good about things. I went back and looked at some notes I wrote a few weeks prior to surgery, I had called it my 'skinny list', copy and pasted below:

To lose weight
To not be out of breath climbing stairs.
To eliminate back pain caused by stomach
To not develop diabetes
Resolve overactive bladder

Shop in the regular section of a sore!
Not worry about the size of airplane seats or crowded trains.
Walk up steps without being winded.

So I met every goal I wrote out back then, and some I couldn't even imagine at the time!

196.5 today, 2.6 Years out

m1: 1 egg, 5 turkey sausage links and 1 butt-end piece of french toast.

M2: Greek yogurt, berries with granola or cheeerios

m3: likely lunch meat roll, I kind of want salad but was too lazy to circle back to produce to buy lettuce

m4: roast pork tenderloin and mashed sweet potato

Seeing sweet potato in your dinner reminded me I haven't had sweet potato in FOREVER. Next shopping trip that's on the top of the list!