Do you get sick of showering and brushing your teeth?

I have to admit, when I read the title of your post I expected something very different, but still pertinent to many of us. When I'm on-plan, which I have been every day since weeks before surgery, there are days when I feel like I reek of ketones. REEK of ketones. This chemical product of fat-burning fuels our bodies and our brains and lets us know we are in a metabolic groove, but ketosis can give you halitosis from hell! Everything that exits my body screams "ketosis!", and that's just fine with me. Which explains all the showering and tooth-brushing in my life, and my mis-interpretation of the title of this post. I was in college during the first iteration of Atkins back in the 70's--my dorm did an "Atkins for a week" program, and we lost over 800 pounds. Of course, there were nearly 500 women signed up. I personally lost 9#, so someone must have been sneaking out for pizza and didn't lose her share.

Anyway, I'm glad most people here have their heads screwed on straight today and picked up your message without automatically thinking of BO and bad breath! This is a very insightful message; thanks for sharing it with us. I understand why our VSG vets keep retuning to this forum. There's always something new to learn, and it helps keep you honest and not complacent.

I knew, when I started this journey, almost 2 years ago, that it was for life.  During the 6 months leading up to my surgery, I went through a process of getting into a routine and a mindset that would sustain me over the long term.  Having 85% of a healthy organ removed was a drastic step, and I knew that there was no place left to go after that.   Mom, you are so right that we have to look at what we need to do to maintain weight loss as part of a daily routine.  Weighing myself every day, after my shower, is now second nature, just as brushing my teeth, taking my vitamins, getting dressed, etc. are.  Eating a certain way has also become part of my routine, so it no longer feels like I'm doing something special - it's just what I do.

So easy to forget this early on, when the weight is coming off without as much effort.  But as you daily walk this journey, you realize it is about renewing your mind daily and committing to a life of taking care of this miraculous body God gave us.  Each battle won is a victory.  So plan a victory every day.  Plan to win every day.  Some days you may not have total success, but at the end of the day look and count one victory or find a way to have a victory the next day.  Choice by choice, victory by victory, habit by habit, we can reach our goal.  It is never too late to renew our mind.  

Thanks for posting!

I am rethinking my habit of not writing everything down as I should.  If I want this, I have to be honest with myself first and that means keeping an honest food journal, even if I go over in calories.  Lying to myself, where has that got me in the past?  That's right, it took me down a road of self loathing and drowning myself in food and telling myself I could have nothing different.  Well, freedom has come and it tastes sweeter than anything I will ever put in my mouth.  If I do not want to track it, I should not eat it.  :O)

I use a smartphone app, which makes it easier. A little trick that's worked for me is to always log it before I eat it. That tiny minute to reconsider has saved me many a time.

I am totally old school and write it down.  I do not have a smart phone or internet at home.  I will see what I can download for my itouch, but the last time I tried it was too old of a version and the app required web access to use.  Will keep looking.  Thanks for the tip.

 

I use a resident program called Nutribase (dietsoftware.com, and they can send you a disc!) that we found when my wife and I started this journey 9-10 years ago and the online programs of the day like Fitday didn't satisfy our needs. Nutribase is a slightly lightened version of software that is marketed to professional dieticians (lightened mainly by not being able to handle many clients) but has the full complement of nutritional info from USDA and Canadian gov sources as well as a lot of commercial and restaurant data. It's worth a look if you want to step up from old school pencil & paper to middle school PC based but don't want to, or can't use, a web based system.

Thanks for the idea.  More than anything, I just need to make writing things down a habit.  Takes just seconds, I just decide not to do it at times.  Enjoy your day!