Whatcha Eating Today VSGers? Thursday August 30, 2018

THANK YOU all for the Anniversay wishes. I love my OH family! We had a great evening:

It is hot here again too, but it is difficult to determine if it will be a beach day or a rainy one. Maybe we will go for a while, then I'll start packing this afternoon?

QOTD: What sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics? You can make one up if you want! I?m not really at a point in my life where I could do that, but if I could have trained and become good at something I would have liked to have been a competitive swimmer I think. I also love ice skating, but I?m not sure I could deal with all the pomp around it (the music, choreographing, costumes, etc.).

Back to reality with my meal plan:

2 Years, 5 months post-op (maintaining below goal for 21 months)

Always lots of coffee...

B: eggs, cottage cheese and Canadian bacon

L: tuna salad, pickles and cottage cheese

D: Leftover tuna sashimi

S: cottage cheese and/or ostrich meat stick

Beautiful picture, Liz. You look happy.

We have been home for 2 nights and heading back to the Rv today - hopefully the dew point will drop and it will be comfortable.

QOTD: Syncopated swimming!!!

B: hitting DD on the way back to camp - probably 1/2 a bagel with peanut butter (I won't see my son til Sunday so I can eat it, lol)

L: leftover Bianchi's pizza

D: steak or steak tips cooked outside - at the camp -food always tastes better out there, garden tomatoes

L/V: should be fine

E: we walk alot out there (dogs) so unless it stays hot, i should do okay for steps

Hi, Liz! Happy belated anniversary! You look wonderful, and you have a handsome husband, too.

The week is going by quickly and we are all getting back used to the non-Summer routine. I?m in a bit of a strange place with my VSG journey. While I?ve lost a bit of weight during the last week or so, I?ve been struggling finding time to consistently exercise. We have a few ?extra? things going on, but it?s still scratching at my brain that I?ve not had the pedal to the metal (ie, making the most of the ?honeymoon?). I?ve also been falling down on food planning. I need to spend more time prepping food for me, because if I don?t, I?m going to start eating like a raccoon.

Also. I hesitate to bring this up, because I can almost see the collective eye roll. But in the past week, I?ve gotten a lot of weight loss comment at work and I don?t like it. Thus far, it?s mostly people I like and am close to or have affinity with, so ok. But the thing is, I really don?t feel comfortable with knowing people notice my body. That means they noticed it all along. It?s like a spotlight that makes me feel all kinds of squirmy. Does that make sense? It?s probably because being fat 80% of my life has alienated me from my own body. Or maybe because it means these same people noticed me gain so much weight, too (yes, I need therapy). I like to be recognized for mental attributes and accomplishments--im not a shrinking violet. But body compliments..ick. I know some people love this and need this. I really don?t. But so far, the folks who have aid things are so sweet and well-meaning, I can?t follow my own gameplan (which was to tell them thanks, but please no body talk). Anyway, thank you for letting me share my neurosis.

QOTD: I used to secretly dream of being an Olympic swimmer. I was an excellent swimmer as a kid (family lore has it that I almost drowned one day as a kid, and the next day, taught myself to swim) I did compete on a team for a while, and had a great backstroke. I should have told my parents?they probably would have supported me. But even then I was ?the fat kid? and in the back of my mind thought it was probably impossible.

so, just over 12-weeks out:

B - isopure + coffee + fairlife 2%

L - 1/2 Panera turkey BLT, sans the bread (so tomato slices, turkey, bacon, avocado)

D - ?

Snack - Swiss cheese slice

I think a lot of people feel the same as you do about other people's comments. I especially hated the "You didn't look THAT big!" In other words, I looked mighty big, but was good at concealing it somewhat (dark clothes, sweaters/jackets - we all know the drill).

Hmmm this is a tough one. I, for one, loved the compliments and I mean, I was losing massive quantities of weight, so I couldn't expect that people wouldn't notice :) But, when people said "Oh wow, you look good" or "Wow, you have been working hard" or "Wow, getting skinny on us!", I always just said "Thanks!" and left it at that. Or I sometimes said, "I'm working on being healthy - still a work in progress!". The comments I did NOT like, were "OMG so how much have you lost?" which I found strange. I would always say, "I'm doing well but I am just not sharing that with anyone" and leave it at that. Everyone has their own canned response. No one was ever annoyingly persistent but I wouldn't have let them get to me anyway...it was my journey and I had enough weight loss support here on OH that I didn't need others' views/comments/insights to help me. I am sorry you are feeling awkward about it...just stay the course and keep kicking ass!

Thanks, Dcgirl! I appreciate your encouraging words.

The follow-up question that I dread is "What are you doing?". I usually can turn the subject, but oy. I'll tell you..last week, no one was saying anything. I figured, the good thing about being a slower "loser" was that it wasn't as dramatic. But clearly, I've crossed some milestone where suddenly my body looks very different. Let me emphasize that I do believe that these people have kind intentions. I know that the heart of this issue is really with me and my issues.

I'm with you on getting plenty of WL support here on OH.

Oh yeah, the boards are really divided as far as being honest or saying "diet and exercise". Look, I started at 351 lbs the day of surgery and lost 100 lbs in 4 months and 4 days. There was no way I was going to say "Oh I am walking a lot and eating chicken breast and broccoli" to drop that much weight! So I was honest...but I sort of downplayed it. I would say something along the lines of "Yeah I didn't have health problems yet but I wanted to make sure I was around another 100 years so I had a procedure and since then I have been eating high protein and low carb". The only people who would ask follow-up questions for the most part were other obese people, and I was happy to tell them that I chose gastric bypass. Skinny/normal-sized people just said "oh cool".

I am pretty proud that since surgery, I know 3 people who have had life-changing WLS procedures and told me that I was a catalyst for them. I am such an advocate for the surgery because I certainly live a much fuller and easier and healthier life today without being saddled with all that weight!

I enjoyed the compliments as well and I have never admitted on OH how bad it really got for me. I became very narcissistic. It could have cost me my marriage. I am glad that my wife , kids and parents woke me up. I learned to deflect the comments and attention by saying I was now off 6 medications.

It can be very heady to suddenly feel like you look like all that, after so many years of being overlooked, for sure. I think that's why the statistics about divorce after WLS show high rates of divorce. I am so glad you and Jodie could work it out and come out stronger than ever!

I'm glad you woke up too! You seem to enjoy your beautiful family so much!