Whatcha Eating Today VSGers? Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Welcome to hump day for those working! It is just another day for me, but I do need to make some sort of a plan for the day. DH snoozed all day yesterday which wasn't good because he was up several times in the night.

QOTD: Do you feel confident about your ability to get to goal/maintain after WLS? If not, what strategies are you employing to stay on track which you never used previously? I have been maintaining for almost 22 months, the longest I have ever maintained as an adult (and I've been one for a very long time). But I am not confident about my ability to continue maintaining based on past history. So I use all of the following strategies which I never utilized before:

• Planning and tracking my food every day
• weighing/measuring my food
• posting on OH every day
• weighing myself every day
• following eating and drinking "rules" I never employed previously like maximizing protein and drinking at least 64 ounces of water daily.

Some of these I did previously while losing but then stopped when I got to goal (hence the usual regain).

2 Years, 5.5 months post-op (maintaining below goal for 21.5 months)

Always lots of coffee...

B: eggs, cottage cheese and Canadian bacon

L: Chicken

D: Pork

S: meat stick

Hi All! Busy day but not all bad yesterday! I had to go in for a retake of blood labs (mine were destroyed) unfortunately they tried 3x's and nothing other than me bleeding afterwards! (So, need to go back when my lab gal is there in a week or so). The good news is I went to my VSG office and they looked over my blood work they had drawn, PLUS the copy of the extensive labs I had from the Cancer Institute AND my numbers are GREAT! They did say I need to increase my calories by about 400...ouch! AND I need more fiber, like a lot more. So, I am going to work on the fiber thing and see what happens with the calories. I must admit I do not see myself being able to consume all of the food I have listed today, but if I can it will put me up to almost the calorie level she set for me (900-1000) FYI: The La Banderita Carb Counter Wraps have 11g of fiber and they work great for wraps I can make ahead and grab.

QOTD: Do you feel confident about your ability to get to goal/maintain after WLS? If not, what strategies are you employing to stay on track which you never used previously? I'm not sure (at times) this early on with the stall I just had at getting to my goal but I have faith I will make it. I will maintain it and I say this because if I do not I will lose my liver and that is not an agreeable option for me, so along with other health issues that can only be controlled or stopped by a healthy weight. I'm pretty motivated! Like you Liz I am monitoring my intake, protein and WATER tracking my food intake by measuring/weighing it every day! I know from successfully healthy people that monitoring my weight are also very important; you need to know so when you cross a line you set for yourself like - max. 5 lb. gain - you can nip it asap!

Week 12

Water, water, water!

M1: Ocean Spray Cran-Black Cherry, MiraLAX

M2: SF Pumpkin Spice Coffee

M3: Carb Counter Wrap w/deli chicken, ham and Havarti Cheese

M4: Bob Evans leftover Chicken Cobb Salad

M5: Hamburger w/Pepper Jack Cheese

Daily Snack: not likely today

Protein: 78g. Carb: 29g. Fiber: 31g Cal. 800

FYI: Many of us have been told at times by our surgical staff to eat more calories than we are comfortable with and in fact that some of us would gain on. I am 5'3" and I found that I needed less than 800 calories a day to lose weight (on average, so some days might be higher and some lower, but I'd plan for 800). Anything above that and I would stall. I maintain now on about 1350. I have to drop back under 800 when I have an adjustment needed to drop vacation acquired gain (like now). At 3 months out, I was averaging about 600 calories on average and didn't get to 800 until about 6 months out. I was 61 when I had my VSG.

Thank you Liz! I tried and learned to shut up lol to tell her there was no way I could eat that much or consume that many calories, as soon as I went over 800 (often over 700 actually) I stall... so nice to hear someone else my age and height range comment on what worked for them... I know doesn't' mean it will for me but it seems to be what I am finding as soon as I dropped back to around 600 I started losing again.

Yes, I have found that the advice on OH and trusting your instincts is most important. With the caveat that you must eat as much protein as possible, meet your water goals and take your vitamins religiously.

Hey Liz,

I do like what you share on the forum. One question. Do you thing it is a good idea to weight yourself everyday? There are many who believe that it is not beneficial for someone trying to loss weight or maintain their weight to weight themselves everyday. It can become determent to your progress. Some may lose weight but gain muscle which will cause the scale to either not move or go up. What you think?

So I think it depends on your personality as to what makes sense. I only weighed once a month while losing weight because I knew that stalls and upswings in weight would make me crazy. I decided to weigh daily in maintenance to keep me honest and to better understand fluctuations. It seems that most veterans weigh regularly, if not once a day, perhaps once a week.

BTW, the days that I'm up still make me a little crazy, even though my weight varies by at least a 3 pound range. The one time I don't weigh daily is when on vacation and immediately after. I just returned from a 15 day vacation on Sunday, so I am holding off weighing until Monday and eating high protein/low carb/low calorie until then (sort of in the same frame of mind as when I was in the weight loss phase). After Monday I will return to daily weighing.

Good morning,

I woke up late this morning so I'm all unorganized and not as planned as usual. I have to be to work at 12:30 pm.

Qotd I didn't really met my goal due to binge eating disorder. But I been trying to maintain and lose my regain. Planned meals, measure my food, I weigh weekly, if I gained five pounds then I reigned in my eating.

B and L ham and cheese omelette and string cheese

D keto lasagna and broccoli

maybe a protein bar for a snack somewhere.

Have a good day

Hi all! Busy and long Wednesday as usual.

QOTD: Regain is my number 1 fear. I know that's common here, but I am definitely not confident. Even though I hit my goal I've decided to stay in weight loss mode to give myself a buffer. Strategies that are new for me are daily weigh ins, weighing and tracking all food, and posting here! I've been working harder on strength training. I also started working with a new therapist to attend to my eating issues.

B - protein and coffee

L - yogurt and almonds

S - quest bar

D - shrimp ceviche on a toasted tortilla

Good Morning all :) Crisp start here in Australia....

Will be another hectic day as my boss is currently on holidays and Im taking care of everything. Add to that we had a very very large hardware order finalise yesterday so I had the phone pretty much bonded to my ear all day as I co-ordinated with suppliers etc etc - on the plus side the day literally flew. Working some long hours. Seeing my best friend for a cuppa tonight as its also her birthday tommorrow too- then home to make my stepsons birthday cake as I will leave as soon as I finish to drive to his birthday dinner Friday- they live over 2 hours away.

QOTD: This is one of my biggest fears but I try and keep it at the back of my mind. My surgeon when I had my checkup said I had wiggle room to gain (quite common he advises) given what I had lost. I think my face told a thousand stories and I told him I would hate that. I weigh weekly and Im always within a pound of two of my goal weight. I recently took Mum on holiday and we ate n drank lots - well more than I usually would. I thought I was a sure thing to regain a lil but came back and was still the same. I walked a lot though.So guess I will keep doing what Im doing and monitor it - then change things up a bit if and when I regain

B: Yoghurt & Paleo Mix

L: Zuchinni Loaf - or I made Bubble n Squeak out of the veggie leftovers - may have that with homemade chutney

D: TBD - something out of the freezer as I have a lot to achieve tonight in prep for Stepsons party

Have a wonderful day all :)