WOW - my 'skinny' jeans fit!

WOW - I can't believe it but I did it, I'm back in my SKINNY JEANS!!!!!!!!!!! You know, those pair of jeans you buy when you're at your lowest weight and you can wear it for about 2 minutes before they're too tight again?!? Yep, THOSE jeans, got 'em on right now with my pajama top, didn't even bother to completely change, I was so excited I had to share (SCREAM) the happiness. Not sure if any of you remember all the "weight" posts from me last year - it started off with a 10 pound bounce back, then at the January conference it was a 15 pound increase. My goal was to take those OFF before the June conference, unfortunately, they found 7 more friends and became a 22 pound increase by the end of March. Yah yah, amazing how that happens, huh? Well, I finally decided to get serious and started revamping my eating - the exact details are in my profile under the May 15 update. I'll cut and paste it below or anyone that's interested in reading it. Anyway, by making those changes, I was able to drop TEN pounds before the June conference, and the final 12 are officially gone as of this morning!!!!!!!!!! I originally had a goal of August 1st, but I'm okay with coming in 3 weeks short - cause the poundage is finally OFF my backside [literally]. Granted, weighing in nekkid has it's major bennie's. Soooooooooo - if all stays lined up with the planets/stars and moon, I'll be wearing my hip-hug'n-skinny-jeans dancing this Saturday night!!! No replies needed, just wanted to share with ALL of you that YES, if we truly DO what we know we should do, the weight can and will come off. Even at almost 4 years out I can still lose weight. I don't believe I have the advantage of malabsorbing like I did in the beginning, which just gives me the level playing field I always wanted. Now, when it comes to LOSING weight, I'm just like everyone else who hasn't had the surgery and are screaming to ditch the last 10/20 pounds [with the exception of the smaller stomach capacity]. That being said, even us "small pouch peeps" can graze 3 and 4 thousand calories a day, if we're not careful. Yep, first hand knowledge there. If you're dealing with a bounce-back DON'T give up on yourself, I'm so glad I never gave up on ME! ~ Lei In addition to my "PLAN" outlined in the cut and paste below, three things that *I* believe has also made an impact on the loss is: 1) I've increased my activities, ten-fold. Nope, I don't mean by exercising - still hate the "E" word. But I DO STUFF, lots and lots of stuff, walking, biking, swimming, even started kayaking with a friend. Even if it's just parking farther away or taking the stairs, if I can find a way to MOVE, Im doing it. 2) I've always drank a lotta water, tend to keep it at 100 oz and had gotten lazy on that. The last 90 days, Ive pushed it to 120 oz, faithfully. 3) Havent a clue if this even matters, but it's obviously helping - vs - hurting? I've rediscovered my addiction to Sushi and Sashimi. I've always loved the stuff but recently, it's become a MAJOR part of my meals. Like, 6, 7, 8 times a week - lunch, dinner, both. An average [single] roll is about 35/40 calories, it's very healthy, low in calories, high in protien and I normally eat 6 to 8, per meal. I swear Id eat it for breakfast if I'd get off my "hate to cook" butt and reintroduce myself to my kitchen. . ================ CUT and PASTE ================= Below is the post from my profile - if anyone is interested in the "links" I reference, you'll probably have to click them from my profile, not sure if they'll transfer over in a cut and paste. 5/15/06 New day, new way - 1400 calories a day! Sooooooooooooo - I think it's safe to say that the 10 lb water weight GAIN from my new blood pressure pills have me in one hell of a tizzy!?! As I said in my last update, I could handle it if it would ALSO come off as fast as it's sucking on. The biggest problem with "it's not real weight" ...is that your clothes don't know that. Everything I put on feels tighter (because along with these 10 lbs are 10 pounds of REAL weight gain, for a total of 20 above goal). I know I can get the water weight off, er, once the doc tweaks my BP meds, but until then, I feel like a big ol' puffy freakn marshmallow, even my wedding rings that I resized (finally) 6 months ago, Ive taken off. Hurts to wear 'em. Gotta love this life of a "recovering Obese-aholic!". I always knew it would be challenging, so that's no surprise, but hot damn, it's beyond HARD when you try to do everything right - move more, eat less, monitor salt, etc and end up with another 10 pounds, practically over night. So, let's just put those 10 aside and focus on the TEN from real weight gain. I realize, when Im completely honest with myself, that my food choices suck at times. Oh, and that "eating less" does not mean only having 2 pieces of fudge, instead of 3. [blonde tilt] I just spent about an hour on www.FitDay.com creating a 1400 calorie day that includes LOTS of small meals. I've decided that my constant need to EAT has got to be battled with very very low calorie stuff and instead of 3 meals a day, I'm upping it to 8 or so [3 of which will be protein shakes]. Most "health data" would call this new food plan of mine, GRAZING, but you know what? That's exactly what Im doing on a daily basis ANYWAY. Grazing, grazing, grazing, constantly on anything that's within my reach! So if I can't get the damn grazing under control, I need to fine tune WHAT I'm grazing on. This is my meal planner for today. I haven't figured out how to link my FitDay account to my profile, so I'll just recap it. 6:00 am Protein Shake 8:00 am Turkey-pepperoni pieces (17) 10:00 am Protein Shake 11:00 am Yogurt Fit n Light 1:00 am 4 oz roast beef, 3 slices swiss cheese, onions, mustard 1/2 cup Japanese cucumbers 2:00 am Protein Shake 4:00 am Turkey-pepperoni pieces (17) 6:00 am Steamed Lau-Lau (pork w/spinach wrapped in banana leaves) 1/2 cup white rice 1/2 cup Japanese cucumbers 8:00 am 6 crackers (Ritz lite) w/lite garlic cheese spread 9:00 am medium orange Additional free snacks at any time: cucumbers (raw/plain), celery, tomatoes, carrots, radishes! Ive already got them washed, peeled, bagged and ready to grab. Im not counting the calories in any of the free snacks, since the act of chewing pretty much zero's it out. I just want something there to keep me from succumbing to the voices in my head that say "its okay to snarf down the cake or cookies, cause it's lite or sugar free" ....aaaargh, oh and phooey! Calories are calories, too much of anything, even the healthy stuff (like protein), turns to fat. Anyway - with the food planner (above) that I just put in FitDay, this is the breakdown: Calories = 1405 Fat = 50 Carbs = 89 Protein = 143 (69 from shakes) Also, here is a really COOL Calorie Counter site Calorie Counter site that also predicts how many MAX calories you should be consuming to lose "x" amount of pounds in "x" amount of days. Based on this information and plugging in my stats (height, current weight, goal weight, age and exercise levels) it said by keeping my calories at 1456 a day, I'd be at goal (minus the damn 10 pounds) by the 1st of August. Well, that's my goal date and I plan on putting an "X" on my calendar every single day to scream my successes!!!!! I'm sick and damn tired of complaining about it, talking about it, stressing about it, grumbling about it, waking up in the middle of the night, etc (yes, it's gotten that bad) and still not making any REAL changes to correct it. It's also easier for me to just "accept it" when we (other long term weight loss surgery friends) get together as a collective group, in real space here in Virginia. We all tend to have empathy/sympathy for each other which then in turn makes it all more acceptable. Afterall, we're all in the same "bounce back boat". Unfortunately, all the conversations, sympathy and empathy isn't going to take MY pounds off. It's like I'm finding safety in numbers, since others understand, fear and experience the same issues with weight issues. Almost as if I'm giving myself 'passive' permission, of sorts, that it's okay to just keep bobbing along with this bounce. Well, as you can probably tell by the "tone" of my last few updates, Ive had it and I've put myself on NOTICE!!! Im fed up with myself and terrified, all wrapped up into one. I KNOW me and I know my ability for self destruction. I will eventually give up if I don't keep it within controllable levels NOW. Yep, there have been too many sleepless nights, lately, worrying and obsessing. One of my strengths in life is finances and budgeting. Not bragging, just facts, I'm better then most. I've been known to scare a penny into reproduction. Well, that's the aggressive way I'm going to start treating my BANK OF CALORIES!!! I'm a hell of a lot more important then money and yet I give my bills, cash flow, banking, 401's, annuities, etc. more consideration and effort towards success, than myself. Go figure! Paul's sub is officially repaired and he goes back underwater soon - he's been put on notice to eat every bad thing in this house or take it to the office or it becomes squirrel food. With him under water it'll be easier to keep the high calorie crap OUT of the house. Now, in my hubby's defense, it truly is not even REMOTELY his fault that the stuff makes it into the house in the first place. He never wants it, never suggests it (short of an ice cream fix every blue moon) and he never buys it. It's always ME, me me! I'll see something that triggers my "sweet-****puppy" tooth at every store, restaurant, deli, bakery, etc I walk into. Then I talk HIM into "wanting it too", if he'll agree to help eat most of it, I justify buying it. Then when it gets into the house - he forgets it's there and I remember HOURLY! I think one of my problems is that I just became to complacent. I got lazy with everything, my food choices, succumbing to temptation, not drinking my water, not moving more, not tracking EVERY bite I eat and WAY TOO many "low estimates" and missed calories. Sure, not the entire 20 lbs is "fat", we've established that ....but, we all know Ive been fighting FIFTEEN pounds, off and on, for about 9 or 10 months now. Hell - might even be a year now? So it stands to reason, half of it, I need to take ownership of and get it OFF!..... the remaining water weight still needs to be dealt with, my fault or not. What I will be focusing on more then anything, is my daily credit allowance of 1400 calories, period! I want to train my brain to realize it's not an open calorie/cash flow. If I over spend in the real world, I'm over drawn. If I over eat and extend my calories, I'm over weight. I've been talking to myself ALL day - trying to go with the repetition aspect of it. Telling myself it's no different then walking into a restaurant with $14.00 cash and no available credit/debit cards. I wouldn't then look at the menu and order a $35.00 lobster. I have NO choice but to choose foods that fall within my calorie budget. Although I'll allow myself to have variances, skip meals, or eat higher calorie food choices, it's okay - as long as I understand/accept when the entire 1400 is gone, so are my food choices for the day. I hate tracking my food, it's always bored me, but if that Calorie Counter is right, it's only 70+ days, 2 1/2 months - I know I can stick to logging for that amount of time. We'll see - you know how it is when you "start a new food plan" you're always so gung-ho. It's getting past the first week that'll be the REAL test! So, WISH ME LUCK!!!.... this is my first "1400 calorie Day" (with 76 more days left) to get to goal. ================= END of C&P ===================

Congratulations! I bet it feels great having those skinny jeans on! You are such an inspiration!!!!! Tracy B 328/150 5'9"

Thanks Tracy - it's really a different feeling all together, to finally have "hope & optimism" when I'm trying to lose the weight. For sure, those are two things I was lacking during the first 200 diets attempts, pre-surgery. lol - and yah, it feels great, still havent taken them off - figured it was as good as anything to clean house in, right?

YOU are and have always been an INSPIRATION to me Im just a few days away from being 3 years out and I had some bounce back weight which is once again coming off and it feels sooooo good again...Its great to be in control again...I am really so happy you posted this...it gives me tremendous hope and I LOVE your honesty Thanks for being you!!!! with love,peace,hope and Blessings God Bless you Lei Your Friend Stacey

There's my "California Sunshine" ...it's great to see you again!!! One of the major downfalls about not being on a computer as much (lately) is that I miss conversing with some wonderful people, yourself included. I'm sure all of that will change, somewhat, when summer is over and I start hiding from the cold of winter Yuck, I hate winters all it brings is a sense of hibernation and with that comes weight gain. ...and YES, it does feel good to see "progress" again, doesnt it? I think that was another problem I had - for 20 entire months, I "saw and felt" the changes on the scales, then BAM, I hit goal and the adrenaline rush that comes with progress [which then pushes you to continue on] was GONE! With the 'rush' of high speed weight loss long gone, I became complacent -- which can be a lethal state'a mind for a former obese-aholic. Glad to hear you're on track and the weight is coming off - you can do it!!! - Lei

Think about driving to Lexington for the OH conference the end of October....I'm trying to talk Lynda into going....gonna be a masquarade ball....how much fun could we have? Congrats on the re-dedication...re-determination....grit....willpower....what power.... Hugs Charlie

Hello Charlie!!!! I'm gonna have to check out the "events" tab on this site and read more up on it. Specifically, the dates. 8 of us gals (from the Virginia Board) are taking a cruise in October, 6 day cruise, starting on the 7th. Not sure what the convention dates are, but it might be too much to juggle and budget all in the same month. Also, Lynda and I have been talking about getting together in NOVEMBER there in FL. Where is still to be determined, but kidnapping your butt was also part of the discussion. Figure once I got the cruise out of the way, Lynda and I (and you) can hammer out more details for the November trip? Unfortunately, Im going to have a lot of time on my hands in the fall/winter months and all hell will break loose next Summer (selling one house, buying another, packing up a third and moving cross country) so I think if Florida is gonna happen, it's a now or never kinda thing. I'll check out the info on the OH convention and see if it's even possible. Hey? Doesn't Dana Barr live in KY? Oh, and Deloris (w/the twin son to my hubby) ... wonder if either of them are going to be there too? Hugs - Lei

Ok...keep me in mind. I'm saving pennies....gonna drive up to Lexington if possible...see if I can bunk one night with one of them wonderful Alabama beauty queens....then head to Lexington and share a room with as many as possible (I'll take my aero-bed)....and I might be able to swing it. I'm thinking if I can keep the cost to less than $300 I can do it. I've heard from Dana...and she is looking forward to the convention.....and our friend Delores has been MIA for some time now...I need to send her an email...... As for November....COME ON DOWN. Hugs Charlie

hiya!!!!!!!!!! I am here. Just lurk mostly. been kinda busy. My DIL has terminal CA and I have been helping out. My yorkie business is taking off and I have had a pregnant gal. had her little puppy this week. She had two in the oven but one died. Anyway, why are you going thru Alabama to get from daytona to lexington? long way around girl friend. i doubt that I will be at the convention. they have built the conference around one bariatric group and i am just not interested in that group. More to this story but not for public view. LOL but it might be worth it to see all you guys again.

Hey Deeee lores....good to see you again. I'm so sorry to hear about your DIL. Been there done that and its a heartbreaker. After I looked at the map....I realized Alabama was out of the way....wasn't sure how far though....best to go up I95 and across the Carolinas....according to Yahoo...its a little over 800 miles and I could do it in 12 hours. I think the Silver Bullet could make it just fine. IF I can find my way out of the parking garage here....LOL. Thats a whole other story..... I'm thinking its a go for me....gotta contact Dinore and Nanette and Suzie.....waiting for Lynda to chime in..... Stay in touch.... Hugs Charlie