Thursday Oct 8th

Morning all.

Great nsv post Diane. Good for you!

i would appreciate you'all's feed back on 'false ' sugar. I purchased a liquid sugar-free Caramel flavour liquid to add to coffee. It is yummy,. Made in France it does not have that strange aftertaste that some have. Having endeavoured to stay away from all things white except milk, is this 'cheating?'

not the best food day early in the a.m. But smartened up. Walked the walk.

Enjoy your day!!

Fake sugar.... hmmm......

I know that there are varying opinions out there. I've had to come to terms with my use of Splenda and Truvia. While I understand that some fake sugars (sucralose, for example) can trigger an insulin rise, for weight loss and my craving management Splenda is the better bet than real granulated sugar. Splenda does not trigger me, where a dose of sugar will. Truvia has been shown to NOT trigger an insulin rise and is really the best bet if one is concerned about the insulin reaction. Truvia, though, is more than double, sometimes triple, the cost of generic Splenda. My nutritionist is okay with moderate use of Splenda. I use it only in my Greek yogurt and when I make whipped cream. I also eat sugar free popcicles if I have a sweet urge in the afternoon - lord only knows what kind of fake sugar is in those! I also used SF Torani syrups the entire time I was an early post op to flavor my Greek yogurt.

I say, if you like it and it doesn't cause you issues, enjoy it!

Scale was down 1.2 pounds today - new low! YAY! I'm getting excited because I'm getting close to -20 pounds. My goal was to get 20 pounds off in 3 months and if I continue on this path, that will happen. If I can lose 30 by my 4 year surgiversary I will be more than thrilled. However, no time limit here - just focusing on behaviors and food choices. That's all I can really control. The weight will come off as my body sees fit. I have decided on an ultimate goal, though: To fit into my "goal outfit" on the 4th anniversary of making my goal initially after VSG. I have until July 18th to manage that goal. Totally doable!

Hi All! Another beautiful day in central Maine, though I'm freezing - generally a sign that I'm eating right, so I'll endure! I would agree with Kairk, Carbondated, that if the syrup is not bothering you, then it should be fine. Kairk, I've found that the store brand of stevia isn't terribly expensive, in comparison to Truvia. I have also, at times, found a box of 600 packets of Truvia for $13.00 at Sam's Club, which isn't too bad either. I use Splenda if I'm out or it's in sugar free products, as most places/products don't offer stevia, but I use stevia at home, as it's a more natural sweetener. I only buy Oikos Triple Zero greek yogurt, unless I'm getting plain yogurt. My girls, and even my hubby, who tends to shun all sugar free products, really like it too.

Kairk, glad to hear things continue to go well.

I had PT this morning, and the PT said it was ok for me to go to the gym, but only for the bike and treadmill, and upper body stuff, so I'm going to try to go over the weekend. My knee is still very stiff, so range of motion is not where it should be yet, so doing some of the stuff we do at PT, more often, may help. On a good note, my strength and balance are ahead of where most are at this point. He was surprised this week at how strong I was doing step ups, balancing on my compromised leg, doing side to side long steps across the room, and doing squats on the machine with that leg only, so at least there's some good news! Just like the food issue, I have to work at it one day at a time. No easy fixes, drat!! :)

Doing ok, though not perfect, with eating, and keeping the old negative tapes at bay, so I count that as a good thing. I still need to be a bit more mindful of what I'm eating, as I still have times when I just put stuff in my mouth without thinking it through. Coming here and being accountable does help. Have a great day! Mary

Hi all, sounds like everyone is doing well. me too. yay for us. yesterday i took a 1.5 mile walk in the bird sanctuary marsh across the street from studio. no reason i can't do this daily. 126.5 today.

hmmm, sugar and fake sugar. I keep the syrups around but don't use them much. just don't do sweets anymore which is astonishing because I used to be a huge sugar hog. I do put honey on my gy which i know is no better than sugar but it doesn't seem to be a trigger.

Endless board meetings for all these galleries and such. how does anything ever get done? diane