Happy Friday Feb 5

As Linda wrote, we've all been exactly where you are. 

I'm going to point something out. As I read your post I hear a voice of negative judgement towards yourself. It's as if you believe you should be able to "diet" and get "back on track" and you are disappointed with yourself and even a bit angry and hopeless. I get that. I've been there. 

I think where you are is a totally normal place to be. You're scared. You're desperate. You don't understand why this is so hard. You did it before. Why can't you do it now? Am I right? 

I want to tell you this is NOT EASY. Please don't let that negative voice in your head manipulate you into thinking it is easy. Regain is a hard core issue on an emotional level. AND THAT'S OK!

The first thing that will help is to let go of the shame. There is no shame in regain. It happens. It happens to a lot of WLS patients. Next, decide why you want to lose the weight. Get to the real reasons. That may take some time and thought. Again, that's okay. You can also decide what value food has for you. Not all foods have the same emotional value. They also don't all cause the same physical reactions. For me cookies trigger immediate cravings. I know this. When I eat a cookie, it comes with a price. I always check in and ask myself if I'm willing to pay that price that day. 

I want you to think about this idea: Food is neither good nor bad. It is just food. Your eating behavior is neither good nor bad. What you eat is a choice. However, sometimes when you eat a trigger food you may forfeit the choice to stop eating due to physical response caused by hormones. Think about whether you can manage the physical response. If you're driven to eat a food before you've even had a bite, that's usually emotional and it's a good idea to pause and ask yourself why you want it. If you know, ask yourself if that's reason enough for you to choose to eat it. If you have no answer, choose to wait X number of minutes and consider eating it again. Most cravings disappear after 10 to 2o minutes. 

Go have a fun time in NOLA. Be mindful of what you eat, how you eat, what about your eating you like and don't like. Be an observer. Learn about yourself over the weekend. Then consider where you want to be and how you want to get there. 

This is work. I think when we accept that this is not easy and that effort is involved our anxiety lessens and we can start to learn how to be peaceful about the process. Just so you know, it took me 6 months of struggle and experiment before I found what worked for me. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind. If you stick with the process, even when it's tough and you are frustrated and have melt downs, you will eventually see results. You have a lifetime to get this right. 

Wise words for all of us. Thanks for this. 

I love how you put everything in perspective.  Thank you!!!  

Thank you so much for the time to respond and your kind and very wise words.

I am being judgmental and I have felt like I'm spinning out of control.  And the weird thing is that the more I try, the less control I feel that I have!  I'm usually a lot more "intuitive" about my eating.  But now that I'm officially trying to lose weight, "dieting", I'm actually gaining weight!  All I can do is all I can do, and I'm going to say I'm "okay" with yesterday.  I did about as well as I could do for yesterday.  And you can't ask much more than that.  I wasn't perfect.  But I never will  be.  But I got up today.  And I really wanted every. single. fast. food.  But kinda like you suggested I asked myself "is it worth it", decided no, and went back to my taco salad.  And now that I'm full, I feel ok.  

already great responses here...I'll chime in that I am sure no one is bothered by your menus!  Whatever is helpful to you is what you should post. 

You are not a bummer!  We all know the struggle.

Hoping that Paula's GB surgery is going/went well! 

Scale down a smidgeon this morning to 201.8. I'll take it! 

I had an interesting food/lack of hunger day yesterday. Up until about 5:30 I had had only 350 calories, but I wasn't really hungry. I felt a bit light headed though when I stood up from doing something, so I thought that I should eat. I ate two egg bites and then a half ounce of almonds. After dinner I ended up with having had only about 900 calories, so I had TBS of peanut butter to get me to 1,000 for the day before I went to bed. The only explanation I have for the lack of hunger is the lower carb intake.

I'm also trying to not eat quickly. I am by nature a fast eater (as are most obese people according to a study I just read) and am trying to make my meals last 15-20 minutes. I consciously slowed down last night at dinner. The result: I didn't finish my dinner. Hopefully, I will keep this mindfulness up and the weight will continue to come off. Only about 13 pounds to hit my goal and then I'll be able to consider going down to the

Well on your way to meeting your Feb 15 goal!!!! 

Happy Friday it is :-).  My scale continues to reward me with my coveted 112.  I'll continue to take things fairly regimented this coming week in anticipation of my trip next Friday.  

Thinking of Paula today, sending her good energy and wishing her an easy recovery from surgery.  

I'm at work, enjoying the sunshine and feeling gratitude for the resolution of a long standing personal issue that has been contributing to my anxiety and depression.  Now that I'm putting the issue to bed, it will be interesting to see how things go.  I'm not sure the Medes are doing much, but I will give them a few more weeks to work and then decide if they're worth continuing.  

As I've said before, the primary issue is anxiety more so than depression, so I will monitor what's happening on both fronts.  But with that said, I'm feeling a lot of hope today, so at least situationally I'm turning the corner.  

Good to hear things are settling down for you Linda. 

Glad you've been able to put that bothersome issue to bed. Hopefully, you'll be able to relax a bit more on that front and the anxiety will lessen!