Wednesday, April 6th

Good morning, 

No weight today as I am still traveling in Vancouver BC  Food has been relatively good tho of course salty because of deli meat in the hotel fridge as well as restaurant proteins.  Honestly, having little time by myself is a blessing when it comes to food.  Last night was the first time in a while that I didn't graze after dinner.  Hopefully, I can keep that going when I get home. 

There IS something going on with my body that I don't understand.  I have been stiff like I was when I first started yoga.  I only notice when I get on my mat to do yoga --- otherwise I don't think about it.   I do limber up after several minutes (and a fair bit of discomfort) but not to my usual "edge."

 I added hand weights to my squats this last week and also to my lunges a couple of days ago.  I have been experimenting with running, too.  Anyway, I am wondering if this is somehow related to jump up in weight the last few days.  I do have a resurgence of arm lymphedema but not 4 lbs worth.  Thoughts from you exercisers?  

I am practicing patience this morning. Since I am trying to be the model cool parent who is ok with teen-flex schedules, please indulge me in this silent rant:  CAN THE 15 YEAR OLDS GET OUT OF BED ALREADY!  Mommy has places she wants to go!

Linda, enjoying Canadian coffee creamer :)  

Enjoy the day,  Shel

Shel, I hope you figure out the stiffness.  Sometimes, for me, I feel stiffer when I've had lots of salt, as the fluids build up - may be what's happening for you.  Moving around and upping water intake usually takes care of most of it.

I hear you on the silent rant!  My teen is usually the one pushing to go.  However, my almost 11 year old has always been hard to get out of bed, and I find myself almost doing a dog and pony show to get her up.  The teen stuff is starting to kick in for her - she's trying out some attitudes on her dad and me.  It's kind of funny now, but a sure sign of things to come!  :)

If it's any consolation, I often have the same mantra when it comes to Ron in the mornings! : "DEAR GOD, PLEASE GET HIM OUT OF BED ALREADY!" (and he's 50 years older than your 15 year olds!)

Yeah, I feel your pain! LOL! 

My, oh, my! Arctic Zero, Fro Yo, Ice Cream... I am grinning from ear to ear and have decided to remind you all once again of my story. Like Diane O., I lost to my goal and started to go below. I did not want to go below and I was also done "dieting" on a subconscious level of which I was unaware at the time. I had extremely good restriction and had trouble managing extra calories in, so I chose frozen yogurt as a means to up the calories. At first I started with sugar free at the local Yogurt Shack. Then the other flavors became interesting. Soon my portions enlarged. Next came some toppings. See where this is going? Then I brought ice cream into the house. Only 1/2 cup servings for some time. But then slowly and insipidly the ice cream servings became larger and the drive by spoonfuls became regular in the afternoons. The next addition was adding whipped cream into the mix...and so on and so on. 

I tell you this only to make you aware of what can happen and truly often does with WLS folks in maintenance. Treats is treats. IF you want to add calories back in I am going to strongly urge you to stay away from calorically dense sweets. Instead I would like to see you adding healthy fats like avocado, and whole milk cheese, olive oils, coconut oils and coconut creams into your diet. I'd like to see you adding an extra meal with an egg and cheese in the afternoon rather than keeping ice cream in the house. Use real cream in your coffee, have a whole milk latte. Adding refined carbs in dense doses can be very tricky on a physical level.

I want you newbies to think about me (who had significant regain to deal with), Mary, JoeyJo, BrownBlonde, even Diane S and Linda. Everyone of us has had issues - whether small or large - with continuing to use foods. For some it's wine, or a blob of Skippy PB in the evening. For me it was Fro Yo that was the gateway food! Tread carefully, ladies. Make sure you're ready to balance it all at this time. 

Oh, Paula, the company that makes Arctic Zero was in a law suit over misrepresenting the calories on the label. I do not know if it is still in litigation, but I wouldn't be surprised. Be 

Off my soap box.....

195.2 this morning. This is right where I should be. Now it's time to decide if I have the commitment to focus on weight loss or if I still need to honor both my intention to continue to lose and the little fat guy on my shoulder (who, I have to admit, I adore! He's a lot of fun, you know!). I'm also wondering how it might go to work with both sides each day while continuing to lose weight. That sounds so damn balanced, it is intriguing. 

Had a great food day yesterday, whi*****luded some nut mix from Whole Foods and some dark chocolate Drost coins. I stuck to my no weighing, measuring or tracking - except for dinner because I wanted to reverse measure as my NUT calls it (it's portion checking after making the serving on my plate). I did pretty okay, too. 3.4 ounces of pork loin, 1.6 ounces white sweet potato with skin, 3 spears of roasted asparagus. I got rid of .4 oz of the pork and enjoyed a lovely dinner! That is a very average dinner for me, by the way. It was just about 6 oz by weight - probably a cup by volume, if that.

Did 4 miles on the elliptical, which was 7800+ strides. Not bad for 50 minutes.

Had lots of water and seem to be heading in the right direction. 

Happy Hump Day! 

Devon, you did a wonderful job of explaining what I've been thinking, but didn't have the right words, regarding the slippery slope.  Thanks so much for this, as not only will it help the newbies, it also drives home to the rest of us what can and many times does happen when we open that door!

I'm sure your little fat guy is fun, but so is your skinny one!  :)

Treats are and always will be a slippery slope for all of us, won't they!  It is a bit like playing with fire, that's for sure, so I appreciate the reminder/warning. 

And I completely agree that treats should never be used to 'add calories to keep weight up'. And certainly not to suggest that I'm immune from crazy thinking and rationalizations now, but as I think back to my first year of maintenance and finding my set point for calories, I only added a wider range of 'good foods' and not 'crap foods' aka 'treats'.

I actually have a category in mfp that I call 'junk carbs'. Snacks are healthy, so a piece of cheese goes there. Ice cream, low cal treats, etc are recorded as junk carbs. It helps me stay honest and see how many of my calories are actually crap. At this point, I only use mfp when I need that level of accountability and feedback, but I do find the junk carbs category helpful then. 

I like the idea of having a category of foods in MFP for Junk foods. I guess I didn't realize I could create a category! Off to do that now!

Points well made and taken !!  I will be throwing the pint of ice cream, minus the 1/2 cup I ate, out as soon as I get home.  I'm adding 1/2 and 1/2 to my coffee, but still eating low fat Greek yogurt.  I'm thinking just the shift to full fat plain Greek yogurt might do the trick.  I really like the idea of creating a "crap carbs" category on MFP, for anything that isn't fueling a healthy me.

Thanks for calling it as you see it, so we are able to benefit from your learning curves !!

Hi all

Interesting we are talking about "gaming the system" which was always my old way of going about eating pre surgery. After surgery I lost too much weight and had to be careful about not losing too much. Dr. C said don't worry about it, it will turn around.  As time goes by it becomes possible to eat more and you get less "up tight" about following all the rules and more adventuresome in what you can eat. Its gotten me to about 5 lbs above my ideal weight and I would really like to get back there even though I look fine.   I really do stay away from the sweets and carbs. For me its cheese, nuts or an extra glass of wine. My higher power is telling me to get out and clean up the wreck of a yard. 

Tonight is a member meeting of the art gallery.  Always wine and finger foods.  I always take some lame thing like almonds or olives that takes no work. Maybe white cheddar cheese curds.  There will be a big controversy tonight about whether to distribute some funds to members. Since I am the treasurer I will be at the center of it.  Will be armed with lots of financial statements and tax returns. Hopefully it will be the fun party it usually is. 

Well I will send a new puppy picture for shel to post.  They are named Big Bertha, Fatima, and Dinkus,   LOL.

Hang in there everyone and stay well.  diane

Yesterday, technically the day before yesterday was really good, ate well and less than 1,000 calories, plenty of water, walked at lunch and went to the batting cages at night which was more of a workout than I remember from 20 years ago.  :)  

This morning,  technically yesterday morning, I was down a pound so I'm 9 lbs. above my low point. 

Today, technically yesterday was good but not as great as the day before thanks to graham crackers.  I got in a lot of exercise,  made good food choices all day except for the graham crackers. 

Onward and downward.