CheeringCJ

You’re doing AWESOME as always! Love that you are loving your maintenance. And youre rocking it for sure. Your hiking trip sounds like a fantastic journey! Can’t wait to hear about it (and see pics).

Oh trust me, they were only for ME to see for the longest time. I didn’t post them until maybe 4-5 months out? I am not sure, but I was surely embarrassed of them to begin with but they did inspire ME to keep going when the scale wasn’t moving!

YES, YES, YES.....start taking pics for your “records”. I took a pic in the same outfit (until it didn’t fit anymore) in the same place every month. Days when I didn’t think I was progressing, I could look back and SEE that I did! (They are on my blog on here but I don’t know how to post them here, so I screen shot them to add here) (and I loved refried beans but they were too thick so I added plan greek yogurt (like sour cream) and a little water and salsa and blended it up so it was thinner and more tolerable. Then I would add a little cheese to the top and it was delicious. Ate it for months and didn’t get tired of it! Still do now. Good luck with it.

So nice to hear from you, @Kio! We lived in our house during construction and it was my poor husband doing the construction. He’d work a full day at work then come home and work another 6-7 hrs at home. We were getting a new kitchen and taking the wall down between the kitchen and dining room, so there was drywall dust and stuff everywhere. We were without a sink for a week and then it was finally done for thanksgiving (he started in Aug so I was impressed he did both rooms, ceilings, electrical, drywall, new supporting beam, widened the opening, redesigned the kitchen, put in new cabinets, all new appliances, all new flooring in both rooms, etc while still working a FT job!) but the quartz didn’t come in until the week after so he couldn’t hook the sink up bc it was an undermount farmhouse sink....we had TG dinner w/o a sink. My husband and I washed the dishes in the bathroom sink. My point it I totally get living in a remodel and feeling the stress. We had a microwave we were eating Encore entrees for months, which got pretty disgusting and fattening :-/ I am proud of you pre-deciding to not go there this time! Awesome mindset, girlfriend! How fun was hiking?!? Wonderful that you could do it and survive!!! You’re so close to your goal weight.....kudos to you!!! Keep it up! I was starting to get into bad habits and though I was staying w/in 5 pounds but I wasn’t happy w/ it, so I joined WW two weeks ago. I am hoping it will teach me to eat now that I am “normal” (weight at least...haha!) but need to shed the mind set of a new WLS patients....not that I don’t want to be mindful and not drink during eating etc etc, BUT I have to learn to reintroduce carbs (a little) and stop insisting on eating tons of protein forever. I know that sounds wrong but you know what I mean...I definitely want to eat the proteins first but I bearly had fruit b/c it was a carb and a person does need carbs (healthy ones) for energy and I need to learn to re-eat in the “real world” and still maintain my weight. I haven’t gone nuts but do feel like I am making wise choices. And I am with you, don’t want to be coming back here in a few years 40 pounds up and try to get a grip!

Wow, Cindy, that sounds so awesome! Don’t you just love discovering things for the first time? How exciting! So glad you had that opportunity! And what a terrific way to live your life. The world could use a lot more of that and a lot less living only for oneself!

Thanks, I just joined up after reading your reply! I haven’t done it since early 2017 and i read that lots changed. I was going to do just the online but then I decided to do the meetings or whatever they call them now....I NEED the accountability so I have to do the weigh ins and i also need to learn how to eat balanced and normal. I am no longer on a have to eat a ton of protein kick. I need proteins and yes, I choose them first but then I also get veggies/fruits and occasionally a little starch and I haven’t died yet! I read a post on here from a while ago about WWs and needing lots of protein and I thought that isn’t really true any more. I need to eat normal just not like a morbidly obese person would! Anyway, if I can get down to whatever goal weight they set for me, I will be set for life and going free like you do! I will keep you posted how I do. Wish you were nearby so we could go to the same meeting!

Lovely pictures! Sounds like a wonderful month! You look awesome as always! And I am so glad you realized your strength without the daily reliance on the scale etc. Good for you!!! So other than the weight loss concerns, tell us about your trip and how awesome it was!

If constipation is what you are battling, I have recently found milled flax seed to be super beneficial in easily fixing that issue! It is a pleasant slightly nutty flavor and I add 1-2 tsp to my yogurt once or twice a day and it is amazing at how well it works!

Well, it’s good and bad. Good because it works but bad bc i know it works and i don’t get as nervous about “if I just have this, I might gain weight and however would I be able to get it off???” So it is a blessing and a curse if that makes any sense. I’ve been eating ok, just a little extra here and there but nothing major, but the problem is life has gotten so intense with overscheduled back to back things and a lot of rain in the evenings where we live so we haven’t been walking as much. My activity level is definitely down, which let my weight creep up a pound or two. Still, I still want to keep it in check before it gets bad. So just today i was looking into joining WW. They have a special for the next few days and I think that might reteach me to eat in the normal world. NOw that my calories are back up to most people’s calories i need to figure it all out. My insurance will pay $100 of it (I already spend $150 of my ins money on the workout program at work and I get $250 every 12 mo). So that will buy me 3 months of meetings and if I get lucky, I might hit my goal weight there (never have before but was much bigger then!) and then I would not have to pay for it when i maintained, so I am thinking it might be a good idea. I was just asking @Cindy Lou Who about it since she did WW through her whole weight loss phase.

Looks like an awesome trip @Jen581791! Your trips always sound so exciting. Granted the injury, not so much. It was smart to realize your limits w/ the re-injury and taking a car (and I love the canoe idea, ingenious....you worked out your upper body while the lower body was rebelling!). We are having terrible heat lately and all the accompanying humidity thunder storms and right now are under a tornado watch. BUT our weather today was 98 F, not 105....yuck! My kids are heading overseas (their plane is leaving in 45 mins) and one of their stops is in London and i heard they were having a heat wave...so my DIL looked up some places to take my granddaughter swimming! thanks for sharing the pics....loved the scenery, the kitten and the fact you’re so dang ACTIVE!!! GO YOU!!! (PS don’t know what the medical care is like where you are, but if you have a sports med doc, go see them so they can help you heal before the marathon!)

I meant because you were at the Magnolia Silos! Did you get some delicious baked goods there? Dark chocolate is a real temptation of mine...so is choc/mint....so keep those cookies in TX!!! Haha

Do you live in TX or did you just visit? Was it fun? ‘Fess up, what baked goods did you get?!?! Haha!

@delilas, how is little Elaina doing? How are you doing, back on your journey? Stop in and update us when you can!

Not only are you awesome at this, but you really have awesome legs! ;). I totally relate to all you said. I am not quite two years out yet but I have the same feelings and understand you completely (and agree 100% w/ the SOONER part too!) Keep rockin’ it!

You’re sooooo close. This time 24 hrs from now it will be over and you’ll be on your way to healing and becoming a thinner, healthier person! So exciting! Of course it will be nerve wracking but you’ll be so glad to be on the other side and to be done! Keep us posted!