Home sweet home. Thanks for all of your prayers and good wishes. I felt them all.

I am doing better. The surgeon said my poor sad gallblader was 'loaded' with stones. No wonder it didn't work! I am sore, but, better as time goes on. It only really hurts alot when I move around. However, I need to walk... so, it will work itself out. The pain meds are working... I feel loopy, however.

So far, things are going well for me. I haven't been sick to my stomach with the pain meds. This was a big concern. I had excellent care at the hospital.

I am a little wobbly because of the pain medicine - but, I am managing.

I've been keeping my food 'easy' on the tummy, until by digestion gets used to not having a gallbladder in the equation. Crackers/broth/rice/applesauce/lifesavers.

BTW - I feel like I've ended the surgery 'curse'. (a time when planned surgeries didn't happen for me for the strangest legitimate reasons) YAY

Thanks again...

Beverlyjoy, I'm thrilled to hear you're home and feeling good. Continued prayers that you'll be up and dancing soon

I'm still struggling with the scale but I AM NOT GIVING IN!

Thursday
coffee/lowfat milk
fruit salad

salad
grilled chicken
lowfat ranch
ww brownie (not worth the 3 points!)

pork loin
risotto
peas

And 9 glasses of water. Under by my daily limit by 5 points again today so I can't figure out why the damn scale isn't moving. Must be patient. Must be patient.

The good news: It's finally Friday! Looking forward to a relaxing weekend and catching up on a lot of litle stuff that needs to get done around the house. Have a great day, everyone!

We had a little adventure last night. I set off our 'glassbreak' alarm when I closed the dryer door {stack w/d about 3 ft away from sensor }. We got rid of the 'houseline' because we both have cells, we KNOW we called the company to change the numbers but when the company couldn't get the landline they called the police. Bearing in mind its midnight, we stayed up, met the nice police and straightened everything out. April was a good dog and didn't bark at the police, which is always a good thing. Hubby's called the alarm Co so hopefully that won't happen again.

No plans for the weekend except my Parents coming over for Dad's Bday dinner on Sat. Hubby's gotten more interested in exercise so hopefully we can get some workouts in on the weekend days!

Thurs Feb 16
B= 2.5 c milk, vits, 1 c cereal, 1/2 banana
L= Old Venice 1/2 pasta primavera, 1 bread {no oil}
S= chips + salsa + coffee
D= chili + spa squash {I usually like my chili alone but adding the squash was good, made me feel like I was eating a HUGE bowl}
S= 2 pumpkin muffins, coffee
E= 30min cardio + 25min stretch

Beverly, glad you are well and recovering.

Mandy great job on the workouts!

2BH, what a great story! sounds like Grammie had a great sense of humor and was fun to be around.

BEVERYLYJOY ~ glad to hear you are back at home and doing well; gee, only eating that amount, you may have a side-blessing of losing a few lbs (or more). Take it ez and be careful while on those meds ...

THANKS, MAHTHA ~ frozen artichokes sound much better; sounds like a good way to eat them as a side dish and/or with the chicken too. I like cooking too, and always try to make things we love ...

Have you ever been to Canada? Well, if you ever do -- go into a grocery store and look at the prices: you'll dead away, trust me!

PENGUIN ~ Yes, my grammie was an awesome lady; fun and funny and wise and loving -- well, a great friend really; and we miss her a lot, of course. I spent a lot of my childhood with her; and have nothing but fond memories.

MANDY ~ that's a lotta exercise, but that's fab that your DH is so enthusiastically joining you as well.

Well, we did have chicken for dinner after all -- I poured a HICKORY BBQ Sauce mixed with Ketchup (1/4 cup each) on top of the meat ... with 2-3 cups onion soup broth over all the veggies: green & yellow beans, onions, mushrooms, chopped orange sweet peppers, celery, shredded carrots & one new tator each (mine a small one). Roasted for 2 hours. DH and I loved it; and had the yummy leftovers for lunch today. Had oatmeal for brekky.

Tonight is FRIDAY FUN FOOD dinner -- having a hamburgler with a salad (DH has homefries with his as he hates salad, but that's OK with me). Just doing daily stuff around here; nothing special.

Take care and have a great weekend everyone ...

I forgot to check in yesterday. Glad to hear everyone's hanging in there!

This morning I got on the scale and it told me I weigh 206.2. You could have knocked me over with a feather. If I'd known that giving up grains and dairy would make the weight just melt off while leaving me feeling good and not starving, I'd have made this commitment a long time ago!

I had expected not to see onederland again until just before my trip to NYC in May, but now it looks like I'm going to make it before I head to Florida next month. That means if I stick to this plan I could be down around 180 by the NYC trip. I'm pretty excited because that means a few of my cute summer dresses might actually fit me by then.

This weekend is supposed to be rainy and miserable, so I'm going to spend it cleaning the house and working on some sewing projects. Though the sun is out right now so I should probably get cleaned up and go run errands before it starts raining. I thought I'd be up earlier this morning since I went to bed at 9:00 last night, but I slept over ten hours again. I didn't even work out yesterday, so it must have been the week catching up with me. My exciting life, I tell you.

My mom spends her summers in Nova Scotia so I'm very familiar with grocery prices there. When we visit we're given a grocery list and she packs as much meat as will fit in the coolers and as many non perishables as they can get into the car. As much as I complain about some of the prices here, we're very lucky.

Friday
Coffee/ low fat milk
Banana

Pea pods
2 eggs
Spinach
Cheese

Lobster
Baked potato
2 tsp butter
Broccoli
Wine

Apple
Granola

Housework and laundry today, maybe a little retail therapy if I do a good job on my chores . Happy to call this week done, it was a rough one.

Happy weekend, everyone.

Hope you don't me restarting again with this group.

I'm a regainer / reloser for practically my entire life. My first larger weight-loss was right after I got married at age 18. I went from 250 to 150 on a diet where I took daily injections of hormones. I was so proud of myself. That was the thinnest I had been EVER. Then, within 5 years, I was up to 350+ when I got divorced. My husband was 500 lbs. Within 3 years after the divorce I was down to 180. My lowest adult weight. I didn't drive, so I walked everywhere, with 2 young boys, so the weight just dropped off. Then a year later we ended up homeless, my ex got the boys. I remarried, and had 2 more sons, and got back up to 349. This husband was thin, and a feeder. He would get very upset if I lost weight. He's insist I eat the donuts he brought home, etc. When I finally left him I went to weight watchers with a friend and got down to 198. My doctor had told me I'd harm my health if I got below 200 lbs, because of how my weight was distributed. Once I was off weight watchers I ended up to 330. I had weight loss surgery 6 years ago. Got down to 225, couldn't lose more. Got frustrated, gained back to 275. I been dieting now for 2 months, and I'm down to 264, and have been here for 2 weeks. Will I ever be back to 220? (Half-way normal weight?)
Well, that's my life sorry. Has anyone gone through anything like this before?

Feb 17, Fri
B= coffee, 1 c cereal, .5 c milk
L= salad, 2 egg/veggie burritos, 3 Bliss
D= 1/2 veggie pizza {red onion, sauce, olives, feta, mushrooms}
S= strawberries w choc sauce
E= 60min weights, 42min cardio

Hubby brought home a stomach bug from work, so we had to cancel dinner with my parents tonight and I'm going a little crazy since I haven't left the house since Thursday morning.

Sacto & Ceejay, welcome glad to have you join us.

Caroline, great job on the loss!

CEEJAY & SACTOLADY ~ yes, of course you can join us here; this is a pretty big group, but don't let that concern you. If you don't have time to do personals (answer or address each person), just say what you need/want to for now ...

SACTOLADY ~ while I haven't had WL surgery, I have lost weight & regained many times over my lifetime. I was a very successful dieter (just not maintainer). I have now learned that this must be a life-long healthy lifestyle change.

I was put on a diet when I was in my teens by my mother & her doctor; gained that all back with interest -- and that started my yo-yo history from there. I did lose weight many times and with many different plans: portion, calorie, low-carb more than once (ie high protein & Atkins), Fit for Life, Scarsdale, WW, Sandwich Diet (like Subway diet), and some others (not always good though), etc.

After all this, I became a bit jaded for awhile -- meaning very disappointed in the "dieting" process. So, I took a rest for some time while I reassessed and did research. When my weight was causing ill health effects, I knew I had to make some changes for myself. I decided that I would try to find out why I was over-eating in the first place, and work from there. I discovered that I was an emotional-repsonse eater, plus I needed a plan that I could stick with long-term becuz I wanted to end this yo-yo thing once and for all.

Now I am doing a Portion/Calorie based plan -- I love its simplicity and can enjoy foods I love. I have been on this longer than any other plan so far; and plan to eat this way for the rest of my life. It's a lot like the Diabetic plan which I had to follow to get my blood sugar levels in balance. I am watching my sugar & simple carb intake for that reason too.

When I was younger, I could get away with HP/LC plans, but now I have to eat more balanced as my blood sugar levels dip down too low if I don't eat enuff. So I focus on whole foods and complex carbs, but I do limit my fruit to 1-2 servings a day for now.

I think many of us here know exactly how you feel. I think the best thing about how I am eating/living now is that I can see myself eating this healthier way long-term. So, there's no beginning or ending, just one continuous healthier lifestyle now ...

hey all, and welcome newbies!

today started with lasagna (1 very small piece!) and will end with me being around pizza. i'm hoping to avoid it, but i will do some serious walking this afternoon and allow myself one piece if it's just too tempting! i plan to have chicken wrap and some fresh veggies before we go, and some oatmeal when we get back (these fit nicely into my calories for the day) to keep me from eating 6 slices of pizza, but we shall see. if it's dominos, it will be easy... if it's papa johns, i might cave!

Morning all. Welcome ceejay52 and Sactolady! We're always glad to have new relosers join in.

I had a lot of sodium at dinner last night (mmm...Spanish olives) and I'm up to 206.8 this morning. So it's lots of water for me today and a couple workouts this afternoon. So business as usual, then.

I am also planning to clean my house today, but first I have to make some breakfast and go to church. Have a great Sunday, everyone!

hey everyone! i modified a dessert and made the calories drop by over 100 per serving subbing in light cream cheese and whipped topping, as well as sugar free pudding, this dessert goes from 325 calories down to 210! also from 16g of fat to 9. i think the carbs are reduced by a bit too.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/C...-Mint-Parfaits

so so yummy.

Hi friends - yesterday I felt a little better than the day before. I am making slow progress - but, moving forward.

All the meds have made my tummy a little queezy. I have anti-nausea medicine which is helping. Today I am going to try to eat more healthful foods. Still they need to be lite-ish. No raw veggies yet - or spicy foods, or lots of fatty foods - or big meals. I was told to add these kind of foods slowly back into my daily plan. That's what I will do.

I am hoping that soon I won't need the heavy duty pain meds and can get by with tylenol. I am not rushing anything, however.

My dear little neighbor girls came over in their cheerleading outfits (5 & 7 years old) They did some cheers to 'cheer' me up. Loved it!

I need to weigh myself again at some point in time. I am not sure whether to wait or do it daily. My food has been off plan for a week.- but - I don't think it counts too much when I add in the surgery five days ago. I don't know quite what to do. I may wait until Wednesday... my official weigh in day. I do know, however, my main goal now is to be healing from my surgery. A couple of friends have reminded me my body has much to heal and readjust to. My head is usually spinning when it comes to food.

Welcome to the newest relosers to join in.

Thanks again, folks, for your wonderful support.

Welcome CEEJAY & SACTOLADY! It's always nice to have new friends join the gang. BEVERLYJOY, It's so nice to hear you're feeling better. Don't worry about your food just yet, just go easy on your body.

The scale finally moved! By tomorrow I should be where I was last week on the old scale. What was I thinking swapping scales so close to the beginning of this? I feel like I wasted a whole week, but I do have to pat myself of the back that I stuck with it. It would have taken that little to discourage me in the past and thrown me totally off track.

Saturday
coffee/lowfat milk
english muffin
2 eggs
mushrooms

apple

beef stew
french bread
butter

Yesterday was the first time I've used all my points but the beef stew and crusty bread were worth it! Back to normal eating today.

I hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend!