I had an awful sore throat the past week. I was DESPERATE and found some relief with some Riccola brand cough drops. It said no sugar added so felt okay having them. I didn’t care so much about calories as my teeth- I can;t stand eating hard candy and the way it makes my teeth feel and the though of all that sugar water sitting there.. yuk. I am a bit OCD about my teeth… Anyway!

I was sucking on these throat lozenges throughout the day and then picked up a bag of no sugar added Werther’s candy for a change of pace. They were pretty good. I must have has about 10 lozenges/candies over the day. My throat was killing me. Later in the day my stomach was cramping and gurgling, etc. it was really weird. I suddenly had memory of when I hate the Russell Stover sugar free caramel chocolate things once- and I went and checked label of the cough drops. YIKES!!! They contained Isomalt ( a sugar substitute) which ” can have a laxative effect” . They are right. More than that was awful cramping.

This was a really bad experience. I will never eat again. Beware! I am not sure if it was the quantity or if I am just sensitive. Heed these warnings however.

Drink water.
Every one knows that your supposed to drink 6-8 8 oz. glasses of water a day. If you are significantly overweight or obese you need to drink more. Drinking lots of water (and don’t over do it! ) will help flush out all the toxins and crap your body is trying to get rid of while you are losing weight.

My last visit to the Canadian Bariatric clinic was mid October- and when I was there is it was just for stress test, so i haven’t really talked to anyone for about 6 weeks. i think this is WAY too long. Too much time to go without any support or encouragement.
I got into a real funk over the weekend and saw the scales go all over the place. Was at 284- a record low- Sunday morning and wearing those Lands End size 22 jeans and almost wore them out but thought they wouldn’t be that comfortable on a long drive. The yesterday I put them on and felt like a giant sausage about to BLOW and went on scales and it read a DEPRESSING 291. So was a 7 lb increase in 24 hours?? Not sure how that happened.
So no pictures for right now until I am at 285.

Going to the Canadian Bariactric clinic later this week. Not suyre what they can do for me- I pretty much KNOW what is going on:
- not keeping proper daily food journals ( okay- I have stepped this up last few days
- Not eating first thing in the morning. I was religious about this up until recentely.. I get up and get a tea and sit at PC for a bit and then next thing i know an hour has gone by. I did bring an apple with me last couple of times and being more conscientious of it.
- eating food that I know will set me in a tail spin, I made the kids some Advent Calendars- suing these Hershey kisses and other Candy and I have been grabbing a chocolate kiss here and there the last couple of days- maybe 5 or 6 in last 4 days .. not a big deal but it makes it harder to turn down other foods. I have FORCED myself not to buy those Almond Meringues at Costco that only have 30 calories. I LIE to myself that i will not eat half the box in one day.. So I just do not buy.
- Sloppy with food counts. Like eating 90 grams protein and 30 grams protein. I have REALLY gone off meat and can’t seem to make it up other ways. I normally only eat chicken and no red meat but even chicken hard. I am relying heavily on meal Replacement bars to get protein. I will have to make a point of making protein shakes with fruit in the mornings from now on.

Any words of encouragement from you guys would be great!

Seem to have hit bit of a wall. I have been 289 FOREVER… it seems. I want to be at 275v by Christmas and will have to really step it up.

I am getting bit sloppy- not journalling my foods, forgetting to eat in AM or putting it off… There was an Almond meringue Incindt last week. They have these Almond Rocher cooke=ies ( more like a toasted merigue) at Coscto for 5.99 and they have 60 calories for 2… great except if you con yourself into eating 20.

Made huge quantitites of apple crisp last week… Noitve pasta portins are getting bigger and having 8 meatballs instead of 6. Stuff like that.

I think journalling is really key, Bit of a slippery slope whe you stop.
I did try a really good new meal replacement bar 9 tho might be a snack bar) I got at Loblaws 2/3.00. They are the Pria Brand and shockingly good. I like as much or more than the Equate Caramel peanut ones.

On top of everything else that is going on- we are finally settling in after our move and I am re-doing our master bedroom. The woman who lived here before us was a widow- and it shows :( . I am shocked but who can really find great bedroom furniture online They have a HUGE inventory and a nice “grown-up” look. No more IKEA stuff for us!

My current bedroom is VERY country - not shabby chic good kind of country- but more like country kitchen country:-) Think hens and roosters. In part of my new ay of living I am going for a serene spa/bed and breakfast look. Will do walls in a pale celery green with clean white accents . Very simple. Also looking at a green and white quilt and a new headboard for our bed. The bed is king sized so have to get something subdued.

My new weight loss goal is to be BELOW 270 lbs by Christmas. That’s is about 20 lbs to lose in next 6 weeks. Might be tough but my incentive will be the new headboard .If I get down to 270 that will have been 50 lbs since I started Sept 1. 2007 and want to get something really nice!

Well, as I lose weight I am feeling better and better, more energy and bounce. I keep meaning to take up Yoga ( again ) and do more hiking. We live in a rural area with tons of public hiking trails and I do like to hike. One problem I have had in the past is my back aching after a while. I can keep up with everyone except my lower back really starts to hurt after a while. I have found that a really GOOD pair of hiking boots can make all the difference.
I was looking at both hiking and hunting boots that are offered at online stores and was amazed at the science that goes into constructing a pair.

I prefer Hiking both Converse and Wolverine brand for overall comfort and can recommend these to some one wanting a decent pair and worried about cost and comfort. I am going to put these on my Christmas list his year ;-)

I have watched the TV show, The Biggest Loser … barely… twice now.
Last night one of the contestants GAINED 17 lbs in one week. First- how in the world can that happen? I also saw something about him doing it on purpose? Why and how? I must be missing something. He said some mumbo jumbp about sodium and water .. 17 lbs???? Is he postioning himself for huge loss next week?? Then doesn’t he risk being booted out? I don’t get it!!

I think I hate this show. I hate the trainers.. I hate the concept. Are they teaching these people how to maintain at all? That is key. I know how to lose weight- I just don’t know how to NOT gain weight…

I tried this out last week,Calorie King Software. They have a free download so you can try for 7 days. Was that hard to set up- You can input how many calories a day you are aiming for - and one nice feature- how many grams of protein, fiber, fat , etc . The daily counter lets you drag and drop ZILLIONS of food items.. everything you could possible think of- including fast food and other restaurants. You can also create you own list of commonly eaten food so you don;t have to wade through all the items. I think once you set up completely would be easy to use.

I do prefer just using pen and paper with simple spreadsheet- If people ask I can post on the site. I use labels and info a good food counter book that I bought 10 years ago. I don’t eat in restaurants much so suits me fine. I am sure a medium apple has same amount of calories now as it did in 1997!

Made a page for my charts and graphs tracking my weight loss. I will update every 2-4 weeks depending on when I go to Doctors.

Here is link:
http://www.bariatrictalk.com/my-weight-loss-progress-charts/

Yes, i am quite pleased by my progress- i am feeling real hope here. I am still not convinced that something was wrong with scale at doctors.

I have been following the 1500-1800 calorie a day diet requested by Canadian Bariatric Clinic ( Dr. Sean Wharton) . Also increased fiber and proteins. It has been very easy. Not sure because the diet is curbing cravings or because of drug but it has been very easy.
Almost like when i quite smoking 17 years ago using the patch- was shocked at how easy it was.

I hope I am not getting false sense of security. I am still apprehensive. I put on my “control” jeans. I call them “control” because I am going to put these on every week or so to see how they fit and take picture in them every month. I am putting photos in My Weight loss Gallery.

So I have been doing very well- eating lots of yogurt, fresh fruit ( mostly apples) and the occasional meal replacement shake. They can be a bit chalky but adding a handful of strawberries makes a HUGE difference. I have been buying whatever is on sale or cheapest so maybe that would make a difference.