Embrace your fatness

I am not ashamed of the person in this photo. This was taken 7 years ago before my RNY surgery. She will always be a part of me. There have been studies conducted which show that obese people have different satiety levels than average individuals. In other words, it takes more food to make us full. I had a significant re-gain, starting about 7-8 months after I lost half of my body weight in 2008-2009. I am through beating myself up and feeling sorry for myself. Although I was approved last year for a revision,  (band over bypass), I am finding what works for me to lose the weight on my own. I am not ashamed and hope to share my story with others. 

Observation

I am currently doing the opposite of what I have been told throughout the years by medical professionals, etc, regarding diet. One fat Doctor told me to go on Weight Watchers. Another after I told him I had Roux-RNY commented so that didn't work for you and asked what happened? The nutritionist gave me the diabetic diet years ago, which was low protein and fat and high carbohydrate. I went on Weight Watchers, Diet Workshop, Fit for Life, the G Index diet, the Carbohydrate Addicts diet, the Physician's Weight Loss Center diet, the Protein Power Diet, and the Atkins Diet. I'm not sure if that is all of them. This started when I was a child, Each diet left me fatter. After my WLS, I had slowed my metabolism so much that small amounts of healthy food made me gain weight and I was working out. So we each need to find what works for us. There is not a universal diet or else everyone would be thin. I change up my diet a few times a year and I am finding the plant- based eating suits my metabolism, although I do have trouble digesting vegetables and fruits, due to my surgery. 

1/2/2016 Lunch

Vegetarian wrap, whole wheat. 

Food

I am continuing on my quest to lose weight. We all need to find out what works for us and forget about the cookie cutter approach, pardon the pun. One diet cannot possibly work for everyone. As a WLS patient I have been following the protein first 3 small meals for years and it's not working for me. I started the plant based eating about 2 weeks ago. In   Iess than a week I dropped 4.5 pounds. I don't expect the loss to continue at this rate. I am making all my meals. For breakfast I make oatmeal or Ezekial French toast with flaxseed. For lunch yesterday I had an Amy's vegetarian meal. I have a salad I make every morning for a snack and I make my own smoothies. Then I have fruit or carrots and hummus for a snack. I also like vegetable root chips. I still get hungry between meals but I manage. For dinner, I have had chili; green beans and homemade butternut squash; spinach  kale and feta casserole; and golden potatoes with broccoli, cauliflower and green beans, That recipe I just threw together. Tonight I will probably have lentil soup since I have not had time to soak and cook my beans. And I will have mashed sweet potato and vegetables. This morning I will make oatmeal with blueberries, almond slivers and flaxseed. For lunch I will  have another Amy's black eyed peas and rice and veggie meal. I'll bring my homemade smoothie and some  hummus for snacks. This is a lot of work but I enjoy cooking. 

Food

I continue with this new way of eating. I am so sick of being surrounded by fattening food at work. It is so hard this time of year. Candy, bagels, boxes of chocolate, homemade fudge, pizza, cupcakes, potlucks, ugh. I just want it all to go away. Good thing I have a lot of willpower. Yesterday I made another type of smoothie in the morning and brought my lunch and snacks. Yesterday's menu was the following: I had Quaker Oats for breakfast. I add flaxseed, raw almonds, a homemade raspberry purée, sugar free maple syrup and almond milk. I made a smoothie for a snack,  unsweetened cocoa, 2 bananas, 1 tsp vanilla, a little peanut butter powder, water, hem seeds and almond milk. That was my AM snack and it was tasty. For lunch I had part of an Amy's vegetarians meal. It had beans, veggies and brown rice. I was actually full. For dinner I had a spinach and kale flip. Today I will have the same breakfast, leftovers from dinner with my homemade winter squash and a salad. I have an apple and hummus and baby carrots for a snack.