Tammy5422's Journal, 22 Jan 14

try to eliminate sugar & wheat/I lost 48 lbs in less than 3 months w/o sugar /wheat 

Ok... so going to try get my story on here so I have a record. I ask that you don't judge me as this is really hard to share. If you don't like anything I have to say on this site, please don't read. Opening up about my weight is really hard. If you want to support me then thanks. I can't thank my fiance, Craig enough for his support over the last 6 months. I would not have been able to get through this if it was not for him, I love you Craig. On June 22 2013 Craig and I joined the gym to lose weight for our wedding on July 19, 2014. I weighed in at 327, which is really hard to admit, and it's the first time I have put it out there. I have wrote down the weight everytime I got on the scale. On July 25th 2013 I was at the YMCA and felt a pressure in my chest and felt I was going to throw up. I got out of the hot tub and then the pain started. It was like I was being stabbed in the chest with a knife. A few minutes later I was having issues breathing and it was all I could do to talk. I was taken to the ER where they ran some tests and found an old cat scan that had shown quite a few gallstones that I had never been told about. It turns out I was having a gallstone attack, very painful. At that point I was down 7 pounds.I was put on a strict diet of as little fat as I could get to, which I managed at 8 grams of fat a day (DOCTOR SUPERVISED) I got into a surgeon and we decided that because my gallbladder was health (i just had lots of stones) we would try hold the surgery off so I could lost more weight to make the surgery more sucessful and not have to have open surgery. I was seeing the surgeon every two weeks. It was really hard as there is not much online about what to eat for this, and what I did find they seemed to contradict everything I read. I went to a dietation and they were not much help either, just got told low fats, but no one could really tell me what to stay away from. I found somethings, no oils, butters, cailflour, white vinagar. So I had to try things and find out. I will not lie the first two months were HELL!! I cried a lot as I had to cut out all pop, junk food and other stuff, as well as cut my portions down by over half. I know I was not eating health before. But as time went on I got a list full of things that I can eat, even some "junk food" for when I just needed something sweet. The weight started to literately melt away... will try post the chart later. Before long I was losing to much... over a pound a day and I had to increase the calories to slow it down, even though I did not want it to slow down. On January 6th I had the surgery. As of that date I was down 72 pounds. The last two weeks have been really hard as I am in a ton of pain and had a couple complications. I gained a bit of weight due to water retention and one of the complications, BUT am proud to say that as of today I am down 80 pounds, I was at 86 but gained 10 and have lost some of that back. This is my first real set back so I am trying to give myself a break and not be to hard on myself. I am still on the 8 gram of fat diet right now and will be for 6-8 more weeks but am hoping I can keep it up after, maybe go up to 15 grams after. In the past I have tried many many ways to lose weight but have never been able to lose more then 20 pounds. This is the first time I have been able to lose weight. I feel much better about myself and am hoping once I can put the surgery behind me I will be feeling better in my body. The one big thing I have learned from all of this is I was and probably still am to a point an emotional eater. I have had to find another way to deal with this as I could not eat. It was hard and I will not lie there were a lot of tears, but I have learned a new way to deal with my stress and emotions so I am hoping I can continue. I have also learned that most of the ways I have tried to lose weight in the past have been very unhealth and I am lucky that I did not do harm to myself. I am going to use this site to record everything that I do. 

congrats, On a truly remarkable accomplishment!!!!!!!! 

Thanks. I must say it was not easy. I was dreaming for 100 by the wedding in July, that's 20 pounds away... just have to recover from this flipping surgery and you can find me back in the YMCA 5 days a week, unless we decide to do an outdoor activity instead.  

I was in the middle of lots of weight loss back in December when I had a gallstone attack. I finally had surgery on January 7th, and I have just now (in the last few days) been able to return to workouts. I understand your pain and the challenges greatly! I hope your recovery continues and you are able to get back to it soon!  

I had my gallbladder taken out in 2009 and I still struggle from time to time with pains even though it has been out for 4 1/2 years! Any suggestions on how to lose weight will be great to hear! My cravings are so bad every day for everything from sandwiches to chocolate to pizza. I gained most of my weight this past year after my second engagement broke off, I was happier but I put it all into my food. And now I need food suggestions on what to eat so I don't get bored! 

Thanks for sharing guys. Mattheblake, I can't wait to get back to it, I have a few complications and should be able to get back to it in 6 weeks. Elizatayl, I after all these years have come to realize that I am one of the few that need to watch the fat not the calories. I am working on posting a recipe for soup that I have pretty much been living on the last 4 months. Its really good and you can reheat it. I found the first 2 months really really hard. I have had a few mouthfuls of coke since July 25th... I use to drink 1-2 cans a day. We use to eat out most days, pizza, burgers, even salads that were "good" for you when they were not. Try looking at the fats in foods. I am by no means an expert but it seems to work for me... It is really scary if you look at labels for the fats. By fiance is going to try get down to 25 grams a day if he can. I am currently just under 8 grams but that is with a doctor watching me closely. 

That would be great if you could post the soup recipe! The hardest and most "bored" I get is sitting at my desk at work. Luckily I have a lot of support right now but it is hard not to just go to that vending machine! But, thank you for the suggestions! I will start paying attention to the fat intake and the calories. I know! "Salads" that are "good" for you. I'm lucky in the fact that I don't like half the things on a salad so I mostly just eat lettuce and cottage cheese with some bacon bits. But i'm also unlucky because I could be adding things like different veggies but i'm very picky. I have up'd my veggie and fruit intake by it seems 90% since I started caring again. I went out and bought a bag of salad Sunday and it's gone after today! So not i'm going to buy 2 bags! LOL! And i'm starting to eat romaine and spinach, not just iceburg lettuce. I'm starting to look at it as a growing experience, every day or every other day I try something new that is healthy because how can you know until you try it. I have also started a new workout called "Barre" it's on YouTube and I could only get through 1 rep of all the different moves but i'm still feeling it and it's been 12 hours since I did it! It's great! My goal is by the end of next month to be able to go through all 3 reps. Once you see it on YouTube you'll see what I mean.