I didnt weigh this morning-- but I dont feel like Ive lost or gained. Just kind of holding on.

Many things feel like they are in a holding pattern right now -- I am waiting for eyes to heal, waiting for a few life things to settle down .... and eagerly waiting for spring.

My focus this week is make time for some cleaning/organizing. I am a bit behind because of my holiday vacation followed by the two surgeries. It is driving me batty and while not a healthy goal, it will certainly help my mood and mental health.

How are you doing? What will you focus on this week?

Stable. A bit disappointed that I have not lost, as I thought I had a very good week. It is getting harder and harder to lose.

I should follow my own advice, which is that goal behaviors make more sense than a goal weight. I guess I could be a size 2 if I ate nothing but salads and ran for an hour every day, but since I am not willing to do that, size 2 is not my goal. Honestly I am not up for much more restriction than I currently accept, and I feel my current diet is very good. I am not up for much more physical activity in the name of weight loss. So maybe I need to let the chips fall where they may and accept wherever my weight settles. IDK

I see my Dr. next month and it is a discussion I will have with him.

@Funkyart, what is the next milestone for your eye surgeries?

On 12/24/23 I posted that I had lost 75 lbs. Over the next year or so I bounced from the same 5 - 10 lbs. For one day I hit 191 and then went back up never to go back down again.

So basically no progress. During the last year I have increased my walking and decreased my calories from 1400-1500 down to below 1000. Nothing. My doctor gave me a sample of Ozempic but after reading about possible side affects I decided against taking.

I went and had a resting metabolic rate (RMR) test done to see how many calories I needed daily to maintain vital functions (breathing, circulation) while at rest. Turns out I need about 2,600 for basic maintenance. I had been starving myself and my body was refusing to give up the fat. This was a total surprise as I am 65 years old and live a pretty sedentary lifestyle. I can now look back and see I was barely functioning.

I have been slowly reverse dieting and getting my daily calories to the range of 1800 – 2000 over the past three months. After more than over a year I was at my lowest for a total of 81 lbs lost this morrning. So eating more appears to be working to break the long term stall. Fingers crossed. I am proud of myself for not giving up like I normally do.

Glad you found a path to continuing the lose weight, Justdoit! That has to feel great!

Mtn, my next step will be getting an eyeglass prescription in 4 weeks. I need to wait for the eyes to completely heal. Glasses are needed to fully correct my astigmatism (I still dont see well from my left eye), add prism and to provide for near vision.

@JustDoIt, brava for you!

I had a doctor who insisted that it is not really possible to stall in weight loss because you undereat; e.g. that the amount of metabolic adaptation, even when you are starving, is not that significant. I do believe though that there is a lot of complexity they don't fully understand. Whatever works!

Of course then, there is also this issue: One of my favorite examples of underestimating calories in restaurant food in the book was from an anecdote... (Marion Nestle, nutrition expert tells) about aNew York Timesreporter taking you and several other nutritionists out to lunch and asking you to estimate the number of calories in your dishes. Despite the fact that you were all nutritionists, you still found it hard to estimate the calories in the food and ended up underestimating by about 30 percent.

Yesterday I started acupuncture for my hip. I am on an aggressive schedule of twice a week for two weeks— then I leave for my extended vacation, so I hope it works! I swear this woman is magic. Maybe I should’ve gone to her as a first step.

I had a relaxing few days at Kripalu last week. I did yoga 1-2 times each day, did lots of reading, got a massage and a tarot card reading!

Glad you had a great trip to Kripalu, Sue! Reading, yoga and tarot sounds about perfect.

Hope the acupuncture works for you ... crossing fingers.

I wanted to add to my next milestones post surgery ... I have a follow up appt at Wills Eye in April. My local surgeon, SO and I all think it would be best for them to provide the refractory and next steps for all my other vision issues that were not addressed with the astigmatism lenses ... and Wills agrees but says it needs to be 90 days post surgery to allow for full recovery.

That will mean a longer time with wonky vision though I am going to work with some of my local peeps to determine if we can do something low cost for the in between.

This is all so complicated, funky! I hope it all works out well. I guess April is not all that far away, but might seem like it especially if your vision is wonky.

I talked to my derm office today and they are sending a referral for me to meet with radiology at a Boston hospital, which is more convenient than the Gentle Cure place. They could decide that it’s not appropriate for some reason, so I could still need MOHS, but I feel good about exploring this option.

I leave for FL in less than 2 weeks. DH won’t arrive until a week after I do, so BFF is joining me for week one. We have already looked into renting bikes, and have found a couple of yoga classes nearby. Another goal I have is to go for a walk after every meal (even just 15 min or so) since I keep reading about how good that is for you, but currently outdoor walking is too cold and too slippery around here. If I can get into good habits like that when I’m there, I’ll be able to continue at home because it will be (hopefully) less wintery here when I get back (March 21).

@JustDoIt Good for you for not giving up. Tell us more about the RMR testing - where was it done, how is it done, did your doc suggest it or did you request it, etc.

I saw something on Youtube and started researching. I had mine done at a wellness center. You can also get one at universities, health and weightloss clinics and some doctors offer them. Mine was cost $50 and took about 30 minutes breathing into a machine while laying still.

LOL Sue .. yes, I guess it is complicated. It does feel like a long time to wait but I get that my eyes need to fully heal before they can work on what comes next. I am managing ok now and focusing on the things that have improved but I would not be surprised if I get frustrated after another month.

Thanks for sharing, Justdoit (and for asking, Hhireno)! I have figured out my sweet spot for losing weight but it would be interesting to see if the testing targets the same.

Justdoit, interesting about your RMR and calorie needs. The worst thing that occurs when going too low in calories, imo, is loss of muscle, especially at my age.

Funky, it seems allowing for full healing is key, and it's good you have some organizing projects to keep you busy in the meantime. This time of year, in general, lends to antsy-ness. Just keep your eyes on the prize (pun intended). By the time the weather warms up, your vision will be so much better, and you'll be ready to enjoy it.

On my end, I'm holding steady. I escaped the Chicago weather last week, and the best thing was enjoying some sunshine. Of course, I ate good food, relaxed, and walked everywhere, but it was the warm weather that was restoring. Back home, our highs this week are in the 40s and 50s, so I'm planning on some long walks. Today, I took an hourlong afternoon walk, and it was just lovely. I passed a woman walking 3 dogs, and we chatted for a good 10 minutes while I pet her sweeties. I'm resilient when it comes to winter weather, but it's this time of year that gives me hope.

Glad you had such a nice escape last week, Feathers!

It is still cold here but warming up-- not quite to the 40s and 50s but there is so much more light in the day and that is making me hopeful as well :) I am looking forward to Spring!

Love new babies! Congrats, Aunt Hhireno!

I am wondering ... is anyone following intermittent fasting? I have been for about 2 yr (maybe longer) and it really worked well for me at first. I felt more energetic and it helped keep my calories in the 1000-1200 range which works well for me.

However, I keep reading how important it is to have protein in the morning. I wouldnt normally give it a second thought-- there is so much noise about what to eat/how to eat it, I tend to trust my body and what it is telling me-- but my BS is elevated and I guess that IS my body telling me that something isnt working. So.. I am going to try to add breakfast to my routine... specifically, a breakfast high in protein.

I am not a breakfast person-- I love breakfast foods but I tend not to want food first thing in the day or even hours after first thing. I typically wake up at 5am and drink water and coffee and that is it until the afternoon (sometimes noon.. sometimes 1pm or even 3pm) so this will be an adjustment for me... today I had oatmeal (5 g fiber/6 g protein) I can do better than that. I can surely increase the protein with another oatmeal and with nuts but I am looking for other breakfast options that arent fussy. Quick to prepare is key because I tend to be most busy in the am.

• I cant and wont do cottage cheese-- sorry, it grosses me out and I am lactose intolerant.
• I dont feel the need to stick to traditional breakfast foods ... in the past, I sometimes had bean soup for breakfast and that worked out fine.
• I am good with eggs in general but not really a fan of the smell of them in the morning unless they're in a sandwich that somewhat tempers the smell .. but a sandwich will quickly suck up a chunk of daily calories.
• I do love pb toast -- and I am sure that will be in the rotation. I need to survey my breads to find the best high fiber/high protein bread option.
• I loooove oatmeal -- all kinds and especially the earthy crunchy varieties that tend to be higher in both protein and fiber.
• I also loooove the twiggy bran cereals with fruit. They require me to take lactaid but can be in my rotation.

Do you eat breakfast? What do you all like for a high protein/high fiber breakfast?

Have you ever made baked oatmeal? It's made with an egg and milk for protein, and you can add chopped walnuts. I add a mashed banana and it tastes like banana bread. You can bake a batch in individual oven-proof dishes and all you have to do is pop one in the microwave to reheat.

Funky, a long time ago when my dad was pre-diabetic, his dr told him he had to start eating breakfast! he had not been a breakfast eater before that. I am sure there were other factors at play, but he did manage to improve his numbers and keep them there for many years…although later in life he did have to go on Metformin.

I have plain greek yogurt with berries and a sprinkle of walnuts and granola almost every day for breakfast, but I don’t usually eat until maybe 9 or sometimes even 10 am.

I like oatmeal too, and sometimes stir in chocolate protein powder and a spoonful of PB. Oh, and chia seeds. I add them to my yogurt too.

Thanks, Eileen - yes, I have had baked oatmeal but wasnt a big fan. I should give it a try again. I have partially cooked steel cut oats and then finished them in the morning which really cut down on the prep time. I'll have to dig up the process again.

Sue, yes.. I think the protein in the morning is especially helpful for managing blood sugar and glad to hear it helped your dad also.

I havent used protein powder or chia seeds-- but I do like oatmeal that includes amaranth which also has good protein. I'll have to experiment!

Thanks!

This is my favorite oatmeal.

Only 8 g of protein but my protein powder has 24 g and my PB adds a few more.

PS sometimes I have it for lunch.

There is a heart surgeon that keeps popping up in my IG and FB feeds. He lost 70 lbs about 20 yrs ago and has kept it off. One thing he said that stuck with me is one of the worst things you can eat is oatmeal. It's purpose is to fatten horses before the winter.

Years ago I was trying to lose some weight and it seemed no matter what I did, the scale did not budge. I stopped eating oatmeal for breakfast and the weight started to come off. Of course, I was adding brown sugar to my oatmeal because that's the only way I like it. So maybe that was why ;-)

--

My weight is holding steady. Lost the 1 lb from vacation. My problem is the same one I have after every vacation - I have a very hard time getting back into my workout schedule. I have been sick since I got home (2 weeks ago), so that's not helping. I was very sick for a week. No way I could have worked out. The last week I've mostly better but it's just lingering and annoying me. I planned to start up again this morning but I overslept. Trying again tomorrow. Next vacation is in 43 days (but who's counting!). Time to lose a few more lbs before that trip.

But…but…

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/start-your-day-with-healthy-oatmeal

Funky, I would just do a protein shake for breakfast. A good protein powder, greek yogurt, a bit of frozen fruit, and water as needed. It’s a good bang for protein but not a lot of calories.

My first meal is generally around 11, and it includes at least 35-40 g protein, and little to no sugar. It fills me up, and I rarely have cravings.

I eat oatmeal for lunch also ... of course, before today, I wasnt eating breakfast.

Jsk, I really think it matters what kind of oatmeal .. but I am not going to argue with the "experts". They do that enough between themselves. What do you eat for breakfast-- or do you eat breakfast?

I am back from vacation and happy to report that I held steady. I went back to Pilates yesterday and rode my bike today.

I hope that your eyes heal well, @Funkyart. Your progress sounds good. @Sueb20 I hope the acupuncture helps. If nothing else, it is wonderful and deep relaxation!

I eat breakfast around 9 or 10. It’s almost always plain Greek yogurt, blueberries and walnuts or steel cut oatmeal with blueberries or banana and pb. I will occasionally have avocado toast with two eggs. A big vacation splurge for me is eggs Benedict. I absolutely love it, but don’t make it at home. That would be dangerous.

Hmm, I don’t believe for a minute that oatmeal causes weight gain unless it‘s the instant processed kind loaded with sugar and preservatives eaten multiple times per day.

Just catching up with all your good behavior. I have been a complete and total slug ever since the big snowstorm and frigid weather. Ive gotten a few projects done around the house between visits to the kitchen.

I am bereft that my most favorite cereal is no longer available. i have had Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch with blueberries nearly every morning for ten years.

I feel like this is an opportunity to come up with a new healthy breakfast. Im curious which protein powder you like.

It looks like the weather may be improving so I hope I can get back to long walks.

Sue, that darn hip of yours! Lucky you to get away to somewhere warm.

Thank you all for setting a good example.

I eat breakfast around 10-10:30. Same thing every day - toasted english muffin with a little butter and blueberry jam. So zero protein. For lunch I usually have a scrambled egg, again on an english muffin. Some cucumbers on the side.

I am pretty sure I do not get enough protein. I don't like red meat. My perfect meal is pasta and vegetables.

I didn't mean that nobody should eat oatmeal. My feeling is everything in moderation. The reason I stopped eating oatmeal is it was just too many calories for me because I have to add a lot of brown sugar to make it enjoyable. And I don't even like very sweet things, but oatmeal without brown sugar is just not good to me.

I don't believe we should cut out anything from our diet that we love. That's just not sustainable. I love chocolate and even when trying to lose weight, I refuse to give it up. I have 2 small squares of dark chocolate every single night after dinner. I refuse to deprive myself of that.

And as we see, the experts can't agree. Also, they tell us something is healthy today and tomorrow it's terrible for you.

Make room on that slug sofa for me too, Ded. I am not happy about it but I have definitely been a slug.

I wanted to share this link for a quick way to have steel cut oats ready in the morning. I have followed this method before and I thought it worked great.

Overnight Steel Cut Oats Recipe (Easy & Creamy) | The Kitchn

ETA (since we posted at the same time) I totally agree with you, Jsk. We need to find what works for us. I also struggle with getting enough protein and it seems like that is the single best thing I can do to reduce my blood sugar. Oatmeal isnt loaded with protein so I have to look at some other options. I was surprised to find that if i choose my english muffin well, I can get at least as much protein and fiber from an english muffin.

Oatmeal is so controversial 😀 when I started wearing my CGM years ago my nutritionist told me it was usually the first thing people gave up after seeing blood sugar spikes. I did give it up for awhile- probably while I was losing weight 😂 but I subbed it with food I didn’t like enough to continue eating, so no success there.

I eat oatmeal a couple days a week now - but I add in 3 T of chia, flax and hemp seeds and a couple walnuts. My blood sugar doesn’t raise from this, due to all the fiber probably, but although it is satisfying at the time I don’t find it holds my hunger off super long. But I still think all those foods, and especially fiber, are good for me- and I like it- so I eat it a few times a week. I do best with satiety if I eat leftovers for breakfast and it’s a good way to get more veggies in my diet which is definitely my weakness. DH switched his whole breakfast routine when he wore the CGM and now he has eggs, an avocado, chicken sausage and yogurt with berries almost every morning. I can’t eat eggs and I hate yogurt, but I think this is a great breakfast choice. He was inching towards prediabetes and really tries to time his carbs before big exercise sessions.

I’ve gained a few pounds, it’s hung on long enough to call it weight gain not a fluke. Looking back through my garmin details I can see my average daily calorie burn has been about 350 less per day the last several months. So, that added up. I felt like I was eating ok, but more than I needed I guess. I’m sure once the weather turns I’ll get back into it and that will help. Trying to do a little something every day to stop the gain until then.

Sue- hope your acupuncture works.

Funky- glad your eye surgeries are going well.

This is similar to the recipe I make. I make half this amount. I use 1 1/4 c. milk to 1 cup of oats. Some of the recipes I've seen look too dry. I add additional milk at the table. You could use nondairy milk because it isn't really a cake/loaf bread so it can be easily tweaked.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/banana-bread-oatmeal/

These are the sausages we eat for breakfast. 60 calories and 5 grams of protein, so I think they’re a good protein source.

I sometimes get a chicken sage breakfast sausage from wegmans. It is decent. I think a chicken sausage patty on a high protein english muffin would work well for me!

Yes, Eileen .. that was my complaint re: baked oatmeal. It was dry and just not my thing. I'll give it another try.

I think a blood sugar monitor would be a good thing for me to consider. I'll discuss with my dr next week. We'll be discussing a few options.

Can you see the long post I made before the sausage picture one? I feel like some of my posts are not showing up?

I learned a lot from my CGM, as did my DH.

I can see it, legomom.

I want to say ”but sausage is evil” but that wouldn’t be nice. Like jsk said, experts can’t agree but it seems like I’ve been hearing more lately about the evils of processed meat like coldcuts and sausage. Too bad bc one of our favorite easy dinners is chicken sausage and veggies roasted in a sheet pan.

On a different note, we’ve been keeping frozen shrimp on hand and it’s been great for salads, stir fry, etc. Tonight I made a stir fry with shrimp, broccoli, red pepper, snow peas, and cabbage. Very colorful!

Sue, I eat Amylu brand chicken sausages from Costco. Yes, they’re a sausage, but I don’t consider them nearly as bad as, say, bacon or deli meats. If the ingredient list is relatively clean, I’ll eat it. No nitrates or other chemical preservatives.

That’s true, @Sueb20. I have heard that too. I give these a personal pass since I gave up lunchmeat😂

They don’t say nitrates, but they do say spices, which could be code for preservatives of some sort I guess. Only 2 carbs, so minimal sugar.

I recently added chia seeds and walnuts back into my steel cut oats, Greek yogurt and blueberries. I am now satisfied much longer, and eat lunch later. I lost 3 pounds since I started this in December. I cook 2 servings of oatmeal but use it over 4 days.

I also find avocado on toast to be filling and satisfying for hours.

The thing is, when someone says a food is healthy, or unhealthy, from what standpoint and in what context?

I can recall when anything that "low" in calories was a healthy alternative! Remember those 100 calorie pack of Oreo thins?

So it may depend in part on the person and their needs.

I think of juices as unhealthy, but if it's the only way someone gets Vit C, then a small glass is OK I guess. I try to minimize red meat, but for someone following keto if may be a good source of protein, etc.

... and not all things are equal

Yes, processed meats are bad ... but not all lunchmeat is processed and full of chemicals. There's bologna .. and then there's :

I also get premade chicken burger patties. They arent as good as my rosemary chicken burgers made with love-- but the ingredient list is white meat chicken, sea salt and black pepper. It's a short cut I can appreciate.

I think we all do the best we can with the info we have, our budget and time constraints. I know I'll never be perfect -- but I know I will continue to strive to make better decisions.

Funny re: Avocado toast. I have never had it. I love all the things-- toast, mashed avocado and about anything else you could put on top of it. I lived on hummus toast (assembled the same way) when I was a poor grad student. I think it is time I make avocado toast! and revisit hummus toast too (I liked it on brown bread with shallots and cucumber)! Neither have the protein I am looking to add for my breakfasts but I'd absolutely eat them for lunch!

To be clear, I wasn’t being judgy about the sausage and lunchmeat… they’ll probably tell us that bologna prevents alzheimers next month.

LOL Sue .. and lol I know it seemed like I was responding to lunchmeat bad. Sorry! I was responding to ALL the noise about what is bad.. what we should and shouldnt eat ..

It isnt all so black and white as the "expert" proclamations make it seem.

Also note: the Just Turkey is crazy expensive! You know what is cheap? Bologna.

Mtn, I agree. Everything can be good and everything can be bad.

BTW I would totally eat a bologna and cheese sandwich, with yellow mustard, on white bread. In fact I’m kind of craving it right now. Kraft singles? Okay maybe not that far.

I too have never had avocado toast. I love toast. I love avocados (whole or smushed). It's just not something I ever think about eating for some reason.

I think DH ordered it for breakfast on our last cruise (along with other things). He also had never had it before. Said it was very good. I should have tasted it, but didn't. Of course, not sure that would be better for me than my english muffin/jam breakfast.

I feel like every week there is a different report on coffee. It's good for you. It's bad for you. It's good for you again. Whatever. Never ever giving up my morning coffee permanently. The caffeine doesn't even affect me. It doesn't wake me up and I can go right to sleep after drinking an entire pot. On days I don't get coffee (busy, traveling, whatever), I don't get headaches or any other symptoms of not getting caffeine. But when home and not in a rush to get anywhere, my morning coffee time is my favorite time of the day.

i believe nitrates can be related to cancer? Not sure how much you would have to eat to be a problem. i am not big on sandwiches, especially lunch meats and I do not eat bologna. I too agree with everything in moderation. We occasionally eat maple turkey sausage and I like to use turkey sausage crumbles in fritatas. Caffeine sometimes bothers my stomach so i mostly avoid it. My fav morning drink lately is hot decaf green tea with pineapple juice and a dash of lime juice. I cook pretty healthy but we do eat out usually at least twice a week. I avoid ultra processed foods but that is not so easy at a restaurant. Usually on fridays we go to a yummy local restaurant and we allow ourselves dessert - but split it. 😊

I am not doing so well with eating breakfast in order to get some protein in the morning. I was never a breakfast eater-- not even as a kid (other than before swim meets) so it is not an easy behavioral switch... I ended up having breakfast just once this past week. I will keep working on it.

For those of us who have been working on weight loss for a long time, the slow and steady losses can be frustrating. We all know that is the sustainable way to lose weight but because it is slow, it can be hard to see how far we have come. I had a bunch of photos from this day in 2022 pop up on my One Drive Memories today-- and boy, I can really see the progress I have made. I believe I have lost about 30 lb since then (so yes, very slow!) and now I am pumped to lose the next 30! If you are feeling frustrated, I recommend looking at old photos. It is hard for me to see the changes week by week but so much more clear in photos from past years.

@jsk I agree on the dark chocolate. It’s my little afternoon treat.

Tina, yes, research has shown links between nitrates/nitrites in processed meats and certain cancers. When I became aware of this, I was in my days of making school lunches for my kids. I switched to nitrate-free deli meats for sandwiches. Kids are grown, and I don't care for deli meat, but I'm sure there are many types still available.

Funky, I hear you. In my daily routine, my first meal is around 11. When I'm traveling with others or staying as a guest, I struggle to abide by their breakfast routines. Perhaps you don't really need to make this change?

And great reminder about progress! That's wonderful. Most people slowly gain weight as they age. You're moving in the opposite direction, and slow and steady always prevails.