Bloated!

[LaffeyTaffey]

Hi everyone! So I haven't had the time to post anything in a looong time! I'm still going strong in nursing school and will be done at the end of September - so close, yet SO far! Now I have a confession to make... I've been eating cookies quite often lately. Sweets have always been my weakness and unfortunately I'm the best baker in my family. I wasn't too concerned about my weight, because a LOT of people gain a chunk of weight during nursing school. But I seriously do NOT want to see the scale go up 10, 20 lbs like my fellow classmates are experiencing. It's getting warmer out and my size 16 juniors shorts still fit just fine from last summer, better even. But I've been feeling bloated for this past week! I'm on my second day of vacation and I'm thinking I need to detox and walk my butt off to get back to feeling more like my normal self. And stay away from those damn sweets! Any advice guys? I'm thinking maybe the Pouch Test is what I need to reset my body and mind, but I'm not sure where to find the info even though I've been a member here for quite a few years lol. Thank you for any and all suggestions! I have so many better pics of myself, but this darn site won't let me upload them from my phone so I'll work on that too seeing as how I have nothing but time until May 4th.
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[Donald G]

I am wondering if you ever tried baking and replacing any sugar called for with something like Agave Nectar. As someone who doesn't bake I'm just curious and good luck to you with whatever direction you decide to go in.

[Kindle]

The only way to shake those sweets is to cut them out cold turkey. If you're the one baking the cookies then stop it! Take protein bars and several large bottles of water to school with you. If you run across any carb snacks, forgo them for a protein snack and/or water.

Whenever I need to detox and clear my carb cravings (like after vaca or holidays), I go back to pure basics. Protein and veggies ONLY until any regain is off. A few times I've even had to go to full on liquid "preop" diet where I do protein shakes only for 3-5 days.

[Sandra3]

Hey Ashley!!
So happy to see you back!! I was wondering about you!
Like Kindle said, cut down the sweets, it's the only way.
But I'm not really into the pouch reset thing because for me it will trigger more cravings and I don't want to fall into the yoyo diet story again. But we are all different! It seems for many it does work.

Bloated could be from too much carbs indeed. But if you replace sweets by more protein and things that will fill you up but with good nutrition (like almonds, or cheese, just be careful with portion) then you will have less cravings.

Also again for me, when I start to have cravings, it's a sign that my vitamin level is down, usually my iron. Blood tests did confirm it several times. I usually take more iron and at the same time do eat some chocolate, but one square of dark can stop my cravings. If I go into something else (like milk chocolate) I could be eating the whole bar in a blink and I don't even like mild chocolate that much. So it's not coming inside our house.

You are doing very good, and almost at the finish line with school. It's a huge accomplishment and you should be proud. My advise is to focus on a better nutrition, stop baking for a while, walk more and you will be fine. Your photos are awesome congrats Ashley!!

[Christie13]

Yup. Time to give up the sweets before you ruin all your hard work. Here is the info for the pouch reset. http://www.obesitycoverage.com/the-p...weight-regain/ Good luck!

[LaffeyTaffey]

Thanks everyone! I think perhaps I'll stick to my protein shakes for a while and see if that helps along with getting up and moving. I was thinking the bloated feeling was from those darn carbs so I'll have to go back to what I was doing before and not cut carbs out completely, but keep it to a teeny tiny portion with one meal a day.

[Shirl]

Ashley, if you feel bloated it could be that your carbs are high in fat and sodium too. Drink a half a cup of celery juice and that may help with sodium and water retention. It helps me for sure!

So if here are a few hacks that I did to cut down on my sugar/carb gravings after Christmas, I chose high fiber sweets like half of a bran muffin, Trader Joe's a breakfast biscuit that has slight sweetness, but it is high in fiber. If I had a hankering for something sweet I drank Good Earth Tea, I think once I drank like four mugs, I also made my own protein shakes with lots of ice and added sugar free caramel or vanilla coffee flavorings... luckily cravings are somewhat in check currently.

You got this!

PS! you look amazing! such a pretty young womYn you are! Hugs to you and best of luck with finals!