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A new week beckons 🙂 London was fab, a break that was very much needed by both of us. The hotel was very nice, the staff were fantastic, couldn’t do enough to help but some of the guests were just entitled dickheads. You know something is amiss when you say ‘thank you’ and the member of staff looks completely surprised. There were film crews there - one was something about a reality music show shown on MTV/Paramount possibly Love and Hip Hop Atlanta?? Not my thing so wasn’t too fussed. Did chat to a lovely crew lady though who filled us in on what was happening. Also there was some setting up to do regarding some additional Mission Impossible 8 shooting. Apparently the hotel was used for a lot of interior shots 🤷‍♀️ Didn’t see anyone famous though! Anyway, I was complemented on a couple of my outfits which gave me a real buzz! Having my makeup done was actually a lovely thing. It really helped that the MUA was very approachable and actually listened. The Pet Shop Boys were as brilliant as ever and a wonderful time was definitely had! Hubby bought me a commemorative PSB sweatshirt which is a XXL and fits like sausage skin. So, my next goal is to fit in to it comfortably. I think it’s definitely losing a couple of dress sizes 😬 (if not more) I’ve added 3.5lbs to last week’s weight, which isn’t bad, considering. I have my dietitian appointment in 3 weeks and I’m hoping to get that gain and a few more lbs off by then. I never thought I would miss protein shakes and protein yoghurt quite so much! I hope everyone has an awesome week ahead Onwards and Downwards!

I second the warm / hot drinks. Herbal tea and broth were amazingly helpful, especially in the first week or two. My team also gave me the go-ahead for sugar free electrolyte drinks if I found the water wasn't doing it for me. I had to water down the electrolyte drinks to get past the taste anyway, lol. The first couple of days were rough, but after that I found the water started to satiate my thirst much better. It might just be that right after recovery, our bodies are so strung out they need time to readjust to everything -- including water. I was on chewable multis and liquid calcium/d3 from day 3 -- the first two days, they told me not to bother with either. I had bought a big bottle of the liquid calcium & d3 thinking it would be the easiest during recovery, and because it was available at my local drugstore. It was awful, it burned going down and for a good half hour afterwards. I was determined to use it all to 'not waste' but but I think by day 4 or 5 I was ordering chewable calcium / d3 because I couldn't take it anymore. Still took over a week to get the calcium/d3 chewables. Don't be afraid to reach out to your team about changing things up if they're not working for you.

never tried egg white powder but what about egg whites? Like in a carton? I eat those every single day. I get a 6pack at Costco in cartons and they last me about a month.

Most over the counter versions of PPIs are 10mgs & people will swallow several of those a day regularly without thought. I’m on 20mg Nexium. Took that dose randomly for years before my surgery & now every morning since my surgery so 5 years. None of my doctors are worried so… It wears off some nights (around 10:30-12:30). Generally I just go to sleep but on odd times I’ll get up & chew a couple of Quick Ease 😁. I think if I had to start taking 40mg I’d worry. I didn’t know what was wrong with me at first with the Zantac but a neighbour had one of those pharmacological books with every med with the brand names, uses & side effects listed & there they were. I agree they have to list the side effects just in case. You never know how any pre existing condition or other medication may react to the drug for you.

Checking in! I started my liquid diet today and I'm feeling fine so far. I did initially mess up this morning because I'd bought some Equate lesser protein shakes (13g/protein rather than my standard 30) and failed to realize that the one I drank this morning had 20 grams of SUGAR and 50 grams of CARBS! In one little bottle; I was very angry at myself for not checking the nutrition facts better - I got a 24 pack of them, too! *Facepalm* Thankfully I still had some of my Max Protein 30mg/Protien & 1g of sugar ones, so that's what I had for lunch and 'dinner'. I'm waiting on my sugar-free jello to set up - Here's hoping it hurries! I hope you other gals are doing well! @Rosslyn @Shop Girl

I've heard stories of ppl who go to other countries for facial plastics..then they can't get home because they don't match their passports! Id''s should be ears, they're more reliable for identification than fingerprints, or start putting fingerprints on id's with scanners at airports IF you can get past the civil liberties issues. I personally am waiting until I hit my goal to avoid the constant hassle. Although, I met up with a friend last week after not seeing her for a few months - she walked right past me! I had to call out to her she said she didn't recognize me at all. So, I suppose I'll need to get id's done soon.

Ohhh, this makes me feel so much better. Internally, almost as soon as I posted my inner voice was all "Stop complaining, everyone stalls, nobody wants to hear it," but the rest of me was just needing something to break through the deadened emotions with some logic & care. Even now I feel a little guilty for taking up people's time with all this, lol. @MrsFitz, yes, feeling much better after this weekend, thank you! Feeling back in the positive range again. I think being able to get outside to nature this weekend (more than is possible for me during the week) definitely was a boost. Looking back, I think I was afraid to feel the scary negative emotions & worries, so I just kinda shut everything down. Not the healthiest, but everything is get-throughable.

I wish I had taken some 'before' pictures so that I could see the great changes. I still don't think I see the real me in the mirror at times so wish I could look at how fat (I can now say that about myself 😄) I was pre-op. I did switch to decaf for the two weeks pre-op as read it online but the hospital were giving me (disgusting) coffee the day after the op and continued to offer it to me every day I was there but my tastebuds couldn't hack it so I went with herbal tea each time. Now, a year later, coffee is no problem and have it running through my veins. I also made a batch of liquid soups for the first week and froze them in 150ml containers so that I wouldn't have to worry about it, just needed to add protein powder at the time, plus I prepped the veg for a second batch of soup and froze them so it meant I just had to put them in the slow cooker with a stock cube, no standing around peeling, chopping etc.

I wanted to post a quick update. I had my birthday and definitely didn't follow my plan and the next day was my friends wedding so that day wasn't much better. But I've regained my focus and I'm back to what I should be eating. I'm still losing weight and major slip ups aside. I'm not going backwards.

The first step is to admit it, which you're doing. We all get in moods where we slip. The trick is to catch it, admit it, and start to correct it. You can still fix this, but you say you're not wanting to. So are you just wanting to vent about what you're doing to yourself or do you want to actually start fix it? If you want to vent...ok. But there's not much we can say or offer you if you truly don't want to start over and correct it. If you want to correct it, then we have something to work with. You know the rules, you know the diet, you know what you can and can't eat, drink, and do. You know you need to focus on protein, lower carbs, get in veggies and healthy fats, get in your fluids, cut out alcohol right now, cut way down or even out (for now) salt and sugar. Move your body more. Swim, walk, ride a bike, work out, do things that increase your movement more than you normally do every day. Cut way down (or out for now) soda. Start over and get yourself back on track and ease yourself back into things. You're only 4 months out from surgery, so you're still in the sweet spot of losing weight. So you can still turn this around and get back to dropping weight. If that's what you want to do. Again, if you just want to vent about it but not actually change it, there's not much else I can contribute. You've lost 41 pounds, and that's fantastic over 4 months. Remember your "why" for doing the surgery to begin with. Remind yourself what this meant to you and get back to that and really decide for yourself if that "why" still applies to you.