ms.sss

You just gave me flashbacks of my school days. 😬🤣

Lololololzzz The Kid did that to my arms too! Once upon a time she said wished she had a sleep toy as soft and “melty” (her word, not mine) as my arm flaps! Lololololzzz Since the arm lift though, she has diverted her attention to my butt and will often poke me there to get her squishy fix 😂 She’s weird.

I’d like you all to meet my ginormous salad. Realized I was pretty starving at 2pm so threw together one of my kitchen sink salads. lettuce, carrots, cucumber, cheddar, grape tomatoes, canned chicken (was out of regular chicken), leftover falafel ball, hummus, pepperoni slices, some sirracha and, of course, some vinaigrette: 446 calories. Ate about a 1/3 of it...as usual, will eat the rest later, but probably sans the canned chicken as it kinda gave me the icks (and if the falafel gets too soggy later, will probably toss that too)

On the bright side, since we’re all pandemic-ally holed up these days, you’ll be all cleared up by the time its all over ❤️ I think it would have been nice to do all my weight loss during lockdown/semi-lockdown, lol. I’m semi-bitter that Im smaller now with a bunch of cute clothes I can’t wear cuz i have nowhere to go. 😂

The recommendation will vary from surgeon to surgeon and on the extent of your own healing progress. I was told I could walk as much as I am able, starting Day 1. Which I did, every day. Was cleared for ALL exercise, including weight lifting, at the 1 month followup (though didn’t really get into it, aside from my daily walks, until about 3 months...not that I wasn’t physically able, just wasn’t really in the mood until then)

+1 We are not one size fits all and everyone will respond differently to the seemingly endless amounts of programs out there. To the OP: Find what works and try not to beat yourself up if you aren’t fitting squarely into a program or whatever. So long as there is a downward trend over time (and your labs come back fine), then its all good. Edited to add: of course what works today may not work as effectively a couple months from now. The challenge is to recognize when to maintain the status quo and when its time to re-evaluate and make adjustments.

4oz of food EVERY 4 HOURS seems like alot at 5 weeks? I don't think I was getting 4 oz of food A DAY by until about 3-4 months (though I was probably only hitting my 60g protein goal maybe 75% of the time) Just to clarify: is your nutritionist asking you to consume 4oz of food every four hours? or 4 fl oz of protein shake or similar? Edited to add: I looked up what I what I was eating at 5 weeks, and I it looks like I was hitting my protein goals, but in the form of protein shakes. I recall I was going through a food aversion thing around that time and was eschewing solid foods...and I had no problem drinking liquids, so that's what I did. My food log screenshot at exactly 5 weeks:

You know, now that I think of it, I did have a bout of acne early on...though I think mine happened around the 1-2 month mark, lasted for a month or so (I remember because I have xmas pics to prove it, lol). I can't really say what the reason behind it was, but the whole toxin/hormone release during rapid fat loss would make sense... Congrats on your upcoming surgery, though! Good Luck ❤️

Yummmmm i love eggplant in all its uses....How did u prepare the eggplant? Breaded or no?

I had to google what kimbap was 😂. Now i’m gonna try making it for the fam! looks delish regardless

Today’s lunch: 3/4 cup Cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds, candied ginger w/ salt flakes, black pepper and cayenne powder #yum 244 calories (ate it all)

Hey now...no one said “immature”, lol I like to say young at heart! 😂😉❤️ (still love ya)

^^ If there was any one single maintenance-after-weight-loss tip I would wholly advocate, it is this. Having an established “red-line” as a warning to re-evaluate your habits works to keep you on track (or get back on track). This red-line doesn’t have to be a number on a scale: it can be a certain size of jeans, number of km’s run without feeling winded, body fat percentage, etc. Nobody gains 25 pounds so fast that they didn’t see it coming. Nor will they go up 2 pants sizes overnight. You’d have to get to +5lbs or current tight pants first. It is so much easier to drop those 5lbs earlier vs the 25lbs later if one is keeping track.

I was the opposite...zero nausea nor gas, but pain/soreness for about 3 weeks. Not sooooo much pain that I needed to take any pain meds, but enough to be annoying.

@Betty1971: After reading hundreds of posts about people’s experiences the first couple weeks, there is a really a huge difference in calorie consumption across the board. In time though, we all pretty much get to the same levels eventually. Some take longer than others. You and I have basically the same starting stats...and if ur username is reflective of ur birth year, then we are similar age as well (I’m 5’2”, started at 235lbs at the 2 week pre-op diet, 49yrs old). Those first couple weeks I was less than 500 cals a WEEK. My doc just said do the best you can. I got to 500 cals a day by the 3 month mark-ish. I ended weight loss phase at around 750-ish cals a day. My labs came back (and continue to come back) with no worrying issues. Like most, you and your stomach will slowly be able to take in more and more. Im not sure you want to force it so soon. But im not a nutrition expert nor your doctor. Your own doc/nutritionist will give you a more reliable response. As for the “control” issues, I suppose as long as its not negatively affecting your health/mental health nor well-being/quality of life, then there ain’t nothing wrong with being a little anal, lol. Sincerely, A fellow anal-type person ❤️

Im a sleeve, but i’ll throw in my experience in here too, if that’s ok. I notice that when I stop paying attention to my weight (daily morning weigh-ins), and/or stop tracking what I eat in terms of total calories, and to a lesser degree slack off on exercise, my weight will start to creep up. I went on an extended vacay 4 months into maintenance last year and came home 5lbs heavier. Went back to my routine and lost it in about 2 weeks. This year, I gained 6lbs between Jan-Mar. It took me about 4 weeks to lose it. Since the beginning of pandemic to about mid-summer, I gained back those 6 lbs. It’s been 4 months since “trying” to lose those lbs, and i still have 1lb left to get back to my “normal” weight. Now, i don’t think its because my sleeve isn’t working anymore nor has my metabolism changed in any significant way. I am just not as “gung-ho” about losing the weight as I once was. I know I could have dropped the extra lbs in a much faster rate by eating less calories, and I have no doubt in my mind that I could do it, I guess just don't want to try that hard. So that’s not my sleeve losing it’s effectiveness, its just me having different priorities. I will add though that I do have a certain weight (+5lbs) that triggers my “ok, time to ease up on the calories” mode. So long as I keep going into that mode when I reach a certain weight, then I suppose I’m all good. I also admit though that I am contemplating upping my acceptable maintenance weight by 5lbs. 120lbs is basically effortless to maintain for me it seems, and 115lbs involves more frequent adjustments. We’ll see... Sorry this was long! P.S. I’m 2+ years out from wls surgery

Age is just a number. I’m 49 and feel (and act) like I’m 17. 😂 I had mine done last year and feel fab. Of course, if you feel its not for you, then it’s not for you. But if the only thing that is holding you back is the number of years under your belt (and NOT health issues nor finances), then my insignificant suggestion is to go for it...plastics is a game changer. Good Luck!

My extreme coldness of the first few months has transitioned to just cold-ish. I do notice that I tend wear more clothes/layers than my never-fat friends/family throughout ALL the seasons. I’m 2+ years out. Right now, my thermostat reads 23.5C (74.3F) and while the Mr. is wearing shorts, and the other 2 are wearing t-shirts, I am wearing jeans, a hoodie (with the hood on, currently), and woollen socks and sitting on the couch under a blanket...and i still feel a little on chilly side...

I figure if you can achieve the same macros with less expensive and equivalent/similar products then its all good. I am not familiar with Robard products but it is in all liklihood that it DOESN’T provide any extra benefits from other similarly manufactured products.

Yay! Excited for u!!

I followed this one: Super simple, but cooking/drying durations are long. https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-make-crystallized-ginger/

The intenser the better for me! Though the very concentrated ginger tea yield from the first boil is too strong without some major diluting. I took a tiny sip out of the pot and my throat was spice-burning for like 10 mins. That syrup though! #yum

Cant seem to find any candied ginger in the grocery stores (seems they removed all the bulk-help-yourself-bins, where i usually get them), soooo I figured i’d try to make it myself. Didn’t realize how long it would take! Ended up with a 2-cup sized batch, a large jar of veeeerrrryyyy concentrated ginger tea, and a medium jar of ginger syrup (which is unbelievably delicious). They aren’t ready yet (supposed to dry out another 24 hours) but I had 2 teeny pieces (3g) and about 1/2 a tsp of the syrup to taste....im guessing 17 calories total. Never getting store-bought again!!

@NotGivingUp2: I got curious so I did some digging and found the website where FluffyChix operates her accountability group: <--URL Removed--> Good Luck! ********* Edited to add: Hmmmm...after some thought, I'm not sure its allowed to promote other bariatric-type group/forums on these boards, so I took the URL out in my original post, just in case. If you are interested, direct message me and I can forward you the link. *********

Sooooo....my surgeon did not have a time requirement to being at a stable weight prior to surgery. He did say though that LOSING “alot” of weight would affect the results more than GAINING “alot” weight. He explained that that scar tissue does not stretch as well as regular skin, and is even worse at shrinking. He said I should be prepared for this especially since I tend to scar badly historically (keloid and hypertrophic scarring). His example of “alot” was either losing 10-15 lbs OR gaining 20-30...but these numbers were for MY frame (I was 5’2” and 127 lbs at the time of consult), others with different body types would have different numbers. Had my consult at 7 months post WLS, and would have done the plastics immediately, but he was booked 6+ months ahead. I lost another 12 lbs by the time my surgery date came about. I am now almost a year from plastics now and my weight has been pretty much stable since I had them done (I dropped as low as 6 lbs below PS surgery date weight, i and reached as high as 6 lbs above during this time period. Today I am +2 lbs from plastics surgery date weight).