ms.sss

woke up at the crack of dawn this morning to get to a 6am hot yoga class...got home FAMISHED and fixed myself ½ a bagel and leftover asparagus (ate it all) around 8am. then got hungry again just now (12:30pm) and made this avocado-and-everything-bagel-seasoning-and sumac open faced sandwich with the other ½ of the bagel from this morning. ate it all!! soooo good 😊 ASIDE: tried on a pair of shorts i used to wear last year when i was 4 lbs LIGHTER than i am now, and they are ridiculously too big on my waist. Lesson: the number on the scale means much less than your measurements. and the number of calories you consume and its effects cannot be translated across everyone. i can easily consume 2500+ calories a day because i exercise like a fiend.. so when ur nutritionist or some well meaning BP member tells you how many calories you should be consuming (or advise on a general macro breakdown) remember that the "sweet spot" is highly individualized and varies HUMUNGOUSLY from person to person. find YOUR own sweet spot and work it from there, cuz no one knows your body better than you. sorry...im feeling very "you-go-girl!" at the moment and feel like i need to inspire lol. working out does that to me lolololzzzzz. 😂😂😂

breakfast for lunch and and afternoon snack from yesterday...

agreed! i started shopping around for a surgeon the month i reached goal (7 months post in May 2019) with the intention of having it done immediately. i saw 4 surgeons. 3 of them had availabilities within 2-3 months. the 4th one (the one i wanted) had his first opening almost a year later in april 2020 ! i was disappointed but booked him anyway cuz i liked him best. but as luck would have it, he decided to open up a day over his xmas holidays to get me in. i'd like to think it was my sunny personality that moved him lol. so i ended up getting it all done in December 2019. looking back it was really good he did me a solid because the original date of April 2020 would've been the start of covid when all elective surgeries were suspended around here. i probably wouldn't have had my plastics until 2021 or later. phew! dodged a bullet there. anyway...long story short it hurts nothing to start looking around and getting an idea of whats out there and available to you. good luck! ❤️

i had my plastics done just shy of 14 mnths post op. i would have done it earlier (at 7 mnths post op when i reached goal) but my surgeon of choice was booked up. i had tummy tuck, arm lift and boob lift in one shot. second best decision ever (after wls, ha). if its worth anything, i understand that further weight LOSS affects the results more than further weight GAIN. but i mean, if you have the means and inclination, you can always have revision plastics if need be.

i should also disclose that i am a grazer by necessity (and habit). its the only way i can get the amount of calories i need to maintain COMFORTABLY. i read alot on here that this way of eating is not recommended (heck even my NUT said i should be having set meals and snacks) and that its a slippery slope and is a sure path to weight regain, but its been working for ME for over 5 years, so yeah...its just what i do.

i also prefer to binge as well, but plots often get spoiled for me by reading the news or social media or listening to friends (and strangers!) talk, dammit! so i try to watch before that happens. omg don't even get my started how my entire 2016 was ruined when i accidentally read a headline about that particular episode of game of thrones season 6. im still salty about it. i dont want to spoil it for u (or others reading this) so all im gonna say is if ur a fan, they u'll likely remain one, ha! and yeah, a different shaped heroine is definitely refreshing! as for 70s-80s period shows/series, you gotta give Glow a try! even if just for the soundtrack lol.

i know its already been said to death, but ill say it again: the number on the scale is just a number, and the same number looks totally different on you at different times of your life. 127 lbs at 46 yrs old looked absolutely skeletal on me vs 105 lbs when i was 16. then, 115 lbs at 50 yrs old looks soooo much fitter and healthier on me at 52 vs either of the weights above. changes in nutrition and exercise and sleep and stress levels and hydration may not reflect on the scale as much as calorie intake does, but they are all HUGE factors in appearance and overall well being. in short: try not to be a scale slave, lol full disclosure: i weigh my self everyday, though its more a data gathering exercise, and definitely not a source of angst for me. so long as i still fit in my clothes and feel awesome, im good.

*raises hand* im a sleeve. while i can't really comment if/how much my stomach "grew" or stretched, as ive never actually SEEN any before and after pics of it, i can say that while i can't eat IN ONE SITTING the vast amounts i could pack in BEFORE surgery, i can definitely eat more now IN ONE SITTING than i could IMMEDIATELY AFTER surgery (im 5+ years out now) for example: (note im talking like a regular, delivery type pizza below, NOT neapolitan/thin style nor deep dish nor pan pizzas, etc): pre-sleeve: 5-6 slices of pizza 2 months post: no pizza lol 3-5 months post: 3-4 bites of pizza 1 yr post to now: 1 regular pizza slice (like a 4x6 inch triangle) . i have been known to eat up to 2 in one sitting, but that's pushing it for me and not really comfortable. however, i could definitely eat an entire regular pizza over the course of a day. or a neapolitan style one in much less time if i really wanted to. but i dont want to, so yeah. background: 5'2" female: 235 lbs two weeks before surgery. 127 lbs goal at 7 months post. 115 lbs at one year post. 117 lbs this morning (am 5 years, 7 months out)

lunch: deep fried tofu and taro with chilli sauce. estimated 300 cals for the plate, ate about ½ cuz i added too much (and consequently ATE) too much sauce and started to feel greasy inside so i stopped where i stopped. THEN, i fixed myself a little teacup of homemade guac and naan chips...and ate all of it. 310 cals for that.

Ideally, maintenance is achieved when you are living the lifestyle (in terms of intake and movement) that you can foreseeably do for the "rest if your life"...even more ideally, is if you can adjust your lifestyle as your circumstances change... when u get to goal weight, you can start upping ur calories until weight loss stops. you may find you go under ur goal weight by a bit, but more likely than not, you will regain a few lbs until you stabilize (at, below, or over goal weight...u won't know until u know, unfortunately). lots of us on here worried about losing too much weight...unless u have medical conditions, this worry doesn't last long lol. i got to about 20 lbs below goal weight at my lowest. regained about 10 of those extra lbs within a year. and while i thought i was too small when i was at actual goal, i don't think that anymore, even weighing 10 lbs less. long story short, if u can leave the worry at the door, do it. Unless u are sick or your med team is worried, just enjoy the ride! you look awesome, you look like u must awesome. bask in your awesomeness!

was sooo hungry last night...i dont normally eat past 8pm, but i was hungry, AND i was determined to binge watch Bridgerton season 3, part 1 (spoiler alert: i did lol) so i fixed myself a plate of leftover thai food and ate it over 3 or so hours: clockwise from top: thai basil crispy pork belly, chicken massaman curry, deep fried taro tofu with chili oil sauce, coconut rice and a piece of roti. im totally guessing maybe 600 cals for the plate? imma also gonna guess i ate about 2/3 of it (i didn't like the curry so left most of that alone, and just had a taste of the rice and roti. pretty much ate all of the rest. p.s. am now waiting impatiently for june 13, when the remaining episodes of Bridgerton are released!!! i love me a period show.

and for funsies, the aforementioned bacon brownies!!! IMG_2839.mov

lunch: yep, another salad! all the usual suspects/ingredients, with the addition of avocado, some leftover steak and a chopped up Popeye's drumstick. enjoyed the salad out on my porch earlier this afternoon cuz it was so nice out! ❤️❤️ 683 calories for the entire thing, ate the leftovers from the pic just now! i also ate an additional popeyes chicken thigh with hot sauce, 2 snack yogurts, homemade guac with homemade naan chips, 2 espresso martinis, some chicharron, a small cube of bacon-brownie i made yesterday, and a handful of pistachios. which has me at 2128 calories so far today. i still may eat some chips/popcorn while i watch Bridgerton S03 tonite tho!! so calorie count for today still pending. my porch salad:

courtesy of google: you can see that the stomach is in fact smaller after a revision to bypass. and main diff is bypass also "bypasses" the pyloric valve, while sadi/ds still makes use of it (as does the original sleeve). ...but how your surgeon would do either surgery "without touching" your stomach is a head scratcher. can you go back to your surgeon and have them explain your surgery to you (with pictures, if need be!). dont leave until you completely understand. while we can offer our knowledge and experience, we are not doctors...and you may get conflicting info on here that confuses you more.

NON breakfast-eater here...never was. on the VERY RARE occasion i may eat something before noon (like if im specifically out for a brunch, or on vacation, or unnaturally hungry), but normally my first meal of the day is around 1 or 2 pm. i find that if i eat something earlier in the day, i get tired in the afternoon. also i find that i tend to eat more overall throughout the day if i have breakfasts. am also not especially hungry in the mornings anyway.

side tip: document your rashes and skin issues (pictures, videos, with dates)...if u are ever in the position that u want to get a tummy tuck or panniculectomy, you can use the collected evidence for insurance to cover the cost (if this is available for you..)

yep, sometimes we just wanna speak and have someone listen. we are listening ❤️ so was the movie you saw any good? recommend, or no? im really looking forward to Furiosa to come out (i want Anna Taylor-Joy to be part of my friend group lol). 😂

"i eat a lot less than i used to...btw, i looove your shoes!! where did you get them???" OR "i eat a lot less than i used to...btw, i need your expert opinion on <insert topic here>"

i love food and still do. there where a couple months in the beginning when i hated food, but it didn't bother me because, well i hated it, lol. then for another couple months eating food was more like, meh. but i did like looking at it and cooking it...(thats a whole other story lol) i eat basically whatever i want (except too much sugar at once), whenever i want. just in much, much smaller quantities at a time. dont get me wrong, im 5'2", 118 lbs and i can pack in over 2200 calories a day these days (im on an exercise kick), it's just spread out. but in the end, you are ready when u ate ready. i will leave u with this small tip: book your surgery if you can. if u do end up not wanting to go through with it when the time comes, you can ask to postpone to a later date. then see is you are ready then. if not, rinse and repeat. this way you may not have to "restart" the clock for qualifying purposes. this is what i did (not on purpose, just accidentally lol). i backed out of surgery dates twice...then finally went through with the third) but not going through with it that first time is my single solitary regret of the entire WLS experience. good luck! ❤️

i used MyFitnessPal (the paid version). I've read of others who really like the Baristatic App aswell. i am a big proponent of tracking and I credit the practice as having a huge positive influence to my weight loss and subsequent maintenance. i have tracked my food basically everyday since since my pre-op diet, and i have almost six years worth of MFP data to prove it! more (anecdotal) proof: i have weighed below my goal weight this entire time since reaching it at 7 months post op. FOR ME, at first, i found that it held me accountable as i could see everything i ate, and then it turned into more of a data gathering exercise that i could use and examine to determine what changes i needed to make, if any. (note i also weighed myself everyday, and still do...) plus i actually really enjoyed/enjoy doing it! ha! ...am not as militant about it now, as i eyeball and guesstimate more, but i still do track..old habits are hard to break! its not for everyone though, and i get it, it takes a particular kind of person to keep doing it while keeping the angst at bay, let alone enjoy it. but anyway, try it out...you may find u are that kind of person, or, at the very least help you manage ur food intake! good luck! ❤️

i've self-diagnosed myself with reactive hypoglycemia (i think alot of us have on here probably)...aka late dumping syndrome. i noticed it the first time i had (like 2 sips!) of a very sugary drink about 1 month post op. i've had it ever since, though i will say it is not as horrible as it used to be. A bad episode before was like wanting-to-die-on-the-bathroom-floor bad, bad episodes now are me passing out on couch for a couple hours. management of it basically consists of not having too much sugar at one time, or on an empty stomach (note that what "too much" means to me will be different for someone else...so people need to figure out what thier own limits are). as well as having small regular meals throughout the day. unfortunately i don't always do that so, yeah. p.s. i'm 5+ years out.

this!

*raises hand* i do! not as often as back in the day, but yes, i'll use one if my guess-timating powers are off, AND if have access to one, AND i,m not feeling lazy. all conditions must be true lol. works out to maybe 3-4 times a week i'll use one. but i don't use measuring cups or spoons anymore...i'm pretty good at visualizing volume, ha!

my thighs unexpectedly improved after my tummy tuck...i believe because when they yanked everything up, the thighs got some residual help, lol.

well the biggest difference is that home pilates for me is just MAT pilates (i don't own a reformer, but am seriously looking into getting one based upon on the dact that i spend a ridiculous amount of dough for the studios) i prefer reformer pilates so yeah, i'll go into the studio. i will say though that mat pilates are more challenging, but reformer is more FUN.