ms.sss

Yeah man, I never realized until now how much kids cramp my style. LOL. 😎 (Though we already promised her that she's coming along for the next one...at least for part of it, hahaha)

Yep. What @Healthy_life2 said!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

You'll get there. It took me a couple months (and a further 10+ lbs loss after deciding to stop losing weight) of trial and error to find my maintenance calories AND be comfortable eating higher calorie foods, which I think is the key to stop losing. Volume will always be an issue for us, so what you can manage to get in your stomach needs to pack a bigger caloric punch. Congrats on all your hard work...now enjoy the ride!

@Sophie7713, @Sheribear68, wow, you guys are the incredible shrinking women 😲

You look sooooo good! Congrats!

Back from vacay with Mr. a few days ago (BEST. VACATION. EVER. Thinking that we should leave the Kid at home more often!) So all the unnecessary worrying about food and carbs pre-trip was just that: unnecessary. I let myself eat whatever, there was nothing off limits. Though I did make sure not to eat to a stuffed feeling (failed a couple times, though I admit...damn you eating and drinking at same time!). For the most part, I figured if I couldn't eat something cuz I was already satisfied, I could always try it another time. No biggie. I had pasta, bread and rice for the first time since surgery, all of which I tolerated well. I found that while I still enjoy pasta (they must put crack or something in the pasta over there, cuz I just couldn't get enough), I don't really care for bread nor rice anymore. Which is surprising because bread and rice were every-meal-staples for me pre-WLS. Drank wine like water. Developed a loving relationship with amaretto. I suspect 80% of the carbs I consumed while away came from liquor. The morning we left, I weighed 115.6 with 16.5% body fat. Despite all the food and drink (and the fact that I did not go to the hotel gym once, nor go for a single run the entire time), the morning after the day we came back (2 weeks, 3 days later), I was only up to 119.9 with 17.7% body fat. I was totally prepared to see a 10 lb increase! Now I sort of wish that I tracked my food (I didn't use MFP at all, as I was giving myself a vacay from that as well) because I really would like to know what my average daily calorie/macro intake was. I would guess that it was probably in the 3000-3500 range, though (some days probably double that...specifically the days when I had TWO double scoop gelatos instead of one) Now for the good part: I wanted to get back to my day-before-vacay- weight, so I (easily!) went back to my running routine, and ate lower-carb, and kept my cals to about 1000-1300. I track everything I put in my mouth, and weigh myself every day at the same time. And this morning, I clocked in at 115.2 with 16.3% body fat. *drops mic*. Moral of (my) story is that for those in maintenance, the chances to indulge will come along, take it and enjoy within reason (life is short!), and trust yourself that you will be able to work off any gains, so long as you put in the effort. I am now officially confident that I will be a successful long-term maintainer! Life is Good.

Dumping Syndrome == Sucks I get it too when I consume too much sugar too quickly (even worse if I mix it the sugar with lactose)....and I was sleeved. It really varies from person to person. You'll find by-passers who don't experience it. Only way to know is to try it yourself and see.

I was wondering where you were ❤️ , glad to hear you had a blast. We all need blasting every once in a while! Any pics of you looking fab in a fab wedding outfit? I am actually glad I went through the motions of my pre-vacay-food-intake-plan (I don't want to say "DIET", d*mmit!). First, I managed to drop almost 3 lbs since starting (which may or may not be a good thing...I have mixed feelings...but I digress), but more importantly, I basically proved to myself that I can switch on to low-cal/weight-loss mode relatively easily and will be able to lose any vacay gains should the need arise. Knowing this seriously eases my anxiety! P.S. modelling my new bikini to Mr. resulted in some more cardio...so I guess I'm bikini-fit (at least to him, anyway ❤️) LOLOLOLOLzzz

Just arms, but my surgeon is also going to do side boob along with it. Looking forward to losing the skin!!!

You look like you lost more weight? Or your outfit is slimming Lookin' GREEEEAT ❤️

@Freiabr you look so good! How was the party?

5'2", ♀️10m PO, maintaining 115.6 lbs this morning. K, plan on eating maintenance-level "normally" today, though the low food intake over the past few days has resulted in eliminating my appetite, so it may be a challenge. We'll see. Menu for Yesterday, Saturday Sep 21: Totals --- 591 cals --- 52g protein --- 29g NET carbs --- 26g fat 9:00am (10 cals) 2 black coffees + ½ packet Stevia 12:30pm (446 cals) Pho sans noodles: 1 cup Pho broth + 3oz beef brisket + 1 cup bean sprouts + 2 tbsp Hoisen Sauce + 2 tbsp chili sauce 2 cauliflower florets 4:00pm (135 cals) chicken broth Protein shake: 1 scoop powder + 2 tsp Benefibre + 17g Clearlax + 2 tsp instant Decaf coffee Yesterday's Exercise: 3.5km run 15 mins strength training (arms)

I'm with you. That doesn't get my motor running either.

@FluffyChix I heart you.

sooooo cute!!!

Yeah you are right...though there have been days in the past couple months where I definitely achieved a calorie surplus, they may not have been often enough (and the surplus calories were not of the good kind). And in all honesty, I probably don't do enough effective butt exercises anyway, I'm like mad when I'm doing them. But yes, so long as my saggy butt jiggles in the wind (or I get butt implants), I'll keep doing these effing squats, leg lifts and butt-bridges. Can't hurt. But I won't be happy about it.

You know, I think I just might! I'm likely going to finish today around 550-ish, and already plan to eat "normally" tomorrow. I could go 500 again on Monday since it's a travel day, and then its time to cut loose

Well...I had this bright idea to reduce calorie intake now to offset my anticipated calorie increase next week on a trip Mr. and I are going on. It's the land of great awesome food, so I'm planning to indulge...including introducing carbs (pasta, bread, rice) into my diet for the first time. The thought of this scared me a little, hence the self-imposition for the past 2 days. But I think I'm over it, as I don't think its worth it because it's messing with my running* (and pooping!). *Which I guess answers your second question? I run cuz I actually love it ❤️ Aside: it's crazy that I just wrote that I love running. This coming from the same person who less than 1 year ago couldn't go up one flight of stairs without getting winded, nor walk around the block without complaining that her feet hurt. #grateful

No plastics...yet. I have an arm lift scheduled for Dec (can't wait!). As far as exercise goes, I'd say yeah, I do regular exercise. I do some sort of cardio every day for at minimum one hour (running, zumba, yoga, occasional lane swimming), also I do almost daily strength training on my arms, and do butt and core 2-3 times a week.

Yep, me too. I've been forcing myself to do butt exercises, but I. HATE. THEM. (So far I see no difference )

Thanks, but trust me its there, its mostly above my belly button (but putting my arm up pulls it up and stretches it so its less noticeable) in upper arms, and my saggy butt. I will say though that the extra skin looks less like rolls now and more like wrinkled fabric...lol.

Yes, lol ...but @FluffyChix shared a tip a while back: rinse them out of the package for minute or so then fry them in a dry, hot pan until the moisture is reduced. It really removes most (if not all) of the smell.

5'2", ♀️10m PO, maintaining 116.9 lbs this morning. I'm noticing the effects of the drop in my calorie intake the past couple days. This morning's run tired me out much, much, more than usual (I only did 3.5k) and I feel an overall lethargy. Also am going on 4 days of poop-less-ness. ARG. I'm probably keto-flu-ing. Anyhoo, going to stick to this self-imposed "pre-vacay-food-intake-plan" one more day and scrapping it tomorrow. Menu for Yesterday, Friday Sep 20: Totals --- 505 cals --- 41g protein --- 23g NET carbs --- 27g fat 9:00am (13 cals) 1 black coffees + ½ packet Stevia chicken broth 5:00pm (493 cals) Rice-less Poke Bowl *ate about 1/4 of the quantities below* ½ package fettuccine shiratake noodles 51g avocado 12g carrots 14g edename 70g roasted brussel sprouts w/ bacon 100g seared sesame crusted yellowfin tuna 1½ tbsp honey ginger soy sauce ¼ Portobello mushroom cap pizza leftovers 1 pork meatball (it was a dumpling, but I removed the rice wrapper) 7:30pm *ate about 2/3 of the poke bowl leftovers from my 5pm meal* Yesterday's Exercise: 5km run 15 mins strength training (arms)

Ok, so today's OOTD was the leggings on the left (with a shirt, of course, lol) Pic in the middle are my "new" hand-me-down butt-lifter jeans from the Kid and pic on the very right are regular jeans (which actually are also hand-me-downs from the Kid). It may just be wishful thinking on my part, but I think the butt-lifter jeans give me a little bit of a rounder, higher booty, no? *sigh* My next step might just have to be butt-padded underwear...