ms.sss

FAVE. I always stand up a little straighter when I hear this song, LOL

#17 listen to your favourite album: I don't have a favourite album, I usually just listen to playlists on shuffle, or my TV that's on in the background B-side: What has changed the most/least in the past year: Most: Obvs my whole eating/cooking/exercise routine has done a complete 180. I eat better (or not at all), I cook for the fam all the time and actually love it, and *gasp* I exercise every day. This is a complete turn around from eating crap like all day long, being too lazy to cook and going out/ordering out almost every day or buying pre-packaged processed foods, and non-existent exercise. It's crazy how different I am now.

B-side: Game of Thones, natch. Top Chef, Top Chef Canada, MasterChef, MasterChef Austrailia, Giada in Italy, You Gotta Eat Here, Barefoot Contessa (...you get the picture, I LOVE cooking shows). Grey's Anatomy This is Us Survivor, Project Runway You may wonder how I have the time to watch all of this? Lol, TV is like my radio. I have the TV on all the time, either the actual TV, or on my laptop or iPad or phone. Alot of the time I'm not actually looking at the screen, just listening, while I multitask doing other things. GoT is the only show I actually watch with my full attention from beginning to end.

I had some difficulty swallowing the giant calcium and multivitamin tablets at first (I would feel nauseous then barf soon after). I could not stand the taste of them crushed, so I switched over to chewables for the the 1st three months. Then I tried again at month 3...I could get the multivitamin down but not the calcium, even cut in half. So continued with the chewable calcium until month 5. Then, hurray, I could keep the giant calcium pills down! I still have a bunch of chewables left in my stash, so I'm just going to finish them then switch permanently to the regular tablets. They are much cheaper than chewables, so that's a plus. But I will say that the calcium chewables are tasty (I had/have the Jamieson chocolate flavoured chews).

You look GREAT! Congratulations! Kudos on your nice flat stomach!

#15 Teat Yo' Self: Well, that's a coincidence. I had a 90 min massage this morning after the gym, and lo and behold today was a treat yourself day for this challenge. So.....Treat completed! B-side: i find dietary efforts to be about the same, effort-wise, for both weekends and weekdays. But I guess if I had to choose, I'd say weekends would be a smidge harder only because they are a little less predictable. Though the ever present beef jerky in my purse can always be counted on. I've also started carrying around a teeny ziplock of a single serving of protein powder for other just-in-case situations.

Yep, getting a shorter haircut also helps to disguise some of the hair loss a lot of people experience....I cut off my own lower-back-length hair to an almost-pixie back in January.

#14 Declutter I did a major purge of my closet as well as all the drawers in my bathroom last weekend (man, I had a crapton of toiletries, hair product, skin product and makeup to toss!), so I'm giving myself a bye for this declutter task. Besides, we are still in GOT binge-watching mode and have 4 more season seven episodes to re-watch before a little premiere-watching party we are having tonite with a few friends. Ugh...and I still gotta squeeze in some dinner and snacks making in there somewhere...

#13 Get Outside: It was a beeeeautiful day today and me and the Kid went to watch Mr. play some tennis, then the Kid and Mr. played some tennis, and afterwards we (and by "we", I mean "they") got some funnel cake. Aside: I suck at tennis. Plus, I was wearing inappropriate shoes (heeled booties, lol). Will head out again later tonite (on my own this time, sans the heels) for my daily walk around the neighbourhood. Too bad tomorrow is not going to be nearly as nice.

Congratulations, you look HOT.

I love the slide pics. You look great! congratulations, you must feel GREAT!

#12 Watch an Old Movie: Sorry, no time for this...am currently binge watching seasons 1-7 of Game of Thrones so everything is fresh in my mind for the season premiere this weekend (sooooo excited...yep, that's my geek showing 😎) .

It will be. And you will. Don't be too hard on yourself ♥️

love this movie ♥️... actually i probably love all of the jane austen novel based movies....

#11 Make a Meal for One: I make meals for myself every day so this is just a normal thing (I guess for all of us!) Here is what I put together for my first meal of the day: a leftover salad (leftover roast beef deli meat slices from the Kid's lunch yesterday and leftover shrimp from dinner last night on some salad fixin's). I didn't eat much of it at my first crack at it, so it is now going to be a leftover-leftover salad for later sometime.

omg I had (a long-awaited) one this morning, and I feel so chill now that I will likely ride this poop high for a couple days

My untrained eye doesn't see anything glaring in your macros (except maybe your sodium is a little high?)...maybe some of the more "veteranized" people can chime in. But yeah, taking to your nutritionist/dietician is a good step. Good Luck, and keep us posted, I'd be interested in hearing what they would have to say. As @GradyCat mentioned, stalls happen...also, you may try taking your measurements, you may not see changes on the scale, but you may see them in inches, and the way your clothes fit.

I didn't realize when I lost weight that ______: I'd be sooooo cold aaaaallll the time...I wear a jacket and socks at hot yoga for fricks sakes (though, I now own an impressive collection of woollen socks) other people would be more obsessed with my weight loss than I am (which is saying a lot, i'm pretty obsessive). It dominates the conversation and I find it increasingly annoying. I would end up loooooving to cook and prepare meals that I don't even eat. I am now one of those people who instagram painstakingly-plated dishes of food. that I would develop an all-consuming fixation on pooping (or not pooping).

I know, right?!?!

Funny how a lot of us had/have the same fears about wls. First, I too was afraid of going under and never waking up. When I did wake up afterwards, the first thought I had was "YES! I'm alive!!'. Second, I was apprehensive about the lifestyle changes and that I would miss food/going out, or not be good about exercise, etc. Turns out it just came naturally. I don't have that longing or intense craving to eat. I still go out with friends and family and am completely fine eating very little or not at all (it's their company I really want, anyway). Even the non-drinking/very-little-drinking is fine with me too. As for exercise, I find that I actually want to do something instead of force myself to. This may be because exercise is easier now because I'm not so big, or it may be because I just like how I feel when I do exercise. Before when I was bored or antsy, I would go into the pantry to look for something to eat. Now I get outside to go for a walk, or go to the gym or basement gym, or do some house-cleaning, or anything at all that has me up on my feet and moving. Getting this surgery is one of the best things I have done for myself.

#10 Tell yourself what you like about yourself. Self: Everything. Self: Right back at cha.

YEESSSSSS! Good job, lady

you are looking great, what a transformation! congratulations!!!! p.s. your shoulders are very nice...you must be doing arm raises

One last thing I want to add to this topic. Stalls happen, fluctuations happen, and some people can take it in stride, and others may tend to get anxious and stressed. If you are on anxious/stressed side, consider taking regular measurements of your "body parts" and you may see decreases in inches even if your scale doesn't move (or goes up). Case in point: I measure myself every Wednesday (i.e., today is measurement day :). So in the last seven days, I actually GAINED** 1/2 a pound but I lost: .25 inches on the measurements of each of my waist, right calf & right upper arm .50 inches on the measurements of each of my hips & right thigh and, thank goodness, ZERO inches from my boobs this week (I can't lose any more boobage, pls!) ** Now another thing that affects the number on the scale: bathroom usage. I haven't pooped going on 7 days now (this is the longest I've not gone since surgery), and I have an appt with my PCP this afternoon to discuss my current predicament since my various efforts to go have been unsuccessful so far

#8 List of accomplishments: I've got some big ones, and some some small ones, but the accomplishment I am most proud of to date is when I quit smoking 8 years ago. Smoking was such a big part of my life, so quitting and not looking back was/is a really big thing for me. B-side: I still take chewable Vitamin D, Calcium & Vitamin B12 (all Jamieson brands), only because I have a huge stash of them and am just finishing them off. Once they are done, I'll go back to my regular tablets waiting for me in my pantry that I was taking pre-op (all Costco brands). #9 Drink more water: I think I already drink a lot of water...about 2.5-3 litres a day. It's always hot water, as I find I can drink so much more than when it's cold. P.S. My lashes are still au naturel at the moment...the Kid has been too busy this weekend (homework, then hanging/shopping with friends) to play makeup with mom...grrrrr.