ms.sss

I started losing large amounts of hair around 3 months post, and cut it into a pixie a week or so after. The shorter hair was easier to style and fluff (and stay) up to give the illusion of volume vs the longer hair, which weighed down against my scalp, making the scalp more visible and looking bald-ish. Plus i was sick of vacuuming up the carpets of long hair i kept shedding around the house. Little chicken hairs started to sprout up around 6 months post and by 2 years post those chicken hairs were down to the tops of my shoulders. Im a little over 4 years post op today and its almost exactly like it was before surgery. I say "almost" because i believe it's actually thicker looking now, but that may also be due to the fact that the hairs came in wavier/bendier that before. which im not hating at all. 😉 Below my hair progress pic lol. I actually had a lot of fun putting this collage together...i spent a good couple hours trying to find a pre-op pic of me with my hair down (i almost always have my hair in a bun or ponytail), and i was marvelling at all my obese pictures! i am in shock at how big i was...i could've sworn i was never that big! crazy. just crazy.

yep. i'm over 4 yrs out (and been my current weight more or less the last 3.5 years!) and i still, on occasion, ask my fam "do i look fat in this?" ...then they roll their eyes and say no, but still some part of me thinks they are lying. (...of course there ARE days when i look in the mirror pat myself on the back and do a mental mic drop, lol. i guess it all depends on the day)

me! im tired and have a cold and TOTALLY social'ed out. i can't wait until holiday season is over and i can get back to doing nothing.

i did. i had a tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift all in one shot back in 2019. im in canada (ontario) though, so the following prices may not apply depending on where you are from: i paid roughly 15k CAD in total (~11k USD in todays dollars) my provincial insurance covered the pannilectumy portion of the surgery and i paid the difference to "upgrade" to a tummy tuck (which is essentially muscle tightening and a bit of lipo on the flanks)...and i think that "upgrade" cost me 2-3k CAD? up here in ontario, pannilectumy is apparently covered if there is infection or whatever from the hanging over skin (which i did not have?, or if you lost 100+ lbs (which i did). i did not know this until my chosen surgeon informed me of it. i was already willing to pay for the whole thing, so the insurance coverage for that portion of it was just bonus for me. p.s. i booked the next available surgery as soon as i reached goal which was 6-7 months later (so i had the deeds done at 14 months post wls)

What to do when you don't want to eat? Honestly, i Just won't. During weight loss phase, if i didn't want to eat, i didn't (still employ this tactic today at 4 yrs out). And yes, i was way under calorie goals too. I had labs done at least 4 times the first 6 months post and there was zero concern from the team (or from myself) about the state of my health. What does YOUR team say?

yummmmmmmm

I use My Fitness Pal...but I have the paid version ($70 CAD per year...$50 USD/year, i think?). I got the paid version because it allowed me to set macro goals in grams and view macros by meal and it has food timestamps...but the free version is also good as is. I probably don't really need the paid version anymore, but i keep it anyway cuz i'm used to the features and i like to collect data for fun lol.

The word "obsession", used in this context, implies a negative connotation, which insinuates that the referenced behaviour is undesirable, and that the actor of this behaviour is somehow wrong or damaged. Maybe......you can look at it as accepting that for our particular demographic, we may need to put a little more extra effort to maintain our weights than the "normies". Maybe, instead of looking at it with angst as an "obsession", it can be be kindly looked on as a HABIT. Like the way brushing your teeth is a habit, or how washing your hands before eating is a habit, or putting food/dishes away after meals is a habit, or checking your blind spot when you change lanes while driving, or petting your cats each time you walk by them....etc etc. Maybe keeping an eye on your food intake could be just another thing on a long list of things you do everyday with minimal thought or effort. Maybe? P.S. Of course, the word "obsessed" could also be used in a more positive-leaning take, like when the Kid says "OMG, i am OBSESSED with the shade of lip gloss!". lolololzzzz.

*raises hand* I do! I bake holiday treats! (i bake non-holiday treats all year long too, ha) I was a baker (and eater) of treats pre-wls and it continued after...with a vengeance for some reason. First couple years after surgery, i didn't eat any of it. Just baked for the fam (and gave away lots to other family, friends and neighbours...during covid lockdowns i would leave boxes of desserts at their respective doorsteps, signed "the dessert fairy". that was alot of fun, *sigh*) nowadays i'll have a bit of what i make (very small for taste really, compared to pre-wls though)...otherwise i'll dump.

first meal of day (which was the fam's last meal of the day yesterday) beefsteak, rice and onions. basically ate it all, less a bit that mr. ate. 269 calories.

4+ years out for me. i still track all my calories and weigh myself every morning. if my scale shows an upward trend for an extended period of time, i make adjustments in calorie intake for a while....though i haven't had to do these "adjustments" since i upped my personal acceptable weight limit by 5lbs over a year ago. i found that the effort to maintain a lower weight was just not worth it. yes its a small amount, but not having to worry about those extra 5 lbs and being able to maintain my current weight with little extra effort with my current eating habits and activity level is golden to me. p.s. i do dedicated exercise about 3-4 times a week p.p.s. not sure if it's worth noting that i also inadvertently practice 16:8 IF (i don't normally eat until after noon out of years habit; and i generally stop eating around 7-8 so i sleep on an empty stomach..habit created after wls to avoid nighttime regurgitation.)

perhaps reduce the size of your "regular" meals to accommodate the snacking?

about to settle into the couch with Mr. to watch a movie. he has a bowl of dill pickle chips (which i hate, lol) for his movie snacks, and here is mine: cashews, dates and cheese: 308 calories planning on eating it all.

i've always been curious about face lift tape! is the tape not easily seen by others? does it stay on all day?

yep what she said 👆

yep, i felt like i had some seriously deep laugh lines and i tried out filler to address it. while yes, it definitely lessened their appearance, and in the lower section by my mouth it totally disappeared, i just didn't like the look of it. it didnt look natural to me. i mean, im 50 yrs old, i should have some lines...personally, i think i looked like i was a walking instagram filter, lol. also *i* felt it made me look chubbier...whether that was true or not...its important to note here that no one else thought so, if they even noticed. most everyone besides my bffs and my daughter just thought i was taking care of my skin. even my husband didn't/doesn't notice. so now i just stick to cheek fillers (i have lovely looking cheekbones now), which does have a small side affect on my laugh lines. the filler pushes out the skin which lifts up my lower face a teeny bit and stretches out the laugh lines, which lessens the appearance. it's subtle and more natural looking imo than filler directly into that area. you didn't ask, but i'll speak to the undereye and chin filler i had that i also wasnt a fan of. undereye filler: tried it to adress my sunken undereyes. yes, it got rid if the sunken look, but combined with cheek filler i thought again, that i looked chubbier in the face and had a rounded cheek look instead of the angular look i preferred. so now i just use a good concealer and live with it. chin filler: my tech suggested i try on my chin to adress my semi-turkey neck and to get a more defined jaw. and yep, it did help with both the loose skin on my neck under the chin and give me a nice profile, but i felt like my chin looked too big for my face. i was just probably used to my normal chin though. and again, no one even noticed. anyway, didn't do it again after that.

everyone experiences recovery differently so you'll only know when u know. i seem to be one of the unlucky ones who had a rough time of it. BUT it was self-imposed as i didn't listen to my doc about taking it easy. LISTEN TO UR DOC!! But truth be told even though it was rough, i could probably have done it all on my own...with effort and ALOT of self-pity. The most difficult recovery to work around was the arm lift because u use ur arms the most...reaching was def challenging. so like catwoman said above, if you plan it out beforehand to keep everything you need low and easy access it can be done. for the tummy tuck standing up straight and getting up from a seated or laying position was kinda painful...but again nothing that would incapacitate you. i had no issues doing stuff due to the breast lift. unless you count me splitting my stitches open because i tried to go for a run. but that was easily avoidable...DONT RUN. in short, in my opinion it can be done. uncomfortably yes, but it can be done alone. BUT..if you could have someone either stay with you (or do regular drop ins) for at least a week, it would be so much easier on you...physically and mentally. which is good for recovery. i was a sobbing mess for a good month...i was glad i had my fam around to take care of me. but please don't let this scare you...most if not all if those i know who had PS had uneventful recoveries. i was just a dumbass who tried to do more than i should and paid for it. ...and despite it all i still have zero regrets.

😂😂😂😂😂

me and popcorn are BFFs. i have been known to eat an entire bag of microwave popcorn over a couple hours. many times. i had it for the first time after around 7-8 months post op (in maintenance) and had no issues with it. i don't think i had any issues with any food really, just the amounts of it. i mean i could/can have sugar, just not alot. though i do notice that i became MORE lactose intolerant after surgery. but again, i can still have dairy, just need to reduce the amounts (or remember to take my lactose pill...which i almost always forget for some reason 🤷🏻‍♀️) its all trial and error, and its very individual. p.s. im 4+ years out

breast lift, arm lift and tummy tuck for me. had them all done in one shot about 7 months after goal (roughly 14 months after wls). i would have done it sooner but my chosen ps surgeon was booked up till then! i am completely happy with the results. recovery was a b*itch for me, but i have zero regrets. i've also had: - micro-needling RF on my face and neck (cant really see an significant improvement though and did not continue) - botox on my forehead and jaw/massater muscle (def see improvement on my wrinkles and jaw size!) i do this every 6 months or so on my forehead and every year on my jaw) - filler on my cheeks (love it!), every 6-7 months - i also had filler once on each of: my laugh lines, chin and undereyes, but i didn't like the look of it so didn't repeat after it wore off. - finally had lip blushing (tattooing a tint to my lips) and SMP (scalp micro pigmentation) which is hundreds of tiny tattoo dots on my scalp to give the illusion of fuller hair. yes, i'm vain. don't judge me!! 😂 sometime down the road i'd like a butt lift or something and a neck or face lift. but i still have some PTSD from my last ps recovery so im not in a rush lol. if you have the desire, time, resources, and inclination, then go for it i say. you only live once. may as well feel fab while you're here.

i am also a slow eater, regardless what setting I am in. I've conditioned myself i guess to eat slowly because if i eat to fast my fullness will kick in unexpectedly and i would be at best uncomfortable, at worst pain. so i try to avoid that as much as possible. the times i do eat "fast" (which is probably regular pace for "regular" people), is when I am particularly hungry, and yep i almost always pay for it. now in terms of snacking, i am probably one of those people who basically snack all day. I don't really have set meals, i kinda just pick at "meals" over several hours, or just a whole bunch of mini (micro?)-meals, cuz i do get hungry since don't really eat much in one sitting. At the end of the day though, i am still more or less at the calorie level needed to maintain my weight right now, so its working for ME. is your snacking causing you to eat more calories over all?

avocado toast: 211 calories. ate it all less a couple bites Mr. took when I wasn't looking.

best. story. ever.