ms.sss

At 5’7”, technically 118 lbs is still within the OP’s “normal/healthy” range. At least according to BMI alone. Its at the bottom if the range, yes, but still considered normal. Alot of peeps aim lower to allow for regain after bottoming out, and leave a buffer.

My surgeon explained to me the that the muscle tightening portion of a tummy tuck is to basically sew the gap between the abdominal muscles together. See those six packs on super fit people? Im referring to that vertical line between the “packs”. pregnancy and midsection weight gain push this gap apart resulting in outward bulging. Sewing the gap together give a tighter, flatter look.

I was 10-ish years smoke free and around 9 months post op (back in 2019), i had a damn cigarette on vacation. Been quitting and un-quitting ever since. Ugh. Currently in “un-quit” mode. Dream as much as u want, if need be, but dont even start if u can help it! Its easier to brush off a dream than the nicotine in your system.

@Zerofuckstogive70: if u dont mind sharing, whats your average calorie intake per day? Which im going to assume is almost all protein as you are very-low-fat and no carb (well prob ultra-ultra-low carb as it’s probably impossible to eat zero carbs)?

@la0525: 3.5 yrs out. Average 1800-2000 a day for maintenance. In weight loss phase i was doing much, much less. But once that was over, I upped my cals to the levels it is now (actually my avg calorie intake was higher 2000-2200 around year 2 cuz i was exercising lots) Regarding the issue number of calories, it’s actually quite easy to take in a high number of calories in the early months (or whenever, for that matter): just eat low-volume, high-cal foods. Like butter, oils, sugar, sauces/dressings, alcohol, fatty meat, cheese, nuts, etc. And of course candy, chips, etc. I mean i could/can eat more than one serving of chicharron/pork rinds (50g+) easily and that would be 500+ calories already. I think the best way to utilize the small stomachs for weight loss in the early months is to identify what foods fill you up and which ones are sliders, and eat accordingly. This will be different for everyone so it’ll be trial and error. Of course this is a simplistic directive as nutrition and individual food tolerances are important factors. There used to be a member on here that would share pics of the ridiculous amounts of food she would eat (in volume), but total calories were surprisingly low cuz she was very creative with her ingredients. So when you read about people who can’t eat any more than x calories and get discouraged because you can eat 3x calories, keep volume and calorie density in mind. Good Luck! ❤️ …and CONGRATS on ur anniversary and successful weight loss! The 80lbs loss SHOWS. You look great!

Ok: obligatory response to the oft-asked question/concern about excess skin: Basically what @Arabesque said above and that you will know how weight loss affects u when u know. There is no real way to guarantee no excess skin other than NOT losing weight…and im sure thats not an option, right? With that said, here was my experience I started off at 235 with a BMI of 43…yep im short. (223 on surgery day). I was healthy/normal sized until about age 30, at which point i steadily gained weight until i got to morbid obesity by the time i got into my 40s. I had surgery when I was 47. I lost my weight relatively quickly, getting down to 127 in 7 months. I lost a few more lbs over the next couple months as settled into maintenance. Ive hovered around 115 (give or take 5 lbs) ever since. This morning i was 118.8 And yep, I had excess skin. But it was literally just that…skin. I had very little fat tissue underneath so I didn’t look so much rolly, than it did crepey/lumpy …it looked crumply-bedsheet-looking. I did get the skin removed when i was 14 months post op via tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift. As i had very little actual fat, the total weight removed from my body was a measly 400g. To those around me not really paying attention (which was probably almost everyone) the difference before and after PS was not very dramatic, if they noticed anything at all. It just looked like i toned up a little. I felt awesome in a bikini after plastics. But honestly, i felt awesome in that same bikini BEFORE plastics. But don’t get me wrong, i am super pleased i got it done and would do it all again 10 times out of 10. You may find you are quite happy/satisfied with your body after weight loss excess skin or not. Or you can go the plastics route. I’ve seen plastics results on here that are jaw dropping. But thats still a ways down the road for you. Your time and energies are probably better expensed on getting the weight off and changing and adapting to a new lifestyle. Good Luck! ❤️ P.S. For a visual, here is my progress pic covering the first 3 years (im 3.5 post today). You can see the skin situation with and without clothes on the top two rows. The bottom row is after PS.

Todays salad: 343 calories. Cabbage is another food item that tends to fill me up quick, so I tapped out earlier than usual. Will def eat the rest later. P.S. I find I tend to eat my meals form one side of the plate/bowl to the other, in anticipation of having to take a “nice-looking” after pic, lol. Extra, I know 😂

I’m 3.5 years out. Started at 235 lbs. I’m a 5’2” 50 yr old female. I stayed “on plan” (note: MY plan NOT my NUT’s) which was low cal (<800 cals), ultra-low carb (< 20g Net Carbs) throughout weight-loss phase. I got to goal (127 lbs) around 7 months post-op and have stayed below goal ever since...almost 3 years. This morning i clocked in at 118.7 lbs I no longer eat to any “plan” other than to try to stay under 2000 cals a day. I am about 90% successful sticking to this. I eat basically anything just not at pre-op levels…think like 1 to 1.5 cups at a time. And this includes desserts, low-nutritional snacks, fried foods, alcohol and lotsa butter, lol. I also eat my fair share of salads, so it’s all good. Bread, rice, pasta and potatoes are not regular foods for me, but only because these things sit heavily in my stomach and gets me super full super fast. Plus, I just don’t really crave them all that much. you will find out what foods will work within your lifestyle as you progress. Good Luck! ❤️ P.S. I ate pork and red meat (and all things carnivore) now, and even during weight loss phase…they never went off the table for me.

I always make mine from scratch (and btw boxed instant mash doesn’t count!) but the fam prefers it lumpy so there isn’t alot of finesse required lol. Aside from the peeling and boiling, it takes like 3 mins, tops.

Beef brisket chilli atop mashed potatoes with cheddar, sour cream and pita chips: 321 calories for the bowl contents + 3 cals for the green onions I missed lol. Could barely finish half the chilli (but ate all the pita chips) it was unbelievably filling. Must’ve been the potatoes. Mr. ate my leftovers.

More salad! From yesterday: The protein is fried-up leftover Swedish meatball “meat batter” that didn’t fit on the tray of formed balls (later tonight i’ll post a pick of THAT 🤞🏼) 394 calories. Ate the contents of whole bowl throughout the day.

You’ve obviously never had drunken popsicles lol. (jK, kind of, 😂)

Was sooooo hungry when i decided to make this gorgeous (if i say so myself!) salad, but once again, when i was done, decided I wasn’t so hungry after all. Going back into the fridge for later: 422 calories for the bowl. And yep, thats the some of the overcooked sesame-crusted tuna i made the other day (still really mad about it, btw)

CLOTHES.

Sounds like you are happy where you are (and not interested in doing anything more to change it)....soooooo congratulations on getting to goal! P.S. I tried to stop losing on purpose at 7 months (upped my calories considerably), and stopped losing consistently around 9-10 months (lowest weight 109 lbs). I'm 3+ years post op, 5'2" 118 lbs this morning. I eat around 1800-2000 cals/day these days.

Good point. I recently discovered myself that drinking alcohol seems to coincide with me eating more.

Lol its basically a pigeon. But I guess “squab” sounds less dirty 😂

I totally saw this, drooled quite a bit, and decided to make some for dinner. But boooooo i overcooked it! What a waste of perfectly good tuna. So mad. 😡

Todays first meal of day: another salad! 269 calories for the bowl. For funsies, I’m including a pic of the chicken pot pie I made last night. There were cracks on the top pastry so I strategically placed some extra dough over them, lol. I didn’t have any of it, but the fam tells me it was good.

Hmmm…sounds like you like the “gamey” flavour…do you like duck or squab? Yum…

That you got you gall bladder removed. Same scars, same recovery, same-ish post op diet, and can be used to explain why you are cutting out fat and grease from your diet, and why you are losing so much weight. Or say you have a benign tumour in your stomach that is being removed, along with part of your stomach? …or say nothing at all ❤️

Im over 3 years out and im still cold. Not as frozen popsicle as i was was the first year and a half (man, I remember walking down the frozen food aisle at the grocery and thinking i was going to freeze to death) but still colder than everyone else around me (right now im wearing a hoodie and wool socks and Mr is wearing shorts and is shirtless…and no he is not overweight by any means). I stopped rapid weight loss a long time ago, so I attribute this to just an all around less insulation issue (i.e., fat)

First, I don’t take birth control (i got Mr. fixed lol) so cant really comment in that aspect. BUT…I went from having no periods before surgery (i thought i was in menopause!) to having a 2 week long period soon after surgery (which was weird cuz my periods never lasted more than 3-4 days) then became clockwork regular ever since. Im 3+ years post op.

Now for breakfast/lunch: 197 calorie salad (romaine, cucumber, blueberries, Parmesan, and some leftover bbq pork from last night ) Ate almost 1/2 of it…will eat the rest later.

Too bad I didn’t watch football lol