ms.sss

Not as cold as that first year, but still colder than most. I can actually sweat now!

Yes, this the dressing I use practically every day!. I make a whole big batch and put it in a an Evian bottle with a squirt top. #yum

I make my own. But I prefer vinaigrette over cream ones. Here is the recipe of the one I make batches and batches of (I'd drink it, if I could, LOL): INGREDIENTS (Modified from Original) - [ ] 1/2 cup vegetable OR chicken broth (1 tsp bouillon + 1/2 cup water) - [ ] 1.5 cup vinegar (rice OR regular or Datu Puti) - [ ] 4 tablespoons soy sauce (OR Bragg's Liquid Aminos) - [ ] 2 teaspoon sesame oil - [ ] 2 teaspoon stevia - [ ] 2 teaspoon garlic (bottled and minced) - [ ] 1 teaspoon ginger (ground) - [ ] 1/2 teaspoon chilI paste - [ ] 2 limes (juice) 10-15 cals for 2 tbsps (depending on ingredients options chosen above)

UPDATE: Its been a while since i had brussel sprouts, I guess...cuz I was just reminded as I was eating that it is SUPER DUPER filling. I barely made a dent in this salad until I had to tap out (I only ate the sprouts). Mr. plopped those 2 chicken wings in my bowl that was leftover from his lunch cuz I *thought* I wanted to eat them but I was mistaken. Will take a crack at this again later. AFTER PIC:

OMG, i love brussel sprouts too! I didn't always, as a kid i used to sneak them into the garbage, LOL. Your pic triggered a brussel sprout craving in me and naturally I had to cook up a batch! I like mine with bacon though ;). Today's salad (with bonus brussel sprout and bacon pic in the pan cooking...): 485 calories. Am so excited to eat it while I watch a recorded episode of The Voice 😁😋

235 lbs at the start of my 2 week liquid pre-op diet. 127 lbs at goal 7 months later. Am 3 yrs post op now and am 115.8 lbs this morning. P.S. I'm 5'2"

Quiche days are back. The one in the front is a ham, onion & cheese, and the one in the background is mushroom & cheese. Had 1 serving of the mushroom one (i.e, 1/8th of one pie):199 calories....plus a 4 fl oz glass of red wine (+113 calories, not shown)

...and the salad train keeps on going... 294 calories. (romaine, cheddar, apples, pomelo (like a grapefruit), jalapeño, anchovies, turkey & vinaigrette & spices) Am currently about 1/4 through it...

DISCLAIMER: The following is what *I* did based on my own research and trial end error on how things affected *MY* body. I am NOT advocating to NOT listen to your team without educating yourself. With that said: Edited to add: I didn't realize this post would be so long, sorry! My program was to consume pre-defined "portions": each meal was supposed to consist of 25% protein, 25% starch and 50% non-starchy vegetables, and to work my way up to 1200 calories per day total with a min 60-70g protein. They also said to avoid added sugar. The didn't specifically mention to go low fat, but I mean if I followed the guidelines listed above, it would naturally be low-ish fat. Needless to say, I didn't do that. First, I couldn't get that amount of food in, Second, I tried it out, saw a swoosh in weight, and figured that going low-carb was very effective in weight loss for ME. I kept losing weight, so I just kept doing it. Why fix what ain't broke, right? More on this later... So for the majority of my weight loss phase I went ultra-low carb...was averaging less than 20 NET g of carbohydrates per day (i don't count fibre nor sugar alcohols), aimed to reach 60g protein per day, and let the fat fall where it may. My cals were about 300-400 in the first couple months, and by the time I reached goal, I was at about 800 (yes, I know this is on the low end compared to most, but it worked for ME). P.S. I feel the need to add that my nutritionist was made aware of what I was doing. And while she tut-tutted me about it, she didn't overly object. Also, all my labs came back satisfactorily during this period (and still does), and my surgeon was pleased. ***WARNING, MATH TIME...*** Given the total calories I was achieving, I wasn't truly doing KETO proper, as my fat consumption did not reach the levels required for my protein intake. True KETO is 70-80% fat, 10-20% protein & 5-10% carbs. Since I was doing 60g of protein, I would have needed to do ~75g of fat, which would have put me in the 1100 cal range...and I wasn't even coming close to that level. **** So really, I was probably doing more a version of Atkins Phase 1 (ultra-low carb). Now that I'm 3 years out, I am no longer so strict about my macros. I still *kinda* limit carbs, but not really. I eat bread on occasion, and sugar pretty regularly (in small amounts)...but i very rarely eat pasta or rice. I think its just habit now? Looking back, here is my take/opinion on going this route: TRUE Keto is very difficult to achieve in weight loss phase while keeping cals low. There is a relatively big drop in weight in the beginning of each period of going low carb. There is a bunch of science to explain this, you can google it. Going low carb makes a difference in how my face and body looks. While it looks good on my body, cuz you can see more muscle definition, its not so great on my face cuz I look gaunt. I've come to the conclusion that FOR ME, in terms of weight loss/maintenance ONLY, the ingestion of carbs has much, much less impact (if any) than calories consumed. It doesn't seem to matter if 1000 calories is made up 5% carbs or 50% carbs, I'll lose weight on it either way. Good Luck! ❤️

LOL, same, same!

Yeah, the fam knows. They know that I get my back up when bees/wasps/hornets are around and are pretty accommodating about it. Sometimes they tease me, but they have been known to swat them away from me. (I also have an unreasonable fear of sharks, but that's another story). I found out I was allergic when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I remember being in the back of my parent's car and I felt a sharp painful pinch on my chest and when I looked down, a bee (or wasp?) crawled out of my shirt and flew away. Didn't think anything more of it and remember taking a nap, and when I woke up at our destination, I swear my left boob was almost the size of my head. My parents flipped. I didn't have any breathing issues so that was good. But omg, when I saw how big it was, that was actually when I started to feel the pain. #weird.

UPDATE: the Mapo Tofu is NOT yum. After one bite I scooped it out of the bowl and dumped it. So updated calorie count is 476 cals. Actually I'm going to round up and log it as 500 cals to account for the bite I ate (yes, I'm THAT nit-picky).

Omg, your post just made me realize for the first time that at my highest weight (at the start of my 2 week pre op lquid diet), I actually weighed more than I did at my highest weight when I was pregnant! *mind blown*

Like what alot of folks have just been saying, I normally have at least one salad a day, cuz I'm a salad-lover. Here is today's. Its actually hugely high in calories because I dumped about a cup of leftover Mapo Tofu (stir fried ground pork and tofu with a Sichuan sauce) on top, and a whole bunch of gorgonzola and cheddar (i'm a cheese lover too!) A whopping 766 calories for the bowl contents shown. I KNOW i wont eat it all right now, but *may* finish it by the time the day is over.

I use the weight at the start of the 2 week pre op liquid diet (which is essentially when I started the drastic change to my eating habits).

I was supposed to be on purees, but it icked me out. I stayed on full fluids until the icks went away. Edited to add: oopsies, im a sleeve

🤣😂🤣

Yep everyone will have a different result/outcome after their hospital stays. I was one of the ones who lost weight upon my return home, had no gas pain and no visible swelling (but then again, if i did have swelling i probably would not have noticed cuz my stomach was already rounded from my existing fat, lol) I cant be certain of this, but I think the following helped (YMMV): (1) sipping water every 5 mins while i was awake - i set a timer - (i vaguely remember reading somewhere if u keep hydrating regularly your body won’t retain water? I dunno though) … note: i had no probs peeing and did so several times (which was so annoying being hooked up to an IV and a having an achy tum) (2) doing (very slow!) laps of the halls any time wasn’t sleeping (i also read that this helps with gas). Which honestly was exhausting, but i did it anyway. For what its worth, there are probably lots more folks who had a similar experience, but they don’t post much as generally it’s the peeps who have issues that seek advice. Good Luck! ❤️

*ears prick up* Toronto? I’m in Toronto! Are u Canadian or just visiting T.O.???

Truth be told I don't think I had any mangoes nor curries during weight loss phase lol...but I'm pretty sure if I did, I would have had no issue if I had wanted to eat it. I had no food intolerances other than excess sugar. Now if we are talking VOLUME though, I don't think I would have been been able to eat this much food in one sitting (both teacups would equal 1 cup in volume) until about 9 months to a year. I should add that a "sitting" for me in that first year would have been like 1 to 1.5 hours, depending on what it was. I took FOREVER to eat. I'm 3 years out now and my "sittings" are about 45 mins-ish and I can eat about 1 - 1.5 cups in volume comfortably,

Jeeee-zzuuuus you are enviably, fabulously, gorgeously tall!!!!!!!! Now I want velvet pants!!!!! In that same colour. Wearing those same boots.

Yeah, the lighting sucks in my room. Here is a pic with the website model wearing it. Its hard to see in the pic but all the flowers are embroidered with sparkly sequins... Its a private party at an event venue so as of right now we would only have to wear masks when we are outside the assigned room (i.e, bathrooms or other shared spaces), so that's good. No one is allowed inside the building unless they provide proof of full vaccination anyway. Pretty excited AND anxious to be indoors with so many people for the first time in almost 2 years. But who knows...we may get a Covid turn for the worse come winter and it will get cancelled anyway. Le Sigh.

OOOhhhhhhh i love the colour! You look fabulously slim in it! (I also love the white thumb hole accommodating shirt you have under) No, i don't think it looks silly at all, only after you point it out, it just looks like you are wearing tights. If you don't like the tights look, maybe you can just put on a pair of ankle socks over them and it will look like leggings. But either way you look grrrrrr-eat. Where did you get it????

First congrats on the weight loss! You've done fabulously! I learned myself that everyone and their mothers believe that they should be dispensing advice to you about your body and eating habits. During weight loss phase, especially as I was nearing goal, soooooo many people would tell, ask, DEMAND that i cease losing weight immediately or even to gain some back. Ugh. I became very skilled at stealthily changing the subject (usually about them because people love talking about themselves). I didn't bother arguing or explaining because I knew it wouldn't change their attitude anyway, and any response from me would just extend the unwanted conversation longer. I'm 3 years out now and NOBODY talks about my weight loss any more, its old news. Whats interesting is that I actually weigh less now than at the times when they were all "concerned" about my weight loss. I do look less gaunt now (thanks, carbs) but I think its because they had enough time to get used to it and it was no longer jarring to see me so different looking in so short a time span. If changing the subject doesn't work, you can be honest and ask them to stop, be brutally honest and demand that they stop, or go nuclear and just lose it so they will be too afraid to bring it up again, lol. OR, you can just give them what they want...which is to tell them that they are right: "Yes, you are right. I am too thin. I will make an appointment with my doc. Thanks for looking out for me". P.S. on another note, you can't really spot-lose weight. If you want to lose more weight on your belly, be prepared to lose the proportionate amount of weight everywhere else. also keep in mind that plastics will take a few to several pounds off you. I have read of others on here who lose 8-15 lbs of "material" after plastics. Good Luck! ❤️

Hi! Do you know how many calories a day you consume on average?