ms.sss

@WishMeSmaller: You just reminded me how I LOVED to wear calf compressors during the period immediately after plastics. I stopped because I lost one of them in the wash. I need to order me some new ones! P.S. Did you guys finish putting up the fence (I have no idea how long it takes to put up a fence....) @Arabesque: You DEF wore it better than the other lady (did you mean, Alyson HANNIGAN? lol) She needs a new stylist whoever she is, as that dress is waaaaaaaaaaay too big on her. New leather jacket looks great on you 😍

Were you/are you a biker gal??? Methinks if you would look pretty awesome in some (well-fitted) H2T leather today.

Yippee!!!!!!

Yes, I had some muscle repair done (and bit of lipo on the flanks) And yes, I realize I *may* have a warped sense of what a flat tummy is supposed to look like (curse, you media and the representation of women!), but honestly, I think my abdomen looked "flatter" over-all PRE-plastics. Don't get me wrong, I totally prefer how I look now than before the TT (i'm waaay firmer), but yeah, I def have a little bump (currently filled with like a litre of water in this pic, lolololzzz)

No, not at all! There are many on here who are cooking-eshewers who are quite successful, lol. That's fancy for me too! Sounds awesome. #yum (pls feel free to post pics of this yumminess to feed our food porn addictions!)

My surgeon also told me my stomach may not be completely flat either. Said that yes, he can get rid of skin and some underlying fat, but he cant make my organs smaller! Lol And he was right. Yes, my abdomen has very little “overlay” tissue, but my lower abdomen (below the belly button) is definitely a little rounded. Its especially noticeable (to me) when I have a big meal.

I did/do mostly cardio, because I hate strength training. I’d say probably 95% cardio (mostly running), and 5% strength training...of which is just body weight...with the exception pull-downs, when I use a machine w/ weights (but I don’t do this much/often). If I didn’t hate it so, I’d do much more strength training as I recognize it helps quite a bit with overall body presentation and metabolism levels. As it is, I do very little...but force myself to do some as it does produce results (for ME).

If you are anything like me (you may very well NOT be), pay attention to the sugar content of your drinks. i had just a few sips of a soju-sake drink at around 2 months post-op and paid the price: was basically on the bathroom floor for a while and then out of commission for the rest of the night. Luckily I was at home. P.S. i was sleeved.

Low and slow in the oven crisps them up nicely (i sliced them relatively thin)

My new fave snack: crispy baked Mushroom Chips!

Agreed!

Yumms. If you Keto-ing, have u tried pork rinds/cracklins/chicharron as breading alternative? Its actually pretty good! High in fat, yes, but still yum 😋 and Keto appropriate.

Steak Bites swimming in melted herbed butter, roasted mushrooms and Creamy Mushroom Soup. The two pics on the right: had 4 steak bites (90g), 3 mushrooms & 3/4 cup of soup, + some red wine: 470 calories (ate/drank it all) The steak was unbelievably delicious (it was Mr.’s doing ❤️)..: if I could have, I would’ve eaten much, much more. Eff you sleeve AND Thank You sleeve at the same time, lol

Another thing to keep in mind is that it may also depend on how much weight you lose, and what your final weight will be. I had my surgery when I was 45 yrs old. I started at 235. When I got to 170-ish, yeah it started to look a little less firm, but I still had some fat under there so it was still filled out. At 135-ish, I think this was probably when I hated it the most. I had less fat, but still enough to make the skin look folded over, like rolls (think: shar-pei). BUT THEN when I got to 120 and below, and the underlying fat was reduced enough that my skin just looked wrinkled/crepey so it didn't look as "flappy" (think: the skin that forms over cooled down warm milk...and it was basically just on my stomach around the belly button and my upper arms) The overall look was much, much better though IMO. Other details: I didn't put on any special lotions, I didn't take any skin enhancing supplements, but I did exercise pretty regularly (not sure if had any effect on the actual skin, but it probably had an effect on the underlying fat and muscle). I also got plastics (arm lift, breast lift, tummy tuck) over a year ago so that took care of that. LOL. My butt however, is still on the flappy side, but I can live with it (for now!).

Yaaaasssssssssss! Validation vibes sent your way! You look FABULOUS 😍

Hi! Welcome to the forums! How much weight you will lose in the first week(s) of liquid diet really depends on many things. Did you lose alot of weight already before starting liquids? Are you "full" liquids, or "only" liquids ("full" liquids includes soups, some cereals, yogurts, etc...). Is your starting weight on the high or low side? Are you on your period? Salt-intake? These and so many other factors will affect your weight/water weight loss that first week(s). My pre-op diet was for two weeks and consisted on 3 protein shakes a day (though sometimes I only had 2). Total calories per day for those two weeks were between 450-675 (each protein shake was 225 cals). I lost 8 lbs the first week, then 3 lbs the second. I started at 235, and had not lost any weight prior to starting the 2 week pre-op diet.

Naw, I didn't love it so, so very much. I think I'm just a hoarder, lol. Though this jacket was a hard earned one I remember, it was one of the more expensive items of clothing that I bought with my lowly teenage part-time job earnings, so I guess there is a bit of nostalgia to it, haha. I like the new jacket! Is it super fitted? Can't wait to see it on you!

Ok, @Arabesque, seeing your new jacket inspired me to go looking through my basement for the old jacket that I wore when I was in high school. Found it! You can tell its from the eighties because of the ginormous shoulder pads (its hard to see their full-sized glory in these pics, but trust me, they are huge, lol). Also, just goes to show how sizing has changed over the last 35 or so years...this jacket is labelled size XS, which is more like a Medium compared to my current 2021 XS jackets. If I can get this altered to remove the shoulder pads and take it in to be more fitted (and remove those utterly useless epaulettes!) , I could consider wearing it again (or give it to the Kid). As it is, its just not for either of us. I figure the cost of getting a leather jacket altered would not really be cost effective though. Who knows, maybe football-player-esque shoulder pads will make a comeback.

Still had some leftover pot pie filling from yesterday so basically just served it on rice for the fam. I ate about a tbsp of it when I was checking the warmth of it after microwaving it. I just make a couple side dishes tonite: Bacon wrapped, oven roasted asparagus, and stuffed portobello mushrooms. 1 tbsp of the pot pie filling, 1 asparagus spear, 1 mushroom cap, and 3 of the cutest little dark chocolate-pecan shortbread cookies you would ever see: 274 calories (had also eaten my lunch salad leftovers, but I already logged those calories earlier)

Mr. & I went for a drive up in the “country” this afternoon to alleviate the boredom and came across a mushroom farm. Naturally we bought way too many. Guess its mushrooms in the menu for the next little while!

Here is an abstract of a study from 2014. In short, ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL (including total number of calories consumed) the study showed that there is no difference in calories burned over 24 hours between breakfast eaters and skippers. So if u’r hungry, eat, if you’re not, don’t. Just keep total calories the same, either way.

You have such pretty (well-made, and expensive-looking!) dresses! Love this one.

Not a breakfast person either, never was, even pre-op. I get the thing about being hungrier if I eat it though...but mostly I find that eating soon after I wake up makes me “sluggish”...if that makes sense. edited to add: when I started running, I was told by “many” that I should eat breakfast beforehand...but honestly i think it made me tire faster. So I prefer to do my morning runs on an empty stomach (well, except for coffee..i do drink that first)

First thing I do in the mornings is make a pot of coffee. So within 15 mins of getting up in the mornings, I'm already drinking it (black) out of my 500 ml thermos. Usually takes me about an hour to finish it (hence the reason I keep it in a thermos, lol)