katesuccess

Hmmm. I also don't identify as a WLS patient now (2 years out). Perhaps a former one, or a WLS 'beneficiary'', much like I was a beneficiary of a C-section once and of early detection and intervention with cancer. It's like they're my history, not part of my current story in that 'film at 11' sort of way.
And yes, my WLS still impacts me daily for all the same reasons it does any of us re eating/drinking and so forth. I also didn't have much help in the way of follow up care after the initial loss. When I asked for more help, they really didn't have anything helpful for me, and seemed disinterested at that point. I feel like that part of the journey where I was someone's patient is really over.
Not sure I'll ever recover from that desire to eat buckets full of Reese's Peanut Butter cups though. No, I won't eat them, just dream about them!

Hmmm. I also don't identify as a WLS patient now (2 years out). Perhaps a former one, or a WLS 'beneficiary'', much like I was a beneficiary of a C-section once and of early detection and intervention with cancer. It's like they're my history, not part of my current story in that 'film at 11' sort of way.
And yes, my WLS still impacts me daily for all the same reasons it does any of us re eating/drinking and so forth. I also didn't have much help in the way of follow up care after the initial loss. When I asked for more help, they really didn't have anything helpful for me, and seemed disinterested at that point. I feel like that part of the journey where I was someone's patient is really over.
Not sure I'll ever recover from that desire to eat buckets full of Reese's Peanut Butter cups though. No, I won't eat them, just dream about them!

I had a new one recently -- You know you lost weight when...
your arms fit on the massage table without having to tuck your hands just under your thighs to keep your arms from sliding off the too-narrow table!

When I get cross with hubby about posting pictures of me on Facebook--not for the usual "I look so awful and fat in that picture!" reason, but because I wanted to post it myself! Hah!

When you don't dread wearing dress shoes (heels) the whole day - because they no longer hurt your feet from carrying so much weight.
When someone who just saw you three months ago gapes and says "Oh my gosh - what did you do??" LOL.

When you pause at a clothing display and wonder, "What size am I now?" Knowing it's LESS than last time, not more!
When the day after Thanksgiving finds you stepping on the scale and DOWN a half pound, instead of up.
When you dare to wear colors that are beautiful and vibrant, not just the ones that hide fat.
When you know that a half slice of marvelous homemade bread isn't the diet apocalypse beginning, but simply a half slice of marvelous bread you've chosen to have...and of course no longer feel driven to chase it down with four more!

When you pause at a clothing display and wonder, "What size am I now?" Knowing it's LESS than last time, not more!
When the day after Thanksgiving finds you stepping on the scale and DOWN a half pound, instead of up.
When you dare to wear colors that are beautiful and vibrant, not just the ones that hide fat.
When you know that a half slice of marvelous homemade bread isn't the diet apocalypse beginning, but simply a half slice of marvelous bread you've chosen to have...and of course no longer feel driven to chase it down with four more!

I did my first sprint triathlon yesterday, and I finished!! (And didn't even need the aid car - wow!). A sprint tri is 1/4 mile open Water swim, 14 mile bike ride, 5k running - well, slow jogging by that time, and some walking...and I'm so proud of myself. I really wasn't entirely sure I could do it honestly, since I didn't train for it, but rather depended on being in good shape generally. Yay!

When you're hungry and eat more food than you originally planned - but now that means an extra 40-5- calories, not 1500!
(And you still lose weight )
When you can do a lunge with hand weights, and not fall over.
When the gym becomes fun in that "hurts so good" sort of way, instead of a drag you dread.
When you stand on a little step ladder without first wondering if it will hold your weight.

When you pause at a clothing display and wonder, "What size am I now?" Knowing it's LESS than last time, not more!
When the day after Thanksgiving finds you stepping on the scale and DOWN a half pound, instead of up.
When you dare to wear colors that are beautiful and vibrant, not just the ones that hide fat.
When you know that a half slice of marvelous homemade bread isn't the diet apocalypse beginning, but simply a half slice of marvelous bread you've chosen to have...and of course no longer feel driven to chase it down with four more!

I had a new one recently -- You know you lost weight when...
your arms fit on the massage table without having to tuck your hands just under your thighs to keep your arms from sliding off the too-narrow table!

I know I hate it when people tell me this, though I'm coming to believe that our bodies go into starvation mode when they don't have enough balance in our diets or enough calories to run on. After stalling out on 800 cal a day for more than two months, I fell off the wagon and gained some weight. I thought about doing the stringent 800 cal and no carbs thing, until my trainer convinced me to go with a more sane and sustainable route. Now I'm consistently losing 2 pounds a week, but it took four weeks on my present eating plan for my body to trust I wasn't going to starve it again I think. I eat 1300-1400 calories a day of 60 gm carbs, 55 fat, 160 Protein -- and I'm loving how easy it is to stay on it for me. Gym four times a week but nothing insane there either.
I hope you find what works for you @, and that you're back to the loser's bench quickly. I also happen to believe venting definitely helps, so vent away!

When you head for the restroom in a crowded restaurant and suddenly realize you don't need to scope out the widest path to fit your body through as you weave between tables to get there! Yippee!

When you head for the restroom in a crowded restaurant and suddenly realize you don't need to scope out the widest path to fit your body through as you weave between tables to get there! Yippee!

When you don't dread wearing dress shoes (heels) the whole day - because they no longer hurt your feet from carrying so much weight.
When someone who just saw you three months ago gapes and says "Oh my gosh - what did you do??" LOL.

When you pause at a clothing display and wonder, "What size am I now?" Knowing it's LESS than last time, not more!
When the day after Thanksgiving finds you stepping on the scale and DOWN a half pound, instead of up.
When you dare to wear colors that are beautiful and vibrant, not just the ones that hide fat.
When you know that a half slice of marvelous homemade bread isn't the diet apocalypse beginning, but simply a half slice of marvelous bread you've chosen to have...and of course no longer feel driven to chase it down with four more!

I had a new one recently -- You know you lost weight when...
your arms fit on the massage table without having to tuck your hands just under your thighs to keep your arms from sliding off the too-narrow table!

Hey, wonton wrapper mini lasagna's - I like that idea @Djmohr ! All of the above sound pretty good to me.
I make vietnamese chicken meatballs and freeze them in three-packs to have in lettuce wraps.
I make mini-meatloaves varying the flavor like on the Eggface site, but i make them with ground chicken.
I seriously also love beef, so have four ounce super lead portions in the freezer, cook with a variety of things.
Love all my costco - easy foods, especially fish (frozen) portions that i cut in half and the Medit. chicken skewers.
Mixing some chocolate Protein powder with 3 ounces non-fat fage and adding a squirt of ice-coffee flavor and/or caramel flavor makes a caramel macchiato treat! Filling too.
Trader Joe's wasabi seaweed sheets - crunchy and my favorite substitute for high carb high fat crunchy Snacks. I don't even like potato chips now, I'd rather have these.
Eggface site has a great baked ricotta with marinara and cheese - tastes like lasagna without the Pasta and it's fabulous. I add chopped onion, mushrooms, lots of herbs, and even crumbled sausage sometimes. cut in wedges and into the , but it never lasts long when i have it.
One of my lunch staples is to ask for thick slices of lean roast chicken from the deli counter that I cut down into 'sticks' and bag into 4 ounce portions. Easy to eat finger food no matter where i am, and takes a while to eat. Oddly satisfying.
Oh! And Arctic Zero chocolate brownie 'ice cream'! Any flavor really. It's amazing and easily fits my plan.
Now it's only 10 am and i'm jonesing for all of this food, plus what everyone else posted. Sigh.
Kate

Lots of these are familiar to me too. I will say now that i'm two and a half years out from surgery (down 125, 20 yet to go!) I found the hot/cold thing pretty much stopped. I'd already been through menopause though when I had my sleeve done.
My 'skinny' rant is this; people I'm close to who would be loving and supportive about anything else in my life, when it comes to something that's hard for me at this lower weight they can't resist a snide comment or a sarcastic 'poor you' crack. Sheesh! I hate it. Case in point;
My husband asked how this day went last week knowing it was a long one and important to me. I told him the worst part was getting up and putting on what i planned to wear only to find the skirt part of the suit almost fell off. I had worn it a couple months back, but now it's way big. I switched and put something else on (slacks and kimono jacket) and it looked like a silk potato sack. It was 5am and I had to be out the door soon and in front of people all day - I was panicked and frustrated. His comment was along the lines of 'Yeah, poor you for losing so much weight.' in this sarcastic tone. He asked!! I won't be answering that again any time soon. But to his credit he circled around when hours later and apologized, though it was clear he didn't get it, just knew i was pissed.
My sister did a similar thing when i said i was sad to take a favorite piece to the consignment shop--why ask people?! And yes, both she and hubby are somewhat overweight and doing nothing about it (other than complaining).
Okay, end of rant.
Kate

Lots of these are familiar to me too. I will say now that i'm two and a half years out from surgery (down 125, 20 yet to go!) I found the hot/cold thing pretty much stopped. I'd already been through menopause though when I had my sleeve done.
My 'skinny' rant is this; people I'm close to who would be loving and supportive about anything else in my life, when it comes to something that's hard for me at this lower weight they can't resist a snide comment or a sarcastic 'poor you' crack. Sheesh! I hate it. Case in point;
My husband asked how this day went last week knowing it was a long one and important to me. I told him the worst part was getting up and putting on what i planned to wear only to find the skirt part of the suit almost fell off. I had worn it a couple months back, but now it's way big. I switched and put something else on (slacks and kimono jacket) and it looked like a silk potato sack. It was 5am and I had to be out the door soon and in front of people all day - I was panicked and frustrated. His comment was along the lines of 'Yeah, poor you for losing so much weight.' in this sarcastic tone. He asked!! I won't be answering that again any time soon. But to his credit he circled around when hours later and apologized, though it was clear he didn't get it, just knew i was pissed.
My sister did a similar thing when i said i was sad to take a favorite piece to the consignment shop--why ask people?! And yes, both she and hubby are somewhat overweight and doing nothing about it (other than complaining).
Okay, end of rant.
Kate

Lots of these are familiar to me too. I will say now that i'm two and a half years out from surgery (down 125, 20 yet to go!) I found the hot/cold thing pretty much stopped. I'd already been through menopause though when I had my sleeve done.
My 'skinny' rant is this; people I'm close to who would be loving and supportive about anything else in my life, when it comes to something that's hard for me at this lower weight they can't resist a snide comment or a sarcastic 'poor you' crack. Sheesh! I hate it. Case in point;
My husband asked how this day went last week knowing it was a long one and important to me. I told him the worst part was getting up and putting on what i planned to wear only to find the skirt part of the suit almost fell off. I had worn it a couple months back, but now it's way big. I switched and put something else on (slacks and kimono jacket) and it looked like a silk potato sack. It was 5am and I had to be out the door soon and in front of people all day - I was panicked and frustrated. His comment was along the lines of 'Yeah, poor you for losing so much weight.' in this sarcastic tone. He asked!! I won't be answering that again any time soon. But to his credit he circled around when hours later and apologized, though it was clear he didn't get it, just knew i was pissed.
My sister did a similar thing when i said i was sad to take a favorite piece to the consignment shop--why ask people?! And yes, both she and hubby are somewhat overweight and doing nothing about it (other than complaining).
Okay, end of rant.
Kate

Oh, and I have also used won ton wrappers to make lasagna muffins. I use just two wrappers and load it up with delicious ground beef meat sauce and a ricotta mixture: Ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, an egg and some fresh or dried parsley.
These are great to make a small batch and pull one out for lunch or dinner with a few bites of green Beans or a tiny salad with balsamic dressing.

- Apple slices with either Peanut Butter or almond butter
- Cottage cheese with 2 slices of deli meat like chicken or ham
- Steamed peel and eat shrimp with spicy cocktail sauce (I like it hot now)
- baked buffalo chicken wings (I tend to tear the skin off unless it is really crispy
- Cold BBQ chicken breast (YUM)!
- Fresh Mozerrella cheese with sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, fresh basil, good balsamic vinegar and a very light sprinkle of good olive oil
- Baked Meatballs with mozerrella cheese and yes......red gravy (I am Italian too and make a killer marinara)
- pizza crack! - Bake off an egg roll or won ton wrappers brushed with olive oil until golden brown. Once brown and crispy top with your favorite pizza topping: Sauce, fresh mozerrella cheese, pepperoni and a sprinkle of basil. Bake until bubbly and golden brown. I make extra and put in fridge for a quick meal. I can usually eat 2 pieces made from won tons or one piece made from an egg roll wrapper. You can put whatever toppings you like on it. The wrappers give it a nutty flavor. I made this once every couple of weeks.

Well said @@LipstickLady
Well freakin' said.
Too bad the surgeons can't remove our stupid when they are taking our most of our stomachs, lol.

I'm not real good at looking away if you haven't noticed. Why? Because there are SO MANY LURKERS in this forum who are reading, reading, reading and if no one speaks up, they are absorbing bad advice and patronizing warm fuzzy validations.
Am I wasting my time? Absolutely. Am I ever going to win any popularity contests for having strong opinions and a big mouth? Probably not. (And I really don't care. I have real life friends who live outside my computer.) Did I get my fair share of finger shakes', eye rolls and kicks in the pants as I went through this process? YUP. Did I learn from those "meanies"? Without a doubt (and DANG I miss them!!) Was I always happy about it? NO FREAKING WAY. But I listened and ultimately, I earned back my health and a MUCH smaller number on the scale.
Giving myself permission to eat what I wanted against the advice of WWs and Jenny Craig and Atkins and South Beach and my doctor got me to 264 pounds. Clearly I **didn't** know my body best and caving to the head hunger and cravings did some permanent damage to my body that can never be undone.
So if even one person can be reached and jolted back into their new reality of WLS, FABULOUS. That's why I waste my time.