SassyScienceNerd

What is this Tooom uch eeze you speak of?

I'm 13 months out and about 15 pounds from my goal.
I drink flavored no calorie seltzer periodically.
I drink wine/bourbon/vodka perdiodically
I eat a bite of cake/sweets/chocolate/ice cream occasionally
I Eat bread occasionally
I live a normal life.
I've been drinking caffeine (with the blessing of my team) from the first day after surgery. It ensures that no felonies are committed.

For me it's the no carbonation rule. I have always loved seltzer and now all the flavored no-sweetener, no-sugar La Croix varieties are my go to treats. I don't understand why there's a no carbonation rule, and I've read in some places it's a huge no-no and in others that it doesn't matter. I will not go back to diet drinks, I never really liked them anyway. But that flavored seltzer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me at a good Water intake for the day.

For me it's the no carbonation rule. I have always loved seltzer and now all the flavored no-sweetener, no-sugar La Croix varieties are my go to treats. I don't understand why there's a no carbonation rule, and I've read in some places it's a huge no-no and in others that it doesn't matter. I will not go back to diet drinks, I never really liked them anyway. But that flavored seltzer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me at a good Water intake for the day.

For me it's the no carbonation rule. I have always loved seltzer and now all the flavored no-sweetener, no-sugar La Croix varieties are my go to treats. I don't understand why there's a no carbonation rule, and I've read in some places it's a huge no-no and in others that it doesn't matter. I will not go back to diet drinks, I never really liked them anyway. But that flavored seltzer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me at a good Water intake for the day.

For me it's the no carbonation rule. I have always loved seltzer and now all the flavored no-sweetener, no-sugar La Croix varieties are my go to treats. I don't understand why there's a no carbonation rule, and I've read in some places it's a huge no-no and in others that it doesn't matter. I will not go back to diet drinks, I never really liked them anyway. But that flavored seltzer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me at a good Water intake for the day.

For me it's the no carbonation rule. I have always loved seltzer and now all the flavored no-sweetener, no-sugar La Croix varieties are my go to treats. I don't understand why there's a no carbonation rule, and I've read in some places it's a huge no-no and in others that it doesn't matter. I will not go back to diet drinks, I never really liked them anyway. But that flavored seltzer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me at a good Water intake for the day.

My lovely co-worker who is like a sweet grandma to all of us here recently stared at me when I walked into the room and said "Your stomach is flat as an ironing board now! You look fantastic!" I've literally never heard that in my LIFE.

I can feel my collar bones, hipbones, and ribs under the skin.

There was a whole rack of little 6oz baking ramekins at Kohls on clearance one day so I bought them out. Haha. I use them for cooking things as they make the perfect little 4 oz controlled sizes. I LOVE ricotta bakes. (Eggface recipe) with little cut up pepperoni, spinach, and a teaspoon of pizza sauce (which has way fewer carbs than Pasta sauce). I bake 6 of those and use them for lunches and dinners during the week because they reheat quickly. I also make chicken salad with walnuts and dried cranberries, I eat that with a fork or on lettuce wraps. I also really love cucumber Tomato salad with red onion and that blush wine vinaigrette in the fancy bottle. I forget what it's called. Sometimes I throw feta cheese in there too.
Mostly I snack all day (5 small snack-meals instead of 3), and I know that's considered bad, but for what I do for a living, it works well. I just prepack a lot of steamed veggies, fruits, nuts, cheeses, and deli meats and sort of make little plates with those that take 10 minutes to eat. Oooh, and kalamata olives. Ok, now I'm hungry....

There was a whole rack of little 6oz baking ramekins at Kohls on clearance one day so I bought them out. Haha. I use them for cooking things as they make the perfect little 4 oz controlled sizes. I LOVE ricotta bakes. (Eggface recipe) with little cut up pepperoni, spinach, and a teaspoon of pizza sauce (which has way fewer carbs than Pasta sauce). I bake 6 of those and use them for lunches and dinners during the week because they reheat quickly. I also make chicken salad with walnuts and dried cranberries, I eat that with a fork or on lettuce wraps. I also really love cucumber Tomato salad with red onion and that blush wine vinaigrette in the fancy bottle. I forget what it's called. Sometimes I throw feta cheese in there too.
Mostly I snack all day (5 small snack-meals instead of 3), and I know that's considered bad, but for what I do for a living, it works well. I just prepack a lot of steamed veggies, fruits, nuts, cheeses, and deli meats and sort of make little plates with those that take 10 minutes to eat. Oooh, and kalamata olives. Ok, now I'm hungry....

There was a whole rack of little 6oz baking ramekins at Kohls on clearance one day so I bought them out. Haha. I use them for cooking things as they make the perfect little 4 oz controlled sizes. I LOVE ricotta bakes. (Eggface recipe) with little cut up pepperoni, spinach, and a teaspoon of pizza sauce (which has way fewer carbs than Pasta sauce). I bake 6 of those and use them for lunches and dinners during the week because they reheat quickly. I also make chicken salad with walnuts and dried cranberries, I eat that with a fork or on lettuce wraps. I also really love cucumber Tomato salad with red onion and that blush wine vinaigrette in the fancy bottle. I forget what it's called. Sometimes I throw feta cheese in there too.
Mostly I snack all day (5 small snack-meals instead of 3), and I know that's considered bad, but for what I do for a living, it works well. I just prepack a lot of steamed veggies, fruits, nuts, cheeses, and deli meats and sort of make little plates with those that take 10 minutes to eat. Oooh, and kalamata olives. Ok, now I'm hungry....

There was a whole rack of little 6oz baking ramekins at Kohls on clearance one day so I bought them out. Haha. I use them for cooking things as they make the perfect little 4 oz controlled sizes. I LOVE ricotta bakes. (Eggface recipe) with little cut up pepperoni, spinach, and a teaspoon of pizza sauce (which has way fewer carbs than Pasta sauce). I bake 6 of those and use them for lunches and dinners during the week because they reheat quickly. I also make chicken salad with walnuts and dried cranberries, I eat that with a fork or on lettuce wraps. I also really love cucumber Tomato salad with red onion and that blush wine vinaigrette in the fancy bottle. I forget what it's called. Sometimes I throw feta cheese in there too.
Mostly I snack all day (5 small snack-meals instead of 3), and I know that's considered bad, but for what I do for a living, it works well. I just prepack a lot of steamed veggies, fruits, nuts, cheeses, and deli meats and sort of make little plates with those that take 10 minutes to eat. Oooh, and kalamata olives. Ok, now I'm hungry....

I'm curious, whats in your lunch box?
Being sleeved put the brakes on eating out as much as I use to. So, I've found myself packing my lunch waaaaay more than I use to.
I bought a bag that I like and some colorful Portion Control containers. Which helps a lot.
So what have you done to help with packing your lunch? What are your favorites, must have's, cant stands and OMG-I-wish-someone-would-have-told-me-sooner! for your lunch?
Just trying to eat with an open mind and new options.

I am pleased to say that I have reached my goal, yaaayyy. My goal weight was 150 lbs but I weighed myself this morning and I am 149.8 lbs. This has been a hard journey mentally but for me( many of you know I have gone thru a divorce as well ). My starting weight was 242lbs, day of surgery 12/5/16 I was 219 lbs, and 8 months later I am 149.8 lbs. 7 lbs away from almost losing 100 lbs. I feel so good right now about myself. Not just because of how I look but how I feel inside. I'm starting to love me flaws and all. I am working on the mental side of things with prayer and supplication. God is a healer and I'm trusting him to keep me. I thank all of you on this site for your support , it has been epic on this journey. I so truly appreciate you. The encouragement I received from total strangers has far outweighed what I received from family and friends. Thank you again. Hope u like the pics.

I think she was just being attentive and trying to make sure you were satisfied. My first meal, technically, was minestrone broth on my layover when I flew home from surgery. But my first actual meal in a restaurant with friends was quiche, I just didn't eat the crust. And it was like 4 bites. Ha. My friend Jill who is a loudmouth (god love her) demanded to know why I wasn't eating and I told her I just ate a little bit before and wasn't really hungry yet. Took the quiche home and it lasted me the whole week. I save so much money on food now!

I can't believe people are complaining about a waitress actually doing her job, properly. If most people are not eating their food, they are usually not happy with it. It is the servers job to make sure people are enjoying their food and it was prepared properly. It isn't the server fault that someone had surgery and can't eat. I still don't get why people insist on going out when they can't even make a dent in the food then get pissy when people notice. You choose this no one else. The rest of the world is not required to adapt to you.
The smaller you get physically the easier it gets. At the size I am now, when I 1/2 eat my food no one is surprised, lol. When I ask for a box, no one cares. Thin women don't eat a lot and people don't expect them to. Also at 2 years out, I can eat enough when I am out that no one even notices. You would never know I had surgery.
I feel like post-op a lot of us put ourselves in a lot of awkward and uncomfortable situations that are not necessary just to try and still fit into a certain mold. The problem is that mold is, it is the one that allowed you to get obese in the first place. There is nothing wrong with being a different person with different habits. Don't be afraid to change and be a difference person. Long term it makes life easier to make choices that align with a healthy lifestyle.
The one person that was semi close to me that had WLS before me. She never changed her lifestyle. She still went out to eat with her family to the same restaurant, ordered the same food and just ate less. She never got to goal, never got under 200 pounds (she started close to 400 pounds) bottoming out at 250 and then regained 50 pounds and is now sitting around 300. Now years later she is trying to adapt a healthy lifestyle and lose her regain and then some.
It is much hard years out to change your habits, it is much easier to change them early on and then stick them.

I think she was just being attentive and trying to make sure you were satisfied. My first meal, technically, was minestrone broth on my layover when I flew home from surgery. But my first actual meal in a restaurant with friends was quiche, I just didn't eat the crust. And it was like 4 bites. Ha. My friend Jill who is a loudmouth (god love her) demanded to know why I wasn't eating and I told her I just ate a little bit before and wasn't really hungry yet. Took the quiche home and it lasted me the whole week. I save so much money on food now!

I think she was just being attentive and trying to make sure you were satisfied. My first meal, technically, was minestrone broth on my layover when I flew home from surgery. But my first actual meal in a restaurant with friends was quiche, I just didn't eat the crust. And it was like 4 bites. Ha. My friend Jill who is a loudmouth (god love her) demanded to know why I wasn't eating and I told her I just ate a little bit before and wasn't really hungry yet. Took the quiche home and it lasted me the whole week. I save so much money on food now!

I think she was just being attentive and trying to make sure you were satisfied. My first meal, technically, was minestrone broth on my layover when I flew home from surgery. But my first actual meal in a restaurant with friends was quiche, I just didn't eat the crust. And it was like 4 bites. Ha. My friend Jill who is a loudmouth (god love her) demanded to know why I wasn't eating and I told her I just ate a little bit before and wasn't really hungry yet. Took the quiche home and it lasted me the whole week. I save so much money on food now!

Checking in, how are things going?

1: I wear a legit bikini to the beach now, flabby belly and all, don't even care.
2: I can surf for two hours without getting tired
3: size MEDIUM dresses at Old Navy!
4: My legs aren't swollen with edema from carrying all the weight anymore
5: I don't have to lean all the way to one side when I go to buckle my seatbelt in the car
6: Chub rub isn't even a thing anymore. I wear skirts with wild abandon.

1: I wear a legit bikini to the beach now, flabby belly and all, don't even care.
2: I can surf for two hours without getting tired
3: size MEDIUM dresses at Old Navy!
4: My legs aren't swollen with edema from carrying all the weight anymore
5: I don't have to lean all the way to one side when I go to buckle my seatbelt in the car
6: Chub rub isn't even a thing anymore. I wear skirts with wild abandon.

So creeping up on the 3 months post - op milestone and whilst I love being this weight instead of my old weight I am not sure I ever got this quick and rapid weight loss that I was warned about that would be all too obvious to people. I just went into my office nearly 70 lbs lighter then when they last saw me over 6 months over .. not a word was mentioned !!! So instead I like to concentrate on some of the NSV's I set myself before surgery which makes my happy. What makes you happy about where you are on your journey ?
The #'s My date 4/3/2017
HW - 275
SW - 245
CW - 208
Dress size was 20 or 2/3X now 14 or XL/L
Shopping all the fab choices of flattering clothing in the regular sizes (bank account does not love this) right at the front of the shop rather than in a department tucked away out of sight sometimes behind the homewares ! Flying, I FITTED I FITTED !!! into the airline seat, I didn't spill out over or under the armrest, the belt did up with room to spare, the tray table came all the way down and didn't rest of my stomach and I didn't feel nervous sitting down next to the person in the seat next to me. I even had a business class seat for one leg and quite happily lead down in the seat without feeling wedged in. I have cleaned out my entire wardrobe and filling it a new I can fit into a bath towel covering all that should be covered. I swing a golf club without my body getting in the way and can bend down and pick the ball out of the hole, and its so nice to do it in cute regular sized golf outfits Tied my shoe laces just by bending down normally I am not horrified when I see a side profile of myself (still a WIP) I like seeing face photos of me online all the chubbiness has gone I have not seen any full body shots yet I crossed my legs, I didn't even realize I was doing it but I looked down and there I was sat chilled out on the sofa at work with my legs crossed I am now obese level 1 instead of morbidly obese, again still a work in progress but its nice to remove the word morbidly from anything related to yourself. I am sure there are many more but I just went down my list of goals I created in the waiting room for surgary and already ticked off most of them and some I just don't know yet as I have not tried. So when I get frustrated at the scales I look at at this and realize that yep I have come a long way.

33 since surgery, the rest was before that. This pic was before I started Keto and my pre-op. I've been a little bit stalled, but I'm not sweating it too hard. I'm taking my surfboard out this weekend which is a big time calorie burner for me. So I don't think I'll be stalled for long.

ETA: I was never able to fit in those pub chairs before (on the right). Whenever we would go to that court bar, I had to stand the whole time and just act like I didn't feel like sitting to save myself from being embarrassed. It feels really good to not have hips the size of a Chevy tailgate anymore.