FluffyChix

Wish we had a kissy emoji to Like something and a huggy emoji!!! ((hugs)) Thank you ladybug!!! I agree. I just MUST force myself to continue despite the fact that I "feel" good in my body (other than the pain from and deficits from treatment that are always gonna be a part of my life--I'd hope some of it would be weight-related--but it doesn't appear to be the case...)

Yay on having an awesome IF day girlie!!! Six hour window AND hitting your protein goals is super!! (Spanking with a wet noodle for not getting your fluids. hehe Bad kitty. ) Your day (and food) sound so frickin delish. Love the poppers, sids, al pastor AND fight night! And Micheladas used to be one of my favorite summer drinks! Ugh to Aldi's AND TJs! So. Dang. Hard. It's like running the gauntlet!!!

Good morning lovely peoples!!! Gosh where to start?!! Lemme recap so far. And I just want to confess right now, that my birthday is Tuesday and so the official "birthday weekend" celebration began Friday night--which was "barely" a DD of 500 cals. OMG. Yesterday let's just use @sillykitty declaration and say, it was a wipe-out. I do not claim anything IF about it. LOL. Not the eating time, nor the food, nor um, anything else. There was bad behavior everywhere. And if you called it anything, I would call it an UUAD (Up Up Andaway Day) LOL. Probably 1500 legitimate calories or more--the most I've had in a single day since before surgery. We started the day with me going to my support group meeting and actually eating breakfast around 10am. I was on track there! Yay me! Had 1 boiled egg, 1 boiled egg white and 1/2 of the second yolk and about 3oz of cantaloupe with a bite of honeydew and black coffee. Then lunch I actually made a better choice! But I ate the entire guts of the sandwich and I can only guestimate that it was about 4oz of grilled salmon. I had a Greek burger made with grilled salmon instead of hamburger, but it had lots of feta and olive mix (like you get on a muffaletta sandwich). I didn't intentionally eat the bun, just used it as a delivery device and peeled off the bread as I ate. I'm sure I still got a tiny bit of the bread that stuck places, but maybe the equivalent of a small bite--so I did count that. And I did have 4 french fries. Ommmmmmmmmmm!!!! Bad, bad, fluffy! Then it pretty much went to the Hells. We did our errands and then went to the Groove Festival that had these Beatles and 70s cover bands and we met our friends at our little wine bar. Gosh we had so much fun and the music, laughter and visiting was great! (And I had 2 glasses of wine. We were there for several hours, so it was over about 4 hours or more.) Then we finally went to dinner and I had 1 1/2 meatballs, half of a small salad with Greek dressing, a couple of bites of rolls and about an ounce of chicken. (And another glass of cabernet.) The bad news is I did not practice eating within 20-30minutes--dinner took about 2 hours and I drank the wine with my food. Soooo bad, bad, behaviors. The only thing good about it is that there was room for me to be sooooo much worse and that I did make a few small good choices, but it's scary to see how things add up so quickly and even in 1 or 2 meals. No wonder I made it to the MO Ball. *le sigh* So today I'm having a DD, very pristine and by-the-book. No wine shall appear on the horizon! I do have one last birthday dinner tomorrow with my fam and I am going to try to have iced tea rather than lift a glass. Don't know what that day will look like, but will try to make it as abstemious and IF as possible. Then Tuesday, my actual BD, will just be a normal day (DD) again. The only other good thing to come out of this, is that I'm still fluctuating between 160 and 161lbs. So it's not as if I'm getting those 4-6lb shifts. So there is that. I will take comfort in that. Once this weekend is over, I will be back to business as usual and really pushing to break into the 150s. My RD is very pleased with my progress and with my food choices and told me again yesterday that she really wanted me to consider whether or not I needed to lose anymore weight. I told her I should take her to the woodshed and rip off my pants so she could see the fat still hangin on my derriere and thighs (aka my elephant scrotum). Then she would encourage me to continue losing. LOL! I won't lie--hearing these words from people is dangerous ground for me...I'm not at my goal. And I'm afraid I will let rationalization in that will keep me from pushing myself to achieve my goals for once in my life. Oh well...gotta go exercise like a semi-invalidic beast. Ha!

Geeze that sounds so delish!!! YUM!! And both salads looks beautiful!!

I don't think there's any real need to pay for a bariatric keto program unless you specifically need the hand holding. Low carb keto principles are all over the web. But for most of us, the higher fat levels don't work either keeping us from losing fully or making us nauseated. I just keep my macros very simple. Let's say for instance, that most people who are consistently losing are keeping calories in the 800-1000cal range. So the macros for 1000cals on a female of normal construction (ie not a body lifter, not large framed 6foot. I'm talking average 5'4" female): 30% Protein (75g protein); 60% Fat (67g fat); 10% Carbs (25g carbs--from low glycemic veggies, nuts, seeds, dairy, and low glycemic berries in small amounts). There are NO required carbs. None. Cuz the liver can make every spec of glucose needed for those few cells that require glucose and that can't run on ketones. Otherwise, fat from your body (and a tiny bit from your diet) supplies the ketones needed for fuel for your body. (For me, I have to keep fats lower cuz it makes me nauseated. So my most recent macros are more like: 30% Protein (75g prot); 50% Fat (56g); 20% Carbs (50g carbs)--My carbs usually around 30-40g whole per day and once you subtract out fiber, they are closer to 25-30g. I am def. in ketosis. But honestly most days I don't make 1000 cals either. I do get my protein range from my RD of 60-75g protein though. It's pretty simple. Lean meats/proteins, limit cheese and processed meats a "tiny" bit. Lots of leafy greens and low glycemic veg and a tiny bit of low carb berries if desired. Nuts/seeds/avocado/healthy fats. Healthy dairy if carbs and cals allow. And stay away from legumes, grains, sugar and as much sugar alcohols as possible. Eat cleanly and shop from the outer isles. Drink 100oz of water a day or a little more. Exercise (walk at the very least).

TY Matt! I was all set to thank you, the spit out my coffee when I read about your new lapels for your old man balls! I'm putting that right up there on the shelf next to my hairy chocolate waterbed image so I can take them down and amuse myself for hours on end! Gawd I you. You crack me up!!! ROFL!!! So on a more sober note...yeah. That weirdness you describe about the thigh sag. I swear after my initial losses that area looks like I had two ginormous elephant balls right there. I called it my scrotum. Ha! And now that I'm losing more, the scrotum is shrinking--I never thought it would. I thought that was going to be my new fate. "Congratulations Fluffy, you're now thin and in normal weight bracket, tell her what she's won, Johnny!" And Johnny would say, "You've won a ginormous pair of elephant balls! And for fun you will now go through life with these ginormous elephant testicles pasted onto your thighs just below your See You Next Tuesday!" But now they are shrinky-dinkin slightly and are now terrifyingly like OLD elephant balls, cuz they are very crepey and thin/wrinkly skin. bahahahaha *snort* Good times. TGIF!

I don't believe one or two days of not meeting our protein goal will kill us. It's the long-term under eating protein that does damage. At least IMHO - as a backseat, un-educated, un-accredited doctor on the internet. hehehe I am now playing with the not eating if we're not hungry a la @GreenTealael and @sillykitty!! See how we influence each other? The stall thing is very disappointing! Maybe your body is just doing the stealth thing where the fat cells re-fill with water until they're sure you aren't gonna send anymore fat deposits their way and finally give up the ghost--releasing the stored water in a whoosh? ((hugs)) and stay the course!!

LOVE that comment by your colleague! Doesn't it make you feel like a million bucks??!!! There's no shame in the claim girl! You work it!!! Wonder what happens during grazing? Did you end up eating again or did the water neutralize it? That was pretty much last night. The tasting lasted about an hour. Then there was about 1 hour and 15minutes between the tasting and dinner. And seriously, I had like a bite of each pairing--except the mushroom and the tomato soup--but those were still tiny amounts. But I still broke one of my biggest rules of eating--time between meals/no grazing. But it really couldn't be helped and I am ok with that. There are gonna be times that are beyond my control and I just have to remember to behave/eat like a skinny girl. Last night in my Gap skinny jeans, it was not all that difficult. BAHAHAHAHA - nearly split me clear up to my See You Next Tuesday!

Just a TMI moment, but um, I think I "found" the source of the xtra pound and I will just add--it is gone now. hehehe Seriously. One. Freaking. Ginormous. Soul-satisfying. Pound. So I'll still claim the scale weight this morning but know in my heart of hearts, that I was only up maybe 0.2-0.4lbs after an UD that even involved wine. That gives me a little hope for a future of being able to eat over 1000cals a day and be "ok."

Yep me too--coming up on 7 months on the 20th. I hope I will do this for life. It keeps me honest.

And they also give you massive antibiotics through your iv. So you could also be having a fungal/yeast break out or that stuff that causes jock itch. Can't remember the name of that fungus. But it's common with us. I'd just call your doc's nurse and let them know and go get some jock itch cream.

At 9 months this is actually on the smaller side. At 3months my RD was saying 1cup of food for life.

Hello.....this is 'mericuh. I do have a microwave that works wonders on cold guts.

Wooohoooo! Congrats on the loss Matt and on feeling less hunger! Isn't it great???!! @"they go down fine" - I hear ya girlie!!! ((hugs)) @GreenTealael

Good morning. I had a great UD yesterday and managed to IF until 3pm when I had my quicky green soup with shrimpies. That held me until 6:30 when our wine pairing even started. I was fairly well-behaved. I had a sip or two of my wine pairing and a only about a bite of the food for most of the mini-courses (think appetizer party). I did have a whole (small) chorizo mushroom and a whole serving (maybe 1/8-1/4c) of cold tomato soup. The other stuff was just bites. But I did try dessert for the first time last night: 1 tiny (emphasis on tiny) bite of apple pie al a mode + 1 dark chocolate hershey's kiss with almonds. So I escaped that situation while partaking but not entering beast mode. We had fun with our friends and each other. Win! Nailed it! Then as usual, we went to have a real dinner at our cheap Italian place--cuz although calorie dense, the pairing event is like going to an appetizer tasting that is 5 offerings long. This is where I wish I had a tiny pouch. Cuz I probably would have been full and fine! But noooooo....and I would have been in great shape had I not caved to their homemade braided garlic bread with amazing dipping sauce. But I contained myself to about 1/2 (overestimate). I ate 1 small caprese stack, a bite of grilled chicken, a grilled shrimp, and 1/2 a small slice of grilled yellow squash. And I was done. And had a glass of cab. I did come home feeling my usual sick/nausea--which I probably wouldn't have felt if I'd skipped the dipping oil and bread. GAH! When will I ever learn? Oh, and an NSV - we are friends with the woman who bartends at our little neighborhood place and she asked me last night if I intended to lose any more weight. I told her yes. But she asked why, cuz I was already skinny and looked amazing. *blush* (Get behind me Satan--I still have work left to do, my race has not been run!) Scale isn't totally a b***h, but it was expected--I'm back up to 161.6lbs this morning from my new low of 160.4lbs. Meh. Today is another day and I'm back on the IF train for as long as I can stand! Black coffee, thy name is woman. Here's the only piccy from yesterday: Green Soup. I drank the broth first, waiting 15 mins, then ate the guts that made about 3/4c of volume totes. Food log for UD 1200 Cals (I am over-estimating quantities and using entries that look very similar to the food actually eaten. I probably was lower than this by 100-200 cals, but this dog will hunt for my purposes. (Click to enlarge.) Oh and today is very clearly a DD 500cal day.

Ok so my RD told me to do it this way: eat the liquid first using the cup as a strainer. Get as much broth out as possible, then "pause a while"--like 10-15 minutes before beginning the solid portion. i don't have any restriction on clear broths when I eat them slowly. It goes strait through. So it isn't creating a slurry. hope that helps!! What do u guys do or what were you told to do?

Ok just finished my first meal. All I've had today is black coffee and 3 bottles of water and vitamins. Yummah! I just heart my quick, down and dirty green soup. I did this Mexican style, which means I added some fresh salsa and made the spices Mexican--and I added a pinch of turmeric for @GreenTealael! Man it's just so satisfying and for 118 cals!

You're goin' to The Hells. hehe

Dayum that looks completely amazeballs!!!! *note to self: make homemade sushi with leftover salmon* YUM!!!

((hugs)) Our mental stuff is HUGE isn't it? What we do to ourselves!! You did great honestly!! You did everything our docs and RDs want us to do. LOL. You know? And your protein looks great and cals just totes norm!!! LOL, so maybe you should do more food research in Italy...just spit ballin' here...

Actually I didn't stop to look at them that closely. I just figured they weren't hitting the fictitious goals I put into MFP.

Wow! Thanks for this. I'm totally doing this!!! Has it helped you with sleep?

Agree 10000%

Noneya. As in noneyadamnbidness. (I am not the poster child for MO and WLS awareness. )

That's beautiful! So does it defeat the purpose of golden milk (anti-inflammatory) by using a totally artificial milk like Fairlife FF milk (then it would be packed with protein)