sillykitty

Sunny Day! (That’s a real life glacier behind me! ??)

??. Too cold here for short sleeves, which considering the state of my arms is a good thing. I was frolicking near home in SoCal a few weeks ago in that pic.

Checking in! Goals for this month Stay below 130 Walk at least a mile a majority of days Do some of the arm exercises Participate in the photo challenge Here’s why I REALLY need to do this arm challenge ?

Grilled lamb neck with bernaise

It was a buffet, so I portioned myself. All the bread because I can’t resist local specialties (& I’m not carb phobic ??)

Smoked Cod with roasted root veggies & celeriac purée. It was so delicious that this is one of the few times post surgery I really wished I could keep eating

Another day, another Icelandic breakfast ?

I love BWW ❤️❤️. I get the naked tenders and carrot sticks with lots of different dipping sauces. It’s a healthy meal that feels like a treat!

It’s Soðbrauð, similar to a lightly sweet donut

Icelandic Breakfast (slice of watermelon missing from the before pic)

Icelandic Breakfast (slice of watermelon missing from the before pic)

Oh, I really need to do this challenge! I recently saw some pics of myself that made me realize my arms are in worse shape than I had thought. But my July is beyond hectic. I may pop in here from time to time, when I get the chance!

Iceland! Work prep for a week off is overwhelming me right now. At this point before a trip I always wonder if it's worth it. Of course once I actually get on the plane I know it totally is!

Definitely don't beat yourself up! You've done fantastic! Also, don't sell yourself short. The 60%-80% of excess body weight is only an average. That means some people will lose more, and some people will lose less. You've lost more than average to date, there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to do better than average, period! But also, you don't have to chase some magical, perfect weight. As long as you're healthy, find the weight that suits you! Finally, for me, IF is an incredible tool that helps me deal with hunger. At this point, I'm hungry all. the. time.. Right now I'm successfully maintaining, I just roll with it. But all I have to do is push through one bout of hunger (usually because I'm too busy to eat), and bam, it's gone and doesn't come back for hours. That is what I'm keeping in my back pocket for when I begin to struggle with regain.

Checking in! I ’ve completely given up on catching up with the Advent Skalender ☹️ I also haven’t been as good about walking. That is more about time than laziness though. But I also realized I don’t get credit for my steps when my phone rolls with my bag in the airport. So I’ve been cheated out of steps! ? I’m headed out on vacation, so that will be a lot of walking to close out the month. It’s not a great food destination. So that + extra activity, I’m curious to see what my weight will be when I return. ?

It seems like you are looking for the negative, instead of the positive. Nothing is guaranteed from this surgery, but the odds of success are very very good. Couple of things: I believe some people do have true hunger early on after surgery. What @JanJan19 describes is entirely plausible, hunger that can come and go, and that can be satisfied with small amount of healthy food. But there are also people who truly cannot differentiate between head hunger, stomach acid, and physical hunger. They feel that physical hunger is the only real type of hunger, and any suggestion that it could be head hunger or stomach acid is invalidating what they are experiencing. I was fortunate enough to have very little physical hunger for about 6 months. But I dealt with head hunger starting a couple of weeks post op. For me, head hunger was much more difficult to deal with than physical hunger. If I was physically hungry I could eat a couple of ounces of chicken and be satisfied. Head hunger was either impossible to satisfy (wanting pizza 2 weeks post op), or satisfying my head hunger threatened to sabotage my weight loss. Finally, as an example, I am 15 months post op, and this is the amount of food it takes to make me full. Seems worth it right?

You've lost 60 lbs in 5 months, I would say losing close to all your excess weight is very realistic at the pace you're at! No need o doubt yourself!

For me, it is more of a substitute for ham hocks, rather than bacon. I've never cooked it and eaten it on it's own. I have only used it to add flavor to dishes. It has two benefits over bacon & ham hocks. It's sooo cheap. I don't remember the exact price, but well under $2/lb, maybe even like $1.29?? So that's a benefit over bacon. It's also possible to portion out into small portions, and doesn't take up as much room in a pot as a ham hock.

Yes ... not at all similar to Canadian bacon. The difference between guanciale and pork jowl bacon is that guanciale isn't smoked, while the bacon is.

I think you know this, but you are most likely going to have to go well over 1000 to stop losing. I know that seems daunting right now. I was in the same boat as you 6 months ago. I had very limited stomach capacity, and if I ate according the the bariatric rules my cals were too low, just as yours are. Although it's frustrating and a bit scary right now to keep losing, long term, having a higher BMR is a very good thing. As your capacity increases, it will be hard to stay at 1000 cals day after day. I started to have more capacity at about 10 months or so. As a reference point, I'm averaging at least 2000 cals, and successfully maintaining. But as I've established, I am seemingly an outlier.

You're a better person than I am!

I didn't actually cook these, they're catering leftovers. But when I made them in the past, I made them similarly to this recipe https://www.aforkstale.com/how-to-cook-collard-greens/ Only I left out the hot sauce, but added garlic. Then use pepper vinegar as a condiment I also don't use ham hocks or regular bacon. I use pork jowl bacon. It is a staple for anything I want to add a smokey, porky flavor to, like beans and soups. I buy it at Winco http://www.sunnyvalleysmokedmeats.com/retail-bacon.html It is dead cheap. I chop it up into 2 oz portions and freeze, so I always have it on hand. It also looks like Walmart carries the Smithfield brand https://www.walmart.com/ip/Smithfield-Pork-Jowl-Bacon-1-0-1-4-lb/50156197 (Can't vouch for it, like I can the Sunnyvale brand)

Laughing Cow cheese wedges!

Smoked chicken breast with BBQ sauce (2.25 oz) & collard greens

Valentina ... a hot sauce