sideeye

You're not asking a stupid question. And it's not TMI. Goddamnit, people depress me sometimes.
First: when did you have surgery? Have you done coke before, and is this typical? Had you had alcohol since your surgery?
Just based on the timing, I'd guess that you've got a stomach bug and that this isn't related to the drug use. Anyone vomiting for three days would feel ache in their stomach. Did you have a flu shot this year? Are you drinking a ton of Gatorade or Pedialyte to make up for the dehydration? If not, your symptoms are just going to feel worse.
Even if this reaction has nothing to do with the coke or booze, you know that introducing a rogue element into a healing system isn't a good idea, obviously, and you'll be more careful in future. Good.
Few things make me bristle with rage. Idiotic responses like this would be one of them. Her question was related to WLS, since she's concerned there's been an interaction between the drugs and the surgery. She's asking for help because she's worried. I am incredibly angry that your response was the first here, as it is worthless.

Nothing off-limits or poorly tolerated, just quantity. My eyes are occasionally bigger than my stomach but my eyes never OVERRIDE my stomach.
If anything, I found myself cutting out any “light” or “x-free” foods. I used to drink skim milk, and now I drink 2%. Post-surgery I realized that the “diet” versions of foods just didn’t register as “food” somehow; I could be satisfied with a cup of 2% milk but still feel deprived after a pint of skim (theoretically. obviously I cannot drink a pint of milk). The light bulb on all of this went off when I tried Halo Top ice cream, which tastes ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE to me and unsatisfying but I could work on a pint of Cherry Garcia for over two weeks and be fine.
So now when I eat, I have a smallish portion of what I call “normal human food”. I buy the normal caesar salad kit, but throw out half the dressing... That sort of thing.

I told them if the test came back positive, they’d be witnessing the start of a new religion. They still made me take it.

I hear you, but I also find newborns EXTREMELY UN-FUN. One of my friends was just disastrously sick seven months of her pregnancy. Another one had to go on bed rest starting month 5. We work in an industry where that stuff can happen and you can actually keep your job, but... shudder. Total buzzkill for me, no matter how in-the-moment I am.

Most hospitals do a urine test when they admit you to pick up exactly this. I'll defer to the medical professionals on this board for verification, but every single time I've gone to the hospital for a procedure they've made me pee in a cup. It's always been for a pregnancy test.
If it comes back positive they won't operate. Pretty straightforward and other than telling them you had unprotected sex, you don't really need to do anything here.
(...and here of course is the unsolicited advice of DAMN, if you're only on a one-month birth control break which I assume means you don't want to be pregnant, why play Russian roulette like that? Condom! Condom condom condom! Spermicide! Condom! Diaphragm! Condom! Ack!)

You're not asking a stupid question. And it's not TMI. Goddamnit, people depress me sometimes.
First: when did you have surgery? Have you done coke before, and is this typical? Had you had alcohol since your surgery?
Just based on the timing, I'd guess that you've got a stomach bug and that this isn't related to the drug use. Anyone vomiting for three days would feel ache in their stomach. Did you have a flu shot this year? Are you drinking a ton of Gatorade or Pedialyte to make up for the dehydration? If not, your symptoms are just going to feel worse.
Even if this reaction has nothing to do with the coke or booze, you know that introducing a rogue element into a healing system isn't a good idea, obviously, and you'll be more careful in future. Good.
Few things make me bristle with rage. Idiotic responses like this would be one of them. Her question was related to WLS, since she's concerned there's been an interaction between the drugs and the surgery. She's asking for help because she's worried. I am incredibly angry that your response was the first here, as it is worthless.

Wear a mask. And I know folks are out there who think they’ll get the second shot, rip off their mask and burn it right there in the clinic parking lot, but - STILL WEAR THE MASK.
The science isn’t settled yet as to whether the vaccination means it also prevents you from passing it on. So there is a scenario where you’re vaccinated, you go to a large gathering maskless and YOU get everyone there sick because you were infectious and had no idea because the vaccine protected you from symptoms. So far, the one thing we’re sure of is the vaccine prevents cases from getting deadly, not whether it halts the transmission.
And then there’s all the emerging variants stuff and please, please just mask up and stay away from other people. I am an exhausted, demoralized covid researcher and system designer and 2020 has been brutal for people being willfully stupid about a pandemic. It’s been sickening to watch people claim that “no one could have predicted this” when I know that’s bull because I told you in your office repeatedly what was going to happen and what you needed to do to mitigate and you told me it was too hard and your people would be fine.
I can’t even imagine what it must be like for medical professionals.

Long time since an update: Still with the BF and things are going well. Living through the quarantine stage was odd but not terrible. We actually decided to relocate together and so far so good ❤️

My doc wasn't too fussed about Multivitamins after VSG. Basically said as long as bloodwork remains good, there's no need. I don't have a very restricted diet, so everything seems to be coming through via food just fine. I do know that others have been advised differently be their docs - may be a case-by-case basis.

I think you’ll get different answers here from different people, but for me three years out? No. I could not plough my way through my pantry anymore, not without a lot of pausing for digestion. You’ll have a much better internal brake, which will hopefully make you consider what’s happening instead of the headlong rush you used to be able to do.
For instance, if you cooked half a pound of Pasta and tried to eat it in one sitting, you probably wouldn’t be able to. You’d maybe manage half of it, feel uncomfortably full, and then have to either put it away or slow waaaaay down and eat the rest of it over the next hour or so. So you become very aware of binging tendencies (at least in my case).
This is where it becomes important to understand there will be a “WHY” you’re overeating, and to get ahead of that by lining up a therapist. For some people, the absence of hunger pangs is like flipping a switch - that hormone is gone, and now they’re good! For others there is a real need for a certain taste, like fast food fries or ice cream, and that craving is very difficult to snap because of the “just one taste” impulse. Some people are emotional eaters whose overeating is prompted by an emotional state change. And for others the act of overeating itself created an endorphin feedback loop, so overeating actually rewarded you by making you feel good, sort of the opposite of the emotional eater (I was this kind).
For me, the endorphin rush is gone now and so I’m not chemically rewarded for overeating, even a few years out. That chemical hit just isn’t possible anymore. My stomach is around the same capacity as it was 9 months out, I can only really eat a max of 1.5 cups of food in one 20-minute period. My pandemic problem has been grazing (2.5 cups of pasta, snacked on during a day around other meals, for instance) plus a weird stress reaction where I pack all of my tension into my jaw and mouth and guess what alleviates that ache? Chewing and swallowing actual food, not gum (dammit!).
I maintained for two years with little problem. The pandemic knocked me for a loop. Am relatively confident I can reset (if I can get this damn jaw thing under control) but I’ve come to think a LOT of success in WLS is getting to the root of WHY you eat. That will help you in deciding how to manage the rough spots, and will prevent you from getting blindsided as much.

Quick update: September to December was not good to me at ALL. Not sure if this happened to anyone else working on covid-related projects, but in August I was quite optimistic that months of research and development and discussion would result in common-sense public health policy. So when it turned out that NONE of those measures were adopted (and this is after 16 hour days for months developing low-tech mitigation strategies specifically to head off an autumn surge), I and a lot of people I know absolutely hit a wall. Cassandra-like, watching predicted disaster unfold and all of these people we’d been talking to for months then publicly claiming they’d had no idea it could get so bad. It was like watching a series of tsunamis. Went into a massively depressive funk until mid-December and focused on nothing but keeping immediate family safe. Was weighing myself the whole time on my wireless scale and it’s really obvious that the gain is related to the (totally foreseeable and effing avoidable!) reopening and holiday spikes.
Of course, gained a lot of weight. About 25 lbs in three months. Caught myself and plateau’d around New Year.
So I’m rebooting now. Not wildly concerned about the reboot, but looking forward to just spending the next few months focusing on getting ready to reenter society. In jeans. Preferably the jeans I was wearing this time last year.

I think you’ll get different answers here from different people, but for me three years out? No. I could not plough my way through my pantry anymore, not without a lot of pausing for digestion. You’ll have a much better internal brake, which will hopefully make you consider what’s happening instead of the headlong rush you used to be able to do.
For instance, if you cooked half a pound of Pasta and tried to eat it in one sitting, you probably wouldn’t be able to. You’d maybe manage half of it, feel uncomfortably full, and then have to either put it away or slow waaaaay down and eat the rest of it over the next hour or so. So you become very aware of binging tendencies (at least in my case).
This is where it becomes important to understand there will be a “WHY” you’re overeating, and to get ahead of that by lining up a therapist. For some people, the absence of hunger pangs is like flipping a switch - that hormone is gone, and now they’re good! For others there is a real need for a certain taste, like fast food fries or ice cream, and that craving is very difficult to snap because of the “just one taste” impulse. Some people are emotional eaters whose overeating is prompted by an emotional state change. And for others the act of overeating itself created an endorphin feedback loop, so overeating actually rewarded you by making you feel good, sort of the opposite of the emotional eater (I was this kind).
For me, the endorphin rush is gone now and so I’m not chemically rewarded for overeating, even a few years out. That chemical hit just isn’t possible anymore. My stomach is around the same capacity as it was 9 months out, I can only really eat a max of 1.5 cups of food in one 20-minute period. My pandemic problem has been grazing (2.5 cups of pasta, snacked on during a day around other meals, for instance) plus a weird stress reaction where I pack all of my tension into my jaw and mouth and guess what alleviates that ache? Chewing and swallowing actual food, not gum (dammit!).
I maintained for two years with little problem. The pandemic knocked me for a loop. Am relatively confident I can reset (if I can get this damn jaw thing under control) but I’ve come to think a LOT of success in WLS is getting to the root of WHY you eat. That will help you in deciding how to manage the rough spots, and will prevent you from getting blindsided as much.

I think you’ll get different answers here from different people, but for me three years out? No. I could not plough my way through my pantry anymore, not without a lot of pausing for digestion. You’ll have a much better internal brake, which will hopefully make you consider what’s happening instead of the headlong rush you used to be able to do.
For instance, if you cooked half a pound of Pasta and tried to eat it in one sitting, you probably wouldn’t be able to. You’d maybe manage half of it, feel uncomfortably full, and then have to either put it away or slow waaaaay down and eat the rest of it over the next hour or so. So you become very aware of binging tendencies (at least in my case).
This is where it becomes important to understand there will be a “WHY” you’re overeating, and to get ahead of that by lining up a therapist. For some people, the absence of hunger pangs is like flipping a switch - that hormone is gone, and now they’re good! For others there is a real need for a certain taste, like fast food fries or ice cream, and that craving is very difficult to snap because of the “just one taste” impulse. Some people are emotional eaters whose overeating is prompted by an emotional state change. And for others the act of overeating itself created an endorphin feedback loop, so overeating actually rewarded you by making you feel good, sort of the opposite of the emotional eater (I was this kind).
For me, the endorphin rush is gone now and so I’m not chemically rewarded for overeating, even a few years out. That chemical hit just isn’t possible anymore. My stomach is around the same capacity as it was 9 months out, I can only really eat a max of 1.5 cups of food in one 20-minute period. My pandemic problem has been grazing (2.5 cups of pasta, snacked on during a day around other meals, for instance) plus a weird stress reaction where I pack all of my tension into my jaw and mouth and guess what alleviates that ache? Chewing and swallowing actual food, not gum (dammit!).
I maintained for two years with little problem. The pandemic knocked me for a loop. Am relatively confident I can reset (if I can get this damn jaw thing under control) but I’ve come to think a LOT of success in WLS is getting to the root of WHY you eat. That will help you in deciding how to manage the rough spots, and will prevent you from getting blindsided as much.

I think you’ll get different answers here from different people, but for me three years out? No. I could not plough my way through my pantry anymore, not without a lot of pausing for digestion. You’ll have a much better internal brake, which will hopefully make you consider what’s happening instead of the headlong rush you used to be able to do.
For instance, if you cooked half a pound of Pasta and tried to eat it in one sitting, you probably wouldn’t be able to. You’d maybe manage half of it, feel uncomfortably full, and then have to either put it away or slow waaaaay down and eat the rest of it over the next hour or so. So you become very aware of binging tendencies (at least in my case).
This is where it becomes important to understand there will be a “WHY” you’re overeating, and to get ahead of that by lining up a therapist. For some people, the absence of hunger pangs is like flipping a switch - that hormone is gone, and now they’re good! For others there is a real need for a certain taste, like fast food fries or ice cream, and that craving is very difficult to snap because of the “just one taste” impulse. Some people are emotional eaters whose overeating is prompted by an emotional state change. And for others the act of overeating itself created an endorphin feedback loop, so overeating actually rewarded you by making you feel good, sort of the opposite of the emotional eater (I was this kind).
For me, the endorphin rush is gone now and so I’m not chemically rewarded for overeating, even a few years out. That chemical hit just isn’t possible anymore. My stomach is around the same capacity as it was 9 months out, I can only really eat a max of 1.5 cups of food in one 20-minute period. My pandemic problem has been grazing (2.5 cups of pasta, snacked on during a day around other meals, for instance) plus a weird stress reaction where I pack all of my tension into my jaw and mouth and guess what alleviates that ache? Chewing and swallowing actual food, not gum (dammit!).
I maintained for two years with little problem. The pandemic knocked me for a loop. Am relatively confident I can reset (if I can get this damn jaw thing under control) but I’ve come to think a LOT of success in WLS is getting to the root of WHY you eat. That will help you in deciding how to manage the rough spots, and will prevent you from getting blindsided as much.

I think the oral fixation thing is probably a good place to focus (also talk to your dentist and find out if you clench/grind your teeth - the clenching action can sometimes be an unconscious tension reliever, though also ruins your teeth). But I’d go in a different direction with the candies - I don’t think you need to find a low-calorie candy substitute, I think you need to ration.

Portion out a reasonable allotment of one week’s worth of candy into a mason jar or other glass/transparent container, and then put a bag of grapes in the freezer. As the week goes on, every time you eat a candy, remind yourself that this is all you get this week, and eye up the jar to see if you’re cool with the pace. When your craving is low enough to be diverted, grab a grape out of the freezer (or a cherry, or something else of similar size).

I practice what I preach here, I have a candy corn fixation and filled a mason jar with corn mid-October vowing this is all I have until NEXT HALLOWEEN. I’m maybe 1/5 through it. Somehow just knowing it’s there and that I’ve already accounted for it in my diet makes it less of a guilty pleasure/cheat and I don’t need it as much.

I don't think there's been an upswing, but there have been advances in sophistication. There have always been dark corners of the internet, but they were somewhat cordoned off from the mainstream internet spaces. From what I've observed two things happened: 1. the Chans found a really good vector into mainstream (memes) and then used those same paths to start injecting culture-disrupting content into the rest of the internet, and 2. trolls fine-tuned their toolkit so they're now not just easily-identifiable jerks, they're also using deceptively mild personas to create chaos.
When we finally untangle the impact of Russia's troll factories and Cambridge Analytica on the 2016 election it's going to be proven as much more significant than the general population currently believe - this isn't a political statement, it's just acknowledgement of the pure skill of psychographic targeting and the way Russia was deploying its troll network. That didn't happen in a vacuum. While the Russians are a peak, state-organized example of how to effectively troll, they're behaviors that are exhibited by people invested in chaos or pushing a particular worldview all over the web. And one of the knock-on effects of the trolls getting REALLY GOOD is that their influence over non-trolls got a lot more traction, so now their messaging is getting spread in ever-increasing circles by people I'd probably describe as dupes. They heard a thing repeatedly, they didn't think analytically too much about it, they internalized the thing enough to make it something they now believe and will fight for. This is also how the Facebook ads worked.
I will say that Trump's style has had a strong impact on these trends. He broke down some of the barriers that governed what is acceptable in civil discourse online. It's a horrible acceleration, again aided by trolls: during the Obama admin, a lot of the toxic racist stuff that traditionally stayed on the fringe crept closer to the mainstream until people were boldly repeating it on Facebook, and then one of the main tweeters of that toxicity became president. Fast-track to legitimizing that sort of speech.

@Circlesis I had surgery over two years ago and didn’t experience this the first summer, so I don’t know - I’d be inclined to attribute it to 40 more than the sleeve.

@waterwoman I’ve spent a hilarious couple of weeks with my summer-attuned parents, and every time they sighed about it being cloudy or cold I would follow up “...YESSSSS!” I do have some sympathy for those who get depressed in winter, but then I remember that they have NO sympathy for me in May, so....
Another interesting pandemic feature? Pre-surgery I was completely disassociated with my body - not only could I not predict whether I’d gained or lost weight by general sense, I also couldn’t tell by looking in the mirror. It was on the level of body dysmorphia, honestly. That TOTALLY went away after surgery and I was sensitive to as little as a two pound shift, but I think that faded over the pandemic months. Being with my family this month, I suddenly started feeling a lot heavier both in “sense” and in mirror-view, but there was no scale for validation. I’ve just gotten home and it turns out I’m exactly the same as when I left, which tells me that my sense of my weight somehow reverted during isolation and then weirdly caught up as I was around my family.

weird, right?!??

Sideeye - I too get depressed in the summer. So glad to finally meet another Summer SAD. Are you able to go someplace cooler, or do you just tough it out?

I'm New York, and within the past few months - bleh. The lockdown didn't bother me so much as a concept, weight wasn't a problem for the first two months. I was VERY involved in a virus-related contact tracing effort that has basically consumed all of my time, and obviously the status of healthcare in America means that I've spent since mid-Feb bashing my head against a wall to try and make things happen and hitting political and insurance roadblocks and let's just go ahead and agree that being 20 feet away from the kitchen during 13-hour days when you can't leave home without wearing a mask is... not ideal for maintaining weight loss?
Long story short, I am a whopping 30lbs up on my lowest weight right now.
It's reversible, and in fact with some of the virus-related work finally getting traction (Americans finally stop living in denial, hopefully?) and being parceled off to other teams I'm actually seeing work hours go back down to a normal schedule, but I'm rebooting starting this week through Orgain Protein Shakes twice a day and one carefully planned meal, plus coffee, Water and a cheese stick. I've deliberately and proactively sectioned off my calendar to make sure I don't keep working until 8pm every damn night anymore. I have done terrifying things in Salesforce so now all of my spinning plates are in view at all times.
How did I get here? Well...
Stocked up in late-Feb when I realized that this was going to be a pandemic. Then tried to order once or twice a week from restaurants when it was clear they'd otherwise shut down, which meant a single dinner lasted three nights. Two months in, I started going to the store occasionally for simple human contact, usually ended up buying stuff I didn't need as an excuse to make the trip. By the end of the spring, the stocked-up stuff started to reach the end of its expiry date, which meant I had to eat it... You see how this spirals. I hate summer. Hate it. Seasonal depression (yes, it does exist for summer). Oh, and then this year it turned out I developed a sun allergy. So even if I did go out to exercise, I risked days of an itchy, poison ivy-like rash. Pool closed, obviously. Work stress. Firstly, trying to make sure I kept my team employed and occupied and engaged as they ended up stranded in apartments and parents' spare rooms in rural towns and assure them that layoffs aren't coming to get them. Secondly, all the virus work. Work happy hours at the start of the lockdown. I had maybe 3-4 drinks every MONTH before lockdown. But then everyone started having happy hours to stay connected, and about three weeks in I think the cocktail started representing the time you officially stopped work so we were all starting making it more of a daily ritual. And once you're having a drink every afternoon when you shut your laptop, you start having two on the days things are particularly rough, and now it's August and I have consumed a remarkable amount of calories via gin, tonic and cider and definitely need to change that pattern. Pandemic stress and constant, haunting thoughts about why I didn't get New Zealand citizenship when I lived there and could do it, dammit. Stopped wearing proper clothing. I vowed to keep wearing my jeans and nice work tops, and stuck to it for about two months. Then I realized that wrap dresses worked great on calls and were cooler. Then started wearing yoga pants (but not doing actual yoga!) and a nice top on calls. Over the last three or four weeks, I've worn zip-up hoodies on internal calls. So it was easy to ignore the weight gain. My wireless scale broke and it took me three months to buy a new one. Anyhow. The pandemic sucks, so many things about living in the US reality distortion field suck right now, but one thing I very much can control is my food intake so it's back to basics on that count. The grocery supply chain is just fine, I've bought a projector TV so I can lock my dog out of the room and do yoga with an image projected on a wall instead of trying to contort myself to do yoga via computer while battling weak wifi, and IT'S GOING TO BE AUTUMN!!! Also I'm taking a week off. Also one of my NZ friends is now living in Sweden, so we spend a lot of time WTF-ing at each other about our situation compared to our friends' situations.
How are all of you doing? Working parents, I am not one of your number but know that as one of your colleagues, I do not mind seeing your kids onscreen, totally understand you can't make that deadline, and basically just want to make sure you can make it through the week with 50% or more of your sanity intact. This pandemic has not fallen equally across all shoulders by a long shot, and anyone who's trying to make you stick to a Before Times schedule or gets ratty about "unprofessional" childcare complications can go stuff themselves.
**definitely not looking for any advice or encouragement here, and am in fact allergic to both unless expressly requested - just figured since this is a check-in I’d update on current state of play for anyone interested in comparison.

I'm New York, and within the past few months - bleh. The lockdown didn't bother me so much as a concept, weight wasn't a problem for the first two months. I was VERY involved in a virus-related contact tracing effort that has basically consumed all of my time, and obviously the status of healthcare in America means that I've spent since mid-Feb bashing my head against a wall to try and make things happen and hitting political and insurance roadblocks and let's just go ahead and agree that being 20 feet away from the kitchen during 13-hour days when you can't leave home without wearing a mask is... not ideal for maintaining weight loss?
Long story short, I am a whopping 30lbs up on my lowest weight right now.
It's reversible, and in fact with some of the virus-related work finally getting traction (Americans finally stop living in denial, hopefully?) and being parceled off to other teams I'm actually seeing work hours go back down to a normal schedule, but I'm rebooting starting this week through Orgain Protein Shakes twice a day and one carefully planned meal, plus coffee, Water and a cheese stick. I've deliberately and proactively sectioned off my calendar to make sure I don't keep working until 8pm every damn night anymore. I have done terrifying things in Salesforce so now all of my spinning plates are in view at all times.
How did I get here? Well...
Stocked up in late-Feb when I realized that this was going to be a pandemic. Then tried to order once or twice a week from restaurants when it was clear they'd otherwise shut down, which meant a single dinner lasted three nights. Two months in, I started going to the store occasionally for simple human contact, usually ended up buying stuff I didn't need as an excuse to make the trip. By the end of the spring, the stocked-up stuff started to reach the end of its expiry date, which meant I had to eat it... You see how this spirals. I hate summer. Hate it. Seasonal depression (yes, it does exist for summer). Oh, and then this year it turned out I developed a sun allergy. So even if I did go out to exercise, I risked days of an itchy, poison ivy-like rash. Pool closed, obviously. Work stress. Firstly, trying to make sure I kept my team employed and occupied and engaged as they ended up stranded in apartments and parents' spare rooms in rural towns and assure them that layoffs aren't coming to get them. Secondly, all the virus work. Work happy hours at the start of the lockdown. I had maybe 3-4 drinks every MONTH before lockdown. But then everyone started having happy hours to stay connected, and about three weeks in I think the cocktail started representing the time you officially stopped work so we were all starting making it more of a daily ritual. And once you're having a drink every afternoon when you shut your laptop, you start having two on the days things are particularly rough, and now it's August and I have consumed a remarkable amount of calories via gin, tonic and cider and definitely need to change that pattern. Pandemic stress and constant, haunting thoughts about why I didn't get New Zealand citizenship when I lived there and could do it, dammit. Stopped wearing proper clothing. I vowed to keep wearing my jeans and nice work tops, and stuck to it for about two months. Then I realized that wrap dresses worked great on calls and were cooler. Then started wearing yoga pants (but not doing actual yoga!) and a nice top on calls. Over the last three or four weeks, I've worn zip-up hoodies on internal calls. So it was easy to ignore the weight gain. My wireless scale broke and it took me three months to buy a new one. Anyhow. The pandemic sucks, so many things about living in the US reality distortion field suck right now, but one thing I very much can control is my food intake so it's back to basics on that count. The grocery supply chain is just fine, I've bought a projector TV so I can lock my dog out of the room and do yoga with an image projected on a wall instead of trying to contort myself to do yoga via computer while battling weak wifi, and IT'S GOING TO BE AUTUMN!!! Also I'm taking a week off. Also one of my NZ friends is now living in Sweden, so we spend a lot of time WTF-ing at each other about our situation compared to our friends' situations.
How are all of you doing? Working parents, I am not one of your number but know that as one of your colleagues, I do not mind seeing your kids onscreen, totally understand you can't make that deadline, and basically just want to make sure you can make it through the week with 50% or more of your sanity intact. This pandemic has not fallen equally across all shoulders by a long shot, and anyone who's trying to make you stick to a Before Times schedule or gets ratty about "unprofessional" childcare complications can go stuff themselves.
**definitely not looking for any advice or encouragement here, and am in fact allergic to both unless expressly requested - just figured since this is a check-in I’d update on current state of play for anyone interested in comparison.

I've abandoned the cleaner diet I tried to maintain at the beginning of the pandemic because honestly quarantine fatigue. It was easier when it was novel but months of being a solo chef became boring. So I basically stopped cooking and went on a little strike 😂
I'm off and on with exercise ( mostly off honestly) because motivation is low as exercise was never my outlet. Because of so much uncertainty, I have stopped actively planning for new things, I'm just going with the flow. Even my indoor gardening has even taken a hit but I am still growing green onions for the peace it brings me to tend to plants, although I'm not cooking with them.

N&I, it looks like you had surgery in Oct 2019 - the Vets board has an 18 month post-op requirement.

I'm New York, and within the past few months - bleh. The lockdown didn't bother me so much as a concept, weight wasn't a problem for the first two months. I was VERY involved in a virus-related contact tracing effort that has basically consumed all of my time, and obviously the status of healthcare in America means that I've spent since mid-Feb bashing my head against a wall to try and make things happen and hitting political and insurance roadblocks and let's just go ahead and agree that being 20 feet away from the kitchen during 13-hour days when you can't leave home without wearing a mask is... not ideal for maintaining weight loss?
Long story short, I am a whopping 30lbs up on my lowest weight right now.
It's reversible, and in fact with some of the virus-related work finally getting traction (Americans finally stop living in denial, hopefully?) and being parceled off to other teams I'm actually seeing work hours go back down to a normal schedule, but I'm rebooting starting this week through Orgain Protein Shakes twice a day and one carefully planned meal, plus coffee, Water and a cheese stick. I've deliberately and proactively sectioned off my calendar to make sure I don't keep working until 8pm every damn night anymore. I have done terrifying things in Salesforce so now all of my spinning plates are in view at all times.
How did I get here? Well...
Stocked up in late-Feb when I realized that this was going to be a pandemic. Then tried to order once or twice a week from restaurants when it was clear they'd otherwise shut down, which meant a single dinner lasted three nights. Two months in, I started going to the store occasionally for simple human contact, usually ended up buying stuff I didn't need as an excuse to make the trip. By the end of the spring, the stocked-up stuff started to reach the end of its expiry date, which meant I had to eat it... You see how this spirals. I hate summer. Hate it. Seasonal depression (yes, it does exist for summer). Oh, and then this year it turned out I developed a sun allergy. So even if I did go out to exercise, I risked days of an itchy, poison ivy-like rash. Pool closed, obviously. Work stress. Firstly, trying to make sure I kept my team employed and occupied and engaged as they ended up stranded in apartments and parents' spare rooms in rural towns and assure them that layoffs aren't coming to get them. Secondly, all the virus work. Work happy hours at the start of the lockdown. I had maybe 3-4 drinks every MONTH before lockdown. But then everyone started having happy hours to stay connected, and about three weeks in I think the cocktail started representing the time you officially stopped work so we were all starting making it more of a daily ritual. And once you're having a drink every afternoon when you shut your laptop, you start having two on the days things are particularly rough, and now it's August and I have consumed a remarkable amount of calories via gin, tonic and cider and definitely need to change that pattern. Pandemic stress and constant, haunting thoughts about why I didn't get New Zealand citizenship when I lived there and could do it, dammit. Stopped wearing proper clothing. I vowed to keep wearing my jeans and nice work tops, and stuck to it for about two months. Then I realized that wrap dresses worked great on calls and were cooler. Then started wearing yoga pants (but not doing actual yoga!) and a nice top on calls. Over the last three or four weeks, I've worn zip-up hoodies on internal calls. So it was easy to ignore the weight gain. My wireless scale broke and it took me three months to buy a new one. Anyhow. The pandemic sucks, so many things about living in the US reality distortion field suck right now, but one thing I very much can control is my food intake so it's back to basics on that count. The grocery supply chain is just fine, I've bought a projector TV so I can lock my dog out of the room and do yoga with an image projected on a wall instead of trying to contort myself to do yoga via computer while battling weak wifi, and IT'S GOING TO BE AUTUMN!!! Also I'm taking a week off. Also one of my NZ friends is now living in Sweden, so we spend a lot of time WTF-ing at each other about our situation compared to our friends' situations.
How are all of you doing? Working parents, I am not one of your number but know that as one of your colleagues, I do not mind seeing your kids onscreen, totally understand you can't make that deadline, and basically just want to make sure you can make it through the week with 50% or more of your sanity intact. This pandemic has not fallen equally across all shoulders by a long shot, and anyone who's trying to make you stick to a Before Times schedule or gets ratty about "unprofessional" childcare complications can go stuff themselves.
**definitely not looking for any advice or encouragement here, and am in fact allergic to both unless expressly requested - just figured since this is a check-in I’d update on current state of play for anyone interested in comparison.

N&I, it looks like you had surgery in Oct 2019 - the Vets board has an 18 month post-op requirement.

N&I, it looks like you had surgery in Oct 2019 - the Vets board has an 18 month post-op requirement.