ms.sss

i dont have a set recipe, i always just kinda wing it/taste test it...but basically: - 1:3 ratio of grated fresh ginger with chopped green onion/scallions in a bowl - corn oil - sesame oil - salt/pepper to taste - dried chili flakes (optional) - Heat up the corn oil on high heat until its shimmering, enough to be able to coat all the ginger and green onion you have - add grated ginger, cook for 15-20 or so seconds - add green onion, cook for another 20-30 or so seconds (you can add chili flakes here if you want) - transfer to a bowl - add sesame oil to the bowl (about 1 tbsp give or take), add salt pepper to taste. Taste and add what you need based on your preference. - move it all to a resealable jar and add more corn oil until it covers it all. - keep in fridge after it reaches room temperature. Its supposed to be able to last a week in the fridge, but honestly my fam finishes it like 2 days so I can’t confirm that timeline lol. ** I’ve added a bit of sugar to the recipe sometimes depending of what I plan to serve it with…the sugar version works well with duck or lamb and other gamey-er proteins ** ** also use this condiment to fry rice or noodles, YUM **

further to this, here are some suggestions for more beginner, entry type classes/activities: - Restorative Yoga (mildest yoga you could do...usually for those coming off injuries, pregnant, older, and Beginners! - walking club (you can find these on MeetUp or at your local community centre, or running store) ive seen these groups on the street, in the forests, at the mall. - gardening! fun tidbit: one summer a long time ago, my husband got a manual grass cutter saying we needed to save the planet and get some exercise while we do it. we still use it for fun sometimes when its a nice day and wanna hang out outside longer (cuz it takes forever lol) - volunteering at a hospital or animal shelter...you will be moving alot plus the added bonus of doing something nice. it all starts with a start. good luck!❤️

i "co-wash" (wash hair with conditioner and rinse well) at every shower (then apply leave on conditioner after shower). i wash with volumizing shampoo maybe every 3-4 days. and i'll use clarifying shampoo maybe every 2-3 months (usually just before i henna my hair) this works for me as i have relatively healthy scalp and hair. someone with hair that leans oily may find extended co-washing makes their hair look limp and more oily. and someone with a flaky scalp may find the flake build up from not shampooing get kinda ick. in which case maybe shampoo more often?

lol they always do

lol, same! get home after whatever activity i did, park the car in (or walk thu) the garage, walk into the laundry room, take off all my clothes, throw em i into the washer with any sweaty towels or hats, then walk upstairs buck naked to take a shower! i do this everyday (sometimes twice a day, ha!) unlike others, i LOve to be all sweaty and tired and limber and light after exercising, i guess i experience that endorphin high, plus i feel so accomplished, if that makes sense, kinda rockstar-ish in a way. anybody feel this way too? to the OP, i too didn't like exercise once upon a time...until i got GOOD at it and started seeing results. and the only way i got good at it was to keep doing it. good luck! ❤️

i don't like sweets as much as i used to. mind you i still have sweet stuff, just not as often and as much as i used to. where before i'd have 2 slices of cake, now i'll have like 2 bites.

i went from pooping 2-3 times a day pre-WLS to pooping every 3-4 days post-WLS. i had to keep on top of constipation the first year, but now, (i'm 6 yrs out next month), i don't need to take any supplements or poop aids anymore. i've accepted i just don't poop alot, ha. i do have a problem pooping on vacation, and often look like i'm 3 months pregnant after an extended period away form my home toilet. i'm not uncomfortable nor in pain, so i don't worry about it too much anymore. so long as i poop withing 1-2 days of getting home i'm good. you'll find out what your new normal is and can act accordingly

i'm in full on menopause but i do get my share of hungry and not-hungry days...but like @summerseeker says, it all evens out in the end.

*raises hand* warning: this may get long.... now, for me, replace 'whiskey' and 'cognac' with Vodka Sodas or Red Wine or Espresso Martinis. i looked it up and according to North American AND European "standards" i would be considered an alcoholic in North America, as well as partaking in "harmful and hazardous" drinking if I were in Europe, based on my average daily alcohol consumption. I started drinking regularly during Covid, and basically never stopped. I too, consider myself a high-functioning alcoholic...i don't get black out drunk, i dont drink and drive, operate heavy machinery while under the influence, make bad decisions that would harm or embarass myself or others, etc. etc. since surgery i get affected much quicker, and on a lot less than pre-surgery. i'm pretty tipsy just after a single drink...legitimately drunk after 2. BUT.....i sober up really quickly too. the alcoholic buzz lasts me maybe 30-45 mins tops. then it's like i didn't drink a drop....which probably contributes to why i drink the amounts that i do. i am a boredom and social drinker (i.e,. i don't need it to sleep...i am a lifelong insomniac and need very little sleep all my life anyway *shrug*). so if i am busy doing stuff during waking hours that doesn't involve food, friends and sitting around, then i wont drink. i also have a chip on my shoulder, so often when somebody (i.e., Mr. or the Kid) challenges me that i couldn't stop drinking, I totally would just to prove him wrong. I've probably gone cold turkey 9-10 times for about a month each time in the past 5 years just to be right. Mind you, i never actually STOPPED for good, so maybe HE's right, ha. As for my current state of health, I am probably in the best shape in my adult life. I have maintained below goal weight since reaching it at 7 months post op. I am 5'2", 52 yr old woman, and this morning weighed 115.8 lbs. My body fat percentage hovers between 18-20% All my labs since surgery have been satisfactory, the last one being last fall. I don't take any medication any more (i used to take blood pressure and cholesterol and adhd meds). but I do have to take pesky PPIs i continue to need to keep my reflux under control. I have endless amounts of energy, bad moods and bitchiness are a rarity now, i am patient, calm, less stressed since losing the weight. I exercise (yoga, pilates, running, rock climbing) 20+ hours a week. I also dabble with swimming, hiking, volleyball, and dance for funsies. I consume over 2300+ calories a day so i'm definitely not starving myself (mind you, 400-500 cals are from alcohol...) soooo....sometimes i feel like i SHOULD worry about the amount of alcohol i drink, but really, if i'm honest, i don't, really. but if/when i do i feel like its becoming a problem, I can re-evaluate then (though this probably sounds like the alcoholic's battle-cry, no? ha!) p.s. may be worth noting here (not sure why) that i am also an ex-smoker at the moment. i smoked for 20 years, then quit cold-turkey for 10 yrs, then took it up again for 4 years, then quit cold turkey again last summer (am currently 14 months smoke free this time around, yay, me!). p.p.s. DISCLAIMER: i am in no way advocating nor opposing my M.O. to drinking to anyone who reads this. I am merely describing my own experiences. take or leave from it what you will ❤️ ...and scene. lol.

speaking of big dinner, here is a vid of said dinner i posted on my IG account. it was a 14 course (FOURTEEN!!) tasting menu and oh-so-delicious. i had at least 2 bites of each course, more of the ones i found especially delicious (i'm looking at you, braised pork belly, truffle pomme purée, and pickled-radish-octopus taco!) needless to say i was STUFFED afterwards and insisted we walked the streets for an hour to digest! 1726522286361443.mov

6 yrs out next month and there are still days that i forget to eat. case in point: TODAY. i went on a bit of an exercise binge today: 5km early morning run, followed by 2 back-to-back 1 hr each (power) hot yoga classes, then a last-minute decision to go to a pilates class (cuz i had a free pass expiring tomorrow), and finally an approx 10k round trip (leisurely) bike ride to and from the bike shop to get our bikes serviced (i hate biking btw, so this was sorta a big deal lol...i complained the whole way) ...and by the time we got home it was like past 4pm and i realized i didn't eat all day! and i didn't even feel hungry. now...how i was able to do all that on an empty stomach and not keel over, i'll never know. anyways...here is what i fixed for myself to eat for my first meal of day at 4:30pm: rice, burnt bacon (oopsies, got distracted!), 2 med-boiled eggs, and a couple tablespoons of this homemade ginger-green-onion condiment that i make that Mr. and The Kid LOVE and eat by the tubful lol. 394 calories for the entire thing. ate it ALL. (guess i was hungry after all! ha!) not sure i'll be able to eat my normal 2300+ cals a day today since its so late already, but im not worried, it all evens out in the end (plus i had a pretty big dinner last night, so there's that.)

tonights dinner: leftover pizza. its a different one fer sure: white sauce with creamed corn, roasted tomatoes, basil, anchovies and Parmesan . tasted like a salty dessert pizza lol. anyway, i ate it all, est 200 calories.

...now i want a dehydrator....

everyones pain tolerance is different. so it really depends on what YOU can handle. i did not take any pain medication after i left the hospital for WLS. but after plastics (tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift), i finished the entire 2 week Rx i was prescribed in said 2 weeks. i would have taken more if i had any, and i was too lazy to see my doc to get more, so i just left it at that. but yeah, plastics recovery pain was a bee-yatch compared to wls, and the meds helped tremendously. but thats me...i know others who felt the opposite (i.e., wls was more painful)...so yeah everyone is different. i would say if u are suffering then maybe consider getting an prescription, even if just a couple days. good luck! ❤️

yes, but...aren't your more muscular (albeit bugger) thighs still an improvement from your less-toned ones? bet shorts look better on you now!

bwha-hahahah!! so do i !! i now have a rather ridiculous pile of yoga pants and tops and jackets and unitards growing exponentially in my closet. p.s. unitards are the best...they make you look awesome-r than u really are...lol.

today's win: i pooped!!! i left for vacay Aug 23 (13 days ago), came back 2 days ago and finally pooped this morning!!!!!! (aside: i ALWAYS have vacay constipation, so this was expected ) some fun statistics cuz statistics are FUN: - 115.0 lbs morning we left (Aug 23) - 119.2 lbs the night we came home (Sept 3) - 114.8 lbs after my poop this morning (Sept 5) which means i've been carrying around AT LEAST 4.4 lbs of poop in my colon for at least 2 days. that in itself if a win, if u ask me 😂😂😂

omg hilarious!!! now im probably going to spend endless hours playing on this site 😂😂😂😂

out of curiosity... define "few".. ? (no judgement as im probably the resident alcoholic here, just wanna know...for SCIENCE lol)

count me as a non (traditional) gym goer as well. i do not enjoy lifting weights and never did. i really, really tried to like it but it just didn't stick. i also am not a fan of the various cardio machines (bike, row, treadmill, etc). so i gave up trying to do those activities. i did find out that i enjoy running (but for some reason only in circles, like around my block or on a track, i think its because i like to run, but not actually go far?) i also enjoy pilates and rock climbing. im completely addicted to hot yoga. also do other stuff i find interesting or fun or cool here and there but nothing on a regular basis like the activity above. like others have said, if u do something u like, you are much more likely to stick with it. if you force yourself or try to motivate yourself in any other way (to not waste money, self-flagellation or self-shame, fomo, etc) you will most likely quit and then feel disappointed or whatever and the shame-spiral continues.... not everyone is a gym person. hecks, not everyone is an exercise person. and there are lots of these people who are not (and even never have beeb) obese.

aside: when i was bigger, i would not go rock climbing or any sort of clasped-in activity because i was embarrassed to put the harness on and have my abundant a$$ in full-squeezed-out glory on display to the masses below now, i love this harness cuz it gives me a free BBL lol:

my first sip of wine (red) was 3 weeks post op and i swear i felt it travelling through my intestines. i didnt get affected as i only had maybe 3-4 sips of it. my next drink was about a month later (xmas) and it was again 3-4 sips, but this time it was a sugary sake/soju cocktail and i experienced my first dumpling episode. im talking laying on the bathroom floor type of dumping. so yeah, not good. by 4 months (where u are now) i probably had 2 more partial drinks of vodka sodas (like ½ a glass each time), and while no dumpling, i discovered i morphed into a cheap drunk. ½ a glass was more than enough to make me feel i had 2 full ones. on the flip side, i sobered up completely in like 30-40 mins, which was different. im six years out and my quick-sobering super power is still in tact. i also still (mostly) stay away from sugary cocktails (i don't like the sweet anymore anyway). i generally stick to dry red wine and vodka/gin with soda or tonic water. i do also love me espresso martinis but with just a teeeeeeny bit of kahlua cuz its sweet. p.s. it is my understanding that, on average, red wine has less sugar content than white. so the driest red wine will ultimately have less sugar than the dryest white....correct me if im wrong, all ye wine connoisseurs...?

i totally scaled the side of a mountain a couple days ago: