ms.sss

hiya! alot of us worried about rapid weight loss and getting too thin. more often than not it really becomes a non-issue. very very very rarely does someone lose too much weight to the point that it affects thier health. aesthetics though, may be a different story. you (or others) may believe you are too skinny, but your labs will likely say otherwise. you are taller and weighed less than me when we started. i too was "normal-sized" for the majority of my life. my weight gain was in my 30's, and early 40's (kids, family, work, mortgage, lol). went from 130-235 lbs. but at 5 months post op, we are both very close in weight loss PERCENTAGE WISE. you lost 66% of your body weight, i lost 65%. ** EDIT: CORRECTION, did my math wrong: you lost 34% of your body weight, i lost 35%. (i used end 5m body weight vs weight lost at 5 months for original calc..oospies!) ** and i can tell you that i did not get dangerously thin, nor was my surgeon or primary care doc worried at any point during my weight loss (nor during maintenance). i DID think i got really skeletor-looking when i reached 127 lbs, BUT i was 118.4 lbs this morning (and over 5 years out now), and honestly, i think i have not looked better since i was a teenager (i was firmer as a teen vs now lololozzzz). stuff shifts around, and the same number will look totally different on you at different times of your life. regular exercise does WONDERS for your appearance (and well being). anyway, i know i can't really just TELL you to stop worrying and you will magically stop worrying. i worried for a month or so as well way back when i decided to enter maintenance. alot of us felt the same way. maybe we all need to just go THROUGH the worry to get OVER it. good luck! ❤️

my inside exercise is pilates, hot yoga, lane swimming, rock-climbing, and in-front-of-tv-weight-training (i also do a a rotating schedule of different dance classes). my outside exercise is running. i also do alot of other "outdoor activities" but i don't consider them dedicated exercise, its just stuff i do: walking, hiking, biking, softball, beach volleyball. i'm in toronto, Canada, so my outdoor activities are concentrated in the warmer months. in the winter i may go hiking or skiing, but not very often (and i don't run in the winter either). exercise is exercise no matter where you do it....but if you do alot outdoors, don't forget the sunscreen and hats!!

just read my response over and feel like i should clarify: some may buy processed because of time and accessibility constraints. not everyone has the means, time nor access to sustain a totally (or even MOSTLY totally) "healthy" diet. (there is also just plain laziness...which i fully admit to doing. some days it just suits me to eat something processed out of a bag. i can't make an all natural scratch made meal every day. well, actually maybe i could, but i choose not to.)

im gonna venture a guess: because its delicious! lol ...and more often than not, cheaper and more convenient than fresh.

food for thought: do we have metal issues because we are overweight? or are we overweight because we have mental issues? i sometimes think is one way and then other times the other...

an NSV in the same vein: vacation packing is soooooo much more satisfying. our smaller clothes take up way less room so we can either: (a) bring more clothes, yay! no need to pick and choose, just bring it all!! OR (b) bring smaller luggage, yay again! i have been on many vacations now (several of them for 2 weeks or longer) where i only needed a carry on for my stuff. Win!

i STILL fart and burp like a teenage boy...and im 5+ years out. but its a little better than before....a little.

i dunno. its just a matter of time i think. ive been this smaller size for over five years now, and there are still times when i reach for the size i KNOW i am but think, there is no way im fitting into this. but i always do. i was obese for about 15 years, so i figure if i can still be weird about my weight after all this time, its not unthinkable for those who were overweight longer to feel the same.

Team Meat!

so heres the funny thing: my original goal was 120 lbs, but i actually called goal when i got to 127 lbs cuz i felt like i was looking too skinny/sickly. this was as 7 months post op. as time went by, the lost a bit more weight, the gained a bit of that back. im 5.5 years post op today and weighed 119.5 lbs this morning....which is roughly 7 lbs LESS than when i thought i looked like dead man walking all those years ago....BUT....honestly, i feel like i look waaaaayyyy better and healthier and fitter now, at a lighter weight! further, there are some days when i legitimately think i could lose 5lbs for effs sakes. things tend to shift around and settle and regular exercise does WONDERS for one's physique. long story short: a particular weight can look totally different on you at any particular time in ur life. dont worry so much about the number on the scale and trust what you see in the mirror or how your clothes fit and how you FEEL. Good luck! ❤️

woke up at the crack of dawn this morning to get to a 6am hot yoga class...got home FAMISHED and fixed myself ½ a bagel and leftover asparagus (ate it all) around 8am. then got hungry again just now (12:30pm) and made this avocado-and-everything-bagel-seasoning-and sumac open faced sandwich with the other ½ of the bagel from this morning. ate it all!! soooo good 😊 ASIDE: tried on a pair of shorts i used to wear last year when i was 4 lbs LIGHTER than i am now, and they are ridiculously too big on my waist. Lesson: the number on the scale means much less than your measurements. and the number of calories you consume and its effects cannot be translated across everyone. i can easily consume 2500+ calories a day because i exercise like a fiend.. so when ur nutritionist or some well meaning BP member tells you how many calories you should be consuming (or advise on a general macro breakdown) remember that the "sweet spot" is highly individualized and varies HUMUNGOUSLY from person to person. find YOUR own sweet spot and work it from there, cuz no one knows your body better than you. sorry...im feeling very "you-go-girl!" at the moment and feel like i need to inspire lol. working out does that to me lolololzzzzz. 😂😂😂

breakfast for lunch and and afternoon snack from yesterday...

agreed! i started shopping around for a surgeon the month i reached goal (7 months post in May 2019) with the intention of having it done immediately. i saw 4 surgeons. 3 of them had availabilities within 2-3 months. the 4th one (the one i wanted) had his first opening almost a year later in april 2020 ! i was disappointed but booked him anyway cuz i liked him best. but as luck would have it, he decided to open up a day over his xmas holidays to get me in. i'd like to think it was my sunny personality that moved him lol. so i ended up getting it all done in December 2019. looking back it was really good he did me a solid because the original date of April 2020 would've been the start of covid when all elective surgeries were suspended around here. i probably wouldn't have had my plastics until 2021 or later. phew! dodged a bullet there. anyway...long story short it hurts nothing to start looking around and getting an idea of whats out there and available to you. good luck! ❤️

i had my plastics done just shy of 14 mnths post op. i would have done it earlier (at 7 mnths post op when i reached goal) but my surgeon of choice was booked up. i had tummy tuck, arm lift and boob lift in one shot. second best decision ever (after wls, ha). if its worth anything, i understand that further weight LOSS affects the results more than further weight GAIN. but i mean, if you have the means and inclination, you can always have revision plastics if need be.

i should also disclose that i am a grazer by necessity (and habit). its the only way i can get the amount of calories i need to maintain COMFORTABLY. i read alot on here that this way of eating is not recommended (heck even my NUT said i should be having set meals and snacks) and that its a slippery slope and is a sure path to weight regain, but its been working for ME for over 5 years, so yeah...its just what i do.

i also prefer to binge as well, but plots often get spoiled for me by reading the news or social media or listening to friends (and strangers!) talk, dammit! so i try to watch before that happens. omg don't even get my started how my entire 2016 was ruined when i accidentally read a headline about that particular episode of game of thrones season 6. im still salty about it. i dont want to spoil it for u (or others reading this) so all im gonna say is if ur a fan, they u'll likely remain one, ha! and yeah, a different shaped heroine is definitely refreshing! as for 70s-80s period shows/series, you gotta give Glow a try! even if just for the soundtrack lol.

i know its already been said to death, but ill say it again: the number on the scale is just a number, and the same number looks totally different on you at different times of your life. 127 lbs at 46 yrs old looked absolutely skeletal on me vs 105 lbs when i was 16. then, 115 lbs at 50 yrs old looks soooo much fitter and healthier on me at 52 vs either of the weights above. changes in nutrition and exercise and sleep and stress levels and hydration may not reflect on the scale as much as calorie intake does, but they are all HUGE factors in appearance and overall well being. in short: try not to be a scale slave, lol full disclosure: i weigh my self everyday, though its more a data gathering exercise, and definitely not a source of angst for me. so long as i still fit in my clothes and feel awesome, im good.

*raises hand* im a sleeve. while i can't really comment if/how much my stomach "grew" or stretched, as ive never actually SEEN any before and after pics of it, i can say that while i can't eat IN ONE SITTING the vast amounts i could pack in BEFORE surgery, i can definitely eat more now IN ONE SITTING than i could IMMEDIATELY AFTER surgery (im 5+ years out now) for example: (note im talking like a regular, delivery type pizza below, NOT neapolitan/thin style nor deep dish nor pan pizzas, etc): pre-sleeve: 5-6 slices of pizza 2 months post: no pizza lol 3-5 months post: 3-4 bites of pizza 1 yr post to now: 1 regular pizza slice (like a 4x6 inch triangle) . i have been known to eat up to 2 in one sitting, but that's pushing it for me and not really comfortable. however, i could definitely eat an entire regular pizza over the course of a day. or a neapolitan style one in much less time if i really wanted to. but i dont want to, so yeah. background: 5'2" female: 235 lbs two weeks before surgery. 127 lbs goal at 7 months post. 115 lbs at one year post. 117 lbs this morning (am 5 years, 7 months out)

lunch: deep fried tofu and taro with chilli sauce. estimated 300 cals for the plate, ate about ½ cuz i added too much (and consequently ATE) too much sauce and started to feel greasy inside so i stopped where i stopped. THEN, i fixed myself a little teacup of homemade guac and naan chips...and ate all of it. 310 cals for that.

Ideally, maintenance is achieved when you are living the lifestyle (in terms of intake and movement) that you can foreseeably do for the "rest if your life"...even more ideally, is if you can adjust your lifestyle as your circumstances change... when u get to goal weight, you can start upping ur calories until weight loss stops. you may find you go under ur goal weight by a bit, but more likely than not, you will regain a few lbs until you stabilize (at, below, or over goal weight...u won't know until u know, unfortunately). lots of us on here worried about losing too much weight...unless u have medical conditions, this worry doesn't last long lol. i got to about 20 lbs below goal weight at my lowest. regained about 10 of those extra lbs within a year. and while i thought i was too small when i was at actual goal, i don't think that anymore, even weighing 10 lbs less. long story short, if u can leave the worry at the door, do it. Unless u are sick or your med team is worried, just enjoy the ride! you look awesome, you look like u must awesome. bask in your awesomeness!

was sooo hungry last night...i dont normally eat past 8pm, but i was hungry, AND i was determined to binge watch Bridgerton season 3, part 1 (spoiler alert: i did lol) so i fixed myself a plate of leftover thai food and ate it over 3 or so hours: clockwise from top: thai basil crispy pork belly, chicken massaman curry, deep fried taro tofu with chili oil sauce, coconut rice and a piece of roti. im totally guessing maybe 600 cals for the plate? imma also gonna guess i ate about 2/3 of it (i didn't like the curry so left most of that alone, and just had a taste of the rice and roti. pretty much ate all of the rest. p.s. am now waiting impatiently for june 13, when the remaining episodes of Bridgerton are released!!! i love me a period show.

and for funsies, the aforementioned bacon brownies!!! IMG_2839.mov

lunch: yep, another salad! all the usual suspects/ingredients, with the addition of avocado, some leftover steak and a chopped up Popeye's drumstick. enjoyed the salad out on my porch earlier this afternoon cuz it was so nice out! ❤️❤️ 683 calories for the entire thing, ate the leftovers from the pic just now! i also ate an additional popeyes chicken thigh with hot sauce, 2 snack yogurts, homemade guac with homemade naan chips, 2 espresso martinis, some chicharron, a small cube of bacon-brownie i made yesterday, and a handful of pistachios. which has me at 2128 calories so far today. i still may eat some chips/popcorn while i watch Bridgerton S03 tonite tho!! so calorie count for today still pending. my porch salad:

courtesy of google: you can see that the stomach is in fact smaller after a revision to bypass. and main diff is bypass also "bypasses" the pyloric valve, while sadi/ds still makes use of it (as does the original sleeve). ...but how your surgeon would do either surgery "without touching" your stomach is a head scratcher. can you go back to your surgeon and have them explain your surgery to you (with pictures, if need be!). dont leave until you completely understand. while we can offer our knowledge and experience, we are not doctors...and you may get conflicting info on here that confuses you more.

NON breakfast-eater here...never was. on the VERY RARE occasion i may eat something before noon (like if im specifically out for a brunch, or on vacation, or unnaturally hungry), but normally my first meal of the day is around 1 or 2 pm. i find that if i eat something earlier in the day, i get tired in the afternoon. also i find that i tend to eat more overall throughout the day if i have breakfasts. am also not especially hungry in the mornings anyway.