ms.sss

like others have said, skin itself does not weigh alot. the stories you have heard about people losing 20-30-40 lbs after plastics, are either (A) folks who lost HUNDREDS of pounds, or (B) folks who had subcutanous fat under their skin, which was removed during plastics.). Most people fall under group B. plastics is more about visual aesthetics (or comfort/life quality) vs actual weight loss on the scale. My surgeon told me the "material" he removed from me weighed a grand total of 400g (less than 1 lb)....not at all significant on the scale, but VERY significant in the mirror. getting a dexa scan is a good idea if you want to know what your physiological make up is. you could use the results of this scan to discuss with your surgeon what they anticipate your end result would be. unfortunately there is no way to know for sure what your results will be until you actually go thru it. good luck! ❤️

hiya! 1-2 lbs loss per week is NOT a slow loser at all. its actually quite common/average. you are doing great

so when i had my WLS, when i got home one the next afternoon, i was just under 2 lbs lighter. but when i had my plastics, 2 days later (i was in hospital longer) i was 5 lbs heavier...and i was like 115 lbs at the time so that was a lot considering my frame. like @nickelchip my hands where like inflated balloon paws...(i'll see if i can find a pic)

one of those days...it was 6:30 pm and realized i didn't eat all day (or drink for that matter...had a coffee in the AM but that was it...this could explain the headache i had all day...) as soon as this dawned on me, i suddenly felt hungry. i wonder if i didn't remember if i would feel hunger at all...?? 🤷🏻‍♀️ anyway, the only thing ready to eat in the fridge was the Kid's leftover pizza. so i ate a slice. guessing 250 calories. ate it cold (which i actually prefer over warm/hot pizza...i like my pizza cheese solid! lol)

5+ years out. i do run colder than most people around me, but not nearly the level of cold i felt the first couple years after surgery. i slept with socks, a hoodie (the the hood ON), and a down comforter...while Mr. was just in shorts and no blanket. i couldn't even wear a tank top IN SUMMER for long without having to slip on a sweater or jacket i took with me everywhere. ugh and the freezer aisle in the supermarket was my personal hell. now its not as bad and i can actually wear season-appropriate clothing alot of the time lol. and/but i never sweat anymore in public...unless im at the gym or running, but even then, its like a spritz of sweat vs the pouring dripping waterfalls of sweat water i used to produce from the slightest but of physical effort, like going up the stairs or just existing on a warm day.

couldn't agree more. i still track my food intake (albeit not as rigidly, i eyeball and guesstimate alot more now) and i still weigh myself every day. i'm 5+ years out, and i have managed to stay below goal weight this entire time.

@wendywitch7, at 6 months post op, i was at about 700-800 calories a day. BUT i am also 7 inches shorter than you, AND i weighed about 130 lbs at the 6 months post-op mark (started at 235 lbs, so that was a loss of just over 100lbs in 6 months). i was losing about 2 to 2.5 lbs a week pretty much steadily starting month 3 postop until i about a month after reaching goal (i dropped the most weight the first 2 months after surgery)...then i dropped a couple more lbs after that and stabilized at my current weight since then.

696 calories for this salad! i blame the feta and cashews...lol the seasoned tofu was absolutely yum and i am already looking forward to ordering it again the next time we do chinese takeout eyeballing the after pic, im estimating i ate about 2/3 of this salad. will likely eat the rest later (at the very least will eat the leftover tofu...yuuuummmmm)

lunch this afternoon....a giant piece of garlic toast (really should call it garlic LOAF, it was so thick!), with a side poached egg and a garden salad w/ sesame vinaigrette. ate 1/4 of the toast-loaf and probably 1/4 of the egg (i dipped the toast-loaf in it, so can't really gauge how much i ate if it) and all the salad. also had a sample (2 forkfuls) of the Kid's soufflé pancakes with some the the berry sauce (too sweet) and whipped cream (yum!) (and a mimosa beforehand, not shown ) guessing 400 cals for everything i ate.

out of curiosity, how tall are u?

I'll be "exactly" 5 ½ years post sleeve next week...started at 235 lbs. been maintaining below goal weight this whole time. depending on the day, i lost anywhere between115-120 lbs total since settling into the 115-120 lb range for over 4 years now. i do have a bit of an annoying reflux issue i have to deal with (i take the min dosage omzparole once a day), but other than that, no real complaints and life is more than good.

@Tazrok you will get lots of different advice here due to the plain fact the we ALL were given different advice as well. there is no one right way to eat really. but since you came in here asking if you are possibly missing something, ill dip in first a couple questions: 1) how long have you been eating this way? days? years? months? based on your descriptions and pictures, im guessing you are probably taking in about 1100-1200 cals a day (so long as there is nothing else u are eating or drinking?)...this leads me to my next question... 2) how tall are you? 3) are u insulin resistant? suffer from hypothyroidism? have PCOS? depending on your answers the responses to your post may change. as an aside, for most of my loss phase, i barely had any veggies myself. i had very little stomach real estate and chose to eat protein forward, up to about 5-6 months post op. (though this changed near the end of weight loss phase when i became a salad junkie ha). while the make up of your intake doesn't matter as much as the amount, the make up (i.e., nutritional value) is important for overall health and well being. same goes for exercise. p.s. i am also a lifetime grazer. it became necessary after surgery because i just could NOT eat alot at once and it has just become the way i eat now (i am 5+ years post op...and yep i have managed to stay below goal weight this entire time).

well, i freeze just about everything (including muffins and other baked goods: breads, cakes, etc). i usually defrost items in the fridge overnight and then heat up in oven or microwave. but i have put denser items into the oven frozen like breads (bagels & pretzels are the most suited for this method, i find). if your muffins are on the dense side, this could probably work, otherwise i say defrost in fridge overnight. either way, yes! you can freeze muffins lol

i was cleared for everything at 1 month post op. i'm pretty sure i had some raw carrots around that time and had no issue. i wasn't eating much at the time so i didn't test other raw veggies tho. but im pretty sure they would've been non-issues if i did. i have read on here of others who did have issues with raw veggies tho, so best way to find out for yourself is to try...small amounts tho, just in case!

wowza! the visual difference of your lost 4lbs is pretty significant! i don't think a 4lbs loss would have registered such a visual difference on me. nice!!

i like this ALOT. nice.

i also was not a fan of pureed stage to the point that i skipped it altogether. on the first day of pureed stage i blitzed some beef in my food processor, looked at it, took a whiff, then dry heaved as i dumped it all in the trash. decided i would just extend my full liquids food stage for an extra week and then go to straight to soft foods once done. worked for me (and also for my NUT who i told what i what i decided to do...she was fine with it). though pureed stage was around 1 month post of for me, and i was barely eating much anyway (like 300-400 cals a day i think), so it probably made no difference for me? *shrug*.

@Starwarsandcupcakes, while i love the neat, organized look of your grocery booty in your trunk, how the heck did they STAY so neat and tidy back there??? and how many trips did it take you to bring em all inside without bags?????? your pepsi stash looks just like our coke zero stash in the laundry room. haha. @Arabesque: i am always in awe with how much you Brisbainians (?) spend on blueberries. the shock of seeing a package of bluberries for $12+ AUD back in 2011 is still i story i tell people today (fyi blueberries are on sale in my grocery for $2.99 CAD today) prices of veggies change as they come in and out of season, just like other places. and every once in a while out of season stuff go on sale. i bought a single (large-ish) sweet potato for $1.25 this morning. as well as 1 english cucumber for $1.50. small bag of baby carrots for $2.50, and a crown of broccoli for almost $3.00. including some chips, a tub of sour cream, juice, chipolte powder and kitchen garbage bags, i spent about $25. am probably going to go grocery shopping again tomorrow (i forgot to buy garlic, plus i tend to go almost every day anyway and just buy a little bit at a time) i'll pay more attention and report back to you! lol.

forgive me, i thought that was what we were doing.

so yeah, despite the produced fruits of my labours this AM, my snack of choice at the moment is: a handful of BBQ chips, a 5 chocolate covered cashews and 1/4 cup of regular roasted salted cashews. estimated 450 calories. (we'll see how much i eat of it, but most likely all of it will end up in me before the day is over...unless Mr. gets his paws in it...)

every week or so, i do the "fridge clean up", and toss the foods that are no longer edible and make attempts to salvage the foods that are on the brink of inedible. this morning i tossed a bunch of leftover chinese food, ½ a wheel of brie, an almost full tub of sour cream, and an unopened box mixed greens (this made me sad ) BUT here are some items i was able to save/repurpose/extend shelf life of: 1. leftover fresh parsley and super ripe lemon into...PESTO! 2. uncut cumber bought over a week ago into...SWEET AND SOUR PICKLED CUCUMBERS! 3. almost dried out baby carrots and the remnants of a tub of spreadable cream cheese and 2 old apples that i made into applesauce into...CARROT CARE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING (Mr. ate like 2/3 of the cake before i got to take a pic of it) and finally: 4: ½ a head of cabbage that i shredded to include in the filling of these EGG ROLLS! that i prepped to freeze and cook another day. phew. i feel very accomplished with my very productive morning...now im gonna go veg on the couch and watch tv!

@The Greater Fool, if you're haven't already said before, i heart you. u always so calm and wise and funny. the 3 things i admire most about others. ok, now that i got that love fest out of my system... @BlondePatriotInCDA, further to your discussion of the smells of different alcohol... now for me, the smell of what i weirdly all "brown liquor" always made me gag a little..."brown liquor" is what i call whiskeys, cognacs, brandy, scotch, dark rums, aged tequilas, etc. for those keeping score i only prefer to drink clear liquors (vodka, gin, clear tequila and rum) and red wine. anyway, my Mr. prefers the brown liquors...and over the years (decades!), i have come to not hate as much the smell of them (i still don't drink them tho lol). in a weird way i associate the smell with him and since i kinda like him, i seem to not be hostile to the smell as much. i mean i wont douse myself in it as a perfume or anything, but still. just a useless anecdote i guess. (i have no real reason to bring this up other than to make an attempt to lighten the mood on this thread 🤷🏻‍♀️)

40 down, 10 more to go... took about 9 months to get this far, so am projecting i should have the min amount im looking for in about 2.5 more months... but the more the better 🤞🏼 1. Basics: GENDER, AGE, HEIGHT 2. Total Weight lost in the 6 months BEFORE surgery (if any) 3. Weight on DAY OF SURGERY. 4. Weight at 1 MONTH POST surgery 5. Weight at 3 MONTHs POST surgery 6. Weight at 6 MONTHs POST surgery 7. Weight at 12 MONTHs POST surgery 8. Type of Surgery (Sleeve, ByPass, etc...)

hmmm...you could always try it, and, if it doesn't work for you say, after 3-4 weeks, then just go back to what DOES work? or, if it's causing you too much angst, and your current M.O. is not causing you any issues (which sounds like it isn't), why fix what ain't broke? there is no one-size fits all prescription...find out what works for you and go with that. good luck! ❤️

being on these forums long enough i would assume that one should realize by now that everyone is different. we say/post it multiple times a day, every day. i don't like weight lifting . it's don't like olives. i don't like talking about my wls. others don't feel the same way. i get that. we are all different people getting our own versions of joy. i may not make the same connections to things as you do, and thats cool. i mean, some people have sex every day while others don't. some people weigh themselves every morning others don't. some people read books while others don't. why do people drink too much and become alcoholics? alcohol is so gross. this line if thinking is the close sibling to why do people eat too much and get fat? being fat is so gross. to paraphrase you: "but how did you get to the point where <eating> was enjoyable enough to do it often <that u end up being 300 lbs>?" the incredulity in your post is loud and clear...but really, if u think about it, its not that impossible to understand (especially from the point of view from a person who was morbidly obese) your intention may be not to sound judgy...but in my very insignificant opinion, you kinda do. but i mean, you are entitled to say whatever you want. i guess i just wanna ask you to take a pause and reflect on how ur post may or may not have come across. sorry. 😔 i don't normally weigh in this heavily in anonymous internet chats as i hate confrontation, but this touched a wee nerve for me. (i may just delete this post after i overthink it to death...we shall see...i have already edited this post a gazillion times in my overthinking, ha.)