ms.sss

I have thought about this many times myself, but hesitated to say it out loud/type it out thinking that either I did actually develop an eating disorder and don't want to admit it, or that I am being over-analytical and hypochondriac-y. I took that test you provided a link for and I got zeros in everything except "Restrictive Eating" (2/6) and "Food Fears" (1/4). Which I sort of knew already and identified as my fear of carbs, and am currently working on it :). I don't believe (at least right now) that my carb-avoidance behaviours are impairing my quality of life nor resulting in negative self-worth/negative body image. Honestly I think that I am all that and a bag of chips these days. At most, I sometimes worry that I should be worrying more, if that makes any sense..but because of this I am keeping an eye on myself and mental well-being, so that's a good thing.

Day 2 for me too.

This. I am 7.5 months out today, and had my consult with one of those well sought after surgeons almost a month ago. By the time my scheduled surgery comes around I will be 14 months post-op. It would have been at 17 months post-op, but I got lucky and got placed on a newly opened date.

Though I haven't seen the effects of this yet as I still really need to up my calories more. I've been at 900 cal/day since last Wednesday which hasn't really had any effect on stopping the weight loss, which I sort of expected. *sigh*. I was at a party on Friday, and there was all sorts of food in abundance, and yet I still could not bring myself to eat items that were "off plan" even though I knew it would've been ok. I mean, I ate, I just ate the "healthier" stuff over the non-so-healthy stuff. Sometimes I wonder if I have a complex, or if this is just they way I eat now. *shrugs*. P.S. at this party my mother-in-law told me I need to gain some weight back because I have gotten too thin. While I may agree with her, I don't like her telling me so! *clenches fists*

I've added stuff like avocados, nuts (walnuts, brazil nuts) & nut butters, seeds (chia, pumpkin), and edamame in attempts to increase calories.

@Msdooloo you look smokin HOT.

I'm 7.5 months out, and at 900/day...but I'm working my way up to find my maintenance calorie level. (When I was in the losing phase though, I was like 500-650)

I have a giant tub of Isopure Dutch Chocolate. I like it because its the least sweet of all the powders I've tried (but if you like sweet, it may not be for you): https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/isopure/zero-carb.html?skuId=NB032&cb1560389876603=US I mix mine with 2 teaspoons of decaf instant coffee grinds. I've never added any fruit (too much sugar for me).

I can usually drink my 500ml protein-powder based shake in about 15 mins.

All this talk about white jeans convinced me to to the mall after work and go shopping for a pair myself! I couldn't find any though that fit properly . ...so I bought some bras and underwear instead (the kinds that you don't intend to keep on for very long...hahahaha)

@JanJan19 : No worries, its not rude at all First, I have to say the obligatory "everyone is different" disclaimer. Our WLS experiences will differ greatly and while reading about other's experiences can be helpful/informative, it can also be just the opposite if we try to align our own experiences/expectations with another's. With that said, to answer your question: I normally eat some sort of protein (usually 2-2.5 oz of grilled chicken, sometimes steak chunks, or sometimes something seafood) with salad (usually just leaves of something, with cucumber and 0.5-1 oz of cheese). Lately I've been getting fancy with my salads by adding fruit or nuts. I can probably eat anything, really, but I don't. Also, what I do eat is just in small amounts. I had always had to eat slowly since I started solid foods. I learned early on if I didn't, I would get over full before I realized it, and I would get uncomfortable (read: be in pain) real fast and if I ignore the discomfort, I'd be barfing soon after. So I guess I've been conditioned to eat this way. I've also been one of the fortunate ones who don't really feel hungry. This has been both a good thing (helped me to lose weight) and a bad thing (I often find eating a chore). Not sure how long this will last though. But like I said we are all so different and I don't know if what I go through will be anything like what you or anyone else goes through. What I do know though, from reading enough of this forum, that if you are honest about sticking to your plan, we all end up at the same place eventually. ♥️

I do suspect sugar affects me poorly...(but that hasn't stopped me from adding a tsp of regular peanut butter from my cupboards into my chia pudding!) thanks for the tip though, I think I would feel better eating something more natural-ish. Yeah, I know. I think I have FOC (Fear of Carbs) and need to work to get over it. Next week when/if I up my cals to 1000, I will up my carbs as well another 5-10g. Yeah, its probably still not enough, but at least its going up, right???

Is transitioning into maintenance what you thought it would be? Hecks NO. For some reason, even though I was apprehensive about it, I thought it would come easier. I mean how hard is it to stop losing weight? I was a pro at it, based on previous experience. In my case, I didn't get to ease into it so I think its part of my problem. If I had done this the way I originally planned, I would have started easing into maintenance (i.e., increasing cals, etc) BEFORE I got to goal weight, so it would have been more of a slowdown to stop vs trying to stop something in already in cruise control dead in its tracks. I really don't want to lose any more weight/get smaller so I have slight anxiety about stopping the weight loss immediately. How easy has it been to “break the weight loss mode rules”? I think Im still adhering to my "weight loss rules" actually. I mean, I still weigh and portion and track my food, eat protein-forwardy, drink lots of water, wait to drink after eating, take my vites, refrain from eating past 7pm, limit carbs, stay away from pasta/rice/bread/added sugar, etc. The only thing I'm doing differently now is I increased my carbs a smidgen and I allowed myself a couple bites of a full-blown dessert the other day (though I paid the price for it, I think, by an unfortunate bout of barfing). Oh, and allow myself more liquor Did you ever think you would struggle to eat more after being obese? OMG. the fact that I am having trouble eating MORE is a mind-trip. The fact that I actually think I'm too small is unbelievable sometimes. But I think, at least right now, this struggle is a lot easier to handle, physically and mentally, than the struggle of being obese. If I had to choose between the two, I would take this current struggle over that one Every. Single. Time. Do you have some fear/anxiety about food, continued weight loss or gain? I do have some anxiety about the continued weight loss. I really do not want to lose anymore, and I am putting pressure on myself to find my "level" asap so it stops already. And you know what, I also have some back-of-my-mind anxiety about future weight gain. Geez. I think I need some time to get used to where I am right now and trust that I am doing the right thing and I can relax. Honestly, the weight loss was pretty quick and I don't think I've had enough time yet to "acclimate". I still see my reflection sometimes when I'm just walking around and don't recognize myself. I probably also have an unhealthy fear of carbs. May or may not be a good thing.

Me too.

I'm going to have to work my way up to these amounts of food, I don't think I can come close to that volume at this time... ...although these are good snack ideas to add to the arsenal! TY ... (i'm off to google some more snack ideas now )

we all should feel this way about ourselves, right???

So after the not-so-successful jump from 600 to 1000 cals, I went down to 800 cals daily a week ago in attempt to slowly find my maintenance level. Today I increase my calories to 900 a day (with macros set at 65g P, 56g F, 35g C for now). The week at 800 still resulted in a loss of 1.9 lbs, which i sort of expected, but don't understand (the week when I was at 1000/day, i lost 2.5 lbs??) As I said in an earlier post, I am no longer so occupied with the number on the scale but more so now about how small I am starting to look/am looking to myself. This continues to be an issue, and my level of sagginess seems to have increased at a faster rate these last few pounds. Now, my newest concern is my reported body fat percentage. I have one of those scales that measure all that, and while I know that it fluctuates greatly depending on water retention and recent exercise activity, but for the past week I'd say I averaged about 19%. Now, I am not what someone would say is a "fit" person (where a "fit" woman averages 21-24%), so this gives me some pause. I mean, according to what I've read, I should be at 25-32% for a normal/average woman. What are your fat percentages? And do you put any importance on this statistic to yourselves, personally?

Last night's Dinner: Strawberry, Fig, Candied-Pistachio, Cucumber, Feta Salad with a low-cal homemade Sesame Vinegrette. (the fam had it with a high-cal Honey-Lime Vinegrette, Lol) It was a low protein, high carb salad, but was so yum. I ate it all! (over 1.5 hours though lol)

This is very true. During weight loss, I would also eat until I was full (or finished my portioned meal, whichever came first), but it still took me waaaaaay longer than 30 minutes to do either.

If I did this, I would be eating basically nothing!

Good point. I would also assume that there are a lot more plastic surgeons per capita in L.A than Toronto...

Hero!

Me too! Yay, us!

Speaking for me, I'm done with the losing (I'm currently in an attempts to STOP the weight loss). And since my surgery is still months away, I hopefully and getting a built-in "stable" period, which btw, none of those I spoke to had any requirement of. Interestingly, all 4 of them seemed to be more concerned (if anything) with continued weight loss rather than potential weight gain as something that would affect the results of the procedure.

Yes. The good ones are booked up far in advance, apparently. My surgeon's office originally gave me a March 2020 date! The patient co-ordinator told me they were actually contemplating opening up a few more days in December that morning, and would put me on the first opened up day if one did. On the day I called in to place my deposit, 4 more days were opened up in December and I was able to get in on one. I really lucked out on the appointment front with this surgeon. 🤞🏼 P.S. I also asked to be put on a cancellation list if by chance anyone cancels/postpones their surgery, I would be offered it.