ms.sss

...which leads me to: this fine looking salad i prepared for lunch. greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, feta cheese, broccoli, mushrooms and the fried up leftover protein from earlier. logged as 503 calories for the whole thing. i ate...nothing (yet). as often happens, the excitement of eating and prep has waned by the time i was done, and now i no longer feel like eating it. i'll want it later fo sure tho! so for now it will wait for me patiently in the fridge

had some leftover roasted chicken and pork belly. not enough for a meal for the "regulars", so i fried em up all crispy to use as salad toppings:

i get the pressure in my chest also. also i notice that my heart rate increases. weird.

nope, doesn't look like you are doing anything wrong. you are losing weight, you are feeling good and your doc has no complaints. sounds like you are doing everything right. my first 3 months post op was all about food aversion and stomach restriction. i didn't make my protein goals for 3 months. my was tired and faint-y. everyone gets to their "place" in their own way and speed. no need to change what ain't broke.

salad! greens, cucumber, avocado, cherry tomatoes, leftover roast chicken, homemade vinaigrette and seasonings. 285 calories, shared with Mr., estimating i ate maybe 2/3 of it.

boots are fab, but its the DRESS for me!

i go through phases of eating the same thing over and over...but mostly because its because it was on sale and i have a lot of it, or i made too much or ordered to much of something. however, i did go through a months long beef jerky phase...i probably had some every day for about 4-5 months...and this was because it was easy to carry around as a go-to high-protein snack. and plus its delicious, lol. i still have it now every once in a while, but not on a daily basis as i used to.

I'm almost 5 ½ years out. At this point i don't have a "typical" day of eating at all. It all really depends whats in my fridge, or where i am or what i feel like eating (and yes that includes cookies and bread). Now yesterday we went to costco and i loaded up on my fave lettuce mix (bought 2 boxes), also picked up a bag of avocados. so i had a salad for lunch and will probably going to be eating salads with avocado for the next week or so if/when i'm home...but its fair game to whatever when i'm out and about. for instance last night was margaritas (2) and 3 spicy chicken wings (oh and i bite of my pals' dessert crepe..spoiler alert it was NOT good) 🤷🏻‍♀️ i average 1800-2000 cals a day these days tho. BUT...at your stage (2 months post op, if i do my math correctly?) here is a sample of what i ate for a week back then: this week was the xmas holidays for me tho, so there was alot of eating out and not so much prepared foods at home. and you can see that i consumed almost double the amount of calories i normally take in on xmas eve...and i remember having a barf at some point that day (i was still learning my full cues so barfing was pretty common for me around 1-3 months) overall, slightly higher than normal calories (for ME at that time) on a couple other days that week. i also remember that i probably would have eaten more on the actual xmas day, but i drank a few sips of a super sweet alcoholic drink that night and i was counted out for the night due to a bad bout of dumping. yikes...it was NOT pretty. *shudder* anyway here are some screenshots from MFP for the week at my 2 month post op mark: also note that while these are logged as "meals" i generally pecked at each "meal" throughout the day and didn't actually eat all listed at one sitting. note also i did NOT make my protein goals by any means. i didn't come close to doing that regularly until sometime after the 3 month mark. and why there doesn't seem to be any protein shake consumption this week, i do not know! lastly, i had a lot of fun looking up my old food logs, so thanks for inspiring me to, lol.

use the ends for cream soup! boil, puree and strain! add cream and seasonings or whatever and voila!

it's the same everywhere. here in canada, dental charges are not covered by national insurance. but they are almost always fully covered by private insurance from your place of employment. back when i was working (and had dental insurance) a single teeth cleaning session was billed at around $800 to my insurance provider. now that i am retired and have no dental insurance, my dentist office now bills me $200 for the same cleaning. *shrug*

depends on what your asking for i guess. they seem ok to ME. but maybe not for someone on a low carb diet. nor for someone on a low calorie diet, unless they are only eating 3 (maybe 4) of these a day, and nothing else?

another question that i think may be on members' minds: is this offered outside of the U.S.?

shame spirals are the worst. NOBODY is perfect and beating oneself up for not being perfect is, when u think about it, pretty nuts. ...and EVERYBODY is nuts 😂😂😂 press the continue button and try again. p.s. you will probably have multiple try agains in your future (we all do/did). just keep going ❤️

yeah, i dont think your lack of exercise/activity is the issue, you probably get your fair share of that already caring for your kids weight loss is more about reducing food intake vs increases output (though regular exercise is wonderful for overall health and wellbeing). also sleep. regular and restful sleep has a positive co-relation to weight loss. now i realize time for food planning and calorie counting and getting some well deserved sleep may seem hard to come by given the aforementioned kids. do the best that you can. it may take a little longer vs if you had more time and help, but baby steps, as they say. along with a flexible and self-forgiving attitude! forget the chores sometimes and take a nap when the kids are napping. when u prepare the kids food, prepare urs too. preferably in large batches for freezing or storing in individual packets so u have a healthier grab and go item. stock ur pantry with better choice snacks...for both you AND the kids. never too early to start them on a healthier eating path for life. and finally: ask. for. help. we tend to (at least i know i do) try to do everything ourselves...we dont need to. reach out to family, friends, neighbours, community service providers, insurance services (if u have them). good luck! ❤️

i was hungry for the first 2 or 3 days after the start of my 2 week liquid pre-op diet. after that, the first time i felt that ravenous type of hunger was maybe 2 years later. mind you, i did feel tiny pangs of hunger, starting around month 6 or so, but they were easy to talk myself out of, if that makes sense. im 5 1/2 years out now and i still am not even close to experiencing the degree nor frequency of hunger i felt before surgery. some people have similar experiences, and others don't. you won't know which camp you fall into until you do. best thing you can do for yourself right now is not stress over things you can't control and focus on the things you can. good luck! ❤️ (you can do this

while im a huge supporter (and lover, lol) of pork rinds... would caution eating then during weight loss phase as they are crazy high in calories. i ate them regularly immediately after goal to increase my calorie intake without much volume....but not during weight loss phase. raw veggies are good for crunch....

lets be honest, after losing a significant amount of weight, we ARE different. not just in appearance, but in attitude, confidence and even how we carry ourselves. we stand up a little straighter, speak a little clearer, smile a little more, hide a little less. for me, i also have a ton more energy to participate in more things, dress better, am unbelievably more patient and calm. i get angry and anxious less. and yes, im way hotter now than i was for about 10-15 years of our 25+ yr relationship. i know my husband loves me. and i also know i look and behave differently now and he will respond and react differently to me as well. i dont hold it against him when he stares at me nekkid (lol) or when he told me he misses my ginormous boobs. i mean, i miss the hair on his balding head, but i still love the guy anyway. and if he magically regrew all his hair back, i'd still love him (while running my fingers through his hair hahahhaha) so long as he shows up every day as my partner in life, i don't care if appreciates my smaller frame better now or not.

first off, @newbegining2024, you will have zero complaints from me, food porn is my favourite kind of porn, ha! re: food funerals, like @Arabesque, i didn't really have time (or thought) to have one. i had postponed my surgery twice in the year and a half prior deciding to finally (again) go through with it. I called my surgeon to say, lets do it in early to mid september 2018, and he booked me in for surgery in a little over a month later for October 2018. I got into tunnel-vision like mode of like, "Lets GOOOO!" while i didn't do any specific diet prior to the 2 week liquid diet before surgery, i DID make conscious efforts NOT to stuff myself or eat mindlessly. i did this for about 2-3 weeks, and didn't lose any weight, interestingly enough. then it was time for my 2 week liquid pre-diet of 3 protein shakes a day. and since i'm a self-proclaimed over-achiever😂, by the end of week 1 i was doing 2 shakes a day, and by mid week 2 i was down to 1 shake a day. yes, i know i was NOT supposed to do this, but i just wanted to prove to myself that i could for some reason (i blame the tunnel vision). again, interestingly enough, i lost 11 lbs. fast forward 5 and half years and life is good, i'm skinny, healthy, happy, and full of energy. i also eat whatever i want...in fractions of amounts i used to, of course. and we aren't just talking salads (though i do LOVE salads!), and boiled fish. i will order items displayed in that awesome spread that @newbegining2024 shared. i eat bread and pasta and fatty steaks, deep fried whatever, chips, bacon, pizza, cheese, alcohol and yes, even desserts. JUST IN VERY SMALL PORTIONS (and yes, i also eat steamed vegetables, grilled lean meats, greek yogurt, and a ton of water). i guess what i'm trying to say is that you don't have to say good bye to your fave foods forever. good luck! ❤️

WOOT WOOT! 🙌🎉🙌🎉🙌🎉🙌🎉🙌🎉🙌🎉

same, same, as the other posters above. i am really, really good at losing weight. I am (was) also really, really good at finding that weight again. i've lost 50-75 lbs three separate times prior to wls, and each time managed to regain it within a year or so, plus a few more pounds for good measure, until i finally hit my highest weight of 235 lbs (i'm 5'2" so thats alot of weight for my height). with WLS (sleeve for me), i lost 120-ish lbs and kept it ALL off (give or take 5lbs) since reaching goal...almost 5 YEARS ago... whats more, maintaining this weight seems relatively effortless compared to before. because i eat so very little in volume (added to the fact that i somehow developed an affection for exercise and activity!), i have quite a bit of leeway in food choices to reach my maintenance calories. i am very grateful for this aspect of my surgery experience, i tell ya. BUT... i will add a disclaimer here that not everyone has the same WLS experience. you won't know what yours will be until you know. though we all of us here already sort of know that low calorie diets alone aren't sustainable long term for us. i mean, that's why we are all here, no?

first time someone outside my home said something to me UNSOLICITED was around 3 months (was down maybe 50-60 lbs by then). mind you i asked my Mr. and Daughter like every week, lol. they did say "yes" to my constant pestering around week 2 or 3, and i was down probably 20-30 lbs by then (but this includes the 11 lbs i lost during the 2 week liquid pre-op diet). don't forget that there are folks who consider it impolite to ask or comment about someone's weight (i wish there were more of these types of people!), so while you may not get stuff SAID to you directly, they may be THINKING it.

i didn't reach my water goals until about 3 weeks post op. protein goals i did not reach until sometime after 3 months..and even after that i reached protein goals maybe 80% of the time i did get headaches weeks during the low water weeks but i slept alot. water def helps with headaches...if it's particularly bad, i've read some folks on here go to doc to administer fluids. i also had a bout of orthostatic hypotension before AND after meeting my water goals (dizzy/fainty from getting up or moving too fast due to low blood pressure)...my doc told me to yep, drink more water, increase my salt intake and exercise, among other things. you are right to speak to your doc, they will advise u properly. good luck! ❤️

yep i had back (and hip) pains for a few months after dropping the first 30lbs or so. like others above i asked my dic and did some of my own research and its seems the answer is as the above posters mentioned. - water and mineral bone loss (reduction of bone density) during weight loss (especially at a rapid rate) may cause spinal misalignments due to the weaker structure, hence pain. - muscle tone loss: your remaining muscles are working harder to make up for the loss, hence pain. - your centre of gravity is changing: your back was used to carrying the weight of your belly and it's reduction in size is affecting your posture, hence pain. its a bit of a changeover period, but with some effort you can decrease the discomfort: exercise, stretching, sit/stand up straight, good nutrition, good sleeping position, body alignments (chiro) and what no one wants to really hear: slower weight loss rate. by losing weight slower, you allow your body time to adjust as you lose weight instead of playing catchup which causes relatively more pain. those weight loss pains eventually went away (i can't remember exactly when..maybe around 6-7-8 months post op?), but i do have morning back pain now if i sleep on my stomach (which has always been my preferred sleeping position), but that's another story. im 5+ yrs out

i took my measurements and recorded them religiously every month for the first 2 years (almost) - i stopped a month shy of my 2 yr anniversary date). i also took many random measurements now and then just for kicks. here is a summary on the major milestones: start, goal, 1 yr-post-op and almost-2 yrs-post-op. note the last two measurements are 2 months BEFORE and 8 months AFTER plastics, respectively. note also, that my measurements were little affected by my plastics...but i definitely looked different. edited to add: best "yay"? CLOTHES, baby. oh, and i found some measurements i took at 3 years post-op: (i should also say that i am barely 5'2" so im on the short side)

another gratuitous OOTD swimsuit shot! my abs are becoming a little more prominent...not because im exercising or anything, but because we have barely eaten while we've been here! i am NOT a fan of all-inclusive resort food and basically have only eaten over easy eggs and cabbage and the tube of Pringles i bought on the plane, ha. Oh, but i have probably drank my weight in vodka sodas omg.