ms.sss

about to park ourselves on the couch for a couple hours to watch a movie. no popcorn in the pantry today so movie snacks will be...CHEESE! we are a household of cheese lovers and always have a bunch of different ones on hand. this snack plate has feta, sheep cheese with pistachio and a black pepper bellaVitano (my fave of the bunch) 223 calories for the plate. im sharing so not sure yet how much i'll eat. mmmmm....cheese.

well i'm glad you asked. I've wanted to pass on my knowledge for some time, LOL. 1) put eggs in pot and fill with cold water until just covered (any more and you'll have to adjust the cooking time) 2) dump some salt in, and a tsp of white vinegar (vinegar helps with the peeling after) 3) put burner on high and set timer for 9 mins (i.e., don't pre-boil the water) 4) drain the hot water, fill with cold water and dump a handful of ice cubes in there to cool. 5) after 5 or so mins, peel the eggs with a teaspoon (tap the egg all around with the spoon to crack then slip the spoon under the shell and slide around to loosen, and it will just slip right off.) 6) ENJOY!

my how times have changed. 3 years ago i would have avoided bread like the plague. nowadays not so much. i think I've had some sort of bread product every day for the past few weeks! case in point: toast, bacon, egg and some seasonings. + plus an espresso martini beforehand (not shown) would've been 450 cals is i ate it all, but since Mr. swiped half of it, i adjusted to 296 cals after this screenshot was taken.

ahem. speak for yourself. 😂😎😂

you may find that your go-to drinks will change over time. like you i found warm (well, more like HOT) water was much easier to to get down. i carried an insulated thermos around with me for a couple months. later, i used that same thermos to keep my drinks cold cuz i found i only wanted ICE COLD water. and then i only wanted plain sparkling water (the bubblier the better). and then it HAD to have a twist of lemon in it... p.s. it also took me about 2 weeks before i could meet my water goals.

couldn't have said it better myself.

dinnertime: a lazy man's panzenella salad of sorts...really just tomatoes, croutons and cheese tossed with greek dressing. the croutons got to soggy for my taste by the time i got to about 2/3 through. 448 cals for the bowl, will adjust the cals later if im not too lazy.

well...i sort of do intermittent fasting naturally (both during weight loss phase AND during maintenance) i normally don't eat until after noon (just not a morning eater...never was even before surgery). After surgery i don't normally eat past 7 or 8 pm..i got into this habit cuz i had a horrible experience with nighttime regurgitation one night and it was enough to make sure i always went to bed on an empty stomach. ...sooo i ended up practicing 16/8 IF without really meaning to. been doing this pretty much about 90% of the time for about 4 years now. not sure if doing so has any added health benefit but i do it anyway cuz its just how i roll lol. p.s. i meet all my nutritional needs most of the time and can easily get 1800+ calories in during those 8 hours (fyi, i graze). my last set of labs 1.5 months ago say im in great health...and i dont even take any vitamins. YMMV. Good luck!

toast two ways: (1) peanut butter and jam, and (2) lemon curd ate all the pb&j but didn't care for the lemon curd. waaaaay too sweet without some whipped cream or something. estimated 237 calories for what i ate. no one wanted my leftovers so its in the trash.

eggs. "i put that sh*t on everything". lol but im with u about the cook...only runny yolk preparation for me thanks (fried, over easy, sunny side up, poached..,)

trial size hair care products/skin care products, socks, earrings/ring/necklace, pens, candles, tea bags, ear pods, combs, phone holder/strap, sunglasses, sexy underwear (or sensible underwear, lol), charging cords, face masks, gum, water bottle, silk scarf, fitness tracker.... (now i have a sudden urge to go shopping)

made some avocado toast for The Kid's lunch earlier and ate HER leftovers for a change, which was half of the egg-less one. Estimating 159 calories for what i ate.

Hair loss is probably the number one distressing appearance-related side effect of rapid weight loss (honourable mentions to loose skin, of course). Most, if not all, of us suffer from it. Some suffer more than others. Like the others above, I want to offer re-assurance that its mostly temporary. Little chicken hairs will start to sprout up and then in a year or two those chicken hairs will be down to your shoulders. Im my case (and some others I have read), it actually came back thicker...but i think this is also due to the fact that my overall health is better than it was before. BUT, in the meantime, here are few couple tips to get you through this annoying stage (choose what you feel comfortable with...or none at all ) 1) cut your hair shorter (i did a pixie cut at 3 months). the carpets of hair accumulating on the floor and catching in the shower drain will appear less. shorter hair theoretically will weigh less, so it will be less likely to pull down flat against your scalp and show larger swatches of said scalp. and when the chicken hairs start coming in they are less noticeable and blend in better with the rest of your shorter hair and not look so thin on the ends. 2) keep your hair clean. greasy hair will flatten and mat against your scalp which will show more of it (BUT don't shampoo too much...and that's for everyone, not just those losing their hair!) 3) I think I see what looks like a braid in your hair in one of the pics above? if you can, maybe save the braids for later as the style will pull on the hair you have and possibly come out at an even faster rate. 4) there are these hair fibre "powders" that you can buy that temporarily camouflages the scalp. its basically hair coloured powder that you sprinkle on your hair to give the appearance of fullness until you wash it out later. Best results on darker hair with enough existing hair for the fibres to adhere too. 5) and for the truly brave, there is SMP (scalp micro pigmentation)..its a process whereby a tech tattoos hundreds (thousands?) of tiny little dots on your scalp to mimic hair follicles and create the illusion of fuller hair. I had this done last year because I have had the same side part in my hair since I was like 8 years old, and as the years have gone by its was noticeably thinner in that section. Full disclosure: it effing hurts. but I'm happy with the results, lol. 6) and lastly, at least for me, vitamins, creams, lotions did nothing to stop or slow down the hair loss. i know lots of folks have sworn by some or all of these methods, so ymmv. Good Luck, and hang it there! ❤️ P.s. sorry this was so long.

i was notoriously un-hungry during weight loss phase. the discomfort of eating more than my stomach would allow was also a factor...the potential annoyance of the "full feelings" (which was a given) always trumped the desire to eat (which didn't happen often anyway). I was definitely Pavlov'ed (still in am a way) Eventually, my stomach allowed more stuff in (we're talking like 1 cup in volume here, which i realize still isn't much in the grand scheme of things), AND i was able to digest a little faster, so I could eat again in a few hours. As a result, I am a grazer. I was a grazer pre-wls, but that was more all-day snacking, just wanna eat type of deal. Now its sort of necessity. I have small "eating sessions" many times throughout the day, lol. I'm 4 years out now, so the portions are a little bigger and less spaced apart, but comparatively, volume-wise, its still a lot less than "normal" people. RE: turning skinny. I'm assuming you are referring to becoming TOO skinny? Everyone is different, and has different ideas of what "too skinny" is, so it would be difficult to get a baseline on this. Regardless, lots of people worried about this (myself included), but based on the anecdotal evidence of many, many members posts on this forum, as well as personal experience, the idea of being too skinny is fleeting. The entire time i've been on this forum, I have yet to come across someone who is 2-3+ years out (AND otherwise healthy/doesn't suffer from medical condition) who lament being too skinny. There was ONE a couple years back who was 2 years out and had a BMI of 18 and was indeed concerned about her ever-shrinking frame, but I have not seen/heard from her in a couple years, so not sure how she is faring today (hopefully she achieved some peace, though). In short, the fear of becoming too skinny during weight loss phase is a normal feeling, but mostly unfounded. Ask anyone 2-3 years out if they are worried about being too skinny, and I'm willing to bet that you will be hard-pressed to find one who still is (and who isn't suffering from a medical condition). Good Luck! ❤️

lol I once felt the same way about Biscuits and Gravy. I'm now a believer.

mmmmmm...add some tomatoes and red onion to that aaaaandddd...mic drop. bonus points if the bagel is fresh out of the wood oven!! 🤤🤤🤤 Now i gotta go buy sone bagels too: but im a Montréal-style bagel gal myself.

a ginormous salad that i shared with the Kid. We ate it all, and i'm guessing i ate about 3/4 of it, while she ate the rest. 409 calories for the bowl.

ooooh those carrots look good tho!

ok, so first i agree with the low BP theories mentioned above. i would get woozy getting up quickly or just turning around too fast...resulting in stumbling or knocking into things. the other things i figured out that helped to explain my sudden-onset clumsiness: - i used to trip over imaginary obstacles (i.e., my own feet!) all the time. turns out my feet shrunk and my shoes became too big. so yeah, tripping. - there was a period where i would drop things from my hand for no reason. i think this was because i was weaker than normal and over-estimated my grip strength - i cant say how many times i would walk into the corners of my kitchen island during weight loss phase (ouch!). i figure my mind hadn't yet figured out spacial awareness with my smaller size im 4 years post now, my shoes fit, things stay in my hand, and the bruises on my waist and hips are thankfully gone! Good Luck!

gobble gobble! *raises hand* member of the turkey neck club here! im 4 yrs post..i've tried lots of things to minimize my turkey neck: massage, facial/jaw exercises, creams/lotions, micro-needling, IPL, botox...all of which made little to no lasting difference (at least none that i could see). i figure i have a neck lift or face lift sometime in my future, but ill get to that when i get to it. im not really keen on doing any more surgery and i can live with it for now. i mean, i am getting up in years so even if the weight loss didn't do a number on my skin, age will. i will echo the sentiments mentioned above about things shifting around a little as time goes on. my neck (in my opinion) was way worse looking immediately after weight loss phase than it does now (not to say its so great now, but at least its "better" looking...see pic below...i have these 2 vertical lines always there, which become more prominent when i laugh or grimace). i do have an appointment for a series of "morpheous 8" sessions in the upcoming months as a last ditch effort to improve the look of my neck skin, so we'll see. also, re: hair: i chopped it all off at around 3-4 months-post into a pixie cut cuz i was sick of vacuuming the CARPETS of hair accumulating on my bathroom floor. not sure if it made me look any less old though...my gauntness at the time did all that for me lol. but if my experience or the experiences of others i've read on here can attest, with time, we all stop looking like dead man/woman walking EVENTUALLY. Good luck!

OOTD: Nails Edition! was talking about nails in the Food B&A thread, which motivated me to lug myself to the salon and address my nails, finally (after 2+ months) am glad i did! typing on my laptop and phone is so much easier now! plus i got my toes done for good measure...(who else loves those massage chairs during pedicures?!??)

ive been (not-so) patiently waiting for this to show up on my streaming service! ive read many good things about it (plus i ADORE the Queen's Gambit girl)

the offending cake: btw, i am a piping bag amateur so...yeah. lol Mr. says my cakes look like a grandma made them 😂 (it was yum though!)

so yesterday while i was cooking dinner, i cut myself a (smallish) slice of cake i made and got about halfway though when i started feeling sick. i think it was a combination of dumping and lactose intolerance (didn't take my lactose pill cuz i somehow forgot that there was a whole lotta cream and mascarpone in there!!) anyhoo, barfed a little, pooped alot, and promptly passed out; then woke up starving this morning cuz i slept through dinner and my insides have been throughly cleaned out from the barfing and the pooping. so my breakfast of champions (of sorts): crackers, pate, cheese and figs (and like 3 glasses of water beforehand): 311 calories. almost ate it all.

i used to be a bare/clear polish nail kinda girl...only had my nails "done" for extra special occasions cuz i hate how grown out /chipped/etc colour polish looks on my fingers. ....until i discovered french ombre bio gel last year! (the kid told me about it, im very out of loop in nail trends) it looks pretty natural and when it grows out its much less noticeable...and the gel process make my nails virtually indestructible! i have yet to chip or break a nail when its on! (which is why my nails are so crazy long right now...its been about 2 months since my last application) (sorry, i realize im gushing lol) ...though the downside is that it gets expensive to keep up *rave over*