ms.sss

If I remember correctly, i wasn’t really told to stay away from carbonated drinks more so than to stay away sugary/high calorie drinks (pop, beer, juice, etc). with that said, i drink carbonated/sparking water almost every day (am 3.5 yrs post op) i *think* i had my first sparkling water (i.e., perrier) 2 or 3 months postop? I can’t remember….

Actually its been over TWO years since i had my plastics trifecta (time flies!) my arm scars have faded alot, but are still visble (and wide…boo ) they are light pink and white, but flat so this is good, especially cuz these scars see the light of day the most. my tummy tuck scar is thin and med/dark brownish and still a teeny bit raised in some areas, they dont look raised, but it can be felt when i touch it. Some parts of the line have completely healed and look like normal skin. I joke that my tum scar looks like morse code. My belly button is dark and looks dirty, like i dont clean it or something lol. I often put concealer on it if i know its going to be showing. now my breast lift scars have progressed the least…they are dark reddish brown and noticeably raised at the ends and right under the boobs. This area only had 1 round of steroid shots so I guess it makes sense. No one sees the underboob scars except me and Mr. and neither of us really care. But the ends (near the side flanks) annoy me cuz they can be seen when i wear a halter or bikini top….but i plan to get tattoos to camouflage them, just a matter or time. Oh and these scars are STILL effing itchy! Geez. Sorry this was so long.…and not about food. 😂

I didn’t have any “food funerals” in the sense that i didn’t eat any more than i normally ate. But what i “normally” ate was probably equivalent to one big huge ongoing food funeral, lol. Nor did i go out of my way to specifically eat “special” items. I changed my eating habits on the first day of my 2 week pre-op diet, and went forward from there, that’s it.

@babygrl1234 : would love to see the finished project when its complete!!! …and if u want an extra contributor from an INTERNATIONAL location (canada, lol), im your gal.

Exactly. Given the protein goals post wls, to achieve the correct ratio of fat required to be Keto-proper is challenging to do while staying under a certain calorie number AND with reduced stomach size. Handy calculator here for info purposes: https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/ I think alot of folks are likely doing something more along the lines of Atkins or Modified Atkins. I did ultra-low carb, with min protein and max calories goals during weight loss phase, and let the fat fall where it may. After goal, it took about 6 mnths to break this habit, and now at 3.5 years out, i basically eat whatever i feel like so long as i stay at or below 1800-2000 cals a day most days (i’m 5’2”). Its worth noting, however, that “whatever i feel like” looks alot different than what it did pre-wls. To the OP: do what works for you until it doesn’t, then do something else. Good Luck! ❤️

Not sure if this is the same as what u are experiencing, but sometimes too get sleepy after eating, but I’ve learned (for ME), that the tiredness/lethargy was a symptom of dumping from excess sugar. Sometimes its mild, and i just need to lie down for 15-20 mins, other times its much worse, where I actually pass out, coupled with other unpleasant symptoms. It doesn’t happen as often as it did in the early months, as i am better at managing my sugar intake, but sometimes it does still when im not paying attention. fyi, i’m 3.5 yrs post op.

Homemade potato soup + 1/4 of an oven baked pita + an espresso martini (not shown) = 362 calories. Ate it all P.S. This potato soup is ridiculously delicious. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested. Im thinking im going to use it as a base for a seafood or clam chowder in the future. Omg, yum. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13218/absolutely-ultimate-potato-soup/ I spilt the recipe in half and there is still so much of it! Will make a 1/4 batch next time cuz its super filling and leftovers will not freeze well.

Definitely a success!

Anything salty. Or anything sweet (but not too sweet!) Bonus points for being both salty AND (not to) sweet! DOUBLE bonus points for being crunchy. prime example: these babies i had after dinner last night! (Yogurt-covered pretzel x2) But TBH, they aren’t really a nemesis for me cuz they only sap my energy if I have too much….if i keep it at small portions, I can retain the upper-hand 😂💪🏼 p.s. for those keeping score, 50 cals for both.

So my packed salad lunch from last week was getting longing looks from my hike-mates so i am doing them a solid and packing two giant salads to share among us for a another hike this afternoon. 798 calories for the contents of TWO of these. There will be 4 of us sharing this. …converting those around me into salad-believers, one salad at a time..😂

I bruised a little but only had to do it for 5 days. You can try (1) icing the area just before injecting (2) insert the needle slowly vs fast jab, and/or (3) make sure to try to insert the needle perpendicular to the skin surface (i.e., straight down instead of at an angle) Good Luck! ❤️

Made some Jalepeño Cheddar Corn Bread this AM that we ate with Jerk Chicken wings from the frozen section of the grocery. 2 wings and some cornbread (1/16 of the pan skillet contents) for me: 380 calories. Ate all the bread and one chicken wing (the skin on the wings were too soft for my liking).

Im gonna go out on a limb here and respectfully disagree. In my lowly opinion, WLS is NOT the cure to mental health problems (in fact, i’d go so far to say it’s probably better to get a handle - or have a plan in place - to deal with one’s mental issues before starting the road to WLS. WLS is a tool for weight loss, nothing more…

Depends on who you ask, compared to my experience, looks about the same-ish as my intake at 6 months postop

Further to this, i’ve been told as little as a 10lb LOSS after plastics may result in less-than-desired results. While regular skin tissue is more elastic and “shrinkable”, scar tissue is not. BUT… full disclosure, i was impatient and had my procedures 6 months after i reached goal (and TBH, was at a “stable weight” for only the 3 months prior to surgery as i kept losing weight for a bit after goal). Im 3.5 years post wls and 2+ years post plastics now…and so far so good. YMMV.

Hi! I had excess skin..and had some of it removed via tummy tick, breast lift and arm lift 14 months post WLS (would have done it earlier but my chosen surgeon was booked) In all only 400g of “material” was removed as it was literally almost all skin (which weighs little) and minimal fat (which weighs lots)…so it had no real impact on my scale weight. Insurance paid for the panniculectumy portion of the TT and i covered the rest. I’m pro-plastics after massive weight loss. Its def a game changer.

Mandatory disclaimer: we are all different and lose (or gain) weight at different rates. with that said, and since you asked (in lbs): 235 start of 2 week pre op diet 138 at 6 months post op (-97lbs) 127 at 7 months (goal) 119 this morning at 3.5 years post op P.S. I’m 5’2” for reference.

Let me try to save you some potential angst and head-banging against walls: There is no way to predict your weight loss. Relying and comparing yourself to averages and statistics (and other people) more often than not results in disappointment. But yes, we all do it anyway. The data out there can be used as a guide, but doesn’t really dictate success. Sounds like you are going into this with a good attitude and a plan. Just a gentle reminder to keep that good attitude when things don’t go according to plan. Good Luck! ❤️

I stayed one night but i don’t think i had a choice in the matter (or did i? I dunno…i didn’t bother to ask). i didn’t mind though cuz (1) the hospital bed was recline-y so it was easier to get in and out of bed for walks…and the endless halls were useful for that (2) i was grateful for the night nurse’s assistance for those first trips to the bathroom to pee (3) for the little bit of peace of mind that i was surrounded by medical professionals Just In Case.

OK. So here was my experience. But I do want to stress that this may or may not be the same for you or anyone else. During weight loss phase and a few months after I was in maintenance, I looked pretty haggard (and older). This was my own opinion, as well a as a select few who who had the balls enough to say to my face. There were likely others who thought the same way, but had the grace to not say so to me, lol. What i did find that in after a little bit more time into maintenance, i looked much, much less skeletor-ish, and I attribute that to as increase in carb consumption. And now, 3.5+ years out, i *think* I look younger than I actually am. Im 50 this year. Mind you I do think I look older than before I started the road to obesity, but that was like 15 years ago! I think alot of people who at first thought they looked pretty run down in the face after weight loss phase find that they start to fill out a little more as time goes on. You'll know when you know. Good Luck! ❤️

Going for a hike with some gal pals in an hour and one of them said she would pack up some sandwiches for all of us to eat on the trail when we inevitably get hungry. Told her thx, but i’ll bring my own sustenance, and prepared this instead…a salad, natch : 342 calories. Better remember to bring a fork! (Also packed a huge thermos of espresso martini to share, just cuz 😂)

To those of you who have had your sleeve for a while (i’m 3.5 yrs post op sleeve) how much hair have you lost i lost, i would say, about 30-40% of my hair in total. Started round 3 months postop, hit its peak around 5-6 months postop, and already started noticing little chciken hair regrowth around 7 months postop. My hair went back to pre-op state about a year after that (i.e., all the regrowth got to be the same length as the rest of the hair on my head…but i had shorter hair, like just below jawline) Was it sudden or gradual? Is it in clumps or shedding? pretty sudden…i noticed a relatively large cllump of hair in my hand after conditioning in the shower one day. But in terms of noticeably, it was falling out all over, not in patches. For a couple months after it started i had CARPETS of hair in my bathroom floor that needed vacuuming more often that usual. But no one notices (or at least didn’t say anything to my face) except me and my hairdresser. Did you find Biotinhelped? Nope. Do you have any special shampoos or hair masks or supplements you use to help slow down the Hair loss and/or speed up regrowth? Nope. ALSO, didanyone notice any drying of their skin? If so, what do/did you use to help with that? How long did it last? Is it reallybad, or just mild? i had/have dry skin normally so cant really say, but i did feel dryer than normal in the first couple months, but I attribute that to low water intake in the beginning and the fact that it was dead of winter at the time.

Well, there were varying degrees of pain so... I can tell you that I had to take pain meds (oxy) for about a week after my plastics (as compared to after wls, when I didn't take any pain meds at all outside the hospital) If i remember correctly, couldn't stand up straight for about 3-4 weeks due to the tummy tuck, and i couldn't raise my arms above my shoulders for about 4-5 weeks due to the arm lift. There was minimal breast lift pain, if at all. I was probably completely pain free around the 3-4 month mark...but i had re-injured myself twice before that because I didn't listen to my doc about taking it easy (i was itching to go running and busted open my stitches in several places...TWICE...oops) So if i didn't eff myself up, I probably would've been pain free much earlier.

Giant salad: 360 calories. Am eating it now, yum!

I think if you can do it, then mindful/intuitive eating is the best (and easiest) way to go. For me though, I'm just not mindful nor intuitive enough to be successful using this method. I'm a calorie counter and it works for me because if I don't keep track of what I'm eating and know where my calories are at, I will just forget what I ate earlier and likely take in more calories that what I need. But I do know that there are those who are not as "forgetful" as me and can to the intuitive/mindful eating with no issue. As with all things, try it out, and if it works for you, cool. If it doesn't, find something that does. Good Luck! ❤️