ms.sss

I love them. And when they are around, I eat them with no issue. I don't remember the first time I had it after surgery though...maybe 3-4 months? And not by choice or avoidance or anything, just happened to be served a pickle slice and I ate it.

Beyond the 1 month mark, I was not given a list of "forbidden" foods. I was however given a list things to avoid "in excess": alcohol, coffee, high-fat, soda, sugar...all the regular stuff. Aside: I partake in all of that...well except the soda, but I do drink lots of carbonated water, so its almost the same. My surgeon was more a laid-back kind of guy in terms of food and lifestyle choices, like, 'do what you want but understand and accept any possible consequences' type of thing. But my nutritionist was more like a scoldly-mom-type, oscillating between her disappointment in some of my choices and a mom-pride in my progress.

If I remember correctly, I think I was pretty tired the fist week or so...but I was basically eating nothing...i was below 350 for the entire first week...and I know for sure I was dehydrated cuz sipping my water was as much of a chore as eating was. I remember needing to take a serious rest, or even a nap, after doing just a couple very slow laps around my kitchen island. I think around the end of week 2 something switched on and I was Energizer Bunny-like (lost of factors may have contributed to this: more food, more water, less pain, less headaches, got a good poop, off my blood pressure meds, got out of the house to socialize, motivations from seeing the scale drop, able to take all my vitamins, etc...) Have you checked your B12 levels?

Look familiar? Why yes, its THE SAME type of salad with grilled trout that I've been making since Friday afternoon. That's FIVE DAYS of working on that slab of leftover trout! But really, I am loathe to waste perfectly yum leftovers, but at what point is leftover fish no longer leftovers but just a petri dish for botulism? I always give food the whiff test before eating, and it smelled okay, so.....I'm thinking today will be the last day I eat this thing, just in case. romaine, carrots, cucumbers, figs, cheddar, avocado & grilled trout: 422 calories. (the Kid ate my leftovers).

Ok. So here's my thing. the whole kitchen scale thing works for like cookies or cake or any other easily separated and put-back-together matter. With bread dough though, if its too little, I'd have to pinch a bit from the mass to up the weight and then I have two (or more) separated bits of dough that I will have to knead back together, to make it a whole lump again, which affects the rise? Is this an issue for you?

*raises hand* I'm identifying myself as one of these people described above as "obsessive to an extreme that leaves [you] scratching [your] head in big way" with "[my] disordered relationship with food in the name of perfection". Case in point: Last night I logged 8 cashews with my 1/2 cup yogurt, as well as the one sour kid gummy that the Kid offered me (aside: for those wondering with bated breath, all of that was 234 calories). I've been called "obsessive" alot. Or "crazy". And likely not in a very complimentary way, ha. (and not just food/bariatric life-wise...in basically EVERYTHING I do). While I will admit that I do tend strive for my idea of perfection in many things*, I can also accept that this is realistically unattainable. Shame spirals and self-loathing is not normally in my wheelhouse. Yeah, I'll get annoyed or frustrated or go into stream-of-consciousness swearing mode, but l deal. *On the flip side of this there are also many things that I have flat out given up on and completely embraced my utter incompetence in...if you have an hour or two I could attempt to list them all I just assume some people just don't get/accept me and/or my ways, and that's ok in the grand scheme of things. Some are mildly amused, some repulsed, still others want to save my soul, so to speak. And yep, there are those that stand shoulder to shoulder with me and say "Eff Yeah!" (obviously, I like these people the most, but I'm biased, lol) soooooo.....I suppose I just wanted to say to my fellow "extremists" that IMO, so long as logging your 4.5 almonds in MFP doesn't negatively affect you, your safety, your relationships, or your quality of life, there ain't nothing wrong with what you are doing. And even if it does, the hope is that you will learn to deal. P.S. Further to the poster who considered a Flintstones chew-able vitamin as dessert...last night I considered my solitary sour kid gummy as dessert! Mind you, I also considered my 1/2 cup of yogurt as "dinner", and my vodka caesar as "breakfast"...so maybe its just a matter of semantics.

First, I'm not sure, but jello is not usually a culprit for chest pain? Have you contacted your doc with this info? Second, regarding the timing of bites: I got mine down to a science. I'm also pretty anal, so this may be too extra for you, LOL: Take one bite Wait 3 minutes (I used the timer on my watch). Ask myself: Do you want another bite? If yes go to Step 1. If no, go to Step 2. If I have answered no to this question 3 times in a row, I'm done eating. Go to Step 4 Put your food away in the fridge and try again in an hour or 2. Goes without saying, it took me a pretty long time to eat a meal in the early days. And I got used to cold/room temp food pretty quickly. These days (2.5+ years out) I take 2-4 bites at a time and just wait a minute or so without the need for a timer. Sometimes I don't do this as well as other days and l'd pay the price either in uncomfortable chest pressure or barfs.

The better question is what genre do I NOT binge. I don't watch "scary" series-es (yes, I consider Stranger Things scary...don't judge me), everything else is fair game. I'm currently watching The Good Place and Wanda Vision (I can't binge the latter as much as I'd like cuz my husband wants to watch too and he has a 2-episode limit per sitting. He's a lightweight). If not watching something specific I have the Food Network on for background noise.

There is probably some truth to that. I'm pretty much a grazer now at 2.5+ years out. But it would have been pretty challenging for me to finish eating a "meal" in under 30 mins back then. Even now, It takes me about 45 mins to an hour to finish a "normal" meal for me (longer if there's lots of talking). If I eat too fast, I'll barf, so its necessary for me to eat slow.

Good for you. Hope you find what you are looking for.

I-yai-yai (LOL, I have no idea how to spell that! but you know what I mean) Yeah, 20 minutes is not very long...maybe...contraband snacks in the drawer? more "bathroom" breaks? Or a protein shake IV LOL. There must be other teachers on here who can share their ultra-short-lunchtime eating secrets....

100% I guess its just the nature of forums. Its basically all subjective. It's subjective for those who do (or post) whatever it is they do (or post), as it is subjective to those that comment on it. People will judge, BE judged, FEEL judged, PERCEIVED to be judging, PERCEIVED to be judged, and on and on and on....while yes, we are free and in our rights to define our own individual standards, stating these standards in a public forum is essentially an open invitation to others to offer up their standards. Sometimes will be agreement, and sometimes there won't...And sometimes...chaos ensues. I don't normally comment on behaviour on here, but there's been an prevailing atmosphere of snarkiness/unkindness and defensive-ness that I've been reading on here lately that I've been finding off-putting (in MY subjective opinion...which is in no way a statement that I think all - or any - will have the same view).

Yes...it's definitely a learning curve. The first couple months I relied on measuring cups/spoons (for volume) and just served myself whatever amount I was supposed to be eating during that phase. Also, I ate ridiculously sloooooooooooow, like 1.5-2 hours slow. I used to time my bites on my watch (the fam thought I was crazy).

Yep, this is my feeling of full....actually its over-full. My goal is always to finish eating before I reach this point. I am successful maybe 80% of the time.

Hi. My name is ms.sss and I am a human being. I drink alcohol, coffee and carbonated water almost daily. I eat deep fried foods, fatty foods, and desserts on the regular. I eat popcorn (smothered in butter and lots of salt). There were 4-5 straight days just after Christmas where my diet for the entire day(s) consisted of solely alcohol and pecan butter tarts, no joke! I smoke cigarettes and drive well above the speed limit. I smoked pot almost every weekend last summer. I have not filed my personal income taxes for the past 2 years. If I'm home, I eat lunch on the couch with laptop, and binge watch TV for hours on end. I haven't taken my vitamins/supplements in over year. I didn't brush my teeth before I went to bed last night. Sometimes (sometimes!) I worry that people will read what I post and get the wrong idea/message...like I'm eating too little, or too much, or just unhealthily. Or that I'm wholly irresponsible or going down the path the h*ll. Or, that someone with a different temperament than mine will do as I do and get unexpected results. But we are all adults here and we each can make decisions on our own lives without putting any onus on some stranger on the internet. In the end, I don't assume any responsibility for your actions, nor your reactions to mine. I will commiserate with you, make suggestions, share a joke, and offer up my own personal experiences. But what you do with your lives is on you*. * Clarification: You == the collective "You", NOT the OP nor anyone else on this thread specifically.

Truth be told, I didn't really have any problems per se. Just annoyances. I hated the way my arms looked in sleeveless tops...but it's existence didn't prevent nor get in the way of me from actually doing anything at all, exercise included. It was all just for looks...well except maybe the boob lift, which had many benefits aside from looks. Besides the arms, all other excess-skinned body parts I had little love for could easily be tucked away under clothes (with or without compression gear). Except maybe my "fupa" (the fat/skin on top of your pubic area). I sometimes felt like it looked like I was packing a penis when I wore leggings or a really tight skirt/dress, lol. I did get this addressed during my tummy tuck, so its all good now. Now my (minor) annoyances are my saggy/flat butt and soft/flappy upper inner thighs. But they don't bug me so so much that I want any further PS to address them. So yeah, its all good now. Here's a before and after my TT...I probably could have been perfectly happy without it, but I wanted to be reeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllyy happy. You can see the fupa thing I was talking about....

I was the same way about my arms! I wanted them GONE. Even when I was "normal" sized pre-obesity. When I was bigger, I wanted the fat gone so I wouldn't feel self-conscious when I wore sleeveless stuff. When I got smaller, I wanted the skin gone, so I wouldn't feel self-conscious when i wore sleeveless stuff. Now I practically live in tank tops. Love it. Aaaaaand because of the boob lift, I can live in these tank tops BRA-LESS. Oh, the freedom! LOL. It's funny because I only wanted to get the boob lift because of the side boob skin that oozed out of my sleeveless armholes. Now it is actually my fave of all my procedures not just in looks, but in overall quality of life improvement. Front button tops fit like a glove, I don't need to strap the girls down when I run (which affected my breathing), no more under-boob sweat, no under-bra-band itch, no danger of nip-slips even in the tiniest of string bikini tops. I do sometimes miss my giant boobs when I see them in pictures, but then I remember all the aforementioned, and I'm good. Hope you get your dream arms and dream boobs in good time!

he's actually the only surgeon I've ever read about on these forums who's said that. Anyone else who's mentioned that their surgeon said anything about the gain/loss thing after plastic surgery has said they were warned a 10-15 lb gain either way will affect results. I don't know that there's been any research on this to know for absolute sure, but since there's evidently some difference in opinion, I'd sure want to be at a fairly stable weight before taking the plunge (and ms.sss, I know you and I have had this discussion before, so I'm just reiterating it for the sake of the OP) Good point...I should clarify that this info was given to ME by MY surgeon based on MY body size/frame at the time. I was/am pretty small. I *think* the bigger you are the less the same amount of lbs loss would show vs someone smaller. I was 125 lbs at time of PS consult (about 2 weeks into maintenance). My surgeon specifically told ME if I gained 15-25 lbs (for me that would be 135-150 lbs), there would likely be very little effect my results...anything more than that, he warned that my scars may widen undesiredly. He also told ME if I lost 10-15 lbs (this would have put me at (110-115 lbs), I should be ok, but anything more than that, I may see sagging/dimpling skin on either side of a taut incision/scar line. So basically, according to him, I theoretically could gain more lbs than lose before I possibly see some adverse effects, in either direction. I think that if one is a little bigger or smaller than me, the ranges that affect YOU would change accordingly. As it turned out, I was 115 lbs on PS surgery day. BTW: some anecdotal observations...I am currently 109-ish lbs (6lbs below my PS surgery date weight), been here for about a month, and I do notice a bit of loose skin on top and below my tummy tuck incision line (my other scars seem unaffected). this is especially true in the incision line were it is darker/firmer. My abdomen as a whole is not nearly as tight looking as it used to be a few months ago...but this is also likely due to the fact I haven't done any core work since January. In any case. It is probably unreasonable to expect to stay the same weight forever, or stay within 10-15 lbs of your goal weight until you die. Even those who never had WLS gain or lose that amount regularly. You can always get more PS years down the line if you so choose (it is addictive, after all!)

K, my pee journey was/is a little weird (not sure how much is wls-related or age...) Pre-wls, I peed all the time. I could not hold it for very long once I felt the urge, and I wold get up 3-4 times a night to go (I drank lots of liquids all day long). Post-wls, I developed what I affectionately called my new-found peeing superpower. I could sleep the entire night without having to go once. I could hold my pee for HOURS. I remember going on a 5-6 hour flight about a year post-op and both me and Mr. marvelled at how I didn't visit the bathroom once (a flight of this duration would usually call for a visit to the toilet every hour). I still drank lots all day long. No...post-POST-wls (2.5 years out now), I've noticed that my peeing frequency has increased in the past 6-9 or so months. I don't pee as much as pre-wls, but way more than I did that first year or so. I also notice that once I feel the need to go, I need to go...I can't hold it as long as soon as I acknowledge it. I dunno if its become psycho-sematic, because I also notice that if I go by a toilet, I just feel like I should go since I'm there, and I actually can. Sometimes it's just drips, but I still go nonetheless. I still don't need to get up in the middle of the night, so I don't think its too much of an issue. I still drink lots all day long. P.S. Oddly enough, I used to pee a little if I coughed or sneezed pre-wls, but no longer since the weight loss. P.P.S. I also often don't feel like I've fully emptied my bladder...but this is also a recent thing (past 6-9 months)

@kristieshannon: sorry you are dealing with this. Marriage issues suck. My first honest question to you would be: do YOU want to put in effort to work through it with him? Depending on your answer, the responses you get will reflect that in mind.... ❤️

My husband is very active and fit. He does some sort of something every single day for HOURS throughout the day. Every day. Even more in the summer months. He's been this active for the entire time I've known him (25+ years...he's actually probably more active now than when I first met him). No one who knows him bats an eyelash. Now, *I* started running 5 measly km over a year or so ago, and I got a good share of "concerned" comments. Further to this, early into maintenance my eating habits were/are very similar to my always-been-thin-sister-in-law. If she turned down a peice of cake, it was all, whatever. If *I* turned down the same cake, there would be alot more insisting, and "are you sure?"'s. I think people in general are not good with change. It takes time for people to get used to a new normal, or to understand/accept how someone can be doing something starkly different than themselves. I'm 2.5+ years out now, and nobody asks me a second time if I want that cake, or display surprise/concern at my exercise habits. Here on BP though, I do sometimes feel/sense that there is that still that "concern"...but that's just the nature of internet forums.

Oh, if you look, you'll find quite a few posts about "excessive" exercising, references to "obsessive" activity, and dire warnings about the inability to sustain activity levels and the "inevitable" crash and burn as a result. Sigh.

Hiay @Healthy_life2!!! I've missed you around here ❤️ Sometimes I think losing the thrill would be nice, but most times I still like to marvel in it, 😂

I started having consults the month I reached goal (7 months post-op) with the intention of getting it done in a couple months. Turns out my doc was booked up, so I had to wait anyway. I ended up getting arm lift, breast lift and tummy tuck 6.5 months into maintenance (14 months post-op over all). In retrospect its good that there was a wait time because I ended up losing another 15-ish lbs by the time PS surgery came around. My doc did say that in terms of effect on results, weight loss results in more effect on results than weight gain. The reason being that scar tissue may not shrink as well as it expands. My PS was done in Dec 2019, and I'm supremely happy that I had it done. Having tight arms in tank tops and being able to go braless in a tube top is pure joy, lol. P.S. I had mine done in Canada, so I can offer no personal recommendations. I do hear that Columbia is an inexpensive and reliable place to consider though.

Bread baking extravaganza today. Shown below, French Bread & Pandesal (a Filipino bread roll). I also made buttermilk biscuits, but they ate them all before I remembered to take a pic this morning. I ate 1/4 of a pandesal roll earlier: 43 calories Also had an expresso martini beforehand: + 141 calories 185 calories total P.S. I really need to work on my portioning when baking. They are all different sizes, which makes calorie estimation difficult.