ms.sss

Yay, similar-stat-sister! LOL I had the sleeve in Oct 2018. So that makes me 1 year, 7 months out today. I reached goal at 7 months and then lost a few more lbs after that. Today, my BMI is 21.0 (or 48.5% total body weight lost from surgery day...its a little more if I count the 2 week-pre-op liquid diet, but not by much). I do want to say though, that based on what I've read on these forums, I was one of the "faster" losers, not a superstar, but def a little higher than average. I was pretty strict during weight loss phase, and I was exercising regularly by month 3 (and still do). Here's a pic collage I created for my 18-month milestone mark that shows the weight loss progression. It's funny because I would NEVER show people pics of me obese (let alone ALLOW my pic to be taken), but now I'm actually kinda proud of showing my before pics. Go figure. I'm excited for you, and sincerely hope you reach any and all goals you set for yourself. Good Luck!

You will find that everyone and their mother will have an opinion of your weight/weight loss. It was a very annoying aspect of this whole thing for me. If it's any consolation, after a while, you and your weight will become old news and no one will bother making comments/provide advice/express concern, and the like. Try to let it roll off your back and just stay the course. The minor annoyances you have to deal with now will be nothing compared to how awesome you will feel later. Good Luck!

Yay!

You didn't state your starting weight, but regardless, it's pretty normal. And like the posters said above, its mostly water weight. Excited for you for starting this...it really is a game changer. Good Luck!

Like a few posters said above i'ts difficult to compare pounds lost and get any real indication of how you will do. Especially since we all started at different weights, heights, ages, length of time being obese, etc. If you REALLY want to compare, maybe look at BMI's and % of body weight lost, this would at least factor out a couple of the variables. With that said, I'm female, 47 yrs old & 5'2". My BMI on day of surgery was 41.1 At the 6 months mark, it was at 25.4 Which was about roughly 38% of total body weight lost from surgery day.

I am TOTALLY replicating that salad TODAY.

Hmmmm...I've still got 3/4 of the brisket slab in the freezer...going to try this next time we get a meat-slab hankering...

Actually yes! A lot of times I get the Kid to taste stuff first and let me know if its worth me eating, or to save my stomach real estate for something more worth it...

I was looking for some large padded shoulder blazers to model, but they just weren't BIG enough 😂

I would, but....you turned my spare room into an office!!!! Lolololzzzz

Oh Sophie! That dress is so pretty!!! And goes great with your phone, lol. You are looking great all dolled up 😍

Man, you still eat soooooo little!

Do you use the simmer stock for a sauce/gravy afterwards?

I think it's just a matter of when you can tolerate it. Some people find that it doesn't sit well with them anymore, others are just fine. At 3 months out, you can try a little bit and see how it goes. My own personal choice was to cut it out completely. I haven't had rice since pre-surgery (I'm 1.5 years post-op), and I don't really miss it like I thought I would.

Crispy Ginger Pork over steamed rice (no rice for me though) with a side of ginger-lime-mint cucumber & scallion salad. P.S. I don’t know why I don’t use mint more often...makes salads taste so much “fresher”...

I think you fit into it perfectly already! Lookin' sharp 😎

Hmmmm....i have no idea how much it weighed! (i bought a giant brisket from costco and used about 1/4 of it). But size-wise, it was about 4-5 hands across, and about 3 inches thick, LOL. 10h hours on low. I put a rub on the brisket night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight: 1 tbsp brown sugar (or stevia & molases or swerve) 2 tsp smoked paprika powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 3/4 tsp mustard powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper Next morning, put the meat in the slow cooker with the BBQ sauce on the bottom, squishing the meat on top of it, fat side up. After the 10hrs, i put the sauce in a sauce pan to reduce, then put the meat on the grill for about 10 mins on each side basting constantly with the thickened sauce. If you try it, share pics, please! I love looking at pics of everyone's creations...

I got myself the Withings Body+ Scale a month or so after surgery. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Auto sync, multi-user friendly (up to 8 users) integrated iOS/Adroid apps. https://www.withings.com/ca/en/body-plus# (I have it in white, and it goes nicely with my bathroom decor, ) Between me and the rest of the fam, its probably the most used appliance we have in the house, besides the fridge, lol (we all weigh ourselves everyday, Mr. sometimes multiple times a day...cuz he likes to check his water composition before and after workouts) *though as with all home-scales, the data provided (in terms of body composition) may or may not be truly reflective of your stats. But i figure if you use the data from the same scale (and not across multiple different scales), you at least have a baseline to work with. Edited to add: oh, and battery life/usage is pretty good so far with this thing, we haven't had to change the battery yet and its been over a year of daily usage x 4 people (my old digital scale needed battery changing like 3-4 times a year)

...also easy on the pain meds (if you are taking them) they contribute to the constipation..

4 garlic cloves, minced 0.5 cup apple cider vinegar 1.5 cups ketchup (i use the no-sugar added ketchup from Heinz) 0.5 cup brown sugar (i use .5 cup stevia + 2 tbsp molasses, there is also a swerve brown sugar out there, but I haven't tried it yet, but should be fine) 2 tsp black pepper 2 tsp onion powder 2 tsp mustard powder 2 tsp cayenne pepper (use less if you don't like it too spicy) 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp cumin 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (the fam likes it sweet, so sometimes i may add a little bit of honey in there) mix it all up in a saucepan, let it simmer on med until it gets all syrupy (fyi it thickens more as it cools) Note: for this recipe, I added all these ingredients into the slow cooker along with the meat and then thickened it up afterwards when the meat was done (this way it has all that meaty goodness infused in there also, especially because I had a rub on the brisket...)

Its BBQ season! BBQ beef brisket (in the slow cooker for TEN HOURS, then finished off on the grill, which, btw, was inspired by that glorious slab of meat posted by @MarvelGirl25 a couple posts up...) + grilled garlic butter corn (a little burnt, oopsies) + a tub of cole slaw i got on sale at the grocery today (too lazy to make one from scratch) ...also toasted buns for the fam (but sans bread for me) with some Gorgonzola for that touch of funk, lol. Anyone else a big fan of stinky cheeses??? I say the stinkier the better.

Mmmm...blue cheese dressing...🤤

Don't sell yourself short, 50lbs in 4 months is NOT slow. You are doing great so far, congrats!

Yikes!

I had low blood pressure in the early months out of surgery. No fainting, but I would definitely get woozy and my vision would darken quite a bit when I got up quickly or moved suddenly. At the time, my doc said to try to increase my salt intake. Around the 5-6 month mark or so the frequency of these episodes reduced greatly. I'm guessing its because I started to eat a little more "normal" at the time vs. the extreme calorie/carb restriction before that. I'm 1.5 yrs out now and rarely have them anymore (if at all...the last time was probably 3 months ago...but I just had PS and wasn't eating much, so there's that). @JessLess, curious as to what your doc had to say? P.S. As for heart rates (according to the data collected from my watch), pre-surgery it was probably around 85-90 (resting). For 6 or so months after surgery it went down to about 55-60 resting. Now it looks like I average about 70 beats per minute (resting). Another interesting thing I found is that pre-surgery, DURING EXERCISE, my heart rate would go up to as high as 188! And I probably wasn't even exercising very hard. Now, after say, a 5K run, it barely goes up further than 150. Further, my recovery time (the time it takes for my heart to go back to "normal") is like 70% faster than before. Just goes to show how much my weight before was probably slowly killing me.