ms.sss

this is actually a good point that i want to add on to. during weight loss phase, so long as your LABS are good and you FEEL good, i have the opinion that there is really no need to force yourself to eat if you just aren't feeling it. but ONLY of your labs are good! DISCLAIMER: i am NOT a medical professional and am only expressing what worked for me. feel free to take or discard anything i say! FOR BACKGROUND PURPOSES: i lost 110 lbs in 7 months to reach goal weight. i am now 6 years post op and have maintained BELOW goal weight this entire time. AND my labs have been "satisfactory" at every check up (the last one being Oct 2023...i have one coming up in a couple weeks and im going to assume it will also be uneventful cuz i feel great)

cantaloupe smoothie for lunch! (too lazy to make anything or even order out) about 2 cupped cubed cantaloupe, 1 tbsp whole milk powder (i had no actual milk so it had to do), and a cup of ice blitzed in the blender. yum!

update: it made no difference (which i have come to expect over the years...the new norm is that i generally Do Not gain weight on vacay! yay!) left weighing 115.2 lbs, came back 4 days later weighing 114.6 this morning (and i haven't even pooped yet, omg) i know ate and drank more than usual, but i was also out and about like all the waking hours (besides sitting to eat&drink) so that makes sense. plus Mr. coerced me to go the to hotel gym every morning to start our days ?)

honestly i have a TONNE of fairly nice clothes that i've half donated, half kept cu they are just to nice to give away. if anyone is like 5'2"-ish and want some clothes in various sizes from size 18 to size 6, AND willing to pay for shipping from Canada, let me know! i's be happy to hand it over to a fellow wls-er.

did you make it yourself?! looks yummmmmm...

also ok, one last over the top food order as my road trip has come to an end and i *thought* i was starving and everything sounded so good. the side garden salad that automatically came with the entree. i had just one forkful cuz i wanted to conserve stomach space. french onion soup. this was probably the best tasting broth of a french onion soup i ever had omg. but it was a little oily from the cheese and lardons (! never had lardons in an FOS before and i didn't hate it). drank maybe 1/2 of the broth, with a small bite of a cheese covered crouton and a 2-3 lardon pieces. a burger and with a side of mushrooms. I did not even try the burger because the height of it put me off and the bread looked like i would be picking pieces out of my braces for days. the mushrooms however were so yum, had maybe 5 of them. i also ordered an "extra" side of bone marrow...i ate one with a bit of the bread (maybe 1" square?), as again, i wanted to save stomach space. luckily, i ordered beef tartare with sweet potato fries with the intention to share with the table. since i didn't want the burger, this became my entree. tartare was delicious, ate maybe 2/3 of what is shown here, plus 4-5 sweet potato fries dipped in the the spicy mayo. ....and yes, not to worry, my meal companions ate almost all of what i didn't. i can always count on them! i have no idea the calorie count, i did not track anything i ate the past few days. tomorrow morning i'll see if all this food tracking abandon made a diff on the scale....

all that for $82 ??? my groceries list this week will fit in my purse and cost almost as much as that. also that is a whole lotta meal prep, am totally impressed! ....remind me again how many people are in your household???

the rolling down is because the leggingd are too big or too loose or to worn out i have some pairs that i still have to hike up during class. the best ones i find are the snug-properly fitted high waisted ones...but the have to fit like a glove! these are hard to find for me, so the next best i find are the low cut ones, where the band sits on way down on my hips (easier to find leggings that fit just my hips vs BOTH my hips and waist i guess)

currently on a mini road trip/getaway... some food porn for y'all from the last few days... roasted cauliflower salad duck confit and foie gras with toast tofu and pea salad assorted sashimi avocado toast IMG_8253.mov scotch egg (turn sound on to hear my reaction to the egg's cook level , lol) escargot blue cheese wedge salad grilled octopus 28oz rib steak medium rare with twice baked potato and asparagus shakshouka with grilled flatbread and yes, these were all MY own orders...except the sashimi, that was shared with my pal... (i would take up pages and pages if i posted all the food my travel companions ordered as well!) needless to say i did not finish any of these dishes by a long shot. but i did taste them all!! (and drank lots too, ha!) mr. says i have a food ordering problem cuz despite the fact i eat a fraction of what everyone else eats, i still probably order twice as much as them all. sorry, not sorry. ?

happy anniversary!

speaking of grilled cheese, i recently watched a cooking show where a contestant slathered mayonnaise on the exterior sides of the assembled sandwich and pan fried it in butter. had to try it at home, and omg it changed my world. ?

this was what i first thought of as well. my weird body pains showed up around 1 month post op: neck and shoulder pain, mid back pain, hip pain , elbow, ankle and heel pain. at the time i was told by my chiropractor (and google lol) that is was due to my changing centre of gravity and loss of padding (fat) when sitting or laying down which results in changes to your body's needs to hold itself up. we wls patients lose weight so quickly and our skeletal and musculature makeup are playing catchup, hence the pain. i was also told that slowing down weight loss helps (i.e., eat more). for the record, i did not try to slow down my weight loss, ha! my pain went away around 4-5 months post op if i recall (which was nearing the end of my rapid weight loss phase)

and just like that a fitness lover is born. ????

well, i got a breast lift and not implants, so my bras size sort of stayed the same..i just filled them out differently. pre-breast lift, all my my "boob material" sort of pooled at the bottom of my bra cup lol, so when i wore those demi-bras, i looked like i had two cups of cappuccinos on my chest lolololzzzz now i fill out my bras properly and my nipples face forward!

oooohhhh you have opened a can of worms! i show strangers pics of my cats on my phone. yep, i'm THAT person. our kitties never knew me fat so they dont know the difference. besides messing around with my food sometimes, they do tend to anchor me on the couch. when they fall asleep on my lap, i don't have the heart to disturb them, so i just sit there and get Mr. to fetch me stuff. "i always feel like somebody's watching meeeeee"

lol, oh trust me he's a-lurking just outside the frame ??

personally i just PREFER to exercise (any exercise) on an empty stomach. i just feel lighter and more nimble vs when im full of food. i've never heard of it being good or bad for you tho...i thinks its just personal preference.

today's win: i got compliments from fitness "professionals" i respect. first, this morning : a personal trainer and handstand workshop leader. during intake, i explained that i consider myself very flexible, but not very strong. then he shook his head, and said "well you LOOK strong", and patted my bicep ?? lololZzz second, this evening: at yoga class, one of my fave instructors asked me if i would be interested in modeling for a fitness photographer friend of hers for his portfolio because, in her words, i am "super toned". who me???? thats just nuts. a pic Mr. took of me this afternoon on the front porch steps...

well, its one of my superpowers lololololzzz i'm not uncomfortable or in pain (just look about 2-3 months pregnant), but sometimes the first post-vacay poop is a little challenging....the trick is to BREATHE thru it hahahahha. vacay constipation is a staple in my life. sigh. i think its more mental...i only like to go at home.??‍♀️

further to the above, given your lifting regimen, i wouldn't rely too much on the number on the scale vs your body measurements. you look like you gained quite a bit of muscle mass over the past few months (and will likely create more!) and we all know muscle is denser than fat so.... along with scale weight, i personally go by how my clothes fit...so long as i don't have to buy bigger clothes, im good, ha! (although my tshirts seem tighter these days, but i know its because my back and shoulders are getting bigger...not sure yet how i feel about that...lol)

another day, another (clone-like) salad. this is my first meal of the day (at 3pm) cuz i decided i needed help with my handstand so i went to a "handstand workshop" this AM. everyone was super cool and nice so i ended up hanging out at the studio afterwards and totally lost track of time! anyway got home and realized i actually ran out of leafy greens, so this baby is just chopped carrots, apples and cucumber topped with bacon pieces and an entire burrata ball! (with balsamic glaze and a homemade vinaigrette) 463 calories for the bowl, ate ALL the burrata (yum!), and maybe 2/3 of the rest of the stuff.

soooo question:...why do you think you need to be in the 1500-1700 range if you are maintaining fine in the 1800-2000 range? logic would dictate that you would lose weight given your current exercise regimen if you dropped cals...are you looking to lose more weight? or maybe decrease activity levels? if so, then yeah dropping down a few hundred cals would do the trick. but if not, then why try to fix something that ain't broke? I am a good 7 inches shorter than you and i maintain with 2300 cals a day...been at this level for about a year, and my weight has hovered around the same number +/- 3lbs the entire time. i don't count nor manage macros anymore, but a quick glance at MFP show that i'm well over 150g of net carbs every day this week and protein about 80g more or less; as for exercise, from what i've read from your posts we are probably about the same activity expenditure range. you wont "ruin everything" if you keep on top of things and watch whats happening (which sounds like what you are already doing), if you do that you would have plenty of time to adjust and make changes before it all goes to shite. you're doing great! keep it up

sAme! im a soup lover as well: pho! yum! ramen! yum! shrimp dumpling noodle soup! yum! new england clam chowder! yum (in spite of the fact im lactose-intolerant!) my own homemade chunky potato soup! (so yum, ill share recipe if anyone wants ) cucumber gazpacho! yum! dessert soup! (like tapioca or red bean!) yum! basically, i'll eat soupy anything EXCEPT tomato based soups, which for some reason is just not my thing. but yeah, if im having soup, im rarely eating anything else, which is a low-key bummer cuz i love a ton of variety when i eat....so its important to me that said soup is effing delicious!! ???

im 6 yrs out in a few weeks, and these days i can eat about 1-1.5 cups in volume in one sitting...more if its salad, less if its's dense protein or fluffy bread or pasta. but i mean, i could eat another 1-1.5 cups after i digest in a couple hours... further, i don't normally eat low-calorie on purpose...i try to average to 2300 cals a day more or less to maintain my current physique. you will find that you will be able to eat a little bit more as well as more frequently as time goes by. hopefully you will learn what amounts you need to maintain based on your activity level/health state and adjust accordingly as your needs change. ❤️

@Lilia_90:::omg im so u are posting ur food again!!! soooo yummmmmyyyy looooking!!! (do u have a food instagram? cuz i'd totally follow....)