ms.sss

we are/were ALMOST surgery-stat twins. i was 46 when i had my sleeve in 2018, i'm 5'2" and weighed 235 lbs 2 weeks before surgery...so a BMI of 43. Yours is 44.3, so yeah, ALMOST-twins! I got to goal around 7 months, and yes i has saggy skin. For me though, i had little underlying fat so it wasn't so much rolly-looking, but more like wrinkled-lumpy-bedsheet-looking. what fixed it? plastic surgery (i had a tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift). my butt is pretty saggy still, and "hangs low" lol, but i can live with it. also the vertical skin lines on my neck gives away how old i am now but i can also live with it...sort of, ha! (in the link to collage below, the last two pics in the middle row are me 2 and 3 months before plastics. the last row is entirely post-plastics. i keep meaning to update this collage with more recent ones, as im 4.5+ years post-wls, but im lazy! i am still basically the same weight just not as defined anymore...i don't exercise nearly as much as i did back then.)

Not a new one, just a re-validation of previously-enjoyed one: I LOST weight on vacation. I've been on a few getaways in the past 12 months, and each time I come back, i'm always lighter than when i left (after i get rid of all my obligatory vacation-constipation backup of course, lol). I remember pre-surgery i would always come home 5-ish lbs heavier (even after a good poop) Guess this means i should go on vacation more! P.S. i also almost always eventually gain back the weight lost, but still!

i'm 4.5 yrs post op now, so NSV's come few and far between, but every now and then a new one will pop up: yesterday i was sitting on a chair scrolling through my phone when i dropped it in my lap. i shut my thighs to catch it, it landed on one if my thighs, then it slipped right through between them and fell to the floor. my knees felt a little knocked, and i was thinking damn, i hope my apple-care warranty is still valid, then i realized whoa, my thighs are smaller than i think. p.s. my phone is ok! ?

i'm 5'2", started at 235 at beginning of 2wk pre-op diet. was 223 on surgery day (12 lbs lost during 2wk pre-op diet) lost 21 lbs month 1 lost 17 lbs month 2 then roughly 10 lbs a month after that until goal (127 lbs) at 7 months post op im 4.5 years post op and clocked in at 121.1 lbs this morning (though i haven't pooped in like 6 days so im literally full of sh*t again lol) i know i actually weigh less but we'll have to wait till the poop fairy comes to know exactly what that is!)

this is true ?

for dinner: leftovers in a take out container! a small slice of ribeye, teeny spoonfuls of spinach & mushrooms (drenched in butter omg) and a sad little piece of baked potato. this was leftover from mr.'s dinner last night and he didn't want to take it home (it's not worth it, he said). well, i insisted and i got me a nice dinner tonight, HA! estimated 186 calories (ate it all, yum!)

i think frequent hair washing (with shampoo) is more an issue for your scalp than your actual hair. i only "wash" my hair with shampoo maybe once every 1-2 weeks. all other times in the shower i "wash" with conditioner only (google co-washing). honestly nothing is going to prevent the hair that means to fall out from not falling out. you may delay it a bit (dont wash, dont brush, dont rub, don't tie up, etc). but its really just delaying the inevitable. enjoy your vacation, your hair will sort out eventually ❤️

mine started at 3 months post-op. cut off all my hair into a pixie because i hated seeing my scalp AND vacuuming up the CARPETS of hair accumulating in my bathroom. The Great Shedding stopped about 3 months after it started. im 4.5+ years out now and i have a full head of under-boob length hair that actually seems thicker & healthier than it was pre-surgery (probably due to my better diet and overall health) and it even has a wave to it now, which was unexpected, but appreciated lol. I didn't take any sort of supplement nor do anything special to my routine other than the haircut. Basically just waited it out. Good Luck, and hang in there!

My Fitness Pal, the premium version...which i keep meaning to cancel as i dont really need/use the extra features anymore. The free version would be just fine

another day another salad: 350 calories for the bowl.

more salad for lunch. they all look the same, don't they?? ? good thing i love salad. 343 calories for lettuce, chicken, figs and greek dressing:

felt like a burger tonite. 1/2 a five guys little bacon cheeseburger and some fries and ketchup. 564 calories for the plate (saucer). Mr. ate the leftovers. its really quite fascinating that he isnt overweight at all given all the food he eats for me.

so cute! (and presumably YUMMY!!) happy birthday GT's BF!

salad for dinner! lettuce, chicken and other stuff 310 calories, ate it all.

late lunch: toast w/ turkey, havarti, and tomatoes (w/ mayo, olive oil, basil and balsamic) 260 calories, ate it all.

dinner: panzenella salad, yum! 386 cals for the bowl. (i normally cut up the buratta and drizzle balsamic on it, but it wouldn't have made a pretty picture so i left the buratta in one chunk and added the balsamic after i took the pic) ate about 1/2 of it. again, so yum!!

breakfast of champions (ok not really lol) : chicharron i have not been eating much lately and felt i needed a calorie boost. this tiny snack tupperware cup of 3 peices of the stuff is 111 calories. (my cat sorta photobombed the shot haha)

methinks perhaps they aren't actually sugar-free....

i hear ya. i've been known to have a bowl of popcorn for dinner.

Bulgogi and lettuce (intended to make lettuce wraps but these leaves were too small! ?) 305 calories for the bowl (ate about 1/2)

finally got a chance to eat something today (gym, vet appt and grocery shopping kept me occupied until now). anyway i was "starving" by the time i got home and i seriously wolfed this down: 1/2 a bagel w/ butter, havarti, and a dollop of labneh: 348 calories and ate it all!

omg that pork belly looks sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good.

mine started at 3 months...and i lost quite a bit (you could see my scalp). i cut it all off into a pixie to camouflage it a bit. started seeing little chicken hairs sprout up around 6-7 months. those chicken hairs grew to be about the same length as the rest of my hair (about chin length) in another year. and now (4.5+ yrs post op) i have a lovely full head of underboob-length hair. and it even grew in with a bit if a wave to it, so bonus! hang in there, its only temporary. in time it will be just another annoyance in your rear view mirror. Good Luck! ❤️

SHORT ANSWER: (in my opinion) omg yes, totally worth it. its a serious game changer. 1. Does that price sound outrageous? Again it’s a good size job and I’m sure it’s more bc of that?? I've read similar pricing like that on here at times so not totally outrageous...but I am from Canada and it seems prices up here are comparatively lower. I also had my TT supplement with provincial insurance so that helped reduce the cost.  2. Is there anything else I can do to reduce this tummy I know the big procedure is the only way to really do it but do these fat loss clinics (must be Lipo? ) clinics work? If the rest of you is already "small", then probably not. its not possible to "spot-lose" weight without surgery. Lipo adresses fat, it will do nothing for excess skin. 3. How painful was this? Um...really painful. but im a bit of a low-tolerance pain-baby, so.   4. Would you do this in office? I had a choice to get it done in my surgeon's office or in the hospital. But since insurance was covering part of it, the premium to have in hospital was also covered, so it was a no-brainer: hospital. BUT, if i did have to pay, i would probably have done in hospital regardless just for peace of mind. i remember being low-key scared of not waking up after surgery and the idea that there were all these doctors and equipment to revive me made me feel a little better (dramatic, yes, but still!!). plus i could stay overnight with 24hr care.

i started walking the evening of surgery. started with walking the hospital halls, to a couple loops around my kitchen island, to a walk down the street, to around the block, to several times around the block, to an hour of walking around that darn block, lol. By 3 months post op i started trying out other things (dance, yoga, zumba, boudlering, swimming, running). Only running and yoga stayed in the regular rotation. i did dabble with strength training for a bit, but i hate it, so i only did it as a necessary evil for a couple years. i don't do it anymore (surprise, surprise!). PRO Tip: find something you actually like to do and you will more likely stick with it. Good Luck! ❤️