ms.sss

another resto dinner. ordered 2 apps (braised pork belly and grilled octopus cuz i couldn't decide), and dessert (gold leaf bourbon chocolate truffle skulls...so cute right??) ate one piece of the pork (i didnt like the kimchi it was sitting in...too much sauce, not enough cabbage), and all the cracklin pieces (3 of em) the octopus was Dee-Lish-ous, omg...ate a tentacle and a half and all the greens. ate 1 of those super cute skulls. no after pics cuz its all in mr.'s stomach, ha! didnt bother tying to figure out the cals..am just gonna log something later that has 600 calories. ...and i didn't drink any alcohol (shocker!) cuz me and mr. and i are going dry for the rest of the month for a bet lol.

tablecloths, silverware, cloth napkins, and "glass" glasses. premium airline cabins for the win! lol (that midnight cheese plate has me heading into the kitchen for some at-home charcuterie...)

i beg to differ! any and all food pics are greatly appreciated (by me!) ? for good measure, here's a shot of my kettle chips and chocolate covered pretzels snack for earlier this afternoon 197 calories, at it all ??

i purposefully limited carbs the first two years (fist year-ish, <25g a day, second year-ish, <50-70 a day). my team did not tell me to do this, it came about first by necessity (i had very little stomach real estate and needed to prioritize other foods, and sugar was my enemy number one back then cuz i was in the height of my dumping abilities), ...then i noticed that limiting it seemed to positively affect weight loss for me, so i continued, then it just became habit, then later it became a low-level fear of mine to get back to. ...slowly me and carbs got back together again and we hang out probably just as much as "normal" people do. though breads, rice, pasta, etc still tend to sit heavily in me so its still in smaller quantities. but me and sugar are def in a much better place now lol. i'm 4 years out.

why yes, yes i did! (but i had coffee lol). when i was a teenager, i worked in a british-themed bakery/cafe in an amusement park. they had a "tea time hour" and sold these babies by the truckload. i fell in love with them then. (that and steak & kidney pie! lol) and here you go!: Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 3 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp cream of tartar 3/4 cup FROZEN butter (grated) 1 egg, beaten 1.25 cup whole milk Instructions Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in the grated butter into flour mixture. Don't go too crazy here - you want to see small, pea-sized pieces of butter throughout the dough. Add in the milk and egg and mix just until the ingredients are combined. The dough will be sticky but don't keep working it. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle some flour on to the top of dough so it won't stick to your fingers and knead 10-15 times. If the dough is super sticky just sprinkle on some additional flour. Pat the dough out to 3/4 - 1 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter or glass (alternatively you can just drop large spoonfuls on the baking sheet) Place the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment lined baking sheet or silicone baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. For extra yumminess, brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter immediately after taking out of oven. Serve warm, its better!; or let cool and serve with fresh whipped cream and your choice of jam.

yeah, what @sillykitty said lol. These biscuits where crispy-ish on the outside and were supposed to be light and fluffy-ish on the inside (they normally are, i swear!)... but a combination of over-working the dough (i kneaded maybe 20-25 times instead of my normal 10-15), AND an over-floured surface i kneaded on contributed to its unintended dense-ness and lack of height. oopsies. but they were still delicious!!

between the two of us, we would have finished that sandwich...i prefer the harder outer crusts of bread than the squishy middle!

and now for todays breakfast/brunch. The Kid asked me to bake a batch of my (self-proclaimed) fabulous biscuits so whipped up a batch this AM. 1 biscuit with whipped cream and strawberry jam (tray of virgin biscuits in the background) 307 calories, ate it all.

last nights take-out dinner: assorted sushi & sashimi. 415 calories, ate it all. fun fact: my hands down fave sashimi is saba (mackerel) with an abundance of roe, yummmm! this is the one at the top of the plate with the yellow fish eggs attached. mr. and the kid find this type among the more "challenging" of the sashimis so it always ends up more for me! lol.

thank you!!!! lol. so of course i studied each picture up close. the 2nd row, centre plate is the prettiest! what is that whipped/moussey item? i see it present in other plates as well. bottom row, what is that breakfast-sausage looking thing with what looks like a straw going down the middle of it? ...and most importantly, which one was ur fave??? (before you tapped out lol)

ok. first i NEED to see pics to satiate my food porn addiction. second, the one collateral damage i suffer from wls is my inability to have wine pairings with meals (tasting or regular). if i drink while i eat i wont be able to see thru to the end of the presentation. boo. ....which is why i am often drunk during these types of outings because i always make sure to get my drink on BEFORE the food comes. so brilliant, right?? lolzzzzzz

EXACTLY! 100%! Totally agree! Which is why i love tasting menus, tapas, izakaya, dim sum. All perfect venues for us limited-stomach-real-estate folk, to get a chance to taste a whole lotta stuff without stuffing ourselves. Honourable mention to cocktail parties w/ passed hors d'ourves and large group restaurant reservations (so i can taste everyone's entrees ?)

lol it DOES run on the expensive side, but i would rather pay money for the opportunity to taste a multitude of things vs. committing to a single HUGE portion i have no chance of finishing. quality vs quantity is my ongoing motto.

well my poop must be made of bricks then lol one of my fave past times a couple years ago was doing before and after weigh ins for poop times (and pees, showers, eating a large meal, menstual cycles, workouts, etc, but i digress lol) ...and in the case of pooping, i almost always weigh less after. mind u i only poop every 3 days or so (a post-wls phenomenon for me), so i get pretty backed up. there have been a couple/few times i went on vacay (or had surgery) and didn't poop for like 10+ days and when i finally did i would drop up to 2.5 lbs. *shudder*

i would take the "stop losing weight " comments from others with a grain of salt. when you lose weight quickly it may be jarring to others looking on from the outside. i theorize that their idea of your bigger self is relatively fresh in their minds so a skinner newer you seems drastically different. i also theorize that if you were to drop the weight slower over time u'd likely get less comments. the same people who told me to stop losing weight when i was 160-ish lbs at 3-ish months (when i was still technically obese for effs sakes) are the same people who fawned over me when i got to 115 several months later.

as some of you may already know, i love me a tasting menu! date night last night was a 9-course small plate dinner of (mostly) deliciousness ? had 1-2 bites of everything, with the exception of the bread (mr. ate it all) and the tuna & scallops (ate my entire portion), also one look at the dessert i knew it would not agree with me, but i did have a lick of the caramel it was sitting in (waaay to sweet! i was right!) Mr. ate all my leftovers (plus a street hotdog afterwards cuz he was still hungry ???). also had 2 vodka sodas and 1/2 a glass of red wine. food and drinks consumed over about a 2.5 hour period. i didn't bother logging this meal cuz i just wasn't in the mood to put in that much effort. sorry not sorry lol. from left to right: - "cheese and crackers" - some sort of crab salad - blue fin tuna sashimi (served on a single vertebrae of an actual tuna which i thought was super cool presentation) - foie gras profiterole - striped bass crudo - grilled scallop - tanjo farm duck - bread - molten chocolate cake (i should have put my hand beside each dish for size perspective but i forgot. but they are pretty small...like the size of an hors d'ouerve passed around at a cocktail party)

*raises hand* Same. Same. Same. a few months into weight loss, everything about food began to fascinate me. I started to love cooking, baking, researching recipes, watching cooking shows, reading restaurant reviews, smelling it, taking pictures of it, watching others eat it, everything except actually eating it myself. one of my fave things to do is read a menu in its entirety at restaurants. I’m 4 years post and I am still like this, with the exception that I can eat way more now than I could back then (for those keeping score, I remain below goal weight, so I didn’t end up imploding. So far, at least lol) I used to worry about this behaviour of mine, but have long ago learned to just go with it. I figured I was not suffering any angst about it, nor was it negatively impacting any aspect of daily life. So…yeah. BUT…If a behaviour (any behaviour!) is limiting you in any way, or preventing you from being a functional member of society, or causing you mental anguish or physical harm, then maybe that is a sign you may want to get it addressed. Good Luck!❤️ P.S. Full disclosure: I also smoke, so I probably have bigger fish to fry than my affinity for Top Chef et al.

honestly, i just ate more. i was sub 800 calories when i reached goal (127 lbs at 7 months post op) i was also exercising like a fiend...but i was doing the same level if exercise during the last couple months of weight loss phase, so not sure how much of an effect this was on my appearance, all other things being equal. im 4 years post now and average about 1900-2000 cals a day, exercise levels now just a fraction of it once was, and weighed 119.4 this morning. and i look x times healthier than i did at 127 over three years ago. so go figure. ??‍♀️ edited to add: full disclosure... i had plastics to address lose body skin at 14 months post op, so that def helped! i also am currently addicted to botox...but this addiction formed well after i had already joined the land of the living, looks wise. ? i mean, im 50 yrs old. my less than firm face is more likely due to to age than wls.

omg your freezer shelves are bending from the pressure!

i LOVE savoury crepes!!!!!!!

ooooh this one is right up my alley!! ?????

my personal anecdote: i weigh less today than when i decided to stop losing weight. this decision to stop weight loss was because i thought i was getting too skinny at that time.. however....i look waaaaaaaay healthier (and hotter! lol) now than i did back then. back then i had thin hair, hallowed cheeks and eyes, and generally all around frail looking. A few months after hitting my lowest weight, i started the to perk up in the looks department. i think rapid weight loss really does a number to one's appearance...but i also think its only temporary (in my case at least, and quite a few others that i know of). further, even though i looked pretty gaunt back then, i still think/thought i was all that and a bag of chips.

food pics are NEVER boring

i was a bit over your inquiry weight of 205 on surgery day, but sorta close enough, so here's my experience: Am 5'2", 223 on surgery day (was 235 two weeks prior due to 2wk-pre-op diet). Recovery was uneventful, no issues nor unexpected side effects (i knew i would be sore and tired for a few days, and i was. took Tylenol for a few days for the pain, and luckily, no gas...i attribute this to walking since day one.) Got to goal (127 lbs) 7 months later (again uneventfully) and am 118.8 lbs this morning, at 4 years post op.

i always order "normal" sized meals. i'll order an app, enteee AND dessert. never come close to finishing it all myself, but that doesn't stop me!