Sheribear68

Heading off to work soon and I’m rocking some charcoal grey and hot pink!

Wow am I glad I found this thread. ATM, I’m still in weight loss mode, but I’m within 7 pounds of goal weight and within 17 pounds of my stretch goal weight. It’s so hard to explain to people who haven’t gone through this process exactly why I have these 2 weights in my head and how important it is to stay within the goalposts on them. Like @Cheeseburgh, I’m an incredibly slow loser, but it seems like in the last couple of months the weight is falling off faster than it did when I was 3-4 months PO. After looking at my numbers, I realize I’m losing exactly the same, but that the loss is so much more dramatic bc I’m smaller. Seeing the changes in my body over the last 6-8 weeks has really driven home that I need to have a maintenance plan because as UN-freaking-believable as it is, I’m almost at goal. Right now I’m sitting at 5’7” and 162 with a BMI of 25.4%. Now I had a really really bad weekend (as in 3 margaritas, 2 glasses of wine, and 1 old fashioned just on Friday) kind of weekend, so I’m doing some IF to get back on track, but I feel so unprepared and honestly don’t want to lose under my stretch goal of 145.

Okay so if you guys haven’t already tried this, take some beef bone broth liquid and add some sea salt. It will help

So we went to my MIL this weekend and here are a couple of photos It’s sooooooo nice to be able to blend into a crowd of strangers and not be the fat chick anymore. Also, I’m able to wear this OU shirt my sister got me over 10 years ago. It FINALLY fits me

I started feeling cold the next day after surgery and I’m still waiting to thaw out. Just this weekend I went to an art exhibit and was FREEZING the whole time I was inside. There was an outdoor courtyard with food and beverages, but security wasn’t letting anyone out there until it was time. I could barely enjoy the art, because I was shivering and finally one of the guys felt sorry for me and let me stand outside for a few minutes before they opened it up. I’m in Oklahoma where the temps are still in the 90’s and I’m cold all of the time. Right now I’m sitting on my couch under a light blanket with yoga pants and a long sleeve t-shirt on. I had a sleeve so it’s not just limited to bypass patients

Okay so after a rather decadent weekend (mostly with alcohol, not food) I’m hitting it now with a 24 hr fast. At 6:30 We finished up a dinner of chicken and salad and I even found some passable avocado to add to the salad for some extra healthy fat and calories. I’m so stuffed right now that I don’t feel like eating for 3 days, lol. Plan is to get up early for Pilates, spend some time organizing some clothes to do a sell-back before going to work at 1pm, then finding a way to break my fast tomorrow night at work after 6pm. I’m going to do an 8 ounce beef bone broth cup with some sea salt before I go to work. I’ll try to remember to post when I get off work tomorrow night and let y’all know how it went

See this is what’s so weird about WLS. So far I haven’t come across a cheese that I can’t tolerate. In fact, cheese is one of my greatest loves now PO because it’s so flexible and yummy and a great protein bomb and it gives me such a feeling of satiety. Soft cheeses are my faves bc they go down easier

Yay for going to the game and yay for boob bras! I’m going to start seriously stalk your plastics thread soon because now that I’m in final approach to goal, a whole new world is going to open up in the next 12-18 months. Of course first is to hit and maintain goal, but then comes the change of living in my new body for awhile and exploring different looks. Then of course will be the question of where my body will “settle” as all of this starts to calm down and stabilize. Then comes the process of seeing what I can live with and what I really and truly desire the most and will need to change via plastics. Lol, I need a procedure that will move fat from knees to thighs and place it on my flat butt and boobs.

Agree. The snake print were really good, but for some reason the stripe-pattern isn’t flowing right. In the area around waist to hips it looks “off” for a lack of a better way to put it.

BOOMER!

Well I’m assuming that you’re referring to healthy low-carb, high Protein food because otherwise why would a person even consider WLS if they don’t plan to radically change their diet, right? That being said, I’ve tried a few things in my 7 months that aren’t truly on the “approved” list. Mostly alcohol. Anytime I have alcohol it goes and stays down just fine, but the price I pay is slowed weight loss for a few days so I truly pick and choose those times carefully. Went to a wedding July 4th and had 3 glasses wine, some bbq brisket, smoked chicken , Mac and cheese, cole slaw and a couple bites of a piece of bread, and half a slice of wedding cake. Quite honestly everything except the brisket and smoked chicken (that I ate without the sauce) were the worst things I ate. All the carb-ey stuff tasted kinda weird and gross. The cake was just “okay” and people everywhere were raving about how delicious it was. *shrug* The wine was simply awesome and I’m kind of sad in a way that I haven’t lost my complete and utter love for wine. OTOH, at least I still do have this every now and again indulgence I can turn to. Okay, so let’s talk “healthier” options. One food I used to LOVE was eggs. Any kind cooked any way. I loved me some eggs. Now I can’t really even tolerate part of a boiled egg on salad bc eggs give me horrible cramping. Also mayo. Cannot have even a smidge of mayo or insta-cramps. Some would think maybe my gall bladder is acting up, but so far that’s been ruled out. I used to be (and still am) a complete salad mix freak. Thank goodness I can still put away a cup or more of leafy greens without difficulty. Some people can’t so I’m thankful. In fact, I’d be willing to bet over half my carbs daily (which isn’t much) comes from different salad greens.

Never.

Nothing I would call “bad” I have days where I intentionally stray off program, but I ALWAYS go the extra mile before AND after to make up for it. I now practice IF (intermittent fasting) all of the time. What varies is the length of time I fast daily. Most days I practice 16:8 or 18:6, but when I restrict further (either 20 or 24 hours between meals) it takes me a day or two before I can hold my usual amount of food and I supplement with protein shakes. One thing I consistently practice is what I call bari-Keto, and I’m convinced that’s why (along with the IF) that I have so few problems. It’s like regular Keto, but without many of the fats bc those hurt. I very rarely have >25gm carbs on any given day and any carbs I do have are veggie related so it’s offset by a ton of fiber which helps slow the absorption and thus reduces the chance of getting sick from it. Check over your food logs and I bet you find the days where you’re experiencing “bad” are days when either the carb or fat load is higher than normal. Twice I’ve tried to eat salmon with my signature mayo-dill topping and both times it made me very ill. Once I ditched the mayo and subbed in wasabi mustard, I had no problems at all. Which was fabulous news to me as I use tuna/salmon at least 1-2 times weekly to try to keep on top of healthy fats.

Thanks! I’m truly beginning to hope that once I hit my stretch GW of 144, my legs will actually look better. I’m 18 pounds away....

At the art exhibit

At the art exhibit

Update: I weighed myself this morning and I’m down from 163.8 to 162.2 Considering my life these last 9 days, I’m still smiling and happy over that number. Also, had a killer Pilates class early this morning and drinking a protein shake while we’re on the road as to minimize the damage I’m going to do tonite.

I’m still in my losing phase and partake a couple times weekly. For example, I make a mean salad with southwest ranch dressing and use chicharron instead of tortilla strips to jazz it up.

Here are my new habits. I try to check in with myself at least once daily. I mentally review my plan for the next day and prep/plan what has the best chance of success. Some days it’s completely trial and error, but at least now I’ve developed the habit of mindfulness. Also, this place is now a habit. I’ve always liked being part of a bigger whole, and here I can plug into a network and connect with veteran WLS patients and also with brand new patients just starting their journey. All of us share this really important event and even though our stories and paths aren’t identical, so many aspects are still relateable.

Woo hoo! I’ve had this shirt for over 6 years and this is the first time I’ll get to wear it on game day!

My menus have been so very boring lately. Almost every dinner this week was 3oz protein + veg/salad mix. I had 3 days this week with just a 6 hr eating window so I did iced coffee +premier protein and a p3 as a snack. Next week my goal is to actually meal plan different foods instead of being lazy with it. I mean, I had rotisserie chicken and salad mix 3 of the last 5 nights!

Thanks! ?? I’ve got IF to thank for much of my success lately. When my surgeon told me at my 6 month visit that I’d lost over 75% excess fat and that I could maybe expect to lose 4-5 pounds a month for about 4-6 months, my answer was “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!” ?? Okay so tomorrow I’ll post a pic of a dress I picked up for the opening of an art exhibit (complete with featured artist) when we go to my MIL house. Jeez, I had to go buy a padded bra just so I’ll be able to keep the top part from falling off. On a positive note, the bra is a 36b. Never in my life did I think I’d be “36” anything.

Slightly outside my comfort zone bc both pants and top are tight. Size 10 pants, medium top. Last day of the 6am hell shifts.

Okay so now that I’m 7 months PO, I’m about 10-15 pounds from goal weight and it’s amazing to me that I’m not the fat chick anymore. From here on out, anyone I meet will never know the old me and will never realize that once I was MO for over 20 years. I know this never made my original list of things I was looking forward to, but it’s one of the things I love most now.

Omg! I totally do the same thing to roasted sprouts! In fact, when I have the time and patience, I will make my own and pre-shred them as much as possible and spray olive oil and then liberally sprinkle on sea salt. Goodness I love the crunchy little outside layers!