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I just want to share my excitement, I got my reminder text for my breast augmentation and lift appointment next week! In 3 short weeks I will have new bewbs. Mostly I am excited about having more confidence in myself and my shirts looking like they fit and not baggy off my chest.

I sent a message to my doctor in the patient portal an she said that we can discuss progesterone vs testosterone and see what will work better. She said she "might" be willing to try progesterone for 3 months and see how it goes, but if it doesn't really help, then we would need to switch to testosterone. So at least she's willing to talk it over and possibly give it a try.

I don’t know about weird, but definitely a win for me. I grew a little a booty!! My booty was such a signature one back in the day LMAO, it went completely flat after VSG. I have been hitting legs HEAVY twice to three times a week and man do I feel the difference. My weight is pretty much the same (although my running average has gone down a bit to the lower end of my stabilized weight). But I am 100% sure my body fat has significantly dropped and muscle mass has gone up (wishful thinking, indulge me).

I enjoyed my Thanksgiving food a bit too much lol, but December is a reset and I am getting my boobies done in 28days! so I am doing a lower carb and amping up my workouts since I will be down and out for a few weeks. So my win was meal prepping, having everything that I needed to be successful this week!

@Odougz I feel you on that! My surgery is next week and the anxiety is getting real. I think its completely normal though. I mean, who wouldn't be at least a little concerned?! It's a major life changing surgery! You're right though, we've got this! Stay Strong December buddies!

So, I'm 6 months post Sleeve. I'm 86 pounds down from surgery day, and about 116 pounds from my max weight. Body dysmorphia is a real thing I've experienced where I forget on the day to day how far I've come, but when co workers or friends see me they are super excited and happy for me. One picture is me back in January, wearing a denim vest that is 4xl and barely fits, and size 58 jeans... Now(2 weeks ago) down to a loose 2xl shirt, and a size 44 shorts. I almost cried like a month ago when I was able to buy clothes off the rack at Target for the first time since 2006. PS. Someone please teach me how to take a selfie lol IMG_3342.heic

I think nuts are a pretty good choice in moderation. The protein fills you up and the fat is healthy fat at least. I had to google wagyu because I had never heard of it. I will have to give that a try sometime. How did the cocktail go? I haven’t tried yet either. Post sleeve I was the opposite of most people and I couldn’t get a buzz even after like 3 or 4 drinks. I decided it was a waste of calories for me and haven’t drank since. Idk if that’s still the case post revision. I guess I may try eventually. Then again I haven’t missed it for a couple years so maybe I should just stay away from it.

I hope everyone was successful during their holidays! I actually lose a couple pounds this week, so huge win, when this would be the time I gain weight (from Halloween to Christmas).

So a month and a half ago I started working 12 hour shifts overnight 3-4 days per week. Everyone said by now my body would adapt, but that hasn't happened. Instead, as time goes on, I'm getting more and more fatigued. I sleep all day and wake up feeling like I haven't slept at all. My joints hurt all the time. I talked to my doctor and my nutritionist and they said to get more rest, eat more dark leafy greens, increase my protein, and maybe drink some coffee. I've done all that and it's been no help at all. Then I was told "maybe you shouldn't do overnights" but that's not an option. It's a requirement for my job. Energy drinks don't work on me (I'm not caffeine sensitive so no matter how much I drink of it, I don't get any kind of a boost) and b-12 doesn't do anything for me, either. I'm at a loss now and I was hoping some of you might have some suggestions. Thanks in advance!!!

I get that, I said that for about two weeks and amazingly I turned the corner a few days ago. Yes, I'm still hungry but I am forcing my self to drink more protein drinks (cafe mocha) in-between meals and lots more water. I found both has helped me considerably and I am used to getting hungry so it's not as bad now. How are you feeling now?

Last night I felt the need for a walk so even though it was -2c / 28f I decided to go around the block and post my Christmas cards. Didn't plan to post them until at the office next week (and they won't be collected by post any earlier) but it was great to get out for a 1.5km brisk walk. In the olden pre-op days I would have ignored the feeling and just stayed on the sofa with popcorn and tv. I had also earlier walked to and from the dentist, normally I would have taken a bus so that was another few km done in the day.

I need an overhaul. My weight loss has been so slow but I have been losing inches like crazy, I know it is possible and I see the changes, but it irritates me so bad not seeing the scale move. Maybe I should set some serious NSV to achieve. I have exactly 150 days til my birthday and I think I am gonna give this whole surgery thing an overhaul and see where it takes me. I will be honest, I have been low-key skating buy because I got discouraged right after my first stall..... I refuse to quite and I am gonna give it all I got right now.

So I'm finding doing this EXTREMELY difficult. I don't think I will EVER be able to take small enough bites and will EVER be able to make my meals small enough so i have decided against the surgery and have decided to try losing weight on my own. I have lost almost 20 pounds so far in the 3 months since I've started so I think I can lose the 150 pounds I want to lose eventually I've been losing about 1/4 pound every 3 weeks about lately but hey any weight loss is weight loss and I technically have all the time in the world the lose the 150 pounds I want to lose.

not american, so no thanksgiving pics to share, but here are some thingsn i've prepared/eaten the last week or so (NOTE: i'm currently in an effort to gain weight - the horrors! lol - so my food choices may be a little off-the-bariatirc-norm...) 1) bbq pork and seasoned rice one-pot-rice-cooker-meal. my portion: 266 cals...ate almost all of it 2) homemade chilli topped with cilantro and feta cheese, home focaccia and sliced avocado sprinkled with sumac: 599 calories for whats shown. ate everything except the foccacia (too chewy for me!!...mr ate it instead) 3) more of my homemade chili, some cheddar cheese, more cilantro, and some Tostido's Hint of Lime Tortilla chips (my fave!!!) 276 cals...ate it all! 4) homemade guacamole with the above mentioned focaccia that i slow toasted to make crisps with cheddar & cilantro & sour cream: 370 cals...ate all except 2 the focaccia crisps. 5) homemade crispy pork belly...omg THE. BEST. CRISPY. PORK. BELLY. EV-AH!!! this pic is of the entire slab. i had roughly 1/2 cup volume of it. ate it all!! 250 calories! 6) junky snacks: - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 1 chocolate : 123 calories - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 3 sour keys candies 103 calories yep, ate all it ta-da!

not american, so no thanksgiving pics to share, but here are some thingsn i've prepared/eaten the last week or so (NOTE: i'm currently in an effort to gain weight - the horrors! lol - so my food choices may be a little off-the-bariatirc-norm...) 1) bbq pork and seasoned rice one-pot-rice-cooker-meal. my portion: 266 cals...ate almost all of it 2) homemade chilli topped with cilantro and feta cheese, home focaccia and sliced avocado sprinkled with sumac: 599 calories for whats shown. ate everything except the foccacia (too chewy for me!!...mr ate it instead) 3) more of my homemade chili, some cheddar cheese, more cilantro, and some Tostido's Hint of Lime Tortilla chips (my fave!!!) 276 cals...ate it all! 4) homemade guacamole with the above mentioned focaccia that i slow toasted to make crisps with cheddar & cilantro & sour cream: 370 cals...ate all except 2 the focaccia crisps. 5) homemade crispy pork belly...omg THE. BEST. CRISPY. PORK. BELLY. EV-AH!!! this pic is of the entire slab. i had roughly 1/2 cup volume of it. ate it all!! 250 calories! 6) junky snacks: - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 1 chocolate : 123 calories - 2 walkers mini shortbread cookies + 3 sour keys candies 103 calories yep, ate all it ta-da!

Yes, plans can be quite different but I agree with @ShoppGirl’s suggestion to check with your team. I was told 1/4 - 1/3 cup for a meal from purée increasing slowly to a cup of food by the 6 month mark. 7ozs pureed turkey dinner coupled with the sweet potato & cobbler & you’ve way exceeded my 6 month portion recommendation. And to add to her warning also, a lot of nerves were cut and or damaged during the surgery so messages like being full/had enough or eaten too much at going to get through or will be distorted. It’s why sticking to portion size recommendations are very important: to ensure you don’t damage your digestive system or impact your healing and recovery. It takes 6-8 weeks to fully heal.

It’s home made with filtered pulp for me and it’s only stevia. It turned out quite nice. I just got moved to puréed food today at my one week post op vist and am doing fine with eating 1/4th cup of chicken salad finely shredded and then really well chewed. Sits heavy though.

I wish it were that simple, but it's not. We have to keep in mind that our weight is made up of a lot more than just fat. There are multiple body composition models used, but the one I recommend most people use when trying to lose fat is a 3 compartment model that consists of the following: Fat Muscle Bone I recommend this one since it's easy for most people to visualise those 3 components. Keep in mind however that roughly 70-75% of muscle mass is water. Why is that important? Because sometimes we can be fooled by the scale into thinking we're not losing fat, or that we're gaining fat when we're not. Most likely, what you're seeing is simply changes in water weight. A really common scenario is for people on low calorie diets (like most people here), to see a plateau and think that means they need exercise more and/or eat less, but when they do that, they actually gain a bit according to the scale. The reality is they didn't gain fat, they retained more water. I think it's important to keep in mind that we all have something called a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the minimum number of calories your body needs simply to stay alive. It can be thought of as the number of calories you expend per day even if you were completely sedentary. BMR is a complicated subject, but on average, the bigger you are, the higher your BMR. Yes, it goes down as you lose fat, since fat is not completely metabolically inert, but fat loss does not have nearly the effect on BMR that losing muscle does. This is one of the main reasons bariatric patients are told to focus on protein intake because protein is needed to help prevent excessive muscle loss when dieting. More muscle = higher BMR = faster weight loss, or being able to eat more at goal weight The average BMR for women is ~1400 k/cal per day. Higher if you are taller or more muscular, lower if you are shorter and/or have lower muscle mass. Men, for obvious reasons tend to have a higher BMR that's more in the 1700 range. My point in telling you all of the above is that it's highly unlikely that someone eating 900 calories a day needs to eat even less if weight loss has stalled. Frankly, if that is the OP, then I'd actually recommend exactly the opposite: try upping your caloric intake a couple hundred k/cal per day and see what happens. I know it seems counter intuitive, but your body is not a simple machine where the calories in vs. calories out paradigm actually works. Happy to discuss more and provide additional info, but this post is already overly long. Best of luck.

I can’t wait to see all of the dishes being made this week!

Hey @MrsFitz are you doing ok? Maybe I have missed a post or two (had laptop issues, the stress trying to find a new place to live) but I don't think I have been any posts from you the last couple of weeks so I just wanted to check in.

I’m going to eat a little of everything. I am just going I pay for it for like a week because when I do carbs my body craves carbs. Just have to pay the price I guess.

I had some ladies in a group I belong to that are in weight watchers who sorta turned their nose up at first mention of weight loss surgery. I took it as a challenge to educate them. In all fairness they get to see me each week and hear about my nutrition and activity choices but I’m pretty sure they now realize they didn’t have all the facts before and recently started being some of my biggest cheerleaders. I guess you won’t be afforded the time to change their minds about it this one visit but maybe it will help some to know that their ignorance is most likely just lack of education and that upon seeing how hard you work at it, they may change their perspective eventually as well

You're only two weeks out, so it's absolutely fine to take things slow. It's also fine not to hit the targets that have been set for you this early on. Just do your best. I actually did okay for the first few weeks, but at one point around week 4, my stomach just didn't want certain solid foods and I started having vomiting. My doctor had me go back to liquids for another two weeks. It was no fun at the time, but it eventually went away. Your body will adjust over time and you'll go back to mostly normal. I really liked creamy tomato soup with plain protein powder mixed in during the soft phase. Also, refried beans with some melted cheese were delicious. Think of food as more of a "nice to have" thing right now, knowing you are getting what you need from your protein and vitamin supplements. It's okay just to have a bite or two, or to have the same things for a few days in a row and not get a lot of variety. The first few months you're retraining yourself with eating and your body is going to be doing all sorts of weird things until it recovers.

lol no, not at all i am just a ridiculous exercise addict these days. started in the summer and now i just can't seem to stop...i actually feel BAD (mentally and physically) if i don't do SOMETHING every day. i am paying the price though...my body just feels worn out every day now when i'm at rest. the only thing that makes the pain and achiness go away is more exercise. its a vicious cycle honestly. the weight loss is not on purpose. i got myself braces in September, and my total annoyance of having to clean my teeth after every single time that i eat something, has effectively stopped me from snacking. so i'm eating less overall and its showing on the scale (and my abs! lol). i started adding an afternoon protein shake about 2 weeks ago and gained back 2-ish lbs....(two weeks ago i was down 13 lbs, today i'm down just down 11 lbs since september) BUT...i have to say that i actually kinda like that i lost that bit of weight (how's that for body image issues?!?!). but i also know i need to eat more for health's sake.

Todd, you have admitted that you are an alcoholic which is the first step. Hallelujah for you being able to do that. God bless you on your journey. My husband drank over 50 years. We just celebrated year 3 of his sobriety. It can be done. We are rooting and praying for you. Love, Teresa in Virginia