Welcome all ye Sophomores! This is our thread! The thread about nothing--and everything. Let's discuss it all! Let's share all our sophomore experiences, our angst, our struggles, our suggestions--let's talk about life! Let's become friends! You can be on any kind of food plan, do any kind of exercise or not, be gay or straight, engage in cardio or not--you just have to be in the "tweener" stage post WLS. This is where we let it all hang out. And who knows...if maybe we have a thread with a meelion posts, they Alex will give us our own forum!

Sophomores RULE!!!!

hehe

What do you guys think about starting a new thread with the parameters right in the title? Something like "Sophomoreville - 6-18 months out" or similar? I'm realizing a lot of people might see these posts in their feed and never read the first page and pitch in directly from there, I've seen it happen with people accidentally posting in Vets. Or edit the title of this thread, if that's possible.

40 minutes ago, sideeye said:

What do you guys think about starting a new thread with the parameters right in the title? Something like "Sophomoreville - 6-18 months out" or similar? I'm realizing a lot of people might see these posts in their feed and never read the first page and pitch in directly from there, I've seen it happen with people accidentally posting in Vets. Or edit the title of this thread, if that's possible.

DOOOOOOEEEEETTTTT!!!!!

I just read the first page and finally understand the context of this thread. It is a huge need in this forum, in my opinion.

I'm about a year out and entering maintenance, but I'm finding there's not a good spot on this forum for that kind of conversation. The post-op forum is dominated by people in the initial post-op stage (first six months: OMG gas pains, "OMG it's been 2 weeks and I've only lost 20 pounds," 6 week stall freakouts, going through the progressing of food stages, etc.), and the Veteran's Forum doesn't allow you until you are 18 months post-op.

In all honesty, I think a six month to 18 months Forum would be more used than an 18 months plus veterans Forum, the latter seems to not have much activity as most of those veterans move on by that point anyway.

Edited December 30, 20187 yr by BlueCrush

On 12/29/2018 at 6:52 AM, FluffyChix said:

I reckon if you are only eating 1/2-3/4c of food per each of 2-3 meals? You can eat whatever you want! Especially when you're at goal girlie!!! Looks yum!

You know, if I stuck to eating 2-3 meals, and no snacking or drinking, then I agree, I would still have a pretty large calorie deficit everyday. But what I have begun to do is snack, eat because food tastes good vs. because I'm hungry or to get my protein in. For instance, under normal circumstances, an hour or so later I would have finished the pasta/corn/cheese. I didn't this time because I was busy trying to work and finish packing, then head over to boo's house. Also because posting made me more conscience.

I guess the good news is I still don't have a lot of real hunger. So when I need to reign in my eating because I'm seeing gains, I should be able to eat stuff I want, just as long as I'm eating it when I'm hungry vs. cravings. That's what I'm hoping at least.

20 hours ago, sideeye said:

Amusingly, I read this as "I've been making sharing good food on dates seem sexy", because that's what I'm focused on: eating very small portions of the food I WANT TO EAT without making things all awkward.

The problem isn't picking what I eat, at 9+ months that's down pat - I know what portion and content I need to get, and how those two balance out. But taking the example of diner Breakfast, I was out with two friends from out of state. I didn't realize that they'd probably pick up the bill (I drove us all over the place) so when I looked at the menu, I did the exact thing you would - looked at the side of eggs, because if food is fuel that ticks the boxes. But then I thought "No, I really don't want that - what I want is the cinnamon apple pancakes with sausage", knowing full well that I'd be able to eat a few forkfuls of each and a couple sips of coffee, but also knowing we'd linger for a couple hours. So I ordered it, again knowing that I was ordering $10 worth of food and likely to eat $2 of it (we were headed to a hospital after and there would be absolutely no reason to take it to go). What I DIDN'T really clock was that my cash-strapped friend would pick up the bill.

So personally, I am completely fine with either ordering a side or ordering a full meal and only eating the bits I want. But I do notice that it's a little distressing for everyone involved. If I don't order enough, then they get self-conscious about ordering a lot. And if I don't eat the whole thing, the money/food waste kind of crops up. And that's not even getting into the waiters who go into a panic when they have to bring back a nearly-full plate to the kitchen and want an explanation for the chef.

I agree with all this. I almost always order what I want, irregardless of waste. The only exceptions is at fine dining (i.e. expensive) restaurants, I won't order the $60 steak, or the $45 halibut because that just seems over the top wasteful. So I'll have an app or a less expensive main. And near home I'll often choose food that makes better leftovers than something I want more but will reheat poorly.

I think the real key to this is the cash strapped friend picking up the bill. Those few bites were totally worth $10 to you, but were an expensive few bites from your friend's viewpoint. To me it feels more like guilt over economic disparity, and the food waste is just a proxy.

Yes, the waiter questions about "did you like the food" kill me more than anything. I'm over it with people I'm close to, including customers or collegues. But on early dates, or work meals where I don't know them well, ugh, it makes it awkward for everyone. Why don't the waiters recognize that?

17 hours ago, BlueCrush said:

I just read the first page and finally understand the context of this thread. It is a huge need in this forum, in my opinion.

I'm about a year out and entering maintenance, but I'm finding there's not a good spot on this forum for that kind of conversation. The post-op forum is dominated by people in the initial post-op stage (first six months: OMG gas pains, "OMG it's been 2 weeks and I've only lost 20 pounds," 6 week stall freakouts, going through the progressing of food stages, etc.), and the Veteran's Forum doesn't allow you until you are 18 months post-op.

In all honesty, I think a six month to 18 months Forum would be more used than an 18 months plus veterans Forum, the latter seems to not have much activity as most of those veterans move on by that point anyway.

Yay! So glad you're here and hope you will post often! (And btw, now that you're here--hopefully other dudes will follow! And we promise to keep topics dealing with the gynocracy to a bare minimum! hehe Or at least I promise! And we solemnly swear not to dedicate entire weeks to shark week. )

@sideeye Girl!!! Where's our new thread already? You're the boss of it, so go get it going. I'll post like a ho over there!

Favor to ask .... can the contributors here bump this thread?

Apparently @Orchids&Dragons is getting a message she is banned when she tries to log in. As those of us who know her, that makes zero sense!

Update to sizing discussion. I went back to Dress Barn today because my 4 jeans were getting baggy - in Dress Barn sizes, these are a size 2 jean.

...and yes, I bought them! They’re a little tight but they fit!

2 minutes ago, Roxine said:

Update to sizing discussion. I went back to Dress Barn today because my 4 jeans were getting baggy - in Dress Barn sizes, these are a size 2 jean.

1 minute ago, Roxine said:

...and yes, I bought them! They’re a little tight but they fit!

WootWoot! You go, @Roxine!!!

Ok, all you little pasta lovers who are low carb. Quick, go buy these!!! Ermagerd! This is a cross post to a thread in the Post Op Food section. I also did a review. LOL. Seriously, I NEVER do reviews (almost never).

So. Dang. Good!!!

Ok guys!! I was about to post my own thread on these noodles I got in the BP store: Zeroodles with Oat Fiber (Spaghetti and Angel hair shapes).

I've loved and used Shirataki noodles for years as part of our low carb life. My fave shapes are angel hair, linguini, spaghetti, and "rice" which are more like the shape of Israeli Cous Cous. But other brands are packed in a Calcium hydroxide bath or something like that -- which smells fishy. So you pour that off, rinse like hell, then tump em into a dry non-stick pan on high heat to jump around and sizzle until all moisture is cooked off. Then you add your favorite sauce to them. Yummy!!! Or put em into Soup or a casserole. So good. But still, you had to deal with the initial smell, and they had more of a seaweed crunch.

But the Zeroodles with Oat Fiber are amazing!!! You get 2x or more as much quantity of noodles as you do from other brands. They are almost dry-packed, so no smell! And so easy to make. We still rinse and dry fry until very dry, but that takes literally 5 minutes. Then we use with sauce or in soup! Score!!!! So dang good. I'm ordering more this week!

The texture on these is so much better. The oat fiber adds a softer, almost zero crunch chew! It's also very good for you. They are both soluble fiber and help you gut microbiome and health! Soluble fiber also helps improve your cholesterol ratios in favor of the good cholesterol! So it's really healthy.

I would just caution, that you need to be healed from surgery first and be able to get your Protein in--cuz they are filling. Your bowels also need to be moving well. And you need to remember to eat slowly, small bites, and to chew very well!

I have no problemos digesting them and I've had an RNY.

I'm in love! I'm in love! And I don't care who knows!!!!

https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/zeroodle-organic-premium-shirataki-protein-pasta-spaghetti-with-oat-fiber

https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/zeroodle-organic-premium-shirataki-protein-pasta-angel-hair-with-oat-fiber

https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/zeroodle-organic-premium-shirataki-protein-pasta-rice-with-oat-fiber

Good to know @FluffyChix. I have some of those in my pantry but have be hesitant to use them due to the off putting smell of other shirataki noodles I've had.

As of December 18th I am 7 months out. My HW 246, GW 160, CW 152!! The things I need to work on now is snacking (I try to do healthy snacking, but it don’t always happen that way)! I haven’t gotten to crazy with it but, my thoughts are I don’t want to go back to the way I used to be! I go to the gym straight after work at least 3 days a week, but during long breaks I don’t go because my job and gym are an hour away (which sucks) but living out in the country I have no other choice! So my next step is to find some exercise, weight training and yoga I can and will do at home!! This is extremely important to me!! The next thing is to continue looking and finding healthy recipes that I love and to learn to meal prep!! The only thing is I don’t like many kinds of left over meat!! Like they said the hard work really begins when you begin trying to maintain and knowing you can’t go back to the way things were and expect different results!! Hair loss is a big thing for me, which most people say they can’t tell it but they just don’t know what I have to do to my scalp (in the front and a little on the sides) to cover up these thin spots!! That spray on cover color is my best friend at the moment!! Happy New Year to all of you and I hope 2019 will be an even better year for you!!!

Some random stuff

My hair is growing back, that's the good news. The bad news is, it looks insane, all this hair sticking up all over my head! Also, I was oblivious to this, until I get to a hotel with good lighting in the bathroom. I wish life were more dimly lit! No more worries about crazy hair or pooling thigh skin!

I maybe had my first dumping incident last night? Had dinner, nothing unusual for me, taco, cheese with chorizo, rice, beans, beer. Then was offered free Baileys. Who am I to turn down free!? Well, almost finished and started to feel nauseous. Then a few minutes later the cramps started. I've felt slightly nauseous before eating something sweet, but it usually passes in about 15 minutes. But this was me in a fetal position for 2 hrs until the cramping mostly stopped. No other symptoms, didn't puke, no runs, just a couple of hours of misery. I think I have had Bailey's post op. Not positive, but it is something I sometimes order if I'm on a plane and want something sweet. Whatever it was, I'm swearing off Baileys for now, even if it's free!