What's on your (PHOTO) Friday Menu?

One of these days you and me need to compare our purse collections.

Good morning!

That's a lot of bacon! And I envy your focus. Feels like i was that way when I was younger but have been slowly losing that kind of ability.

I'm six weeks post-op today! My first bloodwork follow up is Monday. I have a list of questions to ask all the people. Looks like I'll be what they consider to be a slow loser, which is just fine by me so long as the numbers keep going down and my health keeps improving. It didn't pile on in a week and it won't go in a week, either. It was interesting to learn about their benchmark expectations the other week.

Only three meetings on the calendar today and I'm working from home. Have a list of things to catch up on.

No huge plans for the weekend. Have a grocery order tomorrow to replenish my stock of yogurt and ricotta, plus picking up a few things to experiment with. I seem to use any time I'm not working to fill my cup, so to speak. I'm a hard-core introvert, so by the time I'm done with all the socializing and speaking engagements required for the job, I just want to soak in the solitude.

QOTD - tea, coats, and blankets. You'll never be cold if you stay at my house! If I could be a snob about anything, it would be tea. It's been the hardest change for me on this journey since switching to decaf. I have a cupboard full of some awesome loose leaf brews.

Menu

Planted protein plus fiber

Cottage cheese

Modified egg roll in a bowl for lunch and second lunch (big portion size because I want allll that cabbage)

Maybe a turkey snack stick since I ate one instead of tuna yesterday and there's one left now

Cilantro lime shrimp

Pictures are of a random mill I stopped by a few years ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway that kind of looks like a Kinkade painting and of my butterfly bushes doing what they do. Have an excellent day everyone!

20 lbs in six weeks is fine! That's about where I was at six weeks out, and I started out A LOT heavier than you. I wish clinics would stop with these "benchmark expectations". It can be very discouraging to slower losers. My clinic finally gave up on that and also no longer allows patients to post their losses on the clinic's Facebook page. I totally support that. In the end, your level of commitment is a MUCH greater factor in your ultimate success than your rate of weight loss is. If you're committed, the weight will come off, either fast or slow.

I went through my program seven years ago, before these changes were made. I remember a resident telling me that I was behind the rest of my cohort. Luckily I tried to ignore him and kept pushing on. Some people would probably be very discouraged by that comment and possibly throw in the towel. I wish that a$$ could see me now. I've lost over 200 lbs. I'm pretty sure I blew most of my "cohorts" out of the water.

First off, congratulations! Losing over 200 pounds and maintaining that for years is nothing short of amazing. It does show your level of commitment to the change.

Yep. I agree with you, and super happy with both my current loss and all the NSV's along the way. I do love my clinic but some things are just odd. I remember the surgeon telling me at my two week follow up that I'd lost 12% of my excess and that was a bit ahead of the curve. I ****ed my head at him and then had to do a bunch of math (yuck). They don't have a surgery weight on file for me, just the pre-op weight from four days before surgery (I'm using the weight from weighing in for anesthesia the morning of surgery as mine). So they were counting several days of additional pre-surgery loss. But then they don't count all the weight lost on my own before surgery for some reason. All of that to say...this numbers and percentages game they talk about is just...off-putting. Maybe it's some kind of encouragement tactic? They do have a Facebook page but I don't have Facebook, so no idea what goes on there!

For what could be any number of reasons, I'm losing slower after surgery than I have during previous weight loss. That's also fine, though a bit weird since I did figure the malabsorption would give things a boost. Things are changing and I'm getting used to this tool of mine. I'm patient. I've heard some of the argument is that it's good to lose quickly because it gives your body more time to adapt to the new lower weight before the "magic" wears off. But, you know, even if you're following the plan and super committed...there isn't much you can do about it if you lose slower. :) too much variation in all of us humans, I guess!

Love the butterfly bush.

Marie - next summer me and my son are going to a fly rod building class in Blue Ridge Georgia. Is that anywhere near where these were taken?

Hey there,

Sadly, no. Blue Ridge is great though! I remember there being some good kayaking in the area. Sounds like a fun trip!

This photo was of the Mabry mill in Virginia on the north-ish half of the parkway. It's a pretty drive in the fall if you're not in a hurry.

Beautiful pictures!

You are doing great! Keep it up :)

You will be able to eventually drink your caffeinated teas once cleared by your bariatric team and you are considered healed from surgery. I think most of us do have some caffeine each day. I know I do with my cold brew.

How much are your down since surgery? I like your attitude that the weight didnt happen overnight so dont expect to lose it overnight. That is the right and positive attitude to have. You are doing great.

Beautiful pictures!

Ooh, something to look forward to, thanks! I've been hoarding my tea like a dragon with its treasure. I'll put that on my list of questions for Monday. I'm still on soft foods until at least October, so my guess would be then at the earliest. Decaf tea has a different taste but I do appreciate it over nothing!

Just over 20 pounds, which is great! I've had a couple of stalls over a few days and just all the things that go with weight loss. I'm also focusing on all the non-scale things. My 30 minutes on the elliptical are easier and I can already go a bit harder. My shoes are looser. I fit in my office chair...those things are all big deals to me! And thank you. :)