My Blogs are Moving! - March 2025

I’ve spent the last couple of days looking around at WordPress and I’ve decided that I’m going to move my blogs over there. I won’t delete what I’ve posted here, but I will no longer be doing reviews, weight loss progress or high thoughts on Blogger.

If you still want to follow me and/or read my various blog posts, please feel free to visit the new blogs.

High Thoughts ⟫ is my medicated by cannabis thoughts!

SKM Loses It! ⟫ follows my weight loss journey following my VSG surgery in November 2024

Book_Endz ⟫ will have my book reviews featuring arcs from Gay Romance Reviews, Foreword PR, BookSirens, Indie Author Creative and various authors.

If WordPress isn’t to your taste then thank you for the time you’ve spent with me – I hope you’ve enjoyed being part of my little blog empire.

Stay safe, stay kind and stay well

SKM

Cough, Cough, Whoops!

SW⟫ 207.7 | CW⟫ 151 | IGW ⟫ 139.5

Transition to Normal Food⟫ Ongoing

Sometimes it feels like I’ve been sick on and off ever since the surgery. This past week, I have been struggling with a wracking cough that has grown progressively worse. I was planning on trying to get a doctor’s appointment to discuss my blood test results anyway but got kinda derailed as Book_grim already had an appointment booked which meant Stripes wouldn’t be available to help me.

Anyhow, things got worse over the course of the day on Thursday and I ended up filling in the form on NHS 111 Direct. They then called and asked a few questions and then said I needed to go to the Urgent Care Treatment Centre over in West Bromwich to be seen, just to be sure.

We pre-booked a TOA cab and made sure to say any car, and to be fair, it did turn up on time. We got there just a little after 8.30pm (the appointment time we were given was 8.30) and didn’t have to wait long to be seen. I feel a little chastised because he asked me a couple of times why I hadn’t gone to my Doctor about the cough previously – he was right, the girls were right, they were all right – I should have tried to get in with the doctor much sooner.

Anyway, he reckons it’s a chest infection so has prescribed antibiotics and steroids, with the strict warning that if things get worse over the weekend I am to go to A&E. Stripes and I also had a bit of a chat about how worried she and Book_grim have been about me with the light-headedness, not being able to catch my breath, etc and we decided we needed a code word for when someone wasn’t allowed to brush things off and had to take them seriously. Pterodactyl. Hopefully, we won’t have to use it in the foreseeable future.

Book_grim is off to Asda today (yes, I stayed up all night but my chest really hurts and this cough is driving me insane) and said she will pick up my prescription. I feel rotten because in the back of my mind I’m worrying about whether she’ll forget to pick it up or has some other issue. She doesn’t like the pharmacy next to the Doctor’s surgery because the people there aren’t very nice, so I can’t really ask her to go there instead.

In between acting as Patient Advocate for both me and Book_grim, Stripes made some protein cheesecakes. I believe she used this recipe here as a base, then used sugar free digestive biscuits to make the base. She used two different toppings: maple syrup on some and salted caramel sauce on some others, whilst she left a few blank. The whole recipe made 8 cheesecakes using the old GLU fancy yoghurt jars that Book_grim used to get as a treat!

They definitely have the texture of cheesecake but they weren’t mega-flavourful and definitely not what I would call sweet, which is odd because Stripes felt like she had to add a lot of granulated sweetener. We’re going to experiment with that – we have skinny syrups, peanut butter powder and various protein powders to play with. Very filling and counts as a full meal even though it’s around 171 kcal per portion with 11.3 g of protein – actually less calories than the ones from MyProtein. Next time, we might try using cottage cheese instead of Greek yoghurt, but I don’t recall ever having cottage cheese before and am a little unsure about the texture. I say next time We but it was Stripes doing all of the work! I imagine she looked a bit like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, slaving away on these new recipes!

We’ve booked the restaurant for Book_grim’s 21st birthday lunch with Mom, Vee and Shar, and The Oldest is travelling up to be there too!! It would be nice if Book_grim would give me a clue what she actually wants for her birthday, but there are a couple of birthdays ahead of hers so I can nag them first. And of course, there is Mother’s Day later this month and I need to figure out what to get for someone who insists they don’t want anything but would pout for a decade if we didn’t get her at least a little something!

Since it’s nearly 8 am, I might as well stay awake and see if I can get a Doctor's appointment for the cholesterol thing, just to make sure I’m on top of everything. And then I plan to spend the day sleeping, reading ARCs and playing with WordPress!

And into March 2025 we go...

SW⟫ 207.7 | CW⟫ 151.1 | IGW ⟫ 139.5

Transition to Normal Food⟫ Ongoing

I wonder if it’s possible for me to start the month with a cheerful post? Don’t expect miracles, especially with this post.

So let’s see, I lost the grand total of 1.4 kgs over February which I found really disheartening. I should have been happy to hear from my weight management team that I am doing ‘good’ and am well within the numbers they would expect, but instead it got me wondering if I was going to need a revision to a bypass in order to get to a ‘normal’ weight. I can’t imagine going through the surgery stage of this all over again – I’m even thinking excess skin removal is not something I want to go through because it looks so incredibly painful. I know some people use GLP-1s after surgery to assist with food noise and further weight loss so maybe that’s something I’ll have to look into at a later date – a much later date.

Stripes took my first day of the months photos and I spent a little while looking at them. I think it is possible to see differences in some areas, but it’s also depressingly easy to see all of the places I need to work on.

I’ve been walking around the car park again, fortunately without incident. I have been going alone and using my crutches for stability, but my pace has crept up a little which is good. Food-wise, I’m wondering whether I need to change things up a bit. I have been drinking at least 60 oz of protein water per day and thinking I could swap one of those for plain water, just to see if it makes a difference. I guess it’s that balance between getting all of my fluids in and avoiding dehydration AND getting my protein goals in.

I think I also need to look at my daily food. Basically, by the time I wake up I seem to ‘decide’ that there’s no point having breakfast, which means my first meal is generally dinner. Then I have a yoghurt, a myprotein cheesecake and the protein water. I sometimes have string cheese or babybel but even though I’m reaching between 800 and 1200 calories, I don’t think it’s very balanced. There’s very little fresh produce in there and the weight loss isn’t happening. So maybe I need to shake things up? I’m hoping that I get to speak to a dietician at some point this month and I will bring it up with them.

March is looking busy. We have an assessment on 4th for some equipment around the flat – a new hand rail in the toilet next to the kitchen to help me get up, as well as possibly some handrails outside the flat for when I enter and exit. Stripes is out for a blood test on 4th but should be back before the assessment. I also have a Mamedica appointment on Tuesday because I tried to put through a repeat prescription and apparently I need to talk to them before they’ll let me have any more. It’s a good thing – I realised that I have packets of ‘old’ weed going back to December 2023 and I need to know how to safely get rid of them. I’m out of Farm Gas and Sourdough and am using the Morroccan peach to get to sleep, which isn’t the most effective but at least it’s better than the Lot 420.

I’m tired as all heck and also feeling a bit meh. I used one of the MicroLax things last week and was beginning to feel a bit better, but now I’m back to feeling all bunged up. The wind has also not improved very much, which is another reason I might need to look at what I’m eating. I’ve finished all of the knitting I was doing – I have a little bit of wool left over but not enough to plan a project or anything like that. Ah well, I do have a couple of books to read, and we have the finale for Mayfair Witches to watch tonight. I think I’m gonna settle down to do some reading and chill.

Saying goodbye to favourite jewellry

SW⟫ 207.7 | CW⟫ 150.4 | IGW ⟫ 139.5

Transition to Normal Food⟫ Ongoing

Approaching the end of February and there are a couple of NSVs to celebrate. Actually, celebrate is the wrong word because I’m having to say goodbye to some of my favourite rings – they are far too big for me now, even if I try to wear them on my thumbs. I have one ring that Book_grim gave me that fits my ring finger on my left hand – previously, I couldn’t wear it all because it was too small but now it fits. It feels a little snug but that might be because I’ve got used to rings sliding off of my fingers whereas this one comes off very easily but should stay put in general.

Another NSV is talking to my Mum – we had a lovely chat this morning, and I somehow managed to maintain my stance on not talking about numbers. I’m happy to talk about how I’m recovering from the surgery and my general health, but I don’t say how much weight I’ve lost (or not lost) and when she asks I just say my weight management team are happy with me. So I am managing to maintain the information diet and control the narrative – she can’t be spreading gossip about my progress or lack of if she doesn’t know what’s actually happening!

The scales have started moving downwards which is nice – obviously, it would be nicer if they were going down in leaps and bounds, but I’ll take the downward tragectory! Yesterday, I was really struggling – it constantly felt like I had something stuck in my throat. I don’t know if it’s because I was eating the chicken skewers that I meal-prepped and they were a bit dry? I think it’s because they are chicken breast mini fillets that have been pre-cooked, so when they are reheated, they are definitely more difficult to eat than the skewers I get from Iceland. I want to try again – I also bought a chill and garlic stir fry sauce to see if I can get in more vegetables.r

I’ve written about 3000 words of a chapter for my writing day and am happy with that. The plan is to settle down and do some reading for the rest of the day – I’ve already failed to meet the deadline for one of the ARCs I had, so it would be nice to get back into reading properly. I haven’t had anything to eat yet – I’m planning on finishing the 32 oz of Vimto protein water before tackling food. The cough is still pretty bad, although not feeling as phlegmy today. I also want to go for a walk but I’m a little scared because my hip is really paining me, but I can’t just not do anything physical because of that – if pain meant that I wasn’t moving around, I’d never do anything.

I still need to find my driving licence, especially if we’re going to look into the motability vehicle next month. If my review isn’t completed by March, I automatically receive PIP for another year so it will be time to look into a vehicle. I like the idea of being able to drive up to Asda and stuff like that – I haven’t been out in ages and feel like I’m turning into a hermit. Stripes and I have also looked into the possibility of water aerobics and the nearest swimming pool that does it is too far away for buses and probably too expensive using Ubers, so having a car would open up quite a few things for us both.

I guess I better get something to eat – I’ve just realised it’s nearly 1 pm and I’ve been awake since 7!!

Excess Body Weight vs Goal Weight

SW⟫ 207.7 | CW⟫ 150.5 | IGW ⟫ 139.5

Transition to Normal Food⟫ Ongoing

I got a response from the weight management team and it’s given me a lot to think about. They weren’t exactly the chattiest in their response: the initial email I got back from them said my message was blank and looked like a black square. My first thought was no-one thought to try to select all and see the writing? Then I reminded myself that not everyone has to have a dark contrast to make things easier to see and I should remember that.

So I re-sent it and the response I got was, well, not exactly effusive and I’m not 100% sure they answered the query but I’ll include the text.

”in terms of protein, if she is achieving 80g from food, then no need to have a protein shake. If managing less than this from food, then would be beneficial to include a shake to get to 80g or more.

In terms of weight loss, she has lost 26% of her excess bodyweight based on her referral weight when she attended post op group 20th Jan. This would suggest good progress.

Of course, weight loss can, and does, plateau after surgery but that doesn’t mean she won’t lose more.”

So it seems like it’s okay for me to be using the clear whey protein and that my weight loss is good – according to them. I think that I forgot that they are basing their calculations on excess body weight, not my entire body weight. I might want to get down to 175 lbs (roughly) but they are looking at 60% of my excess body weight which would take me to around 250 lbs.

It caused a lot of thoughts, like they’re not expecting me to get down to a BMI of 25, just get rid of a lot of my excess weight. When I would imagine most people undergoing surgery like this are thinking that the point is to get to a healthy BMI. I did use the bariatric bible to work out my excess weight and my ‘goal’ weight according to them would be 245 lbs.

But I want to exceed that – I want to get down to a ‘normal’ weight and not be considered fat any more. Which might be too high a goal. I guess watching 600 lb Life has given me an unrealistic view of what can be achieved after surgery. Or maybe I’m going to need to go back to GLP-1s to get down further than that.

I don’t want to be negative but this did affect me quite strongly and has had me thinking some dark thoughts. Like why did I go through with something as drastic as surgery if it’s not going to get me down to where I want to be. It’s been a case of reminding myself that before surgery, I was over 400 lbs – losing 200 lbs is no mean feat and I shouldn’t be knocking what can happen over the course of this year.

The scales have dropped a little – lowest weight registered by less than 0.4 kg – and I got a chunk of sleep last night. I guess I’m just confused as to what has changed. I have stopped having the mozzarella sticks with my chicken skewers; this weekend I did some meal prep and made about 9 chicken skewers after seasoning some mini chicken fillets and cooking them in the oven. Could the lack of mozzarella sticks have made that much difference? My calories are still around 1000 per day, including the clear whey protein, and the rest of the email said that I would be hearing from the dietician within the next three months, so I guess it’s right back to just following the programme, doing what I’m meant to be doing and trusting the process.

I did some yoga this morning – just some seated sun salutations – but I don’t think I’m going out for a walk. My left hip is causing me some major grief, and my left knee is also not happy. I worry that I am making excuses and could be doing more but I also don’t want to push myself to the point of injury. We did a quick Iceland shop which is due this afternoon, so I should be okay for MyProtein cheesecakes and chicken skewers – back to the grind I guess!

My chest is really tight, I’ve been bringing up phlegm and coughing, so I feel a bit of a wreck which hasn’t helped with my mood. We don’t have any plans for today – Book_grim had to go for another pee test up at the surgery, the shopping is due this afternoon, but apart from that I think it’s chill time. I don’t have any ARCs to read – I failed utterly to finish reading that anthology on time, so that’s a mark against me with GRR. I do have some regular books to read so I might try to knock one of those out today. Tomorrow is a writing day and I want to see if I can get a couple of chapters of Burning Love written because it’s going well.

Onwards into Monday.

Is Clear Whey Protein okay after a VSG for weight loss?

SW⟫ 207.7 | CW⟫ 152.9 | IGW ⟫ 139.5

Transition to Normal Food⟫ Ongoing

I caved in and emailed the weight management team asking for advice. Sare said that she had heard that drinking too much clear whey protein could lead to inflammation so I found myself wondering if I was doing myself a disservice by drinking so much of it. I also mentioned my lack of weight loss, although to be honest I can imagine they’ll tell me just to trust the process.

I took a dulcolax yesterday because I am still feeling very bunged up. Oh my Lord, last night it was like a tsunami. I was actually scared to go to bed in case I had an accident and considered sleeping without my CPAP mask on so that I could get out of bed in a hurry. I did sleep with it on but I feel like I slept very lightly and am tired. And the results of the dulcolax have continued into today, as well as incredibly smelly wind. Like almost gagging strength. It feels a bit like with Ozempic when nothing would happen for days and then there would be an outpouring, but in the meantime my body was pushing out the foullest smelling wind ever. I can barely stand to sit with myself and both Stripes and Book_grim were affected by it last night! I got an amazing photo of the pair of them shielding their noses from the stench!

I started my day cursing at the scales because they haven’t moved, despite the emptying. For breakfast, I changed it up a little and had strawberry light greek yoghurt with some raspberries and some mango puree – maybe the fresh fruit will help keep things moving until they settle down? I’m also sticking with drinking my Vimto protein water until I hear back from the Bariatric team. If they say I shouldn’t be having it – or not as much of it – then I can cut back, but in the meantime I want to keep meeting my protein goals.

I tweaked my hip and twisted my left knee during my walk with Book_grim yesterday and am suffering a little today. I did smother myself with muscle rub after my shower yesterday but the ache is still there. I’m not sure if I should go for another walk today or rest? I don’t want to wimp out at the first excuse but I also don’t want to make things worse.

And to top it all off, I feel like I’m going down with a cold!

Fed up and a couple of NSVs

SW⟫ 207.7 | CW⟫ 152.5 | IGW ⟫ 139.5

Transition to Normal Food⟫ Ongoing

I’ll start off with a NSV so that this entire post isn’t negative. Yesterday and today, I went for a walk around the car park outside the flat. Stripes kept me company, I didn’t use my crutches and I made it around twice before needing to come in and sit down. My black zip-up trainers are now loosely enough fitting that I don’t struggle at all to do them up. I want to keep going, upping the amount of time I spend walking around gradually. I also kept up with Stripes when she walked at her normal pace rather than my unsteady stagger.

I spoke to Jay about what I’m eating. We’re friends on NutraCheck and she has access to my diary so she had a look to see if she could spot any reason why I’m not losing weight. Apart from the lack of fresh produce and/or fruit and vegetables, she said that the amount I’m eating seems absolutely fine and she can’t see why the scales aren’t moving. Basically, that I need to trust the process and let it work – which, I know she’s right, but didn’t help me much mentally because I cannot get over how little progress I am making.

I am averaging between 700 and 1100 calories per day, with an emphasis on protein. I drink approximately 2 litres of protein water every day if not more. And I am not losing any weight at all. I want to cry – out of all of the people I have read about, it’s me that isn’t losing weight and feels like a failure.

I don’t want to bother the weight management team because what can they say? I can give them access to what I’m eating and how I’m logging it, but they have no way of knowing why my body is behaving the way that it’s behaving. So basically all that I can do is keep on keeping on, try to get in a bit more fresh produce and hope that my body starts behaving like a ‘normal’ body and releases some weight.

I am trying to make sure that I listen to my body’s cues – if I start burping when I’m eating, then I don’t take another bite. I am taking small bites, chewing at least 30 times and waiting at least 30 seconds between bites but often more. Back to basics. I have thought about going back to just liquid for a few days, like a reset but I don’t know if I could cope with it. I’m just so fed up of all of this – if I was cheating or doing something stupid, it would be one thing, but I’m not. I’m following the rules, eating what I should, moving my body more – why the hell isn’t this working for me?

I did receive the letter following up from the appointment on 20th January and it says that I have a slightly raised cholesterol level, so I called the Drs' surgery and they got me a telephone appointment for today (Saturday). The doctor I spoke to didn’t actually have access to my blood test results, apologised for the faff and said that he would request the results be transferred to my patient profile and then they would get back to me.

I finished another hat and infinity scarf and Book_grim is now the proud owner of a dusky pink set of warm-wear. Now I just need her to get her own pair of gloves so she can stop borrowing mine! I’m going to make some matching hats for my nephew, his fiancee and their two daughters and that should keep my hands busy and hopefully give me something different to focus on. I got a ball of cable chunky from Home Bargains but I didn’t realise just how super-chunky this stuff was. There was no way I was going to be able to make anything substantial out of it, so I ended up making a catnip pillow for the cats! Ah well, they seemed to appreciate it so I can’t complain.

I gave the girls their Galentine’s presents yesterday and I think they were pleased. I have a foot pack on and after posting this, I’m going to see if I can finish the ARC I’ve been reading and plan to do a review tomorrow. Other than that, I have no plans to do anything – walking a couple of times around the car park might not seem like a big deal to most people, but I am shattered. Maybe it’s because I’m not using my crutches? Anyway, I figured it was better than potentially upsetting the bitch-stitch using the resistance bands and every little bit of motion helps. I hope.