Chimera

Grrrr. I am very tired of the forum not letting my have access to edit posts punctuation etc....drives me nuts - and never a response in the help forums.

Was poking around looking up how close I am to being just overweight rather than obese according to BMI charts (which as we know have some serious limitations in actually determining how healthy or what size someone actually is). Looks like I am 2 lbs away from that milestone - and I found this interesting link that a gal has on her Flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/77367764@N00/sets/72157602199008819/

I also keep reminding myself that it can take a long time to get those last lbs. off - we are in good company! and you look utterly amazing, beautiful and vibrant! never forget how far you have come

I hear ya Lisa! We had our surgeries on the same day last year and I am still working my way down to that normal BMI - it is so hard to see how far we have come so much of the time. I think that is one reason I hang on to the number, because then I will have absolute proof that I have been able to do it. Our society is so tuned in to the astounding 'before and after' transformations that occur with massive weight loss that we can be pretty hard on ourselves when the scale stops or slows. Yes all of my co-morbidities are resolved, my docs are frankly freaked out at how drastically I have improved my health over the last 3 years (my pcp still cant believe I stopped a 28 year smoking addiction after she prescribed Wellbutrin and told me to get nicotine Patches - smoke free now for 3+ years) I am but a few lbs. from simply being overweight and man I will be dancing a jig when I move into that next category.

_{I know right? That article really resonated for me too - all of this great reading over the last few weeks has really helped me to recalibrate my oftentimes emotional response to not being at goal already - heck I was at 80% EWL at 1 year post op and am about to ramp up my workouts and put myself back into a ketogenic state to get the rest of it off. Its been easy for me to let the carbs climb a bit - mainly through dairy and an occasional Starbucks treat - I have not been gaining, but I have not been losing much anymore either - guess I am seeing first hand how to maintain in the 172-174 lbs. range.}

sorry for the underline - vsg talk hates my browser lol.

Some really great reading! I too love dr. Sharma's work and have quite a collection of links to his articles - here is another recent one that I found pretty interesting - (sorry for the OH link Alex).

http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/why-bariatric-surgery-can-fail-part-2/

Rofl gman!

Congrats on goal! What an awesome achievement! I have started noting the weight I was from last day of the month from the previous year - lets see for last August I weighed 222 lbs. - and this year I weigh 50 lbs less. I will take it! I am going to continue to try and stop comparison with those fast losers and just be mindful of my own progress and success - and the fact that I am not piling it all back on - which is what has always happened in the past. Just going to be that better version of myself and keep slogging away at it

Real Self is a great site to learn about plastics and see snapshots - sorry about the underline - I cannot edit my posts unless I write them in a word processing program and then paste - ugh.http://www.realself.com/

I've been doing a lot of research into plastics these days - generally you want to be at goal and have been thee for at least 3 months for skin surgery. I would suggest Shapewear in the meantime - I've noticed that the skin continues to really change and shape up in many areas as you continue to lose. You look young from your avatar photo - that is an even bigger bonus, you have much better chances of some of that skin snapping back after time. Generally, if you have 60+ lbs to lose - you can expect that skin surgery will improve your contours. if you are looking at hundreds of lbs (my real deal goal puts me at close to 200 down - lets talk about flappy skin galore lol) - the best option is LBL - lower body lift or belt lipectomy - cut all the way around and pull your lower half up like a pair of pantyhose - sounds like the worst healing pain imaginable but I will gladly endure it to get rid of the scary flabby skin between belly button and top of my knees. Someday - I am working on getting the last of the weight off and increasing muscle mass under the fat.

I third that suggestion! I spent time in therapy a few years back with an eating disorder group - interestingly enough I guess binge eating/overfilling are similar in some respects to anorexic/restrictive behaviors clinically. Hang in there - our surgery was only on our stomachs - the work on the head is all on us

Just wait - it gets even better

I think everyone loves food don't they? This is where the rubber meets the road - discipline and mindfulness are very important now - our heads get in the way a lot of the time, it was my own head that allowed me to eat my way to 318 lbs and it will be my head that gets me out of that mess - along with my handy sleeve hang in there - everyone loves food - focus on the basics, get away from the food, work on hydration and move your body.

What an awesome, awesome site! Thank you sooo much for the link to this - I struggle with dysmorphia terribly and cannot wrap my mind around what I look like - it is so nice to see the different sizes and shapes and see where I am

I would love to get some help with this - As I type on my PC running Windows 7 64 bit - now I am using italics, which I have not selected. Sometimes I attempt to post and strikethrough is what I get - again I have not selected this option, nor can I post and have it do anything else unless I write my posts in Word and cut and paste onto a new reply or post. So frustrated!!!!!!! See now it is underlined! Is this something on my end? It just recently showed up. HELP PLEASE.

The only consumption issue I have with my own 16/8 schedule is that I like a cup of French press coffee with a teaspoon of sugar - early. I also think it will get easier when the new semester starts and I have classes that start early and I have early commitments other days of the week.

Rofl! I was reading one of the articles on Hugh Jackman and his IF/Leangains training program getting ready for The Wolverine - my husband sees the article and immediately flexes and puffs up lol. He wants to know if he looks like him I told him his workout schedule is good but he needs a lot more Protein to put on that much muscle. I don't know if my hubby would leave if he showed up at our house - I think we would both pick his brain about fitness...and If Emily Blunt showed up heck even I might kick my husband out

Bah I really wish I could post and have use of the editor - so I will just keep replying to my own post lol. I think I am going to give the 5:2 plan a spin. I have been doing Leangains and I love it - which is more of the 16/8 - fast/feed daily schedule. After reading on Butter's maintenance post I researched getting a resting metabolism test done - turns out that they do them at Swedish - the medical center Fiddleman and his wife had their surgery at (see you guys on Saturday at support group - I think I will go see them and check it out.

I know you guys have your own group but figured you guys would read posts here - I just watched Michael Mosley's PBS special Eat, Fast, and Live Longer and it was great. I know it is on a few times this week on my local PBS station. Taping his next show which is called the Truth About Exercise. Here is a link http://video.pbs.org/program/michael-mosley/

Im still plugging away - my body seems to like hovering around 172-174 so I have not seen much downward progress with the numbers - I figure I have some excellent company though. I was one of those that the scale started to stop until I was having my cycle - then woo then scale would show losses of anywhere from 2-10 lbs. Now I think the dreaded (or not so dreaded) change is upon me and who knows when my cycle will appear these days. The weight does not want to budge! I feel great and am so happy with my progress, I never could have done this without my sleeve - I am just so looking forward to the day I can say that I achieved my goal weight - what a milestone that will be!

I think you will be fine! Brent and I had spectacular 1 year bloodwork - everything was right where it should be, and this was with not always being so vigilant with the supplements (miss a day or two here or there - don't like a new Vitamin so I am not taking any of that today etc.) I think you and Lauri (sp?) have made such remarkable improvements to your health over the last years that the thought of getting news that you might be off on anything might make one nervous - I predict everything will be great!

Gastric Sleeve Veteran's Forum (NEW FORUM)

This forum is dedicated to veteran Sleevers who are six or more months post-op, to discuss issues specific to those who are further along in their journey. You must have 100 posts in order to post here.

And folks that are on or approaching the pre-op diet - the goal is to shrink your liver, this vital organ is lifted with a small retractor to get at your stomach .

Yes the benefit of losing weight prior to the surgery is great, but reducing the size of the liver is what is crucial as most of us who are over a healthy BMI have some level of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. What that means is that your liver is large, puffy, and soft - My surgeon compares it to the texture of foie gras and it can be very easily damaged if you do not comply with your diet protocol.

You want to talk about the mother of all complications - inadvertently slicing your liver is not good.

Low carb diets rapidly shrink the liver and change its texture and size for a safer surgical procedure. Every Doc has a different protocol - my surgeon does not have his patients do liquids but rather Atkins induction in the weeks prior to surgery. Every gram of glycogen has about 3 times that in Water attached to it - thus why we drop weight so rapidly on a very low carb diet initially - the Water is going as we burn off our glycogen (stored carbohydrate) stores.

Here is a good read about how our bodies metabolize glycogen stores.

http://www.justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/

None of this is easy - it is very much about discipline, turning yourself around to learn how to really take care of ourselves, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. No, not easy, but hands down probably the nest thing you will ever do for yourself and your health in the long run.

^really?