I couldn’t be happier!!! Before surgery I had set my goal to 184 lbs which would have put me just into the “Normal” range on the BMI scale. Honestly, at that time I would have been happy to get down to 200 because I had never been able to do that in my dieting life. I hit that first goal back in October (8 months post-op). I was still comfortably losing at that point so I shifted my goal from weight/BMI to Body Fat Percentage. At that time, my Body Fat was about 17% which is pretty good for a 43 male, but I wanted to do better. I set my new goal to get under 13% BF which is considered “Excellent” on most BF charts. Yesterday I had my most recent Hydrostatic Dunk Test (this is the most accurate way to measure BF) and I was shocked and amazed to see that I was at 9.7% BF!!! My weight is down to 170.6 lbs, which is almost 115 lbs from where I started. That is freaking unbelievable.

If you were to see me now and not have known the fat me, you would never know that I was overweight. I look very thin, not sickly thin mind you, more like a runners body, somewhat muscular but not chiseled (yet). I actually care about looking good in clothes now. I love all the compliments I get. I am so motivated by my success and actually enjoy the food choices I make, I take pleasure in going to the gym now. I still have some mental issues to deal with. I occasionally still see that fat guy in the mirror. In reality he is not in the mirror, he is only in my head and his image is fading fast.

For those of you that are early in the journey, take it from me – it CAN work. You have to follow some rules and it’s not always easy, but it CAN work.

Edited March 22, 201016 yr by KartMan

Congratulations you look great! You should be very proud of yourself.

Cheri

Thanks, I am!

And I'm here to tell everyone to stick with it. With a little hard work and some help from the band your weight goals are within reach.

Good luck all!

You look great!!! You look 10 years younger too!

This was a great story and you look wonderful. Mt surgery is scheduled for 6/3/10 and I am scared of failure....stories like yours are inspirational.

Best of luck to you in your surgery this week. I'm sure all will go well and you will be on your way. As for failure, don't make it an option. Follow the rules, set reasonable goals, track your progress and make the adjustments you need to with food and lifestyle to be successful. It WILL work!

Congrats! You deserve your success, you've been a very focussed and motivated bandster all along.

Congratulations on all your hard work!

Congratulations! You look really good! Keep it up!