I'm just curious and want something kind of like a roll call to see where we're all at.

I'll be three years out in one month and I'm five pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight and eight pounds away from my original goal.

If you're at goal, how long have you been maintaining within a 5 pound window?

If you're not at goal, how far do you have to go?

How do you transition your mind and eating from loss to maintenance or back to loss from maintenance? Do you go back to basics, restrict calories, get more active, etc.?

I'd like to see some experiences shared here. I'm finding that I just don't make the time to come to VST much anymore. Sure, there's a small measure of burnout (I just avoid most of the topics when I do come around) and sure, I just had a baby a few months ago. But I think a major thing is that I don't like being here as a vet and not at my goal weight. It's silly, because this is exactly where I should be as I'm trying to lose.

I'm struggling. Eating isn't that bad. I'm very fortunate, because I've read a number of threads lately where even vets are having trouble with non-stop hunger or food thoughts. I'm not dealing with that.

But I maintained so easily. I'm not bragging...it's just how it was, and I honestly feel like I deserved it after struggling for 17 months to lose 107 pounds a tenth of a pound at a time! Transitioning from maintenance to pregnancy to loss again SUCKS. I hate it. I log my food and I track and no, I don't feel hungry (thank goodness) and I don't really want to graze or binge (thankfully) but I feel like the SLOWEST LOSER IN THE UNIVERSE and I'm really struggling with my body image and with the idea that I have to eat 700-900 calories a day, and skip the extra cups of coffee and actually pay attention to what I eat.

I want to be lazy again, honestly. I want to be back in maintenance, back at goal and I want my size 5/6 pants to fit perfectly, without being slightly snug. I want to go back to hopping on the scale each morning and not minding if I see the number go up a touch one day and down a bit the next, because I'm already in my maintenance window and a small change won't hurt. I want to see progress again!

I cannot wrap my head around making this transition smooth. It's not a huge amount of stress but there is a very real underlying fear that if I don't manage to get back into loss mode mentally, too, that I won't ever lose the weight and I'll slide into regaining.

Where are the rest of you on this?

~Cheri

I weigh 149...have lost 102 lbs. and my BMI says I'm fat as well. And I am still wearing a size 12! What the heck. Maybe I'm just under tall (I'm 5'2"). We need to all give ourselves a break as this journey/life can be SO frustrating!

It is always amazing to me how different all of our bodies are! I know another sleever who her and I weight close to the same, and I think she wears around a size 10 or 12 as well. I carry a lot of my weight on my lower body, especially my bum and thighs and my waist is smaller.

We should celebrate how far we have come and our amazing bodies. I forget sometimes what my body has done ( and what I have done to it!), and should give it a little bit of a break, but my brain is a dominatrix!

I weigh 149...have lost 102 lbs. and my BMI says I'm fat as well. And I am still wearing a size 12! What the heck. Maybe I'm just under tall (I'm 5'2"). We need to all give ourselves a break as this journey/life can be SO frustrating!

Oh for heavens sake woman! You have almost lost half of your weight! You are sooo successfull! Congratulations!

I have posted this chart before on another thread but not sure if everyone has seen it, it takes age in to the equation which BMI alone does not.

I have posted this chart before on another thread but not sure if everyone has seen it' date=' it takes age in to the equation which BMI alone does not.

[/quote']

Thanks foe posting! Great to have on hand!

I have posted this chart before on another thread but not sure if everyone has seen it' date=' it takes age in to the equation which BMI alone does not.

[/quote']

Do you have the men version of this BMI chart?

I know how frustrated you are' date=' coops. You know, even at my goal I am still overweight. No, not the same as falling under obese, I know. Right now, today my BMI is 28 - I'm just a few pounds from obese, myself.

I mean, here I am thrilled that I'm thinner and looking good...and I see my doc in April and he says he'd like to see me between 107-127 pounds...what the hell?!

Am I doomed to always be the fat girl, even when I'm clearly NOT the fat girl? Damn that BMI chart all to hell.

I can hardly stay under 137 pounds and my doc would like to see ten less than that at least? He's crazy, the world is crazy and I'm not going to make myself crazy trying to reach a goal that is most likely unattainable for me.

I think this group will help us get as far as we can get. And I know that you've had a heck of a time reaching goal and I'm not saying that it's not possible. I just hope that we can all find that balance between being thankful for how far we've come while keeping the drive to go as far as we can and while also feeling love and acceptance for ourselves. I can't keep beating myself up for not being the smallest girl around. The very fact that I can wear clothes from a normal store should be a cause to celebrate every morning. I should not be frustrated that the number isn't smaller than it is!

I never dreamed I'd reach this point. I have to remind myself of that every time I get frustrated or fall into the old habit of beating myself up and putting myself down. I never thought I'd be here and I am. I have no reason to be ungrateful or unhappy, and I have to remember that.

Much love, coops! You and Globe have both had a heck of a time and I know how frustrated you are. If it's any consolation, you DO look fabulous, you HAVE accomplished a lot and I'm totally jealous that you've had plastics and I still have a saggy, baggy tummy.

~Cheri[/quote']

I totally agree. With all!

Sorry fiddleman there did not appear to be a male version of this table, don't know why.

Do you have the men version of this BMI chart?

The closest I could find...

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm

It says I'm close to average (51 percentile) for my weight and age!!!!

The closest I could find...

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/av.htm

It says I'm close to average (51 percentile) for my weight and age!!!!

I don't like that page!! It's telling me I'm obese even though my BMI is 28!

I don't like that page!! It's telling me I'm obese even though my BMI is 28!

Really??? It puts me as "overweight" at 28.2

Weird...

Did you change it to female because its set on male?

so I am a week over 10 months out ( surgery Aug 30, 2012)... I hit normal BMI last week... still not at "my" goal...I want to lose another ~25 pounds.... whether I can do that or even maintain my current 100% EWL remains to be seen....

Really??? It puts me as "overweight" at 28.2

Weird...

Did you change it to female because its set on male?

It would be cool if they let you put in your muscle measurements and fat percentage. That would totally fix the issue with the BMI charts and calculators.

Everyone posting on this thread have been my biggest motivators. I'm just shy of 2 years out' date=' made my very modest goal at 9 months post op. It's hard sometimes to come to the site now because I always feel everyone besides me is satisfied on eating low carb, 800 cals, and 1/4 cup max per meal. I'm embarrassed, I feel like the anomaly almost... Luckily I'm 6 pounds from my low weight currently. I'm ok with that, but not HAPPY with that. I'm also kind of pissed I have to "diet" to get those stupid 6 pounds off. I could gain back all of my weight easily, but I won't. I won't go back. But it does take effort. I still have restriction with some foods but I could seriously eat 3/4 box of Cheezits in an evening, I have! Basically, I am so so happy with my sleeve but its hard to lose weight gained. The 6 pounds I'm trying to lose have been haunting me for months. All we can do is keep trying!!![/quote']

See, what u said is my biggest fear w havn the surgery! I too am tired of dieting nd I will address this w my nut visit on the 24th. I'm not sleeved but read all forums, esp vet forums of what I shud expect. Ik I'll have to work to let my tool do its Job , nd I thot I was rdy. But as I read the forum here, I'm starting to rethink my decision or maybe my mindset cuz i really thot that this surgery wud also help me maintain once I got to "goal". So I'm wrong? Oh God, what am I gonna do now? I just don't think it fair that after hsvn most of our tummies removed, we should have to ever diet again, I thot changn our eatn lifestyles along w the tool wud guarantee a diet free life, plz help me understand, b4 I go under. Cuz I was really lookn forward to living life wo the thot of Everrr havn to diet again. Sry for whinning but I'm sad now, actually disappointed:( thx all in advance and God bless you all!! Dee Dee

so I am a week over 10 months out ( surgery Aug 30' date=' 2012)... I hit normal BMI last week... still not at "my" goal...I want to lose another ~25 pounds.... whether I can do that or even maintain my current 100% EWL remains to be seen....[/quote']

Congrats on hitting normal BMI that's what I hope to achieve some day.

See, what u said is my biggest fear w havn the surgery! I too am tired of dieting nd I will address this w my nut visit on the 24th. I'm not sleeved but read all forums, esp vet forums of what I shud expect. Ik I'll have to work to let my tool do its Job , nd I thot I was rdy. But as I read the forum here, I'm starting to rethink my decision or maybe my mindset cuz i really thot that this surgery wud also help me maintain once I got to "goal". So I'm wrong? Oh God, what am I gonna do now? I just don't think it fair that after hsvn most of our tummies removed, we should have to ever diet again, I thot changn our eatn lifestyles along w the tool wud guarantee a diet free life, plz help me understand, b4 I go under. Cuz I was really lookn forward to living life wo the thot of Everrr havn to diet again. Sry for whinning but I'm sad now, actually disappointed:( thx all in advance and God bless you all!! Dee Dee

Sorry to pop your bubble Dee Dee, but if you don't watch what you eat post-op, you will watch your weight go up! This thread is for people who are trying the 5:2 or 6:1 diet to get to goal, return to goal, or stay at goal. It's buried in the Vet's Forum, because for the first few months post-op, it's pretty hard to not see a dramatic weight loss, but as time goes by, it's very easy to gain weight.

I have met many people online and in person who stay at goal weight, but they are ALL mindful of what they eat. It is easier with the sleeve, because it takes less to feel full, but I didn't get fat because I couldn't get full.

Lynda