Having a tough time

[Tierra T Tij 56]

I had my WLS/Rou-y on May 15, 2018, and I now have excess skin near my stomach, thighs, hips, and arms. I'm supposed to be losing more weight toward my surgery to get rid of the excess skin on my stomach because I keep getting rashes, infections, and fungus in the area to the point I have open sores so Medicaid is deeming it medically necessary and deciding to cover it. I'm having a hard time because I hit a weight plateau during the pandemic and gained 13 pounds (I was supposed to lose at least 30) and I'm nowhere near my goal. I don't know what to do with myself and I'm highly disappointed. I do need someone to vent to right now.

[lizonaplane 1,605]

You've lost so much weight!!! That's something to be super proud of, definitely take a minute to pat yourself on the back and Celebrate your accomplishment.

I'm sorry you're going through this. 115 is a really low goal. Most bariatric patients don't get to such a low BMI. Maybe work on losing the 30 lbs you need to for skin surgery and set your final goal a little higher so you don't feel so disheartened?

As for losing more weight right now, don't do anything drastic; just focus on the basics, like eating good food; veggies and lean Protein. Try using an app like MyFitnessPal or Baritastic to track your calories. Don't beat yourself up for gaining weight during the pandemic - it happened to a LOT of people!!

Wishing you the best!

[Tierra T Tij 56]

Thank you, maybe I should be happy about the weight I've lost not gained. I think sometimes we beat ourselves up for nothing. Maybe 115 is too low for me I was only going by what my doctor said since I have a smaller frame and back and knee problems that too much weight on me makes things worse. She said that even 130 is technically too big for me but I'll just put like 140 -150 range as my lowest to get down to if I do because it doesn't seem that realistic and a unobtainable goal. I just want to work right now to get under 200 because the most weight I could be at surgery is 180 to be safe.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

You should be proud of your progress. Stress like last year's lockdown can cause many to resort to stress eating.

Go back to basics, throw out all temptations, go to therapy if you can. Journaling your stress can sometimes help find what triggers you.

Once you get back to basics, cravings will go away again. Then look into intermittent fasting. Look for Dr. Jason Fung's books or youtube videos.

[Jaelzion 1,123]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:19 PM, Tierra T Tij said:

Maybe 115 is too low for me I was only going by what my doctor said since I have a smaller frame and back and knee problems that too much weight on me makes things worse. She said that even 130 is technically too big for me.

Getting down to 115 would give you a BMI of 20.4. I'm 2 inches shorter than you and I could probably get down to 115 but I'm pretty sure I couldn't maintain it. Your new goal of 130 would give you a BMI of 23.0. Still nicely within the healthy range.

[ms.sss 14,645]

115 is doable of you really want to get there (i’m 5’2” and got there a couple months into maintenance). You may not want even want too when you get closer…who knows.

For ease on the mind, it may be beneficial to set incremental goals so you can still Celebrate progress without getting down on yourself? Or even non-weight goals, like fitting into a pair of pants, or running a specific distance, or getting off a certain med, etc.

Also, keep in mind that your excess skin is also adding to the number on the scale. Your have a relatively high starting weight (and low-ish height) and you will likely have a fair bit of extra skin to account for.

But dude, congrats on losing 135 lbs, that’s amazing!

Edited July 11, 2021 by ms.sss

[Tierra T Tij 56]

Thank you

[Tierra T Tij 56]

I kid you not there is this pair of pants that is like a size 16 in my closet. I feel so determined to fit in them! Like even if I'm able to fit into those that would make me happy. That's why I kept them even though they still have a store tag on them.

[Butterflyeffect 122]

You can do it Tierra, look how far you have come already!!

I had a pair of pants that I was working towards and now they are too big lol!! So I got myself a dress that I really love but is way too tight and am now working towards fitting into that.
I think it’s great to have goals other than weight goals to work towards. The other thing I find motivating is to measure myself each month and Celebrate the inches lost.

[Tierra T Tij 56]

I have an update, those size 16 pants in my closet are now too big for me but now I have no idea what pant size I am anymore. I wear a size 12 shirts but my pants are under a size 16 now but 14 is still a little tight so maybe I'm a 15? Dunno...

Sent from my SM-G990U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

[Lisa XO 117]

On 3/20/2023 at 8:12 PM, Tierra T Tij said:

I have an update, those size 16 pants in my closet are now too big for me but now I have no idea what pant size I am anymore. I wear a size 12 shirts but my pants are under a size 16 now but 14 is still a little tight so maybe I'm a 15? Dunno...

Sent from my SM-G990U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Did you get the skin removal surgery? Congrats on the size 16 being too big!

[Tierra T Tij 56]

I haven't gotten the excess skin surgery yet. I still have stage 3 lipedema on top of the excess skin. The excess skin alone weighs about 50 - 60 pounds and then the lipedema is another 60 pounds. My whole body looks like a deflated balloon, just lots of skin hanging. I am trying to do a gofundme because I don't really have enough money, I'm on medicaid/Medicare and lipedema surgeries aren't really covered under most insurances so I might have to come up with all the money myself along with money for a place to heal at because I cannot heal at my current place because I live at the top floor with no elevator and the pain in my legs/being able to walk is becoming very hard if at all. I stay mostly bedridden and at home because the excess skin and swelling is so bad it's hard to do anything. I started coming up with the money but it's just not enough. Between finding a place to heal at, 3 multiple surgeries I'll need to heal at and all the medical bills and debt I've already gotten into to be able to get clearances for all this it's a long draw out process. It sucks when you don't know many people. I have family but they aren't very supportive of me nor do they want to help me with my cause so I'm looking for other people to help me instead if possible just trying to network a bit more but it hasn't really been working at this point. The link to my GoFundMe is at the bottom. It might be a little bit more because GoFundMe takes a share of the profits raised. I get less than the goal because of that. My real name is in the GoFundMe, btw. The name I picked for my bariatricpal account IS my real name but the letters shifted around or added to.

https://gofund.me/b1365ea1

Edited March 26, 2023 by Tierra T Tij