I'm getting closer to goal, and feeling pretty good about it. However, I'm starting to get a lot of flack about wanting to be "too skinny". I think I still have a good 20 lbs to go before I will have a stomach smaller than my chest.

My original goal was 'healthy', and I've done that. Now I want 'concave'.

Look at these pics, and the starting one, and let me know what you all think. Am I fine where I'm at?

Current is 5' 9", 174 and a 34" pant. Start was in the 280s (260 in that pic) and 46-48" pant.

*sees Chickies 2 cents and ups the ante*

****Off topic****

Chickie,

Did you really lose 190lbs in one year?

Wow! and congrats!!!

Are you completely unfilled now?

Did you "choose" to be unfilled?

How long have you been unfilled?

Is maintaining your weight difficult in an unfilled state?

The reason I ask is because I am hoping to be unfilled after I reach goal.

I have 0cc in a 9.75cm 4cc band. I lost my weight in 17 months, I chose to be unfilled because I was still losing. I was unfilled December 2006 (15 months ago)

It hasn't been hard at all for me to maintain without a fill, but my surgeon tells me I am the first he has seen or heard of who has maintained without any fill. Most people NEED their fill to maintain the weight loss.

I agree, its up to YOU and you alone, but if you want a female opinin you look really great right now. I dont think you need to be smaller, but if you want to continue working on your body - you probably want to continue to decrease body fat and gain muscle. Losing more "weight" per se isnt going to do it, you may just get gaunt and it may not come off where you want it to. Your face looks nice and healthy, you still look manly, you dont look to me like you need to be smaller.

Everyone says the same thing to me and I know they're right, I'm just not happy with the jiggly bits. But I know that losing more actual WEIGHT isnt what I need to do, I need to work on that body composition. Its entirely possible to completely reshape your body without really losing any actual weight on the scale.

IMHO, 20 pounds would probably be too much. However, you have to be at a weight that you are comfortable with, even if others think you are too skinny. Example; I have a friend who had RNY 3 years ago and even though I and, more importantly, her DOCTORS think she needs to gain 10 or 15 pounds, SHE needs to be at the weight she is in order to feel comfortable and not be scared of going back. You are the only one who can answer what is best for you but just remember that your ultimate goal is to be healthy! My 2 cents? You look GREAT!

The problem with getting too thin, is are you able to eat enough to get in all the required nutrients on fewer calories. Can you get enough Protein, Calcium, Fiber, veggies, fruit etc?

Of course, only he can decide what the right weight is for him, but he did ask people for their opinion.

Manatee

You look GREAT !!! :thumbup: Good Job !!! :cursing:

IMHO you look good just as you are - with that being said - I think it's totally up to you - if you want to go for 20 more pounds go for it

I set a goal weight that still has my bmi in the overweight category - but they don't take into factor age etc - for me to be 120 at my age I would look emancipated (sp?) - I will stop when I get to a size that I feel good at - the numbers of the scales are just that numbers - it's how you feel that counts.

You are a very handsome guy ya better watch out - the women are going to start stalking you :thumbup:

The problem with getting too thin, is are you able to eat enough to get in all the required nutrients on fewer calories. Can you get enough Protein, Calcium, Fiber, veggies, fruit etc?

Of course, only he can decide what the right weight is for him, but he did ask people for their opinion.

Why would being thin = not getting in enough calories? Unless one is starving one's self to be thin, this wouldn't be the case.

I agree, its up to YOU and you alone, but if you want a female opinion you look really great right now. I dont think you need to be smaller, but if you want to continue working on your body - you probably want to continue to decrease body fat and gain muscle. Losing more "weight" per se isnt going to do it, you may just get gaunt and it may not come off where you want it to. Your face looks nice and healthy, you still look manly, you dont look to me like you need to be smaller.

Everyone says the same thing to me and I know they're right, I'm just not happy with the jiggly bits. But I know that losing more actual WEIGHT isnt what I need to do, I need to work on that body composition. Its entirely possible to completely reshape your body without really losing any actual weight on the scale.

That's what I was trying to say. Gaining muscle and having rock hard abs

looks so wonderful.

Manatee, why did you delete your post? The reason I said that Jacqui was right is because I am now able to fit into a pair of pants that I tried on a month ago. The scale says I only lost 2 lbs, but I think I am reshaping my body through weight training but hardly losing more lbs.

I think you look great and only you will know when you're the weight you want to be. I just hope I am able to keep losing and my body doesn't decide it's done. Even at my goal weight, I will still have an

overweight BMI.

From one guy to another I say go for it. One bit of advice I would give you is to make sure you wear clothes that are truly your size. Wearing baggy clothes can give the appearance that you are losing to much weight. It has taken me months to not go out and buy the biggest shirt on the rack even though I have lost 50 pounds. IMHO you look like you are ready to load protein and start lifting. Then if you can still loose 20 pounds doing that routine then so be it.

I think you look perfect. I wouldn't lose any more weight. 174 is perfect for your height.

Manatee:

You look great as is.

Congratulations on your success.

Sue

From one guy to another I say go for it. One bit of advice I would give you is to make sure you wear clothes that are truly your size. Wearing baggy clothes can give the appearance that you are losing to much weight. It has taken me months to not go out and buy the biggest shirt on the rack even though I have lost 50 pounds. IMHO you look like you are ready to load Protein and start lifting. Then if you can still loose 20 pounds doing that routine then so be it.

Kinda an old thread to bump, but I wanted to say that you're right on the money. I had a sort of revelation yesterday, and thought I'd share the blog post here:

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I am getting tired of wearing the same 3 or 4 shirts all the time, so it was time to go get some more.

A long-time browser of the discount racks, I quickly pulled out several shirts. Normally I'd go straight to the checkout, but this time I really didn't have anything pressing to do.

When I tried on the first one, I was really irritated. It was obviously mislabeled, because it hung off the shoulders and bagged everywhere. I looked like I was being swallowed. Crap, I liked the color.

The next one had the same problem. And then the next.

At this point I was confused, because the shirts were labled the same as the one I wore into the store. So I tried on that shirt.

It too was huge! Oh my! It was a 17/34, AKA Large. I think for the first time I REALLY took a look at the shirt and how it fit. I'd always focused on waist size and pants, but just kinda drifted down in size on the shirts.

I ended up leaving with 3 Medium shirts, and I look a lot smaller in a shirt that fits. These don't billow out the side, and show a bit more of the shape. I've been wearing clothes to hide for so long, that I will need to relearn how to wear them to look good.

I tried to get a pic with the cameraphone. It came out horribly, but that might actually be better for what I need. I can't see the face or details, and this guy in the pic doesn't look all that fat to me. :wink_smile:

You look great. Your tummy is flat!

OH MY GOSH!

You look fantastic! I'd print that pic out and put it on your mirror, fridge, living room wall, basically everywhere!

I hear ya on the wearing things that actually FIT instead of hiding. That's going to be one I'm going to need to work on. Especially as I won't be buying much on the way down. I still have a bunch of stuff from when I lost 60lbs 2 yrs ago and hope that stuff will last for awhile before having to buy only what I must to get through the losing process. We'll see.

BTW, I've been hoping you'd update this thread. I'm glad you did. Take care!

That is a great improvement and your waist line looks really fit now. I now weigh 219 and still wear clothes that I wore at 280. I have kept my measurements and I have lost 9 inches off my stomach so I know these shirts can not look good now. The worse fit are my pants which my nephew pointed out by grabbing two hand fulls of material that were hanging loose on the butt. The final example would be the occasional trip to a customers location where it appears that I am wearing my Dads suit. My 18 inch neck is now 16 inch so it looks funny.