Ok, I have a confession:blush:

I just LOVE being thin! Most of my adult life I have been overweight or obese, so this is really new to me. Last time I was even close to normal size was when I got out of Navy Boot Camp back when I was still 18 (too young to know better). Now I am almost at goal and I’m really enjoying the new me.

Since about 5 months out, I have been pretty open with everyone that I had surgery, even with strangers. The problem is that almost half the people I tell have had some experience with friends or family that lost a bunch in the first year of WLS, but then gained it all back. Usually they are not specific about which WLS it was, but they imply that my loss will be short lived:scared2:

I am only 7 months out, lost fairly easily, had no complications, am feeling great, and I’m sticking to the lifestyle. But I REFUSE to go back!!! I won’t let myself be a statistic and be one of “those” people that lost it but then slacked off and gained it all back. For now I am focusing on my weight goal (only a few pounds to go there) and my Body Fat goal of 15%.

I need to commit to myself right now that I will always be vigilant and never let myself fall into old habits. I know that if I have a complication, I could gain the weight back. But barring complications, it should be on me right? I should be able to do this. Scratch that, I will do this dammit:cursing:

I totally agree!

I will NOT EVER BE FAT AGAIN!

I know what made me fat, and i WILL not go back to those way again (and i'm DONE with having children).

I may have eaten something that doesn't HELP losing, or keeping the weight off, but that doesn't mean i blew it and the hell with it...continue to eat that way. It means, i'll do my exercise, i'll drink my Water, i'll eat healthy and wake up and do it again!

I really thought i would be a slow loser, and at times i FELT like a slow loser, but looking back, i've lost 64 pounds in 6 months.... not too bad. maybe not REAL fast, but it's steady AND i'm close to goal (now thinking of lowering it because i'm not thrilled with what's still hanging on). I thought when i got close to goal, it would REALLY slow down. It did for a little while, or every so often i may stall for a week or so...but i bump up the calories for a few days, add an extra day of walking/running for a couple of weeks, and i'll drop 3 pounds in a week.

My Dr. told me i was probably getting close to where my body was happy about 10 pounds ago...i told him NO WAY...I"M NOT happy about that weight (or how i look).

when i said i was not to even the highest end of my 'ideal weight' and said that i had to weigh 123 before i got there...he said THAT was runway model weight and that i looked great.

I KNOW what he was saying is that i 'look' fine, normal, average....and that if i didn't lose anymore i should be proud to have lost that....

and i am. I just know that i have not reached 'that' place yet. it's not like i'm working out 8 hours a day to continue to lose...i'm living a NORMAL life, eating normal and exercising 6 days a week....for a normal amount of time.

my original goal was 71 pounds lost, putting me at 120 because at the time, that seemed like enough, but not unachievable.

I'm now at 127, and feel like 7 more pounds won't be enough. 120 will put me at a BMI of 24.2

i'm thinking of lowering it to 114. that will put me at BMI 23.

I have a PS consult in Nov and plan to have surgery in March of 2010. I am hoping that will put me at my ultimate goal of 109 which is a bmi of 22.

I've done all this for ME, someone i stopped taking care of me after having children. While i love my children, and my husband, I can be a better me if i take care of me.

I am not happy when i'm fat, and i will NOT go there ever again!

I will NOT be a statistic either! 110% for me!

Kartman, it is a personal journey. It is your decision as to how you want to live your life and you plan to utilize your WLS. I know for me it is really scary to think about going back to the days when I was almost 400 lbs, but I have maintained my current weight for almost 2 years now.

food is an addiction for me that I will always fight and I have to take it one day at a time. My problems did not develop overnight and they will not disappear. It is an everyday struggle for me and I am sure you can relate. You have to take it in the moment and try not to look back. Be the inspiration for those who are trying to pull you down.

You have done it! Don't let anyone take this achievement from you!

I thought when i got close to goal, it would REALLY slow down. It did for a little while, or every so often i may stall for a week or so...but i bump up the calories for a few days, add an extra day of walking/running for a couple of weeks, and i'll drop 3 pounds in a week.

I agree with this 110%.

The closer I got to goal the more I had to make changes to keep the loss going, which was a slow loss, but I was OK as long as I was still moving in the right direction.

I only got to a normal BMI by switching up routines whenever things would slow. This would involve changing exercise routines or the amount of time they would take, calorie switching and I did use the 5 day pouch test a couple of times when I was really in a slump and it got me moving again. As far as switching up exercise and/or calories . . . sometimes I went up, sometimes I went down. All I had to do was play with it until my body found its way out of a rut.

I really feel that this is what moved me from the mediocre, expected weight loss and reaching my smoking hot goal. I highly recommend these methods for anyone who is struggling to exceed expectations but have hit a bump in the road to success and your own personal goals.

We can all do this . . . we just need to make our decision on where we want to be in the end and have the courage to do what it takes to get there.

Kartman, it is a personal journey. It is your decision as to how you want to live your life and you plan to utilize your WLS. I know for me it is really scary to think about going back to the days when I was almost 400 lbs, but I have maintained my current weight for almost 2 years now.

food is an addiction for me that I will always fight and I have to take it one day at a time. My problems did not develop overnight and they will not disappear. It is an everyday struggle for me and I am sure you can relate. You have to take it in the moment and try not to look back. Be the inspiration for those who are trying to pull you down.

You have done it! Don't let anyone take this achievement from you!

I just want to say that you are awesome. Not only going from almost 400 to the 160's, but maintaining it for 2 years is an inspiratiion for us all.

I totally agree!

I will NOT EVER BE FAT AGAIN!

I know what made me fat, and i WILL not go back to those way again (and i'm DONE with having children).

I may have eaten something that doesn't HELP losing, or keeping the weight off, but that doesn't mean i blew it and the hell with it...continue to eat that way. It means, i'll do my exercise, i'll drink my Water, i'll eat healthy and wake up and do it again!

I really thought i would be a slow loser, and at times i FELT like a slow loser, but looking back, i've lost 64 pounds in 6 months.... not too bad. maybe not REAL fast, but it's steady AND i'm close to goal (now thinking of lowering it because i'm not thrilled with what's still hanging on). I thought when i got close to goal, it would REALLY slow down. It did for a little while, or every so often i may stall for a week or so...but i bump up the calories for a few days, add an extra day of walking/running for a couple of weeks, and i'll drop 3 pounds in a week.

My Dr. told me i was probably getting close to where my body was happy about 10 pounds ago...i told him NO WAY...I"M NOT happy about that weight (or how i look).

when i said i was not to even the highest end of my 'ideal weight' and said that i had to weigh 123 before i got there...he said THAT was runway model weight and that i looked great.

I KNOW what he was saying is that i 'look' fine, normal, average....and that if i didn't lose anymore i should be proud to have lost that....

and i am. I just know that i have not reached 'that' place yet. it's not like i'm working out 8 hours a day to continue to lose...i'm living a NORMAL life, eating normal and exercising 6 days a week....for a normal amount of time.

my original goal was 71 pounds lost, putting me at 120 because at the time, that seemed like enough, but not unachievable.

I'm now at 127, and feel like 7 more pounds won't be enough. 120 will put me at a BMI of 24.2

i'm thinking of lowering it to 114. that will put me at BMI 23.

I have a PS consult in Nov and plan to have surgery in March of 2010. I am hoping that will put me at my ultimate goal of 109 which is a bmi of 22.

I've done all this for ME, someone i stopped taking care of me after having children. While i love my children, and my husband, I can be a better me if i take care of me.

I am not happy when i'm fat, and i will NOT go there ever again!

I will NOT be a statistic either! 110% for me!

I LOVE this post:thumbup::thumbup:

I totally agree with the doing it for you part. Way way back when I used to be a smoker other people always wanted me to quit, but I couldn’t do it till I did it for me. Same with this weight loss. I know that over the years friends and family wanted me to lead a healthy lifestyle, but I wouldn’t know true success until I did it for ME.

As for what is the right amount lose, you have to make that decision for yourself, only you will know for sure. When I started this journey I was at least exactly 101lbs overweight according to BMI (I am 6’ tall) so I set my weight goal to 184 in order to get to a BMI of 24.9 (right on the upper edge of normal). At about 200lbs (about 15lbs from goal) I realized that I wasn’t going to be happy with that amount so I started to look into what was a more ideal weight for me. I discovered that BMI is really a useless tool. BMI doesn’t take actual body composition in at all. I think it’s fine for a starting point because lets face it, if you have a BMI of 38 (which I did) or higher you most probably have a lot of work to do.

I found a much more useful tool for me was to measure my Body Fat by doing a Hydrostatic Dunk Test. I was just over 200lbs when I took the first test (I was still overweight by BMI standards) but was pleasantly surprised to find that my Body Fat % was 22.3%, which is considered “Average” for a male my age (the Average range is 18-24%). I got really interested in stepping down to the next level which is “Good”, that range is 14-17% with 15% considered “Ideal”. I have gone in for two additional tests and my Body Fat dropped to 21.2% and 19.3% respectively. At the rate I am losing, and the ratio of Lean Loss to Fat Loss, I estimate that I need to get down to about 175 to be at 15% Body Fat. One of the things that I really like about the test is that it shows you how much Lean mass you are losing relative to Fat each time you retest. For example, the second time I tested my total weight loss broke down as 55% Fat and 45% Lean. This wasn’t the result I was looking for (losing Lean is counter to obtaining a good BF%). So this spurred me into starting a weight training regimen and to start increasing my daily Protein intake. It paid off, on my third test, the ratio improved to 76% Fat Loss to 24% Lean Loss.

Can I do it? Can I get down to 15%? Hell yes! My progress has been superb so far, I am really enjoying working out and I feel great.

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by KartMan

FighterGirl,

2 years! Good for you!!! Those are the stats I like to hear.

I agree with this 110%.

The closer I got to goal the more I had to make changes to keep the loss going, which was a slow loss, but I was OK as long as I was still moving in the right direction.

I only got to a normal BMI by switching up routines whenever things would slow. This would involve changing exercise routines or the amount of time they would take, calorie switching and I did use the 5 day pouch test a couple of times when I was really in a slump and it got me moving again. As far as switching up exercise and/or calories . . . sometimes I went up, sometimes I went down. All I had to do was play with it until my body found its way out of a rut.

I really feel that this is what moved me from the mediocre, expected weight loss and reaching my smoking hot goal. I highly recommend these methods for anyone who is struggling to exceed expectations but have hit a bump in the road to success and your own personal goals.

We can all do this . . . we just need to make our decision on where we want to be in the end and have the courage to do what it takes to get there.

Our bodies are so funny. I have been real good on food types/quantity over the past week and no significant loss. Last night I had a hot fudge sundae (bday treat) and I dropped a pound this morning. Go figure:confused: