Ok, it’s not my final goal – but it is one that I have really been waiting for and am super excited to have achieved. I knew it would hit sometime this week and I did it this morning:thumbup: I jumped on the scale and it read 185! I started this journey back in February at 285.

Another of my big goals is to hit 24.9 BMI, which is only a pound away (184lbs) and should happen in the next day or so. I have set many other mini goals along the way that have been great to hit as well:

- Overweight instead of Obese (BMI)

- L Shirts and 36 Pants (started with XXXL and 44)

- Lowest diet weight 206lbs

- Onederland

- M Shirts and 34 Pants

- 100lbs Loss :scared2:

My real goal is to get to 15% Body Fat. I started checking that about 2 months ago (I was 22.3% then). I am under 19% now and figure I need to get down to about 170-175lbs to reach 15%. I expect to be there in 1-2 months.

Who would have thunk it:confused:

Edited September 25, 200916 yr by KartMan

AWESOME!

I can only hope to achieve that goal!

and in such a short time!:scared2:

I see no reason why you can’t. Work with the band and follow the rules and it will come. Time is not the issue here, success is. Goal number 1 – no more gaining weight. Goal number 2 – start losing weight (even if it’s slow going). Goal number 3 – get to where you want to be.

Good luck jaciqltz, I know you can do it.

Think of it as one of your quilts. You attach one square at a time and eventually you have a work of art. With this you lose a little bit here and little bit there and at some point, you have a work of art – and it is you:smile:

Edited September 25, 200916 yr by KartMan

Congratulations!! That's one heck of a milestone. It must seem surreal to hit that 100 lb mark in less than a year.

Here's to your continued success. :scared2:

It is, but what is even more surreal is clothes. I used to pop buttons on XXXL shirts and stretch the waist on size 44 pants. I couldn’t imagine a day when I could wear L shirts and size 36 pants. Well guess what, I can only imagine that now because I still cant wear them (they are too big:lol:). I am wearing M shirts and size 32-24 pants now:cool:

Wow.. awesome!! Congratulations!!!:blushing:

Any words of wisdom to share? I was banded on August 26th and just starting... I'm trying to work out more, I know that will definitely make a difference.

I still hope to make it to the SD support group.. always seems to be at a bad time. One of these days.. :seeya:

Enjoy!

Kate,

I think the secret is restriction and controlling head hunger. Restriction is the easy part. After you start getting fills, get to your sweet spot and it gets a lot easier. I was lucky and had good restriction from the beginning. After I started getting fills, my restriction only got better. With good restriction I was able to dramatically reduce my food quantities and the weight just flew off. I didn’t work out much the first five months, the weight loss was good, but it was all due to reduced calories. My exercise started as a way to continue the initial weight loss and to improve body fat (and it’s working).

The harder part of this journey is not to succumb to head hunger and bad food choices. With good restriction, I am only able to eat small portions – but I have to make the decision to make those portions good food choices. I also have to be careful not to “graze” on slider foods between meals. Once you learn what goes down easy, it would be easy to cheat the band – you have fight those urges when they come up.

Hope to see you at the next SD meet.

Kartman - Congratulations on your fantastic weight loss. And thanks for the tips. Its encouraging for me that you didn't start exercising until 5 months. I'm such a couch potato, with all the best intentions, but can't seem to get started. Keep up your great success!

Joan

Joan,

While it is true that I was able to lose a lot of weight without working out in the first 5 months, if I had it to do over again I would have started excising sooner. Why? Well, it turns out that all weight loss is not good weight loss:cursing:. I am convinced that some of the weight I lost was muscle rather than fat. Muscle weight is a good thing for us and something that we should strive to retain. Muscles burn more calories than fat, even when our bodies are at rest, so keeping them and making them work is a good thing. I found this out by taking a hydrostatic dunk test. On my second test, I found out that 55% of my weight loss was fat and 45% was lean mass (muscle). After working out for a month, my next test showed that my numbers improved to 76% fat loss to 24% lean. I am going in for another test soon and hope to have improved those numbers even more.

So exercise is good, but you must get the motivation to do it. That is the hardest part, getting in there the first few times. Believe me, I didn’t want to at first either – especially since I was losing so well without it. But now, about a month or two into it I am addicted:tt1:. I get such a high from it and my energy levels have gone thru the roof. So my advice to you is to find some way to get started with it and just do it. I recommend finding a routine that you enjoy so that you can keep your motivation up. A lot of people just follow the pack and do what other people do, and find that they don’t like it. For me, that demotivator is running – I hate running. But I love moderate weight lifting and group aerobic classes. I also love the motivation that moving my Body Fat % in the right direction gives me. As of now, I am comfortable with my weight but I am driven by my new goal of achieving an Ideal Male Body Fat number of 15%:smile2:.

Edited September 28, 200916 yr by KartMan

Awesome! Keep it up

Kartman - Thanks for all the info. You're right about finding something I like to get me motivated. Unfortunately, I have had no success with joining gyms. I have wasted so many memberships, going for the first month and not continuing.

I've been looking into WII. My friend has it and invited me to try it before I spend the money and it becomes another dust collector. I have had several different brands of treadmills over the years that becam good clothes racks.

I have done well with exercise videos. Zumba sounds like fun. I may bring out some of my old Jane Fonda & Richard Simmons tapes (I'm dating myself) and see how it goes.

Wow !

Congratulations! What an amazing journey you've been on!

What an inspiration!

Padanelle-

I used to feel that way about gyms too mainly because it was so hard to work out and diet at the same time. You know, because working out caused hunger – eating would offset the exercise, then there would be little or no improvement on the scale. Now with restriction, I don’t feel so hungry all the time (even after working out) so I am finally getting the double whammy of caloric control and exercise combined.

I like the WII Fit, definitely a good start on the road to fitness. Some of the routines in there really get your heart pumping.

If you are interested in Zumba you might try one of the group classes at your gym. I find the classes easier to follow than the videos, I guess it motivates me to see that other people are as uncoordinated as I am:blush:

Edited September 28, 200916 yr by KartMan

Congrats to you! That is all wonderful - each of those mini-goals and the 100 pound goal. You're doing so well! You sound awesome, too!

It seems your little car has gone a lot of miles and thats a good thing. I've had one fill with (I don't think any restriction yet) But I"ve noticed at times, when I start to eat I push my plate back because I feel as if I no longer want what's in front of me after a few bites. But its not beacuse I feel full. Is that how it is suppose to be, and I cant tell the difference?

Edited September 30, 200916 yr by blackonynx

WOOOOOO HOOOO. CONGRATS that is beyond awesome i just got banded last week and will have a fill in 3 more weeks... what i am sooooo terrifed about is.... is there alot of loose skin? i saw your before and after photos and they are awesome so I couldn't imagine if you did have any. That is just something I am very curious about.

I am so excited to post my happy and successfull results as you did yourself!!! This journey, although I know its hard is going to be so exciting:)

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Joujoulei