Hey Everyone,

I hope this post finds everyone well and excited! like me!

Friday I had an appointment for assesment at the Melrose Institute. They are a clinic through my network, they do eating disorders treatment and they have an obesity program...

I got great feedback that what I am doing now is working great! I've been doing WW on my own and exercising.. and the progress is right on track.

I am going to start seeing a psychologist there next week, to keep me on track and in the right mind set and NOT become a crazy obsessive freak... and I'm hoping to sign up for their one year program that is NOT covered by insurance. It includes assesments with a Registered Dietiican, Physical Therapist, Fitness Specialist and Occupational Thereapist. as well as 6 follow up appointments that you can use with them as you choose. It also includes 6 classes (things like fitness, nutrition etc) and then you get a health care cordinator and what not... So far i really like the staff there...

They have another program option that includes 28 group sessions, but its a bit out of my price range (like more than twice what the other one is and about a months income for me) and i dont know that i have that much time with work and my family

What i am SO excited about is their scale. They have one of those super duper amazing Scales that tells you your weight, BMI, and non fat mass as well as H20 content... (everything but your fortune)

All my life people have been telling me my target weight should be around 140... Yet i learned friday that my NON FAT MASS, meaning bones, muscles and organs... Weigh 161 on their own...

To be at 26% body fat, i need to lose 60-70 more lbs... which puts me at 240-250... This was the goal i originally saw as attainable for myself... and it feels great to know that that is where my body should be in a healthy place...

Its so empowering to have a realistic look at my numbers and my body type and know where my healthy goal point is!!!!

Those numbers they throw at you off of generic charts can be a scarya nd discouraging thing... It makes me sad to think about how much they can contribute to low self esteem, or eating disorders...

Right now, today, i am excited for this journey... And i am excited to have a more realistic road map!

I enjoyed reading your post! Good luck to you.

For me the hardest part was starting. The journey has been slow, but I think in order to get all of your psycological ducks in a row and strong good habits in order it takes a while.....good for you for taking these steps.

NikonGirl--so impressive all you are doing!!

I hate to be the one to have to break this to you but the scale you were on is called a bioimpedance scale. It's not accurate, at all.

Here is a good article about this if you don't want to just take my word for it.

Quite frankly, there is no way the figure you have is even remotely accurate. I mean no disrespect but even if you're quite muscular and have dense bones you'd probably be 26% body fat at 150-160 lbs at 5'3".

I would be cautious about spending any money with a place that gave you such erroneous information. I don't know anything about them but the business model of most weight loss programs includes crappy advice and expensive supplements.

The good news is that what you're doing now is working. My advice would be to stick around this forum which has a fairly high signal to noise ratio and continue doing what you're doing while educating yourself as much as possible.

I appriciate the feedback John and i will do my own research on the accuracy of the scale...

I should clarify that this isnt a weight loss program. It's a medical model weight management program that applies a lot of the principles used in treating eating disorders. They are actually one of the leading programs for ED treatment. So they won't be selling me any supplements, or books, in fact they will be able to work with my unique medication needs (I take ritalin)...

They focus on the how and why and relearning behaviors.

My program is lead by a doctor, therapist, nutritionist, physical thereapist, occupational thereapist and Fitness Specialist...

Its just not covered by insurance, cause they have yet to realize programs like this are cheaper than health problems or gastric bypass

Nikon - Regardless of the scale, it sounds like a great program to be in! I think 60-70 lbs is a great goal. Once you get there, you can reevaluate if you want to get down smaller - you won't really know until you get there.

Also I took a quick look at the article John posted. The errors in measurement probably aren't going to account for it being 100lbs off as John Suggested. The studies are showing errors of about +/- ten lbs ... now granted the population was very fit and not obese. The take away message I got from this article, is that with measurement error and because measurement error is not consistent, as a tracking device over time, not really the best way to see real changes as small changes will be subject to error flucuation - but I think as a starting general idea metric (knowing its not perfectly accurate) I think its a great place to start and reaffirm that you don't necessarily need to meet an unrealistic goal of 140

It does sound like a good program since many of the reasons we over eat are psychological in nature. I'm just skeptical by nature especially in light of the information they've given you thus far.

Goodluck

John - Totally reasonable to be skeptical given how many businesses make their money by preying on people desperate to lose weight.

NikonGirl - You've got a long road ahead of you, but you can totally get there! Congratulations on taking the first steps. I think that it's smart to have realistic goals, and 60-70 pounds at your weight should be achievable.

Nikongirl - congrats on what you are doing thus far. I think the important thing to remember about the charts is that they are charts. Probably once you get down to 240-250, you will want to lose more to get closer to a healthy range for your height! But: first you have to get there. And the health benefits of even a 10% loss can be enormous.

I'm 5'4" and am just under 240 right now. I have a long way to go. There is a lot of fat on my body. However, I have really been able to work on fitness recently, and it is amazing how much physically better I feel. When I go up the stairs in my house, I run up the stairs.

Like John, I'm skeptical of those scales. Also: your body will not need as much 'basic infrastructure' as you lose weight, so your lean body mass will decrease. Nevertheless, when facing a big loss (and let me tell you, I have faced the necessity of a huge weight loss), you totally should take it in stages, both mental and physical.

And all along the way, I have noticed improvements: in my health and in my life. I know you will see them too.

Good for for being proactive! Good luck with your continued success!

!

Amazing at how much support you have with the program you are using! I wish you the best of luck with all of your goals and congrats on your progress so far. Hope to see more of you on here from time to time.