When do you stop losing?

  • Now, of course I know it's individual... but I am considering weight loss surgery and am concerned that I might lose too much. I am 5'11" and was a bean pole growing up, and gained a ton of weight in college and beyond. At this point, I have been obese for nearly 10 years, and have tried EVERYTHING , I mean EVERYTHING, to lose. I'm tired of the yo-yo dieting, losing and gaining 40 pounds every few months. My best friend had GB last year, and it has changed her life. I don't see any reason to continue struggling and be absolutely miserable with my life if there is something out there I can do about it. I'm just really concerned that I may turn back into a bean pole, as silly as that sounds. I'd like to lose about 100 pounds, which would roughly make me around a size 14.... but if I go beyond that, I will be really upset. I like having a curvy, womanly figure.

    I'm going to a seminar at Emory Medical Clinic in Atlanta next week; but I thought I would see if anyone here has any feedback.

    Thanks!
  • Like you I'm tall, I'm 5'9. I'm 21 months post of from GBS and I've lost a total of 155 pounds. I weigh 150 now. I'm comfortably in a size 8 and have stayed at this weight for I'd say 6 months. My body has gotten comfortable here and thank god I haven't had to much trouble staying here, but I must say I do have to watch what I eat. I've never in my life been a size 8 and I really love it. The only down side that I have found to loosing so much weight is that my boobs have become flat balloons. I looked forward to being able to go braless now I have to make sure I buy padded bras. Which would I rather do be heavy or buy padded bras, Jockey here I come!!!
  • Hi Pookie, I am with you--it is a very cruel joke. And you aren't alone, I was thinking that way too, and now I am seeing the skin just hanging there, it's not fair. And they need to come up with a new bra size for us wls people, lol, 38 LONG maybe?? LOL

    I also have had a few operations and I am not looking forward at all to anymore! But it just might be a neccessity, but that is still a long, long way away for me.....got to take 1 day at at time, right Jiffy??
  • yay for you misty!!!!!!! i'm so thrilled that you've lost so much weight that your skin is just hanging... yep. just one day at a time.

    as for the hanging skin... with the enormous amounts of weight we've all lost, we have to realize that it won't go away without surgery. and we each have to face that yes/no decision at some point or other.

    BUT, there are a FEW things that help tighten the skin as much as possible. won't get rid of it all, but it will help...

    first, make sure you drink all your water and then some. it helps keep the skin elastic. second. calcium for the same reason. third. toning/strength exercises. yep - resistance training. whether it's with light weights or those fun stretchy bands. and last, moisturizer.

    this seems to make the skin as good as it's gonna get without surgery.

    the one thing that's bothering me about my skin [besides the fact that i STILL haven't filed for insurance approval!] is that people see me and think that i'm so much heavier than i really am... that spare tire around my middle is mostly skin!!!! <sigh> gotta get moving on this issue...
  • Yep. I agree Ole Alvin has to stuff all his loose skin in his pant, but he can't bear the thought of another surgery.Maybe one day, but as Pookie says, the Pros outweigh the cons so much!!! Alvin has been playing golf every weekend and before surgery he couldn't ever walk from the bedroom to the car without having to stop and rest in the den.

    I'm sorry I haven't been around much to perform my job as official CHEERLEADER for all of you, but live has been very hard for us this year. I'll try to be better and be here to support all of you, (an I still have not given up on the idea of jumping in there myself)

  • Barb, can you please reduce the size of your name graphic? At 1224 pixels wide, it is larger than most people's monitors, so we have to scroll back-and-forth to read anything. To help it fit in MOST windows, it shouldn't be more than 700 or 800 pixels wide. Thanks.
  • Hi All,

    There won't be any shorts in my future either. My legs were the largest part of me and I have rolls over my knees. I walk 3 to 5 miles a day and after walking for so long my best friend and I were going to start training for a 5k, we starting to jog and it was painful from all the skin bouncing. We've nixed the run and have just kept walking. Three of my bestfriends that I had surgery with have gone thru with the tummy tuck and have had HORRIBLE experiences. I've decided I didn't like shorts anyway and as long as I look good in my clothes I'm not having the tummy tuck done. Like I said my butt and legs were the heaviest part of my body so my stomach isn't to horrible and when I had originally gone for the consult with the plastic my insurance said that it would be purley cosmetic anyway. Oh well, its a good thing I don't like shorts. LOL Have a great day everyone!
  • Thanks. I don't know if I'll be heavy enough for the surgery. I am 280 pounds give or take a few; but I have tried so hard to lose this weight, and my BMI is 39, just one point below the 40 cutoff I've seen published. I would think slightly over 100 pound weight loss would warrent the surgery. I just know nothing else works. I am going to be SO disappointed if they try to push another freakin' diet on me. I'm so anxious about this seminar on Thursday. I feel like it's my last hope for a "normal" life. I didn't mean to sound stupid about not wanting to lose too much weight... but the "bean pole" days of my youth were traumatic. LOL! It was probably more the height than the actual skinniness that people joked about though.
  • Hi Luvmycurves, Your worries are very real and very important to you and every women that goes through this surgery. There is a lot more that goes into the decisions of getting this surgery then just your BMI. I weighed 280 when I went for my surgery as well but my BMI was higher. I had high blood pressure that was more then stroke level, I had Sleep Apnea (that thank god since loosing the weight has gone away, along with the high BP), and in doing the blood work found that I had abnormal liver function. All of that was because of my weight. You have to realize that even with the surgery you'll never have the body that you've always dreamed of. I know with me my surgery was open so I have a very long scar down my belly so half shirts or a bikini (not that I would ever wear either of those anyway) is out of the question. My legs were huge and have the most hanging skin, so shorts and again a bathing suit are out of the question. But to me to finally be healthy and not out of breath all the time is more then worth the sacrifies I've had to give up. Food will ALWAYS be an issue. The stuff that you crave now will come back to haunt you later. That chocolate cake will always tempt you. You just have to make the everyday decision which is more important that instant gratification of the food or finally being able to be in control of your life. You have to make the decision "does that food taste as good as thin feels". It's a life changing decision that you have to make and loosing those curves, good and bad, will happen. Your body will find a comfort zone that it likes and I've found at least with my friends and I that had the surgery that that's where your body will stop loosing. That's where the work begins to either keep it there or find the happy medium that you can live with. Me personally, I like the size 8. I'm 5'9 and weight 150 pounds now, that's thin for my height but I feel healthy here. To me that's whats important.

    Sorry for the rant, you'll make the decision that's right for you.