Yay you! That's fantastic news, and you have every right to be really proud of yourself for conquering not only your own doubts, but the doubts of the medical professionals around you and achieving your goal.

Your post makes me grateful for my doctor, I have to say. I was already in onederland when I started seeing her, but at least she doesn't tell me that I can't achieve my goal just because I'm closing in on 40. (In fact, she would like me to be 10 pounds lighter than the goal I set for myself.)

Wow! How fabulous is that! :) Congratulations!

Congrats!

Congratulations! :congrat:

We're all capable of so much more than we ever thought.

I had a doctor who actually got angry at me for being able to lose weight without surgery and he called me a freak. Obviously it was because he was overweight and struggling to lose weight himself, but it still stung. Also obviously, I got a new doctor!

My PCP (different doctor) has a standard answer for me when I ask her my questions about life after weight loss (excess skin, metabolism, calorie needs) -- she doesn't know. She says that I'm her only patient, in 30 years of practice, who has lost this much weight and kept it off. So yeah, she routinely recommends WLS for her obese patients because, in her experience, no one (except for me) is willing to do the hard work of weight loss.

It's up to us to change the perceptions of the medical establishment, one at a time. By losing weight and keeping it off, we can demonstrate that there IS a viable alternative to surgery and that large weight losses can be maintained, even by those of us who started out in morbid obesity. And maybe, maybe -- we can change the perceptions of obese people who believe that surgery is their only option for a healthy life. By living the dream, we can make it a reality for others. :)

THIS!

Hurray! :carrot: You are AWESOME and you can do anything you want!! Congrats!

I'm so happy for you. Look what you've accomplished.

I too had a similar experience. With a BMI of a whopping 56, I was headed for WLS, 7 days away from it in fact. When I opted out, my general physician told me that "it would be impossible for me to lose all the weight that I needed to without it." Ha.

Then I went to a nutritionist, who told me "you'll never make it out of the 180'S" Ha.

I wish someone would have said, "work on those behaviors. work on them. work on them. work on them. and then there's no way that you CAN'T not lose the weight."

Congratulations on a huge milestone. I look forward to hearing of you meeting and surpassing many more.

Congratulations your story is very inspiring!

That is a HUGE accomplishment! Way to go my friend!!!!

I too thought about WLS. I have friends that went through it and urged me to go that route. Even they are astounded that I'm down to a BMI of 33 from 47 without surgery.

I'm well on my way to goal and their weight loss has stalled. Now they study what I eat and how much I exercise :D

I am 43 so age is not on my side. The weight is coming off slowly but steadily. I haven't been to a doctor in 20+ years so I'm not sure what's going on with them, but I AM glad of all the support I get at this site. I don't post much but I've learned that it CAN be done...there are so many people here that have proven that.


Congratulations on that big milestone!

Way to prove them wrong!!

Yes, yes, and yes! When I succeed in reaching my goal, I hope I will be able to be a positive force for change.

The biggest thing holding us back, in my opinion, is the pervasive belief out there that weight loss is impossible.

But why impossible? It's hard, but I've done other hard things in my life. It's a challenge, but so are many other things.

I have read about people being told that WLS was the only option and I am apalled at that.

This is why I really appreciate this site: to see these success stories and why I check out the Maintenance Forum from time to time.

Congratulations

That is an awesome accomplishment! Congrats!

Yes. I thought that it was impossible to lose such an enormous amount of weight. Till I finally said, "well why NOT?, why the heck NOT?" You change your eating habits and then you chip away and chip away at those numbers. One pound at a time. Then another. Then another.

Someone earlier mentioned age as a factor and quite frankly, I don't think that that matters much. I didn't start this venture till I was 2 months shy of 43. I know there are people here who have done it even later and post-menopausal. Weight loss IS a doable thing for anyone and everyone. There ARE ways around *these* obstacles.

Yes, it may be hard, initially, but it doesn't compare to the hard of being morbidly obese or in my case super morbidly obese.

Yeah. The age thing is weird and it doesn't seem to make that much difference. I mean it's true that I need to eat 1200-1300 to lose and younger people need more. On the other hand, it's also true that I don't have as big an appetite as I used to and I manage just fine on that amount.

I guess as far as weight loss is concerned, it isn't over until the fat lady sings....:lol3: