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Old 12-11-2007, 07:33 AM   #1  
Have you had The Surgery?
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Default Are you at your original goal?

Short story long. On January 1st of 2006 I decided I did not want to be 510lbs anymore, I needed to lose weight (I had a 20 yr grade school reunion that me and a girl organized fir May). I was depressed. I had no friends. My sex life...well we don't wanna go there!. I was diagnosed type 2 Diabetes on 6/1/06. When I visited my doctor 7/1/06, he "suggested" I get down to 200lbs. When the fat started melting away, people have offered to "give me" stuff if I got down to 200. $100, lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, a bike ride along the path where I did my 5mi walk for ADA, ballroom dancing, etc. The prizes kept me focused.

In order to get down to 200lbs, I would have to lose 310!. In my blog I list the milestones along the way.

As I lose, I noticed the skin wasn't shrinking, this gives me self-doubt. That damn skin is a constant reminder of how I was. People comment, "your getting skinny". I don't see that. I guarantee I'm not the only one that feels this way, especially here on 3FC. I do weight training, aerobics, dieting, etc. Because of this skin, I have nothing to show for it. Because of that, I have been very curious about my body fat. I knew BMI in my case was not accurate. Calipers would not work in my case either

Yesterday I finally got myself "dunked" at Fresno State College. I am at 29.2% body fat. Still considered obese, but 18-25% is considered acceptable. 14-17% is considered Fitness (folks, thats an I not an A). According to the lab's printout, the goal is to get down to 200.45. HOWEVER this will put me at 15% body fat. I am thinking this is too low. I am thinking that I would be "happy" with 17%, but would be satisfied at 20%. 18% (according to this printout) would make me at 207.78lbs, 20% 212.97lbs. 25% I will be 227.17lb (right around the corner!)

I am now thinking that I may not see ONEderland. I have been at my longest plateau now for 6 weeks. Granted, I have gotten "lazy" for a couple of weeks. Since I lost my vehicle, I havent gone to the gym as much as I like. A 9 mile bike ride is 40 minutes. I work 64 hours a week. Okay, enough excuses!

So maintainers. Did you get down to your original goal? If not, what made you decide to change your goal? If you got down to it, have you been able to maintain it? Meaning, I understand the scale will fluctuate, do you give yourselves some leeway? I really want to see ONEderland, but I no longer think thats realistic. I am now thinking 210 would be my ULTIMATE prize. That would give me a 300lb weight loss. I am going to continue doing what I am doing, plateaus or not. I am going to get myself dunked again in 3 months, to re-evaluate my future.
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:29 AM   #2  
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FresnoBeeDude,

I never actually set a goal. For me, it was all about having a healthy lifestyle, and I got there. I find weight goals (for me) to be misleading, and just one more thing I can beat myself with when I "fail". I do keep track of weight, because it helps me figure out if lapses are momentary things, or bigger patterns to be overcome, but it really is just a number to me.

You have done an amazing job! If you want a big number switch, track your weight in kilograms instead of pounds and watch yourself slip below 100!

Anne
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:31 AM   #3  
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BTW: I'm maintaining somewhere in the neighborhood of a 110 pound loss for almost 5 years now with the lifestyle emphasis, rather than the goal weight emphasis. And yes, I do have goals, just not ones that have a weight in them.
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:36 AM   #4  
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First - CONGRATULATIONS on losing so much weight already!!!!!

I did get down to my original goal, but I only had to lose 55lbs to get there, not 310! I maintained my goal weight with no problem for a year, but this past year has been harder. In the past few months I have gained and today I'm 10lbs over my goal weight, but yesterday I also found out that I am hypothyroid which is causing the recent weight gain.

In any case, I think it is fine to set your goal higher than it was before. If you get to your new goal, and then decide you actually do want to lose more, there is nothing stopping you, but you won't feel like a failure either. Also you might get to a certain point and decide to maintain for a while before losing more, which is fine too.

As for the skin, I think there are several people on here who have had it surgically removed (full body lift or lower body lift), and I'm sure they can tell you more about that. In fact I think there is a sticky thread in here about excess skin.
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:37 AM   #5  
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Wow! Congratulations on such a large weight loss in such a (relatively) short time. You've lost close to 300 lbs in less than a year where it took me over a year to lose 50 lbs.

To answer your question, I'm still a newbie at maintenance - my first anniversary is 3 months away. I went 5 lbs under goal for a few months over the summer, but was really too skinny. I fluxuate only a pound or two over the course of a month. Others on this forum fluxuate several pounds each week.

Plateau's a common to all of us. Your body might be taking a rest before it gets ready to lose again.

Have you thought of having surgery to remove all the excess skin? That will reduce your weight some and make you feel much better about your overall appearance. Monitor Meg has written 'the book' about her experience in the Sticky section.

Last edited by clvquilts; 12-11-2007 at 08:39 AM.
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:53 AM   #6  
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Fresno, I've told you this before, I'll tell you again. Congratulations on the incredible weight loss. It's really amazing.

As far as goals go, looking back it seems almost silly to me that I had even set myself a "goal". I mean how in the world was I supposed to know what I would look like or feel like when I got down to a "normal" range? It had been soooo long since I'd been there, 20 years and 3 children in between. There was really no way for me to forsee where I would be comfortable at.

I originally set my goal at 125, then got a little nervous I wouldn't or couldn't make it, didn't want to get all this way and be disappointed, so I raised it to 135, got there and quickly took it back down to 125. I got to 122 and now I fluctuate between 121 and 125. On "bad" weekends my weight has even gotten higher then that, but that really only lasts a day or so, so I don't really count that. Going back to plan quickly removes any weekend weight.

Goals are not set in stone. See where your body takes you and what you are comfortable with. You should never, ever be disappointed with yourself. Not with your weight and not with your excess skin. You have done an amazing, incredibly rare thing by losing so much weight and on top of it all without surgery. Your life has dramatically improved. Don't let some numbers ever diminish that.
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Old 12-11-2007, 09:00 AM   #7  
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Thumbs up Congratulations

Congratulations on your remarkable success to date. That's quite a journey.

Did I make my original goal? Yes, because my original goal was only to lose 15 pounds before the end of 2005. When that came off rapidly, I chose the outrageous goal of losing 52 pounds in 52 weeks. When my body kept shedding at two pounds per week, I chose to let it tell me when it was done. So it got to 158 pounds after 18 months before stopping. I'm here. I'm happy.

Since I started my journey in maintenance mode, I privately measure my success as 26 months of maintenance. In my avatar, I list the more common interpretation of maintenance - 8 months since my body stopped losing weight. My current goal is to reach 5 years on my journey. That will, I hope, convince me that I'm in this for the duration.

I sympathesize with you on the skin - that's a bummer all right. Even my much smaller loss leaves me with a band of skin that is unlikely to ever disappear on its own. I'm going to live with mine - I'm beyond the dating circuit. Are you going to consider the cosmetic surgery for the skin?

Best wishes on making your current goal decison.

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Old 12-11-2007, 09:43 AM   #8  
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My original goal was to "lose as much weight as I could" and be healthy while I did it. I'm 6 months away from my 4 year anniversary of losing/maintaining/losing and I'm 3 lbs away from my original number goal. I never really thought I'd see the 100s but it is amazing that I am almost there. I am 20 lbs away from the second goal I set which was half my former body weight and that really blows me away.

Although I haven't lost as much weight as you, I think when you have well over 100 lbs to lose, it is mind altering to get to points you never thought you would be at.

Maybe if your number goal isn't working out, perhaps just concentrate on the body fat goal? Look at increasing your muscle and dropping fat and don't worry about the scale for a while (keep it around though!).

Weight loss tends to come slowly as you get smaller anyway so I know it is also a bit frustrating to see the weight drop but then see it slow down but it is only because you don't have as much excess weight as you used to.

Keep doing what you are doing though
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Old 12-11-2007, 09:45 AM   #9  
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Yup Yup FresnoBeeDude, you KNOW losing 300 pounds is AMAZING! You should be EXTREMELY proud of yourself. If you DO think ONEderland is possible for you, you only have one tenth of what you already lost to go. If not... hey, you've done SO wonderfully already!

As for whether I am at my original goal, yes I am. When I hit 175 pounds, I set the goal of 135 because it sounded reasonable and healthy. I was 125 pounds before I gained weight and about halfway through my weight loss journey, I started thinking that maybe I should lower my goal to 125, since I wanted to be the EXACT same size as I was while thin.

However, I decided once I hit 135 (which WAS my *original* goal) that 125 did not matter to me. I can fit all my 125 pound clothes (sizes 4-6, 5-7 in jrs, a couple 3's) at this 135, so why should I bother losing 10 more pounds? My biggest focus right now is just getting nice abs. I may lose something like 3-5 more pounds of fat by the time I'm finished with that goal, but I'm not really trying to.

Believe it or not, I have a little bit of loose skin, too. I can't say that I relate to all the loose skin you must have, but because I lost 40 pounds pretty quickly and most of it was in my stomach, I have a little bit of loose skin there as a reminder.
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Old 12-11-2007, 10:28 AM   #10  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FresnoBeeDude View Post
Yesterday I finally got myself "dunked" at Fresno State College. I am at 29.2% body fat. Still considered obese, but 18-25% is considered acceptable. 14-17% is considered Fitness (folks, thats an I not an A). According to the lab's printout, the goal is to get down to 200.45. HOWEVER this will put me at 15% body fat. I am thinking this is too low. I am thinking that I would be "happy" with 17%, but would be satisfied at 20%. 18% (according to this printout) would make me at 207.78lbs, 20% 212.97lbs. 25% I will be 227.17lb (right around the corner!).
First, I want to commend you for your incredible achievement! That's phenomenal and astonishing, and you deserve to be very proud of yourself.

Secondly, I wanted to comment on the above section of what you wrote. You need to keep in mind that as you lose weight you also lose some muscle. The amount varies depending on what you're eating, how you're exercising, how your particular body works, that sort of thing. You'll lose a bit of muscle because your body just doesn't need all that muscle anymore to hold you up and move you around. I'm sure you've noticed already in this journey of yours that some muscles seem smaller. Keep in mind, too, that some of the muscle/lean body mass you'll lose will be internal and undetectable (and uncontrollable) by you. Those numbers are generated assuming you maintain every single ounce of muscle weight and lose purely fat.

Anyway, my point: don't let that printout disturb or discourage you. It may be possible for you to see ONEderland. That printout is based on MATH, NOT on a chemical and physiological extrapolation of how your body will behave in the next few months. Keep going, keep trying! Our bodies are amazing machines. You're doing a fantastic job!
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Old 12-11-2007, 10:50 AM   #11  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FresnoBeeDude View Post
So maintainers. Did you get down to your original goal? If not, what made you decide to change your goal? If you got down to it, have you been able to maintain it? Meaning, I understand the scale will fluctuate, do you give yourselves some leeway? I really want to see ONEderland, but I no longer think thats realistic. I am now thinking 210 would be my ULTIMATE prize. That would give me a 300lb weight loss. I am going to continue doing what I am doing, plateaus or not. I am going to get myself dunked again in 3 months, to re-evaluate my future.
At my highest weight, I was 200 lbs. I am 5'7" with a very small frame (I didn't know about the small frame part at the time). I never really had a goal set in stone, but I had an idea in my head that 150 would be a good weight for me - I had managed to stay at that weight for several years previously.

When I reached 150, the weight was still coming off easily. I had done a lot more research and based on my height/frame I set a new goal for 135. Then, I plateaued at 140 for about 4 months. I finally accepted 140 as a good weight and began maintenance.

Over the next 9 months, I lost another 13 lbs without really trying (just eating a little under maintenance). I reached 127 in Feb 2006 and I have maintained that weight with an ease I find inexplicable. It's like this is the weight my body has always wanted to be. I have not been above 131 since I started maintaining (and that was after a decadent week long trip to Singapore which involved WAY too much eating).

I think you are on the right track to pay attention to your body and re-evaluate your goals as appropriate. There is no "perfect" right answer, the decision is only yours and what you want for you.

Big congrats on all your hard work!
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Old 12-11-2007, 10:51 AM   #12  
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First I have to comment on how absolutely AMAZING your accomplishment is. You've done something very few people could do, that's for sure, and I hope you're extremely proud of it!!

Now -- for myself. I'm so new at maintenance that it probably doesn't even count. I reached my original goal of 165 on October 3 of this year, so I've only been there for a little over 2 months. My maintenance goal right now is to stay UNDER 165 through the holidays, but I've discovered that I really want to get to the 140s, so I have a new goal for 2008. I imagine that one will be tough to maintain, because my body seems to like it in the 160s. I have lots of excess skin myself, but I also have some fat that I could get rid of and some muscle to build. We'll see how tough it is to maintain the 140s when I get there, I suppose! For me it's become so much less about the number on the scale and more on improving my running, though. If I stay 165 and run a 5k under 25 minutes, I'm really not going to care if I ever hit 149, that's for sure!
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Old 12-11-2007, 11:09 AM   #13  
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You have lost an amazing, amazing amount of weight and even if you never lose a single pound more, you should be really proud of your accomplishment.

When I lost the bulk of my weight a few years back, I didn't set a goal. When I got to 143 I decided that was fine and so I stopped losing. I wasn't a focused maintainer, however and eventually I found myself back at about 158. My re-lose goal was 143, since I had felt fine there, but this time, because I was scrupulous about maintaining, I lost a few more pounds by accident during the first few months of maintenance.

If you're feeling frustrated with weight loss, perhaps you should try a period of maintenance. You could set a bounded period--say 3 months--and just focus on maintaining and exercise and being healthy. At the end of the 3 months you could re-evaluate and shift back into weight loss mode if you felt like it. You've lost alot of weight very quickly--your body and your mind could probably use a break. I'm certain you could get below 200 if you wanted to, but a break might give you a chance to get used to your new self, to refocus your goals away from the scale and so on.
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Old 12-11-2007, 07:52 PM   #14  
Have you had The Surgery?
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Thank you to everyone who responded! A few of you mentioned full body lift, etc. I actually have bought books on Amazon pertaining to this. I know Erik from Biggest Lose paid $35,000 for the surgery (I have the People magazine article hanging at my station at work). I had a "pre" consultation with a plastic surgeon (I thought I was going to see the surgeon, but instead saw his assistant - she had me watch videos on the procedure, etc. Quoted me a final price of $55,000). I have heard from Oprahs people on this. I am hoping she will pay for that surgery.

I have worked hard over the past 2 years, exercising, weight training, dieting, etc.

I understand this printout is based on math-crunching, this is why I am going to do this again in 3 months. I am very ecstatic on the results.

I feel like I have been maintaining for the past 6 weeks. But according to that stupid BMI, or even this test, I am still considered "obese". I need to get rid of that!
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Old 12-11-2007, 08:16 PM   #15  
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You've done something amazing, and I know you know that!! But don't let yourself get too hung up on any number... at least, that would be my advice.

I've lost 120 pounds and never really had a set goal. Like others have said, I had been obese and morbidly obese so long I couldn't imagine! Every milestone was like a miracle.

I'm currently maintaining at a weight that is not far from "obese" for my height, but I'm okay with that for now. There are a number of people, like Shane , perhaps, whose starting weight is my maintenance weight, but I can't compare myself to other people, really.

Congrats again, and good luck!!!!
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