hollirrose

Stalker!! :-). Totally joking! Looking at before and afters, reading about life post op, and gathering info is all I did for months. I just want to say that I am a normal person who followed an eating plan (most of the time), if I can do this... So can you! It is really possible. Good luck to you!

I ate 3 meals and usually 2 Snacks a day. My meals and snacks were basically the same thing. meat... About 2 - 2.5 oz at a time. No room for vegs. I ate to get satisfied not "full". I am 34 and 5'7. Started at 344 and called goal at 142 lbs. I am an mfp.com user and weighed and tracked everything I ate...even the off plan stuff. Now at goal I am slowley working my carbs and calories up. My username is hollirrose on mfp if you want to add me. Just keep in mind I am eating at goal now so it look dif than when I was in weight loss mode.

So I am "Team Low Carb". I followed 600 - 800 calories/less than 40 carbs/more than 60 prot/more than 64 oz Fluid a day. My carbs were usually under 20 and I consumed about 600 calories a day. I was never hungry because I basically at meat for every meal and snack. For me, low carb is the way to go. I had a lot of weight to lose and I wanted to take the easiest/fastest route possible. Staying "on plan" 98% of the time I reached "goal" in about 11 months. In that 11 months I lost 201 lbs and now have a bmi of 22. I think I started at 52 or 54...something crazy high. Once I reached goal... I have been adding carbs and calories back into my diet. I think, compared to most, I will always stay pretty low carb. Low carb makes me feel the best and works well with the prot first rule.

Hi all.. I spend less and less time in the Mexico forum and more in the main forums now. I just posted my before and goal photos a couple of days ago in the "success" section. They should be in my profile too. I had surgery with Garcia about 11.5 monts ago and have lost 200 lbs. Great Doctor and great recovery. I must also add the disclaimer that I did not follow his post op diet. I need some rules and his was more of a everything in moderation plan. No regrets!

Lol.. thank you for being my fan! I always thought of my weight in terms of other people. My son is six and weighs about 50ish lbs. I lost him in under 6 months. When I had lost about 120 lbs...that was a Hooter's girl. 170 was a Lane Bryant employee. At 200 it was a construction worker. Mind blowing, right? I cant believe I was as large as I was. VSG rocks!!

You can do this! You will be as successful as you want to be! I went shopping today and had the entire store to choose from. I was a little discouraged because in the "normal" section there is a bunch of clothes to choose from but they seem to be all sizes 8 -12. Not much of anything in 2/4's unless you go to the junior section. The juniors are filled with all this bright/neon 80ish stuff. I was too fat to wear that stuff in middle school when the trend came around the first time and it is not my style now. I kind of got tickled thinking back to the two plus sized stores and a tiny section (always next to the prego section) that I had the choice of before. I got out of my funk and thought how silly I was being getting discouraged at my lack of selection now. I hope that after this surgery you will have those kinds of "skinny girl" problems too!

I wish I could say I as training for a 5 K or something. I'm not. I did walk 1-2 mile a day when the weather was nice. I live in Kansas so I haven't done that in a couple of months. I do an occasional class at the gym (yoga, bootcamp)....but nothing on a regular schedule. I am not much of an exerciser. Here is the deal, just my opinion - Exercise is for health -- Diet is for weightloss. I may end up working on body fat % or something now that I am at goal. I need something to focus on, but then again maybe not.

Oh ... You just made my night! I went from being a fat kid to an obese adult. Sure heath played a big part in getting VSG but my goal was really to look "normal". Thank you!!

I lost a fat man. I dont think it would have made a difference in the skin department if I had lost slower. I think skin is genetics, age, amount you need to lose, and luck! I kind of won the skin lottery when it came to my neck and tummy. My tummy isn't flat and tight but it doesn't hang like some I have seen. My upper legs look a little melted and my arms were shot from the get go. How you choose to lose is totally up to you. What I can say is that I have seen tons of people who take the slower route and run out of steam along they way. Most also need to eat more at the 6 month and 1 year mark, which makes it much harder to lose the further out you get. It is still possible but I am all about taking the easier route. When I had this done.. I commited to saying no to all things not protine for the first year. What is one year when most of us have dieted/struggled our entire lives? 201 lbs was the result of saying no most of the time. I was not perfect this entire time. Trust me there was a swiss roll incident.. standing at my cabinet with spoonfulls of nutella/peanut butter, oh and at least a handful of other eating frenzy incidents. The thing is that I forgave myself and went back on plan after that. Good luck with your decision. It can be a hard one to make. I was torn too. I am tickled now with the route I picked!

Actually, not too bad at all. They look normal. Just happy I dont have any on my chest! They would not have held up so well.

I always enjoy before and afters. Here are mine! I lost 200 lbs in about 11 months. I started in 24's and 3/4 X shirts. My BMI was 53 and is now 22. I now wear 2/4 pants and med/large shirts. I am 5'7. I had an apple shape before and now I am still an apple...just smaller! So jealous of the hour glass folks. I ate about 600 calories a day/ less than 20 carbs/more than 64 oz fluid/more than 60 protein. I truly believe, for me anyhow, the key is low carbs. I weigh, track, log every bite of food on MFP (hollirrose). I had a handful of times that I ate off plan but never for more than a meal or day. I don't work out that often. I walk some but not consistently. Overall I am more active. I get the most private messages about skin. I have it. My arms are awful, my upper thighs sag, my tummy will never be flat. For the most part..I think I look normal in clothes. It all tucks in pretty nicley and if I wear shapewear..I almost look skinny. Naked, I look a little like an emancipated shar pie!

I am 10.5 months out and I find this to be true for me. It is my "normal".

You have a waist! Great progress!

I haven't posted to this thread in awhile... Dr. Garcia last April (10.5 months) and down 188 pounds. I have a normal bmi... And just trying to take off a couple of more pounds for some bounce back room. I still have great restriction and eat about 2.5 oz of protein for a meal. Good luck everyone!

Sorry about the thread hijack. I started about 15 lbs less than you. I'm 5'7. 10.5 months out.. down 188 lbs. I have a normal bmi and wear a 6...sometimes a 4. I am someone who has be fat since childhood. Never been "normal" before. There are pics in my profile. I think in the afters I was a size 10 so I have lost more since then. You can totally do this!!!