hollirrose

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!

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 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!!!

You carry your weight well. Even at 264 lbs you had a nice shape. You are going to be hot! Great progress. Keep it up!

...oh forgot ... Some add a little pasta sauce and cheese for pizza. The cheese adds addl protein and you use such little sauce it doesnt add many calories or carbs.

I get the hormel turkey pepperoni. 17 slices is 70 cals/4 fat/0 carbs/9 protein. I like mine kind of like crispy chips so I do 2 mins. Most do 1.5 mins. I use mine to scoop tuna salad or eat them plain. Good stuff especially when you are looking for something salty and crunchy.

I answer all the PM's I get. The top question I get is about my extra skin. Seriously, I lost the equivelant of an obese man, YES -- I have extra skin. The second most asked question is how to lose as much as I have. Butter said it best "by being extra fat". The third question is about my "diet plan". I swear, I start every message with either __ In my opinion or I am not a doctor.

Wow you nailed it for me...put into words how I feel. I want to wear a sign that says I am really an overweight woman. This size 4 didnt exist 11 months ago. I am really a size 24! I feel like a fraud. I have lost the weight but man ol' man I have a lot or work to still do!

I dont specifically do paleo or atkins but during weight loss I basically eat meat. I get less than 20 carbs a day and at min 70 protein. Google cholesterol being high during weight loss. There are several great articles about it. Basically when you lose weight quickly.. your cholesterol will sometimes go up.. when your weight loss stabalizes it goes back to normal.

The bars, for some, stall weight loss. I have seen many posts about it. They also can set off the carb monster. Just a warning... I do see that you said "only in a pinch" so that is probally the best use of them. =)

This is the same plan I follow. For me, calories dont really matter as much as low carb. Good or bad carbs are all the same. I am 10 months out and can still drop 2 lbs a week if I keep my carbs low. I dont think 2 lbs is bad since I have a normal bmi. Best of luck!

I microwave turkey pepperoni every night. I add the calories directy from the package. It is just like if you are eating hambrger. You would not try and subtract the greese/fat from a cooked patty. If you are getting a little bit less fat from the microwaved chips... Good. Better to enter the entire ammt and error on being over than under. Just my opinion. Also, on mfp, someone posted that number and could be wrong. Just use what is on the package.

I always liked seeing photos pre op...hell I still like to see them now. So here you go! I just under 9 months out and down 172 lbs (about 20ish pre op). I follow the 600 -800 calories/+60 protein/+64 oz fluid/-40 carbs. I haven't really exercised and maybe walk a couple of miles a week. I am overall more active and I do plan on starting regular exercise soon. I have had off plan days but I can count the number of "cheats" on both hands. I wanted to get to a normal bmi quickly and this is what has worked for me. I am a few pounds away from "normal" and want to lose about another 20. Enjoy! Before/Size 24 9 Months/Size 10