NewSetOfCurves

I understand what you mean. When I worked at the university fitness center, I was the incentive program director. We often had 4, 6, to 8 week incemtive programs to encourage students, faculty, staff, and alumni to shed fat and build muscle. At the beginning of every new incentive program, everyone would come in for a private screening of thier weight, measurements, and calculations of body fat percentage. I always felt that the mechanism in which we used to measure body fat was far from accurate. There were many people who were big and who obviously had high fat ratios, but it was difficult to pinch and measure. On the other hand, there were people who were lean and muscular but had very elastic-y skin that was easy to pinch and pull. There are more acurate ways to measure body fat, but they are not readily available without a price. In the situation with your skin, I am sure you are one of the ones that falls into the latter category.

Sorry for all the typos!

Aroundhnky, butterthebean is right...you look great! Talk about a success story! BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass, and I think it's the percentage of bady fat that should matter, not the numbers on a scale. Somebody could have a low BMI, but they coyld also have higher percentage of body fat than someone with a higher BMI. When I was at the peak of my fitness game, most if my female students would gasp when I told them how much I weighed. Hence the idea that "muscle weighs more than fat." Lol

I also want to add that "aroundhnky" is very much correct: women do not add mass the way men do. Men have testosterone; testosterone—stated in a simple way—yields itself to a greater ability to build mass. The estrogen hormone that reins a woman’s body, unfortunately, lends itself to higher ratios of fat. Staying away from bad fats, eating balanced meals, and consuming at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (as well as adding cardio and strength training) overrides this genetic variable. If you are a female looking to add more muscle and are seeking out that “muscle look,” you need to work your way up to lifting heavier weight and lower reps with failure at the end of each set. Make sure to spread out the days in which you work out the various muscles. Muscles build after it tears and heals itself.

I should have clarified, but yes...you are correct and thank you for that clarification.

I have not sleeved yet, but I did read a really good post where somebody added a link to an article stating that stalls in the beginning are very normal. When your body goes into shock from the liquid diet, it automatically uses your insulin stores to supplement itself with the energy it needs to sustain itself. Somehow (I don't remember exactly how), this process flushes out a lot of your water weight. That is why there is typically such a large loss of weight immediately following surgery. However, once the body realizes that you are not going to supplement it with the amount of food you once consumed, it starts to conserve itself once again--adding BACK the water weight you had originally lost. This is the "stall" that people are seeing or experiencing. You are not gaining back weight from fat or excess eating, but you are adding on water weight. Also, remember that when you are exercising—especially if you just started—not only do you begin to burn fat, but you begin to build muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat! Somebody who is built with lots of muscle can way more than a person who is bigger than they are because their fat mass weighs less than muscle mass!!! Often times people believe that they have plateaued or “stalled”, when in fact they are still losing the fat and inches!

We are smoothie drinkers at my household, and even though I haven't sleeved yet, I am already planning on adding a tasteless protien powder to mine once I sleeve. My husband is a hard core weight lifter and I add it to his. Once you sleeve this is an excellent way to fulfill the protien quota your nutritionist recommends.

My doctor's website posts a little Vitamin 101 type of document. You can check it out here: http://www.lonestarsurgical.com/nutrition/#supplements FYI: I love your Plus Size and Fabulous sign on name!!!

Hello Everyone! I am very excited to begin this journey with the vertical sleeve. I am new to this site, but since my decision to begin this journey of weight loss—via surgery—I have come to love and appreciate the stories that have been shared on this site. That being said, it was inevitable that I too would become a part of this community. My story begins with my childhood. I grew up in a small south Texas town with little to do and way too much time on my hands. My parents owned a small convenient store/bar-b-que restaurant. I was ALWAYS there and I was ALWAYS eating. I had endless amounts of chips, dips, sodas, juices, candy, ice cream, nachos, tacos, and bbq at my disposal. Kids called me Fat Kathy, Little Piggy, or chanted “Boom-baba-BOOM!” as I walked by. I was very insecure and unhappy. I turned to vomiting to purge out the excessive food I would consume. As I neared my graduation year and stretched out, along with the bulimia, I finally began to lose weight. I also became more active: athletics, long distance running, and weights. My size varied from a 7 to a 10. Even though I was a lot thinner, I was not happy. I was obsessed with my body image and the idea that I was fat. I continued my destructive path once I graduated from high school and entered college. My obsession with my body image fed into my obsession with working out, eating right, purging food that wasn’t right, and consuming weight loss supplements and laxatives. I worked out in the morning with a morning 3-5 mile run; throughout the day when I taught aerobic classes (I worked for the university’s intramural sports center), abdominal classes, and toning classes; in the evenings I strength trained to build muscle. Even though I eventually reached an all time low of 130 pounds and a size 4, I was still convinced that I was overweight and ugly. My then-boyfriend-now-husband was not allowed to touch my stomach or look at me when we were intimate because in my mind I was disgusting. Nobody could convince me otherwise. When my husband and I eventually married and conceived our first child, I finally stopped with the bulimia, laxatives, and obsessive working out. However, the consequence was weight-gain-with-a vengeance. I was a size 6 when I found out I was pregnant, and a size 14 after I had the baby. When I had my second baby and struggled with his behavior as an autistic child, I ballooned into a 16. Then my third child came along with heart failure and the need for multiple heart surgeries. The stress from the situation aided in my weight gain and size 18 figure. Now that I am a mother of four, I vary between an 18 and a 20. Contradicting to what one would think, I shed many of my insecurities. I think my experiences with my children helped me to overcome such pettiness and taught me to appreciate life and all the good it has to offer. Life is too short, it is here one minute and gone the next and it would be a shame to live it—or waste it—being miserable. I am now a confident woman. I love who I have become, I feel beautiful, I love to dress up and look good; I love my life, husband, and children. My children come first and I love to be active with them. I like feeling good and throughout the years I have even gone so far as to start up aerobic classes in the community to preserve that feeling. However, despite my attempts at staying active and eating healthy, I have never been able to shed the weight. I have yo-yoed up and down for these past 10 years; and it seems as if the further I yo-yo up, the less I am able to yo-yo down. I am on this path that I can’t seem to get off despite my efforts. I am still very unhappy with my weight. I have my moments when I get depressed and I feel disgusted with my body, but I don’t let me human emotions get me down too much and I try to stay positive. An aunt of mine, who has suffered from obesity all of her life, told me about her upcoming sleeve surgery. I was surprised and awed that she would venture into this process, but her enthusiasm and praise for those she had met who had had the surgery, convinced me to look into it. Based on my weeks-and-weeks of research, information gathering from seminars, and testimonials from people like you all, I have to say I am so EXCITED to take this step. I know that I can eat healthy because I love healthy food—I just eat too much and too often; I know that I can stay active because I already am; I know that a surgery like the sleeve will help me on my journey to portion control; and I know the surgery will catch me when I attempt to fall off by over eating or eating the wrong things. My first consultation is on April 24th. My biggest fear is that my BMI will fail to be at 40 because I am at the borderline of qualifying with no questions asked: 38.6 BMI at my last weigh-in. I am embarrassed to admit this, but in the weeks leading up to my first consultation I have acquired a very ugly diet. I feel awful physically, but I fear if I don’t gain those 8 pounds they will not find anything wrong with me—health wise—and I will not qualify. THANKS FOR READING MY STORY! WISH ME LUCK!!!

After seeing your response today, I noticed a lot of women posting similar experiences. Many said it went away as their bodies adjusted. I really hope it gets better for you. I have first hand knowledge of depression because I struggled with it in my late teens/early 20's. I remember not being able to get out of bed to face the world or to even crack a smile, and then switch into an "I'm fine" mode. It is struggle nobody should have to deal with. So when I say I hope it improves, I mean it with all my heart. I am glad to hear that you are eating right and following what is recommended. I will be following you progress.

I hear you! I need to have it in the summer too. I'm a mother of four and I'm also a teacher. However, despite my summers off, I am the dance team sponsor. We have camps throughout the summer, I have trainings, and I want a vacation somewhere in between!!! So, I have a small window of opportunity. I hope everything works out for you!

It's okay Flutterby! I'm sure it is! Good luck to you!!!

Hi! I am new to the site too! I am just starting my pre-surgery appointments. I am self pay because I don't want to wait on the insurance or go through a monitored nutrition program. I hope all goes well for you...Good Luck!!!

Good luck to you! I am very excited for you and I hope that all goes well. I hope you post your follow up experiences. I have not sleeved yet and I am curious to see how you progress and what you experince.

toy27 I really hope that things get better and I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling. I am not a nutritionist, but at one time that was my major and based on my knowledge part of those "down" feelings could be based on the quality of nutrients you are intaking. Are you able to eat yet? Are you still on a liquid diet? Are you on ulti-vitamins? What has the doctor said? Do you think they are hormonal changes, sprung on by drastic change in your body? Sorry for the questioning, but I really want to arm myseld with as much information as possible.

Thank you for your reply toy27! Do you mind sharing what makes you feel like you should have done the weight loss yourself, versus getting the surgery?