OneDollarBill

I relate to everything said in this thread. I never thought I was THAT big until I started looking at side by side pics. Even when people said "wow you have lost a lot" I would always shrug it off like no I haven't. The saggy skin for my is mostly my gut and a little on my inner thigh. I wear a compression shirt everyday and that helps me and my image issues I have now. I might look into plastics at some point, but I want to wait a couple years until I have settled into my goal weight. I'm down a little over 160lb in 10 months going from a size 48 to 32/34 waist pants and 4XL to a L/XL shirt. When I started this mentally I battle if I COULD do it. Now mentally I worry about keeping the weight from coming back. I track everything I eat, but will beat myself up over little overages some days.

I'm down 158lb in 10mo and still losing, but a lot slower which is fine by me. MY goal was to be in the 215-225 range. I'm 222 as of this morning.

Do you take measurement? I started keeping a spreadsheet before surgery. My weight will "stall" out sometimes for a month, but my measurements are still going down. It helps me keep my sanity when it feels like I am going no where on the scale.

This is the year for me to up my distance. I did my first 5K in November, one in December and I have the Star Wars 5K this Friday. 10K is my next goal and I want to sign up for either the Avengers, Star Wars, or Tinker Bell half when registration opens later this year.

@@suitechicguy that's awesome!

I made a similar post for the "Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon Weekend". Just wanted to see if anyone is participating? Again I'll be "running" the 5K on Friday the 15th. Just wanted to see if anyone else was going to be there. I'll be in corral "B" towards the front if I can. let me know if anyone wants to run together.

@@LL112 I can totally relate to this. I some what despise the idea of logging mile after mile on the treadmill. It's a necessary evil to keep or improve your pace. However I was surprised how much I enjoyed race day. The time goes by so fast. For the Avengers run I had my friend running with me and that added to the enjoyment. I did another where it was just myself and found it to be more mental. I had to keep pushing myself as I didn't have a friend help keep the pace going.

@@goblue9280 When I started I was under the 300lb mark. Its still a lot of pressure and strain on our joints at that weight. Invest in a good pair of running/jogging shoes. My first pair were the ASICS GEL-Nimbus 17 and now I am using Brooks Glycerin 13. I'm logging 50 to 60 miles a month now, so I switch out my shoes every 6 months.

@@goblue9280 Like you I was mostly walking. I then switched to interval training. I always started with a 5 minute walk to warm up. Then I would jog/run for 30 seconds, walk 2 minutes and repeat. Once that starting getting easier I started decreasing the walking time, increasing the jogging and also upping the speed at which I was walking/jogging. It's the same approach a lot of the couch to 5K programs use. I remember when I started I might have been walking at 2.8/3 MPH and jogging at 3.7/4. Now I walk at 3.7 and jog at 5MPH. The thing I did and my wife encouraged me to do was just sign up for the race and make it a goal. When I originally signed up for the Disney 5K they stated there was a 16 min mile pace requirement (turns out there really isn't for the 5K). That was my goal. I just wanted to be at that level. Well by the time the race came around I was at a 12 min mile pace.

Awesome @@LL112! Avengers was my first ever "race". When Star Wars registration came up I wish now I would have signed up for the 10K. At the time I wasn't sure what I was capable of. I'll for sure sign up for the Avengers race next year. I'm planning on doing the 10K at least for that. Who knows maybe I'll step up and do the half.

Following this as I want to start hitting the iron again. Nice work on the muscle mass gain! Very impressive.

So this was posted about a month post-op. I can say that is WAS a good number to shoot for and I am currently wearing 36"s Since this post my 36" Levi 559s are getting loose around the waist. I could probably wear 34"s. I asked for a pair for Christmas. Even if they don't fit it will be a goal.

Since we are on the subject of protein/veggies. I brought this up with my surgeon during my 6mo appointment. I made the comment I wish I could eat more veggies, but find that hard when I am trying to get 100g+ of Protein in. There just isn't that much room in my new stomach for both. He replied with "Well I never told you that you need to get a certain number of grams of protein a day. If you want to eat more vegetables than do so. I only needed you on high protein the first few weeks to help the healing process." Since then I have cut back on the amount of protein and added more vegetables in my meals. Instead of 4.5 to 5oz of chicken/beef I will only do 2.5 to 3 and add a lot more vegetables. It certainly helped in the bathroom department if you know what I mean. Now I feel like I am eating meals that are more balanced. It hasn't effected my weight loss at all. I'm only sharing my experience. It seems from reading this forum there is no "right" answer as every doctor and/or nutritionist has different recommendations. For me I know what I should and shouldn't eat. Lean meat and vegetables if I am eating more of one over the other aren't going to make be fat again. I track everything good and bad in MyFitnessPal under OneDollarBill. On average I consume 1000 to 1200 cal a day and my protein is 70 to 90g

For sure. He and now my second boy are one of the major motivations for going through this journey. As a father I need to be here for them. Plus how could I teach them proper food/fitness choices in my previous state.

Here are a couple more before/after. Before - 380lb Current - 228lb

Awesome. I am getting close. My goal weight is between 215 and 225. I'm 228 right now. I signed up Wednesday for a last min 5K at Angel stadium this weekend. I am enjoying these running events. Looking forward to the Star Wars race at Disneyland in Jan.

The race was a week ago tomorrow. If was a lot of fun and learned a lot doing my first "race". I finished 2 mins faster than my best time previous. Looking forward to the Star Wars 5K although now I wish i would have signed up for the 10K