starting BMI over 50? come on in!

[phyllser 3]

Today is a day of days. I have finally broken the 300 mark. I stepped, with fear, upon the scale today and I am at 299. I have been anxiously awaiting this day. Come Monday, my trainer will take my measurements again and I will get to know what the scale lbs. represent (fat loss vs muscle gain).

Anyway, tomorrow will be my seventh month of being banded and I have rid myself of 93.5 lbs, I am very close to being half way to goal as well. And have arrived in twoterville.

I am soooo happy to be here :mad::mad::mad::mad::sad:

Cheers,

Mary

:mad::hurray::mad::hurray::mad:

:mad:

:smile2: :sad:

That's GREAT, Mary!! Congrats!! I remember when I crossed that line, too!! It was a great day!! Now I'm about to dip below 260 and can't wait!!

[SpecialK 22]

Congratulations. It has been a very long time since I have been below 300 lbs and I can't wait. I got my banding date of March 17th - St. Patty's today!!

[valstar 0]

Congrats Mary!:smile2: I am in twoderville for the first time in 7 years! I can't wait to get below 250! About 17 hard lbs to go! Doesn't success feel grand?!

Congrats to those who have upcoming dates and those starting the process. This site has really helped me to stay focused!

val

[AlysonRR 0]

I have finally broken the 300 mark.

Congratulations, Mary! I can't wait to join you in Twoterville

[Sue Magoo 71]

Lauren87:

Hi Lauren:

I just wanted to ask you if your psychologist knows that this surgery isn't that hard on a person? While you won't be up to the energy level you're probably used to, you could probably easily go back to your routine in less than 6 weeks.

I started at 324 and had my surgery last July. I had two weeks off from work and was just a bit tired in the afternoons, but other than that felt pretty good.

Good luck.

Sue

[Maurdan 2]

I sort of got lost when the old thread was locked. Glad to find you all again!

[losingjusme 12]

congrats Mary!!! :thumbup:

[Lauren87 7]

Hi Sue Magoo!

That's what I would have thought too! The weird thing is that the program I am going through uses a team approach...same dietician, psychologist, and so on. I know that they have been up-and-running for some time so I am not sure what his hold-up is. I am sure he's seen tons of patients.

I too think that I would be fine to go back to school after 2-3 weeks. I see no reason why I can't move back to school. My parents would be helping me move...so it's not like I'd be doing any lifting. Plus, I mean, how hard is it to sit in class? It doesn't take a lot of energy...at least not physical =)

I feel that I can't bring this situation up to him because if I say that I won't be able to have surgery over Christmas break (because it's not 6-weeks) that he'll want to push me back to the next summer. Quite frankly, I do not want to see my date pushed back...summer 2009 would put me at 2-years since attending a seminar...huge bummer!

Thanks for the imput and congratulations on your amazing loss! Woohooo!

[mmcbelle 0]

Okay, after I broke 300, my trainer took new measurements. This is from the day I began with my trainer after the initial six weeks post surgery to ensure my body was healed (at this point I had rid myself of 28.5 unwanted lbs) to last Monday. They are as follows:

Initial measurement / New Measurement / Difference

weight: 364 lbs / 300 lbs / -64 lbs

Body Fat %: 52.6 / 36.0 / -16.6

Lean body wt: 172.6 lbs / 192.0 lbs / +19.4 lbs

How this translates for me. Since my end goal is a bit unknown in that I hope to get my body fat % down to 20%. This helps me to know that if I were to take the numbers from my last measurement 192 lbs of lean body mass and add 20% (38 lbs) that at 20% body fat - my weight would be 230 lbs. Now in reality, I suspect that my lean body mass will go down as well, but my goal is to get the fat down.

Some other interesting numbers:

Tape measurements:

Initial measurement / New Measurement / Difference

Chest: 63.75 in. / 54.0 in. / -9.75 in.

Waist: 63.25 in. / 56.5 in. / -6.75 in.

Hips: 63.25 in. / 57.75 in. / -5.5 in.

Arm: 19.25 in. / 16.5 in. / -2.75 in.

Thigh: 29 in. / 25.25 in / -3.75 in.

All areas have reductions and I am thrilled. I guess if you want to measure it that way, I have rid myself of a total of 28.5 inches. Here is the thing. That gain in muscle mass is stellar, without the exercise/training, my numbers would not be so good. The band is beneficial in controlling my intake, but the exercise is all about me wanting to get much healthier. I am amazed, I did not think three years ago my body fat % would be below 50%. Since my body make up is different that many other ladies, it gives me a more reasonable way to measure my progress than the scale. I will never be one of those petite ladies that weighs 120 lbs and that is perfect for me. I know that I am more physically fit than the average American, yep, I can say it. I am more physically fit than the average person here in the US. Whoo hoo. I no longer get winded going up stairs. I can run...thats right I can run. I did a 100 yard sprint and four 50 yard sprints on Monday in training and I loved it.

Also noteworthy is two things not reflected in the numbers about the Hips and Arms. My hips shows a loss, but what it does not show is that I gained muscle in my butt (making it more shapely) and lost it in the front. My arms, are slowly losing their "granny" arms or "bat wings" becasue the muscle is getting larger and the fat is shrinking. I am so pleased with these two things.

Now I know the weight will come off slower now and that is okay (remind me I said that when I whine about being at a plateau). Now begins the turtle portion of the program. Slow and steady wins this marathon.

Keep working at it, the payoff is sooo worth it.

Cheers,

Mary

[RainyDay 0]

Wow, Mary, you inspire me! Way to go!

[smilin_apple 0]

Hi all!!!

I go for my 4th appointment since my Band was placed on Nov 7th. This is suppossed to be my 3rd fill but I am not sure if I should get one. I would like to know from people who have had their bands for a little while or longer when they said that was enough of a fill for now? I have an AP Band that can hold a little over 10 cc's and I have about 5.5 cc's in it now. For the first time when I had this last fill done on Feb 7th until about Feb 21st (2 weeks) I was having trouble eating anything until around 7 pm at night. Now that I am able to eat throughout the day over the last week I noticed the amount is getting a little more each day. Right now I can eat either 1-2 pkts of oatmeal for breakfast. OR I can have about 1-2 cups of salad and about 3 oz of meat OR instead of just meat about 1 cup of a meat /pasta combo.

The other day I was able to eat 2 small frozen burritto at one sitting but that is not the norm.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know because I am worried, I leave for Hawaii on Mar 13th and I don't want to be back at how I was after my last 1 cc fill for two weeks throwing up almost every day when stuff would get stuck for 45 minutes at a time.

By the way does anyone else get food stuck too???

[seajules 0]

losingjusme.......................................................................................................................

I am so happy for you. Please let us know how the surgery went. I am going to go through the same thing (hopefully this summer). I'm dying to know what to expect. Thanks

[smilin_apple 0]

I hope you are doing well losingjusme! I am praying for you to have a quick and safe recovery.

[CheckersMom 0]

Went for my second visit on Thursday, good news looking at surgery in April, have pt visit and psy consult and to see nutrusionist all this month and to lose 10 more lbs. April will be here before you know it.

Carla

[valstar 0]

Hi Mary,

Your numbers are wonderful! I've lost about 32 in so far. I got discouraged recently because I hit a plataeu. I realized that I was exercising, cardio, strength training and Pilates. I am developing muscles that I didn't even know I had and my butt is so much tighter.

I want to know how you measure % lean body mass and body fat. This may be a simple questions but I have never had it done.

Val