Hello "March GOal getters"

Thank you Barbara for asking me to be an encourager for the "Marcher's" at goal or near goal group. I hope this is the first of many posts. Okay Marcher's where to start? First of all I think we need to understand what it means to be near or at our goals. When I started this journey I thought I had set clear goals. I had the surgery primarily to better my health. I felt that if I didn't make a drastic effort to lose weight I would be dead in five years. I have realized that goal. My health is probably better then it has ever been. I also had goals of riding a rollercoaster and fitting comfortably in an airline seat and being more active with my grandchildren. I have also achieved these goals as well. I don't like to think of a goal as a number on the scale. When I started my journey my nutritionist set my goal weight at 196 pounds. That was the number that represented an eighty percent loss of my excess weight. She felt that if I achieved that weight the surgery would be considered a success. My body had a different idea and I currently weigh 178 pounds. While I think that is great, my BMI is still over 27 and I am still considered overweight. So am I really at goal? Let's just say I am happy with where I am. r One of the definitions of goal is: "The end toward which effort is directed". By that definition I may never truly be "at goal". It is a journey and I am enjoying all of the steps along the path. So what are your goals? Have you achieved them? Is your journey still in progress or are you content with where you are? Let me know. Life is great, Rick

Good morning Ricka nd thank you for doing this. For me my main goal was to be at a healthy weight. I know I have reached that goal..the other part of that goal is to stay there...well that one will never truely be complete until the day I die. I also wanted to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without having to use my inhaler, i acn do that woo hoo...I wanted to get my blood pressure under control, and i have done that. i also wanted to get my blood suagr in balance...this is a tricky one. since diabetes runs in my family my doctor made it clear to me that this surgery would not prevent me from being diabetic but it might hold it off for a few years. It has gotten much better but I have to be careful with my food intake and the levels of sugar. I have always had a problem with low blood sugar and this can still be a problem...but now I seem to have times when it's too high...so this too will be one of those life time reaching for goals. I can not say I am completely content where I am...as far as my weight goes I would truely love to drop a few more pounds....I know that will come with plastic...which I want desperately. i thought I could live with the extra skin...I know now i was kidding myself. Thankfully my husband is in Japan, if he wasn't I know it would bother me even more, because I would be worried if it bothered him. I so hope to have a LBL before we are together again. Mimi

Mimi, You have done so well. You have a lot to be proud of. Being healthy is such a nice reward for diligence. I am lucky to not have the problem of diabetes. It does not run in my family, but high blood pressure and heart problems do. I hope that I have curbed some of those potential future problems. Good luck with the prospect of platic surgery. I'm sure, for you it will complete your total feelings of success. I am also sure that your husband is proud of you will continue to support you no matter how much you think parts of you are headed south, just kidding. You are an inspiration to me. Thank you for the response. Rick

Good morning Rick, I guess I now fall into the "at goal" category. Yesterday on 8/26 I reached 170. I am excited, I finally made it. These last 4 lbs have been, for the nicest way I can p ut it, hard to get off. LOL This was the realistic goal that I set for myself at the onset. As you mentioned, my doctor said that if I was in the 190's that is a success and probably where I would be based on my weight and the average % people lose. I am happy to have finally met this goal I set, but it's not where I want to stay. Ideally, but then again how do I know my ideal weight.. lol I think in my head right now I'd like to get to 145, sounds like a low enough number. Will I ever get that low? Not sure, but I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing and see where things go. Once in awhile my scale goes a bit whacky and a weight will come up that is lower than you really are, then you get this error message. The other day I get on the scale, after previously weighing 171 and it read 164. My heart about jumped right out of my chest, but I knew in one day I couldnt have gone down that much. So I said to myself, Oh, it's going to give me one of those error messages and it did. Anyways, lol, my reason for brining this up is that I was so excited over seeing 164, all day long I couldn't get it out of my head. I kept telling my husband that it looked so good on the scale. So maybe that is my new mini goal to get to 164. It sure was perty! LOL Goal wise without worrying about numbers is to just keep doing what I do. Keep the exercise going, even increase it, I've b een slacking a bit. Got my clothes packed to go after work today. I plan to keep on making the right, or the best food choices as I have been doing. I enjoy what I'm eating, its not bad and it works for me. HAve a great day.

Ruth Ann, You have done great. You not only have reached your goal by the numbers, but my attitude and activity as well. Your sense of adventure has always impressed me. I like your idea of setting further mini goals. Maybe your scale was more like a premonition. Soon it will display that 164 as an accurate weight. You are staying on track and an inspiration to all of us. Rick

My goals were: To get to the 150's, to be in a "normal" BMI range, to relieve my sleep apnea/not use CPAP machine anymore, to be healthy and active... I've stayed in the upper 150's for 8 months now, I've been a "normal" BMI for 8 months, I no longer have sleep apnea, I'm healthy (pretty-much) and active (pretty-much). Healthy, but having Vit. D deficiency currently. I have no insurance to address this, so I'm just increasing my vitamins/calcium and soaking in some sun rays every day. Hopefully by the time I can afford to see a doctor again, they can retest the Vit. D and see some improvement. Active, because I walk 3 miles a day, 4 days a week, but otherwise don't do much except clean the house. So not that "active" but in way better shape than I was. Now my current goal is to stay in the 150's, keep walking, and keep my vitamin levels up. Rick, thanks for volunteering as our mentor/cheerleader

Rebecca, It sounds like you are doing great and have achieved most of your goals. I'm sorry to hear about the vitamin D problems. Hopefully between the natural vitamin D from the sun and the vitamins you are taking you will see a marked improvement when you are able to get a blood test. I hope you have adjusted to your new move and have found some friends and a new support network. I think the only thing I know about Cottage Grove is that they have a race track and I think it is a college town. I live just inside the California boarder. Thank your for your post and the encouragement. May the sun shine on your new life. Rick

Rick sorry its taken so long for me to make it here, lifes been busy this week as we all know how fast that happens! I completely agree with you about not thinking of "at goal" as a number, but boy its good to see! At this point being at goal my achievements have changed from losing to maintaining. Getting here wasn't as easy as people who haven't had surgery would think, I still continued to hit plateaus, lose interest in eating right, lack of energy at times and could think of 100 excuses weekly why not to work out. There were weeks of dieting to break a plateau, days of foods that shouldnt belong in the house ending up at work for other people to enjoy instead of me, limiting my foods instead of indulging and so on and so forth... Since the number and feeling like I'm at a good size works for my being "at goal" I've moved to setting the following goal. Vitamins..... taking them daily. I honestly don't know why its such a chore to do this, but it is. Barbara gave me a great tip to take calcium before leaving the house and that seems to help get the extra calcium in, but theres still days (especially weekends) when I need to do better with them. I know the problems not taking vitamins causes and one of them is starting to happen to me (nerve damage by my lip) because I'm not taking my b-complex daily. one would think that would scare the heck out of me and take them faithfully, but it hasn't I can say I feel I'm getting better with the vitamin schedule, so its a step in the right direction, now to just continue it!