loose skin yet anyone?

**hi jack** Sue, did you lose any weight before surgery? What is your average calories/protein per day? Thanks. Congrats on a wonderful job! Did you ever think you would be in a 10!

Kelli Jo, Yes, I lost 69 pounds before surgery.....with a grand total of 168 pounds now. As far as calories...we aren't supposed to count calories but make sure to stay under 60 carbs and get 60-70 grams of protein a day. I walk about 4-5 miles a day too! I do have to confess though.....I don't eat much. When I do fitday.com my daily caloric intake ins pathetic. Almost never make it to 400 calories. My doctor is very concerned that I am going in the wrong direction (anorexic) because I don't eat. I do try but nothing tastes good and most things bother my pouch or gives me the runs....so it makes eating not too enjoyable. I dump with anything that has over 5 grams of fat in it....even natural peanut butter.....they are trying to figure out why my system is so sensitive. I haven't had anything with sugar so don't know that I dump with sugar. I am just assuming that I do because I really don't want to test it....especially to find that I don't...then I would be in a lot of trouble down the road! I did find carb control Dannon yogurt that is pretty good and put in some organic granola for breakfast...still only about 60 calories....then a 1 oz. piece of deli turkey and a 1 oz piece of garden yogurt cheese and a dill pickle for lunch....about 100 calories...then most of the time I don't eat supper....bad I know....and I have to Nectar Roadside Lemonade drinks a day (46 protein).....that's about all I eat a day. I have to go to the doctor about every 3 weeks as they are trying to work with me....they are also talking about trying some pancreatic enzymes to see if that will help my system digest fats better. I am now down to a size 8 in pants and small tops. I have never in my life worn a single digit in pants! Please don't do as I am....although I do feel good......I will get the results of my lab tests today and see how they are! Sue 320/152/130 goal!

I still applaud you. Yes, you will have to get your calories up once you hit goal or you will keep losing, but ever in your life did you think you could go this long w/ so few calories per day??... I intake about 900 calories per day. I know that my body doesn't lose much weight on this, but my physical therapist and trainer told me to do this cuz I was losing so much muscle mass. Now, I work off about 450-550 calories per day that I work out though, which is 4-5 days per week. However, I feel my weightloss has slowed down and it may be cuz of the exercise. I could not imagine walking 5 miles a day. That is awesome. I do 21 minutes on the ellipitical machine (which is not easy) and 30-35 on the bike, plus I swim laps. I use to walk on the treadmill but both my trainer and therapist told me to stop cuz it was too much strain on my knees. I think my problem is I can tolerate sugar and carbs, and that isn't good, but I don't go over the allowed carbs per day..sooo.. I was not counting calories but started to whenever I lost so much muscle mass. I think I will try uping my protein shakes and eat less food for a while though, as I seemed to lose more weight then. Have you been ill at all due to low calories? Take care.

Loose skin is not the correct terminology for me. It is more like when I lay down looks like melted butter all around me and when I am upright you don't want to know what it looks like. If is wasn't for the loose skin I could wear 2 sizes smaller. Bad thing is I still have 53 pounds to goal. I will really be a mess by then. Thank goodness I can hide under clothes. I laugh inside when some man smiles and opens the door for me (which use to never happen) and think ...If he only knew. Well MY Christmas is a trip to the plastic surgeon for a consult on how to attack this stuff. Have a Happy Day Deloris 309/288/188/135

Hi Deloris!! Wow look at your weight loss! That is awesome!! So are you really going to schedule a plastic surgery consult already? I wonder if that is something I should do too, because the process of interviewing surgeons and choosing the best one could take months right? And of course getting prices, I will need to save up more money too. I already have some but not all. I am just looking forward to starting the process because the skin really bothers me, my tummy bothers me the most, it really is pretty bad, I can wear 2 sizes smaller in the legs and butt but I can't button them up and its due to all that skin!! Tiff

Well Tiff, the reasoning behind going to a plastic surgeon now is that I want to make sure I have the right doctor. Took me over a year to pick the doctor for WLS. And I have to save money and I thought just maybe he would have some advice on what to do before surgery to make it easier at the time of surgery. I didn't want to jump in and then regret. I know he will say well we have to wait for a few more pounds to come off and to keep it off. But I have already started my list of questions on creams and excersices, etc. Saving the money or borrowing it is a big thing and I need time to know what level of cash I need to get too. You look great. At my age everything droops, hangs, sags, and just plain looks awful. Deloris

Oh yea,... and I can only imagine what it will be like in another 100 lbs. My arms are horrible!! My stomach, well that's a given. But I can see I will have trouble with my thighs as well. My daughter and I walked in the locker room at the gym yesterday, and this old lady was standing there totally naked. (freaked my daughter out, she went running)...the lady was thin, but all her skin was sagging. I thought, yep, that's gonna be me.

My inner thighs started looking bad almost immediately. I can't even imagine what they will look like if - "when" - I reach my goal weight of 150. My face has thinned out nicely. Thank God! My arms have wings and a patch of really dimpled skin and my stomach is a wreck. It still has a lot of fat so it's going to be pretty scary when I lose more. I probably won't be able to see my pubic area. Yikes! I will definitaly have to have surgery. Hopefully insurance will cover my stomach because I have gotten rashes. It hurts to even talk about my chest. I was a 44 DDD and now I'm a 40DD. Unfortunately the skin is not tightening up with the loss. I'm afraid I'm going to have just bags os skin. For some reason this bothers me the most. Dawn 340/232/150hopefully