6-month progress updates

You can do it by the end of the summer! Good Job! I celebrated my 6 month anniversary yesterday. I am 5 foot 6 inches tall and I started out at 285 pounds have now lost 109 pounds. My son weighs 101, so that is pretty cool. I feel excellent! I am wearing size 11 or 12's now and large shirts. I even have a few mediums. Someone called me skinny today. I just had to laugh. My original goal was to be in a size 10. I thought it would take me a year to reach that goal, but i think now that I will most likely surpass a 10 and end up in an 8. I am hoping to do so by the end of the summer. And I am doing whatever I can to avoid plastic surgery. I never in a million years thought I would become addicted to exercise! I just can't get enough! It makes me feel so alive. It has been a crazy 6 months and the emotional issues we have to deal with are more intense than I ever thought they would be. It is strange to look in the mirror and barely recognize yourself. I remember looking in the mirror when I was obese and thinking "who is this?" Cause I didn't think of myself as morbidly obese. I'm not complaining though! It is just weird to come to terms with your own identity. I feel more like "myself" now and I embrace the changes. I love my new life and have a newfound excitement for the future. Good luck to all! Steph 285/176/14?

Hi roomies!! My anniversary date is in 2 days, on the 11th. I had my 6 month follow-up yesterday and the doctor is thrilled I am doing so well. I am 5'7", started at 475 and lost 133, down to 342. Got a LONG way to go, but at least I am seeing a glimmer at the end of that tunney now. I've lost 87 1/8 inches, including bust, waist, hips, upper arms, wrists, thighs & calves. I have sagging, prunish looking skin pretty much everywhere, and because of my back being broken twice I can do very little in the way of exercise. However, today I contacted a local motel that has an indoor pool and they are going to probably be letting me use their pool to exercise. The lady I talked to said she was almost positive that they would let me use it free of charge!!! She just has to get final approval from the manager, keep your fingers crossed for me. I am so excited. My doctor wanted me to set a goal weight...I refused. I would rather set smaller interim goals that are doable and reward myself for each goal met (no, not with food, lol). When you start as high as I did, the final goal is too far off to think about it, and get depressed. I'm glad to hear everyone is doing so well, keep up the good work!

Wow, it is great to read everyones progress. Everyone has done so well. I tell you this surgery is such a blessing and has changed my life in ways I never thought possible. I went to my six month check up on March 2nd, and I lost 168 pounds. My surgeon was so happy, that was his one year goal for me. My surgeon is great, we talked about goals and it is just one pound at a time! It is so much easier to focus that way. I am exercising now religiously and love it. I love going to the gym and walking and I am skiing again. Life is great, doing the things I love.

10 days and I will be at 6 months. It has gone slow, I did not suddenly drop 50+lbs the first couple of weeks. Each and every pound is a struggle. I do not eat much more than when I started on solids, I do not eat bread, potatoes, rice or pasta. I try to watch the carbs in other things. I have not exercised like I should, but find now with the loss I have had it doesn't hurt as much to exercise. I have started step aerobics and hope this helps in the loss and feeling better. The reason I had the WLS was to feel better physically and mentally, looking "normal" was just icing on the cake. I am accomplishing this one pound at a time. I haven't felt this good in 15 years. Sometimes I panic about the slowness, but I realize that the anxiety is caused by my desire to have things right now and measuring my journey against other peoples progress. I have to realize that this is a process and my body is adjusting with each pound that is gone. I pray that every pound I say goodbye to I will never see again. I have to celebrate that I am a little over halfway to my doctors goal of 150. I am hoping that by my 12 months anniversary I will have met that goal. God Bless! Mary Beth 283/215/150

Great job everyone Here are my stats Ht: 5'6" Starting weight 274 lbs, size 24 Weight pre-op 246 (about size 22, on 9/22/03) Weight now: 177 (by my home scale - we'll see what the official weight is at the office) Size 12 pants, medium top (OMG, that is too unbelievable). Some bones even sticking out! A little saggy-baggy, but not bad. Goal: 155 - so a while to go. Stuggles: bread and crackers seem to go down TOO easy, so I really have to avoid them (so sad, I see that they were always my additction). Do best with (i.e. feel the most full with) meats and protein shakes (which I could finally tolerate 2 months ago) Still struggling with food issues and head hunger. Really have to focus on water and good nutrition before even trying to eat anything "extra". Happy, labs good.