Major Milestones!

Hey everybody, guess what? I had a great weight loss week (8 pounds) and have ended up making three major milestones all at once! 1. I am now UNDER 200 POUNDS, hurrah! I am so grateful I got this far, everything else will be gravy as far as I am concerned. 2. I dropped another BMI category. I started out as super-morbidly obese, have passed through that category as well as morbidly obese and extremely obese and am now simply "OBESE". Ain't that great? 3. I can now wear a SIZE 16. That means I can shop at regular stores! Yes, yes, yes, I am so excited! I am due to be weighed and measured again at Curves next week. The staff and other patrons there have been so supportive and encouraging! I know the work-outs there have had a big influence on my success. In fact, the thing that I am proudest of is that virtually all of my weight loss has been as fat. I am maintaining and even strengthening my lean muscle mass. I just love doing math when it shows things like this: My pre-op weight was 317 lbs, and my body-fat percentage then was too high to measure (using normal methods). If I use a conservatively estimated 60%, that would make my lean body mass at that point 126.8 pounds. Now I weigh 198 pounds and my measured body fat percentage is 41.1 percent, making my lean body mass now 116 pounds. This means that of the 119 pounds that I have lost, ALL BUT TEN POUNDS HAS BEEN PURE FAT!!!! That is what the exercise will do for you, and that is also why I am wearing a size 16 at just under 200 pounds. I had to share these milestones with you all. Thanks for your help and support! Carolyn DS 11/03/03 317/198 (-119 pounds and counting!)

Carolyn; congrats. Keep up the great work. hugs. mark g.

Carolyn, Fantastic!!! I know what a great day you must have had yesterday meeting those goals. What a super way to start out the week! You and I share some goals, I have been struggling with getting under 200lbs myself. My first goal was under 300 I started at 348, had to lose 10 before surgery so the day of I weighed in at 337. So my first goal was just to get under 300! My second "baby step" goal was to lose 100lbs by my 6 month anniversary. My next goal was to be under 200 lbs. Well as of this morning at 6:30 am my scales said 198.5 so I did it. YEAH!!!! We share the same surgery date too! Hey I think we are on a roll here!!!! I am just so excited to weigh under 200 lbs I can't believe it. I share the thoughts you have it's just bonus from here. I would love to lose another 75 lbs. and am going to try very hard to do that. However my quality of life is so much better 110% that if I don't lose another pound it was and has been worth it! Congrats again to you, keep it up!!! Whats your next goal? I think mine is to be in a size 14 and I'm not gonna attach a number on the scales just a plain and simple size 14! Heather

Hi Carolyn, Congrats to you! I did the same thing within the past two weeks. First, I finally went below 200 lbs. That was a great accomplishment because it seemed to take so long! Then when I weighed myself this morning, I hit the minus 100 lbs. mark. What a thrill! I've been wearing some 16's for a while now and that is a thrill too. Isn't this surgery the best thing we could have done for ourselves? I have never felt better in my life. I have energy I didn't know I had. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner! Jackie Open RNY 11/11/03 290/189.5