Hi Everyone!

I have a couple of comments and questions...

For any of you women out there who are really tall.  Please tell me:
-  Your height
-  Your age
-  Your goal weight
-  Your current weight
-  The reason why you chose that goal weight

Being so tall, I have always strived to be really thin.  Somehow in my mind I think I look more feminine the thinner I am...

My weight loss journey has made me take a real hard look at myself and my personal self image.  I would like to know if any of you also want to have a very low BMI and want to be very thin.

I am 6 feet tall.  My original goal was 140 lbs.  I have acheived that goal or near it, several times in my life.  But I never ever maintain my weight loss.

I recently increased my goal from 140 lbs to 150 lbs.  I did this for a couple of reasons:
1)  So that I could maintain between 140 - 150 lbs rather than below 140 lbs
2)  So that I would feel like a success anywhere under 150 lbs
3)  It seemed like a more realistic goal and easier to acheive and maintain

I secretly would love to fluctuate around 140 lbs give or take a few pounds up or down, but I also don't want to set myself up for failure.

I so look forward to your honest and candid replies.

All the best on your weight loss journey!

Cindy

So after some complaining and negative thinking, I have realized that I am losing and doing pretty well. I posted a before and after photo if you want to take a look. I am getting excited, this might work after all :)


take care
Jaime :)

Is the VBG like the Vertical Gastrectomy (aka the VSG)?  If so, then it could be the answer to your desire to diop between 120 and 130 pounds and KEEP IT OFF.  I had a VSG in March 07... now going on almost 2.75 years out.  I lost the first 100 pounds in the first six months by adhering to a severely restrictive diet.  I got sick because at 6'5", I could no longer maintain strength or muscle mass on 800 cal/day and was hsopitalized.  The next 50 pounds came off only slightly slower than the first 100.  I still didn't feel good, even though I boosted my caloric intake to 1500 cal a day.

I have since taken up SCUBA diving and each 1 hour dive burns between 800 and 1000 calories.  I try to dive once a week and the ret of the time, I am trying to regain the three pounds I lose every time I dive.  At 6'5" tall, weight under 200 lbs makes me look ultra-thin and slightly malnourished.

My wife and I came to the conclusion that the hi-protein meal replacements would now become meal supplements, so every day before or after lunch, I drink about 20 ounces of a fruit smoothie loaded up with 50 grams of whey protein.  My weight continues to fluctuate between 197 and 202 and I have felt healthy and happy for the past six months now.

From what I have read and reviewed, the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (or stomach stapling as it used to be called) can do amazing things for patient's with Chrohn's Disease, just like it does for those affected by diabetes type II.  While it may not actually cure someone, it sure helps alleviate many of the nasty side affects of the disease and makes it esier to manage.  I'm off insulin for almost two years now, rely on one oral medication (Metformin), diet and exercise to maintain my weekly blood sugars (average between 98 and 120).  My A1G hemoglobin was 5.4, well below the normal range; my triglycerides and bad cholesterol are low and my good cholesterol is very good.  My doctor may cut my Lipitor intake to half of the dose I am currently taking.

I am amazed at the types of exercise I never thought would be possible and even though I still have excess skin, it's still pretty elastic, so in lieu of throwing more money at surgeons, I decided that if I lived half my life as a fat person and didn't use plastics then, I will live the rest of my life as a skinny persona and slowly let the skin be reabsorbed into my body.  I've heard patients say that the excess skin won't go away by itself.  Maybe not for multiple folds, but my "gut" which is really excess skin and not fat HAS begun to shrink as has the extra skin on the inside of my thighs.  If the surgeon says it won't recede on its own without paying them thousands of dollars to be "beautiful," try this:  If you accepted yourself before, do it again now.  The beauty I have lies within me and always has.  I can think of many more and better uses for the money plastic surgery will cost, plus I will benefit me instead of some doctor.

I, too, was dying at my weight (between 355 and 400 pounds) and chose the most restrictive surgery available.  It most likely saved my life, gave me another 20 years or so and in spite of early warning by my surgeon, I can pretty damn well eat ANYTHING I want to, albeit in very small amounts.  Since surgery, my stomach as increased in size to about 4.5 to 5 ounces.

Whatever way you choose, learn to live with your decision and trust in God that you made the right one.  I terribly miss pasta, but when I look in the mirror, I see staring back at me fully 1/3 of whom I used to be.  My clothes look so mich nicer on me, I have reganed my sense of humor and I like whom I am now.  Wouldn't trade me in for a new model anymore.

The most difficult time after the surgery is living on 800 calories a day on a clear liquid diet.  Luckily Isopure make premixed bottles of protein in several different fruit flavors.  Get the kind with zero carbs and drink it slowly over crushed ice after adding two to three Splenda.  It fulfills part of your minimum of 64 ounces of clear liquid, it helps grow the tiny pouch into a slightly bigger one and in one year's time, if you stay stirctly on your diet, people of whom you've known for years either will barely recognize you or breeze past you without a second look.

It's nice that I finally took control of my life once again and actually look forward to my golden in lieu of forlorn years ahead.

Good luck,

Poghmahone_215.

One thing people forget or neglect to realize on these message boards is that every type  of surgery works.  How long and how well depends on the person receiving it. Lots of people are down on the VBG, but I see just as many people getting revisions with the other types of surgeries too. My doctor says that weightloss surgery doesn't fail the person; the person fails to live  their entire life for the surgery. It's not a magic fix or miracle. It is a change of life, and it must be worked at every single day.  Read my post on this forum about accountability. Don't discredit any surgery because of another person's experience. It's all how you work it.  Good luck in your journey!

I get on the scale every morning... and that's a big change. There were years when I didn't even have a scale. It's important for me to 'know' what I weigh. My weight shifts or swings within about a 3 to 5 pound range... meaning my normal weight is 145, so I may go down to 142 or up to 148, but I normally stay at about 144/146. If my weight gets above 146, I start keeping a closer eye on what I'm eating and how much by logging my intake... It usually shows me the error of my ways and I make the necessary corrections and the weight drops back down to where it should be.

I wear pedometer... This gives me an awareness of how much I am or am not moving. I have to say that I'm much more inclined to walk farther, take the stairs, etc., when I have my pedometer on and can see the steps racking up. I try to get at least 10K steps in a day. Some days it doesn't happen, but at least I'm aware and work to get moving more. 

I wear fitted clothes... I've been going through my old stuff as I've been packing it up to sell, donate, etc... and while I did have a few 'fitted' pieces, the overwhelming number of items in my closet had an elastic waist or loose fit that would allow my weight to fluctuate significantly without being able to 'feel' it. Now, my wardrobe is overwhelmingly fitted. I only have a few pieces that are loose or have an elastic waist and to be honest, most of those are PJs or exercise wear.  Believe it or not, now I can 'feel' a 5 lb change in the way my fitted clothes fit.