x-post - Two Year Surgiversery

I don’t have an opportunity to post as much as I used too…But I thought it was important to share my two year post. I still do blog. So feel free to look at mine as I have blogged on OH since the start of my journey.  

Let’s start with the facts. I started my WLS journey at 357 pounds 12/10/2009 when I went for my initial consultation with Dr. Nishimura. My highest recorded weight was 380; but I was definitely heavier than that…lost interest, didn’t want to know what the actual number was, but I’m sure I was pushing well over 400 Pounds. 27 months ago I was wearing a 22" Neck Dress Shirt, 3 or 4 XL Polo Shirt and 54" waist pants my BMI was 49.8.   I lost 48 pounds on my pre-op diet and weighed 309 on the day of my surgery (3/3/2010). Today I’m 196 pounds wearing 15" Dress shirt, Medium Polo Shirt and 34" waist pants my BMI is 27 I’ve lost about 85% of my excess weight (160 pounds). I lost 22 points on the BMI scale. I’ve lost 59 inches from various parts of my body (ie neck, chest, arms, waist, thighs, etc). I lost an entire person.

 

			Weight Loss by Month
Dec-09	Jan-10	Feb-10	Mar-10	Apr-10	May-10	Jun-10	Jul-10
23	12	13	21	21	13	10	11
Aug-10	Sep-10	Oct-10	Nov-10	Dec-10	Jan-11	Feb-11	Mar-11
5	11	2	-3	1	10	0	4
Apr-11	May-11	Jun-11	Jul-11	Aug-11	Sep-11	Oct-11	Nov-11
0.2	-6.2	7.6	0.1	-3.9	7.2	0.3	4.5
Dec-11	Jan-12	Feb-12	Mar-12	Apr-12	May-12	Jun-12	Jul-12
-3.6	2.6	-3.3	1.3
			Total Pounds Loss		160.8

 
Overall life has been great. You never realize how having an extra person on your back represses you. So far I have gone: Skiing, Snowboarding, Roller Skating, Zip Lining, Roller Coasters. These are things that I wasn’t able to do at 357 pounds. I look back and think how I denied my kids the opportunity of being exposed to these activities. I am truly ashamed that I let myself get to that point. The thing that I have come to realize is that it’s not the losing the weight that is the best thing. It’s the life you can now live and enjoy that is truly fabulous.

I can’t say that everything has been wonderful. I guess you take the bad with the good. So what are my challenges?

My biggest issue has been body Dysmorphia when I look in the mirror I still see a fat person. In talking with members of my support group that are several years out this seems to be a common problem. I’ve posted about my struggles with my goal weight. I have been struggling with losing more weight, staying where I am or putting on more weight. I’ve followed the advice of my doctor “You’re body will know when to stop". My original goal was 220. I’m 196 as I write this. I went as low as 190 pounds but decided I didn’t like the way I looked. So I put on more weight. Still not happy with the way I look. I feel that I’m too thin. I get many comments from CoWorkers, Friends and family that I’m too thin. Need to put more weight on. For the most part I ignore them but it does have its toll. Sometimes I think they are right. I have my annual checkup with my bariatric doctor in two weeks. This is on my list to talk with him about.

I had plastics this past November. A Circumferential Lower Body Lift (LBL). The procedure was very successful and removed all the excess skin around my stomach, waist, lower back, butt and outer thighs. This has improved my self-esteem and I love the way I look now. I just have one more round of plastics to satisfy myself image. I need to do my chest. I have deflated man boobs. These have been the plague of my existence since I was 13 years old. I think once I have that procedure done. I’ll finally be able to determine my ideal weight. I’m scheduling that for May.

Fear of Failure. I’m terrified that I will go back to my former self. Part of the reason I still weigh my self every day. I don’t beat my self up if I’m up or down on the scale. When I fall out of range I adjust my eating plan accordingly. I feel as if I have a second chance in life…I’m determined not to “F" it up.

At two years I can definitely eat more than I did at 6 months and even more than I did at one year. I’ve never been one to measure my food or count calories. As an example at 6 months I could eat ½ of a small wendy’s Chilli. At a year I could eat about ¾. Today I could fini**** I think we all need to find what works for us. I think the practice of eating till I am satiated and not until I’m full prepared me for this. I’ve learned not to finish my plate. I eat protein first I usually try to get in at least 90 grams a day. I start off each morning with a premier protein shake (30 Grams of protein). I drink at least 80 ounces of water / Ice Tea (diet) a day. I eat as little carbs as possible. Carbs are not my friend. Once I start I can’t stop. Therefore I limit them as much as I can. My doctor said from the start you have to build good eating and exercise habits early on so that they become second nature. This is what will set you up for long term success when you go into maintenance. 

Again overall the good out outweighs the bad.

I still can’t believe how successful this has been for me. I thought I was going to be a slow looser or that this surgery wouldn’t work for me. After a year I realize that this was the best thing that I have done for myself. After two years I see that long term success is a definite. I can’t tell you how many diets I have been on where I loss a significant amount of weight to gain it back and then some. With a little effort and diligence the excess weight is gone for good. I definitely see a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s definitely getting brighter.

I love my sleeve.

                      Me At My Heaviest:


                              One Year Post Op:


          Two Weeks Ago:

 Wow, you are inspirational. You should be proud and look fantastic in your Tux! Keep up the good work and thanks for the great post.

Awesome post! That's what this forum is all about. Thank you-

Tim T.

Wow  Mike.. your story is truly inspirational.. What a great success.. I don't think you are too thin.  You look fantastic.. When we compare our new bodies to our old fat selves we've got to feel ridiculously thin, and it is probably that reaction that you are getting from friends who look at you now. 
Do you know how much weight you lost with the plastic surgery? how much did the excess skin weigh? I am just borderline normal BMI.. yet I'm bony and really thin in some areas.. I'm thinking that if I had the excess skin removed I'd be well into the normal BMI range.
It's funny how we become interested in our body image once we approach a normal weight.  It's hard to believe that we had bodies that were so grossly overweight that it was disgusting and now we are concerned with some extra skin!

 When I started the process I just wanted to loose enough weight to make me healthy and to allow me the increased mobility that I was missing. Now that I'm thin I still struggle with body image.. I have to be sure that a bathing suit is long enough to cover my wrinkly thighs (looks like elephant skin).. Although I will now take my shirt off at the beach.. I am careful to not bend over because this causes my deflated man boobs to hang like ridiculous folds of skin.   I still have to "try on" new clothes before I buy them.. Size 34 just looks like something my wife or kids would wear..  I still open a sliding door about a foot wider than necessary to pass through. I still eyeball small chairs wondering if they'll hold me...

The concept of body image still puzzles me. I still feel self concious eating an ice cream cone.. thinking somebody will be looking at me thinking.. look at that fat slob eating ice cream.. I'm approaching 2 years post op and have been at my goal weight for more than a year, but I guess it will take several years (if ever) to adjust to this new slim body.

I've considered plastics, but I really don't have huge gobs of excess skin.. no panni.. just  a lot of loose wrinkly skin that puddles when I sit or lay down. but it's not even bad enough to need compression garments.. plus I'm more scared of plastic surgery than I was of gastric bypass. AND we Canadian's aren't accustomed to paying for any medical treatment and this would be totally self pay.  To be honest... I'm more concerned with the fact that I look a lot older now that I've lost all this weight. I have lost most of the turkey neck that I had when the weight was falling off, but my youthful baby face is gone. I'd consider botox but that just seems so vain! lol

I too worry about gaining all the weight back. That's always been my experience.. I've lost big amounts of weight before.. but it's always come back plus more.. I now fluctuate in a 5 pound range. When I'm at the top of that 5 pound range I start to worry.. I then try to limit the carbs a bit, but just when I'm starting to get devastated about the gain, I'll have a day where I seem to pee a lot and I'll be back down 3 or 4 pounds.. It seems that my body had found it's ideal weight.

I too am thankful every day for this life changing surgery. I can move again. I can run around and roll on the floor with my grand kids. I can walk for miles, I can run up and down stairs without giving it a thought.   I hope that my mind (body image) can catch up to my weight loss.  I'd like to be able to step on the scale without so much fear and trepidation.. but... maybe if I do ever "relax" then that's when I will start to gain.

For now .. at almost 2 years out.. I'm just being careful.. I'm thrilled with my new heath and mobility.. Maybe in another year I'll relax enough to be totally comfortable with my new body image instead of constaly fearing weight gain, and ridicule, and the "I told ya so's" that I've come
to expect with any other previous weight loss

It's so good to hear from other "veterans" and how the are dealing with their success
John

They removed about 5 pounds of  skin and fat.

To tell you the truth my skin wasn't as bad as I've seen people with much worse hanging skin than I had. But I got wind of a program at a teaching hospital which was a fraction of the cost.

It was more of a mental thing with me. The skin didn't irritate me but it bothered me. For example when I would go to the gym and run on the treadmill eventually my Man boobs would start to clapping to cheer me on. Yes a compression shirt would fix that and if the teaching hospital opportunity didn't come up. I would have kept things the way they were. I'm so happy I did the plastics. Yes I have a scar. But It will eventually fade. Even if it didn't I would rather have the scar than the excess skin.

I'll send you a friend invite so you can see my plastic pictures in my profile.

I'm about 15 pounds from a normal BMI. I feel that I could get there without a problem. But as I mentioned I'm still struggling with where my ideal weight should be. I believe BMI is just a number. Doesn't necessarily mean it's the right number for me.  I think once I finish my last round of plastics in May I will have a better idea. My strategy is day by day. It took me years to put on all that weight. It may take some time to find the right balance.

Good luck to you....Seems you're doing well. 
 

  

HI: MikeyMike  Wow, Congrats you have been on some journey, my friend, You look fantastic.
You are an inspiration to us newbies that have not had surgery yet. Now I really can't wait for my surgery day to get here, after seeing you.
I wish you the best, Bless you.

Don't forget us, we're here on, OH.

PS: Love the tuxedo, use it in good health.

88

 Awesome.  Thanks for posting.  Love the pics and really liked seeing your monthly progress.  Its nice to see how you can still drop lbs for a month at two years out.  Thanks!!

What's interesting is also tracking your measurements. I use the health tracker on OH to put in my wieght and measurements. I then export it into excel. Even at two years out my body is redistributing. I see inches come and go. I think in realtion to fat/muscle.

 Yes, that reminds me that I need to update my measurements.  It is crazy how things re-adjust.  I took a look at your before and after plastics pics.   Incredible difference.  Thanks again for sharing.