Hip bones? Who knew?

P. Poster
on 7/11/13 10:40 am

The very top of my hip bones sit just about at my belly button.  Yes, hips go up much higher than you would expect :)  I actually really like mine, because they give me a nice hourglass shape, but, they did that before I even had WLS, let alone my LBL.  They also are the reason Ill never be smaller than a size 6 or 8 (well and some 4s depending on brand).  Between them and my butt, no matter how flat my tummy gets, I still have to get cloth around bone!  I have a pretty large bone structure though, and Im about 6' tall.  

A_Whole_New_Me
on 7/11/13 2:22 pm

I am also 6 ft tall with a large bone structure.

I have been morbidly obese my entire life (32 lbs @ 1yr, 184 lbs @ 9 yr, 290 lbs just before my 13th birthday and a high of about 400 lbs in my late 20’s). I have little idea what would I should establish as a goal weight and my surgeon refused to give me any guidance.

I can’t imagine wearing a single digit size. May I ask if you’re happy at your present weight?  Would you be willing to share it with me?

Please feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Thanks so much.

Tricia

P. Poster
on 7/11/13 10:53 pm

I weighed 160.4 this morning.  I am happy with my weight, but I do need to get back to my regular workout routine and rebuild the muscle mass I lost post plastics (had a long tough recovery, Im almost 3 months post and was just cleared for light return).  I am very flappy and floppy now from all the muscle atrophy.  I do look a bit like skin and bones in certain areas (mainly my collarbones, and arms), but its only because I lost the muscle that used to fill and round those areas out.  My lowest weight post WLS was 150lbs and that was WAY too skinny.  I looked sick.  Pre-plastics I wore a size 8 or 10.  Now I can fit in all 8s, most 6s and a few 4s.  I wear a 34DD bra (no plastics to breasts).  My measurements are 38 (around fullest part of breast) 31 (around waist), 39 (around hips and butt augmentation).  I maintain here effortlessly.  I do plan to actually gain some weight in muscle, and would like to settle out back between 165-170.  I had the DS, for reference.  

A_Whole_New_Me
on 7/12/13 12:01 am

Wow! I can barely get my head around the idea that it would be possible for someone like me to weigh so little. At this point, I simply can't picture myself that thin.

I had VSG in early 2010 and got down to 215 before a car accident. A subsequent medication (and mobility issues) caused me to regain up to around 270. My plan is to revise to DS by the end of the year (Dr Keshishian, I hope).

Would you mind sharing with me your common channel length, your starting weight and how long it took you to get to goal? Any other thoughts, insights or experiences would be most appreciated.

Thank you SO much.

Tricia

P. Poster
on 7/12/13 1:00 am

Dr K is awesome from what I hear!!  Good choice.  Sorry to hear of the accident, I hope you are doing well now.

My common channel is 100cm, and my stomach was a size 50 french (so cut a little generous).  I can eat a normal sized meal now at over 3 years out.  I also eat pretty much whatever I want with a focus on protein first, and of course, take a ton of vitamins.  I lost to below goal in 11 months.  My highest weight was 364 the day I had my daughter.  I lost down to 280 and got stuck there.  Day of surgery I was 279lbs.  I lost down to 149 (below my surgeons goal of 165) in 11 months.  I added carbs to get up to 160, then intentionally gained up to 170 after I started weight training and working out a lot, and I started eating whatever I wanted to try to gain weight.  I maintained a weight of between 170-175 for 2 years before I had plastics, but it took a LOT of work to stay that high.  LOTS of working out and weight training to maintain muscle mass and not lose weight.  (yes, I actually just said I didnt want to lose weight, haha!).  Im a firefighter and female, so I catch a lot of flack if I cant match or surpass my male counterparts at work... Staying strong is very important to me, especially for my safety.  

I lost 15lbs very quickly after my LBL, and very unintentionally, so Im back to 160 and very weak.  I never thought Id be in a place where I was struggling to gain weight...  Maintaining muscle is very hard after the DS.  You really do have to get in a ton of protein so your body doesnt go after your muscles for it.  Other than that, maintaining has been easy.  Thats just my experience and of course, YMMV, but I love my DS and wouldnt trade it for the world!

A_Whole_New_Me
on 7/12/13 1:22 am

Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your story with me.

What a wonderful success story! 

Tricia

MyBariatricLife
on 7/12/13 11:11 pm

 

P Poster, can you tell me how many grams of protein you eat in a day?

i am glad that you are regaining your health and strength! A female fire fighter, you rock!!!

Living larger than ever,
My Bariatric Life

Dizzy

P. Poster
on 7/14/13 11:46 am

On a normal day, between 100-120g.  Workout or days I work, minimum 200g.  Prior to plastics and in recovery, it has been 200g minimum as well.  I drink a LOT of protein shakes (4 a day on 200g days) and eat a lot of meat and dairy :)  An 8oz steak or pound of bacon is my BFF.

And thank you.  Im glad I am finally able to start getting back to my life again.  I've missed it, and missed out on a lot.  I have a lot of catching up to do, on every level.

MyBariatricLife
on 7/14/13 10:53 pm

Let me ask a fundamental question, why is it important to up the protein so high on workout days? 

I can relate to missing out on a lot of things... I got married young, put myself through college, had a busy career and raised my child. I have always had a lot of responsibility from a young age. 

I became successful and fairly well known in my career. I had roles outside of my day job that involved speaking engagements at conferences, writing "thought leadership" pieces for magazines, serving on editorial boards and on and on. And I became a Mimi (grandmother).

What is more for the last decade I have seen my daughter and mother through some very hard health challenges.

you know what? I am burnt out. I am tired of being an adult. While there is nothing I can do to undo what has been done, I am on the quest to enjoy the rest of my life. My big corporate job was eliminated just after my 49th birthday, and one month later I had my tummy tuck and moved to another state. I spent 3-mos with my daughter and granddaughter just having fun.

Now I want to finish my physicial transformation and get the rest of my body work done. And I want to continue to make up for lost time!

Living larger than ever,
My Bariatric Life

Dizzy

P. Poster
on 7/15/13 3:20 am

Since Ive had the DS, my body only absorbs roughly 50% of the protein I consume.  So, based on the recommendations for a "normie" of around 45g of protein per day, I would only absorb about 23g, thus causing my body to begin to rob protein from other sources.  The easiest place for it to get protein is from muscle.  The heart is also a muscle, so this is something you definitely have to be mindful of.  On a normal day, to ensure I get enough protein to simply maintain my heart and other muscles, based on my height and current muscle mass- I have found that I need between 100-120g protein, which nets me roughly 50-60g total on the day.  Right in line with the "normie" recommendations.

Now, with that said- when you work out, especially doing weight training, the way your muscles grow is by being torn down (working out) and rebuilding.  To rebuild, muscle requires additional protein as well as certain amino acids.  Therefore, on workout days, doing "DS math" and factoring in my malabsorption, to get to my 50-60g per day AND have enough to rebuild any muscle tear down from my workouts, I have to double my protein to ensure my body still has enough.  At 200g protein on a workout or work day, I am lucky to actually absorb about 80-100g.  Which is right around what a "normie" would need on a heavy workout day.

As a DSer, I have also trained my body to get energy from protein and fat, as opposed to carbs, since I follow a relatively low carb diet (recommended for best DS results and least amount of gastric issues postop).  Since I do not get energy from carbs, my body will also look to muscle and fat stores for energy if I dont fuel it properlly.  While I dont mind the fat getting blasted, I dont want muscle atrophy, so I make sure to fuel it regularly with protein & fat by mouth for general energy as well.  I consume roughly 3500 calories a day, with about 80% of them being from protein/fat.  Anything less than that, and I literally feel run down.

I hope that makes sense, haha!

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