Feeling overwhelmed from my Dr's apt

I don't know how old you are,but as we get older the drs want us to not get too thin,because if we get sick we will not have enough reserve to fight whatever you have to fight to get better.I have seen this in my Mom too.

That makes sense, but im only 37.

First off, I want to congratulate you on your amazing success. Reading your ticker, you have gone from 340 down to 156 in a very short time!

I just wanted to reply to tell you I know exactly how you feel, and we also have very similar stats (although I'm a male) - I'm 5'8" and went from 333 to ~150 (i bounce between 148-152 pretty regularly). I had my surgery on 3/21/16, and have been in maintenance for a little over 4 months.

I revised my target weight a few times, but have decided I'm most comfortable at 152 (although truth be told, I like to be a couple pounds under to give me some wiggle room).

The advice I would give you is to start slowly upping your calories until you find your equilibrium. You may find that during this process you end up losing those last 10 pounds anyway. That is exactly what happened to me. I started transitioning to maintenance, but very gradually upped my caloric intake as I was so nervous I would regain. It actually took me quite a while to find my maintenance spot (about 1800 calories a day seems to be my maintenance spot) and in the process I probably lost another 10 pounds.

I also strongly recommend a DEXA scan - you need to chose where you are most comfortable, but I know for me the DEXA scan really helped me with that. At one point I thought maybe I wanted to get into the low 140s so I had a 10 pound "bounce back" buffer. But when I went and got my most recent two DEXA scans (at about 145-150 pounds for each of them) my BF% came back at 6% and I knew that I most definitely should not lose any more weight. For me, that was really, really good to know.

Anyway, I can relate to the stress this can cause, but you have done great, and I know you will do great with whatever route you chose to get to your final goal and maintain! Just remember, this is the GOOD stress to have when it comes to your weight! I never, never, never thought I would be concerned about being "too thin"!

DISCLAIMER: I hesitated to even post my BF% from my DEXA as there were quite a few people last time I did that were highly skeptical of my results. I also was highly skeptical, which is why I had it tested on two different machines at two different locations 3 months apart - with near identical results. Anyway, i am not posting it to have a debate about DEXA or my personal BF%, I just wanted to share as it was key to me finding my lowest acceptable weight, and hoped it may help you in your situation as well. And as a final disclaimer, I have shared these results with both my surgeon and my PCP, and neither one is concerned.

(edited to correct my surgery date - wow, can't believe I forgot my surgery date!)

I love everything about this response. Thank you! Amazing our stats are so similar. I really need to get the DEXA scan. I'm going to ask about that when I go for my cat scan. I should have that info for sure. I increased my calories this week to just about 1000. Makes my eyes pop even writing that number. But I'm trying that this week and seeing where that leads me. It's hard to convicnce myself that many a day is ok. That's just my fear. I'm slowly working on that, too. I appreciate your response!! And great job to you as well!!!!

Thanks! I've found that once you get over the shock and awe (and to some degree - the "how will I ever eat that much?!?!") you will settle into a good routine for you.

As for the DEXA scans, one thing to note - they are generally not covered by insurance. The only situation that I'm aware of where they are covered is when used just for the bone density scan for osteoporosis concerns - not the full body composition scans.

You may have to google a bit, sometimes local doctors will offer them, and I have found most people report them being $100 - $150. One thing to look into is your local universities. Eastern Michigan University isn't too far from me and they offer them for $50, which is an excellent deal!

Great idea!! I'll have to check local university's!

I never thought of the term 'cushion' I never intended to gain back a pound and I have not. It's such a head deal

It's ALL a head game, this entire process. I don't think any of us intend to gain weight back. Just like we didn't intend to be 300+ pounds. A cushion for me is ...well it's kinda like an insurance policy... I like the safety of that.