Day 2 - Calling all Vets - more questions for you all

Didn't get a chance to chime in yesterday but will today. I am 61/2 years out now. Q1 My surgeon advises 3 meals each no more than 1 c of food. I had issues with low blood sugar when I woke in the am so was advised to eat a smaller lunch and a small bedtime snack.Q2 my weight the day of surgery was 265 so 165(which seemed impossible at the time)was my first goal. I breezed by that and set my next goal at 145 the top end of normal for my height and ended as low as 120 which is the bottom edge of a normal bmi. Because I have severe RA and can no longer take NSAIDS I like to stay around 120. In the last 8 months I was traveling,eating out and not being accountable here and got as high 132. Now I'm holding myself accountable and back down to 124.8. Your goal is something only you can decide. Don't let your doctor sell you short though and tell you to stop losing before you yourself feel comfortable. Put in the work and you can reach any goals you set for yourself.

Question #1 (Q1):

How do you handle snacking?

It depends on the plan I am on:

• losing weight - I can pick a very low calories items I can snack on. But if I don't feel like snacking - I skip that. The low calories items can be a SF jello, or my own made protein snack, pre-made and frozen, or a cheese stick, or a meat stick. Or 85% dark chocolate, one larger square is often more than I wanted
• maintenance: that is hard. I have problem just maintaining. I am currently in that phase, transitioning from losing. I snack on fruits, hard candies, nuts.
• trying to gain: anything and everything that will not hurt me very much and I want to eat. When a few times i lost a little too much, it was because I got sick, or had hernia and I had problem eating my meals, or any foods. if someone who was MO tell you they don't want to eat - like really don't want to eat - have aversion to foods, it means they were or they still are sick.

Question #2 (Q2):

How do I know what my final goal weight should be?

I would not decide on the weight itself. I believe that the weight itself is not accurately representing the status of fat loss, or determine if the person is done losing or need to lose more. Body composition measured by body DEXA scan can help to determine how much of our weight is lean tissues, how much is fat. My goal was to have no more than 25-30% body fat. But even with my regain, I had the most 25-27% body fat. I really have thick bones, and muscles.

When I got down to 24.5 BMI my body total fat % was around 18-20%. That may be really nice for someone young, and fit, but for me, it was too low.

As the weight loss is slowing down - getting a body DEXA scan to determine how much fat the person have and still plan to lose- can be the best gift anyone could give to themselves.

I went and did my first Dexa scan a few weeks ago; it was very interesting; I'm looking forward to getting a second one and seeing trends. How often do you do them? The company I went to said every 6 months but I'm sure they are trying to upsell, lol. I was thinking I would do another at 6 months for trending and then maybe yearly?

I had 1. (One) I know how I look and feel and my muscles feel at some body fat %. I had one when I was 153 lbs, and my body fat % was 17-27% depends on my body part ( lesson top more on bottom part). With average 20-21% for my whole body. Then I lost 15 lbs. And had no fat underneath my skin on my torso, rib cage, arms. I had no butt. I had a space between my thighs. One one time I had a space like that, when I got really thin in my early 30's and my body fat % was around 17%. I was not feeling good, mentally and physically. And I was very bony.

in my town Dexa scan is only available at a university, and i have to make special effort to get one. I may have one when I turn 60. Maybe.

My bmi is 24.something and when the dietician did my body fat %, it was 27 or 28% which she said was to low, that at my age (67) I should be around 33%. No one has ever told me I needed to gain weight or fat for that matter, LOL.

Actually, with Body fat at 27% you should be in a perfect range. Normal for women is 25-30%. I think anything below 24% may not be good for any lady over 50 or 55.

A lot of docs push BMI, but the better docs don't look at that as an indicator.

Unless you have a specific body type, like pear shape, that stores fat in the bottom part of your body, I would not try to gain to be 33%. Trust me - with time - you may lose muscles (as most older people do) and your body gets where it needs to be.

When I was larger - I had thicker bones and more muscles. At my age, closer to 60 than to 50, any time i am not active, my body is cannibalizing my muscles. When we are younger, really young, building muscles is almost given. I read a study that as we get older, we can lose up to 10% of our muscle mass in just 10-14 days of bed rest. Scary stuff. (the article - I don't remember exactly but I remember how much is scared me)

1) Dcgirl mentioned some folks having 6 small meals a day and I'm one of them. I've been maintaining on that for years now.

If I absolutely, positively have to have something other than a 'meal', I will eat some popcorn (Smartfood delight, 35 cal, 5 g carb, 40 mg sodium per cup). I always measure the serving and make sure it fits into my daily allotment. Being in maintenance does have a few happy perks!

2) My doctor had his idea and I had mine. I really wanted to get back in my favorite jeans. Those jeans began swimming on me about 9 years ago and I no longer have them. As long as I was comfortable losing weight I kept losing.

I think if you are at a healthy weight and you feel yourself struggling, that is probably the time to accept what your body is telling you and go into maintenance.

Edited to add: I'm 10 years post op as of the 23rd of this month.

1. Make the snack part of your total.
2. I think when you are there it can be a very comfortable place. Eating by the rules and the weight just stays the same. It's the magic part..no extremes. I think it's very unhealthy to obsess over daily weight changes once you are there. Our bodies fluctuate all the time. Give yourself a weight range you're comfortable with and enjoy the peace of a stable weight.

Q1: Hello, my name is Gina, and I am a GRAZER. That makes "snacking" a very slippery slope. I read/heard something recently, about a "treat" being something non-nutritious, and a "snack" being something you PLAN, and include as part of your daily TOTALS. I TRY to keep that attitude. Some tthings I just stay away from. Period. Other trigger foods, like popcorn, I measure out, BEFORE I start shoving it in my mouth

Q2: I started with surgeon's goal, and went from there. His goal was half of my pre-op weight. I lost 10 under that, and have pretty much stayed there. I haven't had any PS, and am 61, so I "get" to weigh a bit more :)

Q1: I handle snacking by not doing it. I rarely have a "need" to snack -- it's more out of boredom or for head-hunger than an actual bodily need. On the occasions that I've really "needed" something (low blood sugar, for example) -- I eat meat, cheese, or a weighed portion of nuts. I also drink an insane amount of black coffee.

Q2: Final weight goals are highly personal. What is right for one person, may not be right for another -- and only the bearer of that body can determine what that is. One has to weigh (excuse the pun) what is healthy for them, what is physically comfortable for them, what looks best for them, against what is maintainable for themselves.

For me, my goal was always to have a "normal" BMI -- so I opt to be 20 to 23 on the BMI scale for my height. I have found that this works best for me.