Just thinking out loud, musing......

I just studied a number of before & after photos here on oh.com.

Isn't it interesting how people carry their weight so differently?
Some of them, at 250lbs look as big as I did at 310lbs, some look really REALLY good even at 200lbs!

I realize that height has a lot to do with it, but it is definitively not the ONLY consideration.
So is it bone structure? Is it strictly a combination of height and bones, or is there even more involved?

Feel free to enlighten me or just join in my musings  :-)

Great topic, Karin,and one I have been musing about myself. I think when we are morbidly obese, you really can't as easily see a person's basic shape, such as hourglass, pear, or apple. I always thought I was apple shaped, but now that I can see a waistline evolving, I think I'm more of a pear. I was starting to think I might be an hourglass, until the "girls" started disappearing! I think height and skin elasticity also factor in. The arms are very frustrating to me! Although my legs have some muscle tone from all the walking that I do, my batwings are very saggy and unattractive, also difficult to camoflage.

WOW... such like minds on this topic... I just emailed the new Bariatric Coordinator for VM... and gave her some possible future topics... of which one was dressing for our new bodies...

People were always surprised when I told time how much I weighed... 332.. and for most clothes.. I could wear a size 24.  Now at 222... I am a 16... and can get a 14 on... but breathing and eating would not really work out so well with the 14 on...   .

I have an hour glass figure... that is a bit bottem heavy... but I am evening out... I have a top that is a little tight in the bust but fits perfectly in the waist and hips.  I am tall too... so that helps...  I also wonder if a persons percent of lean body mass to total body mass is also a major factor. The PA in my surgeons office was surprized by the strength in my abdominal muscles...I guess my years of pilates and yoga made a difference.

I am hoping to find a imadge consultant when I get close to goal and find some new styles and colors that will look good on my emerging body.   My goal weight is higher than most... 185... which I hope gets me close to a size 12. I have about 40 pounds to go... so I should be close to a 12... anything smaller than that will be a bonus!

Thanks for the topic Karin...

Helen

 

i think that i have a hard time seeing myself as the size i actually am, so it's very difficult for me to accurrately compare myself with others - i think i see myself as bigger (which is not to say i'm small - far from it).  for example, i've indicated another woman in public (very discreetly).  and asked a friend "i'm about that size, right?"  and the answer is invariably no.

but, i do have ginormous hands and feet (bones?) - my palms are typically larger than mens, and my fingers longer (by an inch or more), but not as thick.  because of this, i'm really wondering what a healthy weight for me will wind up being.  when i was 170, my stomach was flat, but i had curves - yet that seems very high to me (i'm only 5'5).   plus, i sort of want to 'aim low', to factor in some bounce-back wiggle room.

i tend to carry weight in my stomach now.  my sister is all butt, with a teeny waist.  she won't tell me what she weighs tho, and she's several inches taller.  she seems like she might be a little bigger than me, but i attribute that mostly to her height.  proportionally we are probably overweight to the same degree.  i think i look fatter (again, i think her height helps) - like i'm 13 months pregnant...  while she might have issues squeezing into a seat that i would not.

I find that intersting, too, Karin. I do know that the one and only benefit to being morbidly obese one's entire life is a strong bone structure to support it. Dense bones weigh more than less-dense bones, and that makes it difficult to really gauge how much someone weighs.

I've never been able to guage how big I am. I feel and think I am GIGANTIC, of course... especially when I try to get my butt into a movie theater seat, or ... like I did, today ... a standard hairdresser's chair. I'm big all over, but I carry a LOT of my excess weight in my hips and thighs. People are surprised when I tell them what I weigh.

Won't it be fun to see our new bodies emerge? I'm sooooo stoked. I can't wait to be on the other side with you guys!

I have looked at all of those photos and thought the same thing. Some people look lighter for their weight and some look heavier. Iam tall 5'8" and I have small bones so if I make my gola weight of 145 Im wondering if that might be too much weight loss for my frame. I guess I will just have to wait and see. The thing I don't understand is that I have read about some people wearing a size 8 but weighing 160+ still at my height.  I have not even been close to a size 8 in soo long I don't know if that is realistic.

Anyway I'm rambling so off I go to get something done around here. :)
Bernadette