Thursday, May 12th

Let me know if you decide to go - I've been toying with the idea as well

It will largely depend on when DH's foot surgery is scheduled for. And also whether we have a place to live for the winter months at that time, so a few things so sort out. 

Greetings busy skinnies!

Look at everyone go!  good on you BB and all. Making it happen. Even this old former fattie is down to 131.5. Not stellar but better than before. 

Another art gallery morning which is not good as its slug duty. My main exercise is counting money for bank deposit. At least I move a little walking to the bank and parking away from the parking ticket zone. 

Yesterday it seemed like all I did was listen to people complain - even as I was getting into my car to leave! A couple of good friends were going through rough things but geez, there is a limit.   Then an early morning call from my Mom's area code with no message was disconcerting. Turns out it was just the lawn service.  

Well gotta find some eats to take to the gallery. Guess its cheese sticks and carrots and maybe a power crunch bar. 

Keep it up everybody!

diane s

190.  8 lbs till I'm back from my detour.  It is taking so long, but at least the scale is moving in the right direction again. 

I read the main VSG board yesterday and saw that someone 3 weeks out cheated with French fries, etc., probably a troll, but I thought about it last night when the craving****  My disgust at her for blowing the opportunity was redirected to myself as I considered snacking.  Instead, I fixed myself a salad since I had enough protein for the day and I think it was head hunger.  Probably should not have given in to it, but at least I had something low calorie and low carb.  The scale rewarded me this morning.

165.4 - moving in the right direction.

Austerity plan in full swing, at least for the next week to kick the cravings and troubleshoot where I went off the rails.  Fortunately, I just went off the rails and not off the cliff - thank you sleeve!

Home from work today with a sick child.  Will have to work hard not to walk by the kitchen too many times - I eat when I'm stressed.  Which seems odd when you think about it.  Where is the logic in "My child is sick and I feel bad.  Let me eat this thing to feel better"  Afterwards she is still sick, and I still feel bad - just now I feel bad about about having eaten the thing as well.   My favorite though is eating when I'm angry at my husband.  I used to do this all the time.  Why?  What was I thinking?  "I'm really mad.  I will eat this thing - that will show him!"   Funny - it never really bothered him.... hmmm.

Have a great day!

Your reasons to eat made me laugh - so darn familiar!

Just back from my repeat BOD POD.

                January                    May

Weight      141                           129

% Fat        23.2 %                     14.3%

This practice has a protocol, clients have to sign off on in advance, that if the fat % goes below 15%, the report is forwarded to your PCP and Bariatric team, to  "initiate nutritional counseling to return body fat level to a healthy range".  My one year follow up is next week anyway, so that will be an interesting conversation.

Really liked the counselor I met with for my initial consultation last night.  He was right on the money, and called me on several things, like intellectualizing my responses as a defense mechanism, to divert attention from feelings.  Wow.  If I'm going to be double teamed about gaining weight, I'm going to need him, as I'll be screaming and kicking.

Is there any way you could get a Dexa scan prior to making any adjustments?  

random thoughts....

At my Dexa, I was at 20%

I was told that 9-11% is fat needed "essential for life"

however, that 9-11% is a population number, individuals will vary.

As we approach our personal "essential for life" number, the body begins to progressively borrow more and more energy from the muscles to preserve fat.  And, once you reach your own personal essential for life number, almost all energy will come from muscle.

The person who did my consult was very careful not to say that my % was too low. 

But, she was also very careful to do her due-diligence and let me know of potential consequences of progressively going lower.  She didn't pretend she knew where my essential for life fat % is. 

I felt like she worked to give me the insider's viewpoint of the dexa and body composition.  She noted that I was already leaner than 99% of all women (not just age group, ALL women)  I should point out, tho, that really it is all women that have had dexa's from that particular manufacturer.  The manufacturer's don't share info amongst each other.  That is a problem when it comes to patient care.

We collect numbers from the dexa and the bod pod for objective data.  There are always different ways to look at the numbers.  I would guess that few medical professionals know what to make of this kind of data....it isn't standardized at all that I can tell.  (Perhaps Paula has more info on that.)

If there is no standardization, then no one knows quite how to behave for the average person, much less when to make an exception for an individual.

Even I had a visceral worry response when I see that big of a change in fat percentage just 4 months.    I fully recognize, tho, it is a knee jerk reaction, not based on facts.  But, where does one GET the facts? I don't know.  And if there are facts, is just a study or two or is there a large body of evidence?  Again, I don't know.

Yes, it will be interesting to see what your providers have to say next week.  Maybe it will be "good job!" :)

I would imagine that after they get the report that they will do some of their own research.  If they have concerns, my guess is that if you yourself are ok with your current weight, that your best defense is that you aren't planning to continuing to lose. 

Diane, please don't read much into this post.....again, just random thoughts from a fellow traveler. 

Knowing your current BF percentage, is definitely good information for you to have.

14.3% is simply too low for a woman and especially, (and I'm going to say it - go ahead ladies, kick me in the shin!) for a woman in her 60s. It's not a healthy level of fat. You truly do need some minor reserves for illness and general well being.

I'm not sure if you've heard of the term, but you may not be underweight, but you may be under fat. It's a real thing.

I know many normies who lose weight during times of stress and loss. Not only do they not feel like not eating, during stress the human stomach can contract making it less comfortable to eat - that's that knot in your gut feeling some people talk about when they can't eat. Years ago my mom told me that I would diet when my life was out of control because I could at least control my food. Life has been very tough for you with the loss of Chuck and Sadie's health issues. It would not surprise me if you had used your VSG-ability to control your food intake to help you cope. Overeating, binge eating, restricting food - it's all part of the same spectrum. Those of us with disordered eating can move flexibly along that spectrum throughout our lives.

Given your last sentence in your post, I think you know the direction you need to head. We are here to love and support you all the way. It's a scary proposition, but one you need to address. As we say in Soul Shoppe, "We've got your back!"

And like Shel said, just my take on your post. You have the whole picture. I have only what I know from here. No judgement - just support.