Renee's Rambling

No, they are not doomed, my sister in law had the same thing done August 06 and she is down currently 105 pounds, she never exercised the entire time, or she would have less hanging skin than she has. She thought this would be it, get the surgery and lose weight and look great, AHH< AHH AHH, there is no free lunch in this world, there is a down side to ever action. And on this one, you have to keep up the muscle building to cut down on all the loose skin, she's currently bummed out because she didn't start sooner. I hope that answered your question. I know a lot of people get the skin tucks after those rapid weight losses also, that's another alternative. Hope your day was good !
Kim
 
so if I lose weight slowly and I'm working muscles and all that good stuff I might have to worry as much about all that extra skin? What happens to the skin? Does it just shrink to fit your body? I guess it grows when you get bigger, so maybe that would make sense.

I have another question. I read that you can never lose fat cells. They can multiply to accomodate the accumulation of fat, but you never lose them once they are there. Does that mean it's harder to keep the weight off once you lose it?
 
The fat cells portion, I'm not sure about, I think I'll send Tom over here to read your post and give you some good advise. He's the master of eating and working out good. You will probably have a little hanging skin even if you use those weight's and tighten up, but you can have that easily removed. A little surgery to tighten it. There is nothing wrong with that. But I've seen people at my gym work out hard, lose a lot of weight and not get to saggy, so it can work. Don't give up and please don't let that discourage you. :)
 
renee123082 said:
so if I lose weight slowly and I'm working muscles and all that good stuff I might have to worry as much about all that extra skin? What happens to the skin? Does it just shrink to fit your body? I guess it grows when you get bigger, so maybe that would make sense.

I have another question. I read that you can never lose fat cells. They can multiply to accomodate the accumulation of fat, but you never lose them once they are there. Does that mean it's harder to keep the weight off once you lose it?
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Hi Renee. I'll try to contribute the little bit of knowledge that I know.

Skin is the largest organ in your body. It needs time to adjust. Most of the stories you see about people needing surgery come from people who were not just hundreds of pounds overweight, but who also lost the weight VERY quickly, on the order of 10 to 15 pounds a month. The longer you give yourself to lose the weight, and the more conditioned you are through that process, the better the chance you won't have so much loose skin. This is especially so at 24, when your skin still has a lot of elasticity.

In other words, it will be a real struggle, and it may take you 2 or 3 years to get to where you want to be, but you can do it.

The best bet, though, is not to worry about excess skin for now. Worry about taking off the weight first.

Fat cells - that's right, you don't lose them. Once they're there, they're there, unfortunately. Fat cells either shrink or get larger, but the research indicates that they do not die off. However, once they get to a certain size, and can't get any larger, new fat cells are created, and those will stay with you, just like the old ones.

We're talking about the microscopic level now. Yeah, it would be nice to be able to dump all those fat cells, and people try to do that through surgery. But you know what? People who have liposuction, and then start to overeat again, put the weight back on in very strange places. Maybe before they put the weight on around their bellies; now after liposuction, there are fewer fat cells in their belly to expand, so they put it on their arms instead. Not a great tradeoff.

Some people are blessed with great bodies, some with great metabolism. A lot of guys my size have a resting metabolic rate of 2,700 calories. Mine is around 2,300 calories. That's a donut a day I could be eating! But I can't. So I just have to accept that fact, and deal with it.

I try to remember this rule: The ease with which you can take off the weight is inversely proportional to the ease with which you put the weight on.

I'm ready for the fight of my life. I've lost it 8 times before; this time I'm going to win. I hope you'll be there with me in the victory circle.
 
Hi Tom. Thank you so much for that info. It's incredibly helpful!

I too hope to be in that winner's circle with you.

:)
 
Hey Renee, just checking in to see how things are going. 2Skinny had suggested that I post my foods in my diary and I thought it was a good idea for me, keeping me marginally accountable. Maybe you could try that and see if it has any impact on things. Its a good way for people to offer suggestions on foods that have and have not worked for them..ya know, from the people that have lost a lot. There seem to be tons of 'em on here :D. I have a diary as well so hopefully you'll pop by and say hi. Hope your day goes OK at work today. ;)
 
I've been quite unmotivated this week. I felt sort of sick off and on today. Then for some stupid stupid stupid reason, of which I'm not even aware, I stopped and got fast food for dinner on the way home (and we're not talking subway here) and now I feel like a hundred pounds heavier than I normally am and my stomach is not happy with me at all.

I haven't kept track of my food much at all this week. When I first started I entered every calorie over at sparkpeople and I felt good about doing it. I think things started to go downhill when I bought the scale and realized that I weighed more than what I originally thought I did.

I'm so beyond tired right now. I should probably go to sleep. But then if I go to sleep, tomorrow will be here sooner and then another full day at my stupid job. Hopefully work passes quickly tomorrow so the weekend can get here sooner.

I need to use this weekend to regroup and refocus.

:drooling:
 
renee123082 said:
I've been quite unmotivated this week. I felt sort of sick off and on today. Then for some stupid stupid stupid reason, of which I'm not even aware, I stopped and got fast food for dinner on the way home (and we're not talking subway here) and now I feel like a hundred pounds heavier than I normally am and my stomach is not happy with me at all.

I haven't kept track of my food much at all this week. When I first started I entered every calorie over at sparkpeople and I felt good about doing it. I think things started to go downhill when I bought the scale and realized that I weighed more than what I originally thought I did.

I'm so beyond tired right now. I should probably go to sleep. But then if I go to sleep, tomorrow will be here sooner and then another full day at my stupid job. Hopefully work passes quickly tomorrow so the weekend can get here sooner.

I need to use this weekend to regroup and refocus.

:drooling:
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Don't stress over whats already happened, just keep counting your calories, watching what you eat, and keep active! You can do it, don't stop now x
 
Renee, its extremely difficult to lose weight and change our habits and for the morbidly obese its probably more of a struggle than I can imagine. So I'm not minimizing how hard this is. But it has to be done Renee. You only live once and you've gotta make it a good one if its in your control. You dont want your health, self-esteem and ability to move around to go progressively down hill as you age. You rather want the opposite and it CAN be done. There are people on this very site who have done it. Perhaps you can request some special moral support and advice from those people. I believe Maleficant has already lost 150 lbs, so she may a good one to call on. I can offer very good suggestions on food and exercise, but I've never been in that struggle that only the morbidly obese know. But I'm happy to help if there's anyway I can. The scale truly can turn into your best friend rather than your enemy.

Did you calculate how many calories you can eat in a day and still lose steadily?
 
I’m really unmotivated. I’m trying so hard to get motivated, but it’s so difficult to sustain any sort of motivation when not much is changing. I could list the positive changes that have occurred, but really there aren’t many. One would be that I’ve gone from only being able to exercise for 10 minutes at a time up to 40 minutes. So, there’s one positive. I guess another would be that while I’m sort of disillusioned with this process, I still haven’t given up. I may have dropped off a little, but I haven’t given up. I think that’s a good thing… or maybe a crazy thing, I’m not sure. I really want to lose weight and it doesn’t feel like that’s going to happen. I have to keep going. I think I might spend some time today making a motivational collage.

In other news…
Yesterday I got to spend some time with a friend of mine who I only get to actually physically see maybe once every month or two. She’s the most awesome person I’ve ever known. And after I talk to her I feel so incredibly balanced. I wish I could bottle that feeling and carry it with me. We sat out in the sun talking for almost three hours. Now I have a very painful sunburn. But damn was it worth it!
 
I made my motivational collage on a huge piece of foamboard. I'm pleased with it. It definitely serves as a reminder of why I started this weight-loss journey in the first place. To be strong, to be healthy (physically and mentally), and to be able to fit into the clothes I want to wear.

I kept track of my calories today for the first day in like four days... yeah, not a good food day today for some reason. I could have done much much better. Today was my highest calorie day in the three weeks that I've been tracking it. *sigh* That's okay though. Bygones...

Late last week I made a decision to come home for lunch most days. It gives me a much needed mid-day break to come home and have a moment of peace and it also allows me to eat at home instead of forgetting to bring lunch to work and then being tempted to go get fast food... which always happens because I'm notorious for forgetting to bring lunch to work.

Tonight I discovered that it is a bit easier to try to work my ab muscles if I put a pillow under my lower back. For some reason that part of my spine is just very sensitive if I try to do sit ups flat on the floor.

I just realized I only have 6 weeks until vacation! It doesn't appear that I'll have money to really do much of anything... but I do plan on really hitting the pavement trying to find a new job in that week. I think I'm also going to go ahead and give myself a little goal to reach for that time frame. Right now I weigh 318. I want to hit the 300 mark by the time my vacation starts. I know that might be pushing it a bit, but I think if I can get to 300, that will be a huge motivating factor. If I can get back below 300 I'll be ecstatic!

Anyway... gotta go work out before SNL comes on!

I'm glad I've gotten back to being motivated!
 
Tonight I did my exercise tape at a faster pace than the tape. I listened to music on my mp3 player tonight so that pumped me up more than usual. I'm drenched it sweat... its disgusting, but it feels so good!

Calories today still sort of sucked, but much better than yesterday. What did me in today was this this stupid brownie thing I had mid day and then I had a high fat dinner tonight. I really did so much better that week or so that I didn't keep garbage food in the apartment. Lesson learned.

I have to make up an exercise schedule so I can fit in exercise twice a day during the week. I feel like I almost have to just make an appointment with myself to do it so that the work-week craziness doesn't completely melt me down.
 
Your keeping up on the excercise, that's a big accomplishment. Don't give up!! Your doing what you need to do, keep going!! One small step at a time, your doing fine!!
Kim
 
renee123082 said:
Tonight I did my exercise tape at a faster pace than the tape. I listened to music on my mp3 player tonight so that pumped me up more than usual. I'm drenched it sweat... its disgusting, but it feels so good!
Click to expand...

Not disgusting at all, IMO. In fact, when I see women in the gym drenched in sweat. . . well, let's say it makes my mind wander.
 
Thanks for the support guys! Awesome!

I had a good breakfast. Yay me! But now my goal for today will be to avoid the vending machine monsters. I'm taking carrots... but carrots are not a good substitute for the chocolate that I normally crave by my first break. I doubt carrots will give me the same feeling as chocolate does. And supposedly today is going to be extra busy at work. Not good. But hopefully I can make it through.
 
So I'm home for lunch...

I've got good news... I was approved for a 30 hour shift at work! That is awesome, awesome, AWESOME!!! And I'll have my days to do whatever, so yay! I'm not sure yet if it starts next week or after, but at least I have something to look foreward to! Woo Hoo!
 
Okay, so this week I am focusing on exercise. I'm realizing that my food issues really are bigger than what I want them to be and they will require some major rethinking and reprograming which I'm not sure I have the energy to deal with right now. I had bought some books about emotional eating a couple of years ago, but never got around to reading them. I have to dig them out. I figure once my hours at work get switched, I'll have more time to actually focus on what is going on in my head. I know I shouldn't put things off, but I'm definitely doing a hell of a lot more now than I was a month ago, so I'm going to focus on the positive for now.
 
?

Anyone else here have their gallbladder removed? I had mine taken out about 3 years ago. But when I have spoken to others who have had their gallbladder out, it seems that their doctors had given them some sort of food guidelines to follow. None of the doctors I had seen or spoken with or even the surgeon had ever said anything to me about what types of foods would be good to avoid or if there was anything that I should really avoid. And the past few weeks I've had this pain in my right side more and more... at first it was only happening during exercise (hence some of my early posts about the side stitch), but the pain has been showing up more and more frequently and I'm sort of beginning to get worried about it. Part of me thinks I'm just silly for even thinking anything of it and then part of me thinks "what if its something serious?" Just wondering if anyone else has had exerience with this...
 
Something tells me those books on emotional eating were a good investment for you. I bet reading them will be good for you. Have you examined the reasons for staying fat or the fear of thinness? What I mean by that was I found a writing exercise here along those lines ("write 25 reasons why...") that made me realize I was NOT afraid to be thin and that I didn't want to stay fat and then I realized that only I could do this for me and that really helped my mind get fixed. You are fixing your mind first girl.

Getting started was the hardest part for me. Time just dragged and I wondered if I was doing the right thing. Now I have settled in to eating 20% below maintenance which allows me to eat as much as possible and still lose. You can do it with care and concentration and not suffering hunger. If you are hungry before bed have a little something but try to keep it to 50-200 calories. Do you know what your caloric range is? I can help you with that if you pm me.

The biggest thing is to wait for fulfillment. You're probably doing just fine, just need to get some time under your belt.

For me, keeping my mental equilibrium is supreme. Also I am not attempting to do too much at once. Some would say I should be working harder. I'm just trying to keep this effort up longer. So far its working. Anyway, enough about me....

Keep up the good work. I agree. Maleficent is awesome support.

Enjoy the forum. It helped me get over the initial hump. Everyday.

We're all rooting for you.
 
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