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I had my WLS surgeon write a prescription for a dexa scan at the University of Arizona's Physiology Department (self pay - it cost me $100.00) so that I could see what my body composition is and determine whether I need to lose more weight. I presently weigh 20-35 pounds more than I weighed in college, and am 20+ pounds above the upper end of a "normal" BMI, yet I'm much bonier-looking than I was in college and I keep hearing the word "gaunt" applied to my face nowadays. Well, per the results of my body composition analysis, I don't need to lose any more weight, despite the fact that I'm still "overweight" by BMI chart standards.

My bone density is extremely high, literally at the top of the charts. This is due to the constant "strength training" of carrying around the massive weight that I did for years.

My percent body fat is 15. Not at competitive bodybuilding levels, by any means (although my arms are only 7% fat), but the "normal" range for men of my age is 18-25%, so I'm below the bottom of that range (not freakishly low - the senior research specialist who explained the results to me said the 3% margin below the low end of normal is fine, but that I shouldn't try to keep losing more fat; instead, I should work to maintain my muscle mass as I age). My percent of body fat is in the 9th percentile statistically, meaning that 91% of men my age have higher percentages of body fat than I have.

The research specialist says he hates the use of BMI to gauge physical fitness and body composition, since anyone with any significant muscle tissue will be classified as "overweight". According to BMI standards, I need to lose 20 pounds just to be at the very top of "normal" for my height, but the researcher says my extremely dense bones, lean muscle, and loose skin are all not taken into account by the BMI standard. I am NOT overweight. I am lean.

Basically, I'm going to work to maintain my weight of 225 (note: I'm now down two more pounds to 223) and maybe add some more lean muscle as I can, but I'm not going to worry about losing fat or dropping pounds beyond this point - everyone who's been telling me that I look gaunt and don't need to lose more weight has been right!

A couple of days ago, I reached a BMI below 30 - I am officially merely "overweight" now! I now weigh 245, lower than I've been since 1990!

Today is my eight-month surgiversary, so I weighed myself this morning and am exactly 200 pounds down since my surgery day weight, and 270 pounds down from my all-time high. Any way you choose to calculate it, I am officially a member of the Double Century Club! Woo hoo! :D

All of you "We want photos!!!" people (you know who you are!:p) will just have to wait 'til next month - I post my comparision shots every three months, so I won't post new pics until my nine-month surgiversary in November...

My surgeon estimated that I would be down 200 pounds in one year - well, I beat that by four months! I'm at 270 and my surgeon's goal for me is 215 (and I may need to lose more than that - we'll see what I look/feel like, measure in inches and body fat percentage, etc., plus there's a lot of loose skin to take away someday that factors into my weight :rolleyes:), so I still have at least 55 pounds left to lose. My surgeon "guesstimated" at my six-month follow-up in August that I may continue to lose for another year or so, which would still be about 10 more months from now, so if his guess is correct, I may lose a lot more. We'll see. I'm still very much enjoying all of my "wow" moments and my journey continues - I'm very glad to be here...

I have reached Twoterville and the weather and scenery are beautiful!

My highest weight was in the 500s, my surgery day weight was in the 400s, I spent the last few months in the 300s (my friend Katie coined the term "Threeopolis" just for me when I got there), and am now in the 200s - "Twoterville", where I haven't been since 1994. Woo hoo!

I don't need or want to reach Onederland (where I haven't been since I was 21, anyway), given my height and frame size, so I will be happy to stay in Twoterville for good! Now, I just need to travel to the suburb of Much Lower Twoterville and establish residency there...

I had mix six-month follow-up with Dr. Chiasson this morning and was delighted to learn that I had beaten his six-month goal for me of losing 150 pounds - I was down 152 from day of surgery, to 318. Woo hoo!

I feel fantastic! I go to the gym six days a week now - three days of Body Pump classes (awesome resistence training  in a group class format, set to great music) and three days of cardio - water aerobics, treadmill, etc. I'm loving being more active and people, even those I barely know, have really noticed the positive change in my  appearance.

My surgeon may end up revising his final goal for me to something higher - he originally set it at 215 (which is 15 pounds more than I normally weighed in college), but said today "You'll be thin as a rail at 215 - we'll see where you eventually level off..."

I just had my three month follow-up with Dr. Chiasson this morning and weighed in at 369 (actually 368.9, with clothes, thank you ) - I'm down 101 pounds since surgery and 171 pounds from my highest weight. Any way you calculate it, I'm officially a member of the Century Club. Woooo hoooo!

I'm doing well, feeling great, have a lot more energy (need to exercise more!), and looking a LOT better, according to many, many sources. Yes, I know, I know. I promise I will post some new pictures and update my avatar, which dates from October, 2006 (a year and a half ago!). I had some new pics taken, but honestly could not see the facial and torso difference that everyone else sees, so I just deleted the pics from my camera. I can tell more from the fit of my clothes than from mirrors or photos - this seems to be pretty common...

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It's Day 40 post-op and I just had my six-week follow up with my surgeon - I am down 64 pounds since my surgery!

Not only have I lost over 1.5 pounds per day on average, but I have also dropped to a BMI of 49.4. This may not sound like a "wow" moment, but it is - 49.4 puts me in the Morbidly Obese category, rather than the Super Obese category! Yippee for Morbid Obesity! I was once well into the Super-Super Obese category when my BMI was 65+, so this was really great news!

I had ANOTHER @#%$&* gout attack last week that laid me up for days (I had to get another Prednisone shot from the rheumatologist on Tuesday), but today my surgeon took me off of my Coumadin (Warfarin) blood thinner and gave me another Rx for Celebrex (I had a VSG, not an RNY, so I can take anti-inflammatories without risking an ulcer), so hopefully I can start managing the pain and inflammation as I resume my Allopurinol (anti-gout) regimen soon...

Size-wise, I've dropped from a 6X to a 4XLT in shirts, which means I can wear tall shirts again that actually fit my long arms and torso! That's right, no more fighting to keep my shirt tucked in and dealing with the dreaded "t-shirted belly display" (let alone the "bare hairy belly display", which is PG13) because there aren't enough buttons on the front of the shirt to go all the way down to my pant line! Woo hoo! Speaking of pants, my waist is now 60 (it was 68 the night before surgery), so I can start buying pants off the rack in Big&Tall stores instead of having to order online.

I had an adventuresome Easter, eating-wise. I've been doing fine with my evening meal of lowfat cottage cheese, or yogurt, or fat free refried beans, or lowfat string cheese, or chicken breast morsels, so I thought, "go for it - try some fun Easter proteins!" - it was an interesting experience.

I had my usual protein shake (35 g each) for breakfast and lunch, and then went to an Easter gathering at a friend's in the afternoon. The host is an amazing cook and there were also lots of dishes that the guests had brought, so there was a big selection. For my dinner, which I spread out as grazing over 3 hours (even though I'm supposed to do a single 20-minute sitting for each meal), I tried a tiny amount of corned beef (hated it), a bite each of two types of ham (really hated them both, including the Honeybaked Ham, which I used to love and look forward to at holidays), bites of the fillings of several different types of quiche (the ones with ham were naaaaassssty, but there was a veggie quiche with feta that I loved), a teensy bit of sausage with a drop of white gravy (from the biscuits and gravy portion of the buffet) that everyone else was raving about but that tasted so foul to me that I had to spit it into my napkin rather than swallow it, and a miniscule morsel (less than a teaspoon) of garlic cheese biscuit, which did nothing for me but at least wasn't unpleasant. The clear winner was the veggie quiche, and I learned that I now hate ham!

This Wednesday, when I will begin my Week Seven meal plan, I get to broaden my eating horizons and try tuna fish with a little fat free mayo, as well as some other, denser proteins, and also get to start testing out steamed vegetables after I've gotten in my proteins. I'll keep you all posted!

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It's Day 21 and, as of yesterday at my WLS support group meeting, I've lost 46 pounds since surgery! Wooo hooo!

I lived through the three weeks of nothing but water and Profect and the recent addition of 1/3 of a scrambled egg for dinner (I kicked sugar-free Jell-O and broth to the curb early on - too disgusting for words, post-op) and am thrilled, thrilled I tell you, at the prospect of Worldwide Pure Protein shakes for breakfast and lunch today and a small amount of cottage cheese for dinner tonight! Yippeee! Yes, I know that this is less food even than the torturous pre-op diet that I hated so very much, but times have changed, people - I consider myself blessed to be able to have something other than Profect!

On an interesting taste change note: I used to hate eggs (scrambled, deviled, hard boiled, in egg salad, etc.) and could only tolerate them in quiches and casseroles with LOTS of meat, cheese, and veggies to overpower the egg taste, but I have greatly enjoyed my daily 1/3 of a scrambled egg prepared with butter-flavored Pam spray and sea salt - yum!

My surgeon set specific intermediate goals for me:

Surgery date: 470
2 weeks out: 437
6 weeks out: 400-410
12 weeks out: 370
26 weeks out: 320
52 weeks out: 270
15 months out: 215

Basically, it breaks down as 100 pounds off in the first three months, then 50 more pounds off in the following three months, then 50 more pounds off in the following six months, the the last 55 pounds off to goal in about the last three months or so (ambitious, but worth shooting for)... __________________

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Yes, that's right - I had my first post-op appointment today [Monday, February 25, 2008], and weighed 437 pounds, 33 pounds less than I did on the day of surgery 12 days ago! Woo hoo!

The prednisone shot has helped my gout to the point that I'm getting around with a cane instead of crutches and feeling better. My surgeon gave me the OK to drive and start using the pool again - yippee! I have another post-op appointment in four weeks, at which time I will be taken off the Coumadin and can probably resume taking NSAIDs for arthritis pain. I will also resume Allopurinol for the gout once I am symptom-free...

My surgeon set my goal weight at 215 pounds and estimated that it will take 15 months for me to reach goal if I follow the program as instructed. Just looking at the target weights at each timeframe blew my mind. I'm really on this journey!!!