43 lbs lost in 3 weeks

rcookenc

Hello everyone, my name is Roger, I am a 47 y/o male from North Carolina and I weighed 547 lbs (bmi=74.2) at my first bariatric clinic appt. 4 weeks ago. They wont allow surgery on anyone over a bmi of 70, so I have to lose about 50 lbs to qualify. I have another appt. with them for a nutrition evaluation on Monday the 10th, but I didn't want to wait for that-so I started a diet plan myself to get a head start. All the online charts and calorie counters say to maintain my weight of 547, that I was eating around 4800 calories a day. So I checked and saw that I should be eating 1500 a day if I was at normal weight, so I set my goal at 1500 calories a day. By reading from some literature I got from the bariatric clinic and online sites, I noticed that PROTEIN was very important. So I set out to eat between 80-100 grams of protein a day, while keeping under 1500 calories a day, and watching my fat and sugar intake too. Well yesterday I went to my regular doctor and when I weighed in I was astonished. I have only been on my diet for a full 3 weeks and just started my 4th week. I knew I had lost some, I was expecting around 10-15 lbs.... I lost 43 lbs!!!!!!! I am so excited and pumped up Also, my bmi is now under the 70 mark I do think tho, that I am not gonna have the surgery right away. The more weight I can lose before it, the better. And who knows, I may not even need to have surgery if I can keep losing the weight myself. Guess I just needed a little motivation. And if I do get to a point where I stop losing it myself, then I can still go ahead with the surgery then at that time. Oh, one other thing-I feel that using the daily food log on myfitnesspal was very helpful for me. I love that you can just search for the foods you eat and it has all the numbers for you. Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself and say Hello to everyone. Thought I would share a bit of good news on my progress. Hopefully I will sharing a lot more success. If anyone wants to ask me anything or wants to know more about my diet plan, just ask.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

When I saw the title of this thread my instant reaction was to call BS. Glad I clicked and read Great job! Can you imagine if you can do this all yourself and not even need the surgery?
Please check back, I'd be really interested to hear about your journey

auddii

My mom had bariatric surgery, and she had a lot of problems (mostly due to adherence issues with the very strict diet after the surgery). She lost a lot of her hair, had vitamin deficiency, and has since gained weight back. It's definitely a tool and needs hard work.

You've already shown that you can do the hard work on your own, and it seems to be paying off. You're eating at a pretty large deficit, and that will likely get harder to maintain the more you lose (but you have a lot of extra weight right now and can likely tolerate the big deficit). Definitely focus on protein intake and talk to your doctor about what exercises you'd be able to add in. When you can, I'd look into a progressive resistance program to help retain muscle mass as you lose (especially important due to the large deficit), but again get clearance from the doctor first.

Congrats on getting it done on your own, and keep it up!

shadowloss

Outstanding. And I applaud you on taking the first steps to change for yourself and have decided to hold off on the surgery. Like you said, if you need it great, but I think you might have more positive effects mentally if you could do it without. Not that it is easy, either way, but a lot less expensive? Best of luck, look forward to seeing you around on the site.

100andOnward

This is awesome! Great job!! Can't wait to hear more about your journey.

LeenaJean

My goodness! That is fantastic! Very inspiring, great job

wibutterflymagic

That's great. I think it's great that you are reconsidering the surgery. If you can lose what is needed to have surgery then you can do this in a healthy way yourself. Please do remember though that that kind of loss isn't going to be the norm and another thing to remember is that the slower you lose the weight by making small dietary changes the more likely you are to keep it off because you aren't making drastic unhealthy changes to your life that you can't sustain. Since you have a lot to lose you may also want to consider strength training. By adding that to a slower weight loss you will help to curb some of the loose skin issues you will encounter. I have a friend that did the surgery and she didn't exercise at all and she has probably 10lbs of excess skin and insurance won't cover the removal of it. Good luck.

AJL_Daddy

Excellent work. Refreshing to read this instead of the usual BRO SCIENCE that is a cancer on these boards.

eissacf25

that is so amazing to hear!!! keep up the good work, you can definitely do this!!!

Shaq70

Well done Roger fantastic results keep up the good work

ymarq84

OMG, I am so excited for you. I know that you must feel great! Keep up the good work.

Ke22yB

That is great I also hesitated to click when I saw the title and I am glad I did. If you even remotely feel you can do this yourself I say go for it. The sense of accomplishment is overwhelming either way but if you can do it on your own the freedom of all the restrictions after you are done may be worth it. I never considered the surgery because honestly it SCARED ME. And so went on my own increasing exercise and managing food till I have lost about 180 pounds and now live my life on my own terms. Either way great job on the start and keep it up. Good health and good Losing

Dancing_Laeti

I'm speechless. That's absolutely fantastic, well done!

simplydelish2

First congrats on taking that first step to a healthy lifestyle! My first reaction is you are eating way too little and need to slow the loss - however, I do realize that sometimes when we are larger (been there) the more we can lose in the first few months, the more likely we are to continue. Stay healthy my friend - and you can do this without surgery!

Madascala

That is fantastic! I'm a nurse and I agree with you that, if your doctor is in agreement with it, you should try to lose the weight on your own for as long as you can and postpone surgery. I have known people that have had bariatric surgery and yes, they did lose a tremendous amount of weight, but post-surgery there were complications and then hair loss, "dumping syndrome" and then you still have to cope with behavior modification, food addiction issues, changing how and what you eat, and even more drastic change than if you just followed a healthy plan like you are doing now. Our bodies want to be healthy and are surprisingly strong and resilient if we will just be kind and help them out by giving proper fuel and moving them. Good luck to you!

chubbywolfe

Wonderful job!!

gcwillig

That is wonderful! Congratulations! It is hard work, but you can do this.

rcookenc

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, encouragement, and advice. I really appreciate it I realize that I wont be losing that amount of weight all the time. But maybe I can lose another 100 and get down to around 400 before it starts to slow down. When I get down to that 400 area, I feel I should then be able to start some sort of exercise plan.

VictoriaS57

rcookenc wrote: »

Hello everyone, my name is Roger, I am a 47 y/o male from North Carolina and I weighed 547 lbs (bmi=74.2) at my first bariatric clinic appt. 4 weeks ago. They wont allow surgery on anyone over a bmi of 70, so I have to lose about 50 lbs to qualify. I have another appt. with them for a nutrition evaluation on Monday the 10th, but I didn't want to wait for that-so I started a diet plan myself to get a head start. All the online charts and calorie counters say to maintain my weight of 547, that I was eating around 4800 calories a day. So I checked and saw that I should be eating 1500 a day if I was at normal weight, so I set my goal at 1500 calories a day. By reading from some literature I got from the bariatric clinic and online sites, I noticed that PROTEIN was very important. So I set out to eat between 80-100 grams of protein a day, while keeping under 1500 calories a day, and watching my fat and sugar intake too. Well yesterday I went to my regular doctor and when I weighed in I was astonished. I have only been on my diet for a full 3 weeks and just started my 4th week. I knew I had lost some, I was expecting around 10-15 lbs.... I lost 43 lbs!!!!!!! I am so excited and pumped up Also, my bmi is now under the 70 mark I do think tho, that I am not gonna have the surgery right away. The more weight I can lose before it, the better. And who knows, I may not even need to have surgery if I can keep losing the weight myself. Guess I just needed a little motivation. And if I do get to a point where I stop losing it myself, then I can still go ahead with the surgery then at that time. Oh, one other thing-I feel that using the daily food log on myfitnesspal was very helpful for me. I love that you can just search for the foods you eat and it has all the numbers for you. Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself and say Hello to everyone. Thought I would share a bit of good news on my progress. Hopefully I will sharing a lot more success. If anyone wants to ask me anything or wants to know more about my diet plan, just ask.

Awesome job! Good for you for taking it on by the horns and going for it. I'm pulling for your continued success on your journey to health. Hang in there, Man!

rcookenc

gonna try and see if I can post a pic of one of my daily food logs so you can see what I eat.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1520304864893413&set=a.1380904278833473.1073741829.100007417416758&type=1&theater

rcookenc

let me know if the img or the link or both work

dwozniak16

This is amazing Roger!
You're doing so well, and I'm very glad you're thinking of dumping the surgery to do it yourself! Eventually it will become more difficult to lose the weight, but you've already shocked yourself at your progress! Keep doing what you're doing, it's working well! You're an amazing person, and I wish you continued success!!

daynerz

Congrats Roger, keep it going, be strong, fight the good fight!

AShannon54

Awesome job! Keep at it and stay positive!

SpecialKH

That is fabulous! I think you can do it on your own! Save that $$ for some skin reduction later! Granted I only needed to loose about 90 and wasn't quite big enough for bariatric sleeve surgery but I checked into it and saw the cost and thought to myself "If someone offered to pay me that much to LOSE the weight, I bet I could and would. So why can't I SAVE myself that much and do it myself?" Down 55 in 8 months and certainly much more fit.

After a while the cravings won't be there, a little hunger won't bother you and you'll feel even more proud of yourself! You are SO WORTH TAKING GOOD CARE OF. Make tracking a religion. I also use the Body Media Armband to more accurately gauge my calorie expenditure.

From Your Cheering Section!

jenni112877

Amazing!!! keep it up!

tattooedminx

Congrats Roger, cannot wait for another update! Keep at this, you got it!!!

0somuchbetter0

Congratulations! It's so hard to turn that corner and go from the status quo to a whole new way of eating and living. I had lap band surgery 2.5 years ago and have never regretted it, but surgery is certainly not for everyone. Please send me a friend request if you want -- I'm happy to share my experiences.

LazyDaise

THAT IS FANTASTIC!! It would be amazing if you could do it youself and not need surgery!

valerieg78

Keep up the great work, Roger!!!

Muggle1970

Wow, you are completely inspiring! I am so happy for you. Keep up the truly incredible work!