Waste of time or go for it?

Ekoth1017 · January 2018

Typing this out for the umpteenth time....dang it...

Long story short, looking for thoughts.
I'm a 33 year old female, 5'5, started at 240 in December and currently weigh 234. My BMI is 38.9 and my calorie goal is 1500 and something.

My Dr referred me to the wellness center. Along with health coaching, fitness and nutrition they offer the body composition test (body pod) and metabolic assessment. I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use. He also sent out a referral for weight loss surgery and I want to avoid doing that.

Thanks!

MarkusDarwath · January 2018

It can't hurt. It would give you an accurate assessment of your body fat percentage and actual BMR/TDEE. The body fat is much more useful in health assessment than BMI, and the metabolic assessment would take a lot of ball-parking out of determining your calorie goals. So I guess the questions would be, does your insurance cover it? And if it's out-of-pocket, can you easily spare the cost? These tests are certainly not essential for general weight loss, but they could help bypass quite a bit of trial-and-error.

Ekoth1017 · January 2018

Oh yes, sorry I meant to put that, insurance will cover it.

chellycakes · January 2018

Yup! I’ve done the bod pod and it’s pretty informational and they also have suggestions of where to go from there based on the information provided. Plus it will be great to compare where you start and if you’re able to use the bodpod again in the future and see actual progress. So instead of oh I lost __ pounds, you will know how much muscle gained and fat lost! The scale isn’t always the most accurate thing and that can help put your efforts in perspective.

PAV8888 · January 2018

They're definitely fun and interesting pieces of information, and particularly fun to have before and after records.

While everything I mention below is true, in no way do I regret springing, out of pocket, for multiple dexa scans along the way.

These test are by no means necessary and they will not add knowledge that you have real need for in the early stages.

Even if you know your exact fat levels and BMR you still don't have a way of knowing your exact activity level / factor, so your TDEE will remain a guestimate.

As to body fat levels, well, right now you know you're well into the obese range.

So again in terms of hard and necessary info there is little to glean from the tests.

MichelleSilverleaf · January 2018

Ekoth1017 wrote: »

Typing this out for the umpteenth time....dang it...

Long story short, looking for thoughts.
I'm a 33 year old female, 5'5, started at 240 in December and currently weigh 234. My BMI is 38.9 and my calorie goal is 1500 and something.

My Dr referred me to the wellness center. Along with health coaching, fitness and nutrition they offer the body composition test (body pod) and metabolic assessment. I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use. He also sent out a referral for weight loss surgery and I want to avoid doing that.

Thanks!

Kind of bothered that your dr sent out a referral for WLS. I'm an inch taller than you and currently around the same weight, I doubt I would even qualify.

Ekoth1017 · January 2018

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

Ekoth1017 wrote: »

Typing this out for the umpteenth time....dang it...

Long story short, looking for thoughts.
I'm a 33 year old female, 5'5, started at 240 in December and currently weigh 234. My BMI is 38.9 and my calorie goal is 1500 and something.

My Dr referred me to the wellness center. Along with health coaching, fitness and nutrition they offer the body composition test (body pod) and metabolic assessment. I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use. He also sent out a referral for weight loss surgery and I want to avoid doing that.

Thanks!

Kind of bothered that your dr sent out a referral for WLS. I'm an inch taller than you and currently around the same weight, I doubt I would even qualify.

He had also put one in last year when I was a lot larger. I did go to an informational meeting about it, and learned lots. I can't see myself going through with it though. I want to get all of this off myself.

ladyhusker39 · January 2018

Ekoth1017 wrote: »

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

Ekoth1017 wrote: »

Typing this out for the umpteenth time....dang it...

Long story short, looking for thoughts.
I'm a 33 year old female, 5'5, started at 240 in December and currently weigh 234. My BMI is 38.9 and my calorie goal is 1500 and something.

My Dr referred me to the wellness center. Along with health coaching, fitness and nutrition they offer the body composition test (body pod) and metabolic assessment. I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use. He also sent out a referral for weight loss surgery and I want to avoid doing that.

Thanks!

Kind of bothered that your dr sent out a referral for WLS. I'm an inch taller than you and currently around the same weight, I doubt I would even qualify.

He had also put one in last year when I was a lot larger. I did go to an informational meeting about it, and learned lots. I can't see myself going through with it though. I want to get all of this off myself.

Wait, you're successfully losing weight and you're Dr is still pushing surgery? I don't get that. If you're doing well on your own that's certainly the ideal way to go about it. I know that's not part of your question and I don't judge anyone who wants to have the procedure, but sometimes I feel like people get too much pressure for medical intervention when it's not necessarily the best option.

In any case, congratulations on your progress and I hope it goes well for you whatever you decide to do.

Iwantahealthierme30 · January 2018

Wow, I started this at 230 and I'm the same height as you, weight loss surgery is the last thing on my mind. I'm 217 now, 63 days later.

ms_havisham · January 2018

I would never consider surgery, but that one was never even an option because I have Crohn's disease and have had too many abdominal surgeries. I am 5'5" and began at 225 a year ago. I am currently at 173 and took a loooong hiatus because I ended up with a stubborn broken ankle that wanted to stay that way. I didn't do anything extreme, just started counting my calories (and included cheat days, with the intent to try to have a balanced week instead of perfect days) and tried to move. I spent the spring and summer as active as I could, got depressed and slacked through the fall, and just got back into it all at the beginning of this month and lost over 10 pounds...most of it without trying. I hate plateaus but I love what happens when you get past one! I would say you definitely can do it on your own or with help.

I have lost and regained large amounts of weight over the years because of the get sick, get skinny, get hospitalized, go on massive amounts of steroids, get fat, gradually lose weight, get close to target, get sick pattern I had for forever. One thing I learned that I am applying now is slower and controlled weight loss with exercise is so important. There is little more frustrating than losing 50+ pounds and be within 5 pounds of your target , only to look in the mirror and waver between thinking you need to lose a dangerous amount of weight still and kind of wishing that the handfuls of skin were filled with fat again. I have resigned myself to extra skin but am doing everything I can to minimize it.

But we are all different. I have health issues that affect my path that many don't. Many of us have different dietary needs (with an ileostomy I need a higher than recommended sodium intake--well, electrolytes in general, more hydration, and sometimes more calories when the intestines are angry. I also felt and was far healthier at 220 than I ever was at 135. It makes me very cautious, getting fit isn't important enough to have a flare-up. ) So I am working on it my way, always making progress but listening to my body.

You know what tools will help you. You see people on here who love the data and that is what motivates them (and I am one.) There are others who prefer to make the changes and gauge success by how their clothes fit and how they feel and it is working for them. Any tool you add to your arsenal should feel like a positive change. Isn't that why we are all doing this? Will the help become a crutch and when you no longer have it will the weight creep back on? Is the extra help exactly what you need to get on track and succeed? 14 pounds in a month or 2 sounds pretty good to me, but you know your health, personality, etc and all of that plays a role in it. Personally, when I started I didn't even get on the scale until months had passed because I didn't want to risk getting discouraged and giving up. But that is me.

The one thing that has helped me through everything has been the idea of sustainable change. Everything new I do, I try, consider cutting completely out, consider keeping in, I ask myself if I can do it for the rest of life.

Cherimoose · January 2018

Frankie_Fan wrote: »

I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use.

I'd do the Bod Pod out of curiosity, but there are simpler ways to track progress (scale, tape measure, mirror, etc). Knowing one's BMR might be useful for those who have absolutely no clue how many calories to eat.. which doesn't seem to be your case. Also, BMR goes down as you lose, requiring retests.

Oh and your doctor is nuts for recommending surgery.

leahraskie · January 2018

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

Ekoth1017 wrote: »

Typing this out for the umpteenth time....dang it...

Long story short, looking for thoughts.
I'm a 33 year old female, 5'5, started at 240 in December and currently weigh 234. My BMI is 38.9 and my calorie goal is 1500 and something.

My Dr referred me to the wellness center. Along with health coaching, fitness and nutrition they offer the body composition test (body pod) and metabolic assessment. I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use. He also sent out a referral for weight loss surgery and I want to avoid doing that.

Thanks!

Kind of bothered that your dr sent out a referral for WLS. I'm an inch taller than you and currently around the same weight, I doubt I would even qualify.

I had a coworker whos BMI shouldn't have qualified but they take into account comorbidities for lower BMIs such as knee, joint and back pain. So idk

depends on each case

ama3387 · January 2018

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

Ekoth1017 wrote: »

Typing this out for the umpteenth time....dang it...

Long story short, looking for thoughts.
I'm a 33 year old female, 5'5, started at 240 in December and currently weigh 234. My BMI is 38.9 and my calorie goal is 1500 and something.

My Dr referred me to the wellness center. Along with health coaching, fitness and nutrition they offer the body composition test (body pod) and metabolic assessment. I'm just wondering if the body pod and metabolic assessment would be good tools to also use. He also sent out a referral for weight loss surgery and I want to avoid doing that.

Thanks!

Kind of bothered that your dr sent out a referral for WLS. I'm an inch taller than you and currently around the same weight, I doubt I would even qualify.

I work for a bariatric surgeon. Most insurance carriers will pay for anyone that has a BMI over 35 with comorbidities and anyone with a BMI of 40 and over without comorbidities.

Waste of time or go for it?

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