Lost 60 lbs, halfway to goal weight. I need help moving forward.

hazzaram

TLDR/Important stuff at bottom.

So my last 6 months went something like this:

- Started at 265
- Cut down on portions and started eating more lean protein and veggies
- Started walking my sisters dog, riding my bike and going for walks
- Was taken off diabetic meds and almost symptom free from PCOS
- Got down to 205
- Quit smoking
- Lost my best furry friend
- Gained 10 pounds

I went easy on myself for the last few weeks because I've been an emotional mess but I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. I've got a puppy reserved in an early fall litter and I'm taking the time between now and then to take care of myself, clear out my old life (all my old clothes that don't fit, etc) and I'm starting "fresh". I miss my buddy so badly but at the same time I'm so excited about my future... the weirdest *kitten*. Anyway!!!

Important stuff

TLDR: Lost 60 pounds and stalled. Need tips for getting back into it.

1. What would my activity level be? I work 40 hours a week on my feet (retail), bike to and from work (20 mins both ways) and go for extra bike rides or walks through the week (usually an hour in the evenings).
2. How do I lose the extra skin on my arms, legs and belly? I really need to start tightening things up.
3. Is swimming pretty good exercise? We have lots of beaches around here
4. I have chronic tendinitis in my ankle and doctors have always told me it's because of my weight. Even losing 60 pounds didn't help. Should I go back about this after Covid? Should it have started healing?
5. ??????

Please just throw any and all advice at me, really. I still have 60 pounds to go. Stats below.

Female, 32
Weigh: 215
Height: 5'3"
Goal weight: 130lbs

lgfrie

tbh, not sure what you're asking. Perhaps others will chirp in.

A few thoughts, no particular order:

- saggy skin is just a fact of life at 60 lbs lost. I've lost 72 and yeah, if I had an extra $30,000 I'd be googling "Cosmetic surgeons Virginia" but I don't, so that's kinda the price we pay as ex-obese people. Supposedly, working out to build and tone muscle can help. I wonder if bulking up could ever fill some of the sag-areas I've got (meaning I doubt it). No doubt there'll be more saggy areas at my goal weight. And so we fall back on the old mantra "It's better than being obese". Which it is. Try to stay focused on the positive.

- I too have Achillese tendinosis. Actually, tendinitus and tendinosis are two different things, so we might not have the exact same thing, but they're more like two different types of apples rather than apples and oranges. In any event, I too was told (5 years ago, when I injured it on a treadmill) that maybe in time, things would heal to the point where it wouldn't much impede my life, but that never happened. After half a decade, I've kinda faced the fact that I'm just going to be a person with a bum ankle. I've found workarounds. Things I don't do: run, jog, walk uphill any more than necessary (it's a bad angle for weak Achilles tendons), wear crappy discount shoes that lack good support. Things I do do: flat-surface walking, hiking, and treadmilling at a moderate pace while always being very mindful to stop if my ankle feels irritated; swimming, recumbent bike (really the best thing for the ankle-impaired, I think), and lots and lots and lots of ankle, calf, and hamstring stretches. None of this cures anything but it has made the condition liveable, especially the stretching. A trip to a physical therapist to get sorted out with a stretching routine could do some good.

- I identify with the place you're at with the diet. My diet was a steamroller for 7 months, 63 pounds lost, every day an adventure in weight loss, and then life struck. Two deaths in the family in 3 months, and my 14-year feline buddy too, that last one was very very hard, and coronavirus and quarantine, and so, so many other things, all at once. I managed to lose 9 more pounds over these last 3 months, which is fine but took a lot of constant refocusing and vigilance and unwinding of binge days and so forth. It's been hard to recapture the magic of the early months when I was super into it, but I'm trying. I think perhaps it's better to just accept when it's going to be slow, try not to give anything back to the Fat Gods, and plug away at the calorie target each day. For me, the key is not to give back the gains. Eating at maintenance is OK though.

Swimming is fantastic exercise. Not only is it great aerobically and toning wise, it is also one of the few things that can be done with abandon with a bum ankle. If I had easy access to a pool, I'd be in it every day.

Your activity level, it seems to me, is clearly an Active one of some sort. Just pick the middle one, establish your calorie target, and try to hit it every day for a week. I find that going hard-core on the calorie target for a full week with no interruptions like off meals, binges, or non-counting days, does tend to get me back in gear.

youngmomtaz

Great job so far! Keep up the hard work!

-I would agree in that you seem active and should set up your account as such.
-swimming is great for any joint issue, and the biking you are doing and walking as well are great choices.
-you could always ack your doc about options for pain control for bad days. I had a number of active clients using diclofinac(spelling??) cream for chronic achillies tendon issues on the bad days and they wouldn’t go without it.
-I have lost about 50lbs total with 10-15lbs to go. So I will not have the loss you have. But, having birthed three children, one almost 10lbs, skin does take some time to bounce back. My belly was super saggy for about 2years and then tightened up a bit, now after weight loss it pulled in some more. It won’t ever be the same but the skin does recover some with time and patience.
-sorry about the loss of your furr friend! It can really throw us for a loop! I gained a bit years ago when I lost my running sidekick. It messed with my brain to go without him for so long that i just couldn’t for a while. One thing, just remember that your pup will probably be closer to 4 months old before he/she can complete a mile without getting too tired. But by 5 months you should be up for almost any distance(depending on breed and size of course). It was a long summer when I got my current pup. He is 2yo now but I would walk him on leash until he was looking tired and then zip him into a back pack with his head out if I had to carry him home. Sometimes I was surprised at his endurance and sometimes I planned poorly and he just wanted to be carried.

briscogun

1. For activity level, I believe MFP is asking what your daily activity level is outside of purposeful exercise. So if you are logging the bike rides and walks as separate exercise, you do not want to count that in your activity setting. So how active are you when you are not exercising?
2. As for loose skin, this is a common issue with folks that lose a large amount of weight. You are not alone here. Your body will lose weight faster than the skin can adapt to it. Some people it can take a couple of years for the skin to shrink back and match your new body. Generally speaking, the younger you are the more elastic your skin still is and the better it will adapt over time. You are still young enough that you should see some level of improvement. I wouldn't put too much stock in the miracle creams and whatnot, just keep hydrated and be patient.
3. Swimming is great exercise! Low to no impact, all over body workout. I swam for 2 years in high school, probably was in the best shape of my life!
4. No experience with tendinitis, sorry.