100 lbs lost and loving my tiger stripes.

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Mangopickle
Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
Finally hit my mini goal this morning. 100 lbs lost. TMI alert! Posted a new body pic to profile. I want documentation these days, lol! I took a lot of photos to finally get one where you can see my excess skin on upper arm abdomen and thighs. We always try to describe excess skin but photos help more. Now for some of you who are looking into WLS this may be crashing reality. No one goes from obesity BMI 40ish to supermodel. I had the volume of 2 people under my skin. Expecting only minor stretch marks is frankly, silly. I love my tiger stripes. They are a map of my life. All the good, bad and ugly that make a rich full life. I have no plans for surgical removal at this point. 1-it is excruciatingly painful, 2-ins provided surgical removal is not $250,000 plastic surgery, 3-mother, aunt and sis with breast CA and boobs may be leaving anyway. Next goal 149, normal BMI for ht. After that, stabilize at maintenance. I took me exactly 6 months to lose this last 48lbs. Averaging 1.9 lbs per wk. every day and every meal making decisions and choices. 1 cup of Greek yogurt instead of 1 quart of buttered grits, 4 strips of bacon and a protein latte instead of the chick fil a spicy burrito breakfast. Small moo goo gai pan to-go, no rice no egg roll instead of the sit down buffet. Skinny cow ice cream bar instead of a sleeve of saltines with half a block of cream cheese and a whole can of smoked oysters. Choosing to be bored,sad,mad,grieving,tired and happy without eating. Choosing to love and care for me so I can love and care for my family. I love my sleeve. Being able to do all this without the constant grinding physical hunger pains is a marvelous gift. 100 lbs lost in 9 months! And it flew by I think because I focused on the nutrition of my food instead of my wt. I thank all of my MFP mentors who gave such great advice about loving you 100%, measuring your intake and sticking to your calories, maintaining hydration and protein levels and deeply understanding that this is your permanent lifestyle. Not a quick fix diet. At the end of the day you have to eat and act like a normal wt healthy person to be a normal wt healthy person. The sleeve won't do that for you.

Replies

  • rpyle111
    rpyle111 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    Beautifully written, Mango!

    Congrats on another successful step in your journey! You are an inspiration to those of us following.

    Rob
  • ATXHeather
    ATXHeather Posts: 218 Member
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    Congratulations on a huge accomplishment. I looked at your pic and you look great! Thank you so much for your continued guidance to us newcomers!
  • asia1967
    asia1967 Posts: 707 Member
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    Mangopickle: All I can say is "WOW" you did excellent, and the determination has proved to get the job done and I am glad your shared your daily compromises to get where you wanted to be. KUDOS!!! That is what it takes. As for being "normal weight" your right we have to live "normal" to be "normal". I could only wish that my loose skin will look that good by time I'm done. Thanks for sharing that also. Best of luck on the next leg of your journey, but we all know it has nothing to do with luck, just hard work and determination.
  • weeziebeth
    weeziebeth Posts: 168 Member
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    Congratulations and beautifully written! There are so many gems in what you posted but the one I am going to take away this morning is 'focusing on the nutrition of my food instead of my weight.' Thank you for your commitment, encouragement, and honesty.
  • acturney
    acturney Posts: 19
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    Congratulations! What a mile stone and wonderful advice for those of us just beginning our journey. You look great!
  • Thaeda
    Thaeda Posts: 834 Member
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    WOW!! Congratulations!!! :) I love your attitude about the plastic surgery, too-- I feel the same way. Too much risk, pain and $$-- no thank you! I also appreciate the way you have made changes as a part of your life--- knowing that if we are going to stay thin, we have to "live thin". Good stuff!! :flowerforyou:
  • kellysuemclean
    kellysuemclean Posts: 25 Member
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    You go girl! Congratulations!
  • garber6th
    garber6th Posts: 1,894 Member
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    Congratulations! You have done an amazing job! All of your posts are so meaningful, and I really, truly appreciate you sharing so openly all the time!
  • reisu
    reisu Posts: 16
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    Amazing accomplishment.

    I too am just after hitting the 100lb-post-surgery mark (January 27 was my surgery). In the last 1.5 years, it's an overall total for me of 140lbs.

    This is a complete and total lifestyle change, as you have mentioned. Whilst it can be frustrating at times, the benefits by far outweigh (no pun intended) the frustrations that go hand in hand with such drastic lifestyle modifications.

    Here's to continuing down the right path!
  • capecodgirl50
    capecodgirl50 Posts: 111 Member
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    congratulations on such a huge accomplishment - also, thank you for your emails of encouragement - ;):love:
  • SibylDiane
    SibylDiane Posts: 177 Member
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    You are beautiful inside and out - and I value your advice tremendously! Thank you!
  • ac7nj
    ac7nj Posts: 266 Member
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    You are an inspiration and congratulations :smile:
  • raghav3101
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    Very nicely pen down, these are facts we all go through after the surgery......way to go girl way to go..keep writting.......yiu are Turely an insperation :-)
  • goodlife1206
    goodlife1206 Posts: 42 Member
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    Thank you Mangopickle for sharing your journey and the reality of what it took to get where you are now and remain healthy long term. It has really helped me in my journey. You look great!
  • relentless2121
    relentless2121 Posts: 431 Member
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    Congratulations Mangopickle on reaching the 100 lb. milestone.
    I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your honesty, openmindedness and willingness to reach out to anyone and everyone in need of help, advice and encouragement in our group.

    I can't thank you enough for all that I have learned from all of the posts that you have written.
    I look forward to your future posts. It gives me great peace of mind to know that you are only a post or e-mail away.
    Thanks for all you do for all of us. :flowerforyou::smile::heart: :flowerforyou:
  • juliebccs
    juliebccs Posts: 233
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    Amazing. Thank you for sharing such an important mini milestone. I share that same mini goal of 100lb lost and your post gives me plenty to be looking forward to. I also have a similar further loss to be in healthy bmi.
    I am not sure what I might do about loose skin yet but I will leave that up to how I feel at the time I guess. I have always had larger than normal upper arms,,,,,,so my wings are already more like a pelicans throat pouch. We'll see.
    But back to you however. Again,,,amazing!!
  • bikrchk
    bikrchk Posts: 516 Member
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    Wow! Nicely put! And congratulations on the 100 pound accomplishment! I've lost 90, (probably it for me), and the skin... It is what it is. We live with the scars we choose.
  • lucyw70
    lucyw70 Posts: 37 Member
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    Very well said! Congratulations on this milestone!
  • homerismyhero
    homerismyhero Posts: 204 Member
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    Wow! What an amazing sucess- and you have helped so many others- myself included with the way you've shared your journey. Thank you for being so open about your process.
  • JxAAA
    JxAAA Posts: 87 Member
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    You look great, congratulations on your success. Your skin is not that bad after losing 100lbs, I'd be very happy with that.