JulieSHelms Member

We just returned from a cruise and I didn't feel the need to cringe when looking through the photos afterward. I feel better in my white dressy outfits now... :smiley: (Size 26 v. size 10)

Thanks AnnPT77! The younger version had never set foot inside of a gym and probably could manage 5 knee push-ups. The older version joined a gym on her 50th birthday, does strength training 6 days/week, lost 130 lbs, and can do 50 regular push-ups. Moral of the story--NEVER let anyone tell you it's too late to start!!

After 2 decades of weighing in the 250-300+lb range, I am back to my wedding day weight. My grown daughters have rejected my wedding dress that I have saved for 30 years in case they wanted it (it's TOO 80's, Mom!) So before I sent it off to Goodwill, I thought I would see if I could fit back into it. Success! (Now if I…

I JUST discovered an awesome use for ACV. My dog got skunked last week. Direct shot, up close and personal. When the smell hit me as she walked back through the door, I couldn't even identify it as skunk it was so strong--eyes burning, trying not to puke--strong. Into the tub with her and somewhere in my brain I remembered…

I agree. I thought we were talking about 10,000 calories....a surplus.

I'm kind of surprised at the blowback I'm getting here. I didn't make this up. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-shows-how-insulin-stimulates-fat-cells-take-glucose

Yep. You have to have circulating insulin to store fat. You need carbs to trigger insulin. So without insulin your body would use what it needs and pass out the rest. I actually proved this (to a lesser degree) in my weight loss journey. I was a huge carb eater and insulin resistant--so constantly had tons of insulin…

I just watched a documentary last night about a 'super obese' man. He weighed 960 lbs and they estimated he was eating 10,000 calories per day. He had gained 140 lbs/year for the previous 3 years. That's less than half a pound a day--so he was not packing every calorie he ate.

It depends on what it is as to how much of that will get packed as fat. If you ate 10,000 calories of pure whale blubber, your insulin would never be triggered, and you would store none of it. If you ate 10,000 in pasta, pizza and ice cream, your insulin would be working overtime diligently storing some of the excess. If…

302 lbs-->170 lbs (age 51, 5'8")

As one doctor put it, I had a 'doozy' of a case of PCOS. I had a hair transplant because I had reached stage 4 MALE pattern baldness, took fertility drugs to get pregnant, took hormones to even maintain the pregnancies. Oh, and I gained a crap-ton of weight. I had a doctor tell me a few years ago that PCOS women can NOT…

Went out this morning and bought my first size 8 dress (down from a 26 plus-size). I don't hate getting dressed up now! :smiley:

Lost 135 lbs age 49-51. It was easier at this age for me, because I didn't have little ones around distracting me from my purpose!

I'm not lifting like some of the superwomen on here :) , but I work at it 3-4x/week. Here is a pic of me fully flexed vs. relaxed. I don't think I look bulky at all. (Age 51, lost 130 lbs hence the extra skin)

I'm also 5'8", weigh close to the same (170 lbs), and I eat 1400 calories (this already includes average exercise calories) to lose 1.5 lbs/week. It's a pretty predictable loss rate for me. I run several times a week and weight train 3-4x.

Stop with the "diets" and eat less. You can eat healthy, just eat less of it. I lost my first 50 lbs in 6 months as a total couch potato-no exercise at all. Wasn't till I started recording everything I ate that I realized why my idea of eating "in moderation" hadn't been working for all the years up till then--I was simply…

Good luck on your upcoming surgery--you must be SO excited! :smiley:

My daughter's wedding. There were all these pictures of me as mother of the bride and I didn't recognize myself. Here I was dressed the best possible, best makeup, best hair, and professional photos and lots of them. And I looked huge. And bloated. I realized for years (decades) I'd been blaming the photos--not a good…

Happiness is...getting a new driver's license photo! (even if they did give me a King Tut beard :D )

My doctor said the exact same thing. He told me I could expect a better outcome than almost all of the examples I was looking at in his before/after binder. He said 90% of his patients doing the procedure were still either overweight or obese and that they were trying this as part of their weight loss attempt. But that…

@MadisonMolly2017 The numbness comes from the dr. pulling the skin away from the body to slide it to a new location, thus disconnecting all the nerves. Currently I am completely numb for a swath of about 4" under my navel down to the incision. In the back, there is about a numb 2" edge all along the incision line. The dr.…

I had a circumferential abdominoplasty--tummy tuck and butt lift. My circumstances are really different than yours, but I'm happy to share. I'm 51, lost 130 lbs over 2.3 years. I do strength training 4x/week which helped the appearance of loose skin everywhere except the middle. I started running and my butt and thigh skin…

302 lbs down to 170 lbs 5'8", 130 lbs lost, 51 years old Last weekend made all the sacrifice so worthwhile--I couldn't stop smiling. We climbed down and back up a steep gorge. Climbing up (all switchbacks) I basically did a sprinting walk for 40 minutes. It felt so good, stretching and using those quads. At the top, my…

Good job on the weight loss and good luck to both of you! If you have any questions, feel free to message me privately. :smiley:

She probably had her ab muscles tightened. I declined that part of the surgery since the doctor said mine were in good shape (that's a genetic thing, not a workout thing). The doc said that adds a whole new dimension to longer recovery and greater pain. From the third day on (day 1 was morphine, day 2 was oxycodone),…

$14K US. It varies widely throughout the US. I live in a mid-range area. So it could be $10k-$20k depending on where you have it done.

Dr. Rod Zickler Geisinger Holy Spirit Plastic Surgery Harrisburg, PA (USA)

I am in the US (Harrisburg, PA). My insurance didn't cover anything. The doctor did say he had some patients whose insurance was willing to cover the tummy tuck portion (but not the muscle tightening) if they could prove medical necessity--like recurring yeast infections.

Thanks fmps5. Nicest. Compliment. Ever! Over the whole journey, women have been vocal, but very few comments from men. Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words. I have gone from decades of feeling at worst hideous and at best invisible, to now feeling...normal (if that makes sense). It makes all the sacrifice and hard…