Guidelines & Suggestions

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Permalink Reply by primaD on June 29, 2008 at 12:38pm

What happens to a person's psychi when they lose half their weight and reach a life-long dream? Is it good, is it different, what happens that is unexpected?

In March of 2007, I underwent gastric bypass surgery. At the age of 48, I felt I was always overweight. I have to admit,, now when I look at old pictures, I wasn't overweight until I reached my 30's. But when you are young--teens and 20's--you think that you are overweight because others in your age group may be very thin. However, I have always (and I mean, ALWAYS) have been into healthy eating and exercise. I just never felt like I looked that way---I was born with sicilian genes that kept me stocky, but very muscular as I came to realize now in my life.

I could write a book about my journey through weight loss, but what is most important is how to look at health. IT IS NOT NOT NOT about how much you weigh. Rather, it is a matter of your BODY FAT percentage. Composition scales are readily available to give you this information. My goal was toget to between 22 and 25 percent body fat percentage. I reached 24% and weighed 134 at 5' 2" . That may seem like a high weight, but at my age group, I am considered underweight.

I was born with a body that is able to attain great accomplishment in muscle mass. So my weight is primarily muscle mass. And for those of you who don't know, muscle weighs more than fat.

I have been using a personal trainer since 1 month prior to my surgery and she has transformed my body.

Okay...what happened with me that I didn't expect? A different attitude about my whole life. My career, which I have come to realize was an overcompensation for my lack of physical appearance (but never a lack of physical health), has faultered. When you lose tremendous amounts of weight, your fat cells release hormones that cause your hormones to go "haywire". Mine did and I had to take a leave of absence from my work because of it. Another thing--you may try to relive your "lost years" knowing that you look good and want to prove it. Watch out for that...whether you are married or not...it can get you into trouble. Always keep your values, morals and beliefs in check.

There is another problem. Its called "addiction transfer". You may find that without the food you used before as a comfort, you may want to use something else as a replacement. For some people its drinking, for some its shopping, for some its something else (i.e., Big Brother!...HEHEHE).

If there is one thing I want someone to take from this post, its that NUMBER ONE...your life energy will always come from exercise. #2 is monitoring your BODY FAT PERCENTAGE. Weight means NOTHING. You may be a person that is genetically more disposed to muscle mass. That's good! But you will weigh more because muscle weighs more than fat. Not only that, but the more you weigh, the more you burn in calories.

If you want to learn more about my journey....this is my web site: http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/mhw/

Thank you for reading my post and I hope I could help you!

Mary

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