WazzuCoug
Member
It's been a bit over 14 months now. I'm still very grateful, I'm still very happy.
I hit what I believe was my lowest point in July right around my 12-month mark. The weight loss slowed down significantly after Month 9, but by that point, I had already reached my goal of being in the "normal" body fat range for my age/sex (18-24%). I decided early on not to have a specific goal weight, but rather, I wanted to have a healthy body fat percentage.
I've gained about 5 lbs since my low point, but it has been stable for about 2 months and my body fat was measured at 19% at my bariatric clinic a couple of weeks ago, although technically, according to the BMI scale I'm just a smidge below "obese." Luckily, no one at my clinic uses BMI other than for the insurance requirements for surgery because it's complete crap as an individual measure of success.
I've definitely had to be very honest with myself and battle stress snacking or boredom eating. I think it helps that I usually choose snacks that are whole plant foods instead of processed/sugary stuff that I might have done in a past life, but I can feel the pull to want to snack more sometimes. It's a little scary to have those thoughts, but overall everything is going well. I continue to stay focused on food choices. I think stress/boredom snacking is my biggest struggle.
Speaking of food choices, I continue to move further toward being 100% plant-based. The only non-plant foods I'm currently eating are greek yogurt and eggs, but even those are significantly less than before since I've been able to eat a bit more plant protein instead. I'm not sure if I'll ever give those two things up completely. I have to say I love the way I eat now though. The food is great, tasty, and enjoyable. I used to be a major fast food eater, and I mean a MAJOR fast food eater, so this is such a 180 from how I used to eat. It is still shocking to me. I don't think I could have done it without the surgery though. It was the catalyst that set all of this in place.
I should probably exercise a bit more now that we are heading into fall/winter. I'm pretty active outdoors during the spring/summer/early fall, but when the shorter days and Oregon rains come, it's not quite as motivating to be outside, but I do plan on doing a lot more outdoor things even in inclement weather this year, but it definitely won't be like the last few months of working on our property and going for hikes and photo trips, etc.
My wife has started the process to get the surgery, she wanted to see how things went with me before she took the steps. Our insurance doesn't have any pre-surgery requirements, so it's just a matter of getting through the clinic requirements of all the pre-surgery meetings, which I think she will have complete in October and early November. I'm not sure how far out they are scheduling surgery, or if there is a hold on them right now, but if there are no delays, I imagine she'll be able to get the surgery sometime around the beginning of the new year. I'm looking forward to supporting her through this and also as a bit of a "refresher" on my progress as I'll probably do the post-surgery steps with her to make it as easy as possible for both of us.
I guess there isn't much of a point here, other than just a rambling update, for what it's worth. It can be cathartic just to get stuff out there, especially to people who "get it."
Like everyone, I have my struggles, but I continue to be extremely motivated and happy with my progress and current maintenance. I'm looking forward to the next year of maintaining what I've accomplished in the first year.
I hit what I believe was my lowest point in July right around my 12-month mark. The weight loss slowed down significantly after Month 9, but by that point, I had already reached my goal of being in the "normal" body fat range for my age/sex (18-24%). I decided early on not to have a specific goal weight, but rather, I wanted to have a healthy body fat percentage.
I've gained about 5 lbs since my low point, but it has been stable for about 2 months and my body fat was measured at 19% at my bariatric clinic a couple of weeks ago, although technically, according to the BMI scale I'm just a smidge below "obese." Luckily, no one at my clinic uses BMI other than for the insurance requirements for surgery because it's complete crap as an individual measure of success.
I've definitely had to be very honest with myself and battle stress snacking or boredom eating. I think it helps that I usually choose snacks that are whole plant foods instead of processed/sugary stuff that I might have done in a past life, but I can feel the pull to want to snack more sometimes. It's a little scary to have those thoughts, but overall everything is going well. I continue to stay focused on food choices. I think stress/boredom snacking is my biggest struggle.
Speaking of food choices, I continue to move further toward being 100% plant-based. The only non-plant foods I'm currently eating are greek yogurt and eggs, but even those are significantly less than before since I've been able to eat a bit more plant protein instead. I'm not sure if I'll ever give those two things up completely. I have to say I love the way I eat now though. The food is great, tasty, and enjoyable. I used to be a major fast food eater, and I mean a MAJOR fast food eater, so this is such a 180 from how I used to eat. It is still shocking to me. I don't think I could have done it without the surgery though. It was the catalyst that set all of this in place.
I should probably exercise a bit more now that we are heading into fall/winter. I'm pretty active outdoors during the spring/summer/early fall, but when the shorter days and Oregon rains come, it's not quite as motivating to be outside, but I do plan on doing a lot more outdoor things even in inclement weather this year, but it definitely won't be like the last few months of working on our property and going for hikes and photo trips, etc.
My wife has started the process to get the surgery, she wanted to see how things went with me before she took the steps. Our insurance doesn't have any pre-surgery requirements, so it's just a matter of getting through the clinic requirements of all the pre-surgery meetings, which I think she will have complete in October and early November. I'm not sure how far out they are scheduling surgery, or if there is a hold on them right now, but if there are no delays, I imagine she'll be able to get the surgery sometime around the beginning of the new year. I'm looking forward to supporting her through this and also as a bit of a "refresher" on my progress as I'll probably do the post-surgery steps with her to make it as easy as possible for both of us.
I guess there isn't much of a point here, other than just a rambling update, for what it's worth. It can be cathartic just to get stuff out there, especially to people who "get it."
Like everyone, I have my struggles, but I continue to be extremely motivated and happy with my progress and current maintenance. I'm looking forward to the next year of maintaining what I've accomplished in the first year.
