The Sound of One Shark Barking
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| Wed, 05-05-2004 - 7:00pm |
Hello !
Sorry I have been slighty off the radar lately...had a bad week last week, sort of. Kyle has been off with a friend quite a bit (but at least the house stays clean)and I had a PANIC ATTACK of all things on Friday afternoon...I hate those...haven't had one in a long time. HELLO, Ativan !
Then I was in MA all weekend until Monday...Taught my 16 y.o brother how to drive a stick shift...I swear I wouldn't have been one bit surprised if I was walking past my car later and it opened a door and nailed me flat all by itself...Hey, the clutch didn't fall out and it still works....But I think it gave me a dirty look this morning.
So on the way back to NH, I stop at Old Navy and get more tops, and went to JCPenney's for a bra. Well, I bought 3, and am now a 36B/C ! Where'd they go ? Hell-ooo boobs! Here, boobieboobieboobies! I was a 38D just last month ! As long as I don't need an electron microscope to see them I guess I'll just have to live with it.
I'm getting to the point, really...
So I go see the dietician yesterday, the one I've been kvetching about and wants me thinner than a rail...And she weighs me and I've lost 16 pounds since the day she saw me. I gave her my cholesterol sheet and told her how it went down 80 points and she was off the charts ecstatic! She went NUTS! She said I looked wonderful and we talked about a goal weight. I said I was looking at 145 because I felt that 135 was too thin. She then said something that I found VERY interesting.
She said that 135 was my IDEAL weight for 5'7, but probably not my REASONABLE one. Huh? She asked me at what weight after the age of 18, as an adult, did I feel I looked my best at. I said when I graduated, at 160. I had bones and crap sticking out everywhere. I then reminded her that I weighed 128 at 5'5 and 12 years old. She told me that if I was never 135 as an adult at any point, there was no way I could reach that weight and maintain it without starving myself and looking TOO SKINNY. She said that if I wanted to lose more, to NOT go below 150-155. ( Yer $h*tting me!?!?! I haven't heard the phrase 'too skinny' and the subject of my body used together in the same sentence, EVER!)
WOOO-HOOO!!!! I never ever considered the concept that if I weighed 128 as a pre-teen, then getting to a weight just 7 pounds (as a fully developed adult) above that was crazy. I was completely unaware that an adult body weight is different than a child's. I just thought weight was WEIGHT, you know ? As an adult, the lowest I remember weighing was 160. My family remembers me at that weight and says I look better now.
So, ladies, think about that when planning a goal weight....It really changed my perspective on what I really should weigh. (I KNEW 135 was too low a weight for me...)
I am so relieved...and IMAGINE what my cholesterol would have been had I excersized !
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!
Amy

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Your post got me thinking though--your dietitian asked you if you'd ever weighed your goal weight as an adult, and that was pretty much how she determined what might be a reasonable weight for you.
My question is, what if (like me) you were significantly overweight when you turned 18? I weighed at least 185, maybe 190 pounds on my 18th birthday. Using her logic, should I not try to go below 180? The "ideal" weight for my height is 120, and while I don't want to go that low, the thought of never getting below 180 pounds at 5'4" is depressing. I wasn't 190 pounds at 18 because that's the weight my body naturally gravitated towards; I weighed that much because I ate too much and didn't exercise.
It's also how you feel. How is your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar ? There is nothing harmful about carrying a few extra pounds of fat as long as these most important three indicators of good health are within normal parameters. Cholesterol should be below 200 total, blood sugar between 80-120, blood pressure below a systolic of 140 and diastolic of 85ish. A 'common' reading which is considered good/normal is 120/80. Even at my fattest, mine was 95/60 - TOO low to adequately pump blood around my body. I was almays blue around the lips and in a slight state of shock. I am now 110/70.
If you lose weight and get to 150 and feel good and look good, then that may be your answer. Try for ten pounds at a time as a goal. See how you look/feel at 170, 160, 150...you might be surprised!
Amy
Blood pressure is higher than I or my doc would like--even though I've lost 45 pounds in eight months, it's hanging out at about 135/70. Before I lost the weight it was 135/80, so the diastolic has come down quite a bit (as has my resting pulse), but I'm still considered prehypertensive (now, bp equal to or above 120/80 is prehypertensive). In January, when I weighed about 210 pounds, my total cholesterol was 162 (which is a little higher than you'd like to see in someone my age, from what I understand), and my fasting blood glucose was 108 (anything over 100 is now considered prediabetic). I now weigh 195, so it's possible those numbers have shifted somewhat.
Thanks for posting the info. I haven't discussed a specific goal weight with my doctor. I'm waiting to see her later this summer and maybe consult the nutritionist next fall, depending on how much (or little) progress I make this summer when I'm not in school. I picked a weight I know I would look good at if I was active, but one that's not so thin I would be unable to maintain it (like 115 lbs! LOL!).
BTW, I think your progress is amazing--CONGRATS!
Amy
When I set my goal weight of 135 (I'm 5'5") it was approximately the weight I was when i graduated HS...I don't know if it's reasonable but I do know that I started gaining shortly after I graduated after I had maintained 135 throughout school (when I was more active). I think it's a good point to make that we need to be flexible in our weight goals...after all, if anyone else is like me, it's been a looooooong time since we've been below 200 so it's hard to say what we'll look like in the mid-100's. Maybe 145 *is* reasonable for me, maybe not...we'll see when I get closer! :o)
Anyway, congratulations on the good news...so how close are you to that new goal weight??? You're pretty close (or there?) aren't you??
Sarah
276/203/135
Sarah
Waist: 42' in 2000
31' current
Bust: 44' in 2000
36' current
Neck: 22' in 2000
14' current
Hips: 44' in 2000
39' current
Calves:22' 2000
13' current
Thighs: Don't even go there.
Shoes size : 9 to an 8.5
Rings: Ring finger, a 6 to a 4.5
I bet I can get there !
P.s - how are Lucy and Dex ? And Daisy ???
Ratties smooches,
Amy
I had my thyroid checked and it's on the low end of normal, but apparently I was really anemic and once I got on iron supplements, my metabolism increased about 20%. Hypothroidism is a drag. Literally.
As far as my goal goes, my ORIGINAL was 160, because that was my HS grad weight and coincidentally the weight I looked good at as an adult. Then dietician lady said 135, so I thought, hey, maybe 145...But after speaking with her we both agree I'd fall thru my own ass and hang myself if I weighed 135. She said to maybe try for 150-155, no lower because I'd be a rail. I'm curious about the rail thing, because I could never see myself as thin, which is where anorexia starts, isn't it, now that I think about it. In my head, I still feel 260 pounds. I have never been thin past the age of 20, so getting used to this may take some time. MENTALLY I have the propensity to become anorectic, but I love food too much to ever stop eating it. Physically I could'nt do it. I mean, I make humpback whale noises near food. I love to cook. I am on good terms with food.
So, I think I am somewhere between 8 and 13 pounds to goal.
I think your goal weight sounds very reasonable to me. What would your Dr think ? I take what my real Dr has to say with a grain of salt and only pay attention to my nurse practicioner. She knows my body very well and is a genius - she has never been wrong whereas my internist is a total moron and has almost killed me twice (drug interactions and misdiagnosing OBVIOUS pnemonia, which I get every year, so it wasn't like a new thing. He's just a 'tard. Hey, HUNDREDS of idiots get thru med school every year.)
I have some cardiac issues too. I have orthostatic hypotension, an S3 gallop, paroxsymal atrial tachycardia, and a murmur. NOTHING even remotely dangerous, just annoying as all get out. Like standing up too quick from laying down and passing out from the precipitous drop in BP. Face, meet end table.
Amy
My mom brought my suitcase over today and she saw me in my 14 jeans, halter top and high heel flip flpos and she screamed. She has never seen me this thin, but does remember me at the end of HS and says I look even better. And my mom has been my toughest critic and can be blunt to the point of being rude, so for her to see me in a HALTER top and not be critical is a HUGE step. Hell, I MUST be making progress if she's not complaining!
(She even asked me for a copy of my diet from the dietician. Haa haa haa, mommy!)
Amy
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