On this whole you're getting too thin thing

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/29/02 1:06:00 PM Central Standard Time,

kdirving@... writes:

<< those two bony protuberances at the top of my shoulder blades? >>

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So far no one's told me I'm getting too thin. Probably bcuz I've still got

about 60 more lbs to lose.

But your post reminded me that the other day I noticed in the mirror a hint

of collarbones-- something I've not seen for at least 20 years. Boy, was I

grinning at myself and doing the happy dance. Even tho I'm still not thin.

Not yet.

Carol A

[Guest guest]

, I'm totally in your corner on this one. Five or ten pounds ago,

when I was at what I consider my " best " weight for my height (I'm 5'10 "

and pretty large-boned -- size 12 feet, hands as big as my husband's) I

started getting this " you've gone too far! " thing. It irritates the

hell out of me, as the people who are saying it are people whose

opinions I otherwise respect -- my mother-in-law, my GP, etc.

Meanwhile, people who did not know me when I was over 300 lbs. don't

say a word -- I guess I just look " normal " to them!

Before I started really closing in on my goal size (like others here, I

don't go by my weight so much as my size -- that's why I post BMI

instead of weight) my GP told me that I should stop at around 174 lbs.,

which would have put me at a BMI of around 25. I think he was basing

this partly on my large bones, and partly on my age (45). Somehow,

there's this idea that middle-aged women *should* be a bit plumper --

though I feel much healthier where I am now (when my gut's not

spasming, that is). Yesterday he called my nutritional status

" fragile " , even though (before all this) I had been packing away

between 1500-1700 cal/day. I think that's fairly high, and I've been

working on getting it even higher, as with the muscle mass I've

accumulated, I burn it off pretty easily. I think I can probably

maintain if I get to around 1800/day.

I think the panic about " too thin " comes from unfamiliarity with what

we really do look like, when we're not shrouded in fat. I know that

it's been very strange for me to discover that I do, indeed, have a

chin. Okay, it's smallish, but it's there...not buried, as it was. And

those two bony protuberances at the top of my shoulder blades? I refer

to them as my bra strap holders, because for years I could never get

bra straps to stay up...they'd always slide down my plump, rounded

shoulders. So yeah, there's some new geography to get used to, for

others as well as for ourselves.

--

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RNY September 19, 2001

Dr. Freeman, Ottawa General Hospital

BMI then: 43.5

BMI now: 22.2

-152 lbs

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