It's Cinco De Mayo. Besides being Mexican Independence Day, it also the 90th Day since my gastric bypass surgery. In theory, I am all healed up. My body has finished recovering from the surgery. I am no longer in the recovery phase of the game. I am now in the "life beyond surgery" phase of the game.
I guess that means it is time for a full blow progress report.
First of all, my surgeon (or at least his team) is/are pretty happy with my progress. I have had no complications. Thus far, no vitamin or mineral deficiencies have appeared. My exercise load has shot through the roof. My knees are better. Oh yeah, I just happened to have lost 46.8 pounds in the past 90 days, and 67.4 overall.
I started this odyssey at 330 pounds. After two weeks of liquid dieting, I weighed in at 309.4. This was my weight at the Providence St. Joseph Hospital, just before surgery. Today, I weighed in at 262.6. I've been tracking this thing pretty carefully.
As you know, 262.6 is not precisely where I expected to be on Cinco De Mayo. Whilst laying in my Hospital bed, I though I would be at 237 or 238 come today. I expected the early rate of loss to continue right up to the present moment, and Doctor Quilici assured me that 70 pounds of weight loss within 90 days of the surgery was typical.
On the other hand, each time I've checked in with Team-Quilici, they've assured me my progress is just fine; even a bit rapid. They insist that they want to see no more than 0.5 pounds of weight loss per day on average. I'm a little ahead of that at 0.519 per day. If I were losing weight any faster, they would consider that dangerous.
Why? Follow this logic. One pound of fat contains 3,500 kcal of energy. To lose a single pound of fat, you must consume 3,500 kcals less energy than you expend, over some interval of time. Concomitantly, you must maintain a deficit of 1,750 kcal per day in order to lose 0.5 pounds of fat per day over a long period of time.
Since my surgery 90 days ago, I have averaged 0.519 pounds of fat loss per day. This means I have maintained an energy deficit of 1,816.5 kcal per day, on average. Scientifically speaking, there is no other way I could have arrived at my present result. 1,816.5 kcal is a big energy deficit. I've skipped an entire daily meal-plan for an average woman, each day, every day, for the past 90 days. Any more might be dangerous.
Of course, 0.5 pounds a day for 90 days should result in 45 pounds of loss. This leaves me in quandary. I don’t understand Quilici's statement regarding 70 pounds in the first 90 days. If he was thinking of total losses, combining liquid diet and post-gastric bypass weight loss, the figure of 70 pounds makes a lot more sense. I got damn close to that figure with 67.4 pounds.
Others who were not so carefully to maintain their lean mass might lose more and hit 70. That isn't the good kind of loss, tho. Also, I just might have been heavier than 330 at the start of the liquid diet. I wasn't tracking my weight that closely in those days. It was too depressing. If my weight were 333 at the start, I nailed the average; but that's only a possibility.
What is the final goal? Just what am I shooting for? Where is the finish line? When do you declare victory?
It depends on which doctor you speak with. Dr. Bachner (my knee surgeon) insisted on a 30% mass reduction. He believed this was the minimum mandatory necessary to keep my knees functioning. Dr. Saedi (my GP) recommended 18% body fat as the maximum allowable fat ratio. Those two figures correlate reasonably well. They are in accord.
Presuming that I still have 190 pounds of lean mass, and presuming the goal is 17% body fat is the goal, my target body weight can be computed as follows: (190/ (1 - 0.17). This is equal to 228.915 pounds. At this point I would have 38.915 pounds of fat and 190 of lean.
The docs indicate that they will declare victory at 231. It would be wise to go a bit further than the minimum standard, though.
Based on a lean mass figure of 190 pounds, as tested before my liquid diet, my body fat percentage today is 27.65%... and falling. Of course, this is provided my lean mass has not changed.
I should have a new series of composition tests done to determine whether my lean mass has changed. My GP did an informal Tanita test a month ago, and it indicated that I had 192 pounds of lean mass. Why not use this figure? It is not as reliable as submersion/buoyancy/displacement testing. Until I go through a full re-test, I will continue to work with the 190 figure.
Any change upward or downward in my lean mass will jar the figures considerably.
Based on all the figures I've been keeping, when will I reach the goal-line? Sometime in early July. Anywhere between 7/1/2011 and 7/8/2011 I should cross the goal-line.
Incidentally, I will be visiting my brother and sister in San Francisco on June 11. My little sister hasn't seen me since Christmas. I will be 86 pounds down at that point. My brother hasn't seen me since a few days after the surgery. I was at 307 at that time. They both aught to be stunned if I show up at 244.
Start
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Starting weight := 330
Weight on surgery day := 309.4
Today's Weight := 262.6
Total Lean Mass := 190
Total Fat Mass := 72.6
Fat Percentage Today := 27.65 %
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Ideal Fat Percentage := 17.00 %
Ideal Body Weight := 228.915662650602
Ideal Fat Mass := 38.9156626506024
Distance from Ideal Weight := 33.6843373493976
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Days since Start := 104.468055555556
Days since surgery := 90.0722222222222
30 Days Post-Surgery on := 3/6/2011
45 Days Post-Surgery on := 3/21/2011
60 Days Post-Surgery on := 4/5/2011
75 Days Post-Surgery on := 4/20/2011
90 Days Post-Surgery on := 5/5/2011
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Total weight loss := 67.4
Weight loss since surgery := 46.8
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Loss per day (overall) := 0.645173298589414
Loss Per day since surgery := 0.519583050638376
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Mass reduction percentage := 20.42 %
Completion Percentage := 68.08 %
Pounds to Half Way Mark := Already Done
Days to halfway := Already Done
Half way point := Already Done
Projected Easter Weight := Done 268
Projected Easter Revised := Done 268
Projected Weight 5/5/2011 := Done 262.6
Revised projection 5/5/2011 := Done 262.6
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Weight at 90% mass := 297
Weight at 80% mass := 263.4 on 5/3/2011
Weight at 70% mass := 231
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Date for 90% mass := Already Done
Date for 80% mass := Done 5/3/2011
Date for 70% mass := 7/4/2011 11:14:11 AM
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Fat Percentage at 90% mass := 36.03 %
Fat Percentage at 80% mass := 28.03 %
Fat Percentage at 70% mass := 17.75 %
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Revised Date for 80% mass := Done 5/3/2011
Revised Date for 70% mass := 7/7/2011 11:14:11 AM
Distance from 70% mass := 31.6000000000001
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Visit San Francisco Date := 6/11/2011
Days until San Francisco visit := 37.03125
San Francisco visit projected weight := 243.359190156048
San Francisco visit revised projected := 244.084375
Total loss before San Francisco visit := 86.6408098439524
Projected Body Fat Percentage := 22.16 %
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Last Quilici Last appointment date := 3/28/2011 11:00:00 AM
Days since last appointment := 38.0097222222222
Last weighin at Quilici's office := 281
Loss since last appointment := 18.4
Next Quilici Next appointment date := 6/28/2011 11:00:00 AM
Days past surgery (appointment) := 144.0625
Projected appointment Weight := 234.547566767409
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