Lauren1234

You might want to set an initial goal weight, but your ultimate goal weight may change the further out you are from surgery. My highest weight was 350 (5’8” female), and my surgery weight (before 10 day pre-op diet) was 303. My surgical team never set a goal weight or really even encouraged me to set a goal weight, but I set an original goal weight for myself of 197, just because that was the number I would need to be in order to no longer be morbidly obese. I never cared about being thin, but I just wanted to be healthy and comfortable like you, and I figured I would look better with a few extra pounds anyway since I didn’t want to end up looking gaunt if I lost too much weight. After I got closer to 197 I modified my goal weight to 175, which would put me in the middle of the overweight range, and my doctor said 170 or 175 should be fine for a goal weight. That was a few months ago, and now I’m down to 158 and at a healthy BMI, and I don’t think I look gaunt at all. I’m eating at a maintenance level now (about 1,900 a day) and still very slowly losing. As long as I continue to eat right and exercise my body will eventually get to the weight that’s right for it. So it never hurts to set a goal weight, but it will eventually be up to your body.

I track everything religiously. The doctor’s recommendation for me was between 64 and 76 grams of protein every day, and no more than 130 carbs, so I make sure to follow that strictly. They didn’t have me counting calories but I did anyway, and for the first two months I was under 800 calories, then by four months I was up to around 900 or 1,000 calories, and I continued to eat under 1,200 until I reached 175 pounds, which was my goal. Now I eat between 1,400 and 1,500 and the weight loss has slowed down quite a bit. I also drink a lot of water or crystal light, and I walk quite a bit.

I’m a 37 year old female. My highest weight was 350, then I got down to 303 on my own before the 10 day pre op diet. I lost 16 pounds on the 10 day diet, so I was 287 on the day of my surgery. Now I’m seven months out from surgery and weigh 172, so I’m actually a few pounds below my goal weight of 175, and I’m now slowly starting to ease into a maintenance phase.

My doctor told me 2-6 weeks, but he said that most people who don’t have jobs that are too physically demanding return in 2-3 weeks. Personally I took 3 weeks and I still didn’t feel ready to go back then, but I felt bad taking any more time off. My pain lasted for just over 5 weeks. Some people say they felt great after a week and were ready to go back right away, so I guess everyone heals differently.

I’m just curious for those in maintenance, around how many calories are you getting daily? Right now I’m six months post VSG and eating around 1100 to 1200 calories to lose weight, but I’m now only five pounds from my goal weight (I lost quite a bit before surgery which is why I got close to goal so soon). Once I reach my goal weight I will need to experiment to see what calorie range works for me to be able to maintain, but I just wanted to see what other people were eating once they got to their goal weight.

That’s great to hear! I’m only four months out but once I’m a year out I would like to try for another baby. What kinds of vitamins did they have you on during the pregnancy? About how many calories did you eat per day? Did your restriction change at all?