Search the Community

My goal weight was decided between my Medical Weight Loss provider and myself. She asked me what I thought. I told her that I thought 145 would be good, because that's where I was after having 2 kids and not losing the weight. She told me that because of my age, 155 would be a better weight for me. So, I split the difference and came up with 150. My surgeon said that he believed I would be at 163, in my first year. And really, I think I would be super happy with that, even. So, my declared goal is 150. But, I think somewhere between 150 and 160 would be fine.

One of the biggest mis-understandings or hope to achieve post weight loss surgery, is that the surgery will force the individual to stop on a certain amount of food, or restrict the. This is not the goal of surgery long term. Short term sure, swelling can provide false sense of restriction. However surgery has a stretch factor. If it is helpful for you, I have created a 20min master class video comparing all surgeries and how to get the most out of each surgery regrading appetite and portion support control. The following link will help you watch the video https://helen-bauzon1.aweb.page/p/776a1a9a-fd05-4851-a838-208a39db2975 Feel free to clarify any questions

Are you able to share what the surgeons said was ok and others said was not ok by any chance? Curiosity has gotten the better of me. I could possibly help you also address these discrepancies,, as I have over 20years consulting lifestyle and mindset management for weight loss surgery.

I think it depends upon the severity of the attack. My first attack had me writhing on the bed, severe pain around my right side - front & back, sweating, no pain meds helped. Lasted 40 minutes. Had a less severe attack a few days later before I had my gall removed. They had picked up I had a stone in a scan to check my liver (yep one lousy stone that was only about 1cm wide that made me think I was dying ) about 6 months previously so I knew what the pain was. Gall stones can be common after weight loss surgery, so best to get it checked out.

Not every one reaches their goal weight. The average is a loss of about 65% of the weight you have to lose to be in a healthy range at around the three year mark for sleeve or bypass. This takes in the common 3rd year regain, compliance, lifestyle, etc. of course some exceed this & some don’t reach it. Love it or hate it BMI can be a good guide or starting point. If you’ve a larger frame look to the higher end of your BMI range. A small frame then the lower end of the range. Medications, age, general health, etc. can all influence what a healthy weight is for you as well the weight you feel most comfortable. Then there is your body’s new set point - a gift of the surgery. This is the weight your body is happiest at. It may not be the weight you wanted but it will be a weight that will be easier to maintain. I chose a weight which had been the weight I’d be able to get down to in the past (always bounced between 60-75 kgs) & my surgeon agreed it was an appropriate & realistic goal (interestingly it would have been 75% of what I did lose). My body had a different idea & I lost more. My set point put me at a weight lower than my goal. For years I was told I had a larger frame. But when the weight went the truth was I have a smaller frame & my lower weight is fine for me. I haven’t had any skin removal because I felt I didn’t have that much & it wouldn’t be worth the surgery, recovery & scaring. But that’s me. They’d probably remove less than 1kilogram of lose skin from all over my body.

I reached goal at 6 months (31kg - 68lbs). I continued to lose for another 11 months losing about another 12kg (26lb - so total of about 43kg/95lbs) I was losing only around 0.5kg (1lb) a month in the last couple of months but I was eating more & had been working at slowing my weight loss for several months. At 3yrs 7 months I weigh about 50.5kg (111lbs). The more you have to lose, the faster you’ll lose at first but then your rate will slow. You eat more & a wider variety of food as you progress which is what you should be doing. It does slow your rate of loss but it is a healthier rate of losing & you’re eating more like you will be in the long term. Don’t get too caught up in comparing your weight loss or rate of loss though. There are too many factors that can influence your loss. Existing medical conditions, medications, lifestyle choices, mobility, age, gender, genetics, weight loss history, amount of weight to lose, etc. Congratulations on your weight loss so far. 100lbs in a year is great.

started at 235 (5'2" female) lost 100% of "excess weight" (baseline calculated as 135 ideal weight by my surgeon) by 6 months got to MY revised goal weight of by 7 months. lost a bit more after that, gained some back, and nowadays hover around 118-120. i'm 4 years out. in terms of weight loss slowing down: not counting the first 2 months where i saw higher losses, i was pretty consistent during weight loss phase with a loss of about 10 lbs a month until goal. after that it slowed alot down, but i was purposely trying to. YMMV

I also have a very basic scale I've had for years. No incentive to upgrade and it hasn't inhibited my weight loss or the monitoring thereof even a tiny bit!

Took me 10 and a half months to reach my (arbitrarily decided) goal but I started with a lower BMI than some. You're absolutely right - everyone's journey is slightly different. My weight loss was like a reverse exponential curve - I am still losing, but at a rate of 1lb or less per month at 13 months out. I am still loving the journey, although I would have been happy with my total loss some months back. I hope you get to where you would like to be xxx

up to 18 months is normal for weight loss on a slowing scale of loss…

I started at 373, was 313 the morning of surgery, hit 138 lbs at 20 months out and yes, your weight loss slows down the further out post-op you are. After year 1, it was often an excruciating 2-3 lbs a month. p.s. since we were around the same weight on our surgery dates, I thought I'd check to see what I was exactly one year out. I weighed 187 lbs on that day.

That's really surprising to me! Maybe just visually it looks like more is removed than actually is, and it's more about placement, etc. I saw someone on tiktok yesterday who had a removal after 400+ lbs weight loss and her surgeon said he removed 47 lbs of tissue but she also had lipo done on her stomach and flanks at the same time so I assume the weight included fat.

My loss has definitely slowed. I'm 15 months out now, and noticed it really throttle back around 9 months but it still hasn't completely stopped. I reached "goal" a week ago - having lost 115lbs; I suspect the loss will stop completely here soon, which I'm fine with. Its important to remember that success isn't measured by whether or not your hit your "goal" weight, but rather by how much of your excess weight you're able to lose and maintain. So for example, based on BMI if you have 120lbs to lose to get to a "healthy" weight, then you can expect to lose AROUND 78lbs (65%) of that excess weight. (We all know BMI is an awful measure, but its the current standard). That varies from 60-80% from person to person, and you should expect some amount of regain in the years immediately following. Most surgeons consider LONG TERM success to be a loss of 50% of your excess weight after 5 years. So, all that to say, you are right where you need to be. Keep to your plan, and give it time. Goal weights are helpful, but they aren't the end-all-be-all measure of success. You're already a success!

Hi! I know this is obviously different for everyone but I am curious how long it took you to reach goal weight? I started at 303 in March and I'm down to 202 at the moment. My goal weight is 160 and I was really hopeful I'd get there by the 1 year mark but the loss has slowed down so much I'm not sure I'll make it. I think I'm more curious if anyone had a slow down around this point in time and the weight loss picked back up? I've heard from others that it tends to slow down after 6 months and stay that way. I actually mainly starting to worry that I won't hit my goal at all and maybe I need to change my expectations.....

i chose 120lbs as it was the mid-point for the "normal" BMI weight range for my height (5'2"). no real rhyme nor reason why i decided this way, other than i had no other ideas, ha also, i figured it was doable since i was that weight in my twenties. its worth noting here my surgeon said that he would consider my weight loss a success if i reached 175lbs (or was it 165?, i can't remember) by the time i got to 127, i decided to stop weight loss as i felt i was looking too thin. kept losing weight anyway, got down to 109, then settled into 115-ish for 2 or so years, but for almost the past year ive been consistently closer to 120 (am 4 years post op today). p.s. despite weighing less today than what i did when i decided to stop weight loss, in my opinion, i think i look better now (less gaunt and frail looking).

Hello and welcome! I had bypass so I don't have any specific input for the sleeve but they are both weight loss surgeries and are a lot alike but also different. haha.. that didn't help at all! All I can say is DO IT! Do it for you, or your kids, whoever you want but do it. I talked myself out of it for so many years because I could always lose weight on my own (over 100 lbs multiple times) key word "MULTIPLE". I could never keep it off! This was my deciding factor for having surgery. I am 8.5 months post op and my only regret is not doing it years ago!!

I worked with one last time I lost a bunch of weight, he was amazing. I was such a beast! he pushed me and kept me motivated. Then I had surgery and it all fell apart and I gained my weight back so here I am. haha Working with a trainer likely won't "accelerate" your weight loss though. It will "change" your weight loss. Your body will get strong and more toned. You will carry your weight differently, it is hard to explain what I mean so I hope you get it. I say go for it, it is very rewarding! I am thinking about getting another one myself. I would go back to my last guy but that gym relocated and he is like an hour away now. But, I loved him SO MUCH that I have considered making the trip for a while.

I bought a basic one on Amazon before I started my pre-op stage. It keeps me in check but it's important to keep a mentak note not to use it too much as it can become obsessive (guilty of that at one point) There's some advanced ones that connect to fancy weight loss apps, but I like my normal $19 one.

I’d be afraid that if your surgeon wasn’t supportive 12yrs ago that they won’t be supportive now. Criticising you for gaining weight 1week post surgery is appalling. When they do the surgery, they pump you full of gas so they can see the surgical field & they pump you full of fluid to keep you hydrated afterwards. It’s very common for people to weigh more when they come out of hospital than they did when they went in. Many are advised not to weigh themselves for at least a week post surgery because of this. Maybe look into another surgeon if you’re able. Also find out if you really have PCOS or not so you know if that needs to be managed & supported. Weight loss surgery will improve insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome & other comorbidities. There are numerous people on this forum who had these conditions & PCOS before surgery. It seems those with PCOS do tend to lose more slowly. But I’m sure some will share their experiences. My doctor used to check my thyroid (there is a family history) often but it was always fine too. I often skipped meals & did it from my teenage years through to my early 50s. So my metabolism was crap - I’d struggle to lose weight eating less than 900 calories. Plus I think hormones were a contributing factor as well - my weight issues began at puberty & worsened with menopause. The surgery boosted my metabolism & evened put some of my hormones. Ask your surgeon lots of questions about how the surgery may work for you & what you may expect with your existing conditions. Even ask for stats about his patients. Then when you will feel more confident about your decision.

bariatric surgery often comes with period changes.. irregular can happen easily during rapid weight loss due to the estrogen which is stored in fat being released.. 11/3 surgery and my period arrived a couple days early 11/4 (31 days) .. my usual has been around 40 days most of this year so it’s due now but so far no sign (but i have been having mood swings which may indicate it) last week i had some bad hormonal breakouts of acne and my chin hair has been disappearing lol

who here has used a personal trainer ?? many tips or advice?? especially want to know experiences from people over 325 lbs with starting exercise programs too…but love to hear from all shapes and sizes I want to exercise to tone up and strengthen my body but have always sucked at it so want to get a personal trainer to help teach me what to do. Want to accelerate my weight loss and have a better chance to meet or exceed my goal of reaching under 200!!!

i did the same thing for a long time avoided the idea of sugery, until finally I had to look at that as an option because nothing else was working, i tried everything. After three Dr. suggested I do the surgery I started to look into it. I had the gastric sleeve on Nov 29th. so far i am doing well. It is taking some time for my energy to come back but otherwise i am feeling good. Already seeing some benefits, my blood sugar is in a good range finally, I am type II diabetic and today got my meds lowered by endo so that made me happy! It is highly personal decision and journey but I am so glad I made the decision to just do it. The weight loss center I went to offers support groups and nutrition classes which are helpful too. I start on soft foods tomorrow, a little apprehensive about that because i don't want to do anything wrong LOL. Congratulations on your upcoming surgery so far so good and I am sure you will do fantastic.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having infection issues. But, great job on the weight loss!

Hey Everyone, I have noticed that since my surgery I have been menstruating irregularly and multiple times a month, I have read that it could be because of hormones and the weight loss itself but I am just wanting to see if other people have had similar experiences.

Hello My name is Jenny. I had my lapband inserted in August of 2010. I was 23 at the time and the lapband was popular at that time. Plus my mother was a big influence on me choosing the lapband over the gastric bypass at that time. I just recently been feeling a burning sensation where the band is located near the head of the stomach and pain when during my torso. The pain is gone now but lasted for about 2 months now the area is numb. I went to my original surgeon 2 months ago and we scheduled an endoscopy which will be done on December 15th, 2022. When we were talking he brought up that in the 12 years that I've had the lapband that research showed that the lapband was only temporary and leave in time was only 10 years and so is suggestion, whether the endoscopy shows erosion or slippage is to take out the lapband altogether. However, he suggested converting to a gastric bypass. I'm deathly afraid of a gastric bypass and suggested a gastric sleeve (in my mind, it's safer) but he said that with my health (BMI: 36, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, high cholesterol, diabetes type II) that the gastric bypass will give me better results than the sleeve. I did not have any success with the lapband. After my one week checkup post-op, I had gained 7 pounds which was due to swelling and the doctor (same surgeon I'm still seeing today) accused me of eating hamburgers and pizza and drinking soda at night when everyone was asleep. I remember my mother was in the room with me and he turned to her and asked "well let me ask you ma'am? does she have her own room?" and my mother replied "well of course she does?" and he asked her "do you go to sleep before her and she stays up late?" and my mother replied "yeah, she's 23. She goes to sleep a little later than me." and he told her while was in the room "well, there you go. she has no one to monitor her at night. she's eating pizza, burgers, drinking soda." When the reality was I couldn't even get down a medicine 30 mls of liquid post surgery. So I never went back and so my post care suffered since I never sought after care from him or his facility. I don't think he remembers what he said all those years ago though and as I've grown older, I've gotten over it and want to start anew. Thing is I'm for converting to the gastric bypass but I have PCOS and my hormones are all over the place and it's very hard for me to lose weight when I do try. When I change my eating habits, my blood work gets better (H1C decreases, blood pressure decreases, sugar levels normalize) but my weight does not budge. My question is..... Has anyone had the same experience with the lapband and failed with it due to PCOS or any other hormonal imbalance. I've had my thyroid checked 10 times and it always comes back normal. But i've been told I have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance and assume I have PCOS. Did those that had gastric bypass have success with weight loss even when they had PCOS. I don't think I can handle another failure especially when i'm willing to go under the knife to have my insides permanently and voluntarily re-arranged.