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As of today I am down 14 pounds in just a day or two over one week on liquids. I met with my dietitian yesterday and she said I am loosing to much to fast. Because I am lactose intolerant I can’t do dairy and I’m diabetic so I can’t do fruit juice. So when we went through my food journal we figured out I was eating/drinking between 500-700 calories a day. So she tweaked it and added more Protein Shakes - I felt so much better yesterday no hunger. I’m down to a 12-14 shirt and 14-16 pants (tight 14 loose 16 in a little over a week but don’t take that as what should happen she made it really clear to me that I need at least 1000 calories a day and Protein is extremely important for my body to be healthy for surgery and recovery. She said it isn’t just about liver shrinking but also optimal health for the surgery. She is a sleeve patient herself and she said it will be 6 months recovery but she is there with me every step of the way! I wasn’t taking in enough calories and while I lost weight I wasn’t doing it the healthy way. Hope that helps! . Good luck glad you started this thread it will be helpful to many I feel!! Also no one told me to start the Vitamins with the liquid diet so just found that out yesterday

The stats tend to say the average weight loss after about 5 years is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put yourself in the healthy BMI range. Some lose more. Some lose less. Some keep it off. Some don’t & happily settle at a higher weight. This can be from choice, genetics, lifestyle, complacency, health, etc. For example it’s not uncommon for people to experience a 10-20lb bounce back regain around year 3. I think some surgeons give the average expected weight loss to keep expectations realistic. Mine didn’t but he asked me what weight I’d like to reach. I said 60kg because that was the lowest weight I’d reached the many, many times I’d lost weight in the past & it gave me a bmi of about 23. He said it was a realistic goal. I exceeded it (135% of the weight I had to lose). My lowest weight was 48.2. For about 14 months I’ve been about 49kg but I waver between 48.5 & 49.5. But I’m close to that 3yr mark & you never know what the future will bring so I try to be realistic about that. The average is probably a good goal but no one says you can’t exceed it & set new goals if you want & if you can can without undue restrictions & limitations on your life. Even though we’re guilty of regularly checking that scale & we know all our stats, ultimately, it’s not about the number on that scale. It’s about you being happy & healthy & enjoying your life.

Hello. I’m new to this forum. Got a lapband in 2011. Overall it’s been successful. Starting weight was 255, I now weigh 198. My weight is stable. But…. I am now having a large amount of reflux and nighttime coughing. I’m worried about my esophagus and I am starting to consider revision surgery. But… my BMI is now 33. Which is great, except I’m discovering that is too low to qualify for revision surgery through insurance. But if I get the lapband taken out without any other help, the weight will not stay off. And I’d much prefer to just have one surgery instead of two. I’m only about 6 lbs under my insurance’s minimum BMI of 35. What do people do in this case? Wear ankle weights to the doctor? Just try to gain the 6lbs through milkshakes? Any advice appreciated.

Sleeved on 10/18. I stalled about two weeks ago. I freaked out and reached out to the nutritionist but she didn’t say it was normal. I’m so glad it happens and I wasn’t overeating. But since then I haven’t checked the scale because I was checking it everyday. Now I’m nervous but I know I’m losing weight because my clothes are looser.

I have regained too much weight and want to restart my food program. Can someone help me to remember how much protein, carbs, fat, etc, that your Doctor or nutritionist suggested? I was sleeved in Mexico in 2013 and did not have the best follow-up with them. My own fault, I have just let life and Covid shutdowns take over. I have gotten back into some bad habits. I'm getting back on myfitnesspal and need to use the tool I was given 8 years ago. Thanks for advice

Wish I had somewhere to wear this outfit. But it felt good to get into an old skimpy dresss! Also LOST a pound over thanksgiving, shocked I didn’t gain. :)

Awesome. Yea im thinking the same, since I haven't gained anything. I hope mines over soon though lol

2 weeks roughly Back on track now but my size is shrinking. I've put in my head that as long as I don't gain I am going the right way Xxx

You know whats interesting ? I am now the weight I use to be a decade ago but I dont remember feeling this cold all the time. Also , I am sure I have a lower body fat this time around because I can see my collar bone more clearly than ever and have less love handles.

I'm sorry you're struggling. Hitting a plateau or weight loss stall is so frustrating. It's a time when we are very vulnerable and likely to give up on ourselves, go back to unhealthy habits and resist support or advice. It feels like nobody understands what we're going through, or how we feel, and that old self-loathing starts to rear it's ugly and counterproductive head. Please don't give up on yourself. You made a decision to move forward with surgery because you wanted something very badly, don't let it go. Now that it's done, give yourself some grace and try to get back into the headspace where you can take advantage of the benefits. You've made changes, but are not getting the desired results. So, you need to make some tweaks to nudge your body back into the weight loss track. In order to make those tweaks, you're going to need to buckle down for a short time and track your eating. There's really no other way to go about figuring out what has you stalled without taking a very close look at that. It's a major pain int he a$$ and it takes discipline, but it's not forever. Commit to doing it 100% for just one week, that's long enough to reveal where the pitfalls are and find a solution. It's entirely possible that you are not eating enough. My longest stall was broken when I made a very moderate increase to my protein and fat. It was literally a difference of about 4 ounces of food a day that flipped my weight loss from stop to go. Tracking can be approached in different ways: you can either use an app to track things as you eat, write things down each time you eat then log everything into an app or website at the end of each day, or make a menu, log it at that time and stick to that religiously. I cycle through these methods depending on the other things going on in my life at any point. The last scenario is easiest to manage if you put aside time to do your meal prep for the week, so the food is ready for you to just reheat (if necessary) and eat. I can never stick to a planned menu unless I have the food ready to grab n go. I've tried a few apps, my favorite is MyFitnessPal. After tracking for 7 days, take a good critical look at your macros - calories, protein, fat, carbs, fiber and sodium (my personal demon) - and see if anything jumps out at you as higher or lower than you were assuming. Share your diet and macros here and you will find advice on making adjustments that will have you back on track in short order. You could find that a small change can net big results. However you decide to move forward, I wish you the best and hope you enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends.

Me and my doc count from the start of my 2 wk pre-op liquid diet. I was 235 two wks before surgery. Am 3+ years out today and weighed 117.5 this morning. At 5’2”, normal BMI for me would be ~135bs. So math says I am at 118% excess weight lost as of today. But as @catwoman7 indicated above, probably best to disregard the oft-stated 60% excess weight loss prediction. Its just an average and real life individual results vary GREATLY. Good Luck! ❤️

Jan 18th seems to be a good day for surgery lol. Well I guess we can make a New Years resolution to lose weight and actually keep it this time.🤣

it doesn't really matter because that 60% of excess weight is just an average. As with any average, there are going to be people who fall on either side of that. People who really stick to their programs tend to do a lot better than that - and then, of course, there are people who aren't as committed and either don't lose much or gain their weight back.

6 weeks today. Surgery weight on Oct 20th was 213.2 so 20 lbs. I started at a relatively low height/weight and am 59. Plus I had a stall that lasted an entire 3 weeks! Except for the darn stall and the frustration/trepidation associated with it, I'm happy with my progress so far. I know some people lose far more, but I'm taking the middle road on diet (average 800 cal/day) and can't really exercise much due to arthritis.

I weighed 238 on my surgery date and I needed to get down to 132 for a normal BMI. So I had 106 pounds of excess weight. I lost all of that, plus 11 more pounds after surgery. Before the pre-op liquid diet I weighed 250, so that's what listed as my starting weight. But just counting from after surgery, I lost 117 pounds, which was all my excess weight and then some. The statistics are based on averages and you can do better or worse than average based on many different factors. Some of those factors you can control (motivation, compliance, exercise, etc.) and some you can't (age, gender, medical conditions, etc.)

My program doesn't set targets like that, especially because BMI isn't really a good measure on an individual level. They worked with me to set a target goal, then told me goals can and do move. So here are a bunch of numbers for you: Heavy weight 396 (probably heavier but I stopped weighing myself) Program start weight 375 Liquid diet start weight 366 Surgery weight 357 Current weight 293 (eleven weeks post-op) Goal weight (for now) 240 "Normal" BMI weight: 184 (but I will never get there because I have more lean body mass than that) So technically my "excess weight" calculated by BMI would be 182 lbs. By that standard, since surgery (not the pre-op diet), I have lost 35% of my "excess weight". If we use the unattainable "normal BMI" number, I am 40 pounds from 60% "excess weight" lost. My PCP chose to use my lean body mass plus 15 percent (which is an ambitious, flat-stomach-and-maybe-some-abs target for a man), which would be 240. By that standard, since surgery, I have lost 55% of my "excess weight" in eleven weeks. If we use the actually-attainable goal weight set by my PCP, I am 6.2 pounds from 60% excess weight lost. But when we had our consultation last week, my PCP said he just wants me below 40 BMI (which I am) and ideally below 35 BMI (which would be 35 pounds more to lose).

So it turns out that 7kg or about 15.5 pounds is what I need now. Took some trial and error but my buoyancy seemed pretty good with that weight. Another weird NSV - I play the violin and I am going to need a new shoulder rest. There is a lot more room between my chin and shoulder now. I hadn't even thought about that until I wondered why I was cramping up during rehearsal the other night.

325 is your weight on the day of surgery?

I was wrong above...I think the correct terminology is % of excess weight. Perhaps someone can chime in on that? I've lost 100% of my excess weight. I was 374 HW, 343 Start of Program, 325 SW, 168 CW. RNY on 12/14/2020. Once I hit 174 in was in normal BMI. However, my program does not specify goal weights.

Thanks for the info. Would you mind sharing how much of your total weight lost has been post-surgery?

My program calculates percentage of weight loss from the weight recorded on my first visit with the program. Personally, I calculate and list on here my weight as recorded at a doctor visit when I started a new diabetes medication and started serious weight-loss efforts on my own several months before joining the surgery preparation program.

Can anyone comment on whether the percentage of excess weight expected to be lost with gastric sleeve is actually post-surgery vs all the pre-surgery weight loss from expected on your own weight loss and the pre-op diet? I'm expecting the ~60% excess weight loss predicted to be additional Post-surgery weight loss on top of what I've lost so far since gastric sleeve reports as a surgical intervention. The "60% excess weight loss" shouldn't count what I've lost on my own with a restrictive diet and exercise? If not, having the surgery to lose just 50# or less seems maybe not a great choice? Thoughts? Or, can anyone share their own stats showing the 60% average loss counting only post-surgical weight loss?

Hey, just want to say I am Sorry it's been a tough go and disappointment for you. I think we all know what it takes to lose weight but it's not easy. If we were going to lose our weight without surgery we would have done it already. At 49 yrs old I know it will only get harder to do it on my own. My skin is still elastic and I have the best chance now to be my best. Hang in there. Log your food, every single bite, link and taste. ( those little BLT's make a big difference.) Keep at it. Follow Jamie Mills on FB etc... she is a registered dietician and fellow WLS survivor. I love water exercise,,aquacise, boosts the mood and muscles.. my balance has really improved also.. Best of luck.

@bayougirlMrsS Wow! I will echo arabesque “va va voom” you look amazing! I love the boots too! I haven’t found a pair that fit me. Even with losing all my excess weight my calves are on the bigger side. @sophie-I LOVE that outfit. So very fall! Wish we had colder weather down here to wear more things like that. (Texas)

I don't have Medicaid and went through Blue Cross, but I actually gained a small amount of weight during the phase leading up (5 lbs or so). However, during the pre-op liver shrink diet, it is virtually impossible to not lose weight. I lost 20 pounds in three weeks. If I had shown up and gained weight or maintained after I was supposed to be on that pre-op diet, I'm sure they would've turned me away, because it would've been clear that I hadn't done the surgery preparation without even seeing my liver.