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I had RNY, but my liver enzymes were elevated the first year or so. My PCP said thought it was probably fatty liver, but then I read online (some reliable medical site) that elevated liver enzymes were not uncommon after WLS because the rapid weight loss can be really hard on livers. I had them re-tested later, and they were normal - so I think that's what was going on. Not sure why this possibility didn't occur to my PCP, but maybe she doesn't see many bariatric patients. I'm not saying this the cause of yours, but I think it was in my case. In any case, mine are normal now. EDITED to add I just re-read your post and you said your liver was enlarged. So your enzyme levels may be due to something else. I don't know if my liver was enlarged since that was never checked - but my enzyme levels were definitely high.

Hello. It’s been a while since I posted here but I have been busy figuring out how to get past a months long stall and some sugar addiction. First, I found out that I have lipedema which is a connective tissue disorder. It’s an abnormal collection of fat that is no longer in it’s original spongy condition. It is literally scar tissue and adhesions under the skin that do not let go of fat easily. I have huge amounts of it on the lower body and some on my arms. The change that worked for me was specific exercises using a vibration plate on the fat deposits and other mechanisms that can be found on the internet. Second, I ended up switching to healthy keto and that made a great difference in the movement of the scale. I’m down a few pounds now and I no longer have the sugar cravings. I also have gotten better about setting limits on other people monopolizing my time. I’m prioritizing myself and it is really starting to show. I’d be happy to share more if anyone is interested in the connection between stalled weight loss after Bariatric surgery and the condition known as lipedema. It’s not a broadly known condition but it is starting to get attention. I can share some of the resources that I have used in the past few months. To learn more, start here: https://lipedemaproject.org

Yes 311 starting weight to 180 first year VSG.

Congratulations on your weight loss! I posted some of my before and after pics. I was 348 at my heaviest. I was 330 in July 2020 when I began the approval process. I was 310 on December 23, 2020, the day of surgery. I am now 247. My weight loss isn’t going as fast as some. I do eat a bit more in carbs and I work out 4-5 days a week including strength training. I have never felt or looked as good as I do now.

It depends upon how much you want to lose. And everyone loses at their own rate - lots of factors influence this (age, gender, weight loss history, metabolic rate, activity, etc.). Generally you lose more quickly to begin & then slow as you get closer to goal. I took 6 months to lose the 31kgs (68lbs) to my goal. I lost an additional about 11kgs I over a year as I was trying to find my way in maintenance. You’ve lost 81lbs in your first 6 months that’s great. You’ll get to where you want to be. It’s not a race.

It depends on a lot of factors like starting weight/bmi but to answer your question… yes it definitely can be done. I lost 145lbs in ten months with the sleeve. My starting BMI was 40, now at 24.7

I would just keep asking questions, and keep doing your own research on here and by watching YouTube (I recommend Dr. Matthew Weiner). That's what I've done to keep myself sane during this 6 months I've been waiting. I have found the wait to be incredibly frustrating because my surgery center is understaffed, so I have to wait a long time for the scheduler to call me back for the next appointments - like weeks! So I've just read everything I could. I think I would feel a lot more scared if I hadn't read so much. The Mayo clinic (Mayo.org) is also a good resource. They have good health information on everything, including weight loss surgery. Also ASMBS.org (the bariatric surgery professional group).

I had my surgery in the end of October 2020- I’ve lost 100 pounds or so. I’m a size 8ish now- I would like to lose maybe 10-15 more pounds ideally - but I am in the very top of my healthy BMI range and feeling better all the time. My weight loss really slowed down after the first 6 months - but I’m still losing 4-6 pounds each month and I figure I’ll just keep chipping away at it. I have been getting rid of clothing that are too big this week but I’m having a hard time letting go of things- what if I gain weight again! All of this is hard. My mind hasn’t really caught up yet.

Had my surgery in October 2020. Ilost 73 lbs in the first 7 months and now my weight loss is starting to taper off. I only lost 11 lbs in the last 3 lbs and I am wearinga size 12 but I would like to settle in at wearing a size 10. Have a complicated surgey coming up on August 16 so this might be the reason I feel stuck. I'll see howq it goes after my upcoming surgery/

Thank you so much for your response! When I saw that I was losing weight daily, it kind of got addictive. Now it has completely backfired since I'm staying at the same weight and completely discouraged me. However, I can agree with CKmommy since this is the lowest I've been in 4 years and I've never lost 20 pounds in a month before. I think I will try a new approach of weighing every Wednesday or just feeling how my clothes fit me.

@John M...felt like deja vu reading your experience of the process leading up to surgery. I am of the Canadian persuasion as well (Ont.) but I went through it pre-covid. Other than the advised diet they asked you to adhere to before the 2-week liquid one (I wasn't given a diet other than the 2-wk one). and the fact that my appts were done in person, sounds like we pretty much got the same info/services (or lack thereof) pre-op. The only bloodwork/labs I had done were the first set in the beginning (which included an EKG...did you get one of those?) Nothing after that until AFTER surgery. Pre-surgery, I had one appt with social worker, 1 with dietitian and 2 with nurse (oh and 2 with the surgeon)...all of which lasted well under 15 mins each. Now AFTER surgery I had tonnes of bloodwork/labs done, but thats another story. So I'm not sure, at least in our respective cases, it was any better in terms of quality of care to go through this pre-covid (well, except for the delays, of course!). But you def won out at least on not having to drive 1.5 hours round trip for every appt, nor pay $23 in parking fees each time. Sigh. I got the majority (if not all) of my information though my own research. Even post-op, I did not really follow my dietitians advice, as I chose to do an alternate "program"...she knew this (as I told her), and would often lightly chastise me during our many appts together. Personally, I felt like the advise dispensed was a one-size-fits all type of thing that wasn't adjusted at all to the individual. But that's just me. I mean, the guy beside me in the waiting room is like over 1 foot taller than me, and probably almost 3 times my weight...and you are going to tell us both to consume 1500 calories?? ***NOTE*** To be clear, I'm NOT advocating not listening to your team! Ask questions as you said, and if you are not satisfied for with the answer, look elsewhere. In the end, this same dietitian who would shake her head sadly at my food log was the first one to high five me when I got to goal. My nurse and surgeon were both pleased with me the entire time because I healed uneventfully with no issues, I was able to get off all my meds by end of month 1, I was losing weight steadily, and my labs always came back satisfactorily. I never saw the social worker again. In my opinion, the support services provided to barbaric patients by our health care program (i'm just talking dietitians/nutritionists and social workers/psychologists...as the nurses and docs seem to be doing exactly what they should be doing) are severely lacking. You are better off shopping around and getting a private nutritionist and/or therapist on your own if you feel you need them. Good Luck! ❤️ P.S. Not counting the months that I changed my mind TWICE about having the surgery, the entire process from referral to surgery was about 8 months. P.P.S. Sorry this was so long.

Doctor's will sometimes give what they consider a successful average goal weight for you surgery. My surgeon's office didn't give me a set goal, instead they asked me what MY goal was. I told them 180. I, honestly, thought they'd tell me that my expectations were too high , but instead, they told me that was a good realistic goal weight. Several people on this site have said that their surgeons set goal weights that they weren't happy with, so they were determined to surpass their surgeons goals. And many have succeeded. Personally, I feel like a goal weight is something personal and you just have to reflect on what weight you can see yourself being happy at. That's how I decided my goal weight and I'm happy that I got there (I think it'd just be like icing on the cake if I could even get down to 170. I'd be okay if I hit maintenance before then because I AM happy where I'm at, but 170 would be really nice).

Im a couple inches shorter than you, and started out with a lower starting weight (235), so at BMI 43. No known medical issues that would impede weight loss. Got to goal weight (sort of…i aimed for 120lbs, but stopped at 127lbs cuz i felt I was getting too small) in 7 months. That was over two years ago. I lost a few more pounds in first couple months of maintenance and have been sitting at 115 for the past 2 years (BMI 21). One thing to keep in mind when reading others’ responses to your question is that everyone will have a different goal weight. Some people may start off at say a BMI of 60, so common sense would indicate it would take them longer to reach goal than someone who started off at BMI 40. Further, some may aim for the “normal” BMI of 25, some more, some less…so the duration would vary based on how low each individual actually wants to go. Oh, and who knows, you may (like many others here - including me) adjust your goal down the line…it really depends on what size/weight you are comfortable at and can maintain vs. some number on the scale. Good Luck! ❤️

a lot of surgeons don't even give you a goal weight. Mine never did. He asked me what I'd like to weigh and then told me by personal goal (which at the time was 200 lbs) was definitely do-able if I worked at it (I ended up losing much more than that). average weight loss on these surgeries is about 60-70% of excess weight. However, that's just an average - there are always people who fall on either side of that. Some people are extremely successful and end up losing 90% or 100% - others not so successful and may only lose 20% or 30%. If you're very committed, you should be able to at least lose the average - if not quite a bit more.

food progression depends on the surgeon. I never had a post-op liquid progression - I was eating purees while I was still in the hospital (although this isn't common) the first few weeks can be a challenge and a lot of trial and error to see what your stomach is going to tolerate. The gassiness/etc that you're feeling could just be the normal adjustment or it could be that you've developed an intolerance to lactose or some artificial sweetener (both common - sometimes the intolerance is permanent, sometimes temporary). Just keep working on it. I know what you mean about food. I actually got to the point where I didn't like food and eating was a challenge. I had to remind myself that it was time to eat. It was annoying at first, but then I realized how easy it was to lose weight when I really didn't give a flip about food and (in my case) was never hungry. Unfortunately, that only lasted about five months (for those of us who lose our hunger and our interest in food, that period typically only lasts a few weeks or months - for some up to a year - before food interest & hunger return, and then it becomes a lot more challenging to stick to the program)

20 months - but I evidently started out a much higher weight than you. As NovaLuna said, it's different for everyone.

For me, it was 18 months and 1 day to reach my goal weight. It's different for everyone though. It depends a lot on 1. how much you have to lose and 2. how fast your weight loss is. My weight loss is very slow due to hypothyroidism and I've had near constant stalls along my journey. However, I was still able to get to my personal goal weight. And I'm even passed it by a pound. If I hit maintenance any time soon, I'd be okay where I'm at now. However, now that I've reached goal I think it'd be nice to see 175 or even 170, but if I don't get there, I'd be alright with that.

BMI is really just a guide…the only one we could use easily with basic data (height & weight). There are better predictors of ideal weight that take into account age, gender, bone density, fat percentage, bmrs, etc. etc. BMI Is not perfect, but its a satisfactory starting point. With that said, I started out at BMI 43. Doc said he would consider me a success if i lost 60-70% of my excess body weight (based on a “normal” BMI of 25) within A YEAR. Anything over that was just bonus. Now losing 60-70% of my ecess body weight would have put me in the low BMI 30’s, which is still considered overweight, and doc was perfectly happy with that. Anyhoo, I reached doc’s goal at 3 months, and my own personal goal (bmi 23) in 7. Lost a little bit more adjusting to maintenance and then settled in at BMI 21. Been at 21 pretty much for over 2 years now. I too thought I was big boned, but turns out i am not. With all padding (i.e., fat) gone from my wrist, it actually measures at 5.25” in circumference (i’m 5’2” female). but really, in the end, your goal weight is what YOU says it is, wherever it may fall on the BMI scale. Good Luck! ❤️

Just curious. How long after surgery did you hit goal weight? I’m 6 months out and still need another 30-40 lbs.

The truth is the average weight loss at three to five years is about 65% of the weight you have to lose (that is the weight that puts you in the healthy BMI range - higher end if you are a larger frame, lower if you’ve a smaller frame). Your surgeon may have given you a goal weight of where you may end up at based on these averages. Better to under promise & over deliver thinking. Some medical teams discuss where you’d like to be. Mine did. Mine was based on the lowest weight I could always get down to before gaining again which was on the upper end of the BMI range (cause I thought I had a larger frame - turns out I don’t). It was deemed a reasonable, healthy & attainable goal based upon my history. I know many people poo poo BMI but look at it as a guide, not a hard & fast rule. Amend it based on your body type, frame, muscle mass, etc. Plus you know how your body works & functions best - it may be at a higher or lower weight. You know you functioned well at a lower weight when lifting so that may be somewhere for you to aim as against what your surgeon suggested. I’ve lost way more than my goal & have been working at maintaining it for about 10 months - so I’ve got a long way to go. Looking at my stats, you may expect me to be bony but I’m not. But that’s me. Someone with a different body shape & frame may be very bony at the same BMI. As long as the weight you reach is healthy & sustainable everything is great. The surgery will rest your basal metabolic rate & that will dictate how much weight you lose too. This video by Dr Matt Weiner may be helpful. He has a lot on this topic. Good luck.

Thanks! Everyone is different so it's really hard to say. A friend of mine was well over 600lbs about 10 years ago when he had the surgery. He dropped down to about 375lbs. That was nearly half his body weight. He has gone up a bit since then because he hasn't followed the lifestyle changes the way he should have. But even still he is only maybe 450 now. Still probably 150-20bs less than what he was. I think maybe how much you lose not only depends on how dedicated you are but also how big you were. At 370 and 6' I don't think 255 is at all unrealistic. At 470 and 6'4 I'm hoping for 285 which would be much more than 30% but I think that would be my goal weight. I'd still be the size of a wwf wrestler. I've seen other guys my height who weighed between 215-235lbs and some of them look really good and really fit. I personally couldn't see myself at that size, I'm so used to seeing a bear in the mirror. But I would be a little disappointed if I only lost 120lbs after everything I just went through. Would it be better than nothing? Sure, but still much bigger than I hope to be.

30% of my current weight would put me at 255, which on my current frame (assuming no loss of muscle, LOLOLOL) would be about 17.6% body fat. I'm trying to picture that and it... is a stretch. But! I would absolutely love it. Wishing you the best as you start your post-surgery loss!!

It doesn’t seem like anywhere near enough but what do your dietician & surgeon say? Are you recording your food? What does your plan require & recommend? I was eating three meals a day from purées - small portions about 1/4 -1/3 cup. Each meal contained protein. The portion size slowly increased to less than a cup as I progressed adding more protein & vegetables & I added an afternoon & evening snack usually fruit & yogurt. I was focussed on developing good eating routines & incorporating a balanced diet & what would be sustainable in the long term to maintain my weight. I wasn’t really hungry or all that interested in food but I knew I had to eat. By about 5 or 6 months I was eating less than 900 calories I think. I stopped multi vitamins at 8 months with my surgeon’s approval as my blood work is as very good so I was getting all the nutrients I needed from what I was eating. I maintain at about 1200 calories (not tall, smallish frame, not very active & in my mid 50s), blood work is still good. Some people can eat more than others & some people’s plans require to eat more or less than others. I do believe you can only eat what you can eat at each meal but I’m concerned you are really only eating one meal & a snack a day. You’d be better off eating smaller portions more frequently through the day. Add a protein shake or yoghurt for more protein - you can’t be any where near meeting your daily protein goals - you can sip the shake & graze on the yoghurt for ages at work if you need. Are you eating slowly? I take 30 - 60 minutes to eat even now. If you don’t have a dietician, I’d ask your team for a recommendation & if you don’t track your food, I’d also start doing that too.

Not being able to eat much at one sitting is normal. But waiting until 5-6 pm to have your first food of the day does not strike me as normal. Before surgery, it's possible to go all day without eating and still end up taking in a good amount of calories because we could just stuff ourselves at dinner. You can't do that now. Your stomach holds the same few ounces, regardless of how long it's been since you last ate. So why not have something in the AM with your vitamin, something during the day, something around dinner time, and maybe a last snack in the evening? Are you going without food during the day as a weight-loss strategy (like intermittent fasting)? Or just not making time to eat?

I'm 470lbs or at least I was prior to pre-op diet. I haven't weighed since but I'm told I'm shrinking by those who see me. I think realistically they say to expect 30% body weight loss but up to 50%. I'm personally hoping to hit 285lbs.. I'm 6'4. But if I calculated 30% I would end up around 320. They asked us a similar question early on but I felt like it was more to guage our concept of what we expect to lose. Because some people go into this with unrealistic expectations. They like to make sure your feet are planted firmly in reality to what the surgery will be able to do for you. The rest will have to come from patience and hard work.