Anyone else over the "norm" of 40-60% loss?

Boo Boo Kitty · October 28, 2007

Hello all

I am curious and need help. I am at 75% body fat loss. I have 15 or so pounds to make me happy. I haven't lost in about 1 month. My Dr told me that I am well over the norm of 40-60% for band paitents and that my body may shut down and no longer "allow" me to loose weight.

Is there anyone here who has lost more than 75% of their excess fat or has your Dr told you that you are probly done and your body will not loose anymore? If you continued to loose how did you do it?

Thanks in advance!

TheGh0st · October 28, 2007

Hey there BooBoo - I know I just had PS and all but I can completely relate. I have battled the same 5 pounds for over 10 months! Even now post surgery I'm no lighter though they say its due to swelling.

And according to the BMI charts I am still not considered to be in the "normal" healthy range of weight for my height. I am 81% of my way to get to a BMI of 25, and only 72% of the way to get to the same BMI you've listed as your goal ticker. I've only mention the second % for comparison's sake. I realize each of our goals are a very personal issue. Just to be a devil's advocate I will say your current BMI is under 25 and as such would classify you as having gone more than 100% of the way in some people's eyes. But then again the ONLY eyes that matter are yours and I am NOT trying to imply your goal is too low. It is yours and yours alone to set. Honestly, part of me still wishes that someday I'm re-evaluating my goals and bringing mine in line with yours. Then the other part kicks in and wishes I could just be happy where I was at and quit striving for more.

I realize for me a lot of the problem lies in motivational or head issues as well as exercise. I only walk 1-2 times a week for 1-3 miles, barely working up a sweat (or not). More than that I've been falling back on some old bad habits. The form they take today is nothing like pre-band but they are still unhealthy. Pre-band I might have ate an entire frozen pizza and a pint of Ben & Jerry's with Fudge & Peanuts added in, PLUS all my day's normal overly large meals. Today I might eat the top off 1/3 of that pizza and 1/4th of the pint of Ben & Jerry's (still with the fudge and peanuts added on and maybe some chocolate Protein Powder mixed in for good measure) but now not only is that less than half of what I ate before on those "bad" days it generally ends up being the only thing I eat for the day. Not healthy by any stretch of the imagination but still if its not a daily occurance much better than my pre-band diet.

It seems from watching this site that those who have made it to whatever they call 100% did it through the good old standby of healthy diet and lots of exercise. Something I just have not yet been able to incorporate into my life the way some would say I should.

Sorry if I didn't have any great advice. Right now I'm more focused on trying to decide if I can be satisfied with where I'm at. But I'll be watching this thread with interest to see if anyone else out there can get my head back into this game.

JulieNYC · October 28, 2007

It seems from watching this site that those who have made it to whatever they call 100% did it through the good old standby of healthy diet and lots of exercise. Something I just have not yet been able to incorporate into my life the way some would say I should.

I'm with Ghost in that losing weight and managing the rest of the things going on in your life are on a balance. Bandsters can lose 100% of their excess weight. I'm at 97% and I plan to get to 100% and stay there. But I have several things going for me that are out of the norm: (1) I live alone and can completely control my food environment at home (no cooking for spouses, etc.), (2) I'm young and healthy so I've become a distance runner, and (3) my father is a plastic surgeon, so I can have the excess skin removed that will take me to goal.

Don't settle for 40-60% if you don't want to. But likewise, the price for getting from, say 85% to 100% may not be worth the life sacrifice for some people -- maybe even most people. And that's ok. Life is a balance. Coming from 350+ or from any weight that merits banding, weighing, say, 155 when some table says you should weigh 136 (as an example for a woman my age who is 5'2) is an extreme success.

Find your balance.

Boo Boo Kitty · October 28, 2007

Thanks to both of you! YOU both have made great points!

Julie--I agree that making food for others sucks! lol... Congratulatoins to you for becoming a distance runner!! And congrats to you for being at 97%! One thing I didn't think about was that they have my goal @ 142. At 6"0" I would look disgusting! I want to be about 165 or so.

Ghost--thank so much for the reality check. Maybe that is what I really need and not a way to starve myself for a number?

Chickie · October 28, 2007

I lost over 100% of my excess weight. It can be done.

I refused to starve myself, or exercise obsessively (I have seen people who exercised 3 or 4+ hours a day), and yet, somehow, I still managed to get there.

What it came down to for me was, that this isn't just another diet that I will get down to xxx weight with, and "eat normally again". It just doesn't work.

So I changed my lifestyle, and reaped the rewards. So has my family, but that's another thread.

Jachut · October 28, 2007

Well firstly I'd argue that if you've reached a normal BMI then you have already lost 100% of your weight.

Can you lose more? For sure. The main thing that holds people back is losing the motivation, running out of steam to work at it. In no way do I eat as well or exercise as much as I did at the start of this journey and as a consequence my weight loss is very very very slow now. I dont really care much about it anymore, since I am well below the upper limit for my healthy weight range and feel and look fine by my standards, but yes, I'd like the satisfaction of losing just that bit more (beyond my "offical" goal and into my "fantasy" goal).

I know if I dieted it would happen, and I will end up doing that. But as it is, just with the lifestyle change, it continued to trickle slowly off over time - its just harder to achieve the steady loss these days.

You can do it if you want to, there's nothing to stop you.

WASaBubbleButt · October 29, 2007

My Dr told me that I am well over the norm of 40-60% for band paitents and that my body may shut down and no longer "allow" me to loose weight.

To be perfectly blunt, your doc needs to go back to pre-med and learn the basics of weight loss. That is just a bunch of hooey.

Verify it for yourself, do a bit of research. Your body does not shut down and refuse to allow you to lose weight. It comes down to calories in/calories out.

Either he has forgotten far too much information from medical school or he simply doesn't want to take the time to work with his patients. Or, perhaps there was a misunderstanding of what he said?

What is excess body fat? When someone is in a healthy BMI range? If so, I have lost in excess of 100% of my excess body fat.

I could lose another 10 pounds and still be in a healthy BMI range. I think that in another 10 pounds I will be at my *real* 100%.

kacee · October 29, 2007

I agree with Bubble! If the body just "shut down" and wouldn't lose weight we wouldn't have to worry about starvation in the world (what a concept!). It's all physics...cause and effect. I think some doctors are too quick to glop people in the "percentage group" and be done with it. Maybe they think they are making us feel better or something. Personally I find it a little disconcerting to be told that I have already "gone way past what is normally possible". Don't rain on my parade! :huytsao It is a GIVEN that the last few pounds will come off kicking and screaming, but that's a fact of life, something us professional dieters are well aware of (at least in our hearts)...:paranoid

Boo Boo Kitty · October 29, 2007

Jachut--thanks I will do it! My goal is to be a hottie like you so I can wear a bikkinni too! lol...

Chickie--my family is reaping rewards as well, I love that my kids now understand about what is healthy food and what is not! Brooke is doing much better with her ADHD without processed foods and sugars!

WasA-I agree he has his head up his butt. He was the same Dr that told me I was loosing too fast! UGH, I hating his aftercare.

Kaycee-that is what I thought exactly!

This is my plan ladies, I am going to get back to working hard at the gym, not just walking which does qualify for exercise but obvisouly not working for me. Since the PS being shot down this year I guess I am more in a panic over these few pesky pounds. I am not going to change what I eat, I average 800-1300 calories per day so there is no need changing that. I brought my stuff to work out today after school and I think I am going to hire a Personal Fitness Coach to help direct me. I need these last 15 off for me. I want to feel that I did it! Even though I look good and have a healthy BMI I still feel I am not yet done. Maybe it is obsession on my part, but if it keeps me from obsessing with food I am ok with that! Wish me luck and thanks again for all the great points!