"Percentage of excess..."

[steph_co 9]

Somebody help define this for me. When somebody says they have lost x% of their excess...does "excess" just mean the pounds that put you out of the BMI normal category? Or does "excess" mean everything you want to lose?

Because, for instance, I have lost 81% of the weight that puts me out of "normal" for my BMI. But I've only lost 58% of what I'm wanting to lose. But I have chosen a number that puts me at a relatively low BMI in the "normal" range. If I wanted to settle at the highest number that would make me "normal," then I could say I've lost 100% of my excess when I hit that number rather than saying I've only lost 72%.

Does what I'm saying make sense? I'm just wondering what the stats are based on when they say patients lose x% of their excess weight. My surgeon never set a goal for me. I don't remember if I was asked what I wanted to get to. I think they'd be satisfied with "healthy." LOL

[She Smiles 2]

My sugeon would have said the excess was the amount to the goal he made for me, which was not a healthy BMI and waaaaaaaaaay higher than the goal I have set for myself (which is mid range healthy BMI for me). I met his goal months ago! I'm not sure how its done across the WLS "industry" though....like how they get to the "patients lose 60% of their excess on average" assessment.

I just did my sums though, and I've lost 87% of the excess weight I want to lose. Sounds good to me!

[Turler 6]

I think I get what you're looking for! LOL The excess would be the amount of weight that puts you in a 'normal' BMI catagory. The only way to get a true figure, is to find out your actual body fat %. Once you know that, you can do the math. You must have a certain amount of course, but once that is figured in, you will know how much you are carrying around that is considered excess.

My dietician used a calculator and BMI to determine mine. So let's say you weighed 200 pounds at the time of surgery and you are 5'3". So that would mean your BMI is 35.4. Your want your BMI to be around let's just say 23 (well with the healthy range). To acheive that you would need to lose 70 pounds. That is your excess weight. So if you lose 35 pounds, you've lost 50% of your excess weight.

I might be completely off base and totally wrong about all this, but that is how it was explained to me! Hope this helps.

~C

Edited May 3, 2008 by Turler