40 Y.O.,Obese since childhood, want to lose 150?

[SerendipityHappens 1,594]

Hello everyone.

I've been obese since child hood. At age 6 I weighed 65 pounds and subsequently placed on my first diet. At age 10 I weighed 122 pounds. By age 12 I was up to 172. By Freshman year of high school I was up to 230......I continued to gain throughout my life, except when I was on a very rigid and strict diet. At 25 I got all the way up to 280 and then dieted down to 230 but couldn't get below... and then started gaining again.

My highest recorded weight is 360... I may have weighed more than that. I currently weigh 330 or a little less now since I've been on the VLCD Preop for a week already. ANYHOWISE... When doctors say that you can expect to lose half of your excess weight, it kind of freaks me out because that would still put me at a whopping 240 pounds! (I'm 180 pounds overweight half of that is 90, 330-90=240.

Any childhood fatties here can share their experience with VSG?

[P.J.Rox 2]

Well it sounds like I could have written this post. I am 44 and I have always been chunky. It wasn't until I had my children that I really got huge. So I've been carrying this large amount of extra weight for 19 years. Had the sleeve in May and I've lost 83 pounds. Was excercising regularly but had to stop due to family emergency. Now I'm getting back on track. Slow loser, but a loser just the same. Surgeon was very pleased with percentage of loss at 6 month checkup. Started at 319 and size 28 or 30 pants. Now a 22 is getting big. So happy to be taking this journey.

[Spatters3 315]

I too have been big since I was a child. I don't remember exact weights but always was a "bruiser". When I was 22 I weighed 220 and gained 60 lbs being pregnant. Then got pregnant again and gained another 60 lbs. By the 3rd child I was over 300 when he was born. I did diet down to 220 (ate next to nothing and walked for miles every day) and I managed to wear out my feet, ankles, and knees. Anyhow, I found myself at age 50 needing total knee replacements and weighing 360. Just ridiculous. Nothing I did worked anymore - I couldn't exercise and even if I ate nothing, I couldn't seem to lose more than 30 lbs.

I had thought about WLS but thought it was terribly unhealthy and what the heck, all it did was force you to eat less. What if it didn't work? I tried one more time to diet on my own and couldn't even lose the obligatory 30 lbs. And then I found out about the VSG. I jumped through all the hoops, had the surgery, and, duh duh duhhhh, I am losing weight!

In 10 months I have gone from a size 30 to a 22 and have lost 90 lbs since surgery. Will I lose more? Yes, I will. Do I feel great now? Yes, I do. Am I thankful to God for this wonderful VSG? Dang straight!

Everyone is different but I really don't think I am destined to weigh 255 for the rest of my life.

[theoldmusicbox 399]

the youngest weight i remember is that in the 7th grade, i was about 5' tall and weighed 155. by 18, i was 5'6" and 185. by 20 i was 5'6" and 220. highest recorded weight was 384. i was also told that the sleeve would do about 1/2 of the excess weight which would have been losing 99 and being a 5'6" 274 pounds. (i think they tell you that so that you won't be dissappointed if you dont lose it all, and so that if you make it to your goal, you feel like a rockstar)

i started the pre op diet in april 2012 at 5'6" and 373 pounds. i was sleeved on june 5, 2012. i have lost a total of 160 pounds and am currentl at 213, 6 months post op, so, i have well passed the 1/2 of the excess and am only about 35 pounds from my goal of 175, but honestly, if i lose another 15, i will be satisfied.

i told my doctor that i didn't want to go through this surgery and still be fat when it stopped working. he told me that that would mostly be up to me. how strict i follow the diet and what kind of excesize and activity level that i maintain would determine my success.

the best advice i can give you. learn from other sleevers, but don't compare yourself to other sleevers. we all have a different experience. some lose fast, some lose slow. but hey, if you are losing at all, you are ahead of the game.

good luck.

[Gabi 6]

I have not been obese since childhood, but I have been obese since early adulthood, and I'm w almost 49 years old. I'm 5'7" and weigh 330.6 lbs this morning. I will be having the surgery soon. I'm waiting to hear back when. I was scheduled for 3 weeks from today, but realized I couldn't do it then because of what will be going on at work at that time, so I've asked to reschedule to the day before Mardi Gras, wich will allow me 2 days of recovery before I have to take leave from work.

I am certainly hoping to lose more than 1/2 my body fat. When I was 18, I weighed 121 lbls. I hope to get to get down to 150. I hope that isn't an unreasonable expectation.

I understand the surgery is just a tool to help reset bad habits and change my lifestyle. I hope even if I don't lose the full 180 in the first 1 and a half, my lifestyle change will see me continue to shed until I get to 150 or below.

[haragl 26]

i have been heavy as far back as I can remember. This has been a hard process for me. Before starting on this journey my high weight was 345 (before that my high had been 294) I lost 14 lbs on the 2 week liquid diet and my sleeve date 9/24/12 I weighed 323 (had dropped to 337 when surgery was scheduled). I lost 14 lbs by my 2 week checkup--I have stalled since then. I am working out 40-60 minutes 5 days a week, getting my Protein and drinking my Water. I thought maybe my carbs were to high and droped down to 30-50 gms per day and lost 5 lbs. I am keeping my calories between 1000-1200 (was told to be higher due to working out). I am doing cardio and was doing weights but have dropped to just cardio until I see weight coming off. I am verrrrryyyyyy discouraged. I can see changes in my body so I know I am losing inches but the weight not moving is very upsetting. I am trying to stay positive but when you read on here the amounts people are dropping and you are over 3 months out and are only down 28-36 lbs it gets very disheartening. I know we are all different but It still seems like something should be happening. I am just going to keep tweaking things until I hit on the right plan for me. I refuse to give up!

[SerendipityHappens 1,594]

Thank you everyone for responding. Haragl, this is what I'm afraid of. I'm currently on an 800 calorie a day VLCD and have been stalled for over two weeks. I know I'm a slow loser but I'm soooo worried that I'll slowly lose down to 250 and then be stuck at 250 eating only 700 calories for the rest of my life. Oh well, time will tell!

[iggychic 1,405]

I have not had weight issues since a child, but I wanted to chime in about stalls. I'm four months out and a month or so ago I had a huge loss...7lbs in 48 hours, then stopped losing entirely...plateau for a MONTH! This was after a steady and constant loss daily. But I have stuck with the program and finally am seeing the scale move again. In that month of nothing I lost three inches around my waist, 2 in my chest and half an inch on my neck. (I don't measure anything else). I've gone down two sizes in that time oddly enough, yet no weight loss, so don't fret that. It will come.

For the OP, The stats on the sleeve are that you will lose (likely) 60% of your excess weight in the first year..so I am not sure where the doc gets 50% total. There are SO MANY people here who have exceeded that average it's hard to count them! Butterthebean strikes me as one who's lost (I think) basically everything you are trying to lose in a year and his lifestyle changes are keeping it off. But that's just one story...there are many more I wouldn't get hooked on the doctor's 50% number hun. Just stick to the program and it has to come off. It may take time but honestly, pure science says it will come off if you stick to it.

[Kivtuar 59]

Remember also that it is an average. There are lots of people that for whatever reason, don't use the tools they are given and make bad eating choices and don't lose the weight. If you remember from school it only takes one zero (no weight loss) to ruin your average

I think anything is possible if you want it bad enough

[wlq 18]

Kivtuar, I like that math tip...very encouraging to those of us wanting to lose 100+ pounds. You're right. There are several zeros that skew the average down to 50%.

[katsmeow 70]

Instead of increasing your calories for cardio. Drink Protein Shakes for recovery. My personal trainer and dr suggested this. If you increase calories your just burning off that instead of your excess weight

[SleeveGirl-TX 183]

It all depends on you. How bad do YOU want it? You gotta want it bad and be willing to do the work. You'll stall, you'll crave things, you'll get angry, you'll get frustrated... but it's really all up to you. The SURGERY will help you lose 50%... the other 50% is ALL YOU.

I've been really successful. Therapy has been the single best thing I've ever done for myself. I started a month before surgery. Best decision ever.

[SaraLaughs 23]

I have no advice or what have you, but I wanted to thank the OP and everyone who has replied, because I have the same concerns. It's good to see I'm not alone. Best of luck to us both!

[twoolley 141]

I've been overweight since I was a child. In fact... it was pretty sad. I won't go into huge detail but my mom doesn't believe in "depriving" a child of food. Unfortunately I loved all the fatty homecooked meals she made for me and eating 2-3 plates at dinner was the norm.

I can almost see a flipbook of my childhood as the plates got bigger, fuller, and more numerous.

I honestly don't remember what my weight was all through school - I think my mom has it in growth charts or books or something. Luckily I was tall/big enough that I didn't get harassed or made fun of to often but there are plenty of times it did. Many from my own younger brother.

[Butterthebean 8,146]

I remember being 145 in the 4th grade. I couldn't play football with the other 4th graders because I was too heavy so I had to play with the 5th and 6th graders. Of course, I was their whipping boy. I also remember being 215 in the 7th grade. I remember because the coach made me weigh right in front of everybody. I never thought I would live that down.

Well, the good news is...I'm 44, at least a foot taller, and within striking distance of 215 again. I've lost 80% of my excess weight and still losing in just over 8 months. I refuse to let everyone else's statistics put limitations on me. I'll keep going till I'm satisfied...You can too.