Why did you have surgery if you are under 200 pounds.? I don't understand. And instead of being ignorant can you fits help me understand...I getting down to 180-190 is all I think about...but that is my perspective because I am morbidly obese ..but why risk this for 50 pounds or so?..no judgement just curious. I just don't get it.

maybe those people are really short, like 4'9 or so with small frames. If so then 170-80-90 looks really bad on them. I'm like you, all I want is to get to 180 for now. lol

i understand exactly what youre saying. the only time i weighed that much was when i was in middle school. again not judging, but i really don't think its worth the time, money, and risk of complications for someone who is under 200 lbs

Well I can't speak for everyone with a low bmi, but for me it has been a constant struggle for me since the birth of my last child to refrain from becoming "morbidly obese". I have lost weight via diet pills, dangerous levels of exercise, etc. with a height of 5'3 any weight over 150 is not cute to me. So you do you and I'ma continue to do me..... don't judge....

I'm 5'7".. My mother is 5'1".. Height plays a vital role and the shorter you are the smaller you should weigh I could never be 120lbs and look healthy but my mother could rock it!

I am 5'2" and 182 right now. That puts me at a 33 bmi. I have recently lost 24 lbs, which was a real struggle for me to lose. So, at my highest weight my bmi was over 37.5 which is severely obese. I have struggled with my weight for over 20 years. I have been able to lose, but never to my "goal" weight and I have NEVER been able to maintain that weight for even 3 months. When I regain the weight, an extra 5-10 lbs seems to come along with the old weight. Even though I have really made serious efforts, my weight has averaged in the 190s over the past 5 years. Again, for my height, this is obese/severly obese. Also, I am a very actice person and I do really watch what I eat, which makes me feel like this battle is a losing one for me without the surgery.

Also, I am getting older and I have noticed that it is harder to lose the older I get. Additionally, my family history isn't good. My dad passed away at the age of 69 and he yo yo dieted his adult life as well. I want to be around for my kids and grandkids.

60 lbs. is a ton of weight for us shorties. Those are just some of the reasons that I am having this surgery. I wish people would focus on bmi and not weight.

One more thing. This was a big one for me. I did a lot of research not just on this surgery, but on obesity in general. I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything possible to get healthy on my own. One of the things that I found so discouraging (that I also knew to be true from my own many experiences) is that 95% of people who lose weight regain within 2 years. After 5 years that number goes up to 98%.

I would like to ask all of the people who it bothers that "low bmi" people have this surgery, to ask themselves if they want to stop their weight loss journey when they hit a 33 bmi. My guess is that 99% of people will want to lose more weight and wouldn't be happy if that is all the weight they lost. I hope helps you understand my choice.

I am a yo- yo dieter slowly killing myself by going from 190 to 104 over and over. My dr said I had to stop. I got the band twice and had too many complication but was down to 104 for years then had it removed. Jumped up to 190 again and decided I had to stop or wear my system down to nothing and risk my health each time. I want to be healthy just like every one on this forum.

I was 199 when I decided to be sleeved. I'm 5'2". I've been fighting my weight battle for more than 10 years. I was extremely depressed and unhappy. My knees hurt, my back hurt, and I was pre-diabetic. I've lost 20-30 and gain 40+ more times than I can count. Both my parents are extremely morbidly obese. I could see my future in them and it wasn't pretty. I could guarantee that my weight would only continue to escalate so I decided to be proactive rather than reactive. Why wait and waste more of my life? I needed a weapon for my weight battle, and the sleeve was it.

Today I am 138 and feel like I am living for the first time in more than 10 years. I feel healthy, mentally and physically.

Oh, and yes.. I'm 5'3" so my BMI was high. Also... I didn't want to wait until I was over 200+ lbs to make a life change to my eating and health.

i understand exactly what youre saying. the only time i weighed that much was when i was in middle school. again not judging' date=' but i really don't think its worth the time, money, and risk of complications for someone who is under 200 lbs [/quote']

To say "wacko" is judgement. My BMI was 35. I am 5'9" and was 235 pounds. You say it's not worth the time and money. Before I had this surgery my knees were so bad I could barely walk, now 8 weeks later I have lost 40 pounds, my knee pain has gone and my sugar and cholesterol levels are normal. I feel more confident and am starting to like the way I look.

And my surgeon says I have added several years to my life.

It has been worth every cent, and the risks of not having the surgery were far greater!

Steelergirl... Here is my perspective. I'm 40 years old & 5'2". My start weight 215 current weight 198. My surgery will be the end of February. I have hypertention, my mom had a stroke at 44, & my dad had a heart attack at 60. I've been on every diet possible. I've lost 1,000's of pounds over the years & gained them all back. It really hit me when I turned 40. I always put everyone infront of me (family, friends, work). This is the time for me to change, me forever. Having the sleeve done will give me a regain weigh stopper, so I can catch myself before my weight creeps back on. This will keep me on track. I won't be able to slip back into my old bad habits. I really don't have a specific weight I want to get to. I just want to have a healthy bmi, I want to be able to maintain a healthy weight. For me the risks of surgery are far less, than the toll it would take on my body to yo yo diet for the next 40 years.

Good Luck!! Keep your chin up!! You can do it!!!

Steelergirl... Here is my perspective. I'm 40 years old & 5'2". My start weight 215 current weight 198. My surgery will be the end of February. I have hypertention' date=' my mom had a stroke at 44, & my dad had a heart attack at 60. I've been on every diet possible. I've lost 1,000's of pounds over the years & gained them all back. It really hit me when I turned 40. I always put everyone infront of me (family, friends, work). This is the time for me to change, me forever. Having the sleeve done will give me a regain weigh stopper, so I can catch myself before my weight creeps back on. This will keep me on track. I won't be able to slip back into my old bad habits. I really don't have a specific weight I want to get to. I just want to have a healthy bmi, I want to be able to maintain a healthy weight. For me the risks of surgery are far less, than the toll it would take on my body to yo yo diet for the next 40 years.

Good Luck!! Keep your chin up!! You can do it!!![/quote']

It is a good decision..I was just trying to wrap my grad around it..I have a friend..and to me she is beautiful. I am trying to help her talk to her family. But wants more insight..I think it is a life changer! ..good luck to u..thanks for insight.

Why did you have surgery if you are under 200 pounds.? I don't understand. And instead of being ignorant can you fits help me understand...I getting down to 180-190 is all I think about...but that is my perspective because I am morbidly obese ..but why risk this for 50 pounds or so?..no judgement just curious. I just don't get it.

Maybe its to KEEP the weight off as opposed to losing a large amount of weight or gaining a whole lot of weight. Maintaining or keeping weight off is an entirely different uphill battle:/

To say "wacko" is judgement.

The :: is supposed to be an emoticon. I noticed some of the animated ones don't show up on the mobile version. They weren't calling people wacko, I don't think.

At 194, my BMI was 38... that's how much I weighed when I made this decision... I'm 5'0. When I made my decision, I was 30 with bad reflux, sleep apnea, degenerative joint disease, prediabetic, prehyperlipidemic, hypothyroid and my asthma was one of the worst cases my doctor had ever seen. I had just updated my living will and my life insurance and I was so sick that I couldn't go outside without a mask and I had to carry a portable nebulizer and an epipen EVERYWHERE. Oh and I forgot to mention that I have two children who stared in fear every time I couldn't breathe which was just about every day - sometimes multiple times per day.

I tried exercise, low cal, low carb, WW, fad diets, and Phentermine and I couldn't lose weight - my thyroid HATES me with a passion. This was my last resort, so yep... I had surgery to lose just 80 pounds and TO KEEP IT OFF. It's been almost 3 months and I've lost about 45 pounds. I can breathe and I don't live every day in fear of dying. I can play with my kids again and I even do hard cardio without breathing trouble. I couldn't have done that without this... that's why people do this at 180 pounds.

Heck, I WISH I'd have more seriously considered the sleeve as a lifelong tool to control my weight and help curb my appetite when I was "only" fifty pounds overweight!

Instead, I yo-yo dieted for years, developed diabetes and wound up at a high weight of 280ish on my 5'1" frame.

I can see your the question because the bigger you get, the larger your goal weight number gets! I have a friend that "only" needed to lose fifty pounds but her self esteem was just as shot as mine, her eating habits were crap and she was on her way to joining my pre-op self in the high 200s...along with the comorbidities that come with that type of excess weight.

Diets fail in most cases. The sleeve is not a diet. This is not an accompaniment to Atkins or Weight Watchers. This is a tool that can finally help people reach and remain at goal and it's far more successful at doing so than any of the hundreds of other diets out there, many of which even the lightweights here have tried and failed at.

And that same mindset is what kept my doctors from taking my weight seriously for years. The idea that a diet will magically work when you're 60 pounds overweight but that surgery is necessary once you're 100 pounds overweight is ridiculous. If more doctors would help us with this issue BEFORE we get seriously ill and live our lives unhappily, everyone would be better off. I got tired of waiting around for my doctors and self-paid and couldn't be happier!

~Cheri