According to Dr. Sharma's website

Studies show that the average ‘dieter’ is hoping to lose around 50% of their weight - the same is probably even more true for patients seeking surgery.

In reality, however, the ‘average’ medium-to-long-term weight loss with bariatric surgery is only a rather sobering 20-30% of initial weight.

Imagine the disappointment of the ‘average’ 300 lb patient, who, after experiencing the ‘average’ success (25% weight loss), still weighs 225 lbs! Never mind that her health has dramatically improved, she is off all their medications, and she feels better and healthier than ever before - she is still 225 lbs! From a medical and health perspective a spectacular success story - psychologically nothing but disappointment and failure.

Imagine how devastated the ‘less-than-average’ patients feel when they do not even manage to hit and sustain the 10 or 15% mark. These cases are often described as ‘failures” because, this rather small degree of weight-loss, which for many is in fact far less than they may have achieved with diet and exercise alone in the past, is sometimes not even noticeable.

so i posted this to get some feedback from people about their opinions on this article. i would really like to hear from the people who are/were losing slowly and are close to or past their 1yr mark.

for me when i read this, not only is it believable, especially for someone who did not meet their goal and it looks like i might not ever, this is something my surgeon's office never really discussed with me. the general concensus seemed to be that if you followed the diet and was physically active, you would be successful. granted folks measure success differently but i would think not being obese would be considered success.

so just some background: i have been extremely overweight all my life. by the time i was in 2nd grade i was 100lbs. when i decided to have the surgery was 290-ish. i was physical active before the surgery and in good health-just fat.

so here i am now 14months later and i am about 215lbs. and i have been the same weight since november-ish. my goal was to lose about 100lbs after surgery. i lost about 75lbs. i probably look a lot smaller than i am because of my body build but it would be nice to get out of the obese catagory and be in the overweight catagory but it seems like my body is fighting me tooth and nail on losing more weight. i do exercise 4xs a week and when the weather gets better i probably will resume being more active with outdoor activity.

i do follow the dietary guidelines as best i can without feeling deprived and i do track what i eat through MFP. what also makes me nervous is the fact that the "honeymoom period" for weight loss is between 12-16 months (some doctors suggest its 12-18mos). if that is true then i am quickly appoarching the end of that period too, which makes me worried

but if i am to believe what dr. sharma wrote, the loss of 75 lbs may in fact be all my body can or is willing to lose. i have also seen some studies that mentioned that when you are extremely over weight for years your body has a "set point" that it tries to remain at, which makes it difficult to lose additional weight.

so what does my surgeon's office say about my concerns? Nothing. they basically told me i still have "time" to meet me goal if i want and they don't measure success based on BMI calculators (which leads me to believe they know that many WLS patients will still be considered obese even after surgery)

when i talk to folks at my support group who have been sleeved they all tell me they have met their goal of 100+lbs within 1 yr with little to no effort. but on the flip side i have no idea what their life/health was like before they had the surgery either. i know 1 person personally who was sleeved but she quit her diet shortly after being sleeved and maybe loss 40-50lbs so i really cannot talk to her about this since she is not longer trying to lose weight or change her eating habits.

i look forward to hearing the responses to this article and the info i posted.

This is what I'm afraid of. I have also been very active, even at my heaviest 287lb. I'm only a month out but I'm sure if I can't get below 200lb I will be pretty disappointed. I wish you luck in hitting your goal. Just keep trying different things, switch up your diet and exercise to give your body a shock every once in awhile.

I too had a similar sobering moment. I am pre-op but our Nut had us calculate our expected weight loss & final weight at the end of six months which they consider the end of the honeymoon phase.

I'm currently 235.2 & she has a range of 160-170 for expected weight at that point. For a loss of 60-70# but it leaves me at a bmi of 29-31 still overweight!

Yes, I would of never lost that on my own but still ... Really?

I fantasize of losing 1/2 my weight +! My personal goal is 110-115 which is a bmi of 21. I did a phone consult with Dr.Mehta from NJ and he thinks 130-140 is reasonable.

So, I guess I need to re-evaluate my expectations.

rebeca that is great your surgeon helped you figure out a honest assessment. i told my office what my goal was (100lbs) and they didn flinch. they still act like its possible. maybe it is? who knows?

One thing to remember is that the sleeve is a relatively new surgery, as far as research is concerned. Until about a couple years ago, bariatric docs were telling patients that the weight loss with the sleeve was comparable to the lap band. Now research suggests that patients on average will lose 80% of their extra weight. I am not sure how long ago this doctor wrote this, or if they were including all weight loss surgeries together and citing statistics together. I am also not sure where the research they cited came from.

This is what I do know. This surgery isn't a solution for me. It is an aid. I will meet my target goal, partially because of the assistance of this aid..,but mostly because I have decided to be unrelentless in the pursuit of becoming healthy. Reading that article inspires me to prove the doctor wrong.

This is what I do know. This surgery isn't a solution for me. It is an aid. I will meet my target goal, partially because of the assistance of this aid..,but mostly because I have decided to be unrelentless in the pursuit of becoming healthy. Reading that article inspires me to prove the doctor wrong.

kirsten, you are right and the attitude you have is how i was and am trying approaching this situation. i recognize that with this tool (or aid as you called) it that i am healthier than i have been, more physically fit and it has encouraged me to eat clean and be the best 'me' i can me. in the past i have dieted and failed each and every time. while i am disappointed not seeing the results i expected and was encouraged to expect, i am grateful that i have this opportunity. i don't want my question to seem like a cry baby fest about what i don't have because that wasn't my intent.

rebeca did bring up a good point that she could not have lost weight without the sleeve and i agree with that because again, as a life long dieter i could never maintain a loss without restricting myself to the point of being ill and unhealthy which is counter productive.

kirsten' date=' you are right and the attitude you have is how i was and am trying approaching this situation. i recognize that with this tool (or aid as you called) it that i am healthier than i have been, more physically fit and it has encouraged me to eat clean and be the best 'me' i can me. in the past i have dieted and failed each and every time. while i am disappointed not seeing the results i expected and was encouraged to expect, i am grateful that i have this opportunity. i don't want my question to seem like a cry baby fest about what i don't have because that wasn't my intent.

rebeca did bring up a good point that she could not have lost weight without the sleeve and i agree with that because again, as a life long dieter i could never maintain a loss without restricting myself to the point of being ill and unhealthy which is counter productive.[/quote']

I hear ya. Even just 55 lbs down and 75 more to go, I am further than I was able to get on my own.

I guess I am old and forgetful, or just plain dumb, but I NEVER asked Dr. Davidson how much I could expect to lose. His job was to remove approx. 85% of my tummy, then the ball is in MY court.

I don't want to do all the number, I'm not sure what percentage of my excess weight I lost.

I lost 83 lbs. I lost 23 prior, the rest I lost in six month. I wear size 4's and 6's. Never in my wildest dreams did I think THIS would happen. I under estimated what forced portion control could/would do. I would have been thrilled in a size 12, size 8 was far fetched, or so I thought. I'm three years out and looking back, I still think this 'tool' allowed me to do what I needed to do.

I guess I am old and forgetful, or just plain dumb, but I NEVER asked Dr. Davidson how much I could expect to lose. His job was to remove approx. 85% of my tummy, then the ball is in MY court.

I don't want to do all the number, I'm not sure what percentage of my excess weight I lost.

I lost 83 lbs. I lost 23 prior, the rest I lost in six month. I wear size 4's and 6's. Never in my wildest dreams did I think THIS would happen. I under estimated what forced portion control could/would do. I would have been thrilled in a size 12, size 8 was far fetched, or so I thought. I'm three years out and looking back, I still think this 'tool' allowed me to do what I needed to do.

I also never asked how much I would lose and my surgeon never gave me a goal weight. I made my own goal weight but won't be upset if I never hit it. I got sleeved mostly to get healthy and fit again, which so far is working I've been to intense Water aerobics 3 times, played a full basketball game twice and started Karate on Friday and will be going again tonight. I'm starting to feel my core getting stronger and that I'm building muscle. It will suck if I don't get below 200lbs but even at 200 or 210 life will be sooo much better then when I was 287.

Hi!

This article is interesting and, if I had read it post op, I would be a little concerned too.

But, the sleeve is indeed a tool/aid for us/you/I to use to help us reach optimum health via weight loss and fitness goals. How each one of us approaches this will be completely different, with of course, similarities.

Personally the sleeve has been the only way that I have EVER lost and maintained.

My surgeon gave me a goal of 154lbs, of which, at over 2 2/12 years post of I have yet to meet. I am just 8lbs away and those pesky little pounds refuse to leave me (perhaps this is my set point?) I continue to battle onwards and downwards as there is no expiry date to my sleeve. Oh, and as a foot note my surgeon's goal will leave me in the over weight sections of the bmi chart!

My personal goal is lower than my surgeon's and I am 24lbs away from that! Not sure if I will ever see the magic number, but I ain't gonna starve myself to get there, for sure!

So, percentages... According to my highest goal weight I have lost over 90% of the excess and according to the lowest I've lost 76%! I've maintained this loss for 19mths now.

Even though I have not reached a certain number on the scale I still view myself as a complete success and I am fitter and healthier now, than I was 20 years ago.

So much so, that I am recovering from a tummy tuck and uplift, so I can finally see and appreciate the 'new me'.

My point, regardless of what we read or hear this has to be our own, individual journey to health. We must make it work for us both what we eat, how we move and to overcome the thought process that can undermine us.