Hello Everyone,

I am new to the board and to the WLS process. I have been lurking on here for a few months now and have found everyone's posts so informative and helpful! I had a few questions regarding rate of weight loss and sagging skin for those people who have 100 pounds or less to loose. While I know everyone is different, I was hoping to hear people's real life experience.

I am going to assume that when you hear of someone losing 40 plus pounds the first month, it's because they were several hundred pounds over weight to start. Obviously the more weight you have to loose, the quicker it will come off in the begining. Does this amount of significant weight loss happen for people with less weight to lose? What is typical?

How bad is the saggy skin? I have had two pregnancies and already have stretch marks on my belly as a result of that. I have come to terms with the fact that I will likley have saggy belly skin. I'm curious about the rest of me though!

I am 5' 7" and currently weigh 231 pounds (BMI is under 40 but I qualify because I have PCOS and insilin resistance.) I would like to set my goal weight between 140-150. I am almost done with the required classes at Kaiser and scheduling my sleeve surgery for early summer.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Edited February 20, 201412 yr by Bluesea71

HI Bluesea,

I too have PCOS and IR... low bmi (31 on DOS). I'm 5'8" and had surgery at 203. I have worked out and been a health conscious eater/dieter most of my adult life. So maybe that's why for me... it seems slow, or maybe it's just a stall... but whatever the case, I want to share so if you experience this you don't feel alone.

Day of surgery I was 203 (Tuesday 2/4/14), I gained about 6 pounds of Water weight in the hospital from the IV's I guess. By one week out I was at 197... I'm 18 days post op and I"m at 196.5. Kind of discouraging, but with the PCOS and IR issues, I expected it to be slower for me than others anyway and you add in a lower bmi, plus I'm 40 years old and I know from recent years I have a HARD time losing no matter what I do, thus the VSG.

Despite the slow/stalling start let me share the positives. I feel like I'm smaller, others have commented on it, I usually gain 6-8 pounds around my period and haven't gained any (day 3 today), I wonder if I will see a big drop when this cycle ends (I usually see a loss by now... but my body is changing). I am hoping to lose 1 1/2 pounds per week on average... taking me 9 months to get to goal. I figure on the bright side as a slow loser, my skin will have less issues. Hope that's true, my Dr. didn't think I would have any issues with sagging skin.

Good luck to you!

Great question. I started the process at 290 and 5'8". I aim to only lose 85 and that's it. Since my surgery pre op diet starting 1/2 I've lost 63lbs. I have no loose or saggy skin and it all tightened nicely except for one small (and less than the palm of my hand) spot of "bunched" skin that isn't saggy. Just bunched together. That is under the back of my arm in the joint by my armpit. My stomach, legs, chest, neck, and as (minus the spot) all are fine and not loose jiggly skin

Good luck to you!

Hi everyone I was a low bmi too. I started at 210, 203 on the day of surgery. I am 6 weeks post op (01/17/14) and I have lost 31 pounds (10 before the surgery on pre op diet). I have a question has anyone else stalled in their progress. I stayed in the low 180's for a week and a half and now stuck at 179. I am extremely conscious of my calorie intake and am "exercising" (walking per dr's orders) at least 3 times a week. I am consuming 800-1000 calories (as suggested in the surgery manual) and getting my protein targets. Has anyone experience something similar or is there something I am doing wrong? Thanks for all of your help.

Ok, here we go. I am 5'5 and I was 236lbs prior to surgery. I have 3 kids and horrible stretch marks. At one point my OBGYN told me that it looked like a bear had clawed my stomach. (Yeah, they are that bad) According to my doctor, I should weigh around 138-140lbs. I have to tell you, I will never be that small because I am large boned and I would look sickly if I was that small. So my goal is really 150lbs (still considered overweight by medical standards). If I can reach 150, I will be happy. I am almost 5 months post op and I weigh 174lbs (this morning). The only problem area with reference to saggy skin are my arms and my breasts (i breast fed all of my children for 1 year each). I work out faithfully everyday running 4-5 miles. I have weeks where the scale won't move and others where I lose like 6 lbs. Has it been as fast as I would like (NO); however, am I being unreasonable, yes! 60lbs in 5 months is good and I'm trying to be happy with that. I will say that the next 25 are proving to be difficult. (longer stalls) However, I am the heathiest that I have ever been and I'm happy with that.

I am female. 5'11 and 238 on day of surgery, which was March 31. I had no other medical conditions. I have not had a lot of weight loss. 12 pounds in 22 days.

I am having a tough time trying to eat more than a 2 teaspoons of food for meals. Maybe my body thinks it's starving on a deserted island and is hanging on to every calorie

But after surgery I was back at work on day 4, and feel fine. A little tired and somewhat frustrated since I haven't lost any weight in a week+.

I tell myself to be patient, and this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Omg I finally found people in the same boat as me! Ok well I'm 4'11 and 173, my surgery date is set for May 28th

I am female. 5'11 and 238 on day of surgery, which was March 31. I had no other medical conditions. I have not had a lot of weight loss. 12 pounds in 22 days. I am having a tough time trying to eat more than a 2 teaspoons of food for meals. Maybe my body thinks it's starving on a deserted island and is hanging on to every calorie But after surgery I was back at work on day 4, and feel fine. A little tired and somewhat frustrated since I haven't lost any weight in a week+. I tell myself to be patient, and this is a marathon and not a sprint.

I've heard of people plateauing, no worries they say that it'll start back up, maybe up your protein and water?

I think that's a great question..I also believe it depends on your body makeup/frame...I was banded and lost over 70 pounds in 2005 putting me in a size 8/10. I had NO loose skin but I did have a few stretch marks on my stomach. My only exercise was walking.....Now gaining all the weight back I have more stretch marks on my stomach but my skin is firm. I am hoping that when I lose weight again that I stay firm...I also noticed people who lost REALLY fast and people who already had saggy skin got worse after weight lost..I am 2 weeks lapband to sleeve a I have lost 17.5 pounds and I walk 2miles everyday after 6 weeks I will start on hand weights, I would like to see if I can get a lil muscle in my arms. Good luck everyone, we are all different so we may all see diff results.

Im 5' 1 & weighed 208 day of surgery. I lost 13 pounds after surgery & been going up & down, as of this morning im 194.3. Its a bit frustrating. I can eat anything so far without any problems, not that im supposed to lol.

I start soft food friday. I just want to chew something. I dont feel fun when I eat unless I eat to much. I can eat 4 oz & dont feel satisfied.

Great Question! I am 5'7" and 41 years old. My weight was 253 and on the Day of surgery I was 240 (Surgery was 12/11/13) so i am just about 4 1/2 months out.
I am down a total of 72lbs. I want to lose another 30lbs - I had one child so my belly is soft & slight sag, but you cant tell in clothes & was this way before...

I wouldnt say i have saggy skin, but that i need to tone my arms & leggs... i had a DVT so i havent been able to do any type of work outs or walking for the last 6 weeks, i was just cleared to start low impact upper body stuff... so that is what i am going to work on - there are some great u-tube for "bat arms"

Good luck with your loss!

I have a silly question...those of you with no weight related conditions and a low bmi...how the heck did you get approved for coverage for the surgery?!! It was such a bitch (excuse my French) for me to get covered..first bariatric group I went with got me denied..and then 2 months later I went to an extremely reputable bariatric group in my area and they got me approved..I mean every insurance company is different but some of you have seriously low starting weights..I think my insurance company would have laughed in my face if I was 5'5 and 200 lbs asking to covered for wls lol (starting weight before my surgery back in march was 256 and I'm 5'5)

I'm 5' 1 started at 219, 208 day of surgery. I had sleep apnea, very high cholesterol, borderline diabetes & could barely walk a block without severe low back pain. I had 2 back surgeries in 2014 that made things worse.

My goal is to lose 70-80 pounds. I will be 42 next month & I gave birth to 1 child who will be 21 in Aug. 21 years ago is when all the weigh gain started lol, I gained 70 pounds with my pregnancy.

Edited April 24, 201412 yr by 521Diva

I'm 5'2" and my starting weight was 206. I reached my goal weight (125 pounds) in 10 months. I'm 13 months post op now and this morning I weighed 115. I only have a very small amount of saggy skin on my upper thighs and upper arms, but not bad at all. If I actually worked out for a couple months, it probably wouldn't be an issue at all. It's pretty minor in my opinion. My stomach is actually flat with no sag. In clothes, you can't tell I have lost any weight. best of luck on your journey!

Thats awesome woohoo u go girl. How many grams of protein do u consume aday? How many calories do u eat aday. How many oz can u eat at a time.