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How Much Weight Did Your Surgeon Say You'd Lose at 6 Months?



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Just curious. Mine said that I'd be down by 70 lbs (60% of my total weight) in 6 months. Now I'm starting to think thats not accurate? Is it possible?

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Mine said 75% of my excess weight by end of 12 month

that seems more reasonable to me!

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I really can't stand the way surgeons just throw out numbers to new patients. There are so many variables as to how quickly (or slowly) someone loses weight such as age, gender, starting weight, etc....you'd think they would know that for goodness sakes! Then when you don't meet their expectations, you feel like a big fat (no pun intended) failure.

I have similar stats to you. I had lost 53 lbs at 6 months. Because I'm a little on the older side, and started with a lower BMI, I'm a slower loser.

I'm now at 90 some percent of my excess weight lost, with 7 more pounds to goal. I'm almost 11 months post op. I will be at goal with 100% of excess weight loss I figure by the end of August or September. So it will have taken me a little over a year.

In the end, it doesn't matter how long it took. It's the fact that I'm going to be there, and enjoyed learning how to eat right and exercise and cement the healthy habits I need to (hopefully) keep it off once I'm there :)

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I really can't stand the way surgeons just throw out numbers to new patients. There are so many variables as to how quickly (or slowly) someone loses weight such as age, gender, starting weight, etc....you'd think they would know that for goodness sakes! Then when you don't meet their expectations, you feel like a big fat (no pun intended) failure.

I have similar stats to you. I had lost 53 lbs at 6 months. Because I'm a little on the older side, and started with a lower BMI, I'm a slower loser.

I'm now at 90 some percent of my excess weight lost, with 7 more pounds to goal. I'm almost 11 months post op. I will be at goal with 100% of excess weight loss I figure by the end of August or September. So it will have taken me a little over a year.

In the end, it doesn't matter how long it took. It's the fact that I'm going to be there, and enjoyed learning how to eat right and exercise and cement the healthy habits I need to (hopefully) keep it off once I'm there :)

thank you so much for sharing Babbs! That makes a lot of sense. When did you start working out?

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@@TexasGirl86

I walked the first 5 months, and when I wanted to speed things up after about 4 week stall, I joined a gym.

I do 4-5 days a week cardio (30-40 minutes running or elliptical) and then do some weights after for about 15-20 minutes every other day. I've seen good results from that routine :)

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I didn't ask and I really don't care. I have a lot of weight to lose and am in this for the long haul. I, and my surgical team, are happy with my progress so far which is all I focus on. That, and meeting my daily goals of Protein, Water, and exercise.

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My surgeon never gave me any set number, but was optimistic that since my BMI was "lower" at 40, and I'm "young" (34) that I should be able to exceed my goal of losing 100 lbs. lol, way to make me feel skinny and young for the first time in my entire adulthood! ????

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Neither I, nor my surgeon set any "deadlines" for my weight loss. He simply provided a general outline of a healthy diet and exercise plan and I made adjustments along the way to fit my lifestyle. The result was a stress-free, fun journey of losing over 100% of my excess weight at my own pace and on my own terms.

I think focussing on the scale numbers and feeding patients a bunch of statistics is just a good way to set them up for failure. If you don't meet those expectations, you tend to get frustrated, feel bad about yourself and lose motivation. Counterproductive to say the least.

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My surgeon didn't give me any numbers until I asked, "what is the average pounds lost per month?" and she said about 12.5 pounds. So @@TexasGirl86 your 70 pounds in 6 month is 11.67 pounds mathematically which may be the average at your surgery center... just a thought anyway. Maybe just look it at as the average and not necessarily what you will do. :)

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My surgeon didn't give me any numbers until I asked, "what is the average pounds lost per month?" and she said about 12.5 pounds. So @@TexasGirl86 your 70 pounds in 6 month is 11.67 pounds mathematically which may be the average at your surgery center... just a thought anyway. Maybe just look it at as the average and not necessarily what you will do. :)

That makes a lot of sense! Thank you, I feel better from all of the replies.

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I am lucky too in that my surgeon didn't give hard numbers. Mine gave me statistical info so I knew the history of possibilities.

I find it better to not focus on the scale because it will not always tell the truth. I fluctuate weekly as much as 5lbs even when I had a bad flu and couldn't eat for days, lol. So I've decided that the scale and I are getting divorced. My new love is how I feel and how my clothes fit and what the tape measure says.

I'll visit the scale maybe once every month or so just to annoy it and remind it who's the boss. ????????????

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My surgeon said I should get down to 230. With 30 lbs to go It looks like I won't reach that by 12 months (Aug 25th). I wish he hadn't given me a goal because I feel like a failure... despite losing 100ish lbs.

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My surgeon said I should get down to 230. With 30 lbs to go It looks like I won't reach that by 12 months (Aug 25th). I wish he hadn't given me a goal because I feel like a failure... despite losing 100ish lbs.

THAT is amazing! You shouldn't feel like a "Failure" at all. But i do understand where you're coming from, thats what I'm afraid of too. If I don't hit that goal I'll probably feel dissapointed.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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