How long will it work?

[ckj 3]

How long can you expect to steadily lose weight with vsg?

I've heard my surgeon say 12months and I've heard him say 18 months.

What are your thoughts?

Is it dependent on excess weight, or restriction capabilities?

[joatsaint 2,814]

I lost weight steadily for 18 months, then it got harder. But I did lose 170lbs - no small feat! The Sleeve never stops working, I did. I got to a weight where I was comfortable and decided to stop losing weight.

If I ever decide I'm not happy at my current weight, I know I have the tool to lose more weight. I believe that most people regain weight after WLS because they go back to old habits or weren't really prepared to change their relationship with food or had other emotional issues that needed to be addressed before and after WLS.

I was at the lowest point in my life before I committed to WLS. I was sick of being me and I hated the control food had over me. I was ready to do whatever I had to do to get my life back. I told myself that this was my chance for a do over and there was not going to be another. I made an agreement with myself that I would do whatever was necessary to be successful with WLS.

I had to be at the point where it was crunch time and be willing to go to any extent to change.

I see many posts where they ask, "Can I still eat ____ after WLS?" Really? You still want to eat the things that made you overweight in the first place? Of course, you will be able to eat almost anything eventually, but it's up to you to make the right choices.

If I went back to my old eating habits, even with the restriction Frankensleeve has, I'd gain some weight back. Processed foods and sugar have that effect on my body.

[Folly 308]

I was told I would plateau in 12 to 18 months. I'm finding that generalities should be ignored. So many factors contribute: age, gender, diet, ethnicity, activity level, etc, etc. I have found my weight loss is much, much slower than it was when it began but I'm assuming as long as I continue to make healthy choices my weight will settle at what works for my body. Eventually I think we have to stop focusing on the number so much and maybe focus on good nutrition and overall health.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

Every one's experience will differ. However, expect to lose a good deal of weight at first and then you will likely see the weight loss decrease or slow down. Also, stalls do happen. Stalls are periods where you don't lose any weight at all. Stalls can last from days to weeks to months, depending on the person.

In my case, I quickly lost 100lbs in about 3 months. I'm now in a stall of over a week where I haven't lost anything.

[Folly 308]

I wouldn't consider it a stall at a week. I've noticed over the last 2 years that it doesn't seem like stalls to me. I go through periods of up to 8 weeks with no weight loss and then I'll drop enough to make a big difference without really changing anything at all in diet or activity level. It's beginning to feel like a cyclic thing to me. I tend to look at it like my body is starting to store up nutrients and energy reserves and when the "tank" gets full it dumps more weight. I recently had about 5 weeks of weight loss where I dropped about 20 lbs. I don't especially expect to see any more for a month or two but who knows, I might. It's OK. One thing I'm really trying to do is listen to the needs of my body - not an easy thing to learn, I still struggle with that often.

:-)