I had thought I understood that my surgeon would be setting my weight loss goal at our first post surgical appointment. I would swear the dietician I have been working with said that, that the surgeon would take into account my pre and post op weight loss, my historic weight highs and fluctuations, etc., and that we would come up with a goal together after surgery. But apparently I misunderstood. Talking to my surgeon Wednesday before discharge from the hospital, she said she doesn't do goals and believes firmly in letting my body find its balance. I have about 100 lbs to lose to get to the high end of a healthy BMI for my height, so I asked if once I reached a healthy BMI we would shift the diet to more of a maintenance mode rather than weight loss. She said that was totally unnecessary, that my body would shift into maintenance on its own at what it felt was the right time, with no conscious effort from me, that if I genuinely followed the diet plan, all would be ok without over-planning it.

I guess I have 2 questions:

* Has anyone else had a surgeon with this outlook? If so, how did it work for you?

* Do you have any suggestions for motivation without a concrete numeric goal? I think she would be similarly opposed to clothing size or inches. I had been looking toward entering normal BMI at 150 as a time to evaluate how far I have come, if I want to lose a bit more, or start re-introducing in small quantities items forbidden on my post-op diet while working toward goal (grains of any kind (rice/flour/etc), alcohol, treats, non-lean meats). If I am just supposed to stay on this super-strict post-op diet forever, that feels really mentally hard, and not what I had been hearing in the support group with other patients of the same surgeon.

The surgery went well and I am mobile and drinking ok, still have some very sharp pain from the two biggest incisions when I use my abdominals, but have pain meds to manage and it is better day after day. Since I am sleeping less today, I am starting to worry about this and the long term. I will definitely discuss with the surgeon at my August 31 followup, but I need some reassurance, I think, before then too.

My surgeon refused to set a goal and now I understand why. Everyone is different

I would say set your BMI goal to the upper und of normal (24.9). You can always reassess once you get there.

Weldone! I alsohad the reduce blood preasure, i had melignent hypertention, blured vision headaches, on high dose of meds. was completely of my meds in under 2 weeks , because my bp was going low ! [emoji4] so amazing. i have not even lost much but the change is just amazing

Good for you! Weight loss is only part of the story. Reducing or ending those comorbidities is equally important.

We never set a goal. I cranked along, lost weight steadily, for about 6 months. Since then, life has intervened, I've been pretty lazy about hitting the gym, had 3 vacations this summer, etc. I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any more, either, and my 1-year visit is in a month. I need to get back on the wagon and move further into health!

One thing my surgeon did at my 9-month visit which threw me a bit: She asked me what I want to weigh! I'd never thought about that! I told her probably about 160-165. She said that sounds like a good goal for me, given my age, etc. She said I should shoot for 106-175, with 170 being the "warning" point. Well, I've not gotten down that far yet, but today is the first day of the rest of my life, and I'm working on it again.

I decided I'd not worry about weight goals and such, just stick to my eating plan and get back to the gym. I have spent my entire life focused on what I weigh, what the numbers on the scale say, and letting that dictate how I feel about myself. I didn't have this surgery so I could spend the rest of my life focused on these things, too. I feel good, I like how I look, and I am happy. If I never lose another ounce, I am SO glad I had this surgery! (but I know I can lose another 20 or so pounds!)

No real plan from my surgeon or nutritionist, but they give tips on how to keep the process going. Everyone's body is different and it will stabilize, but I have my own goal and plan to get there. Maybe it may be better to consult your primary doctor to determine height/weight goals and a plan.

My surgeon didn't give me a goal either. He said we should wait to see how things go and kept repeating not to drink my calories and to make sure I'm exercising.

His nurse said "keep your goals close", which I took to mean short-term, easily attainable goals. I told her I don't really care about goals as long as the numbers continue to go down.

I think that right after surgery, the only goal is to get your protein and fluids in and get moving. It's not the time to be worrying about the long-term big picture.

I'm at 5 weeks and I'm still struggling with getting back to semi-normal eating. After being restricted for so long between the pre- and post-op liquids and the early post-op stages, it's hard to remember what I was doing when I was eating normal, healthy food (I lost almost 40 lbs. in the 4 months before I started the pre-op liquid diet just from following the nutritionist's guidelines and tracking).

After meeting with the dietician today, she explained the practice feels strongly that it is success to get their patients stably below a BMI of 30, which eliminates a significant amount of the comorbidities. Beyond that, they don't want patients to get derailed by specific weight loss goals that will be achievable at different paces for different people.

That said, she referred back to the 60-70% of excess body weight average for sleeve/bypass WLS as a general guideline of what to expect following the program.

So, my weight goal would vary between 149 if I was targeting a "healthy" BMI of 25 for my height; or 169 if I was targeting an "overweight, not obese" 30 BMI; or 180 if it was about losing 65% of excess body weight; or ... So, yeah, I guess I get their point. They want me to focus on the process right now, and reforming my habits/thinking.

My surgeon gave me a range he thought I could sit comfortably in which was 175-190 based on my height and build. I'm currently bouncing between 192-195 so I'm pretty close. He also stated he did not want me below 170 as he thinks it would be to drastic for my frame.

My NUT based her goal on the percentage of excess fat that people typically lose with the sleeve and I've surpassed that already so according to her if I went into maintenance now I would be "successful".

My surgeon asked me what my goal weight was and I told him 165-170 and he then asked me would I be comfortable at 155-160. I told him yes and pretty much that was it

for me a goal weight is totally arbitrary and unrealistic. Ive been obese since I was 19, the idea anyone would know what is a good weight for me is unrealistic. I have pounds of extra skin, Ive never been at a healthy weight as an adult and we have no idea what i will look or feel like as I get closer. Now that I'm in striking distance of the mid to low 100's i'm setting a size goal of size 6. We have NO idea what that means in lbs and I feel it's healthier for me to not set a goal weight that I may not be capable of meeting.