Hello! This is my first time posting to this site, so first off, hello! A little about me...I am 37 years old and a mother to one 3 year old and a 8 year old step son. I am a teacher, although I work at a virtual school so I am pretty sedentary during the day.

Ten years ago I topped out at 269 pounds, with a height of 5 feet, 6 inches. I went to a bariatric weight loss seminar but never pursued it any further. A few months later I started jogging (I have been an athlete all of my life but the weight spiraled after I stopped playing college soccer). I wasn’t a fan of jogging when I was younger, but I fell in love with it. I dropped 80 pounds and kept it off for years.

Throughout those years I began to have knee pain. To make a long story short, doctor after doctor told me that if I lost weight, my knee would feel better. Finally, after about 5 years of this and several doctors, a new doctor finally ordered an MRI. Sadly, my knee had been injured years prior and the damage at that point was too severe to be fixed. Cartilage had been torn and as a result of not getting fixed, it continued to pretty much shred. In June of 2016, I had a total knee replacement at 36 years old.

Now I have gained 30 more pounds and I am weighing in at 235 pounds. With a BMI of 37.5 and severe arthritis and joint disease, I am starting the process for gastric sleeve.

I have two main concerns.

1. My goal weight is 150 (I have been a heavy weight lifter for years, so I weigh more than what I appear to.) I worry that I will lose more weight than I want to, and start to look sickly. I am assuming that you can increase your calories to maintenance when your body is ready, but this is one conversation I want to have with the doctor.

2. I am worried about hair loss. I did a medically supervised weight loss program (phentermine) for a long time a couple of years ago (when it was becoming more difficult to run and my weight was creeping up), and I noticed an increase in shedding a few months after that. My hair is very fine, so it won’t take much for me to look bald.

I am sure I have will a million other questions, but this is where I am today. I go in for a referral next Wednesday, so I am months out of actually doing anything. I just feel the more research and preparation, the better off I will be.

3 hours ago, TexasMommy80 said:

I worry that I will lose more weight than I want to, and start to look sickly.

Since you posted this in the gastric sleeve forum, I assume you're interested in the sleeve...

Weight loss with a sleeve tends to be somewhat slower than the other bariatric procedures such as the bypass and duodenal switch.

Losing too much weight with a sleeve is a very rare occurrence. In fact, the majority of sleevers never achieve their goal weights unless they devote additional effort, so I think you have nothing to worry about.

The typical sleever loses 65% to 70% of his/her excess body weight (EBW). Some people (like me) lose 100 percent, while others are nonresponders who lose less than 50 percent of their EBW.

If you do nothing other than allow the sleeve to work its metabolic magic, you'll probably lose 70 percent of your EBW.

If you work your sleeve to the max, watch what you eat, and exercise vigorously, you'll likely lose 100 percent of your EBW.

If you eat a bunch of slider (slurry) foods and eat around your sleeve, you may lose less than 50 percent of your EBW.

Again, losing too much weight with a sleeve is a rare phenomenon. The procedure simply doesn't have the malabsorptive component to produce that result in most people, especially individuals like you who have a weight problem for much of their adulthood.

Good luck to you.

You won't look sick. Tbh your goal weight can often change it might be more or less than what you expected, it depends on where you feel most comfortable. Your current goal is definitely do-able. I would strongly suggest weight training so you look toned after the fact.

Hair loss happens for some not all, it has not happened to me at all. Biotin helps, you can actually start that now, and make sure you're hitting your protein goals, that helps too.

The biggest thing really is just follow your nutritionist guidelines. It's 70% diet, 30% exercise. You'll do great!!

You might lose more than you intend - but if you do, you increase your calories until you are in maintenance. That's totally preventable and not something to worry about. You're not going to starve yourself.

Some people lose hair, but some don't. The most important thing to do is follow your docs guidelines regarding protein and take your bariatric vitamins. Even if you do lose some hair, that's a small thing and isn't worth sacrificing your long-term health over.

Thank you all for the great advice! It is much appreciated!