How doable is it to get to that goal weight?

Current weight: 280

Goal weight: 150

DREAM weight : 120-130

My psychiatrist out of all people said that you should aim to see 60-70% weight loss of excess weight. But all the stories that I see, and experiences that I read, the majority of people are able to hit even 80-100% of losing excess weight. What can I do to be one of those? If you are one of those people who has lost all of their excess weight, please do share details on what you did. I plan to be a copy cat and do the same thing, my surgery is next month.

I'm 5' 6.5"
Age 53
Pre-surgery weight 265, sz 22
Surgery Aug 2018 (1 yr ago) 250
Current 157, sz 10
I'm extremely happy with where I am with my weight and clothes size. I'm not really sure what my Doctor's goal was - I'll ask at my one year check up next week - but I think it's 150-155. In my mind I'm pretty much there. Truly I think I would look too gaunt if I got below 150. I attribute my success to simply working the program. Logging my food, focus on protein goals and lower carbs. For a really long time I was eating between 900-1200 calories, but in the past few weeks I seemed to have jumped up to about 1100-1500. Haven't gained (yet?) because of it. Best wishes on your journey! It's really excited to watch the transformation over time.

Totally do-able! Here are my tips. 1) Log every bite, with calories and protein. It is the only way you can look at trends and understand what your body is doing. 2) STICK WITH THE PROGRAM. Just do it. Don't cheat. It's not worth it. Just make up your mind to be determined in this and keep focused on the long term goal. 3) Exercise from the get-go. Get a step tracker and work toward 10,000 steps a day. I was doing this by the end of week one post op. Gradually add in other elements - stair climbing, light weights, leg exercises, stretching, swimming, biking, hiking, yoga, pilates, etc. It doesn't have to be at a gym. Set your exercise goals daily. There will be a LOT you cannot control after surgery - pain, nausea, food restriction, BUT you CAN control your exercise. I found this to be very empowering and helpful. Most research shows that people who stick with the food program AND exercise are the biggest losers who maintain the weight loss long term. You have to create a new lifestyle and it must include exercise. I am getting really toned now, with nice muscle definition in my arms and legs. This lean muscle burns more calories than fat, so it will be tremendously helpful in maintaining my goal weight. 4) Give up your addictions NOW - before surgery. recovery is hard enough without going through withdrawal as well. Sugar, simple carbs, alcohol, soda, caffeine. No matter what anyone says, flirting around with this stuff only undermines your longterm success. There is no reason to ever eat sugar again. It jacks your insulin up, which results in fat STORAGE, not fat burning, and creates cravings. Alcohol messes with your gut lining and can cause gastritis, ulcers, and erosion - even years after surgery. Besides, the empty calories are just not worth it. Without sugar and caffeine, my energy levels are higher than ever and constant throughout the day - no slumps. 5) Start focusing on unprocessed, whole foods. This is what you should be eating for life. If it comes in a box, don't eat it. Down the road when you can start adding carbs back in, make them whole cooked grains like quinoa, brown rice, teff, steel cut oats, amaranth, millet, sorghum, legumes like beans and lentils- not processed flours which absorb quickly and jack up insulin. Avoid wheat and corn as much as possible - they are the worst for raising insulin levels. Learn to love veggies when you can start having them. 6) Develop some mantras to get through tough situations. Mine are: "I AM NEVER GOING BACK!" "IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!" (When tempted by some treat or bite.) "I CAN'T HAVE THAT NOW, BUT I WILL HAVE IT LATER." (Foods will come back, gradually - just not right away. You WILL have versions of your favorite foods again, but you have to be patient.) 7) Above all - you must look forward to a new life that you will LOVE. Look at all the challenges as just another chapter in this new adventure. Stay positive about the changes you are making. Don't look at this as deprivation, but rather as a whole new you that is going to emerge as a beautiful butterfly. It is going to be hard sometimes, no doubt. But just the fact that you are asking this question shows that you are serious about making the changes and wanting the very best outcome. It takes tremendous effort - it really does. "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" here. WLS is only a tool - it will help get a lot of weight off, but YOU have to do the rest. Go into this with fixed determination and you will be fine.

Edited August 15, 20196 yr by AZhiker

Wow AZHiker!!!!!! Well said!!! I know and have heard what you wrote but it's great to have it reinforced! Thanks for taking the time to write it out. People can't hear it enough or it resonates at different times and levels!! Bravo on all your hard work! Very motivating [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji112][emoji112][emoji112]

8 hours ago, AchieveGoals said:

that I see, and experiences that I read, the majority of people are able to hit even 80-100% of losing excess weight. What can I do to be one of those?

please please please please please please

NEVER compare yourself to strangers on the internet. Your weightloss will be unique to you alone. Follow your plan. But also listen to your practitioners. IMHO expecting low and surpassing your goal can be a wonderful feeling but expecting too much and falling short may be devastating.

Good Luck ?

My surgeon said 65% excess weight would be lost if you do nothing. No exercise. So, I exercise my ass off. I work out 5 times per week. I push myself out of my comfort zone routinely. I hired a trainer, I do spin classes, I do yoga, I go hiking, I am constantly looking for ways to sweat. I added in several athletic performance supplements to my diet.

I also follow an extremely strict diet; much more strict than is "necessary" for bariatric patients. However, I also get sick VERY easily so it's a mixture of me purposely being strict and me just getting really ill from basic foods. I do not eat complex carbs at all. I do not eat sugars (except naturally occurring). I do not really eat any fruit. I buy everything reduced fat, low sugar. I eat well under 40g of carbs a day and always hit at least 90g of protein. I typically stick to BariatricPal Lite Entrees for lunch during the work week. I eat the same thing almost every day of the work weeks. Yogurt, jerky stick, BP meal, light snack, cottage cheese or turkey patty. I take a ton of vitamins - about 15 different ones. I convince myself that if eat the wrong foods it will cause dumping so I never even put it in my mouth to try it. And it probably will cause dumping for me because virtually everything makes me ill. I consider this a positive, however. I look at food as a chore necessary to live now.

I was never given a goal weight. I arbitrarily picked mine. I compared myself big time to others in the beginning; it was really depressing. Once you FEEL good... you're there.

Edited August 15, 20196 yr by mousecat88

60-70% is the average so that's usually the target surgeons will give you. Of course, there are people who lose more or less than the average. I lost 100% of my excess weight, but I was told only about 10% of people end up doing that. I can tell you that I worked by butt off to do that. So yes, it's possible, but you have to be super committed to do it.

Edited to add that that 10% figure that my surgeon's office gave me is pretty consistent with what I've read in medical literature as well. Not sure where you're getting that 80-100% figure, but that's not reflected in peer-reviewed studies that have been done on this.

you may see better success rates among people who participate in sites such as these than you will in the general bariatric population (although this is just speculation on my part - I've never actually read studies that say this) because people who continue with support groups or with online forums or stay involved with the bariatric community in other ways long after they've had surgery are probably more likely to keep their head in the game and may be more likely to reach and maintain their goals - but again, that's just speculation on my part and I may be totally off-base. I have been involved with this and other internet forums for the last five or six years and stayed pretty much 100% committed to my plan the whole time I was losing weight. I almost never went off. Again, you have to remain super committed if you want to lose 100% of your excess weight.

Edited August 15, 20196 yr by catwoman7

It has taken a long time for me to accept that I will never get to my goal weight if I do not completely give up wheat, sugar and most important: wine

Even though I have cut my wine or drinks down to just a glass on a special occasion, the days following that drink are the ones I go off plan. When I get home, I want to snack. It may take two or three days for me to get back on track.

I have only had 5 days, in the past 2 months where I did not log everything. Four of those days are days that I had a drink and went out for dinner with friends. It is like the sugar/carb cravings come back.

I am ready to give it up for good. That may be what it takes.

2 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

60-70% is the average so that's usually the target surgeons will give you. Of course, there are people who lose more or less than the average. I lost 100% of my excess weight, but I was told only about 10% of people end up doing that. I can tell you that I worked by butt off to do that. So yes, it's possible, but you have to be super committed to do it.

......Again, you have to remain super committed if you want to lose 100% of your excess weight.

There will be times when everyone slips up, but one should not be flirting with compromise. The commitment is huge. There are days when you won't feel very motivated, but that's where the new habits will kick in and it will be easier to resist and stick with the plan. I find the better I feel, the more motivated I become. Exercise starts releasing happy endorphins and after doing it for a while, it actually can become a preferential activity vs roaming the kitchen and looking in the fridge.

2 hours ago, mousecat88 said:

My surgeon said 65% excess weight would be lost if you do nothing. No exercise. So, I exercise my ass off. I work out 5 times per week. I push myself out of my comfort zone routinely. I hired a trainer, I do spin classes, I do yoga, I go hiking, I am constantly looking for ways to sweat. I added in several athletic performance supplements to my diet.

Wow! Way to go! The psych said that transfer addictions are very common, and of all of them to have, I think exercise is the best option! Not to say you are addicted, but it's so great to have exercise as a release instead of shopping, gambling, drinking, or eating!!!!!

3 hours ago, mousecat88 said:

I convince myself that if eat the wrong foods it will cause dumping so I never even put it in my mouth to try it.

Same here. Just the food sticking issues are bad enough. I NEVER even want to know if I will dump. Just not worth it.

46 minutes ago, ValerieInMexico said:

It has taken a long time for me to accept that I will never get to my goal weight if I do not completely give up wheat, sugar and most important: wine

Even though I have cut my wine or drinks down to just a glass on a special occasion, the days following that drink are the ones I go off plan. When I get home, I want to snack. It may take two or three days for me to get back on track.

I have only had 5 days, in the past 2 months where I did not log everything. Four of those days are days that I had a drink and went out for dinner with friends. It is like the sugar/carb cravings come back.

I am ready to give it up for good. That may be what it takes.

Get Dr. Jason Fung's book, "The Obesity Code." He does a very good job of explaining that insulin is what really makes us fat. Every time you increase your blood sugar with simple carbs, sugar, alcohol, your insulin shoots up to drive the sugar down, and send the calories to fat storage. When your blood sugar crashes, you get hungry and crave more sugar. This yo-yo stuff can go on indefinitely. The only way to break it is to stop the simple carbs and sugar. The fact that you have cravings after you drink alcohol indicates the same thing is happening. It takes about 3 days for the cravings to go away, and just a tiny taste can bring them raving back. The same pleasure receptors in the brain that are activated by sugar, are the same ones that activate for cocaine. Sugar is highly addictive - that's why it is in so much processed food that doesn't even need to taste sweet.

An extra bonus: when I gave up wheat and sugar, ALL my joint pain went away! My brother experienced the same thing. These are such inflammatory foods. Once you see how good you can feel without them, and how bad (tired, achy, cravings, depressed) you feel when you eat them, it is much easier to "just say no." "It's just not worth it."

zero added sugar - under 10 grams from any source - no fruit while trying to lose weight

under 50 carbs and all of those from veggies

eat nothing from a box

keep your liquids high

get your protein in and do something for 30-60 minutes everyday.

essential - proteins yep

essential fats - yep

essential carbs - NO NO NO such thing

i know this will upset some of you. but i believed it then and 2 years later i still believe it.

if you want to get the max return for effort you must avoid all sugar and most carbs.

Is this an all or nothing thing. No. but this must be your goal at the start of everyday and then do the very best you can and look for ways to improve when you fall short.

When you reach Maintenance you will have more room to make more choices (fruit) but not during the honeymoon phase you want to squeeze every pound out of this special time that you can.

good luck

Deep down, I know the truth. It really helps to hear from people who have made their goal. I have been following "A pound of cure", and that is a program that allows fruit. My bad kid, brat-brain decides I can eat as much fruit as I want. Of course, that does not make sense. I will cut back to just berries, once a day.

Thanks for the reminder. I will read the obesity code.

1 hour ago, ValerieInMexico said:

Deep down, I know the truth. It really helps to hear from people who have made their goal. I have been following "A pound of cure", and that is a program that allows fruit. My bad kid, brat-brain decides I can eat as much fruit as I want. Of course, that does not make sense. I will cut back to just berries, once a day.

Thanks for the reminder. I will read the obesity code.

Pound of Cure is great, but you know his biggest push is for veggies, veggies, veggies. Do you know that a red pepper has more vitamin C than an orange, and 1/4 the calories? I believe you can get every single phytonutrient and vitamin from veggies, without any fruit. I agree that berries are an exception - add to smoothies and yoghurt. They are low in calories, but high in nutrition. But for the others, lay off for the time being. I might also have half a peach with cottage cheese or yoghurt. ALWAYS cover your fruit with protein. Best is to eat it for dessert after you already have your protein on board. This is how you prevent those high insulin spikes.

You also have to ask why you want the fruit so much. For most people it is to satisfy a sweet tooth, and this is what we must change. Amazing, but if you stop all the fruit and artificial sweeteners, after a bit, a pepper or green bean will taste so sweet and delicious. Lots of veggies have a sweetness to them if your taste buds have been cleared of the sugars and stuff that tastes like sugar. It's all about balance and reframing what we think is delicious.

Thank you all for this thread!! Very reinforcing [emoji108][emoji108]