Comments on: How much can I lose?

By: Ulysses So

Ulysses So — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 15:46:49 +0000

with 400-500 lbs of overweight your life would be amazingly improved with a
loss of 200-300 lbs. even if you still remained 100 lbs overweight you would
have gained so much in the way of health and mobility that it would be
totally worth having the surgery. jmho
i have lost about 60% of my overweight and though i am still 70 lbs away
from MY goal if i never lost another lb i would be glad i did this.
love, ida and george the wonder beagle

By: Phyllis Villarreal

Phyllis Villarreal — Thu, 29 Jan 2004 21:12:16 +0000

I started at 416 pounds and am now at 289, eight months after
surgery. The first 100 pounds came off easily and quickly. These
last 27 have been somewhat slow and it makes me think I may not lose
a whole lot more, or if I do it will be hard. Technically I need to
lose AT LEAST another 100 pounds. However, the difference in how I
feel now and how I felt at 416 pounds is UNBELIEVABLE. I am a new
person, even at nearly 300 pounds. While I will be disappointed if I
for some reason don’t lose all of that next 100 pounds, I will not
ever regret having the surgery. I feel so wonderful now. My health
problems are gone. I have more energy than I’ve had in years. So
even though I’m still overweight, I did get my life back after losing
only 127 pounds. Imagine how you will feel losing 300 pounds! No, you
may not ever be “thin”, but just losing some of your excess will make
a huge difference in your life. And surgery will give you that
chance. I know I could never lose more than 50 pounds on a diet and

then I always gained it back plus another 50. So if for no other
reason than that, the surgery has been a success for me.
Just my $.02~
Amy W.
Open RNY - Distal
July 26, 2001

By: Shawn India

Shawn India — Thu, 29 Jan 2004 18:34:54 +0000

I think this depends on the person. My high weight was 320 and on the day of
surgery 2/29/01 I was 295. As of the 3rd of this month I was 155 and am still
losing slowly. I have about 10lbs of skin hanging, which I’m now looking into
Plastic surgery to correct, which would bring me to 145, that would be my ideal
weight for my height 5′6. Everyone is different so don’t think you will go
though this and NOT lose it all. I’ve also seen on the boards that people don’t
lose it all but all were happy to be down as far as they were. As for myself I
would have been happy to get under 200 which was much better for my health, (no
more diabeties or high cholesteral or high blood pressure). Anything after that
was gravy!
Debi

By: Nanette Zora

Nanette Zora — Wed, 28 Jan 2004 23:17:54 +0000

Most surgeons say that 60% - 80% of your excess weight lost is what you can
expect… and my surgeon’s own several year statistics show that over 80%
of their patients keep off more than 80% of their weight. But, this is
*highly* subjective and for most of us, keeping off even 80% of our excess
weight is damn hard work.
Several reasons… here are but a few:
- Anyone who has been morbidly obese (MO) for any length of time has a much
larger bone density than Never-Been-Fatties… this is because of carrying
around so much weight. (Think of all the recommendations about how to
prevent osteoporosis… weight bearing exercises. By being MO or Super MO
(SMO), we have been weight bearing sometimes for several decades!
- Anyone who has been MO or SMO for any length of time has a LOT of muscle
mass under the fat. Carrying an extra 100-500 pounds… even to lift
yourself out of bed or get to the bathroom… requires incredible
strength. A personal example: My partner Sarah has never been fat, is a

cop, and is very fit… lifts tons of weights (literally!) I have had
between 50 (early on) and 30 (now) more pounds more muscle than she has (my
surgeon has a Tanita scale that measures fat/muscle/water in the body
because watching those changes are MUCH more indicative of success than any
numbers on a scale can show [a whole different topic!])… have weighed up
to 30+ pounds more than her and measured smaller than her in every
way. Now that she and I are the same weight, I wear much smaller clothes
than she does. Muscle not only weighs more than fat, muscle is *very*
compact!
- Food issues continue to plague many posties. The first year (or so) is
delightfully blissful and following The Rules seems amazingly simple! Then
hunger returns. Old manipulative voices come out of hibernation… old
habits resurface… exercise doesn’t take the priority position it once
did… life gets in the way of our commitment to health and weight loss
maintenance. It seems impossible to believe that after all the work of
having WLS that *anyone* would be stupid enough to re-gain weight (or not
even get down to the health/weight goals they had set pre-op), but NONE OF
US ever wanted to gain weight after a diet, either! We had just as much
resolve pre-diet as pre-ops do with WLS. It is FUN during the first year
to lose weight and watch the co-morb pills go down the toilet one after
another and to be able to *move* like we haven’t in a long time (or ever,
in my case). But, we are still the same person who ate 10,000 calories a
day pre-op… still with the urges to eat for stress reduction, eat for
boredom, eat, eat, eat. Unless those issues are addressed… and addressed
in whatever manner works for you (therapy is a popular choice… but there
is yoga, meditation, prayer, talking with your religious leader, support
groups [on-line as well as in person], journaling, and many more I can’t
even think of), then failure absolutely exists. I have seen it several
times in my real life experiences with posties and many MANY more here
on-line. Even if we can’t cram in 4000 calories at a sitting, the mind is
quite manipulative and *finds* ways to get the calories in… Snacking…
the buzz word of WLS horror.
Ah, but after losing 400-500 pounds, 100 pounds extra will make you feel
like a gazelle!!!! Even 10% of our extra weight off helps us have a longer
and healthier life. Imagine even 60% off? Wow! And 80%?! Even
better! And you *must* remember that those (stupid) charts that show your
“ideal” weight were made for Never-Been-Fatties. And who CARES if you
never reach that ideal?!? Won’t your life be infinitely healthier and more
active with 400 pounds off of you?
It is painful to hear some justifications going on in your head; If I can’t
lose it all, why even bother? Interesting defeatist attitude.
Barbara Herrera
San Diego, CA - 41 years old
Open RNY April 5, 2001
Dr. Julie Ellner, Alvarado Hospital, San Diego, CA
04/05/01: 344# / BMI: 63/ Body Fat%: 75%
04/05/02: 172# / BMI: 31.6/ Body Fat%: 28%
04/16/02: 165#/ BMI: 30.2
One Year Re-Birth Day: healed of ALL co-morbs, mobile beyond every
expectation, every pre-op dream surpassed a million-fold, and smaller than
any memory.