Learned something new at 1 month checkup

Went for my 1 month checkup yesterday and have lost 20 pounds this month. I have to admit I was discouraged because I read about others losing 30 to 40 pounds. Cathy explained to me it is not the number of pounds you lose, it is the percentage of excess body weight. Someone who has 200 lbs of excess body weight vs someone like me who has 148 lbs can both be losing the same percentage during the same time frame but the number of pounds will differ. Of course, the more you have to lose, the faster it comes off. Well, I've lost 14.29% of my excess body weight and am right on target. The formula to find out your percentage is: Number of pounds lost divided by number of pounds of excess body weight = percentage 20 pounds divided by 148 = 14.29% I found this very encouraging and no longer think of myself as a slow loser. Hope it helps someone else who is discouraged! Life is good Denise

Denise, somehow this is not working out for me. When I do my number of pounds lost (34) and divide it by number of pounds excess body weight (127), I get 0.268....how do I get a percentage? (Yes, I am not only morbidly obese, but I am a knucklehead when it comes to math too!!) Hugs, Nancy

that would be 26.8%....you have to multiply the answer by 100........and way to go...thats a very high percentage so far...you have less than 75% to go...!!!!!!!!!!

Wow Nancy you are not a knuckle head...you are a big loser! 0.268 = 26.8% of your excess body weight...way to go girl!

Easy way to turn a decimal into a percentage is to move the decimal point two spaces to the right.

Thanks for that formula.....I too feel much better now. I had to loose 156...and I have lost 24 in just over 3 weeks....so I am at 15.4%. Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it great...puts a positive spin on the whole process! 15.4% in three weeks is awesome!

Wow! This is GREAT. I've lost 15% of my excess body weight. You have SO made me feel better!

wow, that really makes me feel better. i thought i was just a really slow loser, but i've lost 15.3333333% of my excess body weight. thanks!!!!!

Denise: I also lost about 24lbs after the first months and I felt much the same way you did. my doctor also told me something that made me feel better. Fat pounds come off slower than water weight. So when we are actually losing fat off of our body it will not come off as quickly. He says when you are getting discouraged, try measuring yourself with a tape measure. You will surely see inches off. He is right. I have lost probably about 18 inches off of my body in the past month. Since I had been dieting before the surgery likely I did not have alot of water weight to lose . So it is nice to know that the weight that came off is fat!! Lost and gone forever. I have also started to try on outfits that were snug before..and its astounding how well they fit now. In fact, before I left for surgery I bought a pretty robe and nightgown set. It was the " One Size Fits Japan" variety. Only...after surgery when I was able to change into my own nightgown, the darned thing was too tight!!! The robe fit, so I donned an old nightgown and called it a day. In the meantime I brought the nightgown home and several weeks later I decided to try it on for grins. It is now TOO BIG!!! This is the fun stuff... So its not all about pounds after all. Maybe this is a lesson for us all. We are so used to measuring our successes by what the scale says...there have to be more meaningful ways. I keep trying to find other benchmarks of success for me personally. When I can walk for longer periods of time, when I can crawl on the floor with my toddler neices and nephews...shop in a regular store... you get the idea. What if there were no such things as scales???