Starting stats and pre-surgery process

Barring health issues, no one can tell you what your goal weight should be. But, I can tell you that I was 168lbs the day I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 13 and I'm currently 134lbs. Before surgery I said I was 'just a big person' and I'd never 'want to be truly skinny'. Sorry, but (for me) that was all bull. I love it and I hope to be able to maintain it. I'm size small/2/4 currently.

You should always go for your goal. There is no reason you can't make it and I certainly wasn't encouraging you to settle for anything less. I had been quite thin most of my adult life, only gaining real weight after my second daughter was born. I lost the pregnancy weight but went on to gain it back and eventually more than doubled my body size. At my highest weight I wore a size 28.

Today I wear a 10 or 12, sometimes a bit larger, and that is ok for ME. You are likely (it appears) much younger than I am and at a different stage in your life. That's why it's so important that we don't compare.

My intention was to make the point that not all of us reach and stay at a specific goal weight. Just as in society relative health spans a panoply of weights and sizes, none "better" or "best" than the others, life after WLS surgery can look very different from person to person. And of course the size on someone's clothing label doesn't reveal anything about that person and their path.

I started at 240 AND am now 125, when I went into surgery i was under 200 lbs. I had a partial liquid diet with proteins.

Getting started through the process is daunting but if you just follow through your insurance company should not give you any trouble.

Good Luck

That is amazing, thank you!

at 372 lbs, I was the biggest person in my cohort. I would guess most were around your weight - 250-ish. I've been invited in to talk to many pre-op groups, and I'd say that's been true of most of them. Lots appear to be about 250-ish. A small handful that look like they weigh 300+ pounds. I think people think that people who have surgery all weigh 600 lbs, because their only exposure to it is "My 600lb Life". They don't seem to understand that those folks are the outliers - the ones that most bariatric surgeons won't touch. In reality, many are in your weight range.

Usually with a BMI over 40, having co- morbidities isn't even necessary. No matter what your friends think you are morbidly obese.

They may not see it, but doesn't change the reality.

Many people lose weight on the pre-op diet. Unless you are right st the edge of getting approved it shouldn't effect your qualification. You can call your insurance company and ask them to give you a copy of their policy concerning WLS.

Losing weight is one part, we have all done it, it's maintaining that eludes us. For the first time in my life, I feel like maintaining long term could actually happen.

I lost about 20lbs pre-op. You can see the rest in my signature

Good Luck

This is so true! I weigh 217 and get told all the time that I'm not that big. Well, at 5' tall I certainly AM that big. And it is hurtful when people sy discouraging things to us about weight loss surgery. But "they" are not me, and I am going to do what's best for me.

Bottom line- you have to do what's right for you.

I am 40 years old and I am 5 ft. 6 in. When I went to see my surgeon for the first time on May 19,2017 I weighed 389 with a BMI of 62.8. I did not have any insurance issues. I did not have to be on a monitored weight loss program because of a high BMI. I was asked to loose 35 pounds. On the day of surgery Sept. 6, 2017 I was 348 pounds with a BMI of 56.2. Today my weight is 322 with a BMI of 52. Health issues are Diabetes type 2, Asthma, and High Blood pressure.

I was 5'7" and 229lbs the day of my surgery. I did not have a supervised diet, and I gained a little over the course of the months waiting for surgery. My BMI was 36.2, so I had to be careful not to lose much/any. I had diabetes as my only co-morbidity.

Good news, I got to goal in just shy of 6 months.