What percentage of weight loss is successful?

What I'm trying to ask is this.  I have read that WLS is considered a success if you lose and maintain 75% of your excess weight.  Of course, I want to go for the 100%!  But lately, my ride has been slowing down a lot...normal, I know, but still frustrating.   So, I'm wondering...is it realistic to expect that I will be FINALLY  (and for the 1st time ever)  be able to reach my ultimate weight loss goal?  Or is my slow down indicative of my body saying you're near the end of the journey and its not going to end at 100%.   Just curious what your experiences have been.

I think that you should see your goal as just that ... a goal ... something you work towards.  You should feel successful if you lose 65-75% of your excess weight and maintain that weigt loss.

First of all congratulations on your weight loss thus far. It is perfectly normal for the weight loss to slow down, but that by no means it will stop. YOU CAN GET TO YOUR GOAL. It may take a while longer but if you continue to follow the rules and don't giveup. I believe we can all reach our goals. I am 18mths post op and 10 lbs from my goal. The weight is still coming off slowly and that is all that matters. All the best for continued success. Sher

my doc said that 50 percent of your excess weight is considered a success. I wasnt happy with that number either and did reach my goal by 13 months and have gone 15 pounds past it at this point. I like the weight I am at now and work hard to keep it off. I'm now at 17 months out..

Good luck

Carla

Hi, Congrads!!!! Remember loss of weight  is a success!  Now its really up to you. You have the tool too reach 100% if you really want to...its really up to each one of us how far we want to go.  I am 4 year out in Dec. I lost 176 lbs I was thrilled....Started at 315 and got down to 139 and size 8 pants. My goal when I stared was 125... I didnt like how I was looking and stoped looseing....BUT I did gain 15lbs back because of old eating habits creeping back in. Now Im back to looseing again and WILL get back to 140 my new goal. I lost so slow it wasnt funny..everyone else passed me by I had so many plateaus where I didnt loose for a month....But I did reach goal  at 18 mo. The last 20 lbs dropped off me so fast I was shocked! Just keep pluggin away and remember  we are all in the same boat Hon Have the best ride ever : ) and enjoy your thin self ..there is nothing better : ) Cha

Jewelring:

I had my surgery over 4 years ago at 250 pounds.  I lost a hundred pounds and only wanted to lose about 10 more.  Then I got pregant and three years later, I still weighed 175 - 180.  I felt I was still "successful" but I wasn't happy because I at least wanted to get back to where I had been.

I started the plan at www.5daypouchtest.com last week and I'm down 8 pounds.  I believe I can get to my ultimate goal because I am in control again.  I am once again excited about my tool and I'm using it!  If you haven't read my posts - I was about as far off track as I could have been, eating fast food, candy, etc.  One week later, I'm down 8 pounds, feeling great, and once again motivated!

I'm confident if we use it, we always have this tool.  True - it's not as good as it once was but it's still the BEST!  If you are willing to put in the effort and truly make the lifestyle changes, I believe you can get to your goal!

Best of luck to both of us!  Keep us posted on your progress!

 

Hi Jewelring - you and I seem to be in the same "phase" - I'm about 80 pounds from my goal,with about 70% of my total excess gone now, and  the loss isn't as "automatic" as it once was - but it's still coming off!  I started weight training to tone up, and while my whole body is shrinking by leaps and bounds (dropped about 4 sizes in 6 weeks) - my scale weight has fluxuated around 270 for those past 6 weeks - EXCEPT - the scale is now moving again this week, and I have the new body measurements as an added bonus to boot. It's just a reality for everyone - doesn't matter what procedure you have - that once you get closer to your desired goal weight, things slow down a bit because the body is adjusting to new norms - it doesn't take as much energy to keep the organs working, so it has to re-program how it uses the calories we take in. Don't let the intellectual goal # de-motivate you - look at what you've already accomplished!  Anecdote that helps me put things in perspective: My mother is a non-op, started WWatchers in May, and was only 40 pounds above her goal weight.  She has losses each and every week she jumps on the scale, but they're "slow" losses - .8 to 1.5 lbs. a week.  Rather than letting the pace upset her, she sees a loss as a victory, no matter how "little" it appeared to be, and now here it is October and she's within 10 pounds of her goal, feeling and looking fabulous - and I now fit into her "old" clothes. :) I tell myself sometimes - even if it were only going to come off at a pound a week at this point in time - versus the 1lb a day pace I had initially as a post-op it all still adds up eventually and adds onto the 170+ I'm already down - and it's a heck of a lot different from where I started. Just do the best you can each day, and let physics do the worrying for you.  Follow pouch rules, drink your water, evaluate and stick with whatever activity you're doing - you WILL reach goal!

you're body will slow down because you have less to lose.  it is also easier to eat so you might be eating a little more than  you realize.  you will be successful if you  continue to eat appropriately and exercise.  try to be realistic about your goal.  i'm never going to weigh what i did in highschool but i might have more muscle than i did then.  keep up the good work and just try to be healthy.  i'm a little over two years out and have been very lucky.  i do worry about gaining weight so i exercise lots and try to stop eating when i get full.  so far so good!  try to make your goal to feel good and to be able to do all of those active things that you couldn't do before you began to lose weight.

The slow down is normal, but you will still be able to lose over the course of time. Following the rules is key and its so hard the farther out that you get b/c you have more capacity, you can  tolerate things more and lets just face it......its hard to be "good" all of the time! I have found that it takes ALOT of work~I guess i was hoping I'd hit goal and live happily ever after, LOL!!!! Well, that's not the case although I'm still at or near my personal goal and below dr's goal, but it takes constant vigilance of diet and exercise to maintain. Success can't just be measured by a number on a scale. Success should also be measured by your quality of life~what can you do now that you couldn't before? what health issues have been resolved by losing weight? has your self esteem and self worth increased? Etc.........

I have a question - how did you determine what % of excess weight you've lost?  Based on what:  your goal, your doctor's goal, normal BMI, your ideal weight based on some health chart or what?  What determines 50%, 75% or 100% of excess weight for each individual?  I know for me, I chose a normal BMI as my goal weight; but perhaps others chose something different to determine how much of their excess weight they lost, so was wondering how everyone determined that for themselves, or how their doctors determined that.