Question:
Do people USUALLY meet their goal weights?
I was wondering-it seems like so many of you meet your goal weights or even exceed them. My doctor gave us some booklets and stuff to read on the surgery, post-op care, etc. One of the pamphlets talks of the WLS Expectations. Apparently, only a certain percentage actually meet goal and the avg. person can expect to lose approximately 70% of their excess weight. If that's true, why do most people seem to make it to goal or beyond? Am I unrealistic when I hope/pray/ and even semi-expcet to make it to mu goal weight? — jenn_jenn (posted on July 27, 2003)
July 27, 2003
I do not believe you are being unrealistic. I asked a Doctor about this
very topic recently and he explained that as the Doctor they set a goal of
losing certain percentage (60-80%) of your excess weight....and, you will
be considered a "success." However, I find that most people
meet/exceed their personal goals.
Best of luck to you...
— teresa M.
July 27, 2003
I can't say that most make their goal, but many do, or atleast come close
to it. There are many factors to reaching a goal, some of which cannot be
helped such as age and previous pregnancies. I think its often easier for
a young female who hasn't had children, like myself, to reach their goal
before an older woman with say 3 children. My surgeon said its just easier
the younger you are. And also, 70% of excess weight is still alot and a
great success, and a person can meet their goal with losing only 70% of
excess. Everyone has different goals, so I guess that has to be factored
in to statistics as well. I lost 100% of my excess weight and surpassed my
goal (now 125#). Yes I followed the "rules" and eat fairly
healthy and exercised, but I also feel very lucky. As long as you make a
realistic goal, you should be able to reach it. Don't strive for 120lbs. if
you're 5'7", know what I mean? Goodluck to you :-)
— Lezlie Y.
July 27, 2003
I wonder which "goal" people are talking about meeting? What I
mean is, the charts say that I should weigh 135-155. I cannot imagine EVER
weighing so little. (I am 5'9", with size 12 feet.) MY goal is 170.
So, if I get to 170, have I met my goal, or am I still 15-35 pounds
overweight? It's that whole definition of "excess weight" thing,
perhaps. I am told that if I really want to know MY ideal weight, I will
need to do the underwater imersion body fat test, and base my evaluation on
that. Hope this musing is helpful! :-)
— Patience V.
July 27, 2003
For most pre-ops, "goal weight" means that impossible dream on
the Metropolitan Life charts, and most post-ops do not meet this target.
And I must also tell you this: most post-ops do not report their end
weights here. (I haven't, but then I didn't post my starting weight,
either. I suffered with scales and numbers too long, I guess.) Those who
do report their end weights as 120 pounds or so, or that they're
comfortably in a size 2/4, are not representative of post-ops on this web
site or elsewhere. It's just that those who achieve glowing success are
happy to report it, while those who've had to settle for something less
drift away quietly. That said, I do believe that "reaching goal
weight" evolves for the average person here from pre-op visions of
rivaling Barbie to post-op "I'm in a 12 now, and if I reach size 10
I'll be happy, and if I don't, I'll be happy, too. I'm a long way from the
26/28 I was when I started." Oh, and remember that "meeting
goal" is not the same as sustaining it. Sign me a happy 6/8 who still
dreams of being a 4...
— Kay B.
July 27, 2003
Hi there. Speaking for myself I am optimistic I will reach my goals I have
set not just the medical ones set for me. My first goal was to lose 100
lb. by 6 months post op. I will be 6 months post op tomorrow and have lost
103 lb. I have been very happy about that. I will say that it is hard but
can be done. I am not one to worry so much about the numbers and charts
etc. Of course I would love to reach the medical goal of 120-130 but I
would truly be happy at 140 or so. I just don't imagine being rail thin
and feeling great about it. I would just focus on you and setting small
goals and making them reasonable for you. Of course the doctors predict
only the percentage of patients will meet their goals. That's great. Blow
that out of the water and do your best.
— Kitty Kat
July 27, 2003
I did pass up my goal weight of 225 pounds and now am at 186 and pretty
much leveled off. I believe three items decide if you reach your goal or
not. 1) exercise 2) protein, 3) water, and lastly which is very hard to do
and I am definately guilty of it at times, to not go back to your old
eating habits. Luckily I dump pretty easily so I don't eat a lot of crap. I
try to eat alot of watermelon (lots of water at least), cantalopes and
items like this. Good luck, if you are really determined to reach your
goal weight you will.
— MICHAEL Z.
July 27, 2003
My goal was mid range on the NORMAL BMI scale on THIS site. Saddly seems I
will never obtain it. I'm two years post op and still in the overweight
range. :( I still have a extremely fat can and thighs (naked that is). I've
lost around 84% of my excess weight. My surgeon says around 70% is normal
and to stop losing. Weird. He says to stop losing??? I'm happy yet very
unhappy to go through the whole wls trip, and to be so tired and not feel
well, and still be in the overweight bmi range. I think the only people who
make goal weight (with a few exceptions of course) are those who had their
weight goals set high, not in the so called normal range. I still have tons
of fat on me, and hang in the 162-164 weight range which is were my body
wants to be for some reason.
— Danmark
July 27, 2003
I agree that it depends a whole lot on what you define as "goal
weight". For my surgeon, he'll be happy with 65% to 70% of my excess
weight lost (that will put me 55+ pounds above the Metropolitan Life
chart); I'm shooting for an 80% of excess weight loss (still 35 pounds over
the insurance chart). That goal is probably attainable, and may be
maintainable. For me, the insurance chart weight is unrealistic to even
get to, and certainly not maintainable and still live a life. I'm OK with
that. I agree with another poster that impressions from postings on the
board are likely skewed (not only on goal weights, but on almost any
dimension) because the people who lose greater percentages of their excess
weight are the most likely to report. This has a compound effect in that
people who lose less will not report it because they don't feel
"normal" or "successful". This same phenomenon feeds
into people labeling themselves "slow losers" based on
comparisons to other reported losses. I'm thinking most of these
"slow losers" are probably really about average. So the lesson
is, don't compare yourself to other people on a public, and therefore
naturally skewed, board. Measure your progress by your surgeon's
guidelines because s/he has real and complete data. I've also learned to
measure my success by other things than the scale (% body fat, resolution
of my co-morbidities, feeling well, ability to do things I haven't been
able to, etc.). It's so much more rewarding than worrying about how I
stack up in relation to others.
— Vespa R.
July 28, 2003
I wholeheartedly agree with Lezlie, that it is easier to lose and more
ossible to reach a goal weight if you are younger. I also theorize that if
you were ever a normal weight, then gained a lot of weight, you will be
more likely to reach a lower goal weight than someone who has been obese
their entire adult life. I have been overwieght since I was a child, so,
at 47, and even as a lightweight, I doubt I will ever be a near that
"magic' number on rhe Met Life chart! I am 9 months out and down 60
lbs and on a plateau since mid-May. (I hope it's a plateau!) I hoe that I
can just be happy where I am, because its better than where I was!
— koogy
July 28, 2003
I started out at 276 and am now 140. I will be 2 yrs post op in a couple of
weeks. My personal goal was 160 and I hit that 9 months out and then
continued to lose 20 more. I have been at this weight for 6 months now so,
I guess I am done BUT I am very happy and wish you the best!!
— ncgal
July 28, 2003
I think it has all to do with whether you set a realistic goal weight in
the first place. My first and foremost goal was anywhere under 250 lbs. I
am 1 week short of 6 months PO and am within 50 lbs of doing that. I've
lost 142 lbs so far. I knew 250 was attainable when I started because I
had gotten there before without WLS. I knew I was comfortable there, could
buy clothes anywhere and could do whatever I wanted. My weight no longer
controlled my life. Ideally 200 lbs would be good but that still puts me
about 35 lbs above that number in the insurance books. I'm 5'9 so about
165 is average. I cannot even fathom weighing less than 200 as I have
never weighed that as an adult. I do not care if I still end up classified
as obese or overweight. What is more important to me is to attain a weight
I am comfortable with and can maintain for the rest of my life living a
normal life and not living on some diet and exercising for 2+ hours a day.
That is not normal to me.
— zoedogcbr
July 29, 2003
I don't think you can say that most people seem to make it to goal and
beyond. Yes, many do,, but there are just as many who never reach their
goal. In some cases, they are not working hard enough or following Pouch
rules, and in other cases, their original goal was unrealistic. And there
are some who effortlessly reach or surpass their goal, though I don't
believe that is the norm. I think the docs were right when they said 60-80
percent success rate on the average, meaning some lose less and others lose
much more. Its not unrealistic of you to expect to obtain a goal weight,
as long as that goal is realistic. I don't believe the insurance tables
are realistic. For me, having been a normal size before, I knew what a
realistic goal weight was at the size I wanted to be, and that goal is a
good 15 pounds above what the insurance tables have for my height.
— Cindy R.
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