Question:
Have any Long Term Post-Ops not Lost to Goal?
Has anyone over one year post-op not achieved their goal weight? How long can plateaus last this far out? If this has happened to you and you overcame it, please share with me what you did. I feel like a total failure. — [Anonymous] (posted on June 26, 2001)
June 26, 2001
I am at 210 in a size 16. My goal is 175 in a size 12. I am 13+ months
out.
— [Anonymous]
June 26, 2001
11 months out (close enough) 189, 5'6"... started at 277 and goal was
supposed to be 150! I exercise, exercise, exercise, and eat right.
Nothing is working, window is closing....
— [Anonymous]
June 26, 2001
Before I had the surgery i weighed 300lbs I now weigh 185. According to me
I've met my goal because I am now healthy. That is what I was trying to do.
According to the scale I should be 163. If I get to it I am happy, If I
don't get to it so be it. I am pretty happy just being healthy. I am now 14
months out. I now wear a size 16 from a 28. Don't compare yourself with
someone else. If have lost weight and now are healthy, you have met your
goal. I hope this help.
— [Anonymous]
June 26, 2001
The definition of success for this surgery is 60-80% reduction in excess
weight. So if your starting weight was 300 and your ideal weight is 200
(keeping the math simple) the excess weight would be 100 lbs. Therefore,
statistically, the surgery would be a *success* once you lost 60-80 percent
of 100 lbs, or 60-80 lbs. I don't know if this helps or not.
— [Anonymous]
June 26, 2001
I have begun to think of myself as one of the rare failures for this
surgery. I am 10 months out. I started at 370 pounds and 5'2".......I
have lost only 80 pounds. I haven't lost anything since February. I am
under a lot of stress with my family situation......my father is dying of a
degenerative brain disease and we are trying to keep him at home instead of
putting him in a nursing home. I graze...I know that is the worse thing I
can do, but I also realize that I am using the food to comfort me and
sedate myself in a family which is deep in denial and filled with anger. I
am struggling to clean up my act and salvage some more weight loss out of
the surgery. I was given a goal weight of 125 pounds....at this point, I
would count it a miracle to reach 200. This was my last chance and I've
failed again.
— Nanette T.
June 26, 2001
I'm 11 months out yesterday and have lost 104 lbs - 277 to 173, size 24
(tight!) to a size 14. While I doubt that I will lose 23 lbs. in the next
month, I have every reason to believe that I will get to my goal of 150 by
the end of the summer.
<p>
My latest plateau has lasted about a month - the longest ever. Which, by
the way, followed my best weight loss month (May) since October, when I was
only 3 months post-op. So, I kinda expected my body to freak out and hold
on to the weight kicking and screaming! Even if I've been exercising daily
and diligently since before Mother's Day!
<p>
This week, I added an early morning two-mile walk and an evening two-mile
bike ride to my regular two-mile walks. This brings me to six miles a day.
It may take a week or so for my metabolism to catch up, but in the
meantime, I can really see my legs taking shape. You know what they say
about building muscle...it weighs more than fat - and I'm sure it slowing
the scale down for me.
<p>
I wish you the best. Perhaps exercise and water will do the trick...good
luck and God Bless.
— Allie B.
June 26, 2001
Well, I'm over a year post-op 18 months on July 8th actually... HOWEVER I
did make goal and went 10 pounds under goal.. I was shooting for 150 pounds
and I'm now 140 pounds.. Was I ever on a plateau? Not that I know of!!! I
only weighted once every two weeks and showed a drop every time so if I
was ever on a plateau I didn't know about it.. here are some tips to jump
start your loss.
<p>
Lot's of things to do to break a plateau...
<p>
1. Look at what you're eating... are you eating lots of breads, rolls,,
buns, baked goods? Starches? Carbs? Switch some Carbs for Protein
foods.. Baked goods & excessive carbs will stop weight loss in it's
tracks...
2. Watch those starches..they turn to sugar... i.e. Corn, potatoes..
3. Are you getting in 64 oz of WATER or better a day..
4. Don't drink directly after eating a meal wait at least an hour.
5. Switch up exercise routines.. Walk one day, jog (if you're able) one
day.. light hands weights for arms and use on ankles for leg lifts. Ride
a bike, step aerobics, when you walk swing those arms and hips (fast
walk). Increase the length of time you exercise ..
Walk a little further than you normally do... Key is working on different
parts of the body... Variety in types of exercise is great..
6. Reward the body give it what it craves (NOT HIGH CALORIE OR SUGAR
SNACKS) example: I don't eat potatoes as a rule or corn (starch) But
if I'm stuck bouncing a few pounds back and forth I'll add a baked potato
on one meal then increase the exercise ( boom )
works every time for me.. Giving the body that fuel it needs will kick
start weigh loss again. It's like treating it for a job well done then
it can resume the weigh loss pattern again.
7. Use DietWatch http://www.dietwatch.com every day to record
EVERYTHING you eat.. It's a free online program that records everything
you eat or drink and calculates, calories, nutrients, and even exercise ..
You just might be surprised..
8. If you're drinking a lot of juices look at the sugar
content ..learn to read labels.
9. Watch your sodium use a salt substitute
10. Plan three meals a day try to stay at set times.. snacks should be low
calorie with some protein content if you can..
<p>
Plateau's we will all have from time to time it's inevitable these ten
tips just might help though.. If I have been on a plateau I sure didn't
know about it my monthly weight drops consistently ..I'm not hung up on
weighing daily that's a no no....No more than once a week I prefer every
other week.. once a month might be even better at the doctor's office..
All these tips and more in my book.. This and more information on my
webpage at http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/vbowen
— Victoria B.
June 26, 2001
Nanette, you dear sweet woman....you have NOT failed..you have discovered
that you are human! You cannot constantly control circumstances which
surround you. Sometimes, we as human beings cannot, (even if we try our
hardest) control even ourselves. It's normal and it's not a failure. To
be a failure you would have to believe that you are not going to lose even
one more pound. You would not be able to see that you have not been
exactly perfect in your diet, and you would not still have the willpower to
try and change what is wrong. Nope, you are not a failure, you are only in
difficult times right now and "there but by the grace of God go
I". 80 pounds is 80 pounds less than what you were in the beginning.
That means 80 pounds of stress that your heart doesn't have to bear. I
know that you are in a smaller size now than you were and I also know that
you will lose more as time goes on. The window is still open for at least
another 8 months hon. Stress is difficult but, if I were a betting person,
I would bet that you are a "fixer" and "healer" in the
scheme of life meaning that you are always in the position of trying to
make everyone elses life better. Know what? I know that you have a
problem with your dad being sick but, you cannot heal the world. You can,
however, heal yourself and therefore give even more to the world when you
feel better about yourself. Please please please take time for YOU. Worry
about YOU. You can still worry about everyone else but you need to put
yourself first. sounds selfish I know, but it's not. You only have one
life to live and only you can live it. You were intended to be on this
earth to learn from life, and then help others. You can't help others
until you love yourself and help yourself first no matter how hard you try.
I know that this sounds like preaching but I had to learn this the hard
way myself. I am just passing on some hard learned wisdom and I hope that
you can see how special you are. I could see it in your words.
Please know that there are alot of us out here rooting for you and
willing to listen if you need to vent. I am always here to encourage you
if you want. I am wishing only good things for you and to the person who
first asked this question, I am sorry that I didn't answer it, I just felt
so moved to answer Nanette.
— Barbara H.
June 26, 2001
I am 14 months post op & have lost about 170pds. I am about 15pds from
my goal weight. I haven't really lost anything in the last two months or
so. BUT, I do NOT consider myself a failure at all! I am very healthy &
I am living a "normal" life now. The truth is that I have not
really been working very hard these last two months. My exercise has
dropped way off and I am eating more of those foods I probably shouldn't. I
do still concentrate on getting my protein in first, I drink my water
(usually), and for the first time, about two months ago my protein levels
finally hit normal levels. I think I am probably eating like a normal
person. If I want a potato or a piece of toast, I eat it. I do not binge or
eat like I used to and I very rarely graze. I have found this amount and
variety of food is just about what it takes for me to maintain my weight.
True, I would like to lose another 20pds. (I remember how derisively I
would laugh in the old days if someone said they were 20pds overweight--I
thought that is nothing!) But, I know what I have to do if and when I feel
strongly enough about losing more to do what is necessary. I am still in
control of my eating and have set a limit for me that if I reached it
(185pds) means I must immediately get back on the program. I will not gain
the weight back, but maybe I needed this slow-down time, either physically
or emotionally. I now have the tools and the knowlege to control my weight.
I am so very happy with my progress so far--from size 28 and 30s to size 14
and some 12s, even size medium!! I do know I need to get back on the
exercise road, just have been very busy & it's easy to forget exercise
as a prority. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think it's
about the weight or number you end up at, it's about how you feel about
yourself. I did discover that it won't matter even if I lose another 20 or
more pounds I won't look like I hoped I would. I have lots of loose skin
and will never be mistaken for a supermodel. I will probably not be able to
have plastic surgery, which would help, but then you have more scars, too.
I think it's best to go into this with your eyes open & be realistic.
So what if you end up 20pds over your "ideal??" That's just an
arbitrary number! What's important is your health and how you feel about
yourself. Sometimes, maybe an attitude adjustment is what's needed. I agree
with those who said, if you feel like a failure, maybe you should examine
what your original goals were and how realistic they were. On the other
hand, I think Victoria's suggestions are great and if your health is still
suffering due to your weight, following her ideas will probably help a lot.
I think it's important to remember to do this for your health, not to
become a thin supermodel, cause the odds are, that won't happen anyway.
Just my opinion...
— [Anonymous]
April 13, 2003
there haven't been posts here for awhile but I have something to add. I am
15 months out and started to understand what was meant by this surgery
being a tool not a cure. I like just about everyone else here am a
compulsive over eater and after losing about 135 pounds down from 352 I was
stuck. Then I fessed up to myself and the honeymoon is definately over. I
realized I need to eat right not just less.
I joined Weight watchers and not to advertise for the program or anything
but once I joined there was acountability and I started to make better
decisions about what I put into my mouth.
In my first week on weight watchers i lost about 5 pounds which leads me to
believe that whatever i was eating even though it wasn't a tremendous
amount it wasn't the right stuff. I have kicked the platue I was on and am
back to losing again.
I hope those of you who assume that this surgery failed you have honestly
looked at why it's failed and have discovered as I have that regardless of
what your brain promised you we don't have the luxury of being naturally
thin people who can eat whatever we want and stay thin.
Don't give up you really did make a good decision but you are responsible
for the ultimate change.
— melibop
April 29, 2003
Honey, I feel your frustration. I'm almost a year post op and I stopped
losing weight at 5 or 6 months. Not one pound in 6 months. I don't know
the answer. I only lost 60 pounds and that's only 1/2 of what I needed to
lose.
Write me back if you'd like. We;ll cry on each other's shoulder.
— Georgia H.
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