*

Pie dreams, schmipe dreams, Pookie, don't worry about the stats. Those stats have been calculating since the first years WLS has begun. Make your own stats. Who says you have to only lose 65%? I bet you can reach your goal and maintain a much more acceptable weight than 65%. I plan on it myself. I think you're doing great. Live in the now, lady, and you can't go wrong in terms of doing the best you can.

Pookie,

I can't do the math! I can give you my numbers and some info that may be helpful.

I started at 324 (at my preop visit). I ended at 163. I lost 161 pounds.

I am 5'5", so given a "goal weight" of 135, I had 189 pounds of excess weight.

That leaves me with roughly 28 lb of excess weight.

I had lost 99 lb at the six-month mark.

Basic rule of thumb in the DS world is that you should/will lose 50% of your weight at the six month mark. Unsure how that correlates in the real world. Way back when, we were told to expect to lose 70% of our excess weight, up to 80%. I know people who stopped before that mark, and others who went closer to 90-100%. Obviously, we were all insanely jealous of those who got closer to 100% (although I'm not too sure how healthy/good they might look at that weight, see note below).

When I went for my nine month postop visit, the doc told me I would probably stop losing soon. I was HORRIFIED. I in no way felt ready to stop losing. But he was right. My own weight loss almost completely stopped at nine months (this seems to be fairly unusual in the DS world). By one year out, I was done losing completely. (I did have a 20 lb loss after having a hernia repair and removal of excess in that area). Other than that, any weight loss has been of the old fashioned variety, and just as hard to maintain as it used to be.

The good news, and it is very good news, is that after WLS people tend to look smaller than what the number on the scale suggests. I've heard various theories, including that our bones are somehow heavier from carrying the excess weight.

I do believe that the choices we make during the losing phase are vitally important. I think the lifestyle changes we make during the losing phase not only facilitate a greater weight loss, but are a learning tool. As you know, this is for life. The good habits you learn will help you to maintain. There is really no point in going through so much to lose the weight only to regain it down the road. To me, that would be a tragedy.

Each good habit you attain will help you in so many ways. If you have done what you can to work with your particular surgery, if you've taught yourself good habits, if you are doing what you can to maximize your health, you are on the right track. In the end those changes will effect the quality of the rest of your life in a way that the number on the scale can't.

Dawna

hmmm. i've heard those stats as well, and they scared me right into the gym!!!!

i've lost between 85% and 90% of my excess weight, and more importantly, maintained it [at least so far]. but remember, i started so very much higher than everyone else.

and that 'so far' is such an important statement. i work at this every single day. of course, sometimes i work harder than others, but there's a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise just about every day of the week. and those are days i'm slacking.

i feel even more strongly than ever that i can screw this up BIG TIME if i'm not careful.

my loss slowed dramatically after 6 months, and went at a snail's pace between 12 and 18 months. the wiser people in my life said that the ONLY reason i kept losing after 12 months was because i worked so hard at it. but the big thing that whole experience taught me was that I CAN DO THIS!!!!

for the first time in my life, my weight control is TRULY in my hands. and it's up to me to take care of this. so i go to the gym, complaining bitterly to everyone in earshot [and those sweet young boys at the front desk simply smile and say things like 'but you're here!!! congratulations!' not even an argument! drat...]

the strategy: i've spent most of my life separating my emotions from my body. it's about time i harnessed this separation for my own good rather than my own destruction.

soooo, when the mind says 'no no no. don't exercise.' i just let it say no. and drive to the gym.

yes. i'm not wrapped too tightly.

Please try not to worry about it Pookiepie. I think a lot of times people in the counceling position rely on statistics because they don't really know what is going on in the real world. When I went in for my nutrition consult before surgery, the person who was counceling with me said a lot of things that turned out not to be completely correct. Like for instance, she told me that drinking even the smallest amount of alcohol would cause me to dump. I drink an occasional glass of wine, and have yet to have the slightest bit of trouble with it. I know a few other people who don't have trouble drinking alcohol.

Try to take this statistical trivia, with a grain of salt. I have heard, from many people, that the weight loss slows and/or stops at or around a year out.
But, just because you stop loosing as a result of surgery, you can still loose by your own efforts. We still have a few months before we hit that one year mark.

As far as the percentage goes, if I use the upper limit of my recommeded weight (which is 2 pounds less than my goal weight) to figure it, I have lost 75% of my excess weight already. Starting weight 232 minus the upper limit which is 128= 104 excess body weight x .75 (or 75%) = 78 pounds. I've lost 79 pounds so I'm at 75%, so in my case I have surpassed the 65% mark. So, not everyone fits into that statistic.

You are doing great Pookie! Don't loose sight of the awesome job you have done so far. I bet you are looking and feeling terrific.

sooo pookie - how are your cute little pink girlie weights doing? you're using them, aren't you/ and not to prop doors open?

dawna... do you mind if i quote you??

Each good habit you attain will help you in so many ways. If you have done what you can to work with your particular surgery, if you've taught yourself good habits, if you are doing what you can to maximize your health, you are on the right track. In the end those changes will effect the quality of the rest of your life in a way that the number on the scale can't.

maybe i'll just have this tattooed on my forearm!!!!!

I am 16 1/2 months post op and I have lost an amazing 146 pounds since my surgery date of October 16, 2003. I even lost 50 prior to surgery, so I am down 196 pounds overall!!!!! I didn't stop losing until just recently and have been trying to eat a little more to stop the weight loss as I am down to 125 pounds which means that I have lost over 100% of my excess weight! Don't let the stats get you down, where there is a will there is a way. Until about two or three months ago, I was in the gym all the time, but since Thanksgiving, I haven't been too good about it, but I have lost at least 15 or 16 more pounds since then! I just watch my calorie intake every day and don't go over a certain amount, which for now is about 1200. Don't get discouraged at all about the statistics. I didn't think it was possible for me to weigh 125 pounds period. I thought my big bones weighed more than than, but it turns out that I am not big boned after all! There was a tiny little size 4 person in here waiting to be freed after all those years! Who knew! Just keep being positive and it will happen for you too. If I can do it, trust me, anybody can!

Pookie, I just came to give you a big hug, sweetie...
I love what Jiffy said, "soooo, when the mind says 'no no no. don't exercise.' i just let it say no. and drive to the gym."
Get those weights out, girl! You're too important to a lot of people to just give up!
xoxo love Ellis

Big butt at 227?!?!?!? Hey, you're butt's smaller than mine, so don't even go there, lady! Just keep your chin up. If you get discouraged even further by looking forward, look back and smile. Acknowledge your efforts for how very far you have come! You have given me so much hope and encouragement over the past 5 or 6 weeks.

*

I am so sorry she made that comment to you. Sometimes, it's not what you say, but how you say it. People can be so cruel without realizing it. Maybe you just need a little more time. I know I will probably have the type of figure that makes me look bottom heavy when I lose much more weight. The first person to make a comment like that to me will probably get a very dirty look and an acidic comment, lol. And I'll be thinking of you. I know, I can be a real stinker, lol. I just don't like mean people. I always stuck up for the defenseless ones, especially when I was little, on the playground at school. The bullies were afraid of me, hehehe.

Hey Pook - it sounds like you and I are built exactly the same way! I used to look like a 5' 4" bowling pin with all my weight on my butt and hips and thighs (I always was two sizes bigger on the bottom than the top). I absolutely despaired that the fat on my bottom half would never go away!

Well ... my weight loss started at the top and worked its way down, just like yours. First I started to lose in my face ... my chins disappeared (emphasis on the plural) ... then I saw collarbones! oh wow! ... then I lost my chest (sigh) ... then ribs started emerging ... I developed a waist (and couldn't find any pants that fit for the longest time because my waist was so much smaller than my butt) ... and FINALLY!!! the last 25 pounds came 100% off my butt and hips! The really funny thing is that I'm sometimes now a SMALLER size on the bottom than the top because my back is kind of broad from weightlifting. Who ever would have thought it???

So the moral of this story is: patience, grasshopper. The fat leaves in its own good time and in its own way. It really doesn't seem to come off evenly all over - in fact, I know people who have lost from their left side before their right, strange as that sounds. I'll bet you're losing just like I did and the bottom half WILL eventually slim down too - but last of all.

You're doing so well, Pookie, and we're all so proud of you!

POOKIE - OMG!!! what did you say? what did you feel?? what did you do??

i have no idea how i would have handled that - but i'm sure you did just the right thing... but good heavens1!!!! and she probably meant it as a compliment but didn't stop to think.