Does it really take two years?

[DesertGal]

At one of my first or second visits with my surgeon, he asked me "realistically, what would you like to weigh? Tell me, what was your lowest weight?" I told him I have been 5'8" for many years (high school days) and when I got married I weighed 138 lbs. I then said "I'd be thrilled to get down to 160." He said "well, you're being realistic. Your 130's are GONE." Ok...
Then when I met with the nutrtionist for a one on one towards the end of my 3 month hoop-jumping, she said "Based on your height and weight when you started this program, you will probably be at 170-180 lbs." We'll see... I'd prefer 160, but 170 is nothing to sneeze at (for me). I got down to that 5 years ago by severe dieting (starving) and taking obsessive Zumba classes. It only lasted a year because I got hungry. And ATE!!!

[sraebaer]

First of all, who cares how long it takes if you get there?

I didn't have as much to lose as some (about 78 pounds) so my goal was to be in the healthy BMI range. I had the sleeve. It took me about 9-10 months to lose my weight. I am at the high end of healthy, but feel really good where I am. My goal was never to be "skinny," just normal!

[RHDB]

Four years ago when I had my surgery, I was 325 with a BMI of 54. I didn't go on a pre-op diet before surgery. I lost 27 pounds the first week -- and had thought my scale was broken until I went into my doctor's office to weigh in that first week because I couldn't believe it was coming off that fast. It took me less than 6 months to lose the first 100 pounds and that didn't come off every week. It was something like -- 0, 3, 2, 20 -- each week/month. I could weigh at night -- not drink/eat anything -- and go hop on the scale before doing anything else the next morning and be down 10 pounds overnight.

I actually had to stop following the diet so strictly at 6 months because it was just too much, too fast, too soon for my body. My skin needed time to catch up and my bones would hurt so bad on those 10+ pound loss weeks that it was painful -- like being scraped with a knife. I went from a 24 to a 14 and was really happy for the first time and was totally okay with stopping for awhile. You'll never know you'll actually feel about things until you get there. I ended up taking a break at that point for about 2 years and I'm okay with it. My skin on my neck is finally adjusting to the loss and other places have gotten much better as well. I had to build back muscle that I lost and that also takes time when it's not priority number one.

I started back on my program this past December and went from a 14 to a 10 in less than two weeks. Guess what? I had to stop again to allow my body to adjust to the loss and to build back up some muscle I could see being lost. I'm getting ready to hit the program again this next coming week for 1-2-3 weeks to keep the loss going on until I get down to my target weight but will probably have to stair-step it as it's just how my body is going to react.

It's never too late to reach the goal so just enjoy the process on the way down. When I first started out they had my goal at 325 to go down to 150. That was 175 pounds that they wanted me to reach and I thought it was going to be impossible. If you had told me at that time that I would take breaks from losing I would have said you were crazy and that I didn't go through this surgery to take breaks and do other stuff than to get to that target weight. I was wrong. I was also so scared that if I didn't get it all off the first year, I'd never get it off but that's not the case for me. I learned what my body could handle and do versus what everybody else was saying. I haven't been afraid to listen to my body and do what's best for me during each stage. This just isn't for the next year or so after surgery -- it's forever -- so don't be so worried that you'll never make it to end goal. Listen to your body, follow the rules, take care of your sleeve by not overeating and doing no-no's and you'll be okay even if it takes longer than you thought. Good luck!

[Pam G]

I'll be one year out at the end of May and my original goal was 180. Look at my signature to see when I reached my goal.

[RehabNurse]

I'll be one year out at the end of May and my original goal was 180. Look at my signature to see when I reached my goal.

Then again, you started off 'lighter' and had substantially less weight to lose than the original poster who started this thread. Starting weight and goal weight both make a huge difference in addition to other factors (genetics, adherence to protein requirements, etc.).

[GeriP510]

My doc never gave me a weight goal just to have my waist at or below 35" which it is. My own goal is around 150lbs so I have about 30lbs to go but that's just me. I'm constantly hearing people tell me that enough is enough, my husband on Sunday commented that 'you're so skinny" but I want to lose the remaining lbs for myself, so we'll see how it goes.

[Merry Mary]

It may or may not take two years to reach your target weight. You'll be sleeved the rest of your life so it doesn't matter how long it takes you to reach your goal. How much or how fast you lose varies by person so try not compare yourself to others. I make exercise a part of my life now and eat 1800-2000 calories a day, maintaining my weight. Best of luck to you