It's not POUNDS, it's PERCENTAGES!

[southernlady]

It's not POUNDS, it's PERCENTAGES!
by Carolyn M.
Two people, both 6 months post-op. One has lost only 63 pounds and feels bad about her "slow" weight loss. The other has lost 96 pounds and thinks she's doing great.

They are both wrong.

Person A had only 105 excess pounds, so she has already lost 60% of her excess weight. She is actually ahead of the game at 6 months out and is on track to lose it ALL.

Person B had 265 excess pounds. At 6 months out she has only lost 36% of her excess weight. At this rate, she will end up retaining 28% of her excess weight, enough to keep her in the obese category.

See what I mean? Don't compare pounds to pounds, that's like apples and oranges.

Percent of excess weight lost: pounds lost divided by total excess pounds
Use a BMI of 25 as a goal weight

On track to lose it all is 25% lost after 2 months, 50% after 6 months, and 80% at one year.

Please note: These are averages. Your mileage may vary.

 

[JackieOnLine]

math! seriously, I'm glad people like you know how it works and y'all can help reassure people.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

math! seriously, I'm glad people like you know how it works and y'all can help reassure people.

That's why we need to stop screwing around with our kids' brains and go back to teaching OLD math.

 

[Txkat]

So is 18 mo. the timeline used for success @ 100% of excess weight?

 

[southernlady]

So is 18 mo. the timeline used for success @ 100% of excess weight?

As with everything, each of us are different but IN general, LW's are usually a normal weight by 18 months.

 

[DSRIGGS]

When I get home to my PC where I have the file saved I will have to check my tracker to see when I got to my target weight which I think was 195. If I remember correctly I think I was there in 12 months or less but I malabsorb more than others.

As Liz said, we are all different so it is hard to give a hard date for when one should expect to be at goal.... But as Dr k said 2 years is often the bottom of the curve.

FYI at 21 months I am 190 +/- 2 pounds and 6 months ago I was around 175 (way too skinny.. 190 is still scrawny but much better)

 

[Txkat]

The reason I was asking is that Southern Lady's original post used the term " on track to lose yada yada yada percent of her weight". To get that number, you need to define the length of time the weigh loss is expected to take. That's all.

 

[southernlady]

The reason I was asking is that Southern Lady's original post used the term " on track to lose yada yada yada percent of her weight". To get that number, you need to define the length of time the weigh loss is expected to take. That's all.

Actually not my post, just copied from www.dsfacts.com and written by another DS vet.

Most lightweights do reach normal BMI by 18-24 months. My husband and I both reached normal BMI before the end of the first year. Mine was in 7 months, my husband in 8 months.

 

[Txkat]

Yeah, I'll be at 100% somewhere right around 6 mo, if my weight keeps moving at the rate of the last month.

 

[DBmom23]

That's awesome--congratulations!

 

[Charris]

Yeah, I'll be at 100% somewhere right around 6 mo, if my weight keeps moving at the rate of the last month.

I hope I can loose 100% but I am not sure I will. Sad thing is I only had 100 to loose. If I hadn't got sick and gained almost 60 pounds on the TPN I could have made it I was 10 pounds away from it. We will see Dr. K thinks I can still get there by the end of the year which is in Oct. I will be 24 months Oct 30. I'm where Dr. K would like me to be which is 30 pounds over having a normal BMI. That's quite a bit in my mind.

 

[more2adore]

I was complaining about this on one of the FB groups the other day, heh. Even though I've lost a ton, it's up in the air whether I'll get to exactly 50% EWL post-surgery by 6 months, and seeing that in the calculator was stressing me out. I have about 20 pounds to go to make it and a little over a month to do it.

Of course, I wasn't expecting to even be able to make my goal weight (250) with just the sleeve, and my weight loss has been better than I expected. So I'll just have to remember that!

 

[newwomanin2015]

It's not POUNDS, it's PERCENTAGES!
by Carolyn M.
Two people, both 6 months post-op. One has lost only 63 pounds and feels bad about her "slow" weight loss. The other has lost 96 pounds and thinks she's doing great.

They are both wrong.

Person A had only 105 excess pounds, so she has already lost 60% of her excess weight. She is actually ahead of the game at 6 months out and is on track to lose it ALL.

Person B had 265 excess pounds. At 6 months out she has only lost 36% of her excess weight. At this rate, she will end up retaining 28% of her excess weight, enough to keep her in the obese category.

See what I mean? Don't compare pounds to pounds, that's like apples and oranges.

Percent of excess weight lost: pounds lost divided by total excess pounds
Use a BMI of 25 as a goal weight

On track to lose it all is 25% lost after 2 months, 50% after 6 months, and 80% at one year.

Please note: These are averages. Your mileage may vary.

I saw this before having the surgery, only thought the BMI was a little higher. Anyway, this is why I check where my percentage is and why I feel nervous about not losing in over a month because am only at 21 percent and it has been three months. I have to lose 280 to get to BMI of 25 and do not have time for my body to be taking a one month break in action. I would be so mad if only at 36 % at 6 months.

 

[southernlady]

I saw this before having the surgery, only thought the BMI was a little higher. Anyway, this is why I check where my percentage is and why I feel nervous about not losing in over a month because am only at 21 percent and it has been three months. I have to lose 280 to get to BMI of 25 and do not have time for my body to be taking a one month break in action. I would be so mad if only at 36 % at 6 months.

The ORIGINAL written by Carolyn M was for a 25 BMI, I know cause I have a copy of it on my computer from 2010. The one on there now has been edited by the current tech people of the site who bought it about 3 years ago.

 

[VDLT]

Does this apply to all bariatric surgeries? If so can someone tell me if my numbers are right? Math is certainly not my forte...

I am 196 pounds now, going from band to sleeve on Wednesday. With band I reached 150 at my lowest and stayed there quite a bit. Slowly made it to 162-165 and stayed there until 2 years ago when i got unfilled so now back to 196.

According to BMI tables a 25 BMI at 5 feet is 128 (HA!). So 196-128 is 68 pounds excess weight.
So I should shoot to be:

179 lbs at 2 months (196-17)
162 lbs at 6 months (196-34)
156 lbs at 1 year (196-54)