It's not POUNDS, it's PERCENTAGES!

[southernlady]

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)

While it applies to ALL surgeries, it's not an exact science. YOUR body will do what it wants. Just do your best. And after your surgery, STAY off the scale except for doctor appts for the first 3 months.

 

[VDLT]

Thank you. I just thought it was a good tool in keeping an eye on things to see if I am on track. It certainly seems feasible which is actually a relief so glad I saw this post

 

[LindaDarnell]

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 know this is an old post but Im purposely bumping it bc so many of us newbies need to read this. We get frustrated with what we perceive as our slow rate of weight loss, especially those who were revisions. Viewing the weight loss from this perspective makes alot of sense.

 

[writegirl]

I'm glad you bumped it. I read it months ago, but honestly had forgotten about it--nice reminder and much appreciated.

 

[galaxygrrl]

I thought what @southernlady wrote really helped me thing about this

This chart might help. (and notice, these are not by pounds but percentages)!
2 weeks - 5-10%
6 weeks - 10-15%
3 mos - 20-30%
6 mos - 45-55%
12 mos - 60-70%
18 mos - 75-85%
​

I'm 89% down at 10.5 months out.

 

[LindaDarnell]

I thought what @southernlady wrote really helped me thing about this

This chart might help. (and notice, these are not by pounds but percentages)!
2 weeks - 5-10%
6 weeks - 10-15%
3 mos - 20-30%
6 mos - 45-55%
12 mos - 60-70%
18 mos - 75-85%
​

I'm 89% down at 10.5 months out.

This is very helpful!!! Thanks for sharing

 

[writegirl]

I thought what @southernlady wrote really helped me thing about this

This chart might help. (and notice, these are not by pounds but percentages)!
2 weeks - 5-10%
6 weeks - 10-15%
3 mos - 20-30%
6 mos - 45-55%
12 mos - 60-70%
18 mos - 75-85%
​

I'm 89% down at 10.5 months out.

This is awesome--thank you!

 

[bertgamble2001]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but it seems the proper place to check my math.

My weight on surgery day was 225 with a BMI of 35.2. I will hit “normal“ weight at 159 for a BMI of 24.9. My weight today is 198 for a 27 pound loss. 27/66 = 40.9%. Does this mean I have lost 40% of my excess weight? That seems too much of a percentage for such a short time so my math is likely off.

My goal is 125 so 27/100 should be 27% of goal weight achieved? Seems too good to be true.

 

[southernlady]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but it seems the proper place to check my I'm
My weight on surgery day was 225 with a BMI of 35.2. I will hit “normal“ weight at 159 for a BMI of 24.9. My weight today is 198 for a 27 pound loss. 27/66 = 40.9%. Does this mean I have lost 40% of my excess weight? That seems too much of a percentage for such a short time so my math is likely off.

My goal is 125 so 27/100 should be 27% of goal weight achieved? Seems too good to be true.

Bumping old threads is loved around here. Means people are reading them.
I'm not really strong on percentages. I’m fine with 10% or 25% but anything else just gives my brain the heebeejeebees. Hopefully one of the members who are strong in math will show up.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but it seems the proper place to check my math.

My weight on surgery day was 225 with a BMI of 35.2. I will hit “normal“ weight at 159 for a BMI of 24.9. My weight today is 198 for a 27 pound loss. 27/66 = 40.9%. Does this mean I have lost 40% of my excess weight? That seems too much of a percentage for such a short time so my math is likely off.

My goal is 125 so 27/100 should be 27% of goal weight achieved? Seems too good to be true.

Looks good to me.

starting weight - goal weight = excess weight
225 - 159 = 66

weight lost so far / weight loss goal = percentage of excess weight lost to date
27 / 66 = 40.9%

A few things:

•I think that, around here, you’re a lightweight. You want to lose a TOTAL of 66 pounds. For some members, getting within 66 pounds of “normal” bmi, would be a HUGE win. The charts tell me I could stand to lose another +/- 40#. OTOH, the charts are no longer considered a good measurement, AND, even as she was dying, my mother never weighed that little. (Nor did I, fresh out of Army Badic Training.)

•With “smaller” numbers, the percentages are going to be bigger. (Like, if I make a $10,000 contribution to a candidate and Elon Musk does, too. My contribution as a PERCENTAGE of my net worth is gigantic. His is too tiny to calculate. But, either way, it’s ten grand.)

•Weight loss is fastest at the beginning.

•While many people DO get to their goal, not everyone does. If that happens to “a lightweight,” the percentages will, again, make it look like it’s a bigger “failure” than expected. I CAN say, “Oh! No! I only lost 83% of my excess weight; I’m a failure.” OR, I can say, “I dropped 23 BMI points*. And I’ve kept it off for almost 17 years.

•Try to not get crazy.



*23 BMI point loss can take a 5’7” person from around 275# to about 130#. IMMENSE improvement.

( DianaCox will now, please, correct my math.)

 

[bertgamble2001]

Looks good to me.

starting weight - goal weight = excess weight
225 - 159 = 66

weight lost so far / weight loss goal = percentage of excess weight lost to date
27 / 66 = 40.9%

A few things:

•I think that, around here, you’re a lightweight. You want to lose a TOTAL of 66 pounds. For some members, getting within 66 pounds of “normal” bmi, would be a HUGE win. The charts tell me I could stand to lose another +/- 40#. OTOH, the charts are no longer considered a good measurement, AND, even as she was dying, my mother never weighed that little. (Nor did I, fresh out of Army Badic Training.)

•With “smaller” numbers, the percentages are going to be bigger. (Like, if I make a $10,000 contribution to a candidate and Elon Musk does, too. My contribution as a PERCENTAGE of my net worth is gigantic. His is too tiny to calculate. But, either way, it’s ten grand.)

•Weight loss is fastest at the beginning.

•While many people DO get to their goal, not everyone does. If that happens to “a lightweight,” the percentages will, again, make it look like it’s a bigger “failure” than expected. I CAN say, “Oh! No! I only lost 83% of my excess weight; I’m a failure.” OR, I can say, “I dropped 23 BMI points*. And I’ve kept it off for almost 17 years.

•Try to not get crazy.



*23 BMI point loss can take a 5’7” person from around 275# to about 130#. IMMENSE improvement.

( DianaCox will now, please, correct my math.)

The 66 pounds only gets me to the top of normal. I need to go 34 pounds past that to the bottom of normal so it will be a total of 100 pounds to see if I can get my needed result.