One of the big topics when we were researching whether gastric sleeve surgery was right for us was the amount of weight we could expect to lose. We spent countless hours reading through medical websites, blog posts, various calculators, and even Reddit discussions about weight loss expectations after gastric sleeve surgery.
This post is a summary of all the research we did, compiled into one resource that you can refer to if you’re also wondering how much weight you might lose after the procedure.
Understanding Gastric Sleeve Surgery
First, it’s essential to understand what gastric sleeve surgery is and how it works. The gastric sleeve is a bariatric procedure where 80-85% of the stomach is removed. This leaves you with a stomach that’s only 15-20% of its original size. Because your stomach is so much smaller, you won’t be able to eat as much as you used to. Additionally, the remaining part of the stomach is less stretchy, so it doesn’t expand as much when you eat.
Typically, the average stomach can hold 1 to 1.5 liters and can stretch up to 4 liters when eating. After gastric sleeve surgery, your stomach capacity is about 200ml, roughly the size of a banana. This smaller stomach size also means that the part of the stomach that produces the hunger hormone ghrelin is mostly removed. As a result, you may find that you think about food less because you’re not experiencing the same hunger signals. When you do eat, you’re physically limited in how much you can consume. For example, pre-surgery, I might have had a large KFC meal, but now, just one mini fillet is enough to make me feel full.
These two factors—reduced stomach size and decreased hunger—work together to help you consume fewer calories, which puts you in a calorie deficit and leads to weight loss.
Expected Weight Loss After Gastric Sleeve Surgery
On average, you can expect to lose between 60-70% of your excess body weight. Your excess body weight is the weight that puts you above a BMI of 24.9. For example, James is 5’9″, and at the start of this process, he weighed 275 lbs. At a BMI of 24.9, his ideal weight would be 168 lbs. This means James had 107 lbs of excess weight to lose. He can expect to lose between 64 and 75 lbs from the surgery alone, not accounting for any additional exercise or lifestyle changes.
Typical Weight Loss Timeline
Weight loss after gastric sleeve surgery tends to be rapid in the first few months and then gradually slows as you approach your goal weight. Here’s a general timeline based on feedback from people in the 250-300 lb weight range:
- First 3 Months: It is common to lose 30 to 40 pounds.
- 6 Months: Many people have lost around 50% of their excess body weight. For us, with regular workouts, we reached about 66% of our excess weight lost by this point.
- 12 Months: At the one-year mark, most people have lost about 60-70% of their excess body weight.
- 18 to 24 Months: Weight loss tends to slow down, and you’ll need to stay active and continue working out to reach your goals.
Factors That Influence Weight Loss
While the above points provide a general idea of what to expect, the actual weight lost depends on several factors unique to you, such as:
- Starting Weight: The heavier you are, the more weight you’ll lose. Conversely, if you start with a lower BMI, you might lose a higher percentage of your excess weight.
- Commitment to Lifestyle Changes: Gastric sleeve surgery is a tool to help with weight loss, but it’s not a cure-all. Making unhealthy choices can undo many of the benefits of the surgery.
- Metabolism: After gastric sleeve surgery, your body will take a few months to reset your metabolic rate. Factors like age, gender, and genetics will influence how your metabolism functions afterward.
- Post-Surgery Support: Having a support network, whether it’s friends, family, or your healthcare team, is crucial. This support can help you manage the stress of the journey and keep you on track.
- Psychological Factors: Keeping a positive attitude is important. It’s essential to watch out for emotional eating and find healthy ways to deal with it, as certain foods (like sliders) are easy to consume in large amounts and can be high in calories.
Maintaining Weight Loss
While we’re not at the maintenance stage yet, our research suggests that the key to maintaining weight loss includes:
- Sticking to a Healthy Diet
- Regular Exercise
- Staying Hydrated
- Monitoring Progress
- Ongoing Support
We plan to revisit these points when we reach the maintenance stage and possibly share more insights in a future blog post.
Gastric sleeve surgery can lead to significant weight loss, but it’s important to treat it as a tool to help you live a healthier lifestyle, not a cure-all. It should be viewed as part of an overall weight loss journey. For us, it was the best decision we ever made, and it’s only been five months!