What’s The Average Monthly Weight Loss After Gastric Sleeve?
What is gastric sleeve surgery? And how quickly do you lose weight after a gastric sleeve procedure?
Gastric sleeve surgery is a laparoscopic feature that removes 70% to 80% of the stomach. What’s left behind looks like a tube, a stomach pouch, or a “sleeve,” in part of the stomach.
This is a very effective weight-loss procedure and creates hormonal changes in the body that curb hunger. The hormonal changes will last for about a year. The small tube of the stomach begins to limit the amount of food the body takes in.
This leads us to some additional — and oft-asked — questions: How quickly do you lose weight after gastric sleeve? What’s the average monthly weight loss after gastric sleeve?
To answer these questions and the one we posed at the top of the piece — How quickly do you lose weight after a gastric sleeve procedure? — we need to take a deeper look into the subject.
Let’s do that now, shall we?
How much weight can you lose from gastric sleeve surgery?
As we’ve suggested, patients often ask about how much weight they can lose with gastric sleeve surgery. It’s important to note that it varies from patient to patient. Some patients can expect to lose about 25% to 60% of their excess fat.
However, there are factors that impact how much you lose, including diet and exercise, lifestyle, and how committed you are to changing old habits that need to be broken.
During the first month, patients can expect an average weight loss of up to 25% of their excess weight.
After three months, the percentage of overall excess loss can reach up to 40%. That number increases to 60% after six months.
After 12 months, up to 80% of the excess weight is lost. A laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy had the most consistent long-term weight loss years after surgery.
Losing Weight and Keeping it Off
Remember, the amount of weight loss in gastric sleeve patients depends totally on the person. After any bariatric surgery, you will need to be patient and follow a strict diet plan in tandem with staying active.
Some other things to keep in mind. As you work your way back to a healthy weight, you may at some point post-op begin to exercise and participate in weight training. Since you’ll be building up more muscle at that point, you may actually gain weight for a time.
This is a good place for a reminder that weight is more than just a number; it’s a range, one which may or may not correlate to overall health.
The important thing is to stay in regular contact with your health care team at WeightWise so that we can monitor your progress and make adjustments as necessary based on our evaluations and recommendations.
In fact, our approach to weight management only begins at the surgical stage. What we’ve found through the years is that the best approach is a holistic one that takes into account multiple factors regarding a person’s life, diet, exercise regimen, medications, and more.
Nutrition Options
Speaking of diet and nutrition, WeightWise makes it easy to get the nutrients you need. In particular, we’ve found that protein supplements are an effective and appropriate addition to your post-surgery diet.
Consider high-quality Power Crunch Protein Bars. These are bariatric-friendly products. Each bar contains whey protein and they come in a variety of flavors.
We can also point you in the right direction when it comes to protein drinks and protein shakes.
Here are three additional tips on losing the weight and keeping it off after gastric sleeve surgery:
- Eliminating carbs: carbohydrates poison the fat-burning mechanism and create hunger. This will make you want to eat more, and the fat will have a harder time disappearing!
- Drink the right thing: Say goodbye to sugary, carbonated drinks. Post-surgery, you will need to drink at least 96 ounces of fluid each day. This should be fluid that has no caffeine, carbonation, and contains less than 15 calories per 8 ounces. Water is best!
- Keep moving: Staying active is key to losing weight and keeping it off. After surgery, talk to your doctor about a fitness plan. You will need to take it easy immediately after surgery, but once you are healed up, you should be launching into a mild exercise plan.
Is Gastric Sleeve Right For You?
Gastric sleeve remains a popular option for those seeking weight-loss surgery. As we’ve seen, it can contribute significantly to post-op weight loss. Along with WeightWise’s regimen of follow-up care, it’s also a terrific starting point for many patients struggling with obesity.
As many of you know, obesity in and of itself is a debilitating disease. It can take years off one’s life, and those years can be filled with fatigue, heartburn, low energy, poor sleep, and so much more.
Obesity is implicated in a number of health-related issues, too. These include high blood pressure, sleep apnea, depression, elevated cholesterol levels, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.
The good news is that there are good solutions! Consider a few more statistics. As we write on our Benefits and Risks page, bariatric surgery patients achieve significant survival advantages when compared to the best nonsurgical management of their obesity-related health problems.
For example, multiple studies have confirmed that bariatric surgery patients represent upwards of 89% fewer deaths over a five-year to 25-year period when compared with nonsurgical groups.
What’s more, dozens of morbid obesity-related diseases are either resolved completely or significantly improved post-op when weight loss is maintained. In the experience of many surgeons and their patients, several diseases can show resolution as early as post op day No. 1!
That’s certainly something to look forward to.
Complications and Long-Term Prognosis
There’s no doubt that losing weight is the key to achieving optimal health, wellness, and wellbeing. The decision that each patient faces is: How best to achieve those goals with weight-loss surgery?
More specifically, many patients who research these surgeries on their own or in consultation with their health-care providers come to the conclusion that a gastric sleeve is the way to go.
We must keep in mind that, as with all surgeries, there are benefits and risks to be considered before opting for bariatric surgery. However, complications are rare as is the mortality rate.
We’ve found that about 70% of patients lose half their excess weight and keep it off for at least 10 years. So, in addition to losing weight quickly after gastric sleeve, adjustable gastric band, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, or another surgical procedure, patients tend to keep it off.
Undergoing weight loss surgery is a time for you to rethink your life and take hold of it! Find someone or a group of people that will help be an encouragement for you during this time. Support during your new weight loss journey is one of the key ways to stay successful.
Our highly trained team of bariatric surgeons and other health care professionals at WeightWise understands that you might feel overwhelmed at starting this new lifestyle. Contact us today for information on how you can get started or learn if gastric sleeve surgery is right for you.