Dr Zanna Murfitt answers your questions

Weight loss after bariatric surgery - What is normal?

PART 1

So you’ve had bariatric surgery and your weight has started to decrease – fabulous! But there are no doubt some questions on your mind:

• How much weight should I be losing and what is “normal”
• Why does my weight vary so much from day to day?
• I know I have lost weight, but how come I just don’t feel like I’ve lost all that much?

These are all great questions and you will probably be driving yourself nuts trying to find the answer. So I’m going to clarify these for you a bit – well, sort of. You see, there is no “normal” and there is no standard set of outcomes that we can expect for everyone. We are all very different. From our genetic make-up, life experiences, environment, right down to our personalities – we are all unique individuals and hence there is no magic formula that will tell us exact answers to these questions. I can however, give you a rough guide as to what to expect post bariatric surgery from a weight perspective and this will hopefully help you to set some realistic health goals.

So how much weight should I lose and at what rate?

Firstly, there are many types of bariatric surgery and your weight loss trajectory will vary depending on the type of surgery you have had. Weight loss following a lap band is typically very gradual compared to weight loss following a sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass. Having said that, those that have had revisional bariatric surgery (eg. gastric bypass after having had a lap band) will tend to lose weight at a slower rate than those having a gastric bypass as a primary procedure. The total amount of weight lost is also variable and is generally more with a gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy compared to a lap band or intra-gastric balloon. Even though this is both confusing and at times frustrating, the point I want to emphasise is that it doesn’t really matter how much weight you lose or how quickly you lose it. Everybody’s weight loss journey is unique and individual. There is no right or wrong. What matters most is that you don’t compare yourself to others and that you focus on your own journey.

- Dr Zanna Murfitt | Medical Practitioner with a special interest in Bariatric Medicine