We can talk about upper limits all we’d like, but that doesn’t apply to the OP-- she’s not even 100 lbs over the median healthy weight range for her height (which my understanding was that the 100 lb mark was the distinction made by surgeons about whether or not to approve surgery- hence you see people sometimes trying to gain a little bit of weight to qualify {this is exactly what another friend of mine did, who was about the OP’s weight- gained 30 lbs so she could get the surgery}).
She’s also in Europe. I’m 5’7" and 135 and I could loose ten pounds. Americans have let their fat culture impact their judgement.
If she does it now, it will be easier to loose 90 and look great than if she waits 20 lbs - then she’ll need to loose 110. And you still need to loose it. And you’ll still plateau.
Do you mean you could lose 10 pounds and be healthier/sexier/whatever? Or do you mean you could lose it and not keel over? Because 135 at 5’7" is already on the low end of the healthy BMI range - 125 would be bordering dangerously underweight.
I agree that being surrounded by obesity changes perspective, but I don’t think it’s great to fall into the “thinner is always better” mentality.
Like many others, I’d be more comfortable talking you into surgery if I had some idea what you’ve already tried, first. Have you gotten a thorough medical workup to look for issues like thyroid problems? Have you tried changing your eating habits and exercising? I know you’ve said you cook at home, but what’s your portion size? Have you tried reducing them? Have you tried having vegetables take up 2/3 the volume of your meals? Have you tried working out first thing in the morning instead of afternoons or evenings? (For some reason, that one single change in timing makes a HUGE difference for me.)
The thing is, the surgery may help you initially, but if you want the weight loss to be permanent, you REALLY ARE going to have to be disciplined and create healthy eating and exercise habits for yourself. You’ll need to incorporate that stuff into your daily lifestyle. If you’re not able to do that, for whatever reason, not only will the surgery not help for very long, but it’ll give you some serious health problems later down the road. You can’t just rearrange your guts without there being consequences, and eating too much, or the wrong things, could give you some serious side effects/health issues.
I get it- Americans are fatter. I’m not pretending the OP is some dainty and delicate waif of a woman, she’s certainly overweight- no argument there. My point is simply that we’re not talking about someone who is 350+ lbs, unable to move. This is someone who- by her own accord- runs 6 miles a week and exercises an hour a day. She is not debilitated by her weight or at the high end of a weight scale, disqualified from surgery because of it. So, the side discussion of what’s too fat for surgery, while certainly an interesting aspect of the discussion, doesn’t necessarily apply to the OP. In fact, the problem she may face is that she isn’t “fat enough” to get the surgery.
Like I said before, if you are a healthy person (ie no thyroid disorder, etc.) and you eat less and exercise more, you will lose weight. Sure, she might not be a size 6, but she will lose something. I eat 1800 calories a day and don’t exercise, I’m still shedding weight. If the OP is running and working out every day, while eating a healthy balanced diet, and is still not losing weight, she needs to see a doctor (and I don’t mean for just for WLS).
As others have said, odds are, she’s probably eating more calories than she realizes. The way to check this is to honestly and openly track everything she eats. Yeah, that’s no fun, but if you get weight loss surgery, this becomes absolutely necessary so you don’t drop dead. If this can’t be done now, she wont be able to do it then either-- and at that point, it very well may become a life or death situation.
A lady I work with has a sister that had gastric bypass surgery a couple years ago.
I met her today.
Apparently she was over 300 pounds and 5"4. Now she is about 110-120.
One of the side effects of this surgery, her sister ( my coworker) told me, was that she now has seizures on a regular basis. Her sister made zero effort to actually lose the weight on her own and had it done.
Whoa, those pictures are NOT of someone who needs gastric bypass. Holy hell!
I realize being overweight is frustrating, but it doesn’t seem to be having a huge negative impact on your physical well-being. Does “luxury” mean, I just want to look better? If so, why not just get liposuctioned and tummy-tucked or something?
ETA: I am losing weight veeeeeeeeeeery slowly through running. I run 15-20 miles a week and I’ve lost MAYBE 5lbs in the year since I began. I’m sure some of it is muscle, but it’s also true that running makes you hungrier and also gives you a great excuse to eat more carbs 
So I wouldn’t necessarily count on 6 miles a week for weight loss. I’m sure you’re healthier from it, though. Like other dopers have said, healthier doesn’t always equal thinner.
121 would be underweight according to my doctor. Diabetes runs in my family. We keep our weight “extra” under control.
125 is no where near dangerously underweight. I’ve spent years at 110 being a perfectly healthy woman according to my doctor. He did want me to gain weight when I was 93 (no eating disorder - depression, anxiety and stress).
I know a woman who looked very much like the OP before her gastric bypass surgery, weightwise, but she was also having some health problems such as pre-diabetes. She now weighs about 125 lbs. one year later. I never thought she would have the discipline to stick to all the dietary restrictions (for example, she was told to quit smoking before the surgery. Days before the surgery was scheduled, she was going around in a panic asking people if there was a way for the doctor to test to see if you have been smoking, because of course she hadn’t quit at all.) So far, so good, though. It probably helps that eating some “wrong” things, like things with a lot of sugar, make her physically ill. That’s a good incentive to avoid those foods.
That can’t be right. That’s almost a pound a day.
Na, it’s right. Doctor told me it’s prob just a huge loss at the start and will level out to something a little more normal-- in fact, it has already started to in the last few days. When you start out quite a bit fat, you lose more up front. Chili fries to salad will have that effect initially 
First, I asked if the OP has any health reasons for desiring this. If her doctor had said “get this or you will die” then I wouldn’t have posted.
Second, do either of you have a cite that high weight actually causes hypertension, as opposed to just being correlated with it? As far as I know they might just be both caused by the same unhealthy behaviors. Heck, **Mama Zappa’**s direct experience (“hypertension getting worse even though the weight is going south”) would indicate otherwise!
Some cites:
Obviously hypertension can occur in the absence of excess weight, and aging is also a contributor: http://www.highbloodpressuremed.com/causes-of-high-blood-pressure-hypertension.html
I also have direct experience in the past where a weight loss improved the blood pressure and allowed a reduction in the medication. My more recent experience (BP higher even though weight is heading south) would be in defiance of an improved diet, though recognizing that due to the arthritic issues, I can’t exercise much now. As I understand it, the main immediate dietary effect on blood pressure is reducing salt and I have never made particular efforts (while dieting) to do that.
So basically it’s a whole complex web of causes and effects; whether the hypertension is directly from the weight, or is a result of inactivity and historical poor eating choices… making changes (however they’re made) to get weight off is nearly always a good first step.
Several folks have weighed in that Maastricht should check with her doctor on making sure there aren’t other issues at play (e.g. thyroid or other hormonal imbalances); I absolutely concur! Hypothyroid is pretty common (I am on meds for that, and it does help peel off a little weight); other issues also as one ages… PCOS should be ruled out though as Maastricht has a young child that may not be a concern. Addressing all that other stuff will certainly help - maybe even enough that the surgery isn’t even worth considering - and will make the surgery / recovery go better if that’s the route she eventually takes.
Yeah, really, those BMI charts are ridiculous. I’m 5’8 and about 125 and am thin but not skinny. That might sound like just a semantic difference, but to me, thin is “not overweight” and skinny is “supermodel weight”. In my 20’s, before I filled out–seriously, for some reason, I hit 30 and suddenly had hips–I did look skinny, but today, with no weight gain, I don’t look skinny. When I was in my early-mid 20’s and also had crazy panic disorder/agoraphobia, yeah, I was skinny at 99 lbs. I’ll cop to that. (…I got better.)
Maastricht, I hope you consult long and hard with your doctor and family about this and seriously think about the major diet and lifestyle changes you’ll need to make. It may sound trite, and mean nothing coming from “a skinny chick” but I think you’re beautiful and it makes me sad that all you can see is “I’m fat.” I wish you luck and strength.
The question is not whether being at the bottom of the BMI range is unhealthy–I’m willing to believe that it’s not–the question is whether being at the top of the normal BMI range is unhealthy. I don’t think there is much evidence that it is.
The second link is just some doctor expostulating without citing any studies. I should make it clear that I know that most doctors think that being fat causes every malady under the sun. This is the view that I am challenging, and it’s surprising how little evidence there is to back it up.
The first cites studies, but the only one that seems relevant is #4, which I can’t seem to view.
Well, no. If it’s caused by inactivity and poor eating choices, then it would seem that the solution is activity and good eating habits, rather than “making changes to get weight off.”
I have 4 friends who have had WLS—3 gastric bypasses and 1 lap band. Not one of them has maintained their loss. They’re each over 300 pounds again and it’s for the very reason people have said. They did not make any of the necessary lifestyle and emotional changes.
The one I feel saddest for is the friend who had the lap band. As someone pointed out, people can be very creative (and stubborn) in their ways to satisfy themselves. She always thought that the threat of “If I eat too much, I will throw up” would be enough to keep her from overeating, so she didn’t even try to do any of the psychological work necessary. Turns out that threat wasn’t enough, but she caused herself such incredible health problems that she has actually had 6 subsequent surgeries to repair things.
The friend who enjoyed her weight loss for the longest time was the one who did a lot of the necessary work—eating before the surgery the way she would need to eat post-surgery, attending groups, etc. Still, life got hard and she turned back to her addiction, and has gained the weight back, and possibly even more.
Being over the top is, and weight creeps up on you. Especially as I’m premenopasual and I know the weight will be harder to loose as my hormonal balance changes.
My Dad and Grandfather both had normal BMIs when diagnosed with type II diabetes - both maintain their blood sugar when being at the low end of the normal range.
But this isn’t about me - its supposed to be about talking Maastricht INTO having gastric bypass. Its awfully nice for people to say “you aren’t that fat!” But apparently, she disagrees.
I’ve been out today, so here I am back.
It isn’t thyroid related; I’ve gotten tested for that twice. I just eat too much of my healthy homecooked meals, and I’m dreadful at portion control. There’s a little but very controlling little woman in me that wants to eat untill she’s no longer hungry, damnit! A gastric bypass is very good for volume eaters like me.
This isn’t a fad idea. I’ve thought this over for more then five years, as do most people that have the procedure done.
The documentary Surgical Slimmers seems indeed a very good documentary. It did tell me something I didn’t know yet, about the gastric pacer. Unfortunately, it is meant for people who graze, and are less then 30 pounds overweight.
Thanks to all those that complimented me, but I know I look allright. Overweight, but otherwise nice. I don’t even think I will look that much nicer when I’ve lost weight. My body will, sure, but I know from when I was thinner that my face will become thin and long and look, in fact, less pretty then it does now.
The biggest reason I want this surgery is that I am so sick and tired of being overweight, with all the expected problems, and knowing I ought to do something about it and not doing it. Or doing it, fanatically or, halfheartedly, not succeeding anyway in the long run. It spoils my relationship with food for me, it spoils my self esteem, it spoils my feeling I am in control of my life and my body.
It makes me disappointed in life and in myself. In the thread I started back a year ago, ppbth summed up my feelings exactly on what the most likely outcome of muddling on would be:
It is that way for me too, and I am fed up with it. I don’t want to wait untill I’ve found the magical combination of aides and effort and change in habits that might work for me, maybe, someday.
If this surgery didn’t exist, I would probably become one of those people that eat healthy, but too much, but nevertheless accept my body. That would at least put an end to that cycle of trying and failing and getting fed up and feeling I should try again, harder.
However, the surgery does exist, and it takes exactly the kind of courage and discipline I DO have. Which is the courage to take a risky and controversial decision, suffer pain and perhaps complications and an enforced diet for the better part of a year, change my relation ship with food in a medically enforced way, and pay a heap of money for it out of my own pocket.
All that, I can do. Diet on willpower I can’t.
So today I have signed the documents with the hospital and I made it final. My surgery date is July 2. Thanks all!
What happens after the year is up and your stomach starts to possibly get bigger again and you can find creative ways to overeat? Is the diet going to install some kind of willpower that you don’t have now?
It sounds like you didn’t want opinions anyways, but good luck to you. I hope that you find the miracle that you seem to be looking for.