How Much Weight Can I Lose With Gastric Sleeve?

It is the first question most people ask, and a fair one. The honest answer is that nobody can tell you an exact number before surgery. What we can share is what large studies found on average, why people end up in different places, and which parts of the outcome you can influence.

What the research shows

Weight loss after bariatric surgery is often reported as "excess weight loss": the share of the weight above a healthy weight for your height that is lost. Two randomized trials followed people for five years after a sleeve gastrectomy.

• In the SLEEVEPASS trial in Finland, people who had a sleeve lost on average 49% of their excess weight at five years.
• In the SM-BOSS trial in Switzerland, people who had a sleeve lost on average 61% of their excess BMI at five years.

These are averages across many people. Some lost more, some lost less, and some regained part of the weight over time. That is why we never promise a number, and why a surgeon looks at your own situation at your consultation.

Why results differ from person to person

• Your starting weight and your health, including conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
• Your age, sex, sleep, stress and some medicines.
• How closely you follow the eating stages, protein targets and vitamins after surgery.
• Regular movement, built up week by week.
• Staying in touch with your care team, especially in the first two years.

The first months and later years

Weight usually comes off fastest in the first months after surgery, then more slowly. Many people reach their lowest weight within the first one to two years. After that, the work is about keeping the habits that help, and asking for support early if the scale starts to move back up.

Health, not only weight

For many people the goals are not only a number on the scale. Changes in blood sugar, blood pressure, sleep apnea, joint pain and energy matter too, and they differ from person to person as well. Your surgeon and your family doctor follow these with you.

What to ask at your consultation

• Which procedure suits my health and goals, and why?
• What do studies show for people with a starting point like mine?
• What does follow-⁠up look like in the first year, and after that?