Why am I NOT loosing like YOU?!?!?!?

I had my surgery on 11/19/03 and have lost exactly 40 lbs. I've been at the same weight now for over 3 weeks and have barely lost anything that I would call inches.....I actually think that the tiny difference on the tape measure should be considered "human error". I started my journey at 247 lbs. at 5' 6". Anyone out there about my size...how much have you lost so far? I know not to compare myself with everyone else and that we all lose differently but I'm feeling bad that I'm not losing just a little more....Please respond. THANKS. P.S. Good luck to each of you through your journey...by reading here...I see that some of you are doing an AMAZING job.

I'm thinking it has something to do with you starting out at a lower weight. That's all I can think of! How's your eating, exercise, water, vitamins, etc? Kristen

Hi, my lap RNY was 12/1/03 and I am -31 pounds since surgery. I also started at 248 but am 5'2. The only thing I can think of that may be slowing me down is the fact that I also lost 26 pounds prior to surgery and maybe my body is now trying to catch up....don't know. I wi**** were faster, but Praise God for the weight lost!

I am 5'6", and started out at 232 lbs. I had my surgery on Nov 21, 2003. I have not lost an inch or a single lb in three weeks myself.. I have not done anything different I am just stuck.. My mind says dont eat but I know that is not the answer.. I am choosing, I started today, to drink an extra 20 oz of water each day and I exercised an extra half an hour. I am also going to eat some high fiber foods tommorrow beans, bean salad, refried beans lots of fiber see what happenes.. Widh me Luck!!!!!!! Tricia 232/173/ I want to be 135

I noticed a big difference when I started stirring whey protien into my foods, - yogurt, chili, cottage cheese etc. Each scoop adds 25 g's of protien to your dish. The increase in protien broke a 2 week plateau for me. Good luck. PS: I got mine from www.allthewhey.com Sheri Byrne Poughkeepsie, NY

my surgery was 11/19/03. i'm 5'6" starting weight was 258 now i'm 213 i also slowed down the last few weeks. i wish i knew what i could do too. good luck lisa

Hi, I can totally relate, I am loosing very slowly also, 1.5 pounds in the past three weeks and I can't figuer out why. I am only down 48.5 pounds and it's just discouraging when you see some people who have lost twice that. Also my hair is falling out Ahhhhh! Does anyone know when it will stop? My hair is so thin it's scary. Darlene RYN 308/260.5

Sounds like we're all pretty much in the same boat. I'm 5'7" and weighed in at 243.5 on the day of surgery 11/11/03. I've been at 202 pounds for a couple of weeks now. My goal weight is 160, so I have at least 42 more pounds to go. Maybe when spring and summer come we'll do better. The heat will make us sweat, and the days will be longer so that we can be outside and active more.

I'm told it's because of starting at a relatively low weight. I started at 252 (11/4 surgery) and I've lost just over 50 lbs. Of course I'm only 5'2" but my dr. still says I'm right on track for my size. But believe me, I'd kill to be about 70 lbs. down right now! We have to learn patience ... now!!

I am so glad to see this topic raised. I had my surgery on 11/11/03. I started at 263. I'm 5'4" and 51. At my 3 month checkup, I had lost only 41 pounds, with only 6 lbs lost in the third month. I lost 30 lbs the first 6 weeks. Since my checkup on 2/11, I've actually gained a couple of pounds from 222 to 224. One of my problems, I think, is that I was slow to get started with exercise because I lost a lot of blood during and over the first week after the surgery and felt terribly weak for about a month following surgery. Then I got the worst flu I've ever had over the holidays. I'm now walking 2 miles at least 4 days a week and just this week I've started adding weights. I just read someone on the main board say that their nutritionist said that to lose weight consistently you need to do 5 hrs/wk aerobics and 2 hrs/wk weightlifting. My doctor says my weight loss may also be slower because I'm older but I've noticed a lot of people my age or older losing more quickly. I'm convinced that another issue for me is that I was living the low-carb lifestyle (40g or less carbs/day) for more than two years before the surgery and couldn't lose weight. What I didn't do then or now was get down to 20g carbs/day, but this is my next step. I know I eat less than 1000 cals a day, though I was only eating around 1500 cals for two years preceding the surgery. I'm a little frustrated with this eating/weight loss situation because I didn't realize before the surgery that I would basically be required to focus on "dieting" the rest of my life. I define dieting as counting calories and/or carb grams. I was under the impression that just following the rules of the pouch -- i.e. 5-6 meals a day at 2-3 oz. each with an emphasis on high quality protein -- would take care of itself. Now I'm wondering whether there's something else going on with me that makes it more difficult for me than others to lose weight, but if there is, nobody seems to have any ideas. The only other problem I do know I have is an issue with chronic inflammation that has show up through high numbers on c-reactive protein blood tests. Having said all this, I will say that I feel better than I have in 10 years, and I look good, too. I'm now wearing a size 16, down from a 22. Most important, I'm healthier than I've been in a long time and I can exercise, which I couldn't before. Still, I want to lose most of the extra weight, even if I only get down to 160-170, so I'm going to keep trying to figure it out. If any of you who are struggling as I am at this early stage with plateaus and slow weight loss do in fact come up with approaches that work for you, I hope we can stay in touch on this message board and support each other. That would be wonderful. I've been feeling a little discouraged about this and I'm so glad to know there are others in this group who at least can empathize with what I'm dealing with. Best wishes to all of you. Kathy