Do all Lap Band Patient really lose 30 #'s in the first 6 weeks?

I just wanted to know if I really am some kind of freak? According to my doctor I am only the 2nd of 3500 patients that he has performed surgery on that did not.

No, that is not typical!  1-2 lbs per week with optimal fill level is normal.  Your doctor either has his patients on a very low carb, low calorie diet for the first 6 weeks or is mis-reading the results.

Well that does make me feel a little better, he says that he only cares about fat grams. I am seriously considering finding a new doctor to continue with after my 90 days though. Thanks for your response!

Then I'm number three on the list...I only lost 12-15 lbs!!!

You are not a freak!  What a terrible thing for your doctor to tell you.  Even if it were true, which it is not, negative motivation is not the way to go.Most doctors will tell you to expect 1 to 2 pounds a week.  Now my doc had us on a clear liquid diet the first week and full liquids the second, so yes we did did lose more in the first two weeks.  But even with that he certainly was not expecting 30 pounds in the beginning.  He said 15 for DH and 10 for me.  (More for DH since guys just lose faster - not fair!)

Just keep following your plan and don't worry about how "they" are losing.  Your body will lose the way it wants to.  As long as you are following your eating plan and exercise plan you will be fine in the long run.  Don't worry about schedules.

Wendy

When I told him that I had gotten nervous from the pain, he told me it was because I was too fat, and when I said I thought I was supposed to concentrating on healing and that the weight loss would follow, he said that was the STUPIDEST excuse he had ever heard, and that he had heard quite a few. I know my activity level was way below the usual, and I did fall into a deep depression for few weeks before my follow up. I am really glad I found this sight. I wish I would have found it a bit sooner! Thanks for responding!

Wow, I would look for a new doctor for your followup care!  He obviously has not understanding of pain.  Everyone feels and experiences pain differently and size has nothing to do with it!  On a scale of 1 to 10 what I can tolerate and call a 2 might be an 8 for you.    And yes, you do need to focus on healing during the first few weeks post-op.  If you don't heal properly you'll have all sorts of problems that you don't need.

After surgery you will need to slowly increase your activity.  Add a little bit every day.  You sure don't want to go from nothing to a 60 minute intense workout.  Your body will not appreicate it (ask me how I know LOL).  Now as for only counting fat grams, that just doesn't make sense.  It's very easy to eat low fat and GAIN weight.  We can't focus on one nutrient and ignore the others.  We need to look at protein and carbs too.  We need to get in enough protein, I shoot for 80 - 100 grams a day and we need to limit carbs, especially simple carbs.  Limiting the carbs is important for two reasons: 1. the body loses weight more easily without the carbs 2. carbs want more carbs - eating carbs just makes you more hungry and want more carbs.

I'm so sorry that your doc is being this way.  It sure sounds as if he is misinformed and passing that misinformation along with a good dose of negativity.  See if you can find someone else or at least find a nutritionist specializing in WLS who you can work with.

Wendy

Yes definately not true...everyones body is sooo different. I was banded on Jan 21st and Im down 22...I would love to get to 30 by the 21st of this month but not sure that will happen! How much have you lost?

I only lost 3.5# from the weight I was the morning of surgery at my 6 week follow up last week. I think the one thing that bothers me is that my weight only a week before surgery was 10# more than it was that morning.

I am a slow loser, but I did lose about 30 pounds the first month.  It was ONLY because my doc required me to stay on clear liquids for a full month.  Being as MO as I was and being on clear liquids for a month, it just fell off.  Once I moved on to full liquids and mushies, my weight loss stalled FOR MONTHS!!! 

Don't feel bad at all........once you have really good restriction, you will probably catch up with everyone else! 

By the way, I had surgery to reposition my band with a different surgeon.  His after surgery eating plan was different.  When I went back for my first check up, he was pleased to see that I had lost a few pounds.  He said that MOST of his LapBand patients GAIN weight after surgery because they live off of fattening cream soups in the liquid stage.