Newbie

Hello fellow Realizers :) 
Just a quick note to thank you for sharing your journey and experiences.  I was banded May 25th, 2010 and have benefitted greatly from all your words of wisdom.  Also, I have lost a total of 20 pounds since surgery a week ago and am wondering if I should be alarmed?

I wouldn't be alarmed at all.  I lost alot of weight in the beginning because of the liquid diet myself.  It did slow down a bit after I started re-introducing real food back to my system and sometimes the weight loss completely stalls for a bit. I just have to re-adjust my routine or my diet to get on the losing side again.
Its a crazy roller coaster sometimes but all very much worth it.

Best wishes to you!
Leslie

Thank you Leslie, I am definitely ready to move to the next diet stage and can see why a weight loss slow down would happen (I am looking forward to cream of wheat for the first time in my life).  I see my surgeon tomorrow for my 10 day post op visit and hope to be cleared to move to the next diet stage.  I'm looking forward to learning how to use this new tool, Jaimie

 Each person loses at a different pace, depends on your starting weight as well. I lost 50 pounds in 4 weeks, but I started at over 450 pounds so that percentage was considered very normal. Its a journey, some start with a big loss, others are steady losers etc, in the end, as long as you use this tool, you will be successful. 20 pounds is a good start for you!

Thank you for sharing your experience, it certainly does seem to be highly individual and I will keep that in mind as I'm moving forward (I expect my weight loss will level out once I being the full liquid phase).  I'm glad to have found this site and look forward to using this tool to its maximum, Jaimie

It’s like Déjà vu all over again … Many compare their lost to someone else’s, and get discouraged. The amount of weight lost is affected by many factors. Everyone loses weight at different rates. It has to do with age, gender, one’s weight, exercise, etc.. A 10 pound lost to one person could be as affected as a 40 pound lost to another. Think of it this way: If a 400-pound person loses 40 pounds; a 300-pound person loses 30 pounds, a 200-pound person loses 20 pounds, and a 100-pound person loses 10 pounds – the 400-pound person didn’t necessarily lose more weight than the others. All three lost 10% of their body weight. 

 

And sometimes it is not the number of pounds that someone loses in a specified period of time that is important. Remember, if you are toning up muscle – your weight loss may seem to have slowed (or stopped), when in fact you are replacing fat with muscle. Muscle is heavier then fat. Someone weighing 200 pounds with a body fat percentage of 25 is carrying around 50 pounds of extra fat. That same person weighing 200 pounds with 10 percent body fat would be carrying only 20 pounds of fat. So it’s not the number that is important.

 

Remember there are other “scales" you can use to monitor your success: your constant hunger reduction (eliminated); reduced clothing size; increase energy; re-familiarizing yourself to body-parts unseen for years (errr… toes) ; “common" activity becoming easier (walking, climbing steps), just feeling good about yourself; sleeping better (reduced snoring); the mirror; better medical exam results (lower cholesterol and/or blood pressure); etc.

                    

Finally, we are a generation of instantaneous results, however remember we didn’t put all the weight on at once, it took years. So don’t you think losing it would take just as long? This isn't one of those miracle instantaneous weight loss programs. Those types of programs always fail. This is a way of life. Plus in all my years of losing weight I’ve come too realized with instantaneous weight lost comes instantaneous weight gain.

 

Nowhere does any of the literature state you will lose x amount of weight in x days. Think LONG TERM. That’s what I am doing. My new outlook is  “Slow and steady wins the race".  Even if it take me over 5 years to lose all the weight I want to, I know in the long run I will be happy and healthier. My doctor firmly believes the slower you lose weight, the better chance you have of keeping it off. My doctor reminded me that each pound I gained took time to put on, and it’s going to take some time to lose those same pounds. Try to remind yourself that even if I lost only 1 pound per week, in year’s time I’d be 52 pounds lighter.

 

Be proud of your lost !!

I hope this helped !!