Emotional Day

I have lost 34 lbs since surgery on 9/10/12 which was 9 weeks ago and before I get into why I’m really posting let me say that I’ve never lost 34 lbs in 9 weeks in my life.  I understand logically that is a lot of weight in a short period of time.

 

However, my emotionally side is SO FRUSTRATED.  I read all these other posts of people losing 50 lbs in 2 months, 70 lbs in 3 months and here I am hanging around 34 lbs.    Logically I understand that I’m not supposed to compare myself against others and everyone is different… I GET THAT but I don’t FEEL that…  why is my weight loss so slow?  

 

I’m just having an emotional day and thought I would post…

hang in there is what ive been told.  i have only lost 10lbs since oct.16th.  just stick with it and dont give up.

I'm a week after you and I've only lost 28lbs.  Just had my check up yesterday and was told that it was fine.  Did you lose quite a bit before surgery?  I lost 27lbs beforehand and was told that may be a reason why too.  Honestly, I think it's just different bodies.  I don't have as much to lose as some others and I think my body just likes to hang on to my weight.  Hang in there.

I'm sorry that you are having a bad day. I'm going to copy and paste a post that I made earleir this month about losing slow (or more slowly than you would like, actually) Please try to read it!

 

I was a 'relative' lightweight going into surgery at 205 (40 pounds lost pre-op). At my 3 week checkup I had lost 9 pounds. Geeezzzz!! I lost more than 3 pounds a week many weeks BEFORE I had surgery. At this appointment my surgeon told me to expect a 2-3 pound a week average weight loss. I almost cried . "I had surgery for THIS???"

Well, he was right.....and I reached my original goal of 140 in 5 months. If you go to my profile and click on my "Health Tracker" and then the tab that says "Body" there is a graph. I was pretty good about entering my weights. If you want to see actual dates and weights on those dates look at the upper right of the graph. You will see 08/11/2008 (the date I started this process) to 11/11/2009 (the last entry that I made), just above that click on the little box. That will show you every entry that I made.

In the first few weeks after surgery, you also have to lose all the pounds gained during surgery. They pump you full of fluids! I came home from the hospital weighing 11 pounds more than when I went in. I have always weighed myself every day, fat or not. I still do today and every day since surgery. I was OK with not losing every day or even every week because I knew that it was normal. Not that I liked not losing......but it didn't make me crazy. If you are going to freak out then don't weigh yourself every day!

As a final though (in this post, LOL) try to remember that this is a process, not a race. If you follow your plan then you WILL lose. I know that it is hard, especially right after surgery to remember this, but try. Many will lose much more per week on average if you start with a higher BMI or didn't have a large weight loss before surgery and others won't. Just remember, if you can, that it will happen.....HONEST!

I was a slow loser too. I started out at 234 at my surgery date, so I was losing slower than most, but eventually I caught up. I'm almost a year out and I still havent reached 100 lbs lost since surgery. Some people have lost that at 6 months! I doubt I'll get to 100 lost by a year out, but thats okay. everyones journey is different. Just keep following your plan and eventually you'll get there and before you know it you'll be at goal!

It took me 2 years to lose weight until I got to a healthy (normal range) BMI.  I had a very long plateau after the first six months (about 3 months) and even had a re-gain of 20 lbs in the first year.  Then, after I realized that I had to do something or I'd have more re-gain, I cut out the old habits that were creeping back in (emotional eating, eating sweets/junk food) and the weight loss started up again.  I have great restriction and eat a varied diet and get regular exercise at my job and have just really changed my entire life.  

Don't worry, as long as you stick to your plan, do some form of exercise (I lost the first 100 lbs by walking around my neighborhood or at the mall when the weather was bad), keep up with your supplements and fluid intake and you will lose, however the pace.  

To echo another poster, this is not a race, its forever.  Just picture yourself as the tortoise.  You will beat the hare and win the race...and for me, really came out of my shell.  

Mallisa

Often what you see as weight loss includes pre-surgery loss as well.  Don't panic,  it will come off.

You are doing awesome!!  I have stopped weighing myself everyday.  I try to wait and get on the scale every day couple days.  I am trying to focus on getting through each day making good choices and exercising.  I can feel myself slipping toward obsessing about how much I weigh, how much I have lost and how much I have to go.  But I am fighting that, I am trying to focus on my improving health.  It is wicked hard, but I keep trying.  There are lots of good things happening in your body, that you can't see on the scale!

 

Thank you everyone for the posts, I do feel better today.   Some days I feel like "I got this, I'm in my groove" and other day I send myself all sorts of messages about how I'm a failure.  I am so afraid of failing and I will be the only person in this world who has surgery and doesn't loose the weight.   I stepped on the scale this morning and lost 1 lb so it was a message to my brain that this is working and I need to stop being so hard on myself.

 

I have weighed myself every morning before my shower for YEARS... but I think I need to rethink this if I keep telling myself bad messages...

Thank you everyone!!

That is about 4 pounds a week! Looks to me like the pounds are falling off of you! It is really hard to compare your weight loss with others, some people on here are larger than others and may lose the weight faster, Others slower.  It took me two years to lose 130 pounds.

Be proud of your self you are making great progress!