Repost: So, you think you are losing too slowly?

I posted this back in early November when they were lots of posts (like today) about not losing quickly enough; so her it is again!

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!

YES! And may I also add:

Someone will always lose faster. It doesn't mean there is something fundamentally flawed with YOUR weight loss.

Inches lost count too.

Count the NSVs. This is a more enjoyable journey if it's not all about the scale, 24/7.

Thanks for sharing again! 

 Well said!

Hopefully you won't mind if I add my own little "soapbox" item onto this.

There is a danger in focusing so intently on the numbers (the numbers on the scale, the numbers on your clothing tags, your BMI number). The danger is that you will be so focused on how much you are losing and how fast you are losing, that you will fail to really understand WHY you are losing and will fail to fully embrace the new way of eating (rather than post-op dieting)... and if that happens, you will likely spend a lot of time fighting regain once you lose your caloric malabsorption and lose some of your pouch restriction.  It doesn't really matter how much you lose or how fast you lose it if you end up gaining a bunch of it back a year or two down the road.  Yeah, if you are still in the losing phase, I know what you're thinking..."I won't be one of the ones who gains my weight back... I have come too far to ever go back to where I was!"... but almost everyone who has this surgery says that... and a fair number of people do gain some of their weight back.

So instead of focusing on what the scale says and how fast it changes -- which will mean nothing (or very little) when you are three or four or five years out -- focus on how well you are (or are not) doing with making healthy food and exercise choices.  Those things will matter five years out .  Those things, not how fast the scale moved, will matter in the long run.

Lora

Great addition to the original post! 

Of course I don't mind!! No one person could possibly say everything that needs being said. That is why we all have something to offer!  Your counseling experience is invaluable. 

Thanks for this re-post!  Needed this

While I appreciate the message, I have accepted I am a 'slow loser'.  I am grateful the scale is going down....however slow that may be.  

That being said, it is hard to swallow that after going through the surgery I am losing as much or less than if I were just doing weigh****chers.  It is more of a struggle to lose than I anticipated, but it is my path.  I fully realize that this is probably because of years of yo-yo dieting as well.  

My expectations were a bit different, but in check.  I have made serious changes to how I feel about food, as well as how I am following my program.  Although I know I shouldn't be focused on the scale, it's just not realistic for me not to want to see the scale move lower.  It's what we are all hoping for.

Thanks for all the words of wisdom, they are helpful when trying to reconcile what needs adjusting....which is mostly my expectations.