How do you know if your weight loss is on track?

I am six weeks postop from RNY and I lost 4 pounds this week? I feel like that is low, but I don't know really what it should be.  I am on 600 cal, primarily with shakes and a bit of regular food.    Keeping carbs pretty low, sugar free and walking at least a mile three days a week.Thoughts?

Not 100% sure but my doc said anywhere between 2-4 lbs a week is what he likes to see.  Now that's a huge difference in a month you could lose anywhere between 8-16 lbs.  I'd like to see the 16 but so far that's not happened for me, I usually see about 11 lbs a month and I had surgery on 24 March so in 5 days I will be 3 months out with a loss since surgery at 32.7 so far and hopefully 33 or more by the 24th.

4 Lbs in a week is AWESOME!!  Keep up the good work!

Thank you!!  The best to you as well!!

There is a tool in the links at the top of the page, under the resources button.  Its called post op planner.  If you enter your presurg weight, and the % you wish to lose, it will give you an estimate on how much you should lose each month and when you might potentially reach goal.  But keep in mind its just an avg, so some are slower & some faster.  If you keep working your tool, you will get there!

Good luck!

Holy crap I'm nowhere near where I "should " be if I want to get to 100% goal.  :(  fml

I've never seen that feature before, probably for a good reason. 

Hang in there Nina, if you were happy before you found that chart, stay happy, it is just a loose guide I am sure.  You will get there!!  ;-)

Amanda

Thank you Jo!  I just found the ticker too and am setting that up, but how do you change your weight as you lose?  I think I managed to get my starting weight in (but that was from the end of April), now I would like to add my current weight to show how much I've lost so far?    Did you customize your ticker to show your monthly weight loss totals?

Again, your info is much appreciated!   Amanda 

To update your ticker, its actually easier and I do it whenever ive lost a pd or so, but it often doesn't show till about 12 hrs later.  Click the My Oh link top right to get pull down menu.  Select Health tracker, the first screen that pops up will show you last entered weight, chg it to reflect your new weight and hit the save button on the bottom of the screen,  WAH-LA!  Updated trackers... in about 12 hrs... 

Oh and I definetly agree with many of the posters, 4 lbs a week is great progress!

Unless you need to lose 300 pounds, losing four pounds a week is NOT low!  (People who are heavier lose more quickly because it takes more calories to sustain a larger body, so the daily caloric deficit is higher for them.)

How fast were you expecting to lose each week? (That is a serious question, not a snarky one.  Many people come into surgery with unrealistic expectations, and often they are based on absolutely nothing except their own hopes of losing the weight at light speed or based on what one other person told them.)

Although there are a number of tools that can give you very broad estimates, most people don't follow a nice, linear path when it comes to weight loss, so don't use them as gospel truth or as what you should expect to lose.

Many people find -- especially early out -- that they might not lose much (or anything) one week and then have a huge loss of 5-7 pounds the next week.  Completely normal.

I know it is hard to do (I am not so many years out from surgery that I do not remember the excitement of watching the scale go down... But I also remember the torment of worrying about why someone else was losing faster, etc.), but please try to follow the advice that every single vet here will give you, and try not to worry so much about the rate of loss.  1) If you do what you are supposed to do, the weight WILL come off, 2) comparing your weight loss to anyone else's or to some purely mathematical chart can only make you crazy, not make you feel good (because there is always someone losing much more quickly), and 3) you will be much better served in the long run to focus on really embracing the new food choices and eating habits... because eventually you will stop losing, the compliments and excitement of it all will stop, and you will need the new habits to really be ingrained to maintain your weight loss.

Lora

Thank you so much Lora, honestly, I am just trying to find my way and don't really know what to expect.  Learning to use My Fitness Pal, the FitBit and this site!  ;-)  Thank you again for the kind words and the information above, it is great.  I am working to manage my expectations but don't want to be caught snoozing if something is off, or I'm not doing all I should. I will be happy with the 4lbs! I am definitely aware we are all different, and I'm not trying to compare, but a general guide does give me some peace of mind. Congratulations on your success for sure!!  Thank you for being a source for us newbies!!    All the best, Amanda