"Honeymoon" period, and other lies you have been told

Lots of people think that there is some "magic" period of time, when they have to get the bulk of their weight off, or they are doomed to never lose it.

That is pure, unadulterated bull manure!

Doctors, nutritionists and others that tell their patients lies like that are doing their people a huge disservice.  Frankly, they should be whipped with a giant whisk, and then forced to eat 5 gallons of cream cheese frosting.

The reason why peole (ioncluding doctors) think that you have a "honeymoon period" is because you tend to lose more rapidly, the heavier you are.  Naturally, you are at your heaviest in the beginning, so you lose more radidly then.  As your weight drops off, the rate of weight loss tends to slow down.

BUT, there is no period of time when you can not keep right on losing weight.  I took 18 months to reach goal.  I was losing almost as rapidly during the entire SECOND 6 month period, as I did in the first.  It was not until about 14 months that my pace dropped off a fair amount (and I had my first stall about then).

I personally know people, people that were super obese (over 400 pounds), who were still losing at a good pace 24-36 months post op.

Don't get your "knickers in a twist" as my British cousins would say.  That means, don't panic, don't start to worry, if you haven't lost 50-60-70% of your excess weight in the first 6 months or so. 

If you work your program, stick as closely as you can to your diet and continue to do MODERATE exercise, you WILL peel off the weight.

Your pace will be YOUR pace, not someone elses.  So relax, have 4 ounces of protein and celebrate, because you now know that you really do NOT have some magic period after all!

Good Post Good Post......

Great post!! I just had this same conversation with my sister who has lost 109 lbs in 5.5 months and for some reason thinks after 6 months she won't lose anymore, but still has about 75 more pounds to go. Finally went with her to our surgeon's office yesterday and told them this and they also set her pretty straight on it...

 GREAT POST

Thanks for posting this! I think its a combination of being smaller and just burning less to do the same things, but it also seems around the end of the "honeymoon" period, people get a little lax in their tracking and eating habits.

 Awesome post - great reminder that no matter how fare out we are, we still have the tool and still use it to acheive or re-acheive (if we slip) our goals!

Thank you!

Thank you!!!

When people ask about slow losers, I always respond....because technically, I AM --- but for ME, personally, I feel like the magic miracle woman !!! I have lost 84 pounds in almost 10 months post op and 34 pounds pre op in the 5 months before that. I can eat out, go anywhere, do anything. I can fit in resturant booths, go on rollercoasters, walk a couple miles, keep up with folks 20 years younger than I am. Yes, my weight loss the last couple months is less, but I expected that -- I looked at the weight loss expectation charts ! But I also EXPECT to keep losing a bit for a while.

I don't have a time limit on it --- in fact, I'm kind of glad to still be fitting into my clothes for just a bit longer right now ! My first goal is 170 -- just over 11 pounds away. Yeah, my initial goal was to hit that by one year. Realistically speaking at what my body is doing now....maybe not....but I am in this for the lifestyle change; for now, forever. I'm 55 years old, fitter than I have been in 30 years. Whether I lose the rest of the weight in two months or the next 20 months isn't that important now....LIVING a healthy life style is, being able to do and go and enjoy life at it's fullest !

Thanks for the post !!!! And reminding us that our sleeves do not have an expiration date !!!!

You are rockin' on these last few posts! Thanks so much for the great, sound thoughts. I'm looking forward to being sleeved really soon and have been befuddled by those types of honeymoon comments - especially seeing there are so many out there losing consistently for a year or more. I just went to a support group with a guy who was sleeved about 6-8 months ago. He's lost 85 pounds and was talking about his stall because he has another 50 -60 left to go. We have the same surgeon and nut so imagine my surprise when he's telling the group the nut wants him on 1600 calories a day and to not worry about carbs - just get in enough protein. Granted he's taller than I am, but the nut told me 700-800 calories a day until I need to maintain my weight and I have to get in 80-90 grams protein and limit carbs to 50 and monitor fat intake to get the most benefit from surgery. She even said I'll have to "work your sleeve". Clearly you and Frisco know of what you speak. So thanks again. Your posts are so beneficial and appreciated.

Thanks. I think this is really mis-understood by many. It's largely a matter of calories in vs. calories out.  As we get smaller we burn fewer calories and as we get further out we tend to take in more calories.  At 6 months, a lot of plans (mine included)  go up to 800- 1,000 calories a day or so, although I stayed in the 600-800 range.  100 calories a day difference in calorie deficit is almost a pound of weightloss in a month's time.  I'm a year out from starting my pre-op Stage 1 diet, and still losing well.

When you are heavier, you burn more calories schlepping around your extra weight.  Going up and down a flight of stairs is weight-bearing exercise, and you have to have the muscle mass to do that.  As you lose weight you're not burning as many calories schelpping weight around nor do you have the same 'weight bearing' exercise just doing day-to-day activities that  builds metabolically active muscle. Muscle burns calories even at rest.  As you lose muscle, your resting metabolism slows.

I exercise quite a bt including strength training, and I've still lost about 10lbs of lean mass along the way.  My program does routine testing of body composition and RMR, and my RMR has fallen about 50 calories a day, although it is still over 1800 calories a day.

I still stick to my plan very closely still staying in the 600-800 calorie a day range. My  loss has slowed down, some, but honestly, not that much. I lost 7.6lbs in my 9th month, and I'm at 92% EWL from my surgery weight... more than that from my start weight.   Part of that is probably because I'm eating closer to 800 calories a day rather than 600.  Add that 200 calories to the 50 calories a day my metabolism has slowed due to the lost muscle, and it's  a 250 calorie per day difference.  250 x 30 = 7500/3500 calories/lb =2.1 or slightly more than 2lbs in a month. 

If you look at the difference in my monthly loss for months 2-8 and month 9, that pretty much accounts for the change.  I could push down to 600 calories, I guess, largely by cutting out my one indulgence --  coffee with half & half --  and switching to herbal tea.   I'm pretty sure that would trigger a zombie apacolypse (or at least the caffeine withdrawl equivalent of it), though, so why risk it?