X Post - Slow Loser - How slow is too slow??

Ok, so Sept 28th will mark me as 3 months post op.  I seem to be one of those 'slow losers'.  My starting weight on the day of surgery was 258.  I'm now at 220.  I had a long stall at 3 weeks post-op and then for the past 5 weeks I've lost 2lbs/week.  While I'm thrilled to be losing I can't help but wonder if I'm losing too slow?  I feel like I'm trying so hard and not getting as good of results as how hard I'm trying (if that makes sense).  I am eating the right foods, fresh fruits and veggies, plenty of protein and getting all my water and vites in.  I am staying away from rice, pasta and breads (since those are a trigger food for me).  I work out at the gym 3-4x per week.  How can I only be losing 2lbs/week??  Is this just 'my normal'?

Dont measure in weight, how many inches have you lost???? SOunds like you are doing prettty good to me.

Honestly I don't know.  I guess it's time to take my measurements.  I do have my measurements from before surgery.  That might help to put things in perspective.

Everyone really is different but this site helped me know if I was on track or not.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/planner +results.php

I shoot for 100+ gm of protein, 86 oz of fluids, 30 or less gm of carbs whi*****luded no white carbs, sugar, flour, potatoes.    I've had more times I lost 2 lbs a week, than when I lost more.  Lately, close to goal (whatever that is) it is even slower.  But after a year, I have lost over 100lbs and am at goal.

It's not absolute pounds lost but percentage of excess weight. I lost 12 pound the first month 12 the second and then 6-8 every month after that. I got to a normal BMI at 6.5 months and to my lowest weight at 10.5 months. There's nothing slow about that!

You mention you eat the "right" foods but not how many calories. The reality is that you have to eat at a deficit and the bigger that deficit is, the faster you lose. At 3 months out, I was eating around 700-725 calories and working out 3-4.5 hours a week. I think I was losing around 2 pounds a week at that point, maybe slightly more (like 2.25, not like 3).

Every time my weight loss slowed down, I would increase my exercise. Sometimes this was on purpose but sometimes it was just a coincidence. And I tracked everything. When you track, if things aren't going the way you'd like them too, you can go look at your logs and see if there is a cause. If there is, you can course correct. If there isn't, you can know it's "just one of those things" and assume water retention is hiding your weight loss on the scale.

One thing to keep in mind: increasing the intensity of your exercise will cause you to retain water. So you won't see the results on the scale for a while. For me it was about 2 weeks before the scale would reward me.

I usually eat around 700 calories, but I called my dietician today and he said I need to get closer to 800 and get 80-100 carbs in.  To me that sounds rediculous.  That's a lot of carbs!! How many carbs are you consuming daily?

 My program recommends:

800 calories or less
70-90 g of protein
< 40 g of carbs
< 30 g of fat

This is what I ate how much I exercised and how much I lost the first year:

http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2010/07/calories-protein-carbs-exercise-weight.html

I'd tell you how many carbs I eat now but I think it would freak you out. LOL (Remember, I'm 3 years out.)

I'm still early on, and losing only about 2 lbs per week for the past 3 weeks.  Yes it seems slow, but it's going down!!  My overall lost is high due to a signficant pre-op loss, and loss my first week out, which probably included some dehydration.

Perhaps the nutrionist meant 80-100 grams of protein, not carbs.

Nope, he meant carbs.  I asked him several times.  He said between 60-80g protein and 80-100g carbs.  Still sounds like SO much!  He asked me if I was avoiding carbs. I said yes. He said there is absolutely no reason to do that.  Your body needs carbs. I told him I eat fresh fruits and veggies.  He told me to throw some brown rice in the mix too.  I really am too scared to start with the carbs.  Carbs are my downfall.  Always have been.  I'm scared to overdo it, so I simply avoid it and get my carbs thru fruits and veggies instead.

He's wrong. We don't "need" carbs at all. There are essential amino acids -- that is proteins we have to eat as our body can't make them -- and there are essential fatty acids as well. There are NO essential carbs. None. Everything our bodies make from carbs can be made from other calorie sources.

This includes glycogen. Our brains need about 100-130 g of glycogen a day. An easy source of glycogen is carbs but it's not the only source. 

Nutritionists who say we need carbs don't understand this and have no credibility in my book.

Also, carbs slow down your metabolism if you are insulin resistant so there IS a reason for at least some people to avoid them.