If you start off slow....

If you don't drop weight quickly in the beginning, will the weight loss become even harder later on (after 6 month mark) or is it more likely to come off steadily for a longer period of time?

I'm told most of the weight will come off the first six months and then it slows down, but what if you were already slow?

I don't know if I have a good trend in mind. I've seen folks have a very slow start because they lost a lot on their pre-op diet. Then, they take off losing at about month 3 or so. Others just go slow and steady for a year or so and some lose in stair step fashion. Everyone is so different in how their bodies respond. Your doc's numbers are just averages so don't worry too much about them. LWs are a little different from the averages anyway. So, journey along your own path and let's see what happens.

--gina

Yeah, I didn't do a pre-op diet as such.  I just had the two day liquid thing.  I'm following the rules and excercising and I expect I'll do more later as the weight drops.  Next couple of weeks are going to be a challenge. 

I'll be in Scotland unexpectedly.  Lot of temptation there and stress and the only excercise will be walking my friend's dog..  It's three mile walk though, so it will be interesting to see how I do.

I'm only weighing once a week now anyway.

I started out pretty normally I think but after that in went in bits and squirts although I have never had what I would define as a stall, several weeks with the scale not moving.  My slow down happened in Jan, 5 months out but then it picked up again and although slower, kept going until I was around goal weight.  Now I am creeping down or staying the same, which is fine.  I think I am done.

don't get hung up on how fast you are losing.  As a lightweight, you have less to lose and 12-18 months of "honeymoon" to lose it in.  If you are following your program and getting some exercise, you will lose.  Being a LW, you are more likely to get to a normal BMI than our friends who have hundreds of pounds to lose.

Yeah, I often think that LW do stand a better chance long term.

I started out slow and it never got any better.  We are all different in how our bodies work. After 6 months it was a big struggle for me.  Optimize your honeymoon period.  If you have a metabolism that works, help it as much as possible with exercise.  I've had to be on a strict diet to get the pounds off me and that includes a lot of exercise.  It will continue to come off, at least it did for me.  I shed my last 20 pounds between months 11 and 18 by keeping to very low carb.

I think I am going to follow the same path as you.  Slow might well be the best way anyway.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. (And this from someone who is not all that fond of it.) I have lost slowly but steadily in a 'stair step' kind of way for the last 7 1/2 months, but the times my weight loss slowed definitely correlate to the times I didn't exercise as rigorously. Low carb is important also, but I'll confess I do enjoy fruit carbs. I have stayed away from refined sugar and 'white carbs' in breads and find I really don't miss them all that much.

Funnily enough, I haven't missed the refined stuff too much either.  Sometimes, I get an old craving, but it passes.  It certainly hasn't been as hard as I expected.  NOt easy certainly, but not torturously hard either.

What kind of loser/gainer were you before WLS?  I was slow.  If I lost a pound at WW  I was thrilled but others could come in and lose 5 or 6 lbs. in a week. On the other hand they could gain that in a week too.  I think I learned back then that comparing myself to others was the worse thing I could do. 

I'm older and I don't do much planned exercising but I knew that was going to be my future lifestyle.  I have been so pleased with every ounce that I've lost that I never even thought about "am I losing it fast enough" but I do remembr that at about 8 months I got to my personal goal and stupidly thought I was thin enough (with help from others saying I was getting to thin) so I increased my Protein drinks thinking that would  maintain my weight and Bingo....I lost 10 pounds the next month!!  Then I continued to lose for another 8 months until I got to the lower end of my BMI.

I truly believe that getting your Protein through Drinks and avoiding all bad carbs is the way to go... this is just my opinion.