Was month 2 a slugfest for you?

Hi lightweights! i am a lurker on this forum but this is my first post. i figured i'd bring this to you as I figure you may have more perspective than the big boards. I am currently 1/2 way through post op month two (7 weeks out) and time/weight loss is happening
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I have lost 4 lbs in the past two weeks. This is excruciating. Calories have been averaging in the 500-700 range. Carbs have averaged 35/day for the past week. I was cleared to resume exercising last week. I have continued to walk, this time outdoors on hills. My trainer appointment is Thursday night.

The good news is that I had continued to lose inches, but this hasnt changed since last week.

I am trying really hard not to be discouraged, but it's hard. My M2 goal is 10 lbs after my 20lb loss in M1. Please tell me this gets better. I am to the point of wondering why I went through surgery just to have the same progress i had on Atkins. I plateaued right about at this weight for 6 months in 2009. I am terrified this is as far as I will go this time and that I will be the one for whom this surfery didn't work.

Was M2 a slugfest for you? Was M3 better? Any suggestions to make this less of a bummer? Icould use some good news right now.

Thanks,
Laurie

Laurie - I had the same issue in the middle of month 2. I had to intensify my exercise quite a bit (weights, Pilates, etc.) and increase my water to 100 oz per day. Toward the end of month 2 I had a big drop. And that seems to be a pattern now - small little losses and then every week or so a bigger drop of 1 or 2 lbs.

You are doing everything right! Hang in there, you can do this

Water is the. hardest. thing for me to do. How on earth do you manage to get 100oz in, as in what is your schedule for drinking that much?

I will say that I am getting 64 oz or more in on a daily basis. But 100? That stupefies me.

It starts with my workout ar 5:00 am. I can usually get 16 oz down by 7:00 and then it's time for a protein shake (I include that 8 oz in my total). I aim for 50 oz in the morning and another 50 oz from one hour after lunch until 8:00 pm. And I do wait 45-60 minutes after a meal and 30 min after a snack.

It does take effort - lol!

A lot of people at  WLS conventions carry "sippy cups "  ( thermoses w straws ) full of liquids ... 

My VSG was on 6/4 and I am losing about 2 pounds a week now, but I am very happy with that amount. I walk 45 minutes a day. Don't focus so much on the weight loss per week. Just take it day by day and when you look back at all you have gained in better health and smaller clothes you will be happier with the weight loss as it comes. Just my opinion, of course.
Ellen

You have lost 10 pounds more than me after week 7, so you are not the slowest loser. You are doing great! 

Whenever I used to question my weight loss .. I'd go try on some colthes .  Invariably I'd lost a few SIZES despite retaining water weight .

Please read this: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/wls_lightweights/4639663/R epost-Do-Lightweights-lose-slower-OR-Its-not-POUNDS-its/

Losing 2 lbs A WEEK is great...so it's not 10 lbs but 8 in a month...it's still headed down.

Many people stair step their way down...some lose SLOWLY the entire time.

Okay, you had major surgery and now your body is still trying to figure out what in the hell you did to it!

While goals are great, your body KNOWS BEST...and you admit you've started exercising...that will slow weight loss too.

And even the MONTHS I did not lose or even gain, I lost inches until I hit month 7, then I stalled for 5 months before dropping again.

What was your starting weight? Your height? Your current weight?

Thank you for this reminder. I love the percentages mindset. After I bumped into a couple of much heavier surgerymates at my last post op appt, I had to remind myself of this - one said he had lost over 50 lbs already. I kept telling myself, it's percentages, not pounds, percentages not pounds...It's one of the reasons I put the "distance to goal" ticker up as well. It really does help me to see the gap closing, however slowly.

Doc is pleased with my progress. I have another checkup in 5 weeks. Between now and then, in order to stay on track from THEIR perspective and be at 20% EBW loss from presurgery values, I need to lose less than 10 lbs. That will be at the end of M3.

I am so glad to know of your experience. The others I have noticed seem to just be flying along...Did you find that you maintained a consistent loss pattern once you found your cadence (well, until you stalled, at least)?

My starting weight was 258. I'm 5'7.5" (gotta get that .5!). I checked in this morning at 217.3.

I did some researching today and discovered that a pound of fat takes up about 1.5 Coke cans, where a pound of muscle takes up only 1 Coke can. A gallon of fat (think of a milk jug full of it!) weighs just shy of 8 lbs, so by this reasoning, I have lost 1/2 gallon worth of fat. This makes sense as to why I am seeing so much measuring tape movement without scale movement. A Coke can (or 4) full of Crisco would cover a lot of surface area.

Your support is so helpful. I appreciate it!

Laurie