Question:
Should I be gaining at all at 6 weeks post op???

I am 6 weeks post op and twice I weighed in at one weight and the following day it was 1-2 lbs more. There has been no change in my diet and I mainly eat protein. I still continue to lose weight but why one day do I weigh more than the next and then start losing again???    — Melissa B. (posted on May 11, 2003)

May 11, 2003
<font color=red><b>STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF EVERY DAY!</b></font>There are normal fluctuations in weight from day to day - you can be retaining fluid for any of a number of reasons. I got weighed <b>twice</b> in my first two months as a post-op - once at my 3-week post-op checkup and again 5 weeks at my support group meeting. If you weigh yourself less often, you'll be happier at the numbers you'll see. I'm firmly convinced that daily weigh-ins are the newly post-op's worse enemy (and not too friendly for not-so-new posties either *G*)...JR
   — John Rushton

May 11, 2003
I am currently still waiting on approval (yes, with Cigna) but you know what? I decided LONG ago that I am NOT going to buy a scale before OR after surgery. Respectfully, these posts make me even MORE sure to not buy one. I put myself through that same dieting/scale hell when I was with Weight Watchers. We get OBSESSED!! Even pre-op, I still firmly believe, it you want to see progress, MEASURE yourself. You will do fine. Your body KNOWS what it is doing, and WHY it is doing the things that it is. We fail to give it and ourselves enough credit. I had plateaus in Weight Watchers, and I'm sure this will be no different. Hang in there!! We're ALL pulling for you!
   — [Deactivated Member]

May 11, 2003
Yeah...What John said! I did it a few times and it will make you crazy.
   — Lisa N M.

May 11, 2003
I am at 17 weeks and down 45 lbs. I know...MEGA SLOW LOSER...but you know when the weight loss bothers me? ONLY WHEN I GET ON THE SCALE. Stay off the scale for your own mental health.
   — susanje

May 11, 2003
I have to agree! The scale is not your friend on a daily basis and is not that accurate if you weigh daily. Women can fluctuate with hormones in a most heinous way. I gave my scale away because I was making myself insane with it and it does get easier to wait for my weigh-ins the longer it is gone! I also get the added bonus of seeing a bigger loss after a week than I would ever see from day to day. And I never get to see those pesky up days on the scale in between and I am sure they happen to me too!
   — Carol S.

May 11, 2003
WARNING! Different opinion here - please do not flame! I weigh everyday and graph my weight. When my weight goes up, it gives me the opportunity to look at what I have been doing (or not), and when it goes down, the same applies. I don't think it is harmful at all to weigh daily. I now know HOW my weight will fluctuate with my hormone changes. It's very reassuring to look back and say, "Yep, this happened last month about the same time" and be able to move on, knowing it's only temporary. Everyone fluctuates up and down a little bit. I doubt you are gaining weight, in the sense of putting fat back on - it's more likely water. Did you have soem sort of protein that perhaps was higher in sodium, than the day before? Did you drink less water the day before? Using a daily weight and a food diary can be helpful tools. Also, if you average your weight over 7 days, you will probably see an overall decrease, so one or two days are not really all that helpful.
   — koogy

May 12, 2003
It could be just water weight. Did you have an extra helping of salt. When I would eat pickles, I would put on a pound or two until the water came out. Yopu just keep following the program and doing what you are doing. Other people have said hormones. I don't know anything about those but hey its possible. Finally, the scale is just another tool. It is what we do and how we react to it. Some people can weigh every day and not obsess because they look at bigger picture. Some people can't. I had to go to a one week schedule because I would feel so defeated when I would be a pound up. I came to realize every scale is different. Good Luck. You are doing OK.
   — snicklefritz

May 12, 2003
Sometimes there is no discernable reason for weight fluctuations, which are normal, and which will happen even while you are losing weight. If they bug you, stay off the scale. If you feel you can learn from them, keep weighing in as often as you want. Just be aware that the scale doesn't always, instantaneously, reflect whether our eating and drinking and exercise habits were "good" or not the day before (it's a mistake to think it gives us a "grade" for our behavior that fast). As pre-ops, if we'd weighed in every day all the time (aieee! the thought, right?!?), we'd have noticed a lot of the stuff we're only now noticing for the first time because we've screwed up the courage to actually *look* at it so often. Hang in there!
   — Suzy C.