Question:
After you have the surgery how long will it take your body to start losing weight?

   — carebear123 (posted on June 21, 2006)

June 21, 2006
One of the best things you can do is attend a support meeting before you have surgery. Weight loss varies depending on you. Most people will gain weight in the hospital from all the liquids you receive. I gained 6 pounds myself, but lost if right after I got home. You could lose from 1-3 pounds per day for a few weeks, then you could slow down to 3-5 pds per week. If you are a larger person, you of course will lose much more and faster. I have known people that lost 195 pounds in 12 months. This person was really big though, but if you are lets say 100-140 over weight, you will lose slower over all.
   — Steve Cohen

June 21, 2006
Hello, I began losing weight immediately, I lost 12 pounds in the hospital before I even went home. On my 2 week visit, I had lost 26 pounds. Anything is possible, but most important is to follow your doctors orders 100%. It has worked great for me, I am 10 1/2 months out and down 140 pounds! Good Luck! Feel free to email me if you want. I am NO expert, but so many people on this site have helped me, If I can return the favor, I will! Traci
   — TraciB06

June 21, 2006
Carrie, Hi again. I posted on your other question about feeling like exercising after surgery. I have some thoughts on this question too! I have noticed that with a lot of people (including me!) it is SO EASY to get discouraged because of how 'slow' we think we are losing. I now only weigh once per month for that reason alone. I know people who have gotten addicted to the scale, and weigh 2-3 times per day, and get sad/upset when they find they are up a few pounds. Our bodies know what they are doing. Follow your surgeons guidelines, and you WILL lose the weight. The amount of time it takes will depend on your body. I know that when I haven't waited a month to weigh, and weighed like in the middle of the month, I was up 6 (YES, SIX!) pounds. I got so upset. I thought I was done losing and that this was it, I would be back to seeing the scale move up. Not true! The body evens out. Also, how long did it take you to get big? WLS is an awesome tool for not only losing the weight, but also for keeping it off. That's the big thing. So it may take you 18-24 months to get down to where you want to be, weight-wise (with some stalls and gains in there too!) but in 6 years, if you do what you should, you will still be maintaining... Which to me, constitues a success.
   — AmandaLeigh =)