Question:
HAS ANYONE IN THE HISTORY OF WLS LOST ONLY 30LB IN 3 1/2MOS

HI I WAS JUST WONDERING IF ANYONE HAS LOST AS SLOWLY AS IAM, AND IF SO WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME? ANY CHANCE OF EVER GETTING TO GOAL OR SHOULD I JUST GIVE UP NOW? I HAD AN OPEN RNY 04-04-03 TO DATE I HAVE LOST BETWEEN 30-35LBS THE BAD PART IS THE FIRST 25 HAPPENED WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH!!    — Melissa S. (posted on July 15, 2003)

July 15, 2003
Hi Melissa, I feel your pain. I am two months out as of yesterday and only down 24lbs. I am averaging two pounds a week, no matter what I do. From what I have heard this is normal if you are a light weight. You didn't mention your numbers, but I started at 227 and am 5 feet tall. I have been really frustrated with this my self. I see people out only a few weeks have already lost more them me. Then I see that they were 300+ lbs when starting and will need to lose over 100lbs to get to were I am at. I wish I had an answer to speed it up, but I don't.
   — Robin T.

July 15, 2003
I am almost 4 months out and a slow loser until this week. At the end of my third month one of my Surgeons expressed his dismay over my lack of weight loss compared to his other patients. He looked at my food chart and couldn't figure it out. Then, this week I lost alot of weight. One thing I learned from this forum is that light-weights don't lose as fast and as long as I stick to a high protein no junk diet it WILL come off. Here are other tips from other posters: Get in all of your protein or you lose even slower, you could have a problem with your pouch, failure to eat slows down weight loss because your body goes into a starvation mode and lastly, you absolutely have to get some excerise. Hopefully you are proud that you have lost 30-35lbs, I say congrats!!! A suggestion I have is to speak with your Dr's dietician (after you talk to your Dr.) to see if he/she can give you suggestions. Hang in there!!
   — M B.

July 15, 2003
I agree with Maggie! If you don't eat, it slows down your metabolism. You don't burn and you don't lose. This I learned from my Weight Watchers days. Also, some people are steady losers and some lose in erratic bunches. Take your measurements and I bet you will SEE you ARE losing. You go along losing slowwwwwwwly and then POW, a ton drops off. It's the END result we are all after. Of course, this is assuming you are eating your protein first and little carbs. Water is a MUST! This flushes the fat from your body. Hang in there.
   — Ginger M.

July 15, 2003
I agree with the other posters before me but it also has to do with how much you wieghed at the beginning of this journey. I have a friend who did this 03-18-03 and has lost 48 pounds. I on the other hand, just had my open RNY on 06-27-03 and am down 30 pounds now. However I was approximately 100 pounds heavier than she. So take that into consideration as well. Best of luck to you and WOOHOO and Congrats for being a Loser!!
   — Christina S.

July 15, 2003
I considered myself a "slow loser" in the beginning. I remember complaining at one support meeting that I had lost weight faster on Weight Watchers (which was true for a couple of months). I remember showing up late to support meetings on purpose so I wouldn't have to say when my surgery was, and how much I'd lost, because everybody else had lost more (even when their surgeries were more recent than mine).<P>Those were my thoughts in the first four months or so as a post-op. Meanwhile, I worked on my eating habits (journaling what I ate on fitday.com, learning to like protein snacks, keeping my carbs low), and on my exercise (doing more challenging stuff as I could handle it). I also reminded myself that I had the surgery in order to avoid regaining whatever I lost, yet again, as I had done with every previous diet I'd ever done. It was much more about that than it was about how fast I could lose (I'd lost before and regained on diets; losing ain't no thang if it's just gonna come back on you, and I tried very hard to remind myself of that). It was definitley frustrating to feel like a slow loser, so even though I journaled my food and exercise daily, I also stayed off the scale for weeks at a time, to keep my focus on my goal of not regaining whatever I could manage to lose. I wanted to get to one healthy weight and *stay* there, and I didn't want to pick a goal weight, or a goal clothing size, and drive myself even more nuts in the meantime.<P>Now,looking back at 13.5 months out, I have been at goal -- geez, almost 20 pounds *past* goal -- for several months now. My eating habits are not perfect, but they are a heckuva lot better than they've ever been in my life. My exercise habits are the best thing to come out of all this, as I really crave exercise and can't get by without it, mentally or physically. And whaddya know, I shot past any goal weight I ever would have allowed myself to dream of.<P>I know that once we decide to lose the weight through such a drastic step as surgery, we want it *GONE* already!! But that is not realistic; think how long it took us to gain it (and how happily most of us stayed off the scale for months or years at a time when we knew darned well we were gaining). Yet, right after WLS, we just *torture* ourselves waiting and watching for the pounds to fall off. It's hard to make yourself focus on other, more critical stuff (like changing the eating habits and exercise), but you gotta try to do it in order to keep from driving yourself nuts. I know it's easier said than done, but try to set other goals for yourself (with your eating and exercise), try to stay off the scale as much as possible for now, and try not to be so hard on yourself. Hang in there!
   — Suzy C.

July 16, 2003
I totally feel your pain! I lost 24 lbs. in the first 3 weeks have been at 2 lbs/week ever since, except one week when I lost 5 lbs., although the next week I only lost one!!! It's driving me crazy! I too am/was a lightweight and I'm exercising like crazy but it's still slow. But, like the others say, it is coming off and that's the important part. Hang in there. I have hope from those who started slow and still got to their goal! good luck!
   — [Deactivated Member]