Question:
I am 5 ft and started with a BMI of 42.3 224Lbs. Anyone similar out there?

July 12,2002 was my open Rny. I am now down 52 pounds. I am sort of discouraged. I am REALLY losing very slow. I do not know how to speed it up. I lose if I am lucky 1 or 1.5 pounds a week.sometimes I gain that much in a week. I know at least I am still losing but I measure and that is hardly going anywhere either. I feel good and am glad of the lost pounds just wondered if any one out there was like me and if they are still losing or reached goal. I am sort of scared because I was told after 6 months it gets tougher to lose weight and am wondering if that is true. I am glad for my weight loss But To only lose 52 pounds ??? I quess I am just scared. Any one out there who can help I would greatly appreciate it.    — Lynne K. (posted on November 25, 2002)

November 25, 2002
Hi Lynne. I am about the same height as you (5'1"). I started at 232 in August. I lost 12 pounds in August and then has surgery on 9/5. I have also lost exactly 52 pounds since August. (40 since surgery) I am happy with my loss, but also wish it was faster. Your question and your profile don't say much about your habbits. You may allready be doing these things, but I find I loose better each week if I do three things faithfully. 1) Drink 64oz of water a day. 2)Eat almost all protein, eliminating all "odvious carbs." 3)Exercise an average of 30 minutes a day. (Sometimes, I work out three times a week for an hour each time, but I try to keep the average to 30 minutes a day.) If you aren't doing one or more of these things, I would start there and see if things speed up for you. Good Luck!
   — Amber L.

November 25, 2002
I am only (?) 220 and asked the surgeon how much I would lose. His medical/surgical answer was that at 50% of overweight loss was considered successful but with RNY most people lost 60-80% of excess weight within 2 years. So if you were a "lightweight" to start, you aren't going to drop 100 lbs. in 6 mos. I don't know if this is helpful, but it's what i was told.
   — CarolDE

November 25, 2002
I started at 230 lbs & 5'1" with a BMI of 43. I am now 130 lbs & 5'2" (I think I decompressed my spine!) with a BMI under 24. It took me about 10 1/2 months to get there and I considered myself extremely lucky. I thought I would lose a lot slower being a lightweight. Just look at your numbers: You must be at least halfway there in just FOUR MONTHS! I think that's fabulous! If you are doing the right things, keep doing them. If you aren't doing the right things, then START! Also, remember that the scale won't tell the whole story. You may be losing inches even though that darn scale isn't cooperating. This is especially true if you are working out a lot. Don't get discouraged. You will get there. Just treat yourself right and the weight will come off! :)
   — ctyst

November 26, 2002
Hi. I had surgery on July 16, 2002 and started out at 211. I am 4'10". I have also only lost 53#. I'm kind of like you and get really discouraged sometimes. I try to stop and remember that 53# in 4mo is amazing! I especially believe now with all the others that have posted close to our size that we must be right on track. Please email me if you'd like to talk more. It's hard to find people that are about my size/ht since I'm so short.
   — Monica & Chuck C.

November 26, 2002
I started at 212 lbs and 5'1". By the time I had my surgery I was down to 198. Even though I knew if given a few weeks, I'd be back up at 220. That's the way I am. To answer your question, though, in the first week after surgery and eating basically nothing, I had lost only 6 1/2 lbs. I think being a lightweight, we think we're not losing enough but proportionate to the others, we're doing just fine. Although I'm getting my protein in, I have A LOT of trouble drinking more than 24-30 oz. of water daily. I can't take more than a few sips at a time, or I get sick. I know I could increase the weightloss if I could drink more, but until I can, I'm not getting on any scale. Just telling myself I'm doing fine and this, too, shall pass. Hey - how about we start a lightweights club??
   — Arlene S.

November 29, 2002
Hi Lynn; All of us light weights are on the same page it seems....I too was discouraged by the rapid weight loss of out larger AMOS family. My doctor said it is all proportional. I had lost 25 lbs at 42 days out. He told me to expect to lose 10 lbs a month initially and then it will slow down. He felt I was doing Great, I felt like a failure because others with higher BMI's lost WAY more. I just decided it will come off just more slowly. I only weigh every 2 weeks so that I am seeing the numbers go down (OK sometimes I peek at one week ) The good news is due to the slower weight loss, we will likely be giving our skin more of a chance to catch up to our shrinking bodies :-) hang in there...Itwas nice to read the responses to this question becuse I certainly felt the same was. I even asked the Site to try to initate a method that we could use to bring up people with similar statistics....I hunt to find someone approximately my size and see their progress.....Aloha Keniki (5'2" 221 now 197 )
   — Keniki B.