Question:
Now that I exercising regularly my weight seems to have slowed considerably...why?

My surgery was 7/18/2003 and the first month I lost a lot a weight..but this past month seems I have only lost around 10 or 12 pds. That is crazy. I am very obese. I have lost around 57lbs total. I know I hit a plateau but I got pass it, I thought. Now that I am exercising regularly my weight loss has slowed down considerably. I am only somewhat concerned but in the back of my head the little monster is saying this surgery is not going to work for me. At 10lbs a month, I could do that w/o surgery!! EEKs!!!    — neneburge (posted on September 24, 2003)

September 24, 2003
I'm no expert, trust me! But when you exercise, you're should be building muscle and losing fat. Muscle weighs more than fat. So while you might no see it on the scale, you might feel it in your clothes. Your body is becoming leaner, and together it slims you down. Don't give up, because building muscle also raises metabolism! Good luck!
   — Michelle J.

September 24, 2003
10-12 pounds this last month is fantastic! That first month's weight loss is always an incredible amount of weight, after that 10-12 pounds a month is pretty typical for the first 6-9 months. So I think you are doing great and shouldn't worry about it. How many calories a day are you eating? If you are exercising, you are increasing your metabolism, which means you are burning more calories, which means you need to eat more or your body might go into "starvation mode". This means your body will hold onto every pound for dear life because you are not giving it enough fuel (food). But...I think you are doing well and shouldn't change a thing right now.
   — Kristen S.

September 24, 2003
The scales are a horrible tool for gauging your progress after WLS. The best way to keep your sanity LOL is to track not only weight but also your measurements and the way your clothes fit. That way you know that if you gain 5 pounds but your measurements go down you have actually replaced fat with muscle. That's why I think BMI is very misleading. It doesn't take into account your lean body mass. It will show an athlete as being obese . . . even though nothing could be further from the truth!
   — ctyst

September 24, 2003
My doc says that muscle weighing more than fat is a myth. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat both weigh one pound. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat. Just to be technical about it! Exercising may slow your weight loss down temporarily, but you will then GENERALLY have a respectable loss after that initial stop. This is all per my doc, so if you don't agree, slam him, not me! :)
   — jenn_jenn

September 24, 2003
Two thoughts that got me through this phase were:<P>(1) I had the surgery to KEEP the weight off, not break a personal record for how fast I could lose it. So what if you lost the same or faster on other diets? This isn't a diet, because this time you have a very good chance of actually keeping the weight off. Think of these as better quality pounds (read: GONE), and maybe they'll seem more important to you than all the ones you gained and lost before.<P>(2) As long as I was building good eating and exercise habits, I just KNEW that the surgery would work for me in the long run. You know if you're working hard and doing well with your eating and exercise changes, and those are the things that will matter in the end, not how much you weighed on September 24, 2003 @ 3pm.<P>May I suggest two things:<P>(1) Stay off the scale (weigh in no more than once a month). Muscle does indeed weigh more than fat, but it also makes you look littler and feel better, as well as making your metabolism work better, so basically, exercise ROCKS, and if you're doing it, don't let the scale provide you with an excuse to quit. >;-) <P>(2) Start using a tape measure instead to measure your progress, because it will not only show the weight loss better than the scale does at this point, but it will also reflect the benefits of your muscle-building exercise. If numbers on the tape measure bug you, just use different color ribbons to measure hips, thighs, etc., and compare how much shorter your ribbons are getting all the time (and hey, you can make a festive, colorful May Day bonnet out of 'em when you get to goal).
   — Suzy C.

September 24, 2003
Hi Anita: 57 pounds in a short time is nothing to make light of. Congratulations. The slowing down of your weight loss might be related to increasing your exercise as the other posters have said. Muscle does weigh a lot, so your total weight loss will slow down temporarily. However, I also lost a lot the first month and then slowed down too, and I didn't change my exercise much. It just does that sometimes. It's not how quicly you lose, it's how much you lose and can keep off. I know if you're anything like me you worry about will this work because so many other times diets haven't. But this isn't a diet. It's a whole different thing, and it will work if you do the right things. You've heard it a million times if you been at this site for any lenght of time. Protein, water, exercise. Cut out as much carbs as possible, especially the refined ones. You do that and the weight will come off, guaranteed. Will you get down to as low as you want? Will it stay off? Those things will depend on the surgery and your resolve. But for now you will lose. So learn good habits now, and don't give up the exercise. The difference between the surgery and a diet you've been on in the past is you can quit a diet when you're discouraged and quickly gain the weight back. The surgery will keep you from going back to bad habits for a while. Believe me when I was having so much trouble during the second and third month I wanted to quit and would have if I could. That's the difference, you can't. You can however start grazing all day and eating empty, high calories. But there's no getting discouraged and going back to eating normally for a while. That's the good thing, and sometimes the bad. LOL Good luck. S
   — sherry hedgecock

September 24, 2003
You lost 57 lbs in 2 months. I lost that in almost 3 months, so you are doing WONDERFUL. First you are still early in the process and your body is going through cahnges. Second as you workout more you build more muscle and muscle weighs more but ultimately it will up your metabolism and make your body a more efficient fat burner. <p>You may think you could lose 10 lbs a month without surgery, and you may be right, but the big question is would you keep it off! That's the reason we have WLS to be able to finally maintain a healthy weight. I lsot 200 lbs on my own but was not able to maintain it off. WLS was my best hope to be successful this time. <p>My weight loss was slower than your's but steady so at 7-1/2 months PO I am down 169 lbs and 73 lbs from goal. Trust me, if you follow your post-op eating plan, exercise it will come off. Some lose a lot early on and then lose slow, while their body adjust to the huhe loss. I started at 442 so in theory I should have lost really fast at first, but I didn't.
   — zoedogcbr

September 24, 2003
When I started exercising, I started to eat more. You might want to watch that. Also, 10 pounds a month is great!! Like the previous poster said, you probably wouldn't be able to keep it off. Keep exercising and watch your calories (get in at least 800 a day) and you should be fine. Plus, your body is getting firm which will make you look thinner.
   — Patty H.

September 24, 2003
I started with a slightly higher BMI than you and I was at the same exact weight loss as you this far post op. I continued to lose about 10 pounds a month and now at 11 months post op I'm down 123 pounds. It adds up! About exercise slowing down your weight loss - I started working out at the gym in July. Since then, I have lost 10 pounds but I lost 2 inches in my waist alone. Without exercising, it took me losing 20 pounds to lose 2 inches from my waist. Definitely take your measurements.
   — Yolanda J.

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