Bypass vs Banding

[OneYearLater 14]

I stay in touch with a few folks from the Kaiser classes that I had to take as a prerequisite for being approved for the lapband surgery. There are a couple of people that had the bypass close to the same time that I had my banding that I was just communicating with. I've been feeling so frustrated lately with my weight being at a complete stand still over the past 2-3 weeks....but was actually pretty surprised that they both have been experiencing the exact same thing with the bypass! I know that with the bypass, you are supposed to lose much quicker and much more extreme. I have lost about 20 pounds since the band surgery..and both of them..same thing..as soon as they hit about 20 pounds after the bypass, they have been at a stand still as well. I've been changing my calories up and down to try and find the right amount as well as upping my exercising..but still nothing. I definitely see the difference in my clothes..but SHEESH...you would think the scale HAS to start moving SOMETIME! Anyway, the reason I brought that up, is that it sounds like this ugly early plateau might not just be something that people see with the banding....

One of my bypass friends said that she heard that most of the weight loss that people see is somewhere between 3-9 months out from the procedure... I'm sure HOPING I'll start seeing some movement SOMETIME soon! Anyone else hear this? That it starts to kick in more after about 3 months?

[ElfiePoo 109]

I think it would be hard to make any qualifying statements about when people lose as there are too many variables - how much and how often you get your fills, how compliant you are with your diet and band guidelines, age, activity level, etc.

I'm surprised that the bypass people have not lost more than you and have hit a plateau. I belong to a list that is mainly bypass people and their weight loss during the first year was staggering. Then again, most were over 400 pounds so the initial weight loss would be huge. Perhaps your acquaintances don't have as much to lose...or perhaps they're eating high calorie foods/wrong foods, etc.?

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[Melissannde 41]

It's been my (very unscientific) observation that people who are required to do a pre-op diet hit a plateau much sooner than those who aren't.

Basically, there's a period of time when weight loss is relatively rapid and if the patient is required to do a pre-op diet, that's when it occurs. If not required to do a pre-op diet, then the weight loss proceeds afterwards. Again, this is just my thoughts from reading others posts and I've had a nurse working in bariatrics confirm this as an unofficial observation.

It's also true that the more weight you have to lose, the faster it comes off in the initial months. :thumbup: About the only good thing about being SMO I guess. LOL

Now that I'm only a little bit more than 200 (215 to 219 these days) I'm lucky to lose 1lb a week. At the beginning of my journey I was losing at an average of 4lbs a week... would love to have that rate again, but I KNOW it would be unhealthy. :thumbup: And no, I wasn't starving myself to loose at that rate.. my food choices had just changed so dramatically.

[OneYearLater 14]

I'm surprised that the bypass people have not lost more than you and have hit a plateau. I belong to a list that is mainly bypass people and their weight loss during the first year was staggering. Then again, most were over 400 pounds so the initial weight loss would be huge. Perhaps your acquaintances don't have as much to lose...or perhaps they're eating high calorie foods/wrong foods, etc.?

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I was really surprised that they weren't losing more as well. I thought for sure they would! They both have about the same amount of weight to lose as i do and are about 215...so maybe it's because they don't have as much? 1 of them probably isn't following the instructions as stringently...but 1 is VERY strict and was telling me how sometimes she can barely eat.

I did lose a pretty good amount pre-op....so i'm thinking that maybe I'm not seeing a lot of loss because of that? I just saw someone today that I haven't seen in a long time and she seemed shocked at how much weight I have lost. I kinda thought i looked the same, but maybe not! lol

[England90 0]

I think you say true! I understand!

[stargate713 0]

You dont start seeing the real weight loss with the band untill you are out of "banster hell" and have adequate restriction