why not faster!!! 4wks post op

keeepitreal24 · November 9, 2010

Hi ... im 4 wks post op today... the first week i lost 14, then second week 2lbs, 3rd wk 1lb. im eating under 500 cal, why is the weight not melting off of me? i dont get it!! i started working out today.... hopefully that'll speed things up.... any suggestions???

Tiffykins · November 9, 2010

Hi ... im 4 wks post op today... the first week i lost 14, then second week 2lbs, 3rd wk 1lb. im eating under 500 cal, why is the weight not melting off of me? i dont get it!! i started working out today.... hopefully that'll speed things up.... any suggestions???

Your body is trying to figure out what the heck you've done to it. You went from consuming probably close to 2000 calories a day to a 1/4th of that amount, throw in surgery trauma, anesthesia, and your body trying to hold onto every nutrient, calorie you put it in there, you can't expect your body to keep losing at the same rate that you saw immediately post-op.

If you think about it, you've lost 4.25lbs on average per week. Depending on your goal weight, your numbers will taper off.

Increasing your calories a bit will help since you are exercising, increase your Protein and clear Fluid intake, and of course exercising will help.

I would estimate 90% of WLS patients see a stall in weight loss around 3-6 week post-op mark, and you just need to be patient and let your body heal.

Sadly, we didn't get fat overnight, we aren't going to get thin overnight.

keeepitreal24 · November 9, 2010

wow.....i didnt look at it that way..your so right.... thank you for taking the time to tell me this.... much appreciated....

Your body is trying to figure out what the heck you've done to it. You went from consuming probably close to 2000 calories a day to a 1/4th of that amount, throw in surgery trauma, anesthesia, and your body trying to hold onto every nutrient, calorie you put it in there, you can't expect your body to keep losing at the same rate that you saw immediately post-op.

If you think about it, you've lost 4.25lbs on average per week. Depending on your goal weight, your numbers will taper off.

Increasing your calories a bit will help since you are exercising, increase your Protein and clear Fluid intake, and of course exercising will help.

I would estimate 90% of WLS patients see a stall in weight loss around 3-6 week post-op mark, and you just need to be patient and let your body heal.

Sadly, we didn't get fat overnight, we aren't going to get thin overnight.

NinaX · November 9, 2010

Hi ... im 4 wks post op today... the first week i lost 14, then second week 2lbs, 3rd wk 1lb. im eating under 500 cal, why is the weight not melting off of me? i dont get it!! i started working out today.... hopefully that'll speed things up.... any suggestions???

Hi,

At less then 500 calories a day you are putting your body into starvation-mode! It will hold on to every pound you have, thinking it might never be fed again. This is your bodys defence mechanism. Is this the food advice you have been given my your doctor / nutritionist?

A healthy, normal woman at healthy BMI who exercises moderately and want to maintain weight should be around 1800 cals / day (give or take). My nutrionist has been extremely careful to not use the word "diet" and has more or less forbidden us to count calories etc. I have spent 20 years on diets ruining my body, yo-yo up and down on the scale. The goal now is to get to the stage where we eat as a normalweight person would do, and stick to that. (ie at approx 1800 cals). To first loose the weight however, we should be at about 1200-1400 cals.

I'm not trying to be a "know-it-all" here (and apologise if that is how I come across, english is also not my first language) but I don't understand why 500 cals a day is recommended? If you, on top of that, exercise - then you definitely need to increase. The "engine" needs fuel, basically.

My advice would be to definitely increase your daily intake, with focus on Proteins. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and then another snack should be the goal. My nutritionists guidelines are clear; the Snacks are essential to ensure we get all the nutrions, Vitamins and minerals we need as we can eat so little at a time.

Best wishes and good luck!

keeepitreal24 · November 9, 2010

hi....thank you for your advice.. my dr did not recommend a paticular amount of calories, however did say to consume a lot of protein...... i just cant fit that much in my tummy, so wen i add it up, its between 500-550 calories a day. im trying to drink more Protein, its just hard. i have pro complex....30grms per scoop.... im trying to sip that all day plus eat my 3 meals. plus try to drink water....its not as easy as i thought it was gonna be...

NinaX · November 9, 2010

hi....thank you for your advice.. my dr did not recommend a paticular amount of calories, however did say to consume a lot of Protein...... i just cant fit that much in my tummy, so wen i add it up, its between 500-550 calories a day. im trying to drink more Protein, its just hard. i have pro complex....30grms per scoop.... im trying to sip that all day plus eat my 3 meals. plus try to drink Water....its not as easy as i thought it was gonna be...

Hi again,

Approx 450 cals / day is minimum what your body needs to just get out of bed, keep the heart pumping and the brain working all day, for your body to voluntarily let go of any storage of fat cells you need to give it more.

The stomach being so small is exactly the reason why I have been told to eat at least 6 times a day, and that does not include Protein drinks. I.e I'm required to eat a meal or a snack. Right now, as I'm still on puréed food, I'm using drinking yoghurts or fruit/vegetable shots as Snacks, but once I'm on "normal food", the snack should be normal yoghurt + fruit / nuts and a crispbread sandwich with a proteinrich spread for example.

It's not easy, I know - I'm only about a week out of surgery and I'm struggling to get all fluids and all six meals in. It feels like a full-time job just preparing and eating food. :-)

If I were you I would try to add 2 extra meals in a day, ie eat 5 times. You should feel better and you will allow your body to start letting go of the pounds. Best of luck!