Why am I not losing weight faster?

[Seattle1880 1]

I had the sleeve 5 weeks ago and everything is going better than I expected as far as healing and energy levels. However, I am very disappointed that I am not losing faster. Weight loss has been very erratic. I started at 221 and I lost 10 lbs the first week. I was thrilled but then did not lose anything for 2 weeks. The third week I lost 4 lbs and thought I had cleared the plateau but now the 5th week just ended and I didn't lose anything this week either. After 5 weeks I have lost 14 lbs, but in the last 3 weeks total it is only 4 lbs. Good, but certainly not the results I expected with a sleeve. What am I doing wrong? I am basically on a regular meal plan but eat significantly smaller amounts. Today for example I had a Protein Drink for Breakfast , 4 oz. jambalaya Soup for lunch, a few veggies and a couple cubes of cheese for snack and about 4 oz mixed stir-fry chicken and vegies for dinner. I will have a Protein drink or 1/2 c. cottage cheese before bed. Are these normal amounts of food for post sleeve? Yes, I am trying to get my Water in. No, I have not been exercising. I know this would help but it would have helped pre-sleeve and I didn't do it then either. Any ideas?

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

Your eating looks great. You will lose. Everyone loses differently. You might be one of those people who doesn't lose very much, and then all of a sudden, will lose 5 lbs in a week.

I always stalled, then would drop 5 lbs, then go on another stall.

Start exercising when you feel better and that will speed things up some too.

[Billy363627 15]

You have to realize that people with higher bmi lose faster. My bmi was 53 and I have lost 68 pounds in 3 monthes. People with lower bmi tend to lose slower from what i have read. Be patient and keep doing the things that you are doing you will lose the weight.. Increasing your Water intake and Protein sometimes kill stalls.

[wareagle40 3]

I am right there with you. I am almost 6 weeks out and have lost 14lbs since surgery. I lost 12 the first week and then stalled until Monday and I have lost 2lbs this week. I get my Water and I eat like you. Regular meals just smaller portions and get 60-90 grams of Protein in a day.

[Rev Me Up! 75]

I am also a low BMI patient and we just lose slower. It looks like you lose a few pounds at once and then nothing for a week or so. After the first week or so with a big loss, I am now losing about a pound a week. But, I am also right in the middle of the 3-5 week zone where most people report having a stall in weight loss. I don't weigh every week, because I don't like to get hung up on the numbers. A healthy weight loss for a low BMI patient is going to be an average of 2 pounds per week. Maybe try to weigh in only once per month and then you can see the overall weight loss effect.

Lara

[Goofyspice 1]

I am going to try a different angle just as an fyi iam not sleeved yet.

Okay here it goes... Since the surgery has it been easier to consume less= weight loss?

If you can say yes than !!!! Its all good.

In the end what do you really want out of this??? You just want to finish the race with"relative" ease/ less difficulty ...right? Do you really have to be one of the first ones across the finish line????

Thanks for the post... it gives me a chance to prepare mentally for possible frustrations such as you are experiencing right now. I have 10 days to gooooooo

[KellyL 173]

Stalls and rate of weight loss are a big focus on boards like this. No matter how much weight we lose it's never enough nor fast enough. We want to lose it all immediately, but it's just not realistic. Especially when most of us having bariatric surgery generally have upwards of 100 lbs to lose. Then you factor in gender, age, bmi, other health factors. There's no way of knowing all the hows and whys. But take comfort in knowing your chance with losing most or all your weight is improved greatly with WLS. Try not to be discouraged. Limit your weighing on the scales to every 2 wks or once a month. Look to other ways of measuring your success. Measure with a tape measure or by how smaller size clothes fit. You can lose inches when the scale isn't budging. Scale stressing doesn't help anyone, in fact, any kind of stress increases cortisol hormone levels which contribute to belly fat. So try to relax and enjoy the ride but have faith and confidence, cause you will lose. And you are becoming healthy, so allow yourself to find joy in that fact. Don't let that scale control your everyday mood or happiness.

[GreenEyedMamma 5]

I felt the same way. I hit my first stall at 2 weeks post-op and didn't lose anything for nearly two weeks. I looked at my diet and reduced my carb intake (won't take in more than 25 grams a day) and increased the Water dramatically (72-96 ounces a day). The weight started to come off again. That was a little more than a week ago.

TODAY, I went in for a second follow-up appointment with my surgeon. I was worried because I hit my stall right after my first follow-up and had only lost 7 pounds (all of which came off in the past week and a half) in the last three weeks. They have this magical scale that tells you not only how much body fat and excess Fluid you have but also how much muscle you have. My doctor came in and I thought she was going to be disappointed but she was very happy. She said "You are doing GREAT". I was like "yeah, right". Then she said "I know you have only seen your scale drop 7 pounds since your last weigh-in but you actually lost 16 pounds of body fat and gained 9 pounds of muscle". She was VERY impressed with that.

So even though your scale at home might be telling you that you are losing slowly, your body could be actually dropping the fat and bulking up the muscle.

I am happy that I am losing at a slower rate because my skin won't be as loose in the end.

Keep your chin up!