worried my weight loss won't pick up

faithstar · June 22, 2011

I have lost around 65 pounds so far and have another 70 odd to go. I have done this in 5 months. The last month I have only lost 5.5 pounds and am a bit worried that this will continue every month and it will take ages to lose the weight. I went to a support group last night and a lady said she lost 50 pounds in a year and has been stalling ever since and has 100 pounds to go, which worried me a bit. I eat 1000 calories a day now, with regular activity. I have been very bloated the last two weeks though and haven't had a period in a year.

anonynurse · June 22, 2011

Well, first things first - you need to take a pregnancy test. Provided that is negative, let's examine the rest of your post.

5.5 lbs of loss is a normal rate of loss. Prior to having this surgery, if you could have lost that much each month and gradually lost down to your goal weight, you probably would have hit your knees in gratitude and excitement.

The "magic" time of rapid loss for this surgery lasts six months to a year. It sounds like yours may be slowing down and the time of hard work beginning. That is ok! You want it right NOW, but you didn't put it on overnight. 5 lbs per month is 60 lbs per year. That is huge. HUGE.

The truth nobody seems to bring up here is that on average sleevers lose abot 60-70% of their excess weight. This means if someone needs to lose 100 lbs to get to goal, with average amount of effort, they will lose 60-70 lbs after being sleeved. With consistent discipline and effort, they can have bypass-like results, which are closer to 70-80% of excess weight. Does that mean you can't get to goal? Of course not! Many here have! But those who have are those who have significantly changed their lives, how they think about food, what kind of exercise they do on a regular basis etc. Instead of panicking that it won't come off as fast as you want, perhaps you can start to ponder what the rest of your life is going to look like, knowing it is destined to come off at ANY speed with the new habits you are adopting. Just a thought.