Weight loss No Friend Of Mine

[NoneYa 380]

My son had gastric bypass a little over a year ago. He lives in another state. When I prepared for my sleeve he phoned me often to give me tips and bits of wisdom that came from his experience with life after WLS.. One of the main points he pressed was to get rid of my scale. Weighing only at Dr appointments was his advice. Little did he know that my scale obsession had already led me to purchase a professional Drs scale a few years earlier. The one with the sliding weights, not digital. It didn't come cheap. I bought it when I went on one of my larger attempts at weight loss, Atkins I think. I used it daily then until I was secure in the fact that yet another diet had failed, or guess to be honest I should say I had failed. After that the newest object of my affection became an object of contempt. I stopped standing on it and began giving it " the look" whenever I was forced to be in the room with it. I told my husband it was too large and in the way. I asked him to just throw it out. I won't bore you with his opinion of throwing out perfectly working and expensive items. Particuarly when he was armed with all of the reasons I had given him a year earlier of why we should buy it. Lets just say it remained in its place of honor. Instead he suggested choosing a monthly "Weigh Day" actually marking it on a calendar and weighing only then. In between weigh days my current weight would be a non issue. Easy enough. Sure, I can do that. It only takes a bit of self control. It's mind over matter thats all. Excuse me? Does he really know me so little?

Fast forward to today. I find myslf once again stepping on the steel monster 2 x every day. Every time I step away from it angry and usually feeling defeated. If it gives me anything it gives it in 1/2 lb increments. What did I realistically expect weighing so often, right? But realism has little to do with anything when it comes to my scale. Enough! It messes with my feelings. It makes me feel like a loser and not in the weight loss kind of way. It isn't good for me. It hurts me.

Today I will change. I cannot say I will go from one Dr appointment to the other or wait a month for weigh days but as of today I will commit to weighing 1 day per week. I know that I will be devestated if I stand still for 7 days but it is what it is. My son was right. The scale is not my friend. I cannot go back from my surgery. I have a small capacity for food and I always go for Protein first. I get as much protein in as I possibly can daily and sip flavored water all day long. I walk as much as I can and I am trying to get more exercise each day than the day before. The weigh is coming off slowly for me but it will eventually come off. I see I will not have one of those amazing success stories. At 3 weeks I'm only down 11 lbs. from my day of surgery weight. With my slow rate loss my hopes for where I could be at 6 months are dashed. I have to give up that dream now and settle for 6 months being whatever it will be. Thats where I am today.

[RJ'S/beginning 5,358]

The scale is a liar...You are smaller then you think in inches probably...Too bad it did not count those....I never weighed myself before the surgery and decided why would I after...I see so many on here discouraged because of a number..

I weigh myself at the surgeons office about every 8 weeks....And I feel like I can't breath while I am standing there waiting for the verdict....So far there has always been a loss....yeah me!!!!!

But that is not the end all of it....Our minds play tricks on us and we become our own worst enemy by trying to sabotage our sleeve journey.....

Your son is right...It is mind over matter...Think of how you are feeling and how your mind set and health is improving and stay away from the scale......It is deceptive to say the least.....

Your going to lose it all...You are now geared to do it! There is no way you can't unless you abuse the sleeve....

Your on your way kid!!!!!!! Go girl go!!!!!!!!!!!

Ruth

[goirish78 100]

2x4, I think you touched on something really important - that what we envision will happen and what will actually happen are sometimes two different things. Like you, I was sleeved in mid-July and while I have lost some, it's not anywhere near where I'd thought I'd be now. Ultimately, though, I realize that in the end I just want the numbers to go down over the long haul (emphasis on the long), and in the meantime I'll focus on how I'm feeling apart from the numbers.I also bought a fancy scale over a year ago when I was on my last attempt at WWers, and when I started this process, I made a deal with myself that the only "tradition" I'd be carrying over from my dieting days would be weighing once a week on Friday mornings. There are times when it is SO hard to keep myself from hopping on it everyday; the question that I keep coming back to, though, is that for almost 35 years I've lived my life entirely defined by numbers - do I really want to live the rest of my life that way? I've decided that I don't. So I'm going to try really hard to stick to Fridays. We'll see.

Just know that you're not alone and we're always here whenever you need us. Keep up the good work and we'll eventually get to where we're going

[gamergirl 4,610]

I am so glad you posted this. I wrestle with my scale daily. I admire you for deciding to weigh once a week. My big battle now is to only weigh once a day because otherwise I'd step on it four times a day! Every time I go into the bathroom, I want to step on, and I force myself not to.

Good luck with your decision. Much healthier all around!

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Uh.....you had me.....right up till the end where you said in 3 weeks you're only down 11 pounds. So.....you're losing 3.6 pounds per week....approximately. In 6 months that's 93 pounds. In a year that's 186. If you can't be happy with that..........

[NoneYa 380]

Uh.....you had me.....right up till the end where you said in 3 weeks you're only down 11 pounds. So.....you're losing 3.6 pounds per week....approximately. In 6 months that's 93 pounds. In a year that's 186. If you can't be happy with that..........

BTB I can be happy with that and would be. My problem is that over and over I read "one week out and 15 lbs down" or " 30 lbs my forst month" i expected to lose 1-3 lbs a week after i got rolling. I also expected a really amazing first month though. Almost all of my loss came on the first week then nothing at all for a week. That was basically my food funeral weight gain amount. It's a bummer for me but I will muddle through it. I have no choice.

RJsBeginning, goirish78 and gamergirl thank you all.

[Butterthebean 8,146]

BTB I can be happy with that and would be. My problem is that over and over I read "one week out and 15 lbs down" or " 30 lbs my forst month" i expected to lose 1-3 lbs a week after i got rolling. I also expected a really amazing first month though. Almost all of my loss came on the first week then nothing at all for a week. That was basically my food funeral weight gain amount. It's a bummer for me but I will muddle through it. I have no choice.

RJsBeginning' date=' goirish78 and gamergirl thank you all.[/quote']

I know it's tough....those threads are disingenuous. You know those "15 pounds in one week" threads are just Water weight right? No actual fat loss has begun yet. It takes a minute to burn through stored reserves and force your body to start burning the fat. And there's a link in my sig that explains the initial weight loss stall that many people go through in the first few weeks. It's very common and it's natural. You're doing the right thing by not putting too much emphasis on the scale on a daily basis, but equally as important....don't compare your loss to everyone else's. Think about how differently we all gained the weight. How we all ate different foods....different amounts...at different times and for different reasons. The losses will be different too, but in a year from now you're going to be loving your progress.

[NoneYa 380]

Thank you ButterTheBean, you really are an inspiration!

[gamergirl 4,610]

And there's a link in my sig that explains the initial weight loss stall that many people go through in the first few weeks. .

That link was FANTASTIC. I just read it today and it taught me something I didn't know. Thank you for that. (Thread hijack over)

[TwinsMama 483]

2x4 you've got some really great advice/encouragement here. I did want to comment on those "I lost 30lbs. my first month" posts. BTB was absolutely right about the water!

Just to give you some perspective (I've probably written this 10 times today to people who are frustrated with weight loss)...In the 8 weeks since I've been sleeved, I have been in a stall 7 of those. I stalled at week 2 for 4 weeks then lost 9 lbs, gained 4 back, and have stalled since then.

That's right with over 200 lbs to lose I have barely lost anything. I defy the whole more to lose, lose faster! I literally did a better more consistent loss prior to surgery...in pounds that is.

Funny thing is, I have lost inches galore. I judge by my clothes not through true tape measuring. I look so much smaller than what I should at this weight. I like that I'm losing slowly because I can help my skin along the way...so some damage control.

I say all this to say, hang in there. The scale will derail even your best efforts. If you can come up with a few NSVs you'll probably feel a lot better about this process.

Hugs to you!

[PrincessSleeve 18]

I heard that I f you increase your Protein it helps the weight to come off. Good luvk everyone

[PrincessSleeve 18]

I heard that I f you increase your Protein it helps the weight to come off. Good luck everyone

[mrs.petethecat 62]

BTB I can be happy with that and would be. My problem is that over and over I read "one week out and 15 lbs down" or " 30 lbs my forst month" i expected to lose 1-3 lbs a week after i got rolling. I also expected a really amazing first month though. Almost all of my loss came on the first week then nothing at all for a week. That was basically my food funeral weight gain amount. It's a bummer for me but I will muddle through it. I have no choice.

RJsBeginning, goirish78 and gamergirl thank you all.

2x4NoMore,

Just a question for you to think about. Did you gain all your weight over days, weeks, months, years???? As long as you are moving in the right direction you are winning. It just takes time! Good luck on your journey and stop comparing yourself to others. It is YOUR journey and no one can do it but you. Be patient. It will happen!

[Indigo1991 1,612]

2x4no more, lots of good advice so I will chip in with a thought - is it time to stop setting urself up to fail? I did it and, to some extent, we all do it by giving ourselves arbitrary targets, even if they only exist in our heads. Then if we don't hit them - we have failed. No we haven't, we just didn't match our expectation.... Huge difference.

For me, I now look at every pound lost as one I won't see again - ever. I have no expectations of myself other than if I follow the protein/water/exercise instructions I will lose either weight or inches. And both matter, one isn't more important than the other.

Being sleeved is different from anything u have done in the past because your body - most of time, lol - is on ur side and will join in. Yes there are stalls, I have had one for the last month but have gone down a whole size in clothes. And I know that will eventually appear on my scale. But I also know not to stress any more and that also helps my body take care of its business.

It isnt easy but you have done a great thing for you and your body in getting sleeved - go with it, it gets better!!!! Good luck :-)

[gamergirl 4,610]

2x4no more' date=' lots of good advice so I will chip in with a thought - is it time to stop setting urself up to fail? I did it and, to some extent, we all do it by giving ourselves arbitrary targets, even if they only exist in our heads. Then if we don't hit them - we have failed. No we haven't, we just didn't match our expectation.... Huge difference.

For me, I now look at every pound lost as one I won't see again - ever. I have no expectations of myself other than if I follow the protein/water/exercise instructions I will lose either weight or inches. And both matter, one isn't more important than the other.

Being sleeved is different from anything u have done in the past because your body - most of time, lol - is on ur side and will join in. Yes there are stalls, I have had one for the last month but have gone down a whole size in clothes. And I know that will eventually appear on my scale. But I also know not to stress any more and that also helps my body take care of its business.

It isnt easy but you have done a great thing for you and your body in getting sleeved - go with it, it gets better!!!! Good luck :-)

[/quote']

I love your perspective on artificial goals and failure. You are absolutely correct. The only real goal here is to stick to the program of Protein, Water, exercise. I have been trying to get into that mindset where I can truly believe that I control those 3. I do not control the outcome.