Weight loss post-op vs pre-op

[Jed J 19]

I’ve got a question for everyone out there. I had the sleeve done on the 17 of December, so I just hit my one month mark. I started at 524 pounds, so bigger than most. Interesting thing though is that during the 6 week pre-op diet I lost 58 pounds. In the four weeks post surgery I have lost 21. Has anyone had a similar experience? Does anyone have knowledge as to why this might happen? How would weight loss post surgery be so much slower then before? Post surgery has been much more restrictive than my diet leading up to surgery and I am trying to understand why.

[Hop_Scotch 1,633]

I am no expert, but possibly pre-op you may have had a lot of excess Fluid which when you well low cal/carb you lost along with some fat. Then first few weeks post op you have a lot of inflammation/fluid retention form the IV fluids plus the dreaded 3rd/4th week stall as the post op diet switches up a gear (swapping from liquid/puree/soft etc) which typically hinders scale weight loss.

While you may not be losing a lot via the scale, it is likely you are losing lots of inches.

[GradyCat 3,696]

Congrats! I only had to do a two week pre-op diet and I lost a few pounds, it was a calorie-restricted 1500 calories per day. My guess is twofold. One has to do with Water weight pre-op and losing a lot of it. The other is that your body went under something drastic and traumatic and doesn't know how to respond just yet to the post-surgery you. I'm just 6 weeks post-op myself I stalled during Weeks 4 and 5 when transitioning from fluids to soft foods to real food because my body just didn't know what to do with all of the changes, but now in Week 6 the scale is finally starting to move again.

[RickM 1,753]

Not at all unusual, as typically when we start any major weight loss effort, surgical or otherwise, the loss tends to be front-loaded, in that there is usually a fair bit of Water weight that is lost initially as the body adjusts to the radically lower intake, particularly from carbohydrates (though not exclusively.) Had you not done a pre-op diet, you would no doubt be losing that 58 lb, and quite possibly a bit more, during your first six weeks post-op.

Starting at a much lower level than you, I lost about 32lb the first month (no pre-op diet) followed by 15lb each of the next two months. Similar drops from the first month of weight loss effort to the second is quite normal, and you should probably expect to be losing 15-20 per month the next couple of months, and generally declining in loss rate as you proceed (after all, it takes fewer calories to move 400lb around all day long than 500, and fewer still to move 300, etc.)

Good luck, and keep up the good work...

[catwoman7 11,223]

there are several factors that influence your rate of weight loss. Whether or not you dropped a lot of weight before surgery is one of them. Like one of the above posters said, weight loss is front-loaded - a lot of the initial drop is from losing Water weight.

people who have lost a ton of weight pre-surgery, as you have, don't usually experience those big drops right after surgery. That's because they've already had their initial water weight drop. I was the same way - I lost 57 lbs pre-op, and just 16 lbs the first month after surgery. Don't let it discourage you, though - I did end up losing all of my excess weight (over 200 lbs). As long as you stick to the program, the weight WILL come off.

[Jed J 19]

Thank you all for posting. Some good insight and much appreciated.