July 2020 Surgery anyone?

[BigSue 1,372]

I am no longer morbidly obese! Just plain obese, haha. But not bad, considering that I started with a BMI over 60.

[Pandemonium 515]

Weighed in yesterday morning and came up just shy of One-derland. Weight loss has definitely slowed down as I get closer to my doctor's goal of 180. Used to be in the 2.5-3lb a week range. The past few weeks have been 1.8-2.2lbs. It's to be expected, though means I'm not likely to hit goal by the end of the year. The biggest annoyance with that is that my doctor doesn't want me on a normal meal plan until I hit 180. So, 4 months out and I'm still only have three dinners a week, with Protein Shakes and bars all the rest of the time. There's definitely some fatigue setting in when it comes to my diet. I'll get there eventually, though.

[locura79 12]

Fast Hair loss & Slow Weight Loss

I feel so far behind most of y'all posting on here. I'm only down about 60 lbs from my high, less than 40 lbs post-op. I'm aiming for 100g Protein per day, 900 cal total. And my hair is falling out like crazy, which I would understand if I was dropping weight quickly. I haven't stopped any of my medications yet either. Have your surgeons been sending you in for lab work frequently?

[BigSue 1,372]

2 hours ago, locura79 said:

Fast Hair loss & Slow Weight Loss

I feel so far behind most of y'all posting on here. I'm only down about 60 lbs from my high, less than 40 lbs post-op. I'm aiming for 100g Protein per day, 900 cal total. And my hair is falling out like crazy, which I would understand if I was dropping weight quickly. I haven't stopped any of my medications yet either. Have your surgeons been sending you in for lab work frequently?

Hang in there! Don’t forget, 60 pounds is a lot! It doesn’t seem like it when you’re comparing yourself to other people who have lost more, but it’s a big accomplishment! The Hair loss isn’t exactly from the weight loss, but more from the surgery itself (telogen effluvium), and typically happens 3-4 months after surgery, regardless of the amount of weight loss.

My surgeon doesn’t order bloodwork until 6 months post-op, so I haven’t had that yet. My endocrinologist ordered bloodwork 6 weeks after surgery, though. I was never on any medications for diabetes or blood pressure, so I haven’t gone off any medications, but my A1C went from 8.1 in May to 5.2 in August and my BP is in normal range.

[IWantTheDream 179]

On 11/21/2020 at 14:41, locura79 said:

Fast Hair loss & Slow Weight Loss

I feel so far behind most of y'all posting on here. I'm only down about 60 lbs from my high, less than 40 lbs post-op. I'm aiming for 100g Protein per day, 900 cal total. And my hair is falling out like crazy, which I would understand if I was dropping weight quickly. I haven't stopped any of my medications yet either. Have your surgeons been sending you in for lab work frequently?

I hear ya! I also am only 65 LB total loss. I feel like I’m loosing so much slower then every one else. I did get off my BP med last month but I was only on a half pill a day. I did have blood work done only because I have been having really bad Charlie horses I wake up every morning at 4:45 am with then it’s crazy but all my levels are good so who knows why I’m getting them. I also am loosing my hair like crazy now. I have to unclog the drain catcher after every shower. I feel like at this rate I will be bold by Christmas. My hair was thin to begin with. I envy everyone who is like oh I lost 10 lbs this week because I hardly loose anything and have more stall weeks then anything. I fear that my weight is not going to come all the way off and I will have gone through all of this for nothing and be totally disappointed because everyone else seems to post that they lost like 100lb by six months. And after six months it’s supposed to be harder to loose. I don’t know. My doctor has given me weight ranges I should be at every visit and I have not made one . So I am right there with you. Not all of us are feeling like we are doing great. But we are all in this for better or worse till the end. Just know you are not alone!

[catwoman7 11,212]

45 minutes ago, IWantTheDream said:

I hear ya! I also am only 65 LB total loss. I feel like I’m loosing so much slower then every one else. I envy everyone who is like oh I lost 10 lbs this week because I hardly loose anything and have more stall weeks then anything. I fear that my weight is not going to come all the way off and I will have gone through all of this for nothing and be totally disappointed because everyone else seems to post that they lost like 100lb by six months. And after six months it’s supposed to be harder to loose. I don’t know. My doctor has given me weight ranges I should be at every visit and I have not made one . So I am right there with you. Not all of us are feeling like we are doing great. But we are all in this for better or worse till the end. Just know you are not alone!

you're definitely NOT losing slower than everyone else. When I was where you are (four months out), I'd lost 52 lbs. And I started out much heavier than you.

people lose at all different rates for all different reasons (age, sex, metabolic rate, activity level, whether or not you lost weight prior to surgery, starting BMI, for starters...). Other than sticking to your program and your activity level, you don't have a lot of control over these factors. Ultimately, your success is determined by how committed you are to your program - NOT to your rate of weight loss. I think losing 100 lbs in six months isn't that common, to be honest, except for people who start out much heavier than you. It took me a year to lose that much, and again, I started out much heavier than you did.

I was a slow loser the entire time, and I, too, was told by some insensitive medical resident that I was behind where I should have been at every juncture. But I ended up losing 100% of my excess weight - which means I probably blew most/all of the other people in my classes out of the Water by the time I was done.

so just keep up your commitment, follow the rules, and you should be fine.

P.S. yes weight loss does slow down after the first six months or so, but i kept losing until month 20. So don't give up hope!

Edited November 22, 2020 by catwoman7

[Solo4ever 26]

43 minutes ago, IWantTheDream said:

I hear ya! I also am only 65 LB total loss. I feel like I’m loosing so much slower then every one else. I did get off my BP med last month but I was only on a half pill a day. I did have blood work done only because I have been having really bad Charlie horses I wake up every morning at 4:45 am with then it’s crazy but all my levels are good so who knows why I’m getting them. I also am loosing my hair like crazy now. I have to unclog the drain catcher after every shower. I feel like at this rate I will be bold by Christmas. My hair was thin to begin with. I envy everyone who is like oh I lost 10 lbs this week because I hardly loose anything and have more stall weeks then anything. I fear that my weight is not going to come all the way off and I will have gone through all of this for nothing and be totally disappointed because everyone else seems to post that they lost like 100lb by six months. And after six months it’s supposed to be harder to loose. I don’t know. My doctor has given me weight ranges I should be at every visit and I have not made one . So I am right there with you. Not all of us are feeling like we are doing great. But we are all in this for better or worse till the end. Just know you are not alone!

I don't think you're doing that bad! Those 100 pound reports are the exceptions really, not the norm. I am 5 months post op and am down 70. It does matter where you started remember that. I lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. About one week every month I still for a week. Then lose 3, then back to 1 or 2 pounds per week. Inhave never lost 10 pounds in a week, thats not reasonable. And if it was true its mostly water- not comparable. Sure the first couple weeks of surgery i lost 4 pounds a week. And stalled forever. Lol I log my weight every Wednesday morning. I do weigh every day cuz I'm a little obsessive- and sometimes that really messes with my head. By logging my weight only weekly though when I get frustrated and feel like I haven't lost anything- I look at the log. And realize oh, ok, I lost 2 pounds! We get so caught up in what we weighed just yesterday we don't see the real number. I still lose 8- 10 pounds a month ..and I'm happy with slow and steady than the big losses with long stalls! I just started losing my hair also, thankfully I have alot of hair so I think ill be the only one who really notices- but it does stress me a little. Hang in there and look at the bigger picture. Stick to your diet and don't overwork yourself- sometimes too much activity and not enough calories can really slow your loss. I tend to stall all week while I'm working, and actually lose my couple pounds each week over the weekend when I'm relaxing and less active.

[BigSue 1,372]

7 hours ago, IWantTheDream said:

I hear ya! I also am only 65 LB total loss. I feel like I’m loosing so much slower then every one else. I did get off my BP med last month but I was only on a half pill a day. I did have blood work done only because I have been having really bad Charlie horses I wake up every morning at 4:45 am with then it’s crazy but all my levels are good so who knows why I’m getting them. I also am loosing my hair like crazy now. I have to unclog the drain catcher after every shower. I feel like at this rate I will be bold by Christmas. My hair was thin to begin with. I envy everyone who is like oh I lost 10 lbs this week because I hardly loose anything and have more stall weeks then anything. I fear that my weight is not going to come all the way off and I will have gone through all of this for nothing and be totally disappointed because everyone else seems to post that they lost like 100lb by six months. And after six months it’s supposed to be harder to loose. I don’t know. My doctor has given me weight ranges I should be at every visit and I have not made one . So I am right there with you. Not all of us are feeling like we are doing great. But we are all in this for better or worse till the end. Just know you are not alone!

It sucks when doctors try to tell you how fast you "should" be losing weight. They should know it doesn't work that way. My surgeon is excited about the idea of seeing me under 200 pounds (he's said at my last two appointments that it won't be long before I'm under 200), but he hasn't given me an expected timeline for that. He said at my 3-month appointment that I "might" get there by my next (6-month) appointment, but definitely didn't say that I "should" or that he would be disappointed if I'm not. At my 6-week appointment, I told the dietitian that I was disappointed in the amount of weight I had lost since surgery, and she actually seemed kind of annoyed and told me that my weight loss was normal.

And there's nothing "only" about a 65-pound weight loss! That's a lot. I see ads for weight loss products where people are bragging about losing 30 or 40 pounds. Losing 65 pounds is a big accomplishment.

[STLoser 1,099]

I'm super excited to say that as of yesterday I am under 300 pounds! I'm 299.2. I started at 393 and was 368 on the day of surgery, July 23rd.
I never thought I'd be under 300 again!!

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

[kellym1220 473]

It's soooo hard not to compare yourself to others! But I weigh less now than I did in 2017 (when I started using myfitnesspal so that makes me happy! In fact, this may be pretty close to the lowest I've been since then, and I feel way more confident about maintaining this weight loss. I looked back and I am one pound away from the lowest I've been over the past three years and that was in in October 2018 (and I was probably on HCG, which I think totally screwed up my metabolism!) Anyway, 60 pounds is amazing, it's 20% of your body weight, which I think helps put it in perspective!

Take care and keep drinking that water!

[Rose57 7]

2 hours ago, kellym1220 said:

It's soooo hard not to compare yourself to others! But I weigh less now than I did in 2017 (when I started using myfitnesspal so that makes me happy! In fact, this may be pretty close to the lowest I've been since then, and I feel way more confident about maintaining this weight loss. I looked back and I am one pound away from the lowest I've been over the past three years and that was in in October 2018 (and I was probably on HCG, which I think totally screwed up my metabolism!) Anyway, 60 pounds is amazing, it's 20% of your body weight, which I think helps put it in perspective!

Take care and keep drinking that water!

I’m 4 months post op and have lost 57 lbs. and keeping under 1000 calories. I know I could do better with my Water and exercise. I had DS surgery and I started at 289 lbs. I think it has a lot to do with how much you have to lose

every pound lost is better than gaining. Good luck

[STLoser 1,099]

From what I've seen, most people lose all their weight in the same time frame, regardless how fast or slow they lose. It's hard not to compare. I started out bigger than most and a lot of people who are bigger lose super fast..for me, I'm losing faster than I ever could on my own, and I feel like as long as the scale keeps going down then I'm happy, but I don't lost as fast as a lot of people my size. I lost fast (for me) the first couple months, which was around 20 pounds a month, but now I'm losing at a rate of about 10 pounds of month. That's still so much faster than I ever could on my own, and I figure if I kept losing 10 pounds a month I could be around 200 pounds in 10 months and I'd be beyond thrilled! I was lucky to lose 5 pounds a month even when I tried my hardest before wls.
I think you all are doing an amazing job and should be proud!

Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

[Repeatingthoughts 77]

congrats on all the weight loss!! I think it is indeed tough not to compare. I try to focus more on my eating and exercise and think of it always as my PERSONAL situationship. You are all doing great!

[IWantTheDream 179]

On 11/22/2020 at 21:52, BigSue said:

It sucks when doctors try to tell you how fast you "should" be losing weight. They should know it doesn't work that way. My surgeon is excited about the idea of seeing me under 200 pounds (he's said at my last two appointments that it won't be long before I'm under 200), but he hasn't given me an expected timeline for that. He said at my 3-month appointment that I "might" get there by my next (6-month) appointment, but definitely didn't say that I "should" or that he would be disappointed if I'm not. At my 6-week appointment, I told the dietitian that I was disappointed in the amount of weight I had lost since surgery, and she actually seemed kind of annoyed and told me that my weight loss was normal.

And there's nothing "only" about a 65-pound weight loss! That's a lot. I see ads for weight loss products where people are bragging about losing 30 or 40 pounds. Losing 65 pounds is a big accomplishment.

How often do you see the dietitian? Believe it or not I have not seen a dietitian since March. After that Covid hit and then I finally got my third surgery date for July 7 and I still have never seen a dietitian but I have seen my surgeon three times. I think everyone in my center got the short end of the stick because after COVID hit the dietitian up and re thought her life and decided to quit and they found someone else just for her to leave a month later and I don’t think they have anyone else yet. It’s very frustrating cause there really isn’t anyone to ask questions to.

[Swjtes 27]

Not sure where you are all at. I see my nutritionist virtually every month. I paid for an app called VHPGO which allows me to text questions any time. There are also fitness classes and support groups. Just wanted to share this resource.

my surgery was 7/7/2020. Down 66lbs. My team was happy with my progress. I agree 65 is not Only that is AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!