Is my weight loss on track?

[vikki401 6]

I feel my surgeon has abandoned me. My next visit with her isn’t until 3 months post-op. My only goals we set are to drink 64oz of liquids and 60 grams of Protein daily. She said MOST of my excess weight will be lost in the first 6 months, so to stay focus and take advantage of the surgery.

I don’t know how much MOST of my excess weight is, so I don’t know if I’m losing at the correct rate. I don’t know if I am eating too much or too little. I’m just listening to my body. If I’m hungry, I eat. If I am full. I stop. The only food restrictions I have are raw veggies and steak. Other than that, she told me to “listen to my body and if it hurts, stop and try again at a later time” .

I had surgery 3/21 so that makes me a little over 6 weeks post-op. I started at 245 and was not required to follow the 2 week diet. I was only told not to eat solids the day before surgery. Day of surgery I weighed 238. Today I weigh 210. That’s only a 28lb lost in 6 weeks. I’m 5’1” so I still have a lot to lose. I’ve been at 210 for a week now so I think I’ve hit a stall. I’m losing and I feel great; so I am happy , but I don’t want her to be disappointed at 3 months if I am not at the weight she’s expecting me to be at (whatever that might be).

I don’t know if I’m doing this right. Some days I feel so great and able to move that It seems too easy. just rolling over in bed use to get me so tired. I am wondering if I should go “harder”.

How much was everyone else down by 6 weeks?

[Queen ApisM 427]

28 lbs in 6 weeks is more than 4 lbs a week. That's nothing to be upset about. Weight loss is fast initially, partly because you tend to lose a lot of Water weight and you are do restricted initially as you recover from surgery. It will probably slow down as the months pass, but again, this isn't a race. If you get to 6 months and you haven't lost "most of the weight" it's not as if there is a magic switch that is flipped and you stop losing weight. Many people lose weight steadily for 18 months and beyond, though it slows down as you get closer to your goal weight.

Excess weight is what you started at minus what you should be at, and most use the BMI as the guide for that. So, if you are 5 ft 1 inch, your healthy range is 98-132 lbs. Excess weight should be 238 (start weight at surgery) minus 132 (top of healthy range). So, your excess weight would around 106 lbs. I think the literature I read suggested the average lost in the first 6 months is around 30-40% of your excess weight, which would be 106 lb x 30% = 31.8 lbs, but I am not sure how accurate that percentage is.

Again, these are rough numbers and the averages are just that - averages. Many people do better than this in 6 months. Some do worse. Some people lose "slowly" throughout and get to goal and beyond, while some people might lose fast initially and then not get to goal. Basically, no one can predict how it will go, including the surgeons.

[Queen ApisM 427]

Also, I meant to also say - does your practice have a nutritionist? If so, you may want to ask them about additional guidance. They can be really helpful in figuring out if you are on track for calories, etc. Initially (the first couple of months) my practice did not give calorie goals, but in my nutrition check ins, we did touch base on how many calories I was eating. That was really helpful, especially since I was undereating relative to what they wanted.

I wouldn't overthink this. If you go back in 3 months and you aren't where you "should" be, you won't get demerits. 🙂 Your body will do what it wants, when it wants. Stalls and slow downs are normal and to be expected in this process. It is very easy to make yourself nuts overthinking and stressing about whether you are hitting all the milestones and expectations. In the end, does it matter if you get to the destination? Probably not.

(I say all this while in the middle of a frustrating 4 week stall. It's hard to do, but try not to stress, it doesn't help!)

Good luck.

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,637]

7 hours ago, vikki401 said:

I feel my surgeon has abandoned me. My next visit with her isn’t until 3 months post-op. My only goals we set are to drink 64oz of liquids and 60 grams of Protein daily. She said MOST of my excess weight will be lost in the first 6 months, so to stay focus and take advantage of the surgery.

I don’t know how much MOST of my excess weight is, so I don’t know if I’m losing at the correct rate. I don’t know if I am eating too much or too little. I’m just listening to my body. If I’m hungry, I eat. If I am full. I stop. The only food restrictions I have are raw veggies and steak. Other than that, she told me to “listen to my body and if it hurts, stop and try again at a later time” .

I had surgery 3/21 so that makes me a little over 6 weeks post-op. I started at 245 and was not required to follow the 2 week diet. I was only told not to eat solids the day before surgery. Day of surgery I weighed 238. Today I weigh 210. That’s only a 28lb lost in 6 weeks. I’m 5’1” so I still have a lot to lose. I’ve been at 210 for a week now so I think I’ve hit a stall. I’m losing and I feel great; so I am happy , but I don’t want her to be disappointed at 3 months if I am not at the weight she’s expecting me to be at (whatever that might be).

I don’t know if I’m doing this right. Some days I feel so great and able to move that It seems too easy. just rolling over in bed use to get me so tired. I am wondering if I should go “harder”.

How much was everyone else down by 6 weeks?

How many times have you seen your surgeon since your surgery? I have to see mine 2 weeks out, 90 days out, and 6 months out, then yearly. Of course, if there's a problem before those appts then I can come in sooner. I think this is pretty standard. Definitely reach out to your nutritionist. They are much more available and a wealth of knowledge.

[kcuster83 1,504]

I think everyone above answered your questions so I will just say we had surgery the same day. I hit a stall around 2 weeks and it lasted about 2 more weeks. It is annoying but I know by (our) bodies are adjusting to everything. Just stay on track with your plan and all a sudden the weight will start dropping again.

I have lost 30lbs since surgery and we had surgery on the same day. 4/5 lbs a week is great!

I was given a graph which shows my projected weight loss over the first year on a monthly basis. According to it, I am ahead of schedule.

[lizonaplane 1,613]

I 100% agree with what @Queen ApisM said! You have lost a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time. You will not lose 40lbs in a month unless you are the size of the people on My 600 Pound Life, which you are NOT.

Everyone's journey is different. I had lost 50 lbs before surgery, so my weight loss after surgery wasn't that fast, and at 8 months out, I'm still losing (I have lost only 4 lbs this month, but that's still better than I would have done without surgery).

I felt like my surgery center abandoned me too. I just kept pushing, and they did get back to me, and I was able to meet with the nutritionist, therapist, and an obesity medicine specialist.

[kcuster83 1,504]

3 minutes ago, lizonaplane said:

I 100% agree with what @Queen ApisM said! You have lost a tremendous amount of weight in a short period of time. You will not lose 40lbs in a month unless you are the size of the people on My 600 Pound Life, which you are NOT.

Everyone's journey is different. I had lost 50 lbs before surgery, so my weight loss after surgery wasn't that fast, and at 8 months out, I'm still losing (I have lost only 4 lbs this month, but that's still better than I would have done without surgery).

I felt like my surgery center abandoned me too. I just kept pushing, and they did get back to me, and I was able to meet with the nutritionist, therapist, and an obesity medicine specialist.

My surgery center is great. Everyone is so helpful and responsive. The coordinator, nutritionist, medical assistant are all so helpful. I have emailed them so many times and get such a quick, informative and friendly response. They have a FB support group which the nutritionist does daily recipe videos and all kinds of stuff. ZERO complaints there.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU.. the surgeon is an entire different ball game! ZERO response from him. I had to call EVERY day for 7 days for him to call in my prescription because the pharmacy "lost it". It took me reaching out to the coordinator and then I got it resolved the same day.

I also had to call about a weird BM problem and that was over a week ago and I called 5 times and STILL no response!! I almost went to the ER to be checked out but I called my PCP and explained the situation and he helped me out.

I have a 6 week follow up today and I plan on telling him how I feel about it too, it is ridiculous.

[Dave In Houston 199]

20 minutes ago, kcuster83 said:

My surgery center is great. Everyone is so helpful and responsive. The coordinator, nutritionist, medical assistant are all so helpful. I have emailed them so many times and get such a quick, informative and friendly response. They have a FB support group which the nutritionist does daily recipe videos and all kinds of stuff. ZERO complaints there.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU.. the surgeon is an entire different ball game! ZERO response from him. I had to call EVERY day for 7 days for him to call in my prescription because the pharmacy "lost it". It took me reaching out to the coordinator and then I got it resolved the same day.

I also had to call about a weird BM problem and that was over a week ago and I called 5 times and STILL no response!! I almost went to the ER to be checked out but I called my PCP and explained the situation and he helped me out.

I have a 6 week follow up today and I plan on telling him how I feel about it too, it is ridiculous.

The medical assistant may be able to many of the things you are expecting the surgeon to do. My surgeon's medical assistant does prescriptions, for example. If you ask the surgeon, he can probably tell you how to get the best results from him and his staff.

[tkkilen 2]

I started at 213 lbs 5’1”. I was on pre liquid for 5 days and lost 12 lbs. I had gastric bypass on 4/18 . I lost another 9 lbs first week. Since then I have been at 192 lbs. I am frustrated too about stalling weight loss after 1 week. I have read if you are diabetic it’s harder to lose weight. Is this true? I am diabetic and my sugar has been going back up steadily. My endocrinologist increased my insulin to 20 units of lantus. Am I going to lose weight? Has this happened to anyone else? I also had to go to ER couple days ago due to impacted bowel. I didn’t poo 11 days then poo then another 7 days no poo. I went to see my endocrinologist and pcp yesterday. They are puzzled why I am not losing weight either. I drink 3 bottles of Water and about 70+ Protein per day. Please help!!!

[kcuster83 1,504]

4 minutes ago, Dave In Houston said:

The medical assistant may be able to many of the things you are expecting the surgeon to do. My surgeon's medical assistant does prescriptions, for example. If you ask the surgeon, he can probably tell you how to get the best results from him and his staff.

I was trying to actually get a hold of anyone for the refill but at the time the medical assistant was on vacation so I don't know if she could or couldn't.

As far as the medical question, she was the one who told me the surgeon would have to give me a call back.

[Flab-U-Less Forever 140]

3 hours ago, tkkilen said:

I started at 213 lbs 5’1”. I was on pre liquid for 5 days and lost 12 lbs. I had gastric bypass on 4/18 . I lost another 9 lbs first week. Since then I have been at 192 lbs. I am frustrated too about stalling weight loss after 1 week. I have read if you are diabetic it’s harder to lose weight. Is this true? I am diabetic and my sugar has been going back up steadily. My endocrinologist increased my insulin to 20 units of lantus. Am I going to lose weight? Has this happened to anyone else? I also had to go to ER couple days ago due to impacted bowel. I didn’t poo 11 days then poo then another 7 days no poo. I went to see my endocrinologist and pcp yesterday. They are puzzled why I am not losing weight either. I drink 3 bottles of Water and about 70+ Protein per day. Please help!!!

Are you taking anything to help with Constipation? I take Miralax and regular Colace daily. My surgeon said this was ok to do so. I had 2 bouts of constipation. Both happened when I didn't take my Miralax for two days in a row. I go #2 daily when I don't mess up with my regime.

[tkkilen 2]

Yes I take linzess and lactulose full dose daily. My pcp said to do enema every other day if I don’t go every other day.