Stall on loss

[Gin14 4]

I'm 4 weeks post op tomorrow and starting to feel a little discouraged. I can't do the puree so I start eating real foods . Just small portions small bites and chew chew chew . Which is working great and I finally have energy again . The problem is I have only lost 20 lbs since my surgery and I feel like I should have lost more by now. I am not able to get in the protien I k ow I need so I'm worried I am failing.

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[liveaboard15 1,293]

20lb in 1 month is amazing... Just keep at it. you will slow down in weight loss as you progress out. I am at 6 months and the previous month i only lost like 7lb and so far in two weeks i have lost 2lb... just keep working on it!

[catwoman7 11,220]

20 lbs in four weeks is great. I lost 16 lbs the first month, and I started out well over 300 lbs. Unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", a 20 lb lost during month one is pretty normal.

[Tomo 1,194]

I think you are doing great. I'm like@catwoman7, I lost a whopping 15.6 lbs my first month. lol.

[NovaLuna 710]

I lost 23 pounds my first month after surgery and I was also well over 300 pounds. 20 pounds is good and above the norm for most people. Don't stress about it, you're doing good.

[Hop_Scotch 1,632]

It would be useful if you filled in your profile (height and surgery date weight is a good start) for context, regardless, 20lb is great and there is nothing 'only' about 20lb.

What did you expect to lose in a month and where did this expection come from?

[Gin14 4]

Well I had rny surgery and I read that it is norm to loose 5 to 15 lbs per week the first few months following surgery , so that is where my expectations came from . I am glad about losing 20 lbs but in the big scale of things was feeling discouraged since the 20 lbs was really only lost the first 2 and a half weeks then I have been stalled since not loosing anything in the last week and a half , basically since I started eating instead of drinking liquid only. Pre op diet start was 9/1 weight was 305 surgery date was 9/15 weight 294 and today 275. But again the 275 has been the same for 2 weeks now. I'm getting less then 1000 calories a day and walking a bit but not much as I have plantar fasciitis and am in pain . I fear that I won't loose the weight unless I go back to starving myself like I did the first 2 weeks after surgery.

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[kcuster83 1,504]

15 lbs a week?!?!? NO WAY!

Ask your surgeon about that, no way they would agree with loosing 15 lbs a week.

[ms.sss 15,718]

19 minutes ago, Gin14 said:

I read that it is norm to loose 5 to 15 lbs per week the first few months following surgery , so that is where my expectations came from .

5-15 lbs per WEEK?!? For the first few MONTHS?!?

That is a bold (and borderline irresponsible) statement for a publication to make.

If I lost 15 lbs per week i would’ve been NEGATIVE 5 lbs in 4 months. Dust Particles. Anti-matter? Does anti-matter have negative mass??…i digress…

I didn’t even hit an average of 5lbs per week (for first 4 months), and from reading on here i was one of the faster losers.

Pro tip: manage (lower?) ur expectations and revel in your accomplishments. It will save you alot of angst.

P.S. Congrats on the 20lb loss! That is no small feat in a month.

[catwoman7 11,220]

nope - "normal" WLS patients do not lose that much that quickly. Maybe if they started off at 600 lbs, but otherwise, no. You might find some "normal" WLS patients ("normal" as in starting off in the 200s or 300s - and maybe low 400s) who lose 30+ lbs the first month, but even that's not common - and they certainly wouldn't keep up that pace after the first month. I've been hanging out on bariatric forums for the eight or so years, and just based on posts I've read (which have been thousands), I'd say most of us lose around 15-25 lbs the first month, then about 10 lbs (give or take) a month for a few months - then it drops to around 5 lbs - then 2 lbs......then eventually stops.

as far as not losing any weight the last 1.5 weeks, you're in the infamous three-week stall that most of us experience. I just did a search on it here on bariatricpal for you just a second ago. Here are the 17,501 (and no, I am NOT kidding) posts on the three week stall for your reading pleasure:

https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=three week stall

[catwoman7 11,220]

1 hour ago, Gin14 said:

I'm getting less then 1000 calories a day and walking a bit but not much as I have plantar fasciitis and am in pain . I fear that I won't loose the weight unless I go back to starving myself like I did the first 2 weeks after surgery.

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as long as you stick to your program, yes, you will lose weight. As I mentioned above, I lost 16 lbs the first month, around 12 lbs the second month, and gradually less and less as time went on. But I remained very committed to my program and eventually lost all 235 lbs of my excess weight (so, in other words, lost 100% of my excess weight) (have since had a regain of about 20 lbs, which unfortunately happens to most of us after hitting our lowest weight. But that's fine - I'm happy where I am)

[Queen ApisM 427]

7 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

nope - "normal" WLS patients do not lose that much that quickly. Maybe if they started off at 600 lbs, but otherwise, no. You might find some "normal" WLS patients ("normal" as in starting off in the 200s or 300s - and maybe low 400s) who lose 30+ lbs the first month, but even that's not common - and they certainly wouldn't keep up that pace after the first month. I've been hanging out on bariatric forums for the eight or so years, and just based on posts I've read (which have been thousands), I'd say most of us lose around 15-25 lbs the first month, then about 10 lbs (give or take) a month for a few months - then it drops to around 5 lbs - then 2 lbs......then eventually stops.

This. I fit this pattern to a T. I am 14 months out. I'm working out hard, tracking calories, and have dropped into the 4-5 bs a month range. The fast loss is only at the very beginning for most people, and will slow down. You will have stalls and it will be frustrating unless you are someone very lucky. This is a long game, not a quick fix by any means.

[steele1202 1]

I am in the same boat with you. Dr said between weeks 3-5 it will stall out then pick back up. I’m 4 1/2 weeks post bypass and only lost 16 since surgery. I have lost inches and forgot to measure before I started my journey. But I did measure a week ago so I know going forward. I did take before pictures and current pictures and can tell a difference. That what I look at to keep me going so that I won’t worry about the scale. All this Protein is helping to build muscle and it weighs more than fat.

[Mrs.Solis 20]

I feel the same .. and no matter what I do I feel scared to eat because I think I’m gonna gain weight and then nothing really taste good .. I don’t feel Like I’ve lost anything it’s a struggle but keep on swimming and stick with it !!!