Is it normal for weight to come off this fast?

[azallboys 0]

I had my surgery 12/12 and I have lost 17lbs from then until now - only 8 days. I am losing about 1 1/2 lbs a day right now. Is that going to slow up soon? Is that too fast, something to be concerned about? I am on a liquid diet consuming around 600 calories right now because I am never hungry anymore (far difference from the few days post op where I was starved). I am not excercising but I am constantly moving, doing housework, cooking, etc. I sit down a couple of times a day but that's it. I'm not tired anymore either - I have tons of energy. Previously before the surgery I was always tired and had no energy to do anything. I'm not complaining, this is great weight loss but should I be concerned? I have 2 more weeks of the full liquid diet left. Thanks!

azallboys

[Wheetsin 714]

Very normal, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose. For the first few weeks, you can guesstimate that roughly 30 - 50 percent of the weight you lose is fat, while the rest is going to be Fluid.

I lost about 30 - 35 lbs in my first week.

enjoy it while it lasts, because eventually you're probably going to slow waaay down.

[Daisalana 33]

Yup, me too.. I lost 30-35lbs in my first week post-op.. It slowed down after that.. and now it's even slower still and I can hardly eat food!

[soozan 0]

Messge delted and moved/retyped as it's own thread, sorry. I tried to just edit it and all I got were a thousand smileys in the body of the edit...so I deleted it.

[NukeChik 1]

Soozan,

Of course if I all had "strict supervision" I could lose my weight without having a lapband. The problem is I'm not capable of doing that for myself for an extended period of time. I can't always avoid pulling into the drive through, or eating that extra, extra donut. I've proven it time and time again.

I think that in the future statistics will show that there is a higher number of people who regain their weight loss from having bypass surgery. I have friends and family who have had the gastric bypass and are gaining weight again. Repetivie overeating has resized their stomachs and they can eat more. I have an aunt who is down to 165 lbs (she's 6 foot tall like me) and she eats more than me. She is an obsessive overeater and never dealt with it. She will eventually start gaining weight again.

The lap-band is a TOOL and only a tool. The problem a lot of the time is your head. You have to get your head "banded" too. People can still bypass the band and not lose the weight.

I don't like the biggest loser by the way. I think it belittles us fat people. I have a lot more to say, but will have to formulate my thoughts a little better. Sorry if I was rambling.

[ivyrose325 0]

Susan - yes of course you could do it w/o the band; many many of us have gone on crazy diets before. I had lost 135 pounds while in high school a few years back.

However it was such a crazy diet I could not maintain it and all of the weight plus more came back when I went to college, got married and had a baby.

I want to lose weight and be done with it.

The band allows us to eat more normal amounts of food and if we follow our bariatric team ( dr and nutrionists) guidelines we will get the right nutrients. Everything that I put into my mouth now has some value to it. Also since some veggies are sometimes hard for me to eaT i DRINK A 30 CALORIE V8 a day. My dr's office takes bloodwork every 3 months to make sure all of my levels are fine. I'm so glad I chose the band !

Azallboys - Yep it's normal I loet 21 lbs my first week banded! It was great to start off with a success.

[Wheetsin 714]

There's a HUGE difference between "starvation" and "what's required to maintain a healthy weight."

The lap-band limits your portion size, in most cases. Many people at or close to goal find that they're eating portion sizes that maintain their weight. I know MANY bandsters whose "tiny portions" are actual, regular portions... just sooo much less than they mammoth portions they were used to.

Keep in mind that obese people require many more calories to maintain their weight than non-obese. Let's take some random person (we'll call her Jane). Jane at 400 lbs takes almost 3,800 calories to maintain her weight -- that's neither losing, nor gaining, but just staying 400 lbs. If she eats more than that she will gain, and if she eats less she will lose.

Jane at 150 lbs takes 1800 calories to maintain that weight.

Decreasing Jane's intake by 2000 calories is not starving her, it is getting her to a normal intake that will enable weightloss.

Most bandsters seem to target around 1000 calories. That is essentially a reduced calorie diet, made available through decreased intake. I'd have to wager that if anyone here could MAINTAIN that, they'd not be here. We could all cut our calories for some period of time, but where are we in a year? 5 years? 10 years?

Could I eat like I do now, without the band? No way in hell. I don't have enough willpower, and was too eractive to anything that felt like hunger, and way too ingrained in my bad bheaviors.

We absorb/digest everything we eat, that passes through the stoma. Just like anyone else. That's why lap-banders are more accountable for their actions (IMO). If we sit around eating ice cream all day, we metabolize it and will not lose weight. As long as adequate nutrients are going in your mouth, and you're not yakking them back up (not very likely), we get enough nutrients.

[Lana24 10]

Very well said Wheetsin!

[juliegeraci 7]

YOu are doing great. It will probably slow down when you move to mushies or solids. You may actually gain a few lbs as well. I gained 7 between fills. Good luck.

[Daisalana 33]

Hm mine was 6 months.. most I could do the diet hell was 6 months. Worked super, then I gained 60lbs back and 30lb more for good measure

[LapBandit 5]

No one loses 1 1/2 lbs per day in FAT but you can definately lose that much in Water weight. To actually lose 1 lb of fat would mean expending over 3000 calories more than what you consumed in a day. (I think it's more like 3500 calories equals one pound of fat or something.) So, that's not possible to actually be losing over a pound of fat a day unless you ate absolutely nothing and was burning about 2000 calories at the gym every day on top of that. Depressing I know, but that's the math.

It's Water weight. The water issue is very peculiar and can result in wacky weight gains/drops. So, that's most likely where the majority of the weight loss is coming from. I can easily drop/gain 10-15 lbs just from water weight in a few days. So, enjoy the ride but don't worry about it coming off too fast because it will slow down once your body stabilizes after it heals from surgery. Plus, you're on a liquid diet right now so your body is well hydrated and dropping old water it's been holding onto for some time. Once you get on to regular foods you'll be able to start seeing your true weight loss speed. Enjoy it though because it's darn exciting to see those huge number drops!

You were banded on my B-Day!!!!!! Happy B-Day to me (birthday) and Happy B-day to you (band)!!!!

[shortgal 5]

Azall boys!

I say enjoy the weight loss. I'm three and 1/2 weeks post op and have lost 12 pounds. the minute I ate something with salt, I went up two pounds and it took me another two weeks to lose that two pounds. Your age, your level of activity and how musch you weigh to start are all factors.

Enjoy the ride!

[restricted 0]

I was banded a bit before you, and have yet to weigh myself. Early next year, I'll see my doctor for a follow up, and they'll undoubtedly weigh me then. Until that time, I'm not jumping on any scale as it'll confuse me more than help. My focus is on following the diet and directions provided by the doctors office. There is no instruction to weigh myself.

I wish you well in your weight loss!