Feeling defeated

[Ashley Amari 18]

Hi everyone. I am 33 days post op and lost 16 pounds. I’m so frustrated bc I’m doing everything they told me to do and the scale is barely moving. I’m walking 1.5- 2 miles a day. I am literally weighing and tracking every single thing I eat. I am getting my Protein 95% of the time. I am getting my Water in. I know it’s about more than the scale, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t depressing to see it move so little. This week I lost 1.6 lbs. last week it was 1.2. When I went back for my 2 week check even my surgeon looked surprised that I had only lost 7 pounds in the first two week. This has me feeling so defeated. 😭😭😭😭😭

[SuziDavis 546]

How much were you losing a month before surgery?

16lbs in a month is great, and you will hit stalls while your body adjusts.

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,598]

Sounds like you might just be a little bit of a slower loser, and that's ok. As long as you're losing, and following your plan, and exercising, and changing your eating habits you're doing everything right. If you were at a lower bmi and weight than others on here, you will also lose slower. But again, as my surgeon says, "as long as you continue in a downward trajectory, you're doing great". Stalls happen, everyone's journey looks different, and you're still early in yours. Your body is only like 4 weeks post op. It's still healing. Give yourself some grace, and time, and you'll see the results you want.

[Ashley Amari 18]

@SuziDavisI basically had the same problem before surgery. I would loose maybe 4-5 pounds a month. I was doing Keto and basically working out 5-6 days a week. I know I shouldn’t worry so much about the scale but it’s hard.

[catwoman7 11,212]

I lost the same amount (16 lbs) the first month and ended up losing 235 lbs (I've gained back a few since then). Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month post-op, so you're in the right range. If you're getting your expectations from "My 600 lb Life", remember that those people start at over 600 lbs - that's way above where the average WLS patient starts from, and starting BMI is one of the factors that determines what your rate of weight loss is (other factors are age, gender, how much of your body weight is muscle, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, metabolism rate, other genetic factors, etc). The only two factors that play into the rate of weight loss that you have much control over are how closely you're sticking to your clinic's food plan, and how active you are. If you're doing well with those, you'll lose the weight, whether fast or slow.

the other thing you may be dealing with is the "three-week stall" that most of us experience. It's not always the third week post-op - sometimes it's the second or fourth or fifth week post-op, but it's most commonly during the third week, hence the name. It's basically the first major stall after WLS. Most of us go through this. It generally lasts 1-3 weeks. I had mine during weeks 2 and 3 (so two weeks). I lost virtually nothing during this time, but once week 4 started, I dropped like 6-8 lbs within just a couple of days.

so anyway, long way of saying, there's no reason to feel defeated. Sounds like everything is pretty normal...

Edited August 17, 2023 by catwoman7

[Ashley Amari 18]

18 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

Sounds like you might just be a little bit of a slower loser, and that's ok. As long as you're losing, and following your plan, and exercising, and changing your eating habits you're doing everything right. If you were at a lower bmi and weight than others on here, you will also lose slower. But again, as my surgeon says, "as long as you continue in a downward trajectory, you're doing great". Stalls happen, everyone's journey looks different, and you're still early in yours. Your body is only like 4 weeks post op. It's still healing. Give yourself some grace, and time, and you'll see the results you want.

Thank you for the encouraging words. It’s hard not to compare. I’m 5’5. SW 262. Current 246. I know 16 pounds is good. I just feel like the my surgeon thought it should be more at my first follow up visit. And with my 6 weeks coming up I am anxious. I thought the scale would have moved more. I will try to stay positive. Thank you again!!!

[Ashley Amari 18]

18 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

Sounds like you might just be a little bit of a slower loser, and that's ok. As long as you're losing, and following your plan, and exercising, and changing your eating habits you're doing everything right. If you were at a lower bmi and weight than others on here, you will also lose slower. But again, as my surgeon says, "as long as you continue in a downward trajectory, you're doing great". Stalls happen, everyone's journey looks different, and you're still early in yours. Your body is only like 4 weeks post op. It's still healing. Give yourself some grace, and time, and you'll see the results you want.

Thank you for the encouraging words. It’s hard not to compare. I’m 5’5. SW 262. Current 246. I know 16 pounds is good. I just feel like the my surgeon thought it should be more at my first follow up visit. And with my 6 weeks coming up I am anxious. I thought the scale would have moved more. I will try to stay positive. Thank you again!!!

[Ashley Amari 18]

18 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

Sounds like you might just be a little bit of a slower loser, and that's ok. As long as you're losing, and following your plan, and exercising, and changing your eating habits you're doing everything right. If you were at a lower bmi and weight than others on here, you will also lose slower. But again, as my surgeon says, "as long as you continue in a downward trajectory, you're doing great". Stalls happen, everyone's journey looks different, and you're still early in yours. Your body is only like 4 weeks post op. It's still healing. Give yourself some grace, and time, and you'll see the results you want.

Thank you for the encouraging words. It’s hard not to compare. I’m 5’5. SW 262. Current 246. I know 16 pounds is good. I just feel like the my surgeon thought it should be more at my first follow up visit. And with my 6 weeks coming up I am anxious. I thought the scale would have moved more. I will try to stay positive. Thank you again!!!

[catwoman7 11,212]

1 minute ago, Ashley Amari said:

Thank you for the encouraging words. It’s hard not to compare. I’m 5’5. SW 262. Current 246. I know 16 pounds is good. I just feel like the my surgeon thought it should be more at my first follow up visit. And with my 6 weeks coming up I am anxious. I thought the scale would have moved more. I will try to stay positive. Thank you again!!!

your surgeon should know better. Although I can relate - one of my early follow up appts was with a resident who pointed out I was behind where I needed to be. But he was just a stupid resident - he should have known better. I wish I could have seen his face once I'd lost over 200 lbs - 100% of my excess weight.

[SuziDavis 546]

21 minutes ago, Ashley Amari said:

@SuziDavisI basically had the same problem before surgery. I would loose maybe 4-5 pounds a month. I was doing Keto and basically working out 5-6 days a week. I know I shouldn’t worry so much about the scale but it’s hard.

Exactly, you were losing 4-5 a month... you lost 16!!! That is great.

And keep in mind that 90% of us stalled in the first 3-6 weeks. Your body needs to adjust.

[Ashley Amari 18]

9 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

I lost the same amount (16 lbs) the first month and ended up losing 235 lbs (I've gained back a few since then). Most of us seem to lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month post-op, so you're in the right range. If you're getting your expectations from "My 600 lb Life", remember that those people start at over 600 lbs - that's way above where the average WLS patient starts from, and starting BMI is one of the factors that determines what your rate of weight loss is (other factors are age, gender, how much of your body weight is muscle, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, metabolism rate, other genetic factors, etc). The only two factors that play into the rate of weight loss that you have much control over are how closely you're sticking to your clinic's food plan, and how active you are. If you're doing well with those, you'll lose the weight, whether fast or slow.

the other thing you may be dealing with is the "three-week stall" that most of us experience. It's not always the third week post-op - sometimes it's the second or fourth or fifth week post-op, but it's most commonly during the third week, hence the name. It's basically the first major stall after WLS. Most of us go through this. It generally lasts 1-3 weeks. I had mine during weeks 2 and 3 (so two weeks). I lost virtually nothing during this time, but once week 4 started, I dropped like 6-8 lbs within just a couple of days.

so anyway, long way of saying, there's no reason to feel defeated. Sounds like everything is pretty normal...

This was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you so much. I think the first follow up appointment set the tone and it just hasn’t been a positive one. So as it nears times for my 6 week follow up I’m almost terrified of his reaction. I will continue with the plan. Again, thank you!!

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,598]

30 minutes ago, Ashley Amari said:

Thank you for the encouraging words. It’s hard not to compare. I’m 5’5. SW 262. Current 246. I know 16 pounds is good. I just feel like the my surgeon thought it should be more at my first follow up visit. And with my 6 weeks coming up I am anxious. I thought the scale would have moved more. I will try to stay positive. Thank you again!!!

Try to focus on NSV (non scale victories). That helps me when I'm in a stall, or I'm not losing as much as I think I should be. So for example... with my first surgery (I had the sleeve in May 2022) I lost 30 pounds in 30 days. It was insane. Then I hit the mother of all stalls. Each time I hit one, I would gain 3-5 pounds and sit there for WEEKS. I would come on here nearly in tears. Then I learned to look for things other than the numbers on a scale.

I saw that I was off some of my meds. My clothes were starting to get a little looser. I dropped a ring size pretty quick. I was able to walk around more with less stops. As time went on and I was further out from my surgery, the weight loss slowed a lot. I was still losing, but at a much slower rate. But I paid attention to the NSVs and I was thrilled. I was able to work out longer, do more intense workouts, dropped another 2 sizes in clothes, ring and necklace sizes went way down, I could go up and down stairs, I was off all blood pressure, anti-inflammatory, and diabetes meds, I could sit in normal chairs with arms on them COMFORTABLY, I could cross my legs..... So many things to look at when the scale is being stubborn.

I ended up having several complications from the sleeve around month 8 or so post op, and had to have a revision to bypass in June of this year. Right from the jump, the weight loss has been soooo slooooow. But my bmi and weight were a LOT lower than when I had my initial surgery (when I had the sleeve, I was 388 pounds, 5'6", bmi 63). When I had the revision, I was 275 with a bmi of 43). Also, weight loss is lower and slower with revisions. But I mostly wanted my life back because I couldn't do ANYTHING with the complications (I had 6 surgeries in 6 months).

Now I'm back to working out BEAST MODE, I can live my life, properly stick to my diet, and watch my NSVs (the scale creeps along at a snail's pace, but I'm still seeing NSVs so I'm happy). Things will happen for you in the time, and in the way, they are supposed to. Just know that even when the scale isn't cooperating, other things in your body are. Just look for those, keep doing what you're doing, and you'll get there in the end.

[TRAVELRN 73]

couple things to remember:

1. you are only 33 days out.

2. The "keto diet" is a high fat, moderate Protein, and low carb diet. It usually consists of 75% fats, 20% protein and only 5% carb. Even though you are eating smaller portions the fat is too high.

3. A baratric diet focuses on smaller portions, high protein, low fat, and low carbs! The fat you are consuming in a Keto diet 33 days out is likely the culprit.

I would stick to the meal plan that should have been outlined for you after your surgery. I am over a year out and lost 100+ pounds after my surgery w/in the first year. I did think (after talking to my dietician) that I could also try to go back on the Keto diet. I gained weight 10 lbs before I stopped that cold in its tracks and focused on my portions and eating right foods. I am almost lost the weight I gained thinking the keto diet would work for me now. I had done it before making my decision to have gastric sleeve and lost 75 lbs in a short period of time. But it came back on and then some once I stopped eating Keto.

Edited August 17, 2023 by TRAVELRN

[Ashley Amari 18]

2 minutes ago, TRAVELRN said:

couple things to remember:

1. you are only 33 days out.

2. The "keto diet" is a high fat, moderate Protein, and low carb diet. It usually consists of 75% fats, 20% Protein and only 5% carb. Even though you are eating smaller portions the fat is too high.

3. A baratric diet focuses on smaller portions, high protein, low fat, and low carbs! The fat you are consuming in a Keto diet 33 days out is likely the culprit.

I would stick to the meal plan that should have been outlined for you after your surgery. I am over a year out and lost 100+ pounds after my surgery w/in the first year. I did think (after talking to my dietician) that I could also try to go back on the Keto diet. I gained weight 10 lbs before I stopped that cold in its tracks and focused on my portions and eating right foods. I am almost lost the weight I gained thinking the keto diet would work for me now. I had done it before making my decision to have gastric sleeve and lost 75 lbs in a short period of time. But it came back on and then some once I stopped eating Keto.

I was doing keto to loose weight prior to surgery. Since surgery I have been following the diet as ordered. I haven’t deviated once. Even with the pre-op diet I only lost 7 pounds. Mine wasn’t liquid and I could have one salad a day with fat free dressing. I was just discouraged today bc the scales isn’t moving and I have my 6 week follow up coming up. At my 2 week, the doctor seems surprised that I had only lost 7 pounds. Everyone has been so encouraging. It was what I needed today. I will continue doing what I am suppose to do and find other things to focus on besides the scale. TY

[Arabesque 7,240]

I did Keto as the 2week pre surgical diet but my dietician said keto is a short term diet, best for kickstarting weight loss. It shouldn’t be followed long term. (Check research on effects on diabetes & insulin levels, cholesterol, etc.).

Most post surgery diets are high Protein, low fat, low carbs so probably closer to Aitken’s if you’re looking for a more formal recognised diet. One of the most important learnings I’ve had is that there is no one diet/way of eating that works for everyone. If there was the dieting wouldn’t be a billion dollar industry.

Speak with your dietician, do your own research, & listen to your body & needs & the work out a way of eating that works & is best for you.

As to your weight loss so far, you’re doing fine. The only people who lose very large amounts pre & immediately post surgery are those who began at a very high weight. There is really no right or wrong rate of loss. There are averages which only give you an idea of what you might lose. We all lose at our own rate. How many stalls you experience,how often & how long they last are individual too. And everyone’s’ rate of loss slows as they get closer to their final weight. I decided I would only worry about how much I was losing if my surgeon was upset but he wasn’t ever.

All the best.