DebbieDoo

im roughly 6 weeks out and am finding weight is coming off a bit quicker than it was (but im a lower BMI to begin with, so not as quick as many). i think it is REALLY important to NOT compare yourself to others. Its really hard NOT to do, I know, but if you are doing what you are supposed to, and being HONEST about that, than it will work. the SURGERY does not fail, PEOPLE do. Also often we lose inches and not numbers on the scale, and vice versa. important to not only go by ONE metric. I only do my measurements once a month (i weight twice a week) and am dying to do my measurements again but am forcing myself to wait till the 1st. lol its painful at this point LOL
hang in there everyone!

oh sweetheart..... the surgery has NOT failed, I PROMISE! put ALL the scales away. old ones. new ones (which by the way, those things are not as accurate as they would like you to think). Lets look at this from a SIMPLE SCIENCE AND MATH viewpoint, okay? Lets say you are eating 700 calories a day. That is not MAINTENANCE for ANYONE. Not even my 5' self who has a below average metabolism. Add on to that, our bodies are retaining Water and hoarding fluids, to HEAL our bodies. We had MAJOR SURGERY, even if it doesnt look or feel like it. That takes WEEKS AND WEEKS to heal. Theres a reason we are on exercise and lifting restrictions as long as we are. So we can HEAL. That healing takes a lot of water and a lot of our bodies energy. Add on to that, depending on your age, you may be holding on to water due to your cycle. Hormones, which go all kinds of out of whack with surgery, also can make us hold on to weight. Think about it this way... No one who went into concentration camps came out big. not even average. not even thin. Right? Our bodies WILL FIGHT to hold on to weight as long as they can. its life support at its most basic. but it can only do that so long. I know it is hard. I am in a very similar spot to you. I too, and looking at the scale not moving and sticking my tongue out at it. But heres the thing.... it WILL move. BE PATIENT. FOLLOW YOUR PLAN. Get in as much water and Protein as you can. move move move. and know it WILL come off. We are BOTH doing everything right... and it WILL come off.
((((hugs))))

oh sweetheart..... the surgery has NOT failed, I PROMISE! put ALL the scales away. old ones. new ones (which by the way, those things are not as accurate as they would like you to think). Lets look at this from a SIMPLE SCIENCE AND MATH viewpoint, okay? Lets say you are eating 700 calories a day. That is not MAINTENANCE for ANYONE. Not even my 5' self who has a below average metabolism. Add on to that, our bodies are retaining Water and hoarding fluids, to HEAL our bodies. We had MAJOR SURGERY, even if it doesnt look or feel like it. That takes WEEKS AND WEEKS to heal. Theres a reason we are on exercise and lifting restrictions as long as we are. So we can HEAL. That healing takes a lot of water and a lot of our bodies energy. Add on to that, depending on your age, you may be holding on to water due to your cycle. Hormones, which go all kinds of out of whack with surgery, also can make us hold on to weight. Think about it this way... No one who went into concentration camps came out big. not even average. not even thin. Right? Our bodies WILL FIGHT to hold on to weight as long as they can. its life support at its most basic. but it can only do that so long. I know it is hard. I am in a very similar spot to you. I too, and looking at the scale not moving and sticking my tongue out at it. But heres the thing.... it WILL move. BE PATIENT. FOLLOW YOUR PLAN. Get in as much water and Protein as you can. move move move. and know it WILL come off. We are BOTH doing everything right... and it WILL come off.
((((hugs))))

Mentally I feel better as I haven't weighed myself at all! I don't really measure my body in inches and stuff so I have no idea how many I've lost, but my jeans and trousers are a lot baggier around the waist. My face looks a little smaller too.

Aww thanks so much! It's been a month now so I think I'm in the throes of the 3/4 week stall as I'm now on soft foods/semi-normal foods. I haven't weighed myself since the last time I wrote in here and my mental health is a lot better for it. I've noticed my jeans fit a lot looser around my waist, but that's about it. I'm going to perhaps weigh myself at the end of march and see if there's a difference.

Thin them down with a bit of fairlife nonfat or other milk. it helps.

For those getting ready for your surgery (YAY!) I just wanted to pop in with my experience (I am 2 weeks post op tomorrow). I see a lof of 'problems' and sometimes I think its easy for us to talk about negative or 'not great' things trying to help others, but then it makes it seem like everyone has those issues, when im not sure thats the case.
For ME.... no nausea. not once. no vomiting. no tiredness. no dizziness. I did have more pain than i expected, but it lasted less than a week.
food wise.... I am eating around 700-800 calories a day. hitting Protein goals on puree/ semi soft diet. Struggling to get in enough Water, but doing my best. Not back at the gym yet but thinking probably next week, based on how i feel (obviously no weights yet lol).
My tastes in foods have not changed at all. I have not had any bad reactions to any foods.
All in all.... sometimes i wonder if i HAD surgery, aside from I can't eat much at a time. But, really.... I kind of think thats ideal LOL
I haven't lost much weight yet but I remind myself that my body is still healing, With a (relatively) low BMI, I will lose slower anyway, and the slower you lose, the less loose skin you have. so.... #perspective
All of yall are amazing and strong! ...............................

Thanks guys. Did some laps in the hospital and feeling much better now. I’m meeting the dietitian tomorrow and then going home on Saturday. Feeling much more hopeful now.

Amazing! It’s great to hear this side as well thanks for sharing. I think it provides a good balance.
It hasn’t been all bad for me Infact I think it’s been mostly good. The pain was intense and still comes from time to time (I’m nearly 2 weeks post op) but that’s probably because I’m doing a bit more with 4 young children. I don’t know how you’re managing to hit your Protein goals. I still struggle with mine but I’m not yet at the purée stage so watch this space. Water is especially difficult to hit 700ml never mind the 1.2litres I’ve been told I need daily. I’m definitely hitting my 90 minute walking target so that’s a plus. And I am starting to feel my jeans fall so an additional yay!!

For those getting ready for your surgery (YAY!) I just wanted to pop in with my experience (I am 2 weeks post op tomorrow). I see a lof of 'problems' and sometimes I think its easy for us to talk about negative or 'not great' things trying to help others, but then it makes it seem like everyone has those issues, when im not sure thats the case.
For ME.... no nausea. not once. no vomiting. no tiredness. no dizziness. I did have more pain than i expected, but it lasted less than a week.
food wise.... I am eating around 700-800 calories a day. hitting Protein goals on puree/ semi soft diet. Struggling to get in enough Water, but doing my best. Not back at the gym yet but thinking probably next week, based on how i feel (obviously no weights yet lol).
My tastes in foods have not changed at all. I have not had any bad reactions to any foods.
All in all.... sometimes i wonder if i HAD surgery, aside from I can't eat much at a time. But, really.... I kind of think thats ideal LOL
I haven't lost much weight yet but I remind myself that my body is still healing, With a (relatively) low BMI, I will lose slower anyway, and the slower you lose, the less loose skin you have. so.... #perspective
All of yall are amazing and strong! ...............................

I had terrible problems drinking and eating enough in the first month. Lots of people do. Its huge surgery. Remember, shakes Water, broth, Soup and tea all add to your liquids. Don't doubt the process, it works. Have you tried tracking your calories to prove to yourself how little your calorie count is?

Thank you so so much my love, I’m going to try my hardest to keep this in mind ❤️❤️

oh sweetheart..... the surgery has NOT failed, I PROMISE! put ALL the scales away. old ones. new ones (which by the way, those things are not as accurate as they would like you to think). Lets look at this from a SIMPLE SCIENCE AND MATH viewpoint, okay? Lets say you are eating 700 calories a day. That is not MAINTENANCE for ANYONE. Not even my 5' self who has a below average metabolism. Add on to that, our bodies are retaining Water and hoarding fluids, to HEAL our bodies. We had MAJOR SURGERY, even if it doesnt look or feel like it. That takes WEEKS AND WEEKS to heal. Theres a reason we are on exercise and lifting restrictions as long as we are. So we can HEAL. That healing takes a lot of water and a lot of our bodies energy. Add on to that, depending on your age, you may be holding on to water due to your cycle. Hormones, which go all kinds of out of whack with surgery, also can make us hold on to weight. Think about it this way... No one who went into concentration camps came out big. not even average. not even thin. Right? Our bodies WILL FIGHT to hold on to weight as long as they can. its life support at its most basic. but it can only do that so long. I know it is hard. I am in a very similar spot to you. I too, and looking at the scale not moving and sticking my tongue out at it. But heres the thing.... it WILL move. BE PATIENT. FOLLOW YOUR PLAN. Get in as much water and Protein as you can. move move move. and know it WILL come off. We are BOTH doing everything right... and it WILL come off.
((((hugs))))

For those getting ready for your surgery (YAY!) I just wanted to pop in with my experience (I am 2 weeks post op tomorrow). I see a lof of 'problems' and sometimes I think its easy for us to talk about negative or 'not great' things trying to help others, but then it makes it seem like everyone has those issues, when im not sure thats the case.
For ME.... no nausea. not once. no vomiting. no tiredness. no dizziness. I did have more pain than i expected, but it lasted less than a week.
food wise.... I am eating around 700-800 calories a day. hitting Protein goals on puree/ semi soft diet. Struggling to get in enough Water, but doing my best. Not back at the gym yet but thinking probably next week, based on how i feel (obviously no weights yet lol).
My tastes in foods have not changed at all. I have not had any bad reactions to any foods.
All in all.... sometimes i wonder if i HAD surgery, aside from I can't eat much at a time. But, really.... I kind of think thats ideal LOL
I haven't lost much weight yet but I remind myself that my body is still healing, With a (relatively) low BMI, I will lose slower anyway, and the slower you lose, the less loose skin you have. so.... #perspective
All of yall are amazing and strong! ...............................

For those getting ready for your surgery (YAY!) I just wanted to pop in with my experience (I am 2 weeks post op tomorrow). I see a lof of 'problems' and sometimes I think its easy for us to talk about negative or 'not great' things trying to help others, but then it makes it seem like everyone has those issues, when im not sure thats the case.
For ME.... no nausea. not once. no vomiting. no tiredness. no dizziness. I did have more pain than i expected, but it lasted less than a week.
food wise.... I am eating around 700-800 calories a day. hitting Protein goals on puree/ semi soft diet. Struggling to get in enough Water, but doing my best. Not back at the gym yet but thinking probably next week, based on how i feel (obviously no weights yet lol).
My tastes in foods have not changed at all. I have not had any bad reactions to any foods.
All in all.... sometimes i wonder if i HAD surgery, aside from I can't eat much at a time. But, really.... I kind of think thats ideal LOL
I haven't lost much weight yet but I remind myself that my body is still healing, With a (relatively) low BMI, I will lose slower anyway, and the slower you lose, the less loose skin you have. so.... #perspective
All of yall are amazing and strong! ...............................

if you've been following your clinic's recommendations, then it's likely Water retention from the IV fluids. That's basically salt water, and a lot of people retain that. There are some people on here who've even weighed 10 lbs more when they left the hospital than when they arrived! It can take a week or occasionally longer to work its way out of your system.
stick to your plan and the weight will come off. Everyone is different due to different factors, many of which you have little to no control over (like age, gender, starting BMI, metabolic level, how much weight you lost prior to surgery, etc). The two things you DO have control over is how closely you stick to your plan and your activity level. If you do well with those, the weight will come off, whether fast or slow.
also, the 20 lb loss you said you think you should have lost in the first two weeks - banish that thought. If you started out at 600+ lbs, then yes - maybe - but for us more "normal" WLS patients, losing 20 lbs in two weeks just doesn't happen. Most of us lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first MONTH. Yes of course you will find people who've lost more or less than that the first month, but they're outliers. You're probably doing just fine. Give it more time and remember to stick to your plan! I thought i was a terribly slow loser - and I WAS a bit behind others with similar statistics (starting weight, etc), but I ended up losing over 200 lbs.