The rate of weight loss

[KathyH 0]

Hello I had my plication on August 9th, 2010 and have lose only 20lbs, fellow co-worker had gastric sleeve surgery and has lost 86 pounds and she had her surgery in July 2010.

I am feeling a little disappointed and puzzled, sad and wondering if I ever am going to lose my weight or am I to be this size forever!!!!!.

Having a very difficult time, did I pick the right surgery?!?

[Tiffykins 672]

Don't get discouraged, everyone loses at a different rate. Your friend at work may have more weight to lose as us heavyweights tend to drop weight faster initially. Stay positive and keep working your tool. I'm very limited on information on this particular surgery weight loss stats so I can't comment due to not really knowing all the ins and outs like I do for the sleeve. You chose this surgery for specific reasons that were right for your life and lifestyle, needs and wants, you'll lose your weight, just stick to your post-op guideline, and stay positive.

[KathyH 0]

Thank you for your kind word, it is really hard sometimes when you would like to see results alot faster , I know it took a long time to get this size but thought it would be a little faster coming off. Cheers

Don't get discouraged, everyone loses at a different rate. Your friend at work may have more weight to lose as us heavyweights tend to drop weight faster initially. Stay positive and keep working your tool. I'm very limited on information on this particular surgery weight loss stats so I can't comment due to not really knowing all the ins and outs like I do for the sleeve. You chose this surgery for specific reasons that were right for your life and lifestyle, needs and wants, you'll lose your weight, just stick to your post-op guideline, and stay positive.

[Sarah Elsekhawy 42]

Hello I had my plication on August 9th, 2010 and have lose only 20lbs, fellow co-worker had gastric sleeve surgery and has lost 86 pounds and she had her surgery in July 2010.

I am feeling a little disappointed and puzzled, sad and wondering if I ever am going to lose my weight or am I to be this size forever!!!!!.

Having a very difficult time, did I pick the right surgery?!?

Hi Kathy

How much do need to lose ?

what's your weight now?

I have the same fears I've lost 37 Ibs only since my plication on 10th of July I need to lose more but the scale is not moving anymore I ve not lost a single pound for more than a month

[KathyH 0]

Hello Sarah

I have over a 100lbs to lose still and since Aug I have lost 35lbs and the scale for me have not moved in over a month, I watch what I eat as does everyone else now who knows I have had my surgey so, I consistly say it took a long time to put the weight on so it is going to take a long time to lose it, but in my head I am thinking I got this surgery to aid in my weight loss but it doesn't seem to be working for me!! Not sure what I am doing wrong...

Hi Kathy

How much do need to lose ?

what's your weight now?

I have the same fears I've lost 37 Ibs only since my plication on 10th of July I need to lose more but the scale is not moving anymore I ve not lost a single pound for more than a month

[genepha 47]

Hello Sarah

I have over a 100lbs to lose still and since Aug I have lost 35lbs and the scale for me have not moved in over a month, I watch what I eat as does everyone else now who knows I have had my surgey so, I consistly say it took a long time to put the weight on so it is going to take a long time to lose it, but in my head I am thinking I got this surgery to aid in my weight loss but it doesn't seem to be working for me!! Not sure what I am doing wrong...

Kathy,

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything "wrong". You have lost 35 pounds in

about 2 1/2 months! That's great!!! It seems that most people who've had WLS

seem to hit a stall at around month 2. I think your body is just adjusting to

all that has happened to it. I was an extremely sloooow loser with the band and

it took me about 3 years to lose 110 lbs. but I did lose it. I kept most of that

weight off for 9 years so maybe it's better to lose it a bit more slowly to allow

your body some time to adjust?! If you are following the rules: eating Protein

first, staying hydrated and exercising a bit, I'm sure the weight will come off.

take care,

genepha

[KathyH 0]

Thank you for your encouragment it helps alot when you feel down, I hope to be you in 3 years from now...a 110lb is great...and my oldest will be graduating just about then....should be great photo's of me and him..

Cheers

Kathy,

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything "wrong". You have lost 35 pounds in

about 2 1/2 months! That's great!!! It seems that most people who've had WLS

seem to hit a stall at around month 2. I think your body is just adjusting to

all that has happened to it. I was an extremely sloooow loser with the band and

it took me about 3 years to lose 110 lbs. but I did lose it. I kept most of that

weight off for 9 years so maybe it's better to lose it a bit more slowly to allow

your body some time to adjust?! If you are following the rules: eating Protein

first, staying hydrated and exercising a bit, I'm sure the weight will come off.

take care,

genepha

[DrWatkins 13]

Best way to lose weight with GPS (plication) is to eat a small healthy meal and avoid drinking liquids for one hour. This keeps the food in the stomach longer and keeps suppressing appetite hormones (ghrelin and many others). Since all weight loss comes from a calorie deficit (burning more than you eat), the other thing to do is to add calorie burning and this doesn't have to be sophisticated. I have a Lap Band patient who lost over 250 pounds by adding daily walking to her routine. If you try to achieve calorie deficit by starvation alone your body will resist this. The best weight loss always comes from reducing eaten calories AND increasing burned calories.

A very powerful tool for weight loss is self-monitoring (tracking eaten calories against burned calories). One of the best websites for this is the myPlate section on www.livestrong.com (click "calorie tracker" at the top of the page). This is one of the many free websites that makes this easy. www.fitday.com is another great one.

Many times these self-monitoring reports will show too many carbs and not enough Protein. You want to shoot for about one-third of your calories coming from each of the groups (carbs, fats, protein). Also, carbs are best eaten in the morning since you have a chance to burn them. Eating a huge Pasta meal before bedtime works hard against weight loss. Shoot for 50-60 grams of Protein per day. Protein keeps you full longer. Carbs increase your blood sugar which increases insulin which turns blood sugar into fat which lowers your blood sugar which makes you want to eat again. Proteins don't do this.

Taking a multi-Vitamin every day helps because Calcium and B-Vitamins are very helpful for weight loss. Most every Vitamin is associated with weight loss in some way as well.

One of the common things I see that decrease the rate of weight loss with GPS is eating too much sugar - really watch your sugar intake particularly High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). HFCS is a cheap food sweetener made from corn and it is in many foods in massive quantities. Our bodies don't know what to do with this synthetic garbage sugar, so we turn it into fat more than normal sugar. Gatorade is a common culprit - it has huge quantities of HFCS and should be avoided. Watch fruit juice. Some fruit juices (like cranberry) add lots of HFCS to make it taste better. Avoid these things if you are trying to lose weight.

Keep your fat grams below 20gms per day and keep your saturated fat grams below 10. Saturated fat raises cholesterol. Unsaturated fat actually LOWERS your cholesterol - a "healthy" fat! Unsaturated fats are found in olives, nuts, avocados and olive oil. Every food has a nutrition label now and they list these things. Avoid trans fats and hydrogenated oils - these are synthetic and our bodies turn them into fat. Over the past 20 years, the food industry has discovered brilliant additives that increase shelf-life and make food production cheaper. This stuff is not good for us and is contributing to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. These things fight weight loss. If you are eating them and trying to lose weight, it's like a fireman trying to put out a house fire and there's a guy in the back with a blow torch keeping it going.

In general, any food that is liquid or mushy and high in calories will defeat all weight loss procedures. My GPS patients that eat too much ice cream, sweets, chips, junk food, etc lose weight slower than my patients that are eating healthy food and staying full on it. If you want to really educate yourself on the weight loss disciplines (nutrition, fitness and brain issues) I put a ton of lectures on YouTube. Just search "Watkins Weight Loss Class" and you will get really smart on all this stuff. They come up out of order so if you search, "Watkins Weight Loss Class1" and then search for "2" and so on, they will come up in order. Hope this helps. Oh, and when you reach your goal weight, don't forget to buy yourself a really nice present (new car, diamond necklace, cruise, etc)

Brad Watkins MD

[Sadie S. 0]

a friend and myself are both going to Mexico on February 24th to get surgery. I am getting the sleeve plication and she is getting the regular sleeve. We both have about the same amount to lose so I will be interested to see how we both do. I will be sure to post

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

Hi Kathy!

I personally think you are doing quite well. I'm on track to lose about that much when I'm as far out as you and I've had the sleeve. I've also had about the same amount to lose as you have. I say you're right on schedule.

A little bit of advice and something I absolutely swear by -- never compare yourself to others losses. Most of the time you are going to pick out that one story where someone is losing faster than you. You will only beat yourself up over it.

Only Celebrate your successes!! Good luck

[DMSRCHICK 1]

Hello,

I had sleeve plication surgery in Mexico on November 30, 2010 with Dr. Corvala. So far I'm healing well. I haven't loss any weight yet. I think I'm retaining fluids. I expect to start weight loss once I begin adding Protein to my diet this week. I would really like to know about experience in Mexico. If you have any questions, I'd be happy answer them for you.

Ciao

a friend and myself are both going to Mexico on February 24th to get surgery. I am getting the sleeve plication and she is getting the regular sleeve. We both have about the same amount to lose so I will be interested to see how we both do. I will be sure to post

[mp8btpc 32]

Dr. Watkins thank you for taking the time to give some great advice and point out some much needed tools. I know I have not been following the protocol that I did right after my VSG surgery and my weight loss has stalled. I really need to get back to basics on eating my Protein first and keeping the carbs to a minimum. I know I am not over-indulging in calories as I can't eat that much but I am not making the best choices for my weight loss period. I am going to watch your videos to remind myself what I need to do and why.

[DrWatkins 13]

Dr. Watkins thank you for taking the time to give some great advice and point out some much needed tools. I know I have not been following the protocol that I did right after my VSG surgery and my weight loss has stalled. I really need to get back to basics on eating my Protein first and keeping the carbs to a minimum. I know I am not over-indulging in calories as I can't eat that much but I am not making the best choices for my weight loss period. I am going to watch your videos to remind myself what I need to do and why.

Great job.

The thing I find the most helpful is "self-monitoring" - tracking eaten calories against burned calories. There are many websites with free trackers. The most popular ones are www.livestrong.com (calorie tracker, myPlate) and www.fitday.com. Ideally, you would shoot for around 1200 calories; keep fat grams below 20gms per day; keep saturated fat below 10gms per day; really look at those pie charts and make sure you aren't seeing a high percentage of carbs or fats. You want to see a pretty even balance of protein/fats/carbs. Our bodies like this variety better. Long-term, it doesn't like it when we eliminate entire groups like Atkins, etc. I see a lot of people struggling with sugar drinks (Gatorade, sweet tea, any drink loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup). Eliminating sugar in drinks is really key. Splenda (sucralose) is obviously zero calorie and it looks really similar to the sugar molecule but our bodies can't break it down hence the zero calorie part. I see a lot of people struggle with ice cream and that will defeat any weight loss operation. A great substitute is fruit smoothies. They are sort of like ice cream but you get lots of Fiber and Vitamins. Our bodies do better with this natural fruit sugar than the HFCS which is controversial but I do not like it at all. A lot of stores carry smoothie blends in the frozen fruit section. Make sure you get the no-sugar-added kind or just use fresh fruit. I put my weight loss lectures on YouTube (search "Watkins Weight Loss Class") because I've had people lose over 100 pounds with those lectures without surgery. Surgery mostly makes that stuff a lot easier if you eat good healthy food and burn calories.

A common thing I see that hurts weight loss is zero calorie burning. All weight loss comes from calorie deficit (burning more than eating). Even with weight loss surgery, our bodies are programmed to fight starvation. Calorie burning doesn't have to be sophisticated and doesn't have to involve a gym membership. I've had people lose over 250 pounds with walking but they prioritized their walking as if their lives depended on it. Pedometers are a great visual way to track calorie burn. You want to build up to 10000 steps per day and it's best to start slow and build up to that.

Always remember that weight loss is hard and requires great persistence. If it was easy I wouldn't have a job. Always good to remember that even skinny people aren't perfect every day so don't be too hard on yourself if you have imperfect moments here and there. Weight loss is mostly an exercise of persistence and endurance and eating smart.

Keep up the good work.

Brad Watkins MD

[NotSoLittleMermaid 14]

Thank you EVERYONE! What a great post! Thanks too, Dr.Watkins for all of your help and kindess.

[DrWatkins 13]

Dr. Watkins thank you for taking the time to give some great advice and point out some much needed tools. I know I have not been following the protocol that I did right after my VSG surgery and my weight loss has stalled. I really need to get back to basics on eating my Protein first and keeping the carbs to a minimum. I know I am not over-indulging in calories as I can't eat that much but I am not making the best choices for my weight loss period. I am going to watch your videos to remind myself what I need to do and why.

Attached, please find my GPS discharge instruction sheet. Hopefully, the information on this will be helpful to all GPS patients since it is so new. Any questions let me know.

Brad Watkins MD

Watkins Discharge InstructionsGPS.doc