Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months.

Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery!

But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly.

I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months.

I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op.

I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery.

And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months.

It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal.

I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks.

I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body!

I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult.

Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end.

~Cheri

Love this thread!!!

I too have felt as if I am a slow loser... My surgery date was 10/30/12 and I've lost 47 pounds. I've been seeing a very consistent weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week... sometimes I get a 2.5 or 3 lbs loss, but I would have to say 1-2 lbs is a very common weight loss for me. I have NOT had a stall yet... KNOCK ON WOOD... I can eat mostly whatever just at a very restricted amount. I do NOT get all the Protein and Water in that I should... but I try.

Thank you for posting such an encouraging post. I know I'm in this for the long haul and would rather lose slowly but surely. I do not regret my decision at all to have this surgery and I look forward to what the future holds for me.

Great thread. We are all on this journey together but at the same time taking this journey alone. Our bodies are all different - it's not a good thing to constantly compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to your past attempts at weight loss. We've all tried over and over again to lose weight. I lose, I stay the same, I again back a lb and the next day I'm down, I decided if I follow the plan given to me, it will work and my body will decide when the lbs come off and when it stays the same. Wishing all of us a wonderful 2013.

I am 17 months out and still losing. :-) It is definitely not a race.

I've lost 83 pounds overall, and I am planning to lose 100 pounds.

• August 2011: 25.5 pounds (sleeved Aug. 9, 2011)
  
• September 2011: 14.5 pounds
  
• October 2011: 9 pounds
  
• November 2011: 6 pounds
  
• December 2011: 3 pounds
  
• January 2012: 6 pounds
  
• February 2012: 6 pounds
  
• March 2012: 0 pounds
  
• April 2012: 0 pounds
  
• May 2012: 3 pounds
  
• June 2012: 0 pounds
  
• July 2012: 0 pounds
  
• August 2012: 0 pounds
  
• September 2012: 5 pounds
  
• October 2012: 0 pounds
  
• November 2012: 3.2 pounds
  
• December 2012: 4 pounds
  

I haven't lost any weight in January "officially." I gained some weight around the holidays, and I've lost it again.

I also went down to a size 10 in jeans in January, which isn't reflected in my weight loss and stayed true even when my weight went up a few pounds. To me, this means I am losing inches and gaining muscle tone as well as losing weight overall. This is good.

I didn't have a ton of weight to lose to begin with but I was still way over weight and very unhealthy. My blood pressure could not be controlled with the max dosage of meds and I had to use cholesterol meds to control my LDL, had joint pain and I was at 320 pounds about a few years ago. During the 2-3 years pre-op, I fluctuated between 280 and 315.

I've lost slow, other than the first 2-3 months after surgery (see signature below). I may not get to my goal of 215, but I still haven't stopped losing and I'm almost 15 months post-op. The last several months I've probably only averaged a pound or two loss a month and I'm currently at 227 (not terribly bad for 6'-3"). But I'm also still losing inches, which lets me know the fat is dropping slowly and I'm actually adding muscle and getting stronger every month. I see this in my max lifts in the gym, so I'll take the pound or two of fat loss a month, especially if I can continue that during all of my second year post-op. If so, that would put me at my goal by the end of this second year. Also, when I put that 215 goal out there, it was just a number that I was told to give myself and to shoot for it. Sometimes goals can be measured by more than just what is on the scale. My body fat has gone from around 35% to about 16-17%, I'm off my blood pressure meds completely now with normal range BP, off my cholesterol meds, joint pain in my knees are gone and I feel MUCH better! So slow loss on the scales for me has not been indicative of my overall progress since surgery. My main goals always were to get healthier and off my meds and I have done that. Any other benefits are just gravy for me (pun intended) and I am very appreciative of this surgery even though I've not lost heaping amounts of weight.

Cheri,

Firstly, wow... you look so beautiful! I love your recent picture ,,, makes me want to give you a big baby cwtch (welsh fir hug)!

You always speak so much sense... and over the last 2 1/2 years you have been beside me every step of the way, Between you and a few other old timers on here, you really have made a difference to me... encouraged me, cheered me on and cheered me up!

You know my story... but I will share it again for the newbies.

My sleeve is now 2 1/2 years old... it has great restriction and does a lot of good work. My head is now in line with my sleeve, but this has taken longer. Not with respect to the food side of it... that is a physical thing that I was quickly acquainted with, but emotionally it took me longer to realise that I was doing well. I am, and have always been a slow loser... on any given 'diet' I would never lose more that 7lbs and that would take me 2 -3 months to do.

I have lost a total of 74 lbs and this happened in the first 16 mths. For over a year, I have not lost a single pound... regardless of what I do or don't eat and the way I move or don't move. It would appear that my body is happy here at this weight and doesn't want to lose any more - even though my mind wants to see smaller numbers and my doc would like to see me out of the obese range on the BMI chart. However, in that time I have gone down a whole dress size. I started off in a UK 22-24 and I am now a UK 14 and have been for a year - this was my original size goal.

I have had a few health worries over the last year that might have impacted my weight loss... but I can't use those as an excuse. (On set of early menopause and trying out HRT - didn't suit me; I don't take any thing now and I had a nasty back problem that made me stop my training/gym. I am finding it hard to get back to hard exercise now - something I need to work on.)

Not reaching goal does have an upside too... I have never gained! I have read some sleevers, who dipped to goal super quick and then had a dramatic regain... I have been sat at this weight comfortably for over a year and I am happy with my 2-4lb bounce range. If I go over that... I get focused and it goes away.

I am currently upping the anti again, in another effort to get to my surgeon's goal... I am just 10-12lbs away. My hubby is on board now too... he wants to lose about 24lbs ... it is easier to do it with someone else at this stage. There is a part of me that just doesn't want to give up... I would love to post a goal thread but I am also realistic that this might never be the case.

If it happens I will be happy... if it doesn't I will remain healthy.

So with that in mind I am looking into getting the skin from my middle removed - I am looking at a TT and possible uplift. Once this is done, I guess I will be done! I don't want to be perfect but I do want my body to look like my face...lol

I have started to realise that just because I am not at my weight goal that I am still successful. I think that the over emphasis on the numbers at the beginning of this process for me, took away each successful pound lost. That was not a good move! Looking back I should have also focused on how I FELT and how I looked.

Just today, someone asked me if I had lost more weight... the body is a wonderful thing!!

For all slower losers and newbies... remember, this is about YOU... not about someone else who farted and lost 14 lbs! Ok, that is a little over the top, but you know what I mean. The whole reason for the sleeve is to get fit and healthy... if that is how you feel, regardless of your weight... then, in my eyes, you are a winner.

The sleeve has no expiry date - it is with us for life.

Congrats Ljp!

Wow u look awesome I've lost 37 lbs since 12/19/12 and I have been stuck for 2 weeks no loss but this is so inspirational thanks for sharing!!

Sent from my iPhone using VST

Thanks everyone for sharing!

I lost about 75 pounds in the first nine months after being sleeved, which was approximately my surgeon's goal for me, weight-wise. I was extremely fortunate in that I never really stalled, I think the longest the scale "stuck" at a weight was 5 days. I got spoiled! Since then I've been up and down, mostly within a 10 lb range, mostly because I was letting carbs and sugar back into my daily food, and then having to take the resulting gained pounds off again. After 9 months of that I've decided I've had enough, and I'm back on track pushing to goal.

I quickly dropped about 10 pounds (almost entirely carb / water bloat I'd guess), but have been stuck for the past few weeks and, quite honestly, having a major pity party over it. I wasn't expecting to stall here, as the last time I was eating right, exercising, and at this weight, I was dropping a pound or two a week, fairly consistently. I'd come to feel like I deserved to see those numbers dropping when I'm doing everything right. Wow, there's nothing like getting a little cocky to convince the universe it's time to teach you a lesson in humility!

So thank you, for the reminder that these things take time, that patience is a virtue, that it's WAY too soon to panic! Here's to the persistence of slow losers!!

Wow you look great!! You look like you were my starting size and to see the change looks so good! I got sleeved 1/10/13 a week ago w a goal of having a healthy pregnancy in a year and a half. I am afraid ill lose the weight than gain it alllll back once I'm pregnant. Do you eat the same?? Get more tired? You inspire me because this week has been hard to remember why I did this.

I am in my early phase with my weight loss visits... but aspire to lose weight to be healthy for myself and Baby #2 keep me posted on your. Journey

I am down 32lbs in 3 months. I know it could've been more. I feel I can still eat whatever. NOTHING bothers my stomach. I am a grazer at work' date=' a habit that I HAVE to break. I just started exercising the past 3 weeks, mostly walking..i wear a fitbit and work on 10k steps a day. I have many weeks where i gain and it stays with me for a week or so. Thats when i really want to kick myself[/quote']

I swear I could have written this post! Got on the exercise bike today for the first time. Good luck!

Thank you for your post. It has taken me many days and nights of being stressed, angry, depressed and crying to come to terms with the fact that I am a slower loser than I had imagined. It would be a lie to say i am not a happier person now but I was hoping things would be easier, that this would be a way of life rather than feel like I am on another diet.

What has gotten to me is that by all calculations given by the nut I should be losing more. I have lost 55lbs in the last 6 months. My doctor told me that the first 6 months are the most critical but I feel I haven't done enough and that I have failed. What REALLY screwed me up is I went for my 6-month check-up he told me at one year is where we work on maintenance and my heart sank. I'm nowhere near goal and it just gets harder from here.

As I said I've been able to reconcile I'm just slower and just go with the flow and eventually I'll turtle along. For some reason something in my head snapped that I'm not yet ready to give up battling this stupid weight. I need a boost of weight loss to encourage me so I went back to square one - liquid diet and exercise everyday. This is hard work and not fun... It's a diet and the last thing I wanted. I'm just trying to think of the goal...a few months of really hard work will be worth it.

Sorry it is late and my day was filled with yucky Protein shakes lol...I feel a little grumpy.

What has gotten to me is that by all calculations given by the nut I should be losing more. I have lost 55lbs in the last 6 months. My doctor told me that the first 6 months are the most critical but I feel I haven't done enough and that I have failed. What REALLY screwed me up is I went for my 6-month check-up he told me at one year is where we work on maintenance and my heart sank. I'm nowhere near goal and it just gets harder from here.

Sorry, he's a surgeon but I call B.S. Really, I do. Show me the evidence of a "magic window" with the sleeve. There isn't one. There are a lot of folks here still losing at the same, poky pace one and two years out. It gets harder to lose weight the closer you get to goal, but this is not a bypass, where you have a stretchy pouch and a short guaranteed window of malabsorption to do your work for you.

Frankly, I'm kind of mad at your surgeon for even approaching the situation that way, to be honest. You're losing at a faster rate than I did - I lost more in my first six months than you but had no preop diet, whereas you shed 24 pounds before you even had surgery! On average, you're still losing more than I did per month.

Do not let this discourage you. If I had stopped losing at one year, I still would have lost a tremendous amount of weight and improved my life in a hundred different ways. But I didn't stop - I kept on. And many others do, too. And you can, too, if you want to do it.

And touching on my buddy coops' story, too - none of us are failures if we don't get to a particular number on the scale. Every day we spend weighing so much less than we did before, with improved health, improved confidence and an improved outlook on life is a SUCCESS. I never lost this much weight before surgery and I know I never could have gotten here without it.

And coops may not like that she never got to the goals that were set for her (I still hope she can if she wants, but oy! her body is stubborn!) but she has managed to maintain a huge weight loss for more than two years. That's a huge success.

Chin up. No magic windows here, it's a major reason why I opted for the sleeve. Eat properly, do whatever you can to get in shape and let it work for you.

~Cheri

MAGNIFICENT! You are a true inspiration! I so appreciate your constant "voice of reason."

The first 6 months I lost 100 lbs then when I lost my job I gained 30 lbs because I kept eating so many slider foods due to depression. Now I've lost 10 lbs of that and trying to go back down with a new lifestyle change of eating low carb and high protein.

70lb in 9 months for me' date=' currently been as same weight for 3 weeks. Cheri you have been my inspiration on these boards as you post regularly and your story really does motivate and inspire me. I want to lose 100lb and I thought it would take me 12 months but looks more like 15 now. But hey if it take 18 or more so be it.[/quote']

I also in the same boat i am 10 month out. I am down 73 mine also was 100 but that is ok. I am glad i am not the only one because i was really feeling bad about my self and progress. Well hope every things better for you. My surgery was on 3-9-12 i was at 262 know at 188