Feeling down

[musiclover 61]

I am losing so slowly and some days I wonder if I'm doing it all wrong? I'm 5 months out and have lost 42lbs which is nowhere near as quick as a lot of you in this timescale. I am vegetarian. I try to stick to 800 cals per day but sometimes I creep over that. I was a slow loser pre-surgery due to PCOS and hyperthyroidism but I really hoped this would work.

Don't get me wrong, I still think it will get more of my weight off but I'm beginning g to wonder if I'll actually get to goal weight. I still have around 70lbs to lose and I'm not too sure it's going to get me there. I am trying to follow all the rules but I'm worried.

[Catherine707 253]

Don't despair musiclover. It is easy to read the profiles on this site and lose sight of how well you are doing. Everyone loses at their own pace. Many people hit plateaus and have a tough time breaking through, but it doesn't mean the tool isn't working for you. You mentioned PCOS and thyroid issues, so you also have metabolic problems that some people don't deal with. You have lost 42 pounds, that is more than you would have if you hadn't had the surgery and changed your life. I couldn't function and work if I was eating only 800 calories a day. Have you talked to your surgeon or nutritionist about adding in more calories, Protein or any other changes that might speed / sustain your weight loss? How is your exercise? That is another way to jump start your metabolism. The bottom line, you have made great progress and you can't compare your statistics to anyone else because no one has your exact circumstances or body except you!

[Sassygirl06 962]

I am losing so slowly and some days I wonder if I'm doing it all wrong? I'm 5 months out and have lost 42lbs which is nowhere near as quick as a lot of you in this timescale. I am vegetarian. I try to stick to 800 cals per day but sometimes I creep over that. I was a slow loser pre-surgery due to PCOS and hyperthyroidism but I really hoped this would work.

Don't get me wrong, I still think it will get more of my weight off but I'm beginning g to wonder if I'll actually get to goal weight. I still have around 70lbs to lose and I'm not too sure it's going to get me there. I am trying to follow all the rules but I'm worried.

Being a slow loser is actually of more benefit to your body. Your skin has more time to adjust, so it will come out looking better, and you may not start losing your hair like a lot of us that have wls do. Try to think of the positives in everything. The more that you stress out about how slow you are losing, may even make the loss slower, because stress tends to put our body into starvation mode, where it will literally hold onto as much fat as it can in preparation for whatever impending doom you are stressed about is coming. This is all part of our genetics handed down from when our ancestors didn't know when the next meal was going to be. Try to stay positive. It will come off, you will look great, you will be healthier....you will be happier! good luck!

[NMJG 1,266]

I'm in the same boat. I see these folks who are losing 20 lbs a month and I am amazed. I have been losing a steady 2 lbs a week eating less than 800 calories a day plus exercise. But at least I'm losing Let's cheer each other up and Celebrate what we have lost instead of mourning what we wish we lost. Before, I couldn't lose even 2 lbs a week, my metabolism was so screwed up from menopause and yoyo weight loss and gain. We will get there, maybe slowly, but still at goal.

[jenpez 113]

Music lover, I feel your frustration. My understanding is that losing slowly is a sure sign that your are losing from fat stores and not from muscle, this is a good thing. The hardest thing about this forum is that you DO compare yourself with others, it's only natural. But the BEST thing is that there is always some one in the same boat, they can make you feel better. Although I am so far a slow loser, I have never lost so consistently, in all of my previous attempts, of which there have been too numerous to even attempt to count. It is easier for me to sort of ignore how quickly or slowly other people are losing because most of you are in lbs and I work in kilos, I have to open my trusty conversion app to work it out! You are probably also having a bad day, week or month and need a little extra loving. I hope you can feel it coming from me.

[musiclover 61]

Thank you all for your reassurance I am having a particularly low few days and I don't know why as I've been so happy lately feeling good about my weightloss but last few days I am crashing into a low place and I don't like it! I hope these feelings pass soon and I can start looking forward instead of waiting to fail again

[Catherine707 253]

The roller coaster of emotions is part of the process too. I've had days were I thought my life was crap, and the world sucked.... but that was only how I "felt". When I step back and look at my real life, things are going pretty well, I'm losing weight, getting more energy, and handling projects at home I have been avoiding for years! Those are all signs of "sucess"! not failure. I have been a food addict most of my life and the sleeve "took" my crutch away. I am learning new ways of coping with the world and emotions without using / abusing food. If you no longer can access the thing that always made you feel better, then of course you will have emotional lows! So now when I am in one of those emotional lows, I acknowledge it, and maybe talk about it with a friend, but I also know with certainty that those feeling will pass, and I will find my way back to a happier more content place, I just need to give it time!

[Sassygirl06 962]

Thank you all for your reassurance I am having a particularly low few days and I don't know why as I've been so happy lately feeling good about my weightloss but last few days I am crashing into a low place and I don't like it! I hope these feelings pass soon and I can start looking forward instead of waiting to fail again

These emotions you are having can also be explained by your actual weight loss. We store a lot of hormones in those fat cells.a lot of estrogen is being released while you are burning off those fat cells. This is exactly why the surgeons warn us so much about making sure not to get pregnant after this surgery, because it puts our bodies I to a hormone roller coaster ride, and we are turned into fertile turtles! Lol I hope you have someone you are able to turn to for emotional support during this time. If you ever need someone to talk to about your feelings in a more private setting, feel free to I'm me. I am no psychologist, but I am a psychiatric nurse, as well as someone who has been through this process already, and someone who has also suffered from depression. I just want you to know you are not alone in this, there are plenty of us out there that have gone, or are going through the same exact thing. Cin up....and try to force yourself to smile....it's a little trick to the brain, that actually sends endorphins through our body because your brain thinks you have a reason to be happy if you're smiling....lol

[ItsMe2033 143]

I encourage you to be getting Protein at the upper end of your Protein target range. If you are not there, I suggest that you add enough Protein shakes to get there. Whatever level of exercise that you are doing, I encourage you to do more.

Don't be discouraged by your rate of loss. You'll do fine.