Slow weight loss in the beginning... Is this normal?

[Marygp836 12]

I was sleeved on August 15th. My preop diet - I only list 5 lbs, drinking about 709 calories in Protein Shakes. One week after surgery I was down 10 lbs. Great huh? Since then, I have been on about 700 calories, 70 grams of Protein approximately, and the scale hasn't budged. Simple math would tell me I should have lost at least 5 lbs. Has anyone else run into this and if so, was it just temporary? I have been walking but not doing real strenuous exercises yet, til I see the surgeon next week. Help! It's discouraging to think of what I have went through to lose weight, something as drastic as removing 80 percent of my stomach, and yet the weight isn't falling off.

[maxcimax 220]

Just remember that the weight loss with the Sleeve isn't as fast as those that have had the Gastric Bypass or Lap Band. This is fine with me. Gives your skin time to adjust. I have had several stalls & some days my weight will go up or down a pound. I looked at the average & in 16 weeks its been just over 3 pounds a week - that includes the post op diet. Right now I'm actually losing 1 to 2 lbs a week. I knew it wasn't going to be easy & I felt that if I lost 150 lbs in 2 years that would be great. It took more that 2 years to put it on!!

Good luck with your journey & don't let it overwhelm you. Just keep on doing what you are supposed to & it will eventually come off.

[starspring 30]

Slow and steady wins the race! Good luck!

[Sunnyskies2283 23]

That sounds very much like my experience. I lost 12 pounds the first week (I really would like to know how much stomach weight they take out). The following two weeks I actually gained 2 pounds. I had a break down at the doctors 4 weeks out because I had the same fears as you.

I am now 8 weeks out and have lost about 26 total since surgery. 7 of those pounds were in the last 3 days. I'm learning to accept that the weight will come off, but it'll happen when my body is ready and may not be every week. Moral of the story: don't stress, eat and exercise like you've been taught, and the scale will work itself out.

[2boysmommy 20]

My results have been similar, sleeved 6/18, 29 lbs down( 68 since January) I had hoped it would be faster, but have had to accept my body can only change so much at a time. May be due to pcos, maybe just how I am. You might be similar--but please don't be too hard on yourself. It will happen! Just do your best and try to think of the pro's of being a "slow loser" if that's what you're going to be..I've been trying to reassure myself that I won't have as much saggy skin!

[GummyTummy 154]

I think you are at your 3-5 week stall which is incredibly normal and there are tons of posts on here about it. When you initially lose weight you lose the glycogen that is stored in muscles and used for energy, ( about 8-10 lbs, it is 2lbs of glycogen plus 8 lbs of Water to store it.) When you lose those first lbs, it is mostly Water weight, then your body goes into rebuild mode where it stores that glycogen again and all that water. A lot of people gain weight during this time. The stall usually takes about two weeks. Some are lucky and it lasts a week. You will be fine. Make sure you are drinking your required amount of water and walking and the weight will start coming off again. Also, you aren't super obese. People with higher BMI than you will seem to have weight melting off because of their different body set points.

[Marygp836 12]

thanks everyone - that's encouraging. I guess I just have to be patient. I see so many posts with people losing crazy good numbers and I assumed that would be me too. At least my clothes are a bit looser. Thats the positive.

[okelly44 10]

Thanks for this post! I am about 6 weeks out now and the first 3 weks I lost 16 pounds - 7, 6, & then 6 more. I knew this wouldn't continue, but I assumed at least I'd see 3 pounds a week or so. Especially since I've started back at the gym 5 days a week, I'm very active, and am eating maybe 800-900 calories a day. Sheesh! After 4.5 weeks when I suddenly saw no loss, I freaked and thought maybe I wasn't being stringent enough so for the last 10 days I have been absolutely strict eating almost nothing but Protein shakes, fish, and some steamed veggies. Absoultely no bread, sweets, or drinking Water less than 30 mins after meals. Even doing a food log religiously again. As I count it, I'm getting 800 calories or even less if you figure in the 350 calories I burn at the gym. But the scale is not budging!!

Some have told me to be patient - my body may be adjusting to the new low cal mode and hanging on to weight for a couple weeks until it realizes it won't starve. Then I'll lost a big amount all at once. (This did happen occasionally when I was taking weight of the year prior to surgery.) Others wonder if 800 calories is too little and my body thinks it's starving? Still others say weight loss is more like a step than a down ramp (drop, flat, drop, flat.) I know all this is very logical, and if I am as diligent as I would swear I am, then basic physics should apply at some point.

Still, it is so hard to accept for now. You hear all the stories of this 3-4 month honeymoon phase where weight melts off no matter what you do. That gives you the great motivation to stay strong when the weight loss slows down. So, of course, I'm panicking - my honeymoon ended after 3 crummy weeks?!!! WTH?? Already??

I kind of feel like this was all for nothing - but that's just the upset brat inside me pouting. Before surgery, I was trying to eat 1,200 calories a day and it took focus and hard work. Now with the sleeve, I am of course full much sooner, so eating less. But now shooting for 800 calories rather than 1,200, it's kind of the same struggle to stay on track, just a lower calorie count. Same fight, different rules. At the very least, I expected my weight to be dropping significantly and steadily. Otherwise, what's the point?

I'm glad to hear there are tons of posts on this, which I shall immediately seek out to help me feel more positive. I'm not giving up...I'm angrily determined but it does take a toll on my cheerful outlook.

[crazzeescrapper 125]

I'm having the same kind of slow weight loss. Was sleeved 7/24 and down 20 from date of surgery, 27 overall. Lost 7 pounds on my crash diet days before surgery. I dropped most of my weight the first week. Since then it's been stall, lose a pound, stall, lose a pound...repeat. Very frustrating. I hit my Protein and Water goal daily. Was getting between 650 and 800 calories a day and also working out 3 to 4 times a week and still stalling. Oh, and the one day I had gained 2 pounds! Yesterday I upped my calories to almost 900 and was down a pound this morning. Was this the answer or would I have lost even more if I didn't up the calories? We'll never know. Trying the more calories for the rest of the week and we'll see what happens. If I gain, it won't be the first time.

[jsilvas08 23]

Glad I found this post I am 4 weeks out and have lost a total of 27 lbs. I have been at a stall for the last week. I just keep trying to tell myself to be patient

[jjinWA 511]

The comments here are so very common and is good to put out there for all of us to share in our frustrations. It makes our stalls more understandable and certainly it helps to make me feel normal and let's me know that I am not alone in my journey. Through all of my experiences in my own process I have come to realize that I will lose pounds when my body is ready to let it go. I tell myself regularly...RELAX! Stay the program, which includes thoughtful and healthy eating and exercising. My goal is not so much as to lose it fast but to lose it permently. That is something I have never accomplished in my past life. Hang in there my friends. We will all get there!

[okelly44 10]

So glad to report the big stall finally ended... With a 6 pound loss from one week to the next!! They said just be patient, and so they were right. But as a scientist I'm still baffled as to how it took 3 weeks of eating 800 calories to do it.

I just hope I'm really done with this hump or set point or body adjustment or whatever the heck it was, and lose more steadily now.

So hang in there! Gotta change my ruler!!

[Marygp836 12]

I upped my calories to between 800 and 900 (which isn't easy to do unless I were to drink a real chocolate shake) and that has helped. I hit my 20 lbs. I would recommend that to anyone that is stalling. Maybe your body is holding on because it thinks it's starving?

[NuMe2014 1]

I'm having the same kind of slow weight loss. Was sleeved 7/24 and down 20 from date of surgery, 27 overall. Lost 7 pounds on my crash diet days before surgery. I dropped most of my weight the first week. Since then it's been stall, lose a pound, stall, lose a pound...repeat. Very frustrating. I hit my Protein and Water goal daily. Was getting between 650 and 800 calories a day and also working out 3 to 4 times a week and still stalling. Oh, and the one day I had gained 2 pounds! Yesterday I upped my calories to almost 900 and was down a pound this morning. Was this the answer or would I have lost even more if I didn't up the calories? We'll never know. Trying the more calories for the rest of the week and we'll see what happens. If I gain, it won't be the first time.

How the heck are you able to get your liquids down??? I'm 3 weeks post & I struggle a lot w/ getting all my protein & fluids in. I find myself getting frustrated and wondering if I made the correct decision. I had a couple of really bad mental battles with myself. I can relate to what a lot of the posts are saying b/c I at times really feel lost. I do get down about weight-loss not being great but I think I get even more down because I'm trying to figure out how to get all of my protein and as well as my liquids as well as staying under the calorie count, taking all the Vitamins, etc-----at times it becomes very difficult.

[okelly44 10]

We'll, a sample day for me is a Protein Shake for Breakfast. Made