I am 3 months post-op and am tired of focusing on how much I have not lost. I’ve been eating 80-100 g of Protein, drinking at least 70 ounces Water, staying under 1000 calories and am active. I started at very high weight and expected to lose more than 45 lbs my first 3 months, but I am tired of focusing on what I have not lost instead of what I have gained. I am so grateful for my sleeve and my chance to live a healthier life. This is my ode to losing weight more slowly than expected and the benefits:

• More time to develop healthy eating habits before maintenance
• Skin has more time to catch up (more time to lotion!)
• Shifting focus to NSVs like sitting in booths and chairs with arms
• Less chance of gallstones
• Opportunity to practice loving kindness towards myself and being grateful for any positive change
• Chance to manage expectations – if it wasn’t for WLS, I’d be thrilled with my loss, so why not be thrilled now?
• Practice focusing on my own wins and not comparing self to others
• Not having to explain to others since loss isn’t dramatic (yet)
• Chance to trust the process and not focus on the end (self-care, water/protein/low-carb/active)
• Redefine success as how I feel, not numbers on scale
• Understanding this is not a diet, this is my lifestyle now, so what is the rush?

Have you had a benefit to a stall or slower than expected losing?

I am an April sleever, too...4/9/15. My sw was 285 and today I'm at 230!!! I feel like it's moving slowly, however, any other time I have tried to lose weight in my life, the numbers went down and up, down and up...not anymore! I'm loving the fact that they only go down now! Sometimes, even if the numbers don't move, I go down another size! I've gone from a 26 to a 20 and getting closer to an 18! When I look in the mirror, I look mostly the same to myself, but others don't see me that way. Wonder why I can't see what they see? Looking forward to the day I see a totally different person in that mirror! Let's keep on encouraging each other! Glad to hear from other April sleevers!

Thanks everyone for your comments.

@@rp1980 - I was sleeved 4/15/15, how about you? Congrats on your success thus far! As you say, as long as we get there, does it really matter how long it takes? I saw a good quote today "Those who succeed are the ones who look in the mirror and see no change, but continue anyway, knowing they will get there in time."

@@borg/assimilated - I am hoping we are slow and steady losers (for example, I didn't have the dreaded 3 week stall everyone talks about) so perhaps in the end, slow and steady wins?

Congrats fellow April sleevers @@ZoeyBear and @@Mandyctr on your success!

The important thing is to do the right things. That's what I'm focusing on.

I'm 5 months out in a few days, and my surgeon has a goal for me of 60% excess body weight lost by 6 months.

Right now I'm at 42%, so I'll likely wind up short of the goal.

However, I'm still holding to the principles of sustained weight loss, so I'm not particularly worried. I can't make my body lose weight faster (I tried shouting at my gut for awhile and it ignored me), so I pay attention to the things I can control.

Great post!

Wow @@Croaker, 60%-70% is the average weight loss, period, so I wouldn't stress about meeting that in six months either. Sounds like you have the right idea about focusing on the things you can control.

@@butterfly23, I was sleeved 4/6. It was a pretty easy experience, too.

I don't even know how much I've lost now because I'm trying to weigh only once a month. I was finding that whether I lost a little or a lot would have too big of an impact on my day. So I'm just going to stick to the game plan. I go to the surgeon next Thursday for my (early) four-month check in, so I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Some of these responses claiming slow weight loss are nowhere near slow weight loss. My surgeon said more than 10pds a month loss is excellent for the surgery, considering 10 PDS a month is average.

I am 10 months out and about 54 pounds down... Now that is slow!

Benefits of a slower weight loss is... I'm not shocking my body... The loss is more gradual and thus looks very good on me. Plus no one knows I had surgery unless I tell them. I don't have what I call "Bariatric face". ????