4 weeks out... Math doesn't add up. Am I losing enough?

[Erissel 12]

Today makes 4 weeks since my surgery.

As of this morning, I weigh 216 lbs. On the morning of the surgery, it was 232 lbs.

So I've lost 16 lbs.

Prior to this, I was losing an average of 10 lbs a month on my own, keeping to an intake of about 1200 calories per day. My intake now ranges 500-650 calories. Mostly Protein, no veggies, no fruit, occasional carbs.

Am I doing something wrong? According to the calorie math, I should be losing at roughly double the rate I was before, but this is clearly not the case.

I'm stumped

Edited January 6, 2017 by Erissel

[White Sale 339]

If I were you, I'd do some searches in the forum for "four week stall" or something similar. From what I've read here, some folks have success after they increase their calories - which seems counterintuitive.

Of course, your nutritionist & doctor are your best advisors. Seems to me like eating 650 Calories/day is too low.

[suzzzzz 1,005]

Sounds like your calorie math doesn't take into account the fact that your body is healing and adjusting. If you continue to follow your plan, the weight will come off. And, 16 lbs in the first month is excellent!

[pvechiola 195]

If I were you, I'd do some searches in the forum for "four week stall" or something similar. From what I've read here, some folks have success after they increase their calories - which seems counterintuitive.

Of course, your nutritionist & doctor are your best advisors. Seems to me like eating 650 Calories/day is too low.

Hey 16 lbs is nothing to sneeze at I haven't had surgery yet but I would be happy if I just saw my scale go in the other direction for a change.

Sounds like your calorie math doesn't take into account the fact that your body is healing and adjusting. If you continue to follow your plan, the weight will come off. And, 16 lbs in the first month is excellent!

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[heidikat72 935]

A. you just had major surgery. your body is focused on healing not weightloss right now.

B. weightloss is not linear. do not assume that because you lost at x rate on y calories that now you will lose at double that rate. you will experience stalls and slow downs along the way. we all lose at different rates and most do not lose in any sort of consistent fashion from week to week.

as for whether you are doing something wrong...are you meeting your Protein goals provided by your surgeon? are you meeting your Fluid intake goals provided by your surgeon? taking your Vitamins? not eating more than the prescribed amounts for the point you are at post-op? sticking to high Protein foods and avoiding empty calories? if the answer is yes, then you are not doing anything wrong. you just need to be patient and let yourself heal and the weightloss will come. and by the way, averaging 4lbs a week is pretty damn good.

[Erissel 12]

The answer to the above questions is yes, so I guess I need to be patient.

I am just afraid that 16 lbs is going to be the highest loss and from here on it's just going to slow down to a crawl

[JamieLogical 8,727]

My first instinct is to just not respond to this because it is so discouraging to me when I see posts like this. Stalls happen. Everyone loses weight at different rates.

Are you getting your Water and Protein in? Are you following your food stages? Are you eating on a schedule and measuring/weighing your food? Are you getting up and moving every day? If yes to all of those questions, you are doing nothing wrong.

I "only" lost 15 pounds my first month and I still got to goal and have been maintaining for 15 months. This is a marathon, not a sprint. There is literally ZERO reason for you to have to lose the weight "fast". Your sleeve is forever!

[dodlbug 23]

I'm two weeks out and have only lost 4 pounds since surgery. Disappointing, but my body is still recovering from surgery. Give yourself another month before you consider yourself stalled. Surgery weightloss is sometimes slower to start than band.

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[suzzzzz 1,005]

The answer to the above questions is yes, so I guess I need to be patient.

I am just afraid that 16 lbs is going to be the highest loss and from here on it's just going to slow down to a crawl

I don't get why you and so many others think they will not lose weight or that the sleeve won't work. My mother would have said "why are you so special?" Lol

The sleeve is just a tool. We have to do our part according to doctors plan and our bodies will respond the way it needs to in the time frame it needs to. Adding unnecessary worry will impact your body, and not in a good way. Make it easier on yourself and go with the flow while you heal.

[Erissel 12]

My first instinct is to just not respond to this because it is so discouraging to me when I see posts like this. Stalls happen. Everyone loses weight at different rates.

Are you getting your Water and Protein in? Are you following your food stages? Are you eating on a schedule and measuring/weighing your food? Are you getting up and moving every day? If yes to all of those questions, you are doing nothing wrong.

I "only" lost 15 pounds my first month and I still got to goal and have been maintaining for 15 months. This is a marathon, not a sprint. There is literally ZERO reason for you to have to lose the weight "fast". Your sleeve is forever!

I'm not sure why do you find it discouraging, but nevertheless... thank you, because what you said makes sense. I guess I'm just so excited to be a 'regular' size person again that I got ahead of myself

[JamieLogical 8,727]

My first instinct is to just not respond to this because it is so discouraging to me when I see posts like this. Stalls happen. Everyone loses weight at different rates.

Are you getting your Water and Protein in? Are you following your food stages? Are you eating on a schedule and measuring/weighing your food? Are you getting up and moving every day? If yes to all of those questions, you are doing nothing wrong.

I "only" lost 15 pounds my first month and I still got to goal and have been maintaining for 15 months. This is a marathon, not a sprint. There is literally ZERO reason for you to have to lose the weight "fast". Your sleeve is forever!

I'm not sure why do you find it discouraging, but nevertheless... thank you, because what you said makes sense. I guess I'm just so excited to be a 'regular' size person again that I got ahead of myself

I just hate seeing so many posters beating up on themselves over their "slow" weight loss. I was one of those posters way back when! The truth is, your rate of loss is influenced by a ton of different factors, especially early post-op when your body is still healing and adapting. People compare themselves to others and assume that if they are losing more slowly they are doing something wrong or are "failures". It's simply not true! Everybody and every BODY is different. Comparison is a recipe for misery. If you are doing everything you are supposed to do and sticking to your plan, you WILL lose weight. I promise. How quickly you do so really won't matter once you are at goal and maintaining. If it takes you a couple months more to get to goal than some other folks, what does that matter in the grand scheme of things?

[ella37 455]

I had a very similar experience. Although I never could've lost 32 pounds in one month of dieting, I usually lost 10 to 15. I lost 7 lbs my first week post op and then NOTHING til week 3. I had the same conversation with my NUT about how I could lose more than this just with my usual diet. She explained to me that this isn't a diet. Our bodies are still adjusting to this new way of eating and you can stall because you're still recovering, your body/metabolism isn't used to what's going on, or because as another poster said, weight loss is not linear. Everything is going a little haywire right now and your body is confused. She told me that we tend to lose weight in steps and not a straight line. On week 3 I lost 9 lbs so at one month out I was also at 16 lbs and you and I have nearly exactly the same surgery weight and are the same height.

I know it sucks when you're still on liquids and not losing as much as you're used to with a normal diet, but stick it out. The weight will start coming off as long as you stick to your plan. I was also worried that this wasn't going to work for me (and pissed b/c I was self pay) or that something went wrong. You'll do great, try not to focus too much on the scale at first!

Edited January 6, 2017 by ella37

[AnnieM22 13]

4 pounds a week is still good. You're on the right path, keep it up. You can do research or get advice, but remember you're still doing great!

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