Perspectives on Losing Fast & Slow

[GreenTealael 25,618]

Wondering if people wanted to share their experience / success stories / frustrations with losing weight at their personal pace.

Some days i find it hard to not trivialize my success and i think its is because I am losing slowly, which can be VERY frustrating but i did not have any complications, a definitive goal set up yet or loose skin so i should learn to count my blessings. How do you maintain perspective?

Edited June 5, 2018 by Tealael

[Matt Z 4,140]

23 minutes ago, Tealael said:

Wondering if people wanted to share their experience / success stories / frustrations with losing weight at their personal pace.

Some days i find it hard to not trivialize my success and i think its is because I am losing slowly, which can be VERY frustrating but i did not have any complications, a definitive goal set up yet or loose skin so i should learn to count my blessings. How do you maintain perspective?

I'm very frustrated... even though I know what's happening is 100% normal and expected. I've been stuck around the same weight for more than a week now, but my body fat % is dropping, so I know I'm still heading in the right direction. It's still painfully slow for my liking. But, I just have to keep at it, I know it's not a race, I know that having the band already means that My rate of loss is going to be MUCH slower than any other bypass. I know all of these things, and yet, every day I step on that scale and the weight doesn't move, I curse a little to myself. I'm still keeping my Protein and Water goals in check. I'm in the gym at least an hour a day doing cardio AND muscle building. So, even though it's frustrating, I'm doing my best to keep all that in check and keep myself moving forwards. Just need to keep moving forwards. The struggle **IS** worth it!

[AllyJonesVSG 184]

I think I had unrealistic expectations. I kept hearing about people who lost 90 lbs in 3 months sort of thing, but I forgot that they were starting from a place with much more to lose, which helps it fall off faster. I'm evidently going to have to be content with ~4lbs per week.

[GreenTealael 25,618]

1 minute ago, AllyJonesVSG said:

I think I had unrealistic expectations. I kept hearing about people who lost 90 lbs in 3 months sort of thing, but I forgot that they were starting from a place with much more to lose, which helps it fall off faster. I'm evidently going to have to be content with ~4lbs per week.

I understand completely

[LaLaDee 519]

I had a high starting weight and I'm tall. Also, unlike Americans, I didn't have to do any pre-surgery program to get my insurance to pay. So I was eating whatever I wanted (till the 2 week shrink the liver diet). Anyway, I think all of these factors contributed to me losing very fast immediately after the surgery. I think it was too fast, my body went into shock, and my autoimmune disease kept flaring up. I lost a lot of hair. So much hair. My loose skin isn't great to look at either, but I do think as months pass by, it's getting a little better. The thing about rapid weight loss is that it keeps you motivated. When I was losing so fast, it was easy to stay super strict with my diet because I was seeing insane results on the scale every morning.

However, my weight loss has slowed the hell down now. I have less weight to lose. The honeymoon is over. My weight loss has been particularly slow in recent months because I've had to deal with arthritis and being on prednisone (which is the devil, a steroid medication that makes you eat, eat, eat). Losing weight slowly is frustrating. I would LOVE to lose 20 more pounds (10 kg), which doesn't sound like much (at one point, I was losing that in about a fortnight). I miss rapid weight loss. I find it hard to stay motivated now too. I don't know if it's because the rate of loss is slower, or if I'm just sick of #bariatriclife.

So there, that's my perspective on both!!

[AllyJonesVSG 184]

2 minutes ago, LaLaDee said:

I had a high starting weight and I'm tall. Also, unlike Americans, I didn't have to do any pre-surgery program to get my insurance to pay. So I was eating whatever I wanted (till the 2 week shrink the liver diet). Anyway, I think all of these factors contributed to me losing very fast immediately after the surgery. I think it was too fast, my body went into shock, and my autoimmune disease kept flaring up. I lost a lot of hair. So much hair. My loose skin isn't great to look at either, but I do think as months pass by, it's getting a little better. The thing about rapid weight loss is that it keeps you motivated. When I was losing so fast, it was easy to stay super strict with my diet because I was seeing insane results on the scale every morning.

I'm sorry to hear about the autoimmune disease. That must be rough. And thanks for the reminder that very rapid weight loss has its own set of problems. I don't want to rush into Hair loss or loose skin, so maybe I'll just be content at my slow rate.

[GreenTealael 25,618]

8 minutes ago, LaLaDee said:

I had a high starting weight and I'm tall. Also, unlike Americans, I didn't have to do any pre-surgery program to get my insurance to pay. So I was eating whatever I wanted (till the 2 week shrink the liver diet). Anyway, I think all of these factors contributed to me losing very fast immediately after the surgery. I think it was too fast, my body went into shock, and my autoimmune disease kept flaring up. I lost a lot of hair. So much hair. My loose skin isn't great to look at either, but I do think as months pass by, it's getting a little better. The thing about rapid weight loss is that it keeps you motivated. When I was losing so fast, it was easy to stay super strict with my diet because I was seeing insane results on the scale every morning.

However, my weight loss has slowed the hell down now. I have less weight to lose. The honeymoon is over. My weight loss has been particularly slow in recent months because I've had to deal with arthritis and being on prednisone (which is the devil, a steroid medication that makes you eat, eat, eat). Losing weight slowly is frustrating. I would LOVE to lose 20 more pounds (10 kg), which doesn't sound like much (at one point, I was losing that in about a fortnight). I miss rapid weight loss. I find it hard to stay motivated now too. I don't know if it's because the rate of loss is slower, or if I'm just sick of #bariatriclife.

So there, that's my perspective on both!!

I was so afraid while on prednisone that i basically only drank

Edited June 5, 2018 by Tealael

[LaLaDee 519]

2 minutes ago, AllyJonesVSG said:

I'm sorry to hear about the autoimmune disease. That must be rough. And thanks for the reminder that very rapid weight loss has its own set of problems. I don't want to rush into Hair loss or loose skin, so maybe I'll just be content at my slow rate.

Rapid weight loss definitely has a lot of drawbacks. I have had a lot of health issues from my body being in shock. Feeling dizzy and light headed. I had psoriasis flare ups (in addition to a range of complications from my auto-immune disease).

I didn't mention this before, but it's very strange, psychologically speaking to lose 100 plus pounds in less than six months. It's very disorienting. You feel like a stranger in your own body. It's uncomfortable. You don't recognise yourself. I had a bit of depression (which may have been related to the illnesses), but it also was in part because I was really freaked out by all the changes. How do you stay mindful and centred, when you're dropping 6 dress sizes in 6 months? There's no time to adjust!

I am not complaining. I underwent this surgery as an investment in my future health and happiness. And frankly, I wouldn't mind some of that magic rapid weight loss again. However, losing slowly does have some benefits.

[LaLaDee 519]

4 minutes ago, Tealael said:

I was so afraid while on prednisone that i basically only drank

I just want to get off it so badly. I hate the stuff. I cannot stop eating. I snack all day which doesn't exactly help the weight loss! I'm also bloated and moody AF. It's really charming.

[James Marusek 5,244]

It depends on the type of surgery. I had gastric bypass and the weight dropped off at a very rapid pace. Sleeve patients loose weight at a much slower pace and encounter many stalls along the way.

I transitioned into the Maintenance phase at around 7 months. Many sleeve patients continue to lose weight for 2 years.

So be careful not to compare apples with oranges!

[Greensleevie 451]

What's the rush?

I took the opportunity to learn about nutrition and exercise along the way in order to actually KEEP the weight I lost off, which over 50% of us will fail to do. That is far more important than how quickly it comes off.

Perspective is important.

[KimTriesRNY 1,853]

I’m a bypass patient and my loss is pretty slow. I’m at 100 pounds lost in 6 months and I’ve seen people at my starting weight lose 100 pounds in three months. I do get discouraged. Statistically speaking it’s tough to read things like only 20 percent of patients that started at my weight make it to goal.

My family is so proud of me right now though. And I try to think of where I was this time last year, how miserable and hopeless things seemed, and you know what. I don’t care if it takes me two years to lose this weight. I don’t care if I lose weight slower than any other bypass patient. The bottom line is will it be the fastest I’ve ever lost 190 pounds? And the answer to that is yes.

[AllyJonesVSG 184]

33 minutes ago, James Marusek said:

It depends on the type of surgery. I had gastric bypass and the weight dropped off at a very rapid pace. Sleeve patients loose weight at a much slower pace and encounter many stalls along the way.

I transitioned into the Maintenance phase at around 7 months. Many sleeve patients continue to lose weight for 2 years.

So be careful not to compare apples with oranges!

Oh, okay. The post was in the sleeve forum so I just assumed everyone was talking sleeve. Good point.

[GreenTealael 25,618]

23 minutes ago, Greensleevie said:

What's the rush?

I took the opportunity to learn about nutrition and exercise along the way in order to actually KEEP the weight I lost off, which over 50% of us will fail to do. That is far more important than how quickly it comes off.

Perspective is important.

Medically necessary

Edited June 5, 2018 by Tealael

[GreenTealael 25,618]

3 minutes ago, AllyJonesVSG said:

Oh, okay. The post was in the sleeve forum so I just assumed everyone was talking sleeve. Good point.

I forget sometimes also