4 months out and stuck

[biginjapan 647]

8 hours ago, summerset said:

I can't help myself, I find this statement more and more irritating the longer I'm out of WLS, especially that one about "the window of weight loss closing". It puts patients into an unnecessary state of anxiety and builds up equally unnecessary pressure. I wonder if surgeons and dietitians sometimes are being misinterpreted here or - if they're interpreted correctly - if they're aware of the consequences they provoke.

My first surgery was 2001. The MGB was almost 4 years ago. After my latest revision 4 weeks ago my weight went down again during the liquid phase (i. e. eating less calories than my body is used to) and I'm in the middle of a normal BMI range.

My findings are: if I'm in a calorie deficit (screw the macros) I'm losing weight. I doubt I'm the big exception.

However, creating this calorie deficit is definitely harder for some people! (Think age, height, gender etc.).

Of course - any calorie deficit will most likely result in weight loss. I think what the surgeons are referring to is the honeymoon period after surgery, where weight loss will happen the most rapidly, and the most easily. Eventually it does slow down, and for many people, hunger returns. But I've known people on this site, and other places online, who lost 80-90% of their weight in the first year (often faster), but took 2-3 years to get to their goal weight. It's not impossible. But I think it also sets up people to feel like a failure if they DON'T reach their goal, and that's not true either. Many people make it to the overweight BMI and can't go further into the healthy range (or can, but find it harder to maintain). But even then they've lost 80% or more of their excess weight. That's something to be proud of. Even for myself, I'm trying to manage expectations - I'd like to get to a healthy BMI, but I know that weight loss is usually not as dramatic with revision surgery, and that it will probably take me longer to get there (if ever).