I am scheduled for surgery next Tuesday the 9th and am starting to worry that my lack of significant weight loss on the pre-op diet is a sign that I won't lose as much weight post-op as I would like. I've followed the instructions pretty closely--1000 calories a day, 60-80 grams of protein. I lost about 6 pounds the first week but have only lost about .2 in the last 3 days. Other people I have spoken with who have had the surgery lost 10 pounds or more during the pre-op diet, so my mid-diet plateau does have me a little concerned. My surgeon doesn't require a strictly liquid diet, so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

Is my pre-op weight loss normal/how much did you lose during the pre-op?

# 1 rule - don't compare yourself to others. People lose weight at all different rates due a bunch of different factors, many of which you have little to no control over - starting BMI, age, gender, genetics, metabolic rate, body composition (how much muscle vs fat vs bone you have), how much weight you lost prior to surgery, etc. The only two things you DO have a lot of control over is how closely you stick to your clinic's eating plan and your activity level. If you do well with both of those things, then you WILL lose the weight, whether fast or slow.

I was a slow loser from the get-go. I was behind my "co-hort" pretty much the whole time (I know this because of an insensitive comment by a medical resident who did a couple of my follow-up appts). But I kept plugging away and ended up losing ALL of my excess weight, over 200 lbs.

if you follow your program, stay active, and your general weight trend is down, you're golden.

I lost a total of 2 lbs on my pre-op diet. I have had good weight loss since surgery.

It looks like you already lost weight prior to your pre-op diet, which means you didn't have the "water weight" that a lot of people lose during the pre-op diet.

Don't Panic!

Looks like the others have already covered it. I agree completely that the most important thing you can learn here is to NOT compare yourself to others. I am a slow loser as well and I am now 11 pounds from a normal BMI and still losing.

I was wondering this very same thing - if the pre-op weight loss is indicative of the post-op loss. Appreciate the answers.