4.5 months post opp GB . I'm down 52 lbs . Any words of wisdom or encouragement asto how to loose more . I feel I should have lost more by now .

I just checked my spreadsheet. I'd lost 57 lbs by that point, and I started out at 373 lbs.

honestly, people's rate of weight loss is such an individual thing that it's kind of pointless to compare yourself to someone else. There are so many factors that influence your rate of weight loss, and most of them you have little to no control over - like age, gender, starting BMI, genetics, the percentage of muscle you have, whether or not you lost a lot of weight before surgery, etc. The only two factors you really have a lot of control over is how closely you stick to your program, and your activity level. If you do well with both of those, you're golden. The weight WILL come off if you stay compliant, whether fast or slow. I was a below average loser from the get-go, and I ended up losing over 200 lbs , 100% of my excess weight. In the end, your success (or not) is due to how well you stick to your plan, not how quickly you lose.

P.S. if your expectations come from shows like "My 600 lb Life", then remember that those people start out at 800+ lbs (I don't think I've ever seen a contestant weighing 600 - it's almost always higher than that). AND...starting BMI is big factor in how fast you'll lose the weight. So unless you're of similar size, I wouldn't worry about "only" losing 52 lbs so far. That's a respectable loss for us "normal" WLS patients.

Edited February 3, 20233 yr by catwoman7

Thank you! That was very helpful .I am 39 yes old 5ft 6in I was 305 pounds before my 2 week pre op diet on September 15th day of surgery I weighed 294 now today I am 240 on a goal of 180 I work out 4 times a week but have no physical food
restrictions I watch what I eat and do try to get enough protein. I am so proud of my progress but get discouraged at times as I don't really see the results yet . My stomach size has not changed. But arms legs face have . I am approaching the 6 month mark and am just worried that I won't lose anymore after that date.

Is your 52 down from your first appt? from highest weight? from surgery day?

There are a lot of different ways to look at this..

My highest weight was 280. My preop weight was 272. My surgery day I was 256. Today at exactly 4 months, I am 200.5.

So down 79 lbs from my heighest weight / first bariatric appt last april, lost 8 on my own before preop started labor day weekend. We did a 4 week preop, during which I lost 16 lbs. Since surgery, I am down 56.

But also, I did bypass and I am extremely strict on my plan.

2 hours ago, Gin14 said:

Thank you! That was very helpful .I am 39 yes old 5ft 6in I was 305 pounds before my 2 week pre op diet on September 15th day of surgery I weighed 294 now today I am 240 on a goal of 180 I work out 4 times a week but have no physical food
restrictions I watch what I eat and do try to get enough Protein. I am so proud of my progress but get discouraged at times as I don't really see the results yet . My stomach size has not changed. But arms legs face have . I am approaching the 6 month mark and am just worried that I won't lose anymore after that date.

I kept losing for almost two years. It slows down the further out you go, but my weight loss didn't stop until I was 20 months out.

I think I'd lost about 80 lbs before people started to notice.

You’ve lost 52lbs. That’s great. Whoo hoo. Are you feeling better? Are you able to do more? Are you learning more about yourself? Are you changing your relationship with food? … These are the things to focus on. As @heatherdbby said it’s how you look at it.

I agree with @catwoman7, there are too many factors that affect how much you’ll lose & the rate of your loss. Sure there are averages but with all averages some people exceed the average & some don’t meet the average and there’s nothing wrong with that. I say celebrate every pound you lose. You’ve worked hard to lose every one of them.

Same with setting hard & fast inflexible weight loss goals & setting a time frame in which to attain that goal. Too many factors to predict how much & when. It can be depressing & lead to you sabotaging your loss if you don’t reach that goal or reach it in a specific time frame. Not every one reaches their goal but if you do or exceed it that’s a bonus.

All the best.

Edited February 4, 20233 yr by Arabesque