Hi all!

I’m a new member of the group - I hope you’re all well!

I had gastric sleeve surgery on 31st January 2023, after losing 13lbs on the pre-op diet.

On the morning of my surgery, I weighed 281lbs.

I lost no weight in the first week even though I was drinking my required water intake and having between 60-80g of protein a day.

Today is two weeks post op. I’m officially allowed to move onto purées and so first thing this morning, I weighed myself and I’ve only lost 4lbs??

I try not to compare myself to others, but I’m so disheartened and even low key regret having the surgery now. I keep seeing people reporting a stone weight loss in a week, 12 lbs a week, 8 lbs the second week etc and so I assumed this would be the same for me.

I’ve been very strict with my post op diet and making sure to get in at least 30 mins of movement a day. I’ve typically been consuming protein shakes, water, protein yogurt, tomato soups and the odd sugar-free/fat free children’s ice cream lolly.

I feel like I’m doing something wrong, and feel like a bit of a failure. I feel like my body is actively working against me. I spoke to my bariatric nurse who just said ‘you’re still healing, give it time’, but I don’t know if it’s just an excuse.

Your body has had major surgery. Your body doesn't know that this was any different than being stabbed in multiple places. Our bodies are a wonderful thing. They protect us from dying from stab wounds. Your body is trying to heal itself. And it is very confused. Long before I had weight loss surgery I had an emergency abdominal surgery, and had a huge vertical surgical site from pelvic base to past my belly button. Full hysterectomy. I couldn't eat anything for a week. NOTHING BY MOUTH . I gained 10 pounds. It didn't go away for weeks and weeks. My doctors explained what I said above to me. One doc explained it as I might as well have been a soldier in Mid-evil times who survived a long sword wound. Our body does not know the difference.

You need to sip constantly. Try adding a spoonful of juice to your water, or some other flavoring, try sucking ice cubes, make yourself healthy popsicles out of half juice and water, and suck on those. Don't want cold ? Try warm decaf flavored teas. I love coffee... but like tea. I drank a lot of peach herbal tea. Iced and hot. Sip all the time. Wake up at night ? Sip.

Your body WILL at some point (and fairly soon, I will bet) let go of all that fluid... but you have to keep putting more liquid into you.

Staying consistent always wins! I'm sure you're already seeing some better results now that your body is healing. Keep at it ?

On 2/20/2023 at 11:25 PM, MaameWata said:

I decided to buy myself new scales that included fat/bone/water mass etc, and found out that my Water percentage is 35%, meaning I’m incredibly dehydrated. I don’t know if it is water weight I’m holding onto, as my water weight is so low already.

I’ve always found it incredibly difficult to consume liquids, especially water as my stomach can only hold so much - even before the surgery. At the moment it takes me about 10-12 hours to drink a litre at most and I’ve tried things like fruit juices and teas etc…I just feel like I’m constantly forcing myself - on top of forcing myself to have Protein Shakes and Soups and all the purées, I spend most of my time having to think about food and drink - planning my days around it - this was the opposite of what I wanted out of my surgery.

Anyway, today I hit the 3 week mark and excluding the weight loss from the liver shrinking diet, I’ve lost a grand total of….. 1.1lb.

Thank you all for your kind messages of support, but I think it’s safe to say that maybe this sleeve has failed me. I guess it won’t work for everyone, and I’m annoyed at how much money I’ve wasted on this procedure that could have gone towards a house deposit.

Apologies for the negativity, I’m just incredibly frustrated and disappointed in myself.

Sooooo..... its been another week or more.... how are you doing ? Are you feeling any better ? Are you losing inches instead of pounds ? Sometimes that happens too ! We care ! Let us know !

21 hours ago, qtdoll said:

Staying consistent always wins! I'm sure you're already seeing some better results now that your body is healing. Keep at it ?

Aww thanks so much! It's been a month now so I think I'm in the throes of the 3/4 week stall as I'm now on soft foods/semi-normal foods. I haven't weighed myself since the last time I wrote in here and my mental health is a lot better for it. I've noticed my jeans fit a lot looser around my waist, but that's about it. I'm going to perhaps weigh myself at the end of march and see if there's a difference.

4 hours ago, BriarRose said:

Sooooo..... its been another week or more.... how are you doing ? Are you feeling any better ? Are you losing inches instead of pounds ? Sometimes that happens too ! We care ! Let us know !

Mentally I feel better as I haven't weighed myself at all! I don't really measure my body in inches and stuff so I have no idea how many I've lost, but my jeans and trousers are a lot baggier around the waist. My face looks a little smaller too.

I'm in the same boat as you.
I hit my three weeks and I gained three lbs.
I keep reading and hearing everyone saying it takes time but I still feel frustrated af and like I am regretting the procedure.
It feels so unfair to feel like I am going through so much and not losing anymore. A spoonful too much of soup makes me vomit but I am still stalled. The big goal I wanted to hit was to get under 200 even if it was just 199 and as usual as I got close to the goal my body is fighting it and I feel doomed to be big forever.
I know that is not a great mentality and I constantly try to fight back on those thoughts but some days (more lately) I can't help but just to sulk and cry about it.
If you are like me I don't think there is anything anyone can tell us to make us feel better until we can see tangible results. So here is what I can offer you.

You are not alone in this feeling or regret and despite all the success posts you see or it feeling like all these people are losing but not you just know that there are probably just as many that are not losing right now and feels just like us. It's just so much easier to post success than perceived failure.

Hang in there. Try to focus on non scale victories and celebrate that you are ultimately make changes to be healthier.
Also just feel those feelings it's okay and they are valid. It's frustrating to not see the results you wanted and it's okay to be frustrated as long as you keep pushing forward.

I had bypass Feb. 13 and like many people have already said, don't weigh yourself right away!

My surgeon and team told me not to weigh myself for a while (I still do of course, but I don't hold my breath) because your body is going to be holding on to your IV fluids and everything. The scales not gonna move for a bit, is what I was told. Not only that, but we're going to be hitting plateaus off and on in our first few months but that once we get past it, we'll be losing well as long as we're following our diet restrictions properly.

I just had my 1st tele-appointment with my surgeon and the dietician. I have been reading and talking to people the last few years about bariatric surgery. Friends with different surgeries, different goals and different outcomes. They have told me the good, bad and the real uglies too. They all seem to have had it slow movement the first couple months then within 10-12 months from surgery date they have lost right about 100 pounds. I know that there are recommendations for how much and of what needs to be consumed before and after…. It is very important to follow those as close as possible. Your body will not react how it should if you don’t nourish it enough . My Grandma always said your body is like a furnace; it has to have fuel or food to burn to work. So if you don’t put wood in your furnace then it won’t heat up to burn. (I think I may have not remembered it exactly right) but you can get the idea. Lol
I am looking forward to the long term weight loss & will keep what you are going through in mind. Please do keep updating your status; I can’t wait to see how it goes once your body has healed and out of the “what the hell just happened” stage. That is all it is doing right now.

I found out that not onlY have I not lost weight, but I’ve put on 2lbs. I know it all takes time,

but even after doing all the right things and sticking to the plan, my body is resistant to it.

Thank you for all your help but I am beginning to regret this surgery.

Maybe it doesn’t work for all bodies. I’ll let my surgeon know when I have my 6 week checkup and ask how long it’ll take to stretch my stomach back to normal. There’s no point in me

eating minimal amounts anymore if I can’t even lose the weight - I may as well go back to how I was eating before and actually enjoy food again.

Edited March 6, 20233 yr by MaameWata

4 hours ago, MaameWata said:

Maybe it doesn’t work for all bodies. I’ll let my surgeon know when I have my 6 week checkup and ask how long it’ll take to stretch my stomach back to normal. There’s no point in me

eating minimal amounts anymore if I can’t even lose the weight - I may as well go back to how I was eating before and actually enjoy food again.

Edited 4 hours ago by MaameWata

Whoa there, The process works. You should be in such a calorie deficit that its impossible to think you can fail. Can you post your foods and drinks for yesterday [or any day] as an example.

Which company did you use for your surgery? Were you self pay? I used Spire and my team are really great. I have a mobile number for the dietician and could ring anytime I needed. They really helped me in the early days. You need to talk to a team member today if possible. Dont give up yet,

2 hours ago, summerseeker said:

Whoa there, The process works. You should be in such a calorie deficit that its impossible to think you can fail. Can you post your foods and drinks for yesterday [or any day] as an example.

Which company did you use for your surgery? Were you self pay? I used Spire and my team are really great. I have a mobile number for the dietician and could ring anytime I needed. They really helped me in the early days. You need to talk to a team member today if possible. Dont give up yet,

I used Spire too. I was at Spire St Anthony’s in Cheam and it was self pay.

yeaterday I had:

a protein yogurt (25g)

Two tablespoons of a spinach and fish stew my mum made me for lunch, Babybel Light cheese x2 for a snack, another two table spoons of the stew for dinner

x1 25g protein drink

1.5ish litres of water.

5 hours ago, MaameWata said:

I used Spire too. I was at Spire St Anthony’s in Cheam and it was self pay.

yeaterday I had:

a Protein yogurt (25g)

Two tablespoons of a spinach and fish stew my mum made me for lunch, Babybel Light cheese x2 for a snack, another two table spoons of the stew for dinner

x1 25g Protein Drink

1.5ish litres of Water.

You are eating all the right things, in fact you are doing amazing. You will drop eventually and I don't know why you haven't so far. You have paid for your teams expertise, make them work, tell them of your issues and get their input. We paid for 2 years aftercare so it would be crazy to give up before you have used it. Nag them please and find out what is going on

How are you doing now ? Are you feeling better about how you are doing ?

On 3/11/2023 at 6:10 PM, BriarRose said:

How are you doing now ? Are you feeling better about how you are doing ?

Hey!

I've put on 2lbs this week, but I'm putting it down to the stress of moving house (I'm currently in the packing/clearing out stages) and not making room for exercise. I'm also officially back onto solid, normal foods so I'm assuming there will probably be some weight gain there too.

Have you seen your surgical team and maybe had some labs drawn ? It might be helpful.