GB Stalls - 8mos out

[cookiecutter 12]

Hey everyone. Question for those greater than 8mos out. Is there a stall period with Gastric Bypass before your 12-18mos window of opportunity or was weight loss consistent with a slowing down period? I’m 8mos out and the weightloss has slowed down. I’m actually happy at this weight, 70lb loss and 5’11. But wondering if I should expect more weightloss through the 12mos period? My surgeon stated that he expected me to be around 205-220 as a good weight. I’m currently at 222. Any information is appreciated

[catwoman7 10,867]

stalls became more frequent the further out I got. And they tended to last longer, too. Every time I'd hit one, I'd think "well, this must be it...", but then my weight loss would eventually start up again. I kept losing until about the two year mark. It was slow going after the first year, though.

Edited August 11, 2023 by catwoman7

[cookiecutter 12]

On 08/10/2023 at 21:16, catwoman7 said:

stalls became more frequent the further out I got. And they tended to last longer, too. Every time I'd hit one, I'd think "well, this must be it...", but then my weight loss would eventually start up again. I kept losing until about the two year mark. It was slow going after the first year, though.

This is helpful. Thanks for sharing

[maintenanceman 280]

My weight loss dramatically slowed down by month 8, but I did lose a little more. My body was done by month 11, and I was happy with where I landed.

Keep pushing until you reach the 12 mo mark, if you can. I bet you have at least another 5-10 pound loss ahead of you. That said, when your body is done, it's done.

[BigSue 1,320]

First of all, there is no such thing as a "window of opportunity." There is no clock or deadline on weight loss surgery. The surgery is permanent. The surgery itself doesn't cause weight loss -- the surgery is a tool that helps you to eat less so you can lose weight. For most people, yes, the effect of the restriction wears off over time, so the first year or so is often called the "honeymoon period" because that's when it's easiest to lose weight due to low appetite and high restriction. But that doesn't mean that you can't lose any more weight after X months post-surgery. You have to build and maintain good habits during that honeymoon period so you can sustain the weight loss. It is a lifelong journey and if you get back into eating too much, you could regain the weight.

Second, yes, weight loss normally slows down as you approach your maintenance weight. It's easy to lose 10 pounds when you have 100 pounds to lose, but much more difficult to lose the last 10 pounds (when you only have 10 extra pounds). This is partly because having excess weight results in burning more calories -- if you're carrying an extra 100 pounds, it just takes more energy (and thus burns more calories) to do anything. If you maintain a constant calorie intake -- say, 1800 calories per day -- you will lose weight quickly at 300 pounds but more slowly at 250 pounds, and eventually you'll get to an equilibrium (say, 200 pounds) where you are burning the same number of calories as you're eating, so your weight will stabilize. If you want to lose more weight after you reach that equilibrium, you'll either have to lower your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by exercising more.

Finally, my personal opinion is that people should not get hung up on a specific number on the scale. The non-scale measures of success are so much more important. If you are satisfied with your health and appearance at 222 pounds, there is no reason to worry that you are 2 pounds over the range that your surgeon estimated (which is almost certainly based on statistical outcomes, not a personalized assessment of you, specifically).

[learn2cook 492]

I slowed down significantly in the 7th month after surgery. It turns out that I was very Iron anemic. My journey has been to find the sweet spot of eating/exercising just enough but not too much. When I keep my iron levels up I still loose about 1-1/2 lbs per month 2 years out. I’m almost done loosing I think because it doesn’t take much effort to stay where I’m at currently, but I’d have to WORK to get and stay at a lower weight. It’s all about your sweet spot. Keep working your plan, there’s more losses coming, just slower, in fits and starts.

[cookiecutter 12]

On 08/11/2023 at 08:11, losinglosinglosing said:

My weight loss dramatically slowed down by month 8, but I did lose a little more. My body was done by month 11, and I was happy with where I landed.

Keep pushing until you reach the 12 mo mark, if you can. I bet you have at least another 5-10 pound loss ahead of you. That said, when your body is done, it's done.

Thanks - makes sense. This is helpful

[cookiecutter 12]

On 08/12/2023 at 02:35, BigSue said:

First of all, there is no such thing as a "window of opportunity." There is no clock or deadline on weight loss surgery. The surgery is permanent. The surgery itself doesn't cause weight loss -- the surgery is a tool that helps you to eat less so you can lose weight. For most people, yes, the effect of the restriction wears off over time, so the first year or so is often called the "honeymoon period" because that's when it's easiest to lose weight due to low appetite and high restriction. But that doesn't mean that you can't lose any more weight after X months post-surgery. You have to build and maintain good habits during that honeymoon period so you can sustain the weight loss. It is a lifelong journey and if you get back into eating too much, you could regain the weight.

Second, yes, weight loss normally slows down as you approach your maintenance weight. It's easy to lose 10 pounds when you have 100 pounds to lose, but much more difficult to lose the last 10 pounds (when you only have 10 extra pounds). This is partly because having excess weight results in burning more calories -- if you're carrying an extra 100 pounds, it just takes more energy (and thus burns more calories) to do anything. If you maintain a constant calorie intake -- say, 1800 calories per day -- you will lose weight quickly at 300 pounds but more slowly at 250 pounds, and eventually you'll get to an equilibrium (say, 200 pounds) where you are burning the same number of calories as you're eating, so your weight will stabilize. If you want to lose more weight after you reach that equilibrium, you'll either have to lower your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by exercising more.

Finally, my personal opinion is that people should not get hung up on a specific number on the scale. The non-scale measures of success are so much more important. If you are satisfied with your health and appearance at 222 pounds, there is no reason to worry that you are 2 pounds over the range that your surgeon estimated (which is almost certainly based on statistical outcomes, not a personalized assessment of you, specifically).

Thanks for the insight. Agreed.

[cookiecutter 12]

On 08/17/2023 at 14:43, learn2cook said:

I slowed down significantly in the 7th month after surgery. It turns out that I was very Iron anemic. My journey has been to find the sweet spot of eating/exercising just enough but not too much. When I keep my Iron levels up I still loose about 1-1/2 lbs per month 2 years out. I’m almost done loosing I think because it doesn’t take much effort to stay where I’m at currently, but I’d have to WORK to get and stay at a lower weight. It’s all about your sweet spot. Keep working your plan, there’s more losses coming, just slower, in fits and starts.

Interesting - Thanks for sharing on the anemia. During my last checkup they did find that my iron levels were low and added a Vitamin A and Ferritin to the supplements that I am taking. I didn’t realize that this had anything to do with weightloss. I agree, more losses just slower. Thank you

[JustMeTracey 0]

I had my surgery January 18 this year and everything went great up until about the end of March where I just stopped losing. Like anything at all! My heaviest weight was 240 lbs before surgery, 229 lbs day of surgery. My weight at the end of March-beginning of April was 189lbs. Sounds great right?

That was 51 lbs down total, 40 since surgery! The inches that I lost were even more impressive and both my surgeon and dietitian were happy about my progress.
But here we are in September already, I’m almost 8 months post-op and guess what? My weight is 190 lbs average since then! It varies between 185-193 lbs and hasn’t shown any sign of changing.

I’ve had several ‘extra’ appointments with both surgeon and dietitian and have followed ALL recommendations given with no changes. I’m SO frustrated and not sure what else to do.

I mean…this can’t be it, can it? I didn’t have major surgery to just be where I’m at right now. My surgeon has mentioned that if my stall continues I may be a candidate for medical weight loss options like medications etc. and I’ve also had some recent testing to check things out. I’m now waiting on results from an upper GI series where at that time, the doctor doing the testing said he thinks he saw a hiatal hernia but wanted to look at everything slowed down on his other screens to be sure before doing his report. The thing that doesn’t make sense about that is my surgeon repaired a hiatal hernia I had for YEARS when he did my bypass surgery so I am really not sure what could be happening there!

Does anyone have a similar situation and any success knocking your body the heck out of a very long stall?
Please, PLEASE tell me all of your secrets!

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