I keep reading here and on other lap band boards about people concerned with their plateaus and comparison weight losses. In fact in many cases, I have been the poster!

Well, I had a reality check recently which may help put this in perspective. The common thought is that as a bandster, generally speaking, we lose an average of 1.5-2 lbs a week. Well, I have hit MANY pleateaus lasting from 1 to a few months. I, (like many others) get frustrated and impatient with these. I never think at those times about the weeks where I actually lost 3-5 lbs, in a WEEK! So, not having a brain for ANY kind of math, I asked my husband to take the entire amount of weight I have lost and tell me on average how much per week I was actually losing. He figured out that I averaged 3 1/2 lbs of weight loss PER WEEK! I may not have seen it on a weekly, or even monthly basis. But I was ABOVE average. Right now, I am losing around 2 lbs a week, even though the scale hasn't moved more than 1 lb in a month. So, if you think that your weight loss has stalled out, do the math. Or, as in my case, have someone else do the math for you. Average your complete weight loss from the time of your surgery. You may get a very pleasant surprise. I did.

-Paula-

233/156/130

Thanks, Paula! That's very encouraging news. P.S. You really are doing great!

.844 lbs per week for me.....not doing to good! But, with my new fill today, I will lose 15 lbs by June for sure!! Ok Hopefully:-)

Great idea! 2.61 for me! And I have been on a plateau for a while now!

Paula,

Thanks for the insight now give up that calculation so I can check my weight loss when I get banded.

I'm all about averages - I will keep that in mind when I get to join you all on the losing side.

I am not too sure on the calculation...because as I said, math is NOT my fortay. I hope someone else on here can give a simple way to do it because I keep having to ask my husband or sons. LOL..I feel like such a MATH LOSER...lol

I am a math GEEK, so here goes: Subtract your current weight from your pre-surgical weight to get your weight loss. (Yes, it seems obvious, but you never know.) Now get out a calendar that shows 2005 and 2004. Your checkbook register may have one. Find your band date on the calendar and count the weeks. If you were banded before 2004, start from the same month and day in 2004 and add 52 weeks for every extra year.

Example: If you were banded on Thursday, August 26, 2004 (ahem), count the Thursdays: Sept. 2 is 1week, etc. That's 29 weeks as of 3/17/05, I think.

OK, now all you have to do is divide your weight loss pounds by the number of weeks since your band was installed, and you have your average weekly loss. For me it's 55.5 lbs/29 weeks or about 1.9 lbs/week.

By the way - for those of you who have hit a plateu with weight loss - you need to start measuring your chest,waist,hips,thighs,calves and arms. There will be times when your body echanges fat for muscle, in fact you might even gain weight (muscle weighs more than fat). You might be pleasantly suprised to see that inches are coming off even though your weight is staying still.

My average is 2.45 pounds. I guess that is not too bad considering I stayed the same for three weeks (and that was after my first fill - very frustrating).

This is a great reminder!! Plateaus are nothing to get upset about because there are those weeks and months with more-dramatic weight loss to balance it all out.

The math may be easier if you do it by months. For example, I've been banded 18 months. I've now lost (since the day of survery), just about 90 lbs. 90 divided by 18 is 5, meaning an average loss of 5 lbs a month--that's more than a pound a week, which is right on target.

I just asked my husband the "magic" formula he uses...lol. He is an engineer, so he is good at this math stuff. Anyway, he takes the total amount of weight you lost and divides it by the amount of weeks since your surgery. So, in my case... I have lost 77 lbs. There is an average of 4.33 weeks per month. Since I was banded 10 months ago, this comes out to be 43.3 (4.33 x 10). Then I divide 77 by 43.3. For me this rounds out to be approx. 2 lbs. a week.

Paula,

You go Girl!! I believe in Averages also...getting banded on Friday 3/18, can't wait...

Another thing to think ask yourself, Are you losing more weight now then you did before the band? That helps me out a lot! Even if it is just .844 pounds a week Atleast you know it's coming off.

I need help I just recently had my surgery in Feburary 2005 and recieved my first fill 2weeks ago. I think I made the mistake of telling people that I was having this surgery done because every time I talk to someone they ask " How's the weight loss going?" It has only been a few months, It's too much pressure I wish they would ask 6 months from now instead of every week. Did you experience any thing like this?

1.49 lbs per week for me. Hopefully since I just got a fill last week I will pick up the pace a little.