When did your weight loss stop?
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Autum1031
Posts: 83 Member
I'll be at the 9 month mark on August 16th since my gastric sleeve surgery. For the past 3 weeks, I've lost no weight. I've had stalls before, but this feels different -- like it's gonna be a lot harder to get the scale moving again. I expected the weight loss to slow a lot at this point, but not stop completely.
Curious at what point others reached that maintenance stage.
Curious at what point others reached that maintenance stage.
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How close are you to a normal weight? That, as I understand it, is one of the biggest contributing factors to whether or not you're "done".
I had RNY, but I'd say that my big losses stopped around 6 months post surgery. At that point, I added running to my exercise and lost another 25 or 30 pounds.
I'm 13 months out of surgery now and have lost a total of 137 pounds. According to BMI I am still overweight but my surgeon, considering my activity level, is happy for me to maintain here around 150.
I'm running up to 50 miles a week so balancing intake and output is challenging.
Take a hard, honest look at what you're eating, when you're eating, and consider changing up your exercise routine. Longer "pauses" in losses are normal as you have less excess weight but 9 months is still early days and you still have a lot of opportunity to lose what you want!3 -
My weight loss slowed down around the 8 month mark. I increased my exercise and was able to lose what I thought was my last 30 pounds. In trying to figure out maintenance I lost an additional 15 pounds over the next 3 months. Like the above post said I really had to analyze what I was eating and my exercise routine. I made sure my carbs stayed below 50 grams per day and protein above 65. My total loss is around 108 pounds. You can do this but it does take some hard days when you don't want to exercise any more but giving it 5 more minutes makes the difference.2
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I had RNYGB 20 months ago, I lost steadily and rapidly for 10 months - total loss of 150 pounds. It stopped pretty abruptly, but I was also pretty close to a reasonable maintenance weight. I'm lighter than I ever thought I could get to again, but now that I wanted to lose another 10 pounds - and I've slowly (1/2 pound every month or so) been able to do that - mostly it's mental, I don't want to lose focus and regain any weight. I'm just not ready to call myself in maintenance yet... I've ramped up my fitness activity, resulting in some gain in chest and arms while continuing to reduce waist and hips.4
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makes sense, thanks. I've lost 104 pounds since surgery, so I've had a good run in 8 months. I'm still technically in the "overweight" category, but my BMI is now 26.3 so it's not too much further to "normal." (about 10 pounds). I'm also carrying a lot of loose skin--everywhere!-- which I know is adding to the weight total. My calories and diet are still good, I'm at around 900-1000 calories per day. I could definitely increase my exercise, which is a tough one with my fibromyalgia.
I'll buckle down on the exercise and see if I can lose that last, pesky 10 pounds!1 -
I am only 6 months out and this past month I only lost 4 pounds so I would say I have slowed down. I am extremely unhappy with only 4 pounds lost this month. Since my surgery I have lost 70 pounds. I still have another 80 to lose and am hoping some how the weight loss will pick up again as the 10 to 14 pounds a month was really good and provided me with lots of motivation.1
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I'm almost 9 months and my loss stopped dead at the 7 month mark. At the same time I started a structured weight lifting program and I'm lifting fairly heavy weights 3 days a week. I go to my doc on the 25th and I likely will only show a couple pounds gone, but I'm having my body fat analyzed before I go to determine if it's down from the last time I had it tested. I probably need to stop eating fruit to keep carbs low. I have 50lbs to lose so I'm not nearly done yet!1
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I lost pretty steadily until about my year mark, when things just REALLY slowed down. It became a lot harder to lose after that, but I still measured losses (even if it took literally weeks just to see a pound go). I am about to hit my 18-month mark and I'm holding fairly steady at the moment. I found that in those months where the scale just stopped where it was, the only thing that would break it was when I incorporated running back into the mix.
To get an idea, you can see a progression of my weights in this thread. Just remember, everybody is different. My surgeon literally refused to set a goal weight for me because he said that as long as I kept to the prescribed program faithfully, my body wouldn't lie to me about when it was done. Technically, according to BMI charts, I should lose another 10 pounds or so to be smack dab in the middle of the "healthy weight" range, but I like how I look and feel now (on the upper end of "healthy weight") and consider myself in maintenance.
While the weight loss is a key factor in bringing it about, just keep in mind that better health is really the end goal. As long as you are feeling healthier and continue to follow the plan, you are doing fine. The scale will move again, and in the meantime, grab your tape measure and watch your measurements shrink.2 -
I hit my goal (which was the middle of overweight) nine months after surgery, so my weight loss stopping was mostly intentional as I moved to maintenance. When discussing goals, my surgeon and other program people cautioned us not to necessarily aim for the middle of healthy. One reason is the definition of success of the surgery is much less than 100% of excess weight loss. While many folks here have met or exceeded the journey to the middle of the healthy BMI range, many more would be disappointed if that was their expectation from the surgery. Another point was that for older people (I am 47), slightly higher than healthy is often preferred. A third reason is that WLS folks will have an excess skin issue, which will impact the body composition. Hitting the middle of healthy with excess skin will realistically be under that BMI in terms of lean body mass.
When I got to my goal (BMI 28), I was happy with how I looked and felt, so that is now the center of my target (as I try to get back there!).
One of the biggest pieces of advice I give to people in this process is to be happy with wherever you are in this process. Almost all of us have made really significant strides in losing weight and improving our health. That is to be celebrated regardless of you weight compared to goal. I see too many people who are unhappy with where they are. You can still strive to do better, but recognize the great place you are compared to where you started.
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I'm 12 months post op VSG and I am currently at a normal BMI of 24... I started with a BMI 50. I'm still losing, just more slowly.2
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I am 8 months out and my weight loss has slowed significantly. At 5 months I hit a 1 month plateau and since 7 months I'm grateful for a 1lb loss each week. I do think I have started to eat more treats than usual so I am working on cutting that back which will hopefully help. I'm down 110lbs and am still 70lbs overweight.
My dietician said usually where you are at 1 year is usually your end weight. However a lot of people in my support group who have more pounds to lose they lost for anther 6-12 months.1 -
lizzieloo934 wrote: »
My dietician said usually where you are at 1 year is usually your end weight. However a lot of people in my support group who have more pounds to lose they lost for anther 6-12 months.
It's so interesting to see the differences in programs and information given. My doctor calls the first five months "The Sweet Spot". He says if you are following the program, the weight will just fall off. He says at month five it slows significantly, then drops again at eight, then again at twelve. He calls the "Honeymoon Period" the first 12 - 18 months where if working the program and being diligent the weight should come off relatively easily. He said when *your* Honeymoon Period is over, *you* have to bust butt to get it to come off.
For me, my Sweet Spot was the first NINE months! I got SUPER lucky! I'm now 10 months post-VSG and 125 lbs down from surgery (151 overall), I'm 15lbs from a "healthy" BMI (I know I'm probably there now with all my flabby skin). I'm in a size 12 pant for the first time since I was that age...lol! So, I'm happy. More than happy. If my weight settles soon, I'll be happy.
Best of luck to all of you!
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I've been very lucky to have lost significantly for my 1st 10 months. I'm down 157 lbs with 26 more to go (according to my doctor). I would love to lose 25 besides that, but the loose skin issues are definitely already a problem and probably contribute to me being heavier. I have slowed the last couple of months, but have still averaged 6 to 8 lbs a month. I've went a couple of weeks see-sawing back and forth, but I examined my diet and found I was eating too much of the wrong things, so I'm "back on the wagon" and increasing my exercise. I had the RNY and it was the best decision of my life. It's amazing to be able to do things "normal sized" people take for granted. To buy clothes that are not plus size, to cross your legs, to walk without getting winded, to get down on the floor and play with the grandkids and be able to get back up, just a number of things, but I think the number one thing for me is personal hygiene. I used to dread a trip to the bathroom, or bathing as it was just so difficult. That may be a TMI, but it's just a fact of life that those things are hard when you are 357 lbs. I will never take those things for granted anymore. I love my life and go all the time. My sons have talked about getting me committed because they say I am too much of a free spirit lol. They are just mad because they can't track me down like they use to because I am never at home!2
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By about month 8 I had started slowing down, equalizing, some months were a 2# loss, some were 6-8, I think a few months there were gains. The last 2 months have only been 2# losses. Bear in mind that a lot of it's probably due to a period where I started interjecting old habits.
I just realized that I've lost exactly 100# since surgery date. 188 overall! Might have to push to see if I can hit 200. Total BMI loss from 53 to 24.6.9 -
Im 10 months out from a sleeve and feel like it is slowing but when I check my records, I'm still losing between 4 and 5kg a month. So I dont know if it is actually slowing or its just taking the whole month to lose the weight - if that makes sense. I have just lost a total of 60kgs in the last 10 months - 132lbs. I still want to lose another 10kgs so will look to switch things up a bit...1
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Thanks everyone, this has been super helpful to see everyone's experiences. I only lost 4 pounds in the last month, which was a bit disappointing, but I am still continuing to lose-- and realistically I would be very happy if I stayed right where I was. Yes, I'd sure like to lose those remaining 6 pounds and get into the "healthy" BMI range, but I am not going to focus on that. Instead I'm going to focus on the 108 pounds I've lost since surgery! Which is truly amazing.2
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Just remember BMI is not really meant as a gauge of health for individuals, it's meant to be used as a general tool for populations of people. Even the creator of the BMI scale agreed that it was not an ideal system of individual measurement.3
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Just remember BMI is not really meant as a gauge of health for individuals, it's meant to be used as a general tool for populations of people. Even the creator of the BMI scale agreed that it was not an ideal system of individual measurement.
Yes! BMI is NOT a good measure of health/fitness. And let's all remember weight is only one measurement of your overall health too. That being said, my weight loss stopped around 9 months after surgery too. I'm at a good weight my surgeon recommended and all my other measurements are good. And I'm fitter than I've been in decades. Keep focused on your overall health.
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