Trying to lose that last 50.

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NoL2003
NoL2003 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Almost 2 years ago I had weight loss surgery. It's been a rough journey, but the best decision I've ever made! I've lost 90lbs so far, but I stopped losing weight from surgery about 6 months ago and have been maintaining my weight roughly 50lbs away from my goal weight. My husband has been deployed these past few months, and I decided to use this time to really kick my remaining weight loss into gear. I've been actively working out since Christmas, I've dropped the junk food, seriously lowered my carbs, and have been strictly following MFPs goals calculated for me. I've since lost 4lbs, but I'm a little disappointed. I would like to lose 20 before my husband returns home in May, and my goal was to lose 2lbs per week, not 1. So I'm a little frustrated. I feel like I'm doing EVERYTHING I'm supposed to.

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  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,131 Member
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    Four pounds since Christmas is good! Congrats!

    Be patient and eat well-rounded nutrition. Two pounds a week loss is pretty restrictive...just make sure your logging of food is as accurate as possible and stay the course.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,217 Member
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    A couple of things come to mind:
    - Are you eating back 100% of your exercise calories? If so how you're estimating or measuring that calorie burn may be overkill and short-changing your deficit. Maybe try eating only half and see if that makes a difference.
    - Are you using a food scale? Measuring servings on a volume basis or going strictly by food labels can incur some error as well.
    - I'm not well-versed in any differing mechanics for weight loss after surgery. There is a group on the forums that would likely be able to speak to any situational differences. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/23093-weight-loss-surgery-support-group
    - Based on common advice, you may not have enough weight to lose to sustain a loss rate of 2lb/week. Per this list I pulled from a different thread 1.5lb/week might be more realistic and loss will slow as you get closer to ideal weight for your height/age/sex. Good to keep in mind to set your expectations accordingly. 1lb/week may not be as quickly as you want, but sustaining that loss is better than nothing.

    Suggested Rates:
    75+ lbs - lose 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs - lose 1.5 lbs/week
    25-40 lbs - lose 1 lb/week
    15-25 lbs - lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week
    less than 15 lbs - lose 0.5 lb/week
  • wifey826
    wifey826 Posts: 26 Member
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    First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on losing 90 pounds!! That is my overall goal and I'm about half way there.

    Hmmm. I'm not a medical expert here, so of course I'm going to ask if you have consulted with your bariatric doctor about your concerns? I want to ask first if you're close to an ideal weight for your height.. because you may be getting to the point where losing more than 30 or 40 could be unhealthy. Also, if you have any loose skin, that adds weight too, and unless it's removed will always be "extra" that you won't be able to take off (or will be very hard to).

    I started a medically supervised weight loss program, and gave me a caloric range that was surprisingly higher than what MFP had established. I would also consider you to take a look at your protein intake. I try to maintain around 120-130g of protein a day and believe me, that's harder than it sounds! I usually have to resort to protein shakes and bars to meet that, because let's face it...who doesn't love carbs?! Before, I would meet my caloric goal, but my macros were no where near in range. :( SO, I had to up my protein and lower my carb to meet my macros (which I have found the most success when I pay more attention to those than the calories!)

    As for exercise- pfft! I have done the bare minimum, believe me. Brisk walking at least 2 miles (and not at one time) a day has been the norm for me and even though I could have seen faster results had I exercised more, I didn't want to go so overboard that I couldn't maintain the loss, should I suffer injury or my circumstances changed that I couldn't exercise regularly.

    Good luck, sweet heart. I told you about my program because in the 7 months I've been on, I've only lost 30 pounds. I definitely can tell you that slow and steady wins the race. I know you're probably used to the rapid loss that surgery brought, but the rest will be molecularly slow in comparison. Try not to get discouraged, love. Sorry this was so long! I truly hope the best for you, and wish you well in your journey!
  • NoL2003
    NoL2003 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thank you both! I am not currently eating back 100% of my exercise calories, but the info about losing 1.5lbs per week does make a lot of sense! Thank you Steve for the information!

    And thank you for the encouragement! I am currently sitting at 191lbs and I am 5'4" so I am definitely not near my 'ideal weight' for my height. My doctor wants me me to be around 130 and I would be happy being 150, but have a goal of a middle ground 140-145 lol. I might need to up my protein like you suggested, and should probably start supplementing. I will try adding that to my diet. Thank you for the support <3

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