Hello everybody

[lili]

My name is Lili. I'm 41, and am a university instructor in PA.
I had my gastric bypass surgery about 3 weeks ago. I think I'm doing very fine.
Since I started my liquid diet two weeks before the surgery, I've lost about 35 pounds so far. Sometimes I feel my weight loss is going slow. Is this normal, I mean the feeling? or am just being so anxious?
Another thing that's irritating me is the different scale readings I get on different scales: at home, at my doctor's, at my PCP's and so on. Any advice to get over this stupid problem?
Today I decided to think positively and join this forum and a couple Facebook pages for moral support.

 

[Karenina]

Hi Lili, I think people lose at different rates. I think you need to slow down, take a deep breath, keep doing what you are doing, and it will all work out. Congratulate yourself on 35 pounds gone, and gone forever!
I too, have been bothered by different weights on different scales. I have a digital and a regular scale at home that are so inaccurate, I might as well use them for door stops! I decided to use my surgeon's office scale as the official scale and the scale at the gym I go to as secondary scale. The scale at the gym is consistently 4 pounds heavier than the surgeon's scale, but I feel like they are both accurate.
By not being able to weigh myself at home, daily weighing is not possible. I know it's hard, but weighing yourself every day will lead to more anxiety. there are just too many variables.
Good luck to you on your journey. This is a great forum and you should find a lot of moral support.

 

[Pat99]

Lili-Welcome to the forum. A lot if people on this forum think their weight loss is slow, including me. A 35 pound weight loss in 5 weeks is a very good accomplishment. It's coming off faster than it when on, right? Initially, we all lose more weight immediately after surgery. Eventually an average weight loss will be 1 to 1 1/2 pounds a week. Afterall, WLS is not a quick fix, it's a weight loss tool and the rest is up to us accepting the required lifestyle change in order to be successful at reaching our goal. The scale at my PCP's office is 5 pounds lighter than my scale. The scale at the surgeon's office is a little closer to my scale. Since you will probably be weighing yourself at home more often than anywhere else use that one to calculate the amount of weight loss per week then do the math to figure out what your actual weight based on the surgeon's scale because it's probably the most accurate one.

Please make sure you come back to the forum to let us know how you are doing. If you attend a live support group let everyone there know about this forum so they can join our "family"

 

[lili]

Karenina & Pat,
Thank you so much for your replies and support. I think joining this forum is a good decision to get the support I need after my surgery.

After reading your comments, and browsing through other threads, I became positive again. Yes, 35 pounds in 5 weeks is quite good.

I weigh myself at home about twice a week. The digital scale I have is terribly inaccurate, and the analogue one is a few pounds less than my surgeon's. So, I'll just use one of them to do the math as you suggested,Pat.

Karenina, when did you start going to the gym after the surgery? It's 3 weeks now and I wanna get started but my husband doesn't think it's a good idea yet.

Am really excited I joined this forum

 

[TwoMas]

Hi Lili, Welcome. I have a digital and anolog scale also, I put my digital scale in my guest bathroom and calibrated my old school scale with my doctors scale, I have a dial on the front side that I can adjust I started going to the gym my first week home, I just got on the treadmill and walked every day and when my doctor said it was ok I went to the eliptical then the stair climber and so on.... I just started off slowly and worked my way up. Your husband sounds like he is looking out for your best interest and doesn't want you to over do it so call your doctor or nurse pratctitioner, I had a fitness trainer as part of my surgery but nat all centers do that, and get approval, that should calm his fears. Tom

 

[Karenina]

Lili, I haven't had my surgery yet, so you'll have to ask the dr's office about going to the gym. I started cardio and weight training after I had knee replacement surgery in 2007. I had the other knee done 2 years later. It has really helped with my activity level and general feeling of well being.

 

Hi LILI and congratulations on your 35 pounds weight loss, just think your joints probably feel the difference too, and clothes being too big, oh how I love that feeling, I get to have my surgery in 9 days so anxious, I know how you feel about different scales giving up different nbr, it's aggravating. you'll find a host of people on here whom become like"family to you" for they share everything and help in so many ways, since Jan. I feel like I've been blessed with a second family whom truly understands me and the weight issues and anxiety of what's ahead. you'll find support for whatever issue you're facing.
I have a concern my surgeon's office hasn't required a liquid diet before surgery only 1200 calorie, I've lost I think it's17 lbs so far since he gave me my surgery date but I keep wondering what if I did only protein shakes now til my surgery date would I loose more? I tried finding answers on internet of which way is best, everybody has there won opionion. I know I must do liquids once the surgery so still not sure what to do. called surgeon's office and still haven't gotten a return phone call. now that you are at 3 weeks are you off clear liquids and able to eat soups oatmeal etc?
welcome and I hope you continue to come back and visit with the rest of us.
Have a blessed day
Donna

 

[upnorthmom]

Welcome! I had to laugh a little at your scale issue. It is irritating! I think we are both a little anxious to see the weight come off. I find it better if I only allow my self to be weighed once a week. Then I see more progress. I feel like it is coming off slow considering the extreme process I went through. I had a failed Lap Band that I love and felt like it was much easier then this and I just woke up healthier one morning. I am struggling with results and fatigue at this point. This forum is a great place to compare notes. It is also inspiring to hear of others success and encouragement. Welcome again....as you may notice I am pretty new here also.

 

[lili]

Hi Tom,
I called my surgeon and she gave me the same advice: just walking on treadmill which I love anyway. I'll start this Friday. I'll do it three times a week until I feel ok to do it daily.
I haven't tried any of the other equipment at the gym before. Guess I'll wait until I have the guts to be on any of them.
Scales? Ha! I'm gonna limit using my analog one to once a week and see how much I lost instead of the exact reading. It's been consistent anyway.
I love this forum; a great support group.

 

[lili]

I was on liquid diet for 2 weeks prior to my surgery, and I lost about 15 pounds these 2 weeks. After the surgery, I was on clear liquid diet for almost 10 days. That was tough!
Now am on puree food. Yes, soup, oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese, and pureed beef, fish, or chicken too. Beef didn't work out for me, and the nurse at my surgeon's office told me many that many people don't tolerate beef for a while after the surgery.
Don't worry about the surgery; it will go fine. And yes, I love this community.

 

[lili]

Due to frustration with scales, here's what I decided, and am not sure if am doing the right thing.
I'll use my analog scale once a week to see how much I lost since last time on it. No digital scales any more. And for the accurate weight, I'll have to wait until I go to my surgeon's office in two weeks, take the reading of their digital one there, and take it from there on my analog scale.
I haven't seen the one at the gym yet. But if I find it, I'll see how accurate it is compared to the one at my doctor's office.

Although am positive am hitting 40 pounds if not more now, I often feel frustrated because I still can't feel all that difference in my clothes :-(
Yes, they're becoming loose, but not too loose to make me satisfied! Am I the only anxious one here?

 

[Karenina]

OH NO, there is a lot of anxiety here. What I find interesting about myself is that I'm usually pretty logical and unemotional about making decisions. I'm the one you want to do CPR on you if you have a heart attack on the street. But with this surgery and all the prep, I can obsess for DAYS about something trivial.
For example, my highest weight (in February 2012) was 239 and now I'm weighing at 220. I spent the better part of a week obsessing that my pants are too loose and I need to go down a size. I haven't had surgery yet so for some reason I don't want to go down a size ???? I want to wait until AFTER surgery to go down a size. It just doesn't seem right. How logical is that?

 

[TwoMas]

Congratulations on the weight loss, it's a good thing, it will help you heal quicker and shrink your liver down Don't go out and buy any new cloths quite yet, there will be plent of time for that later. Do you have a date set yet? Tom

 

[Pat99]

Karenina-Join the club All of my pants are so big I can pull the waistband up over my boobs so I have to roll the waistbands over several times in order to wear them and they still sag everywhere else *LOL* I'm having a problem getting myself motivated enough to go to the store and actually try on pants and get some that fit. I hate to shop for clothes and refuse to buy pants unless I can try them on before I buy them. I think I'm waiting to go down another size or 2 before I go shopping and I don't think that's logical. Maybe the pants fairy will stop by one night and drop off a few pairs for both of us *LOL*

 

[Karenina]

Thanks, Tom. No, I don't have a date yet. I will be finished with all my pre-op requirements in mid-October, but this is usually the busiest time for me at work, so I don't know if I can schedule before Christmas. I'd like to, partly because I've met a lot of my out-of-pocket and deductibles for insurance, which starts all over in January. Oh well.

 

[Karenina]

Pat, I don't know about the pants fairy! At one of my support group meetings they talked about setting up a clothes shop where you could pick up things in sizes that are not your final size. I think that's a great idea. Until then I think I'll just get some suspenders!

 

[healthy0ma]

Hi Lili, I just joined today also. I have been seeing my dr since about February or March. He started me eating certain things to try to get a grip on what and why I was not loosing weight. Long story short it seemed that I was not loosing weight when I took in more dairy and wheat. When on a "metabollic boost" diet, I lost 14 # in two weeks. Otherwise, I started my highest at 228# and day of surgery, I was 197#, under the big klunk, i told the doctor. since Sept 4th, I have lost another 11#. I am having issues with getting enough protein in and feeling tired. I am hoping that some of the participants on this support board can help me. Ugh! some days, I am just exasperated.