I realize everyone is different and undoubtedly this question has been asked before, but....

What has been your average weight loss per week (or per month) following RNY surgery?

 I had my RNY last Tuesday and feel great.  I've had a super fast recovery and already back to school full time 5 days post op. 

The dietary restrictions for many weeks post op are quite strict, at least with my surgeon, so weight is already starting to drop.  I just would like to know the AVERAGE loss per week let's say for the 52 weeks post op.

Thanks in advance to all who answer!

Samantha

My surgeon said three to five pounds a week in the beginning, then after a few months it slows down.  But many people seem to lose a bit more than that the first month or so.  I've seen other people say the average was 20 pounds the first month, ten pounds the next couple months, then five pounds a month.  I don't recall how fast I lost in the beginning but I know after about six months I lost about two pounds a week with a couple stalls until about a year out, then it slowed down a bit more.

Glad to hear you're feeling so good.  Back to school already is great.

Kelly

I started out as a "lightweight" with a BMI of 38.4 and several comorbidities.  But here is a chart of my monthly losses:

DATE	WEIGHT	DATE	WEIGHT	CHANGE	TOTAL          Loss
8/3/2009	238	12/10/2009	233	-5	-5	(PRE OP LOSS)
12/10/2009	233	1/11/2010	212	-21	-26
1/11/2010	212	2/10/2010	204	-8	-34	(3 WK. STALL)
2/10/2010	204	3/10/2010	194	-10	-44
3/10/2010	194	4/10/2010	180	-14	-58	(OVERWEIGHT BMI 3/27)
4/10/2010	180	5/10/2010	173	-7	-65
5/10/2010	173	6/10/2010	164	-9	-74
6/10/2010	164	7/10/2010	157	-7	-81
7/10/2010	157	8/10/2010	151	-6	-87	(NORMAL BMI 7/27)
8/10/2010	151	9/10/2010	145	-6	-93	(HIT GOAL 8/26/10)

I'm now 3 pounds below goal and working to add back enough calories to maintain the loss.

Obviously situational. The more you have to lose the faster it will come off. I have heard it said that loss could be 1-2 lbs a day the first week or so. Then the loss rate drops down. seems to correspond with the change of diet at two weeks. At some level it's simple mathmatics. Body Needs-Food In = loss.

In my case the weight has been dropping 1-2 lbs per day. I was just looking this morning. I had worked hard to lose before surgery and lost about 55 lbs over 5 months. Since surgery 2 weeks ago i have dropped another 27 lbs. So clearly "rapid" would be a good word for it. People vary and loss varies between sexes as well. So it can be different for everyone.

I have done well in the past charting my losses based on diet. I use the thumbrule of 12 calories per pound to maintain my current weight minus my calorie intake. Divide the result by 3500 for the expected loss.

358x12= 4296 calories to maintain
600 alories from my current diet
4295-600= 3695 deficit
3695/3500= 1.1 lbs

So I would expect to lose about this much per day. I would not expect that the scale would show this daily, more likely that over a week I would see fluctuations up and down. With a settling out at some point. Please note that I used a general metabolic rate of 12 and I do not account for the walking I am doing or the nutritional malabsorption which should all cause more loss.

lol sorry for the long post. Hope this helps.

I lost like 25 my first month and still about 5 lbs a week right now.

Here's a link to the post-op weight loss planner:

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/post+op +planner.php

Because everyone's starting weight is so different, you really can't compare lb to lb.  If you must compare your wieght loss to someone elses, try to look at % of excess weight lost.  Here's mine:

Starting weight:  234
Surgery weight   219
Current weight  152.5
Goal weight  140

So, my excess weight from date of surgery was 79lbs.  I have lost 66.5.  That looks like a really low number for 6 months post wls BUT... it's 84% of my excess weight. 

 Here are my stats....sorry they're not on an exact 30 day scale. I'm forgetful when it comes to this stuff:

DATE                 WEIGHT              DIFFERENCE               TOTAL LOST
11/2/09             380                       Surgery day
11/16                 353                       -27                                    -27
12/24                 322.8                   -30.2                                 -57.2      
1/26                   304                       -18.8                                -76
2/22                   286                       -18                                   -94
3/31                   265                        -21                                  -115
4/26                   255                       -10                                   -125 
5/26                   240                       -15                                   -140
6/24                   226                       -14                                   -154
7/26                   214                       -12                                   -166
8/27                   204                      -10                                    -176
10/01                 194                      -10                                    -186

The weight loss definitely slows down towards the end, but you'll keep losing!

It's hard to produce an average. The moment you do and everyone judges themselves against that number. Oh dear I'm only losing 6 lbs a week but someone else has lost 10 lbs a week.

My NUT told me this:
0-3 months: 1-7 lbs a week.
3-6 months: 1-4 lbs a week
6 months on: 1-2 lbs a week.

It isn't a straight equation, because you have stalls and stops and ups and downs, but I've lost 178 lb in 66 weeks, so it averaged out to 2.7 lb/wk. But that was months of 5+ lb/wk and some weeks staying the same, so... it evens out.

3.46 pounds per week. I'm 14 weeks out.

Samantha --

Have you checked out the post-op weight loss planner on this site? It is really neat. The link is: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/post+op+planner.php

You put in your height, weight, and % of weight that you expect to lose and it will give you a month-by-month estimate of weight loss.

For example, when I entered in my info, height: 5'4", weight: 310, percentage 75% (average is 65), it said I would lose 26 pounds in month 1, 27 pounds in month 2, 13 pounds in month 3, 7 pounds in month 4, etc. It is a nice description of the slope of weight loss and could be a good predictor.

So far, I am two weeks out of surgery and have lost 20 pounds, so we'll have to wait and see if I stick to the chart or exceed it.

Hope this helps!

Thank you all for the weight loss information.  You guys are terrific! 

I had my RNY last Tuesday (09-28-10) and have lost a couple of pounds.  I really believe most of this is fluid because I became really bloated in the hospital. 

I'm adhearing to the post surgical RNY diet, which in my case is liquids.  Liquid in and liquid out - if you know what I mean.  I wish I could have something more substantial that would stay in the pouch a little longer.

I feel hungry all the damn time!  ARRRGGGGG!  My surgeon doesn't allow anything but liquids (not counting jello) for about a month post op.

Thanks again everyone!

The chart is kind of depressing. It says that I should have lost a whole lot more than what I have. I am just happy that I am losing. I have never lost this much weight per month!

Surgery Weight: 319lbs
1 month: 300lbs                    19lbs Lost
2 months: 283lbs                  17lbs Lost
3 months: 266lbs                  17lbs Lost

It has averaged out to around 4lbs per week.

Nothing depressing about losing an average of 4 lbs per week! 

Years ago, when I was a STRICT weigh****cher, the best average I got was about 1.5 lbs a week - and it was very, very, hard to do!

Now that I've had RNY, if I average to lose 4 lbs a week like you have, the weight will seem to drop off at lightning speed!

Best of luck to you!