Really Frustrated

Hi, Kate. As of now, I have never had RNY surgery, but I know several people who have, and some experienced just what you are going through. You've just had weight loss surgery. You WILL lose weight. Even now with the numbers up on the scale, you ARE losing weight. Besides all the yucky things you were pumped up with still floating around in your system along with the gas and your body fighting to adjust, it is no surprise that the scale is showing such numbers. Hang in there and focus on your post op care and diet rather than worrying too much about the numbers on the scale. You will be just fine. The numbers will drop as your body starts to recover from the trauma and shock of having undergone surgery. 

All the best,

KattattaK

Thanks for your kind words, I really need it today.

This is super super common. Lots of people don't lose weight in the first few weeks. Do a search of this board and you can find a zillion posts of new post-ops panicking because they aren't losing weight. It's unbelievably frustrating, but it does NOT mean you're doing anything wrong or it's not working. The scale might not be going down, but you ARE losing weight. The surgery, the fluids, the anesthesia, how much you're resting, it all makes your body press the "pause" button on weight loss. As you heal and return to normal activities, it will start coming off. All you have to do is keep following your surgeon's plan and it WILL start to come off. 

Water weight is also a funny thing. I'm 7 months out and sometimes my weight will remain almost exactly the same for a week or two weeks, then one morning I will wake up and I will be down 6 pounds, literally overnight. It's like I'd been losing weight that whole time but my body had been picking up water weight as "ballast" to balance it out, then dumping the extra water all at once. So, I've learned not to panic, and look for results over time. I just know that I am losing weight no matter what the scale says because I'm following my eating plan and exercising so I can shrug at the scale when it doesn't move. 

This is really reassuring. On the flipside, there's a lot of people who DON'T have these problems and WebMD certainly tried to scare me that I was doing something wrong. 

Thanks a lot. :) 

I have the same stair-step progress... I'm 9 months out and I'll be the same for 7-10 days (or even up a pound) and then suddenly the next morning I'm down 3 pounds or more!  Pretty amazing to see at those times, but annoying the rest of the time.

hello somestorm, lol i was reading down through everyone's reply's and i saw your name and i saw your surgeons name...lol we had the same surgeon, this is the first time i have been reading peoples posts and came along someone with same surgeon as me, lol i thought was really neat since i havent seen many people post on here from the fairfax area. although i have searched and found some people from blue point surgical group on here....let me know if you would care to chat...love to chat with people who are local and experiencing the same as me....hope to hear from ya....-----Andy-----

Not to be indelicate, but how are your bowel movements? I was prone to constipation before RNY, and still have issues after. That can easily add on the pounds. I also stall pretty regularly, and then the weight loss picks up again...

You'll lose weight.  I promise.  It would be physically and biologically impossible not to.

Stay off the scale for a few weeks and stick to your program.  I promise you will not be the only person ever to not lose after RNY.

Hi Kate, I had surgery 6/30 of this year and still feel antsy about weight lloss. Today I made up a little chart showing what my weight was a year ago, when I first began dieting in anticipation of surgery, listing each weight along with the date it was taken. It reminded me that I often stall and that my losses are small and gradual, so gradual that I don't notice it. And yeah, I gain weight too. I think that a lot of that is salt in my diet. I've also begun exercising, so it might also be that my muscles are building up and they weigh more than standard body tissue. Just remember, you're better off now than you were before the surgery. Just track all your weights so you can see it, no matter how gradual. I'm 65 pounds lighter than I was a year ago and only had surgery 2 months ago.

Hi Kate,I was up 10 pounds with waterweight when I came home from surgery, and it took more than 2 weeks to lose it. Now that I am over nine weeks out, I have lost a total of 16 lbs since the day of surgery. It didn't really start to come off until the 5th and 6th week, which was SO frustrating, but now that weight loss has started, I'm regularly losing 2-3 lbs/wk. That rate is still pretty slow, in my opinion, but as a fellow lightweight, I understand that the loss will be a bit slower. Good luck, and don't lose hope - it will happen eventually!

*Edited to correct weight loss and add signature.