weight loss post op

Getting a little concerned today is one week since surgery, pre surgery I lost 39 pounds in less then 3 months.

Day of admission and when i came home I "gained 4 pounds", 2 days later down to admit weight.
today is one week since surgery and down 4 pounds total. What is the average give or take loss the first week post op?

Thanks
Nance

Try and stay off the scale for awhile.  The weight will come off, I guarantee it.  Maria

I gained 3 lbs too in hospital. It is pretty normal I hear. Try not to obsess over the scale number. I don't think there is an average, since we are all unique. Just focus on how your clothes fit. That will tell the best story. I've been stalled for 2 weeks, and notice my clothes getting looser. I don't fret over what the scale says. As long as the inches go, I am happy.

Stay off the scale is the BEST possible advice.  The "gaining" of 4 lbs is expected, there is swelling etc.  It is going to start flying off, trust me...

Just had my surgery on Monday of this week. My surgeon told me that he would not be surprised if I've lost 20-30 pounds one week out. He said most patients lose 10% of their excess body weight in the first week after surgery. This is a GENERALIZATION though and not true for everyone. He was very clear on that point.

 Step away from the scale!
Pick a day to weigh yourself each week -- same time, same day -- then kick the scale under the bed in between.

If i may, i would like to suggest you do something for yourself.  It really helped me keep positive during those doubting moments when it felt like the scale was just not gonna budge.  (and i am going through that right now!!  ugh!)  Doing this helps you focus on how far you have come, it keeps you motivated and it really does help with positive thinking. 

Okay...here it is.  Write down all your little victories in a notebook or journal.  Just a few sentences.  Some of mine were:  I tied my own shoe today!  I crossed my legs for the first time in years!  I wiped my own butt without giving myself a horrid back cramp!  (okay maybe that was TMI....but still!!)  I used a seatbelt without an extender!  A regular sized bath towel fit around me today!  I just reached the size i was in when i was in 7th grade! I made it around the ENTIRE block without stopping!  I went up three flights of stairs to get to tha****er slide 6 times! whatever does it for you! 

You get the idea.  Write about the funny, the serious, the insane, and the embarassing. (come on!  that one about the butt was actually true for me!  let it fly!)  Anything that makes you smile.  I remember one person at support group who turned red as a beet and laughed about this one.  Later she confided in me that she had written in her journal that night about being able to get into a certain .....encounter with her husband for the first time since she had gotten pregnant with their first!  LMAO.  bless her heart.  I was glad to hear how she and her husband were falling in love all over again.  how exciting!  anyways...i digress...

Redifine what success means.  It isnt the number on that damn scale.  It is a combination of things.  Its knowing you are doing everything in your power to become healthier and happier.  its the way the clothes fit.  its the way you feel when you move.  Its getting up in the morning without being in pain from the extra weight.  its walking that last block when you dont know if you can make it..and then you do!  its what YOU define it as!  Part of it for me was the way in which my weight loss connected me with my kids.  Before, i could only sit while they played.  Now i can play with them.  That is success to me.  I am SO FREAKING grateful for that.  I could cry. 

Most of us have lived with shame and guilt and embarassment so long that we get conditioned to accept that....and even to fail.  Not all of us.  But a lot of us.  It was true for me.  I had to LEARN to recognize my successes.  I STILL have to redefine the way i view success.  i had to let go of negative crap that sabotaged me!  It did!  With the freedom from all that negative stuff comes the responsibility to yourself.  You have to care for you now.  You have to feed and water and nourish yourself.  (that includes them feelings we all just love sometimes)  Give yourself a break when you make mistakes.  They will happen even when you didnt see them coming.  Don't fall into the trap of that old thinking...well i screwed up.  i will never make it.  i might as well keep going.  No! be so grateful for this new found freedom that the responsibility becomes a gift and not a burden.  Just a simple change in perception can make all the difference.   I would find myself saying, i ONLY lost 10 pounds.  OMG!  only??  what the heck!!  i would have been throwing a party if i had done that in a month on another diet plan!  you didnt ONLY loose 4 pounds.  YOU LOST 4 POUNDS!!!  WOOOOT!!  change the script girl!  you are a success.  Welcome to your new life!   

 

Jodi

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WONDERFUL WORDS OF WISDOM AND I HOPE I CAN LIVE UP TO THE AWESOME EXAMPLE THAT YOU HAVE SET

I lost like 30 pounds before surgery amd came home 4 pounds heavier. Fluids they pump u up with. Anyway, I'm not gonna tell u to stay off the scale. Noone ever does. LOL I didn't. I got on it every friggin day. I just didn't have a melt down if I wasn't losing 2 pounds a day.

My "official" weigh-in days were Friday mornings. I lost about 3-4 pounds a week consistenly. With an ocassional 5. But I wa****ting cardio like crazy. I went from 275 in May of 2010 to my all time low of 163 by Nov of that same year. Yes, 112 pounds in about 6 months. I bottomed out. Then I started weight training and added about 30 pounds. Not all muscle I'm sure, but still maintaining a 32 waist and I can see my abs.