Discouraged - 16 Days Post-Op

Well, I am 16 days post op and have only lost 12.5 lbs (does not include the 11lbs I gained in the hospital and lost right away).   I am getting in 50-60 oz of liquid/day & 50-60g of protein/day and walking about 15 minutes/day.  My calories per day are ranging 400-500.  The nurse at the surgeons office said that my calories are good, but I should increase my exercise, but yet not pu****   I am afraid if I exercise too much, I am going to slow my recovery because I still have a fair amount of soreness if I am up too much; especially if I sit upright too much.  I am just a little discouraged and needed to vent.  Thanks for the support.

Be patient.  It takes time.  Try not to compare what you do to what others say they do on this board.  It is not a competition.  You will fine if you follow your doctors orders.  Adding walking will help and is not going to slow down your weight loss.

Good Luck
Steve

Just make sure you're getting up and walking enough to prevent blood clots.  I did absolutely no exercise until month 7.  You can lose without exercise, but to keep it off you will need to develop good exercise habits.  But don't stress about the exercise right now.  Take it easy on yourself while you're recovering!!

Laura

Take a deep breath and trust the process. 12.5 lbs in 16 days is great!!

 Tone is hard to get online, but I really don't mean this to sound snide or nasty. How much weight did you expect to lose by this point? You're losing over 3/4 pound a day.

Be patient, and maybe stay off the scale.

Caroline

I think your weight loss if fine. However, I agree with the nurse at your surgeon's office -- you need to increase your exercise.

Reading between the lines (and forgive me if I'm wrong), it sounds like you're still spending a lot of time in bed. It's unlikely that gentle exercise like walking will slow your recovery. Laying around in bed WILL slow your recovery and can predispose you to complications that can be life-threatening.

Getting yourself moving again will help work the soreness out of your muscles and increase your stamina and metabolism. It will also help boost your mood. You don't have to start power walking to increase your exercise. Just increase the length of your walks -- add 5 or 10 minutes to your walk each day. If you're walking once a day, try taking a walk in the morning and again in the afternoon. It may be hard at first, but it will get easier quickly, and you will feel SOOO much better!

The more you move the better you are going to feel.  I went back to the gym this week once my Dr. cleared me last Thursday (Post op 3 weeks this past tuesday) and I will tell you, even though I am no where near the level of the gym rats there with me by today I feel 100% better than I did last Friday.  More energy and stamina for sure.  Monday I walked a mile at a slow pace (1.7 mph-2.0 mph.), Tuesday I lifted a few weights (no more than 10 lbs) just as an introduction to weights, Wednesday I walked 1.35 miles at an increasing pace (1.7-2.9 mph) and yesterday I did 3 reps of 10 on 7 machines (stll not going over the 10 lbs limit the Dr. set). 

It is amazing how your body responds to movement!  I can lay on my belly in bed now which I hadn't been able to do until last night (yay!) and I am able to stay awake past 8 pm again.  Your body will tell you what it can handle, but like some humans you gotta nudge them further than they initially tell you they want to go :)  Good Luck!!

Thanks everyone for the support.  I plan to start increasing my exercise & hopefully that will help everything all around.

Hey - you are doing great!

Your average weight loss is running at .78 lbs per day, or about 24 lbs per month.  At that rate, you would lose 288 lbs in a year -- which is 100% of your body weight -- obviously not what you want!  If it went much faster than 25 - 30 lbs per month you would become sick.

If you are like me, you will find that your weight loss will run 20 - 30 lbs per month to start and then it will start to slow down and eventually you will experience stalls and slight regains before you start to lose again.  This is all normal -- your rate of loss looks really good.

In 6 and 1/2 months I have lost 170 lbs.  My weight loss has slowed dramatically and that is a good thing.  I am now working toward a soft landing at 185, which is my goal.  If it takes me another 4 months to lose the last 45 lbs, I'm fine with that.

I know it is hard to be patient after all you have been through, but honestly you are losing at a rapid pace, which is right where you should be now.

Good luck!

You are totally doing fine, don't stress.  at 16 days post op I was still laying on the sofa taking pain meds!  Relax it will come off!!