Weight loss numbers? Am I a slow loser?

I must add you are a lovely woman.........just keep up the good work, ok.  -Holly

Hello... I had surgery 4/13... Weighed 281 - I weigh 230 currently. So maybe we are both slow losers. Cuz I am getting impatient. :0)
How often do you workout? I workout 4-5 days a week. 30-40 min on elliptical and occasionally walk/jog. And I'm getting frustrated!
Jamie

I had surgery a week before you. I've lost 55lbs and I started at nearly 100lbs ahead of you. I don't consider myself a slow loser and therefore, neither are you!

 Average weight loss after RNY is 100 pounds in one year

Month 1  -  lose 20 pounds

Months 2 –  6 - lose 10 pounds per month

Months 6 – 12 - lose 5 pounds per month

I don't mean this to sound rude, but I don't know how else to say this and I have seen SO many of these damn posts this week... and they make me crazy.

Posts/questions like this are POINTLESS.

First of all, how fast one loses is QUITE dependent on what weight you started at. Someone replied that the typical loss is 100 pounds in a year. Well, that might be true for people who have maybe 120 pounds to lose, but it is WAY off for people who have 200 or more pounds to lose. For those people, typical is 100+ pounds in 6 months. So without knowing who started at what weight, the answer is meaningless. I lost 100 pounds (of the 185 I needed to lose) in exactly 6 months, so should I come here and tell you that, yes, you are losing WAY too slowly?!? Of course not.

Second, even if you ARE a slow loser, what would having that "confirmed" accomplish? What would it change? Either you are following the "rules" or you are not. If you are, there is nothing more that you can or should do. If you are not, then you need to get back on track and maybe the rate of loss will change. (Maybe it will not.)

Third, comparing yourself to other people here is TOXIC to your mental health. No matter what the comparison is -- how fast someone is losing, how much weight someone lost, what size clothing someone wears, what BMI someone has, what body fat % someone has.... you will ALWAYS find someone doing "better" and someone "worse" than you. SO... what does that tell you? Nothing... and chances are that you are, to some extent, going to feel negative about yourself when you compare yourself to the ones who are "better". This is not a race, and there are no prizes for reaching goal first.

I understand that people have a need to know what's "normal", but the obsession with comparison here (and obsession with "the numbers" in general) is unhealthy...

Lora

I agree with you Lora,  I used to beat myself up after reading that someone lost more than me and had surgery the same week.  My DH told me to stop looking at others numbers.  I am greatful for every stinking pound that I have lost.  I know that I have a few more to loose and they will come off...

Lori

Thank you for your opinion... I read this forum daily and find your input extremely valuable... I do not post often because most times I will find the answers I was searching for here... However I also feel that if I am having a "down" day and want to post a question regardless of how many times its been ask that I should be allowed to without driving someone crazy... I apologize that my post was pointless to you but then again you could have just ignored it... With that being said I ABSOLUTELY agree with everything you said... especially  " obsession with comparison here (and obsession with "the numbers" in general) is unhealthy"... I can totally see the truth in that statement... I certainly hope that when I am as far out as you that I too can help (pointblank)  the newbies with their questions and concerns... Your weightloss journey has been and continues to be an inspiration to me and many others... Thanks :)

Debbie

Debbie, please don't misunderstand... I was in no way telling you that you (or anyone else) should not post (about anything)... the posts that truly do annoy me (the one hundred and twenty posts per month about "how come I'm only 3 weeks out and have stopped losing weight" posts) I do NOT open (and have not for quite a while now).  I was just trying to get people to understand how pointless asking the question is (in your own head) at its core.

Lora

The average weight loss for RNY is 3-5 pounds/week.  you are like 12 weeks out which is 4.16 pounds/week. So you are on the high end of weight loss.  Its not going to all come off in a day!!

Comparing is dangerous.. been there... still go there sometimes....I completely agree with the mention of it being toxic to a person's mental health - if they are vulnerable.

My message is: Don't forget to look at inches.  When we loose inches, we are loosing fat and building muscle.  The scale doesn't measure this loss. 
Waist size/pant size is a very motivating outcome measure.