Normality?

Hi all.  I had RNY on 1/10 and, on the morning of surgery weighed 381 lbs.  This morning, I weighed 307 lbs.  Based on others' experience, am I ahead, behind or at the correct pace of weight loss?  I'm meeting with the surgeon and RD tomorrow, but am curious what you folks think.  Obviously, the weight loss has slowed down, so I'm trying to assess what is and is not "normal."  Thank you.

There is a calculator some where on this site that will brake down what is "Avg" but I can not find it for the life of me.  :( 

I started out at 317 and lost 20 lbs a month for the first couple of months, now at 7 months out I am losing about 8 lbs a month.  So Compared to me (which everyone is different) you are doing GREAT!!!! 

Congratulations on what you have achived so far!!!

It sounds like you are doing great.

I had surgery 12/14/11 starting weight 320.6, surgery weight 297.7, current weight 245.6.

You are loosing much faster than I did.

NEVER compare yourself to anyone.  Each person is different, and defines their personal "normal".

Follow your plan, exercise and the rest will happen.  Most importantly, enjoy the journey and work on defining the rest of your life.  Once the weight loss is over, you'll need other goals to work toward...what will they be?  THAT is a fun thing to plan!

Kim

I appreciate what you're saying, but some of this is simply science.  The act of comparing myself is empirical in nature, as this is a wonderful place to talk to real people about their real experiences.  I don't think you'd disagree that if 200 people said my weight loss was behind what they'd consider normal, there would be some merit to that.  It helps me to compare and, just as you point out, this is a very individual process.  So, I'll continue to compare but again appreciate your input.  

 Keep in mind that men lose MUCH more quickly than women because of their extra muscle mass and most of the people who have WLS are women (which is also reflected in the membership here), so most of the feedback you will get here is going to be based on women's experiences which really are not comparable.

Lora

 I would completely disagree.

There is so much more that goes into how much you lose and how quickly you lose.

Men lose faster than women.
Larger people typically lose faster than lightweights.
Some people will lose slower but lose consitently
Some people will lose quickly with lots of plateaus and stalls.
Some people are less active and lose faster
Some people are more active and lose slower (I know sounds messed up right)

The point is  you body will lose at the rate it loses at which is different that other peoples.  By trying to compare yourself against others you will not get a true representaion of your progress.  By allowing your loss to be compared to others you will not get a true picture of your progress.

Doctors and medical personel that compare a presons loss against some average do a disservice to their patients as people who believe they are slow losers may go to extremes to try and get closer to the average.  This may be reducing calories to an even more healthy point or maintiaing high caloric deficits for extended periods of time.

Averages and Medians only work when dealing with a population as a whole and lose relevance when compared on an individual basis.

Add to this that as your body approaches IT'S ideal weight, which may be different than yours your loss will slow dramatically.  As a male you need to pay attention to things like Body fat % and lean muscle mass as these will typically play more of a role in your loss that pure calories in versus calories out.

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

Early on, I visited the "planner" regularly.  It's a nice tool to gauge your progress.

  Thanks for finding this! I appreciate the help!

Note that this does not distinguish between men and women, which is significant.  It does, however, reflect the slower weight loss as the malabsorption fades and the caloric deficit lessens as you lose weight.

Lora