Need help with perspective...

...need to keep a long-term view.

Just one (1) week and a day post-op.

Following diet guidelines...very few issues...(sounds like Russell Ziske asking John Winger if he thinks Russell is officer material in the movie, "Stripes")...lost 9 lbs in that week...thought I would try on some of my clothes...and they fit - the way they're supposed to - they're not too big   (I was hoping that my jeans would be at least a little baggy)...and so I must admit to a little discouragement.

Facts are: 

- I'm just over a week out

- I'm still learning how to eat and get accustomed to my reconfigured GI tract

- I'm still a long, long way from what the end result will be

I can't imagine that I'm plateauing this early into it, but maybe...I've read enough posts to know that the occasional plateau is a temporary condition, but I could use some encouragement from some veterans who've been where I am now...

Any help?

Weight loss is cumulative. I sure wanted to come home from the hospital with my clothes hanging off my frame, but not such luck. All of the pounds will add up to be an attractive total.

I'm 7 months out today and down 95 pounds. Some folks have lost slower and some faster.

It's easy to get caught up in the scale, but think about some of the things you are looking forward to that you have a hard time with now.

I can now tie my shoes without my face exploding, RUN up the stairs, bend over and touch my toes and still breathe at the same time, buy a piece of clothing from most regular stores without a special trip to the fat lady section, toss my BP pills, sit in an armless chair without my backside hanging over, and I actually have a lap for my cat to sit on.

So, focus on the NSVs. I bet you've already had some, no?

Yes, I have...in fact, just had one this evening.

2 oz of refried beans is not the same as 2 oz of turkey breast...oooh...found that out the hard way, but now I not only know what "full" feels like, I also know what just that much "overfull" feels like...not good but feeling so much better after a walk around the University of Chicago campus...

 Really..in a week you thought your clothes would be too big?? 
Stop focusing on the weight loss. Follow your surgeon's plan and stay off the scale. This is a marathon..not a one week sprint.
Deb T.

OK...sorry for posting.

 Did you honestly think that your clothes would be baggy just a week after surgery?  Even if you have not lost an ounce, you are not far enough out from surgery to be in a stall or at a plateau or anything else!  I think maybe you have some unrealistic expectations of huge amounts of weight just disappearing almost overnight, and  -- although the weight loss is SO much faster than without surgery -- it does not happen overnight.  Depending on how much you have to lose (did not look at any stats you might have posted), it can take well over a year to lose it all!  

You will be MUCH better served if you focus on developing your healthy new eating and exercise habits and NOT focus on the scale or your clothing size.  The weight WILL come off (for the first 6 months, it will come off even if you eat mostly crap because of the small pouch and caloric malabsorption), but in order to KEEP it off, you need to develop those new eating habits.  Yes, you are too early out to really be focused on the food portion, but too many people get caught up in the scale early on and then are so focused on yhe scale that they neglect changing the behaviors and then end up with trouble keeping the weight off down the road.

Lora

Point well-taken...thank you...sorry for posting.

There is no reason to apologize for posting!  You posted because you knew you needed help with some perspective.  Perhaps you did not like the responses (or perhaps the way they were worded), but don't apologize for posting.

Lora

My friend,

It's great that you aren't really having any issues. That's something to celebrate. Second..9 pounds in a week..ROCK ON!

The whole change in clothing size thing. Its a sad thing that in the beginning, it takes a lot of weight to move a clothing size. Because it's not apples to apples. Just because you weigh less at that moment in time, doesn't mean your mass is less. Later in the journey, it will be the opposite. You will have a stall in scale activity but drop inches like crazy... And a couple of clothing sizes.

Focus on your plan. Getting in your fluid and protein and before you know it, the clothes will be dropping off you when you walk.

Thanks, Bettisima!

I will...and am grateful everyday for the lack of dramatic developments post-op...I know it so easily could be otherwise.

Working on developing the new, better eating habits as per ****rogirl's encouragement.