The Last 20lbs. Might be in the first 6 Months???

I knew if I begged that Id FINALLY get the secret.


I'm just going to have to stop the exercise for a couple weeks so I'm in poor shape or I might outrun the pitbull right away and that will be a failed exercise.

2nd problem - im addicted to PB, and along with the advice to up my calories, I might lick the PB off before I start running from said pitbull and then the chase will be even more uneventful.


Hmm.....I like where you were going with this, but I might need Plan B.

I had the exact same thought - if I rub PB all over me, it ain't gonna be no stinking dog licking it off!

Oh you two devils! 

 Agreed.  These first 6 months have been a blessing to me.  I have been able to work on my head, re-tune my tastes to be able to love new foods that I would never have eaten before.

I still struggle.  I had a big crisis night last night where I wanted to graze on anything in reach.  I had to stop myself and start applying my mental tools and figure out what was going on.  Then I had to deal with the root issue, not OD on carb induced serotonin.

Contrary to my ardent hopes - I still can't stand most seafood.  I do love shrimp now though.  Must be the celt in me.

Seriously though, if I had not de-toxed from my triggers.  If I had gone back to beef and pork and peanut butter, or my beloved potatoes,  I don't think I would have lost anything since January.  I think tasting those foods again would have sent me right back to old patterns.  I would have started making excuses to have them more and more.  I would not have learned to love grilled chicken (really CHICKEN WITHOUT BREADING - Blasphemy to my southern roots), or steamed green vegetables (side dishes should be WHITE unless you mix gravy or cheese with them).  Green sides must be cooked pork to give them ANY flavor, right?

Saying that doesn't mean I will never have those foods again.  When I get to maintenance, I will slowly start upping my calories.  I will slowly introduce those foods again.  I am not giving anything up for LIFE.  I am using this window to learn how to change my relationship with food and with myself.

As my sleeve matures, as Ghrelin starts to be produced in other tissues, as my body starts to normalize - I hope that I have learned enough in this window to manage that successfully.  I know I will have to find my balance points and new triggers as I go forward.  I don't think it will be easy but it will be a new set of lessons.

I am confident though, that I have friends on here and in real life who have been through it and will help guide me when I stumble.

So strange you posted this. I'm still losing but it feels like it's at a snail's pace. I reached my first "goal" but realized even before I hit that, that I want to lose at least 15 more... & maybe even more after that. I guess I will realize where I wanna be when I get there. I have a hard time eating less than 600 calories a day so I eat 600-700 calories, protein around 70 grams & carbs are usually around 20. I exercise at least 5 days a week. I'm confident I will get to goal, it just might take longer than I thought. Wah!!!

When my loss slowed I actually upped my protein and liquids quite a bit and it sped back up. Maybe shoot for 90 grams of proteina and 100 oz of liquids?

Hi!
Thank you for replying to me.
I will definitely aim to reach the goals you suggested. I have a hard time getting in more than 70 grams of protein without 1 30 gram protein shake. I'll try to add high protein, low fat, low calorie foods like plain Greek yogurt or nonfat cottage cheese. I have a feeling I am going to be one of the "lucky" ones who can only consume 1000 calories for maintenance. I'm fine with that since my sleeve will help me make that possible.
Thanks again for your input Mom4Jazz!!!

I don't get this sometimes... before WLS I had lost 137 pounds on my own... My Mom Got Lukemia and passed away VERY quickly....gained about 60 back... It seems no matter how long it takes it is still doable... I just don't get the "get the most off you can in the first 6 mo. Or you are screwed" way of thinking.. I still have a stomach just smaller .. helpful.. I can still exercise even more now...helpful..
Not trying to be snarky..I just want to understand why no matter what month we are in is it harder.. You get out of something what you put in to it!! Period...
Let me know..why it is so different post sleeve...PLEASE!!
Julie

Howdy Julie (New Me2011-12)

I don't think there's anything snakry to ask the question you're asking.  First, one thing to remember in these discussion is that biology and life aren't truly binary - what I mean by that is it's not a case of ALL or NONE, OFF or ON, right?  It's about odds and percentages and how much es.  So it's not "lose all your weight in 6 months or you're screwed", it's really more about "stack the cards in your favor!"  Give yourself the best chance.  Because Frisco is right about one thing- there are plenty of people that lament that they didn't get to goal.

People say six months because historically that's when most of the weight loss after surgery occurs.  It could keep going forever, but tends not to.  Surgeons see the half-year trend in a majority of their patients, so they pu****  A lot of people peter out of steam after half a year or so - but of course there's always exceptions. 

So why does this happen?  Well, there's a few things that work against you over time.  And with each individual, each item could matter a little or a lot:

---The level of restriction decreases over time - your stomach literally grows in length- and you can fit more food in your stomach per sitting.

---Ghrellin (appetite hormone) levels may slowly rise over the months to increase how much you eat at one time.

---People don't always treat their journey like a "lifestyle change" but "diet", essentially eating on plan for a temporary amount of time - nuts say a lot of people go back to old habits after six months and eat more - they lost a lot of weight, feel successful, and so relax on compliance.

---Even if people don't increase calories, they may swap out protein and fat for carbs, and with a high enough carb ratio, you'll store fat more easily.

---People don't always push themselves past a certain point.  Let's say the sleeve made it easy for you to eat only 1000 calories a day.  So, if you're 300 pounds, you're going to lose weight fast!  But 1000 may be a maintenance value for someone at 180 pounds who still has 20 or 30 pounds to lose - maybe then they need to decrease to 800 calories a days - but they don't want to.  

---Other times, people return to items that help enable weight gain.  A lot of regainers will blame soda.  A lot of other people blame beer.  Others will snack and lose track of how much they eat again - they stop journaling food.  Or they stop exercising.  They graze.  They start celebrating with food.  Others actually learn, some on accident and some on purpose, to maximize eating slider foods that go right through your sleeve. 

---A million others things (and I'm feeling lazy to type them all out)

So it's quite possible to continue losing weight past 6 months - there's nothing magical about that, except that a lot of human psychology comes into play.  But you ask experienced surgeons, most of them see the most success in the first half-year, and it's mainly about compliance.  Because while they can get most of their patients to start off by not drinking sugary sodas, a significant amount will start drinking them again later on (whether that's at month 4, or month 10, right?)  You can see this reflected on the posts in this forum too - not just the VSG forum, but all of them here.  You have posts like "I'm ten months out and I've been stalled for the last three months" - and we have to explain that that's not a stall - they've entered maintenance, where their calories in and out remain balanced.

I think the people that tend to look at post-op life as a way to live and eat differently don't have this issue as much as the people that are just trying to 'stay on plan' really hard until they hit their goal.  Those mentalities are real different.

Hope this helps.

Hey Julie,

Well i think the last pounds on any diet is more difficult because your body has gotten used to the changes you have made and is used to the diminished intake.  However the first 6 month crap terrified me, it's all i heard when i got on here.  I was a slow loser. I have lost 6lbs a month every month pretty much except 1 month i lost 12lbs, i think it was month 7.  But the first 6 months thing made me feel like if it wasn't happening i was going to fail. 

The successful weight loss is the one that works and i got lots of emails from people losing in their 9th month 12th month 18th month etc.  Some people lose their weight in 6 months.  That's great for them but some don't and sometimes the pace of weight loss is not about non-compliance, (although not widely believed on here) but just how your body is going to do what your body is going to do.

The one thing i will say is that i think when people read that folks lose 70, 80, 100lbs, in the first six months, they make a contract with themselves, I.E. I can do this, hard as it is for six months.  When they come to the end of it and have not lost it all, i think their resolve is tested and also, just human nature is such that they begin to get a little sloppy, a little tired, etc,, I do know I'd made a contract no alcohol for 6 month.  When i hadn't got to goal at 6 months i felt, screw it I'm having my wine back.  Alas, that didn't work.  Turns out sometimes a glass of wine is just a glass of wine, sometimes it's a lovely accompaniment to many big ass craving. Who wants to have a glass of wine with a scoop of tuna?   So that had to go but i have to say i felt cheated.  So i pouted for a minute but then got back to basics.

Now the way i see it the scale goes down.  I eat the same way i have since the beginning and my loss is still disappointingly slow but consistent, I'm used to it.  I'm thinking now for the last 20 it will slow down but then again it may not, my journey has been different.  A lot of the information here is anecdotal.  A lot of people lost their weight in the 6 month period but a lot didn't and clearly 6 months can't mean anything for posters who are morbidly obese.  So you take it for what it is, if you see it as gospel, that's what it is.  if it challenges you, great, if it zaps you of hope, dump it out with the trash. Do your best you, the rest is in the ether. MHO