I'm a LW...Most Days Resent my RNY...Some Days are "Ok"

Hi Everyone,
Thought I would just come here on the LW's and browse.

I had my RNY on 2/17/2011

I'm 5'4 and day of Surgery was 248

My weight loss has been SO VERY slow it's sickening...

Most days I ask myself why the hell I did this when I could have jus****ched what I ate and lost freakin 1-2lbs per week. With eating what I eat now I probably could have lost more. As far as saying "would it have stayed off" well the truth is from what I see all over here ALOT of people regain it later so how is the surgery different than not having it and watching what I eat and exercising? OH dear God help me for sure!!!!!!!!!!!

I lost MAJORITY of my weight shown my first week post op which let's face it was stupid fluids anyway

I follow everything the doc ordered to the T. I am a pretty organized person and have journaled everything. I do exercise each day. Right now for me that is walking briskly and I enjoy it and a minimum of 1-2miles.

Am I discouraged? Yes I am. 

Then on the flip side I do try to stay encouraged.  I am usually a VERY optimistic person but NOT patient person, that I admit.  

I just wish for once I could have just a week here or there that would show me 4-6lbs loss just to give me a boost that's all.....

Welcome to the LW board.

Sorry you feel your loss is so slow. Let me ask a question tho, did you also take your measurements prior to surgery because while the scale may be slow to move, you may be losing in spite of what the scale says.

Example, my first month, I lost 22 lbs and lost 23 inches. Where did the inches go? Cause 22 lbs surely didn't look like 23 inches lost.

My second month I only lost 10 lbs.

LW's seem to lose slower cause we have less to lose compared to the SMO but it's not pounds, it's percentages. See Carolyn M's article here on that. She explains it better than I ever could.

Liz

Yes that article is good thank you...
You know what, no I never have taken my measurements. I suppose I should huh? My clothes are pretty either "comfortable" or VERY loose and I am talking 18's

I guess I just struggle with the fact that maybe I could have just done this without surgery because the risk of regaining is just the same....I have a friend who had RNY 3 yrs ago, 2 yrs later regained ALL of it (YIKES ) and then worked hard by DIETING this past year to take 114 lbs off. I mean this yo yo has GOT To be horrible horrible on our bodies.

I don't know...I need to be more positive and I haven't had too many of those "excited love my rny" days everyone claims to have

Sorry, just venting

I don't know how old you are but I spent 43 years dieting. (I'm 56 now and started gaining weight when I turned 12). Every time I lost, I gained back every lb I lost plus more. I can not tell you how much I've lost over 43 years but it's probably close to 2-3000 lbs (yes, thousand!)

The NIH recognizes Morbid Obesity as a disease. And only 5% can diet their way back to normal weight and KEEP IT OFF. I am not in that 5% apparently. Also the diet industry is huge and count on our inability to do it ourselves. This surgery is just a tool we've been given. We still have to re-learn how to eat normal again.

We have RNY vets here who can help you thru this...it will get better. They have been thru what you are going thru and have gotten to their goal and are maintaining their weight. They'll pop in soon enough.

Liz

I can really understand your frustration. Patience is certainly not one of my virtues. Think about this: if my math is right, you've lost 22 pounds in five weeks or an average of over 4 pounds a week. That is something to celebrate!

I've never had the big weekly losses. At 4 months out, the loss is pretty slow but it is also pretty steady. And it adds up, believe me. I've lost 57 pounds in 4.25 months - that is over three pounds a week.

Before you know it, you will start to see real progress in the way clothes fit and how you feel. Hang in there! I am glad to see that you are exercising. I really think it makes all of the difference.

As to regaining the weight, that risk is real. I've read that the RNY long-term success rate is anywhere between 40 and 80%, depending on one's starting BMI (more success with a lower BMI). Dieting is about 5%. I will take the RNY odds any day!

I think you are doing great! It is hard in the beginning but it gets better. I continually remind myself to focus on my thoughts, behavior and emotions, and the scale will follow. I hope you will celebrate your progress each week because each week is one week closer to a healthier you.

Amy

Give yourself some time! I had some doubts to begin with but my RNY has made a believer out of me. Follow the rules of the pouch and it will happen.

You've lost 22 lbs in 4-5 weeks. That is pretty darn good. When have you lost that amount of weight in 4-5 weeks? I'm not a very patient person, but when I was wondering about weight loss slowing down, I would look at where I was the previous month, and I could always see some weight loss. The journey of weight loss isn't a straight line. There will be weeks or months that you seem to stay still, but the inches are coming off, and you will see the difference in your clothes. This is even more apparent the lower in weight that you get. Stay the course and you will be successful. Not everyone regains weight. Continue the journaling and exercise and the weight will come off. Exercise is key.

I do know how you feel...even though I am only 10 days out.  My surgery weight was 208 and as of this morning I am 202.8.  Not even six pounds....and today I was almost in tears.  But my husband agreed that I should just put the scale away...maybe for a month. He asked me why I even step on "that stupid thing". I have had so many other positives in the past 10 days, even though the scale doesn't say so....I am already in jeans I couldn't wear before the surgery and I don't feel as bloated as I did before..  I am excited to take my measurements,but going to wait even longer so see the tale of the tape.

As others have suggested....put the scale away. I don't know why we look to it for validation, but we do. As in anything else in life, if you master the fundamentals, winning will take care of itself.
 

I had my sugery 2/15 and as of my weigh in this past Wednesday I had only lost 24 lbs. I am not fretting it. I was a light weight coming into this, weighed 220 at the beginning og this process, 194 the day of surgery. I knew my weight loss was going to be slow. I had expected this and prepared myself mentally for this. Would it be nice to lose it faster??? Sure. I see my husband (had RNY 1/12/11) lose 8-10 lbs a week. I do think what am I doing wrong, but I am following the "rules" and I know that the weight will come off. Hang in there. Everyone loses at a different pace. Just make sure you are journaling all your food and getting your fluids. Keep that optimism. Good Luck

AWE...I'm sorry you are feeling down about having surgery. It's perfectly normal to have mixed feelings at the beginning.  Our hormones are all out of wack and there are so many new changes we are forced to make.  Being a Lightweight we don't lose a lot of pounds per week but we lose in steadily and get to goal quicker than someone who has 100's to lose.  You will definitely want to take your measurments and before pictures.  During stalls we seem to lose a lot of inches and sometimes when the scale is "stuck"  taking our measurements and looking at pictures keeps us encouraged.

Yes, you might have been able to lose the weight without having surgery but I'm betting you will get to goal faster with the surgery and if you keep following the RNY rules there is a much better chance you will keep it off.  

There must be a reason you felt surgery would help you.  I joined Weigh****chers so many times I lost count  and I got discouraged sooner and sooner every year because I had to take it off with my own willpower which dwindled faster every year because I knew I was going to gain it back.

With my RNY  I have my tool to help me but the choice to follow the rules is up to me.  The restriction keeps me from over eating, my hiccups tell me stop eating (some get a runny nose), and dumping keeps me from over eating sweets and fats.  I'm 2 1/2 years out and I've been maintaing for over a year now and I've never been happier and I still Love my RNY.

The trick for me is High Protein and very Low "bad" Carbs.   Try posting (or at least reading) Menus and Miles.  It might help you find out what might work for you to help you stay successful.

I'm determinded to be the Success Story everyone talks about....not the one who "gained it back".

(((HUGS)))