Seeking advice from people who lost weight quickly, maybe too quickly

First, I am grateful for my weight loss and feel many times better health-wise. We all have struggled through our weight loss journey although in different ways. Personally, I am almost 7 months out from surgery and one of my difficulties throughout is that I was hanging over a toilet 2-3 times a week when I started more solid food, now it continues to be about once a week. Not pretty. I still have difficulties tolerating innocent foods like meat sporadically and have very recently introduced minimal starches (like baked sweet potato fries). I haven't done any breads yet. On the flipside, I have managed to lose 98 lbs. since January with a starting BMI of 40.1. Now it is 25.something.

My concern is that I am now 170 lbs. and my 100% excess weight amount ends at 165 lbs. I just had my 6 month follow up and my provider has said if I hit 150 lbs. before the 1 year visit to call them and I guess figure out how to stop losing. In pounds my loss in 6-7 months isn't that extreme. However the percentage loss is very quick and I am concerned since this is supposed to be an 18 month process.

Has anyone else had this type of quick percentage loss and if so, can you please share your experiences? While I am very grateful for the positive health benefits of losing my weight, I am concerned to lose too much weight. At 5' 8-1/2", I now wear 10-12 clothes which is now a slender build.

Thanks for the advice.

Congratulations !  I would be working out at this point to firm and tone the muscles and skin up .  If you do t hat I believe you will see the weight loss slow and/or stop temporarily as you gain muscle while  slowly losing fat .

You might also want to ask yourself  whether this( or twenty lbs heavier w bounceback)  is a weight you can imagine being happy at for the rest of your life .  We basically get one shot at losing to  goal  in the beginning .  Many if not most of us have fielded " concerns " that we should slow down /stop before reaching goal .These" concerned "people rarely have bothered to research how limited the window for meaningful weight loss is for post op bariatric patients .

From what i've seen the people who ALLOWED themselves to look a bit  gaunt while maintaining their health are the happiest with their weight five years post op .  Personally im a bit taller than U and my end weight is 125  after bounceback,  And nooone , not EVER even  at my very lowest  pre bounceback weight  ( maybe 118 )even ONCE  said i was too thin lol .

(((())))

Try not to worry. Lightweights can drop that % WL pretty darn fast regardless that you hear "LWs lose slower"..blah, blah, blah. Your body will likely stop on its own without you adding carbs. I would not be adding starchy veggies or other carbs. I would stay the course with low carb and get as low as you can as fast as you can. You will have some bounce back and you want to bounce up to a comfortable weight, not too high, and hold there. Keep an eye on the BMI and if you start approaching 19 or lower, then start adding complex starchy veggies, fruit and more carby stuff. You got this and you're doing great. Try not to think short term but long term. : )

--gina

Good morning,

I lost a lot of weight fast in the first 6 months but i have since slowed down I am now 9 months out and I lose about a lb a week now and sometimes I have a week or two where I stay the same. I have lost a total of 114 lbs from my highest weight. I feel better now though like I'm getting stronger. I know we will have a bounce back so going as low as I can. I'm sorry your so sick that can not be fun. I hope you continue to feel better

Trish

I wish their was a LIKE button for your post!!!!!

I got to a normal BMI between months 6-7 and at my lowest weight by month 10-11 and my surgeon was thrilled. It was exactly what he expected of me starting at a BMI of 37 on day of surgery (41 day I met him).

This most certainly isn't "supposed to be" an 18 month process. The idea is to get to goal in 12 months. That's what the succesful programs aim for. Anything longer and you risk never getting there at all. Not to say you can't get there if it takes longer than 12 months as people certain have and the SMO almost always need longer than a year.

But the programs that are succesful, that do better than national averages, that have a high percentage losing 100% of excess weight and don't just declare victory if you get to 60% EWL try to get the ones with 150 pounds or less to lose there within the first 12 months.

I would NOT worry until you get to 18.5 BMI...let your body ride it down as low as you can go because bounce back is REAL and she's a *****!!!

Btw, a weight of 124 at 5'8.5" would finally get you to the TOO thin. Until then, don't panic.

I lost til I hit month 7 (which was 110% of my excess), stalled for 5 months, lost another 12ish lbs , then another 10...got to 121 (130% of my excess). 121 was too skinny FOR ME but not too skinny by the BMI scale. Now I hang around 140-142 and NOTHING has changed since I hit 121...the bounceback just HIT me. I would like to get back into the 130's but not enough to buckle down. :)

Liz

I have this same concern.  My surgeons office told me not to worry unless my BMI gets below normal range.  I feel that I am approaching "to thin" even though my BMI is still normal 23. 3  I am almost a year out.  I have added back most carbs in moderation and am losing about 3 lbs a month now. 

Pre op diet lost 8   month 1 lost 25   month 2 lost 14

 3 months post op 190   -13 M3 12/12/12                 -60 total!!

4 months post op 179   -11 M4 1/12/13                   -71 total!! 

5 months post op 171   -8  M5 2/12/13                    -79 total!! 

3/4/13 Dr appt 166
6  months post op 163 -8 M6 3/12/1  hit Dr's goal     -87 total!!

7  months post op 156 -7 M7 4/12/13                      -94 total!!

8  months post op 150 -6 M8 5/12/13                      -100 total!!

9  months post op 147 -3 M9 6/12/13                      -103 total!!

9 mths dr apt 7/2/13  145  Hit my goal

10  months post op 142 -5 M10 7/12/13                  -108 total!!

11  months post op 139 -3 M11 8/12/13                  -111 total!!

1 YEAR post op Dr appt 9/10/13   136                      -114

I am a revision and traditionally revisions are supposed to lose slower but I lost even fast this time then I did with my first WLS.  I did get too low and while I have bounced back a bit I still would like to gain a few pounds but I refuse to eat junk to do so.  

It is very common for people to hear "too thin" comments when they lose a lot of weight, even when they are far from being too thin.  After a while things redistribute and things balance out.  I agree with what every one has advised, go as low as you can without getting underweight and if or when the bounce back hits you will be prepared.

Thanks everyone for your insights :-).