1 week old...worried not losing weight fast

You're only a week post op.

You will find once you hit the 6 week mark, and get back onto solid foods, your weight loss will improve.

Right now, you shouldn't even be focusing on that. Focus on healing.

Your sleeve is a tool for you to use, not a miracle worker.

Thanks for the replies and encouragement everyone, it has helped a lot. I will try not to weigh myself frequently although it is hard, but knowing that not everyone just drops the weight suddenly is comforting. I will just let it go and let my body take it's own sweet time.

Hey Andypandy,

I totally agree with the posts below.  It's early days yet and it'll take a while before you know how your body is going to lose weight as everybody is so different.  Some people lose consistently each week, others might have one big amount then stall (and repeat), a friend of mine didn't lose any weight until 6 weeks post op (and yet she has gone on to lose most of her weight), and others lose about 2 kilos per month.  For me?  I'm losing between 1-1.5kg per week which I'm happy with, but this week it's gone down to under 1kg which I was expecting sooner or later.  I was also hungry for my entire liquid phase 2 weeks post op and thought the whole operation had failed (was in the why me? stage), however once I hit pureed phase I started feeling fuller, then on soft 'normal' food actually felt the full feeling finally and rejoiced.  Everyone is so different. 

The tip about not weighing yourself daily?  If you can, try keeping to at least weekly weigh ins.  From experience I can say how frustrating it is watching the daily fluctuations.

Also, keep an eye out for a bit of a low (emotionally) a couple of weeks post op.  Tends to hit most people with a bit of depression and 'did i do the right thing' happening. 

Hope it gets better for you soon, especially the full factor.

Cheers, DayleD

By the way, the toast you had...that was pre-op?  Be careful to stick to your surgeons directions post op so not to cause any leaks or complications :)

Hey AndyPandy, you are only a week out so I wouldn't panic yet. I am 6 weeks out and I did also get hungry from a few days after surgery. The good thing is that I now only have to eat a small amount to feel satisfied. Liquid and purée stage do not satisfy quite as much but once your tummy is ready for solids you should notice the difference. Nini made some useful points, and another thing my dietitian explained is that during the pre-op preparation your liver loses fluid (part of that shrinking the surgeon needs it to do) and in the first few weeks after surgery that fluid is going back in. When I had a follow up with him, his whizz bang scales showed that I was still losing fat even though the number on the scales didn't move much over weeks 3 and 4.

It can be a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, but hang in there and maybe reassess yoursel in a few weeks time when you've had time to settle into it a bit more and get through the recovery phase.

I hope this info helps,

Hi AndyPandy,

It is not uncommon for people to actually put on weight after surgery as they pump you full of IV fluids to prevent dehydration. This fluid weight can take a week or so to be peed out. You are still so very early in your journey and your body is under incredible stress. Keep on with your eating plan and it will start to come off - honestly. But be warned most people's weight loss comes off in a pattern. They lose well one week and then only a little bit the next and have regular stalls. Often you stall when transitioning from one phase to the next. People often have their first stall at around 3 weeks. The best thing for your long term sanity is not to weigh daily as this can be very disheartening. Everyone's weight  fluctuates daily depending on their salt, water, and hormones. Weigh once a week to give yourself a true measurement of your actual loss.

Another suggestion is to keep an eye out for constipation which can also slow down weight loss. It is very common post-Sleeve. (either that or diarhoea). If you do have problems - Drink plenty of water and add  Benefibre to everything you drink, if you still can't go add in some Lactulose and take some Coloxyl with Senna.

You will NOT fail, you just need to give it some time.

cheers Nini

Hi everyone,
Had my surgery 1 week ago Monday....Physically all ok, but I was told I would not feel hungry afterwards especially in the beginning but I do...I am hungry!!! I am scared and angry, currently on pureed stuff, and in the last 3 weeks (2 weeks on optifast (with a couple of cheats when I ate some toast a few times as I was starving), 1 week post surgery) I only lost 5 kg. I am worried that after spending all the money this will be a failure!!!