What's an average to lose per month after surgery?

[DesertGal]

I tried searching for this under the "search" button, couldn't find an answer. I have not read how much is the average you should- or could- lose post op. I see people with these goals on their ticker's but I have NO IDEA what I am shooting for per month, realistically. I guess the larger you were before surgery, you may drop more than someone (like me, on surgery day) in the lower 200s? I have NO clue.

[RehabNurse]

There is no average weight loss...the first year of losses with a sleeve are dependent mostly on genetics. During the second year it's 50 percent genetics and 50 percent lifestyle choices, then starting in the third year and thereafter it is all about lifestyle choices. Here is a blurb I copied from a website:

Traditionally, sleeve patients lose 20 to 30 pounds the first month after surgery. There after, weight loss is about 8 to 12 pounds per month. Factors that influence the weight loss are gender, age, BMI, level of activity, eating habits.

https://www.realself.com/question/ba...ped-weeks-post

Your surgery day weight was almost identical to my surgical weight. I weighed 218 on the day of my procedure. You can take a look at the monthly losses in the signature block below my post to see that I was a slower loser than most.

[DesertGal]

RehabNurse, you are right. We are pretty close in weight on surgery day. I have a feeling I will be a slow loser per month, I just have that feeling. Well, better SLOW than NO loss.
I think I'll go fool with my ticker right now. After all, it's been 4 weeks today since surgery. Not quite a full 1 month, but only a few days off.

[Pam G]

I'm 5'9" and my surgery wt was 258. check out my signature to see how I lost. It's interesting to see how different everyone is.

generally speaking, the less you have to lose, the slower you'll lose it.

[azladyrider]

I started at 182 and ended up at 98 from late June till late November

[DesertGal]

Pam, you've done great! I figured the less you have to lose to start with, the slower it will come off. The other night my daughter had on My 600# Life (she weighs maybe 100 lbs and loves watching the show), and I saw a few minutes of it and I heard the guy being featured say something like "the Dr. wants me to lose 50 lbs a month"... I looked at my daughter and asked WTH? She said the bigger you are 500, 600, 700+ pounds... 50 pounds does come off in a month - if they follow the diet plan.
As long as mine comes off, I'll be a happy camper.

[Christie13]

I have seen all sorts of weight loss numbers. Some low, some high. I can tell you that the worst thing we can do is compare ourselves to others. If someone is losing way faster we feel like we have somehow failed even though we are doing phenomenally. Just my thoughts.

[Ann2]

Check out my monthly weight losses in my sig block below. I also didn't lose fast.

You know who loses fast? Men. People with more muscles. Young people. Very active people. People who are very, very heavy to start with. If that's not you, then you won't lose 20-30-40 pounds a month. Ever.

[DesertGal]

I realize we all will lose different amounts but my curiosity was on seeing people's GOALS on their ticker's every few months. I wondered how they picked a certain weight... like maybe they had been told to try and lose 10 lbs a month, 12 pounds a month. I wasn't sure if that (10#) was a good number to set my sights on.... or 12-15 lbs? I don't want to set myself up to feel depressed if I don't hit 10 a month.

[DesertGal]

Check out my monthly weight losses in my sig block below. I also didn't lose fast.

You know who loses fast? Men. People with more muscles. Young people. Very active people. People who are very, very heavy to start with. If that's not you, then you won't lose 20-30-40 pounds a month. Ever.

You have done wonderful with your losing. You lost each month, and you've KEPT IT OFF! Such an inspiration!

[DesertGal]

I started at 182 and ended up at 98 from late June till late November

Wow! That's amazing!

[sraebaer]

I don't think there's any average. We all start at different sizes, all with the goal of being healthy. Don't worry about how fast you lose, this isn't a race. It's your new life. Who cares how long it takes to get there?

I didn't have as much to lose as others, met my goal weight by losing 75+ pounds in about 7 or 8 months. But then at support group last night there was a guy who had lost 75 pounds in 2 months! (But obviously he had more to lose than me.)

[Ann2]

You have done wonderful with your losing. You lost each month, and you've KEPT IT OFF! Such an inspiration!

Thank you! I think I'm almost as excited about WLS and its benefits as I was a month after surgery. This freakin' surgery is just brilliant! I can really not express how much better my life is 100 pounds lighter these days.

OK, I'll shut up now.

[Shirl]

Okay... it is frustrating reading folks worry senselessly about averages and comparing their weight loss to others, don't get me wrong, and honestly you are far from being a slow loser! You did amazing pre op, and your ticker says you lost 17lbs one month post op!?! Give yourself some credit!

My heighest weight was 245lbs fall 2015 on my annual physical. I started a food cleanse in January '16 after I had my first nutritionist consult, I self-imposed a gradual liquid diet March '16, I went into surgery at 226lbs May '16 (19lbs loss). I followed my instructions, met my water and protein needs, started exercising one week post op and lost just short of 15lbs on my first month follow up. It has been slowing down since.

Even when I did a 12-week get fit program I still lost the same when I didn't have a structured workout 3x a week. The difference is that I gained muscle and lost a significant amount of fat, specially visceral fat (belly fat). I had lost 5" off my waist in about six weeks from starting that program. To me that was more important as visceral fat is the culprit of metabolic disorders like diabetes and hypertension and high cholesterol and a myriad of other physical ailments! Currently, I'm meeting with a trainer only twice a week and the workouts are kicking my butt, still I only lost 2.5lbs this past month... yet according to the body composition scale at NutriShop, I had lost 8lbs and gained 4% of muscle since my last weight in with them which was mid-February.

I highly recommend you get a DeXA body composition scan or those very similar to it to find out your muscle, bone and fat composition. Once you know, then set your weight loss accordingly to your individual needs. Get yourself hooked ip with a good nutritionist, maybe invest in cognitive therapy and don't worry about national averages, because most of us know that their predictions are!?! Some say we will regain 50% of weightloss by x year... and guess what!?! I'm not going to let that happen to me. I just won't!!!

[sraebaer]

I realize we all will lose different amounts but my curiosity was on seeing people's GOALS on their ticker's every few months. I wondered how they picked a certain weight... like maybe they had been told to try and lose 10 lbs a month, 12 pounds a month. I wasn't sure if that (10#) was a good number to set my sights on.... or 12-15 lbs? I don't want to set myself up to feel depressed if I don't hit 10 a month.

My goal was to get to a normal BMI. I had no clue how long that would take, the doctor didn't say anything about how fast I would lose. (Probably because we are all different.) The only thing that counts is I got there and am now maintaining a normal BMI.