Slow weight loss and weight regain after gastric bypass surgery

Question Below Submitted By:  

Slow weight loss after gastric pass (a patient from Michigan)

I had weight loss surgery in 2004 and it took me 5 years to lose 100 lbs. When I had the surgery I weighed 342 lbs.

I had gastric bypass surgery and followed the diet very closely. In addition, as soon as I was able I begin exercising, walking and going to the gym. I did this 3-4 times a week.

However, I noticed that the weight loss was minimal. I never experienced dumping even when I tried foods that were supposed to cause the “dumping syndrome.

My friends had the surgery a few months before me and they both lost over 100lbs in less than a year. I began to gain weight towards the end of last year because I began to get discouraged. The weight has never been easy for me to lose and now its coming back, quickly…partly because my appetite has increased and is out of control and because I have stopped working out.

I am tired of working out 5-6 days a week for 2-3 hours just to keep the weight from coming back. There has got to be a reason why it takes so much for me to lose a single pound and keep it off.

I have thought of trying the revision surgery, but if the other one didn’t help, I wonder if the gastric bypass revision is worth trying.

Evelyn

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Patient Responses to the Question Above

Fellow Weight Snails

by: Jenguin

I am glad to have found this! I am almost at a year & am no where near my 'target weight' according to my Dr. I have only lost 70 lbs. Everyone has made very great & realistic points! I to will also keep at it! HOPE!

same here

by: Anonymous

I had my surgery 5 hrs ago and I had the same symptoms no dumping and could still eat everything. It also took me 5 yrs to lose 100 lbs vs. My aunt who lost over 100 lbs in a 1.5 yrs. after her surgery. I strongly suggest you make an appointment with your endocrinologist you could be suffering from hypothyroidism. Which could be the cause of your slow weight lost. However, you will need to exercise to continue losing weight; the surgery is just and aide. Also, I actually woke up hungry after surgery and begged for at least some crackers because the liquid diet wasn't satisfying my hunger. The doctor order X rays to be done on me to make sure he preformed the surgery correctly because I didn't wake up sick but hungry and that was rare.

Also, a slow weight loss is better than a quick weight loss. Because it a good chance you keep the weight off because you doing it right.

same here

by: Anonymous

I had my surgery 5 hrs ago and I had the same symptoms no dumping and could still eat everything. It also took me 5 yrs to lose 100 lbs vs. My aunt who lost over 100 lbs in a 1.5 yrs. after her surgery. I strongly suggest you make an appointment with your endocrinologist you could be suffering from hypothyroidism. Which could be the cause of your slow weight lost. However, you will need to exercise to continue losing weight; the surgery is just and aide. Also, I actually woke up hungry after surgery and begged for at least some crackers because the liquid diet wasn't satisfying my hunger. The doctor order X rays to be done on me to make sure he preformed the surgery correctly because I didn't wake up sick but hungry and that was rare.

Also, a slow weight loss is better than a quick weight loss. Because it a good chance you keep the weight off because you doing it right.

Take heart!

by: Valerie

I had RNY and my sister had the sleeve.

She has lost weight much more slowly than I have. She has lost about 50 pounds in six months and she is discouraged...however she is losing!!! I lost faster than she has because of the different surgery that I had.

However, she is still losing and she will get to her goal if she does not give up.

Please also do not give up.

I am convinced that most of us who had weight loss surgery just have a different metabolism and an extremely hard time of losing... and even within this group, some more than others.

We cannot take in the amount of calories that others do and we have to drop way lower to lose than "normal" people.

For instance I joined weight watchers to see if it will help me lose these last five or six pounds, yet even eating less than what weight watchers says I can, I am losing a tiny bit only overall... Some of us just have to work harder to lsoe weight and just do not burn the same calories that everyone else does!!! These are just the facts of life.

Please keep hanging in there, you will be so happy when you stick with this and keep on losing... no matter how slowly you go.

I am going onto Sparks to help myself track..

I was told 800 calories to lose and 70 grams of protein a day... I am making sure that I stick with the 800 calories a day only and the 70 grams of protien if I expect to lose.

I think the nutrition is more important than the exercise... if you can exercise at least some every day, that is great... but I think if you keep to the 800 calories, you will lose the rest that you want to.

Please do not give up.

Slow weight loss response

by: Evelyn

Thank you for responding to my post. I really needed to hear what you had to say. I did not return to my surgeon because I blamed myself for my slow weight loss even though I really did watch my eating closely for the first couple of years. Nonetheless, I lost weight as if I never had the surgery. I think what made me stay so determined to lose is because my friends knew I had the surgery and were expecting me to lose a lot of weight like my friends that had the surgery before me. I was embarrassed and ashamed. I have to say that lately the weight has begun to come back because I gave up. However, I realize that I must stop my pity party and begin to watch my diet and include exercise if I am going to stop the weight gain and begin to lose weight again. I really just wonder why it is so difficult for me to lose weight verses other who have had the surgery. Thank you again for your post and your encouraging words.

Related Pages:
- Weight Gain After Bariatric Surgery
- Weight Gain After Gastric Bypass Surgery
- Bariatric Diet (What you eat)
- Bariatric Eating (How you eat)
- Weight Loss Surgery Support

For Evelyn

by: Yvonne McCarthy

First of all let me congratulate you for still losing weight at 5 years.

Many start fighting serious regain at 3 years post-surgery.

Have you talked with your surgeon? I'm going to ask you some serious questions...- You said you follow the diet very closely but you also mention that you don't dump on the foods you shouldn't be eating.

How much of the bad food are you eating? Perhaps you really need to log your food to get a real reflection of what you are eating.

- Anyone following the plan and doing that much exercise should definitely be losing weight.

That's another reason you should check with your surgeon to make sure there hasn't been some problems with your pouch?All bariatric surgery patients must exercise and I think you already know that if you quit it that you will start to gain.

I think you see exercise as a horrible job (and so many do) so I encourage you to find something you might enjoy more.

Maybe some class like Zumba or modified yoga.

If you like to dance you could find a class for that.

It's pretty much always going to boil down to calories in and calories burned.

I can feel your frustration and I can definitely understand.

Just make sure you are really tracking your food because sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we haven't eaten as much. - Have you attended any weight loss surgery support meetings? It's important to have some place that gives you support and accountability. One of the things that's so difficult to do is to be proud of the 100 pounds you've lost instead of dwelling on what you've not lost.

When we always think of what we "don't want" it is what we bring into our lives.

Try to concentrate on the blessing of the surgery and don't stress about the past because it's gone.

The future is not yet here so forget about that too.

Do what you can right now.

You literally have to do this one day at a time.

Tomorrow start fresh and commit to just that day to do what you need to do.

Do the same thing the next day.I'm ten years out and I can eat a lot if I want to, but I chose to do anything I can to fight for what I've gotten from the surgery.

You ARE worth fighting for. I hope you think you deserve to succeed because you do.

I hope some of this helps.

Hugs, Y

New to this but already frustrated

by: Valerie 2

RNY only 8 days ago. Nothing to eat that 48 hours and another 30 hour period during which I apparently had a blockage (ate a scrambled egg and sipped coffee at the same time). I am a low BMI patient, weighing 189 at time of surgery, 5' 4". Family all morbidly obese but I've fought it for years (sister weighs 350 or so).

So, in eight days, including those periods when I didn't eat it all, I've lost only 4 pounds.

I can't believe it. I simply want to cry.

With the nutritionist gave me the post surgery diet I looked at it and told her it was more calories than I usually have in a day. Dry toast? I never ate it because of the carb content. Yogurt? Same thing.

I don't think she believed me, but I've tried to say below 1000 cal per day for years now to keep the weight off. Having lost so little in the first week after the separation I am now sure there is a significant metabolic difference in some of us.

Encouraged

by: Connie

Hello All...

I too am experiencing slow, slow weight loss after gastric sleeve surgery (only about 25-30 lbs) since my surgery on March 31, 2017. I am exercising, watch my food intake AND read labels carefully. I eat a different meal than my husband each day because he doesn't need to lose weight.

I walk every day and also do free weights 3 times a week (at least). I go back to the surgeon in July and I'm afraid he is going to be very disappointed in my progress (or lack, thereof). But, after reading these comments, I feel encouraged to push on....thank you...and may we all be svelte this time next year!

Same here

by: yvonne

1 month post sleeve, followed diet to the T. Only 10lbs lost post op.

I could lose 10lbs in 2 weeks from pre-op liquid diet and don't understand why its slowing to a seeming halt after surgery.

Spoke to be Doc and all he could say was "well if you lose too quickly you will feel very weak".

Searching on the internet can be so frustrating too when all the sites I go to imply I was not following the prescribed diet.
It would be easier if I was not following my dietitian's instructions so I can at least blame myself/non-compliance but I really really am following it!

Sorry for the negative post but do hope to be able to post here again with good news soon! All the best my fellow slow weight loss friends!

Follow up at 15 months

by: Valerie 2

See my post above. I'm glad to report that my weight loss has been successful. I never lost fast, but slow and steady did the job.

I've lost 50+ pounds and am a bit below my goal weight, at 139. The worst has been that I have dumping syndrome and recently developed reactive hypoglycemia, even fainting at one point.

Apparently this is not uncommon because food passes through the intestines much more quickly after gastric bypass and the insulin doesn't have time to work, so one ends up with too much insulin and that causes the hypoglycemia. When I feel it coming on I eat jelly beans (my idea of a sugar pill). Still, I am coping well and feel great about the weight loss. Slow and steady.

Quick loss then tapered

by: Pat Kelly

I had gastric sleeve surgery 5 months ago. Although I lost a great deal of weight the first few months I find that now I am only losing 1-2 pounds a month. My routing is to get up early every day and walk for an hour to an hour and a half around the neighborhood, and go to the gym once or twice a week.

I eat primarily a small item at Panda Express with chicken and veg, or a burger with no bun, or hotdog/chili-dog with no bun, or the inside of a couple of tacos, etc. for lunch and dinner. For snacks I eat primarily seaweed and pork rinds. The weight comes off extremely slowly but is still headed in the right direction (down) so I hope I can motivate you to keep at it and get your weight going down also.

No weight lost

by: Need more Faith

I'm 5 weeks post OP and only lost 11 pounds. I have followed every thing that was giving to me except for a few days. I work out Monday thru Sunday I burn up to 2500-3000 calories day I'm eating at 800 to 1000 calories per day. I weighed 235 surgery and current weight 225. Unbelievable after working out so hard. Please please help.

Weight not coming off

by: Arminta Brown

I had the sleeve in 2017 of Sept and only list 40lbs It has been almost a year.. I follow my diet and excercise 3 to 4 times a week for 1hr..it doesn't seem like nothing is happening. What can I do?

Losing very slowly

by: Sue

3 weeks post op, only lost 11 pounds. Very frustrating!!

30lbs in 5 weeks

by: yed

I was happy to lose about 30 lbs in 5 weeks after the surgery. after meeting my doctor this morning, he was disappointed. he told me for somebody with my weight (375 lbs) should lose more.

I am bit frustrated by what he said

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