how much weight did you lose with your surgery?

[shutmymouth]

1st let me say I'm excited about my surgery. I'm excited that I'll finally be able to bite into burgers and sandwiches and other food and not have it spill down my face and clothes! I'm looking forward to the day I can smile and not be embarassed by my smile. And oh the day I can smile in a picture. Just thinking of that day makes me want to cry. These are the thoughts that get me through the terrifying thoughts of the pain, & the risks of surgery.

With that said I also haven't turned a blind eye to the ancilary benefits. Weight loss, mini-face lift. (Orthodontist said everyone looks slightly younger afterwards)

I'm currently about 30+lbs over weight. While I'm not going to TRY to lose weight while on my liquid diet I'm also going to refrain from obvious things like ice cream. I've got a list of HEALTHY green smoothies, protien powder to put in my soups, canned chicken for when I can move to soft foods. Etc. I've also got a body bugg to help monitor my caloric out put and have pre-made all of my foods with calorie info and macro nutrient info broken down for them so that all I have to do is log the info. Ive been doing really well on my diet and I really dont want to fall off of the wagon during my recovery. Also by doing this I can make sure I'm eating ENOUGH to recover. The goal is to eat the same amount of calories that my body bugg says I'm putting out. If I dont lose fine. I just dont want to gain primarially.

With THAT SAID (sorry for the essay, just call me tolstoy) I am not going to shed a single tear if I lose a few here and there. Especially if I can keep them off.

So how much did everyone lose?

[suzanna]

I'm 5 weeks post op tomorrow and I've lost 15lbs and it's stayed off. I was about 30lbs over my ideal weight pre-op. It's not like I've been trying to actively lose weight, haven't even been back to the gym yet. I'm eating as much as I can but I find I get full sooooo much faster then I did before I had my surgery and I don't have as many cravings (since it's basically a pain to eat lol). I know a lot of people say that once they start eating regularly again, they gain back most of their weight, but I've been eating pretty crappy since I got the go ahead to chew (think fries, pizza, pasta, carbs galore!) and haven't gained anything. But like I said, I'm eating much smaller portions because I get full so much quicker since I'm eating a lot slower.

[shutmymouth]

Good to know!

5wks and you can chew! congrats! I'm hoping not to gain back. However, Im going to TRY to avoid the foods like that. I can almost bet I wont be as lucky as you. I LOVE food too much in general. If I lose 15lbs Im going to work like the devil to keep it off.

My weight is my second tormentor in my self esteem. 1st being my smile. Why not take advantage & strike while the iron's hot!

[crazybeautiful]

I don't think I lost any. And though I may have liked to, after surgery I was in no mood to not allow myself something nice


Funnily enough since the surgery I have lost a little bit of weight..because we have a new young and lively dog that likes to run, and likes someone to run with

[DRG]

I am just shy of being four weeks post-op. I have lost twenty pounds to this point, but I have also been wired shut and exclusively on a liquid diet. The bulk of my weight loss, per the scale, happened in the first week or two. I feel that was primarily water weight and I think I was dehydrated for quite some time. In fact, they told me as much in the hospital while I was receiving IV fluids -- something about keeping it dialed down purposefully to help prevent too much swelling (I don't think it worked, but that's a different story). The nurses didn't bother to explain the science behind that idea to me at the time (and I was not very conversational either).

I started back at the gym, weight lifting about a week ago. This too hasn't affected my weight directly, but I would prefer to hold on to my lean mass if possible while shedding the fat (wouldn't we all?). It's important to hold on to that muscle as losing it slows one's metabolism, which is simply not helpful. In my opinion, I have gained the water weight back (as I drink a *lot* of water when at work), but likely have traded that gain for mass lost due to the liquid diet. Before surgery I was eating 2500+ calories per day, whereas I presently take in roughly 1800-2000 on a good day. It's more work to eat, and I've grown bored of my selection of protein shakes + soup, go figure.

My scale does measure body fat, but that's been sitting pretty steady too (after an initial drop of ~5% early on) - indicating to me that I've probably lost both lean mass and fat equally. I expect to get out on my bicycle soon, to train for a century ride. Hopefully along the way I can drop another ten pounds, without losing too much more muscle mass. Naturally, it's a challenge or everyone would be doing it.

DRG

[I love my teeth]

I only lost 5pounds. But I was not wired or banded closed and could open about 1 finger width from the beginning. So, I was doing soft foods pretty much from the beginning. I think I am going to gain some of the 5 back, as my appitite is finally increasing and this morning I weighed 2 pounds more, I also lost about 20 after braces, so I really didn't have much more to lose anyway. I now weigh only slightly more than my 11 year old son, and we are about the same height! I just need to remember under no circumstances should I EVER be able to eat as much as an 11 year old boy

good luck!
Christine--mom of 2 very hungry boys, and turning 40 next month--so I am quite happy with the weight loss

[sarahorsomeone]

I was a bit of an odd one with this!

I lost about 7 pounds in the few days after surgery, probably because I couldn't bare to eat very much at all. That's not because of my jaw, I just didn't feel hungry, perhaps because of all the drugs I'd been given.

Then when I started eating my mushy food (not long after surgery, my surgeon's eating rules were very lenient) I gained most of that back again within about three or four weeks. Probably thanks to egg white powder in everything it could be put in, lots of avacados and a big glass of neat coconut milk every day for breakfast.

The mysterious thing is... once I went back on to my normal (pre-surgery) diet I lost the 7 pounds back again and still haven't put it back on yet (almost six months on). I really can't explain it.. I'm not eating any differently in terms of content or quantity (well I'm possibly eating more if anything) and I'm not doing anymore exercise.

[Bullfighter]

Lost about 8 lbs. I tried to get 2000+ calories a day during the liquid-only stage (first 3 weeks).

You really don't want to be dieting, because you have a lot of healing to do -- broken bones, deep incisions in your mouth, distorted muscles to restore, etc.

But if you want to change your eating habits I did find it was easier to do that after an enforced "vacation" from eating the normal foods. You appreciate being able to eat again, so whatever you put in your mouth tends to be very welcome...

[ColoradoGirl]

I lost about 15 pounds the first two weeks. I've gained back about 8 (in--wow--over 5 months; time flies), and I've been making a conscious effort to get enough calories.

Definitely agree that you shouldn't diet beforehand, but that it's a good time to change your habits. It's pretty physically traumatic, but once you can eat again...I'll just say, bananas and milk never tasted so good. Let alone lightly salted mozarella and tomatoes.

[arieswithbraces]

I had surgery on the 16th and my pre weight was 190 lbs..I got discharged the next day and when I got home I weighed myself and I was 180 lbs! I had my first follow up on the 22nd and my weight was 181 lbs. My weight this morning is 174 lbs. I'm not banded or wired. I have elastics but I take them suckas out..I have to eat and talk! I notice I get full faster and had issues with swelling. I'm not trying to lose weight but I'm not upset either! The only person upset is my OS. He said that's way too much for a week and 2 days....I have a high metabolism?

[Lc1987]

Ahh this is an interesting one. I'm rather slim so I don't want to be loosing too much weight after my op. I'm going to spend the rest of this year eating healthy calories and working out so i can gain a bit of weight before the op. That way i hope i wont come out the other side looking too skinny or unhealthy/unfit!!

Will keep an eye out on this post to see the average weight loss. I've read 10 pounds a few times so far.

[qwertz1]

only 4 lbs in 3 weeks so far.
I`m mostly eating joghurts and soups...and I`ve used a vegetarian restaurant a couple of times, which delivers a variety of soups, ice cream and some indian food you don`t have to chew

[shanalouis]

28lbs

[Nathaniel]

I lost about 20 or so pounds! But I think I've gained most of it back, lol.