[helen mitchell]

im NEW TO THIS SURGRY AND ITS ONLY BEEN THREE WEEEKS CAN SOME ONE TELL ME WHEN I CAN EXPECT TO START LOOSING WEIGHT

[dixieladybug]

Hello and welcome. It will come.. If you were like me you gained while you were in the hospital for the surgery due to the drips and other things. Sometimes it take a while for your body to adjust to what it has had done. Have you seen your doctor for check up yet? Talk to him/her about it... I am sure it will start soon. Just do what the doctor says and things will be fine.

[wannabe skinny]

helen - welcome to this web forum ~ this is a great group of people who are anxious to help you and see you succeed.

your body has gone through major surgery and more than likely you are retaining fluids as you heal. for that reason i didn't even get on the scale until i was one month out of surgery.

take a few minutes and go to the section titled "USER CP" and fill in your stats/details so that we can find out more about you.

[DocSanae]

Welcome to the board, thank you for joining us.
Congratulations on joining the Losers' Bench.
((((((HUGS)))))) May your journey go well.

First off, my question to you.
How long did it take you to get up to the weight where you needed surgical intervention to help solve your weight issue? One hour? One day? Or a week, a month, a year? I bet the answer will be no to all these numbers. It must have taken several years, maybe your whole life to get up to where you made the choice for going for surgery.

I am sure, as you have been pursuing the choice of surgery, you have done a lot of search and research, talked with lots of professionals who have a hand in helping you out. What did they say, what do the papers you were given say?

Just as it took years for you to build up your weight, it is going to take some time for your body to be able to shed the weight, even with the aid of surgery. You won't wake up from surgery already at your desired weight, and your body won't be rarein' to go when you wake up from surgery.

Your body needs to heal first, then readjust and realign its functions before becoming able to set out on the weight losing journey. You had MAJOR surgery, so it's going to take time. It will take 2-3 weeks for all the physical scars to heal (remember, the scars aren't just on the skin where the incisions were made to pass the laparoscope through) and become strong enough to be able to resist some stress. It will take longer for your digestive functions to get up to speed and work smoothly.
Also, as others have said, you may initially come home from the hospital with weight gain due to the IV fluids, which may take a week or more to go away completely.

How much you lose in how long a time differs from person to person. You may lose anywhere from less than 10lbs to close to 30lbs the first month. You may lose dramatically the second month, or stall for a few weeks at that time. In any case, you will lose in humps and bumps, and your BODY will decide how much to lose, and how safely to lose.
How are your measurements, your clothes? Are your clothes tighter or looser? These are also things to go by, not just the scale.

Be forewarned that you will experience what's known as *head hunger* during this period. Even though your pouch is actually satisfied, you may *feel* *hungry* when you see food, when you see CMs, when you even think of something. Do not be fooled by this. Also, many overweight/obese people don't realize the difference between thirst and hunger, so when you feel hungry, drink water, and see what happens. Having a routine to take your mind of food is also good--go for a walk, clean up the room, whatever. Plus, NEVER EVER leave food out where you can see.

Make sure that you stick to your surgeon's rules, this is the time to develop the healthy life style and healthy eating habits that you need to keep for the rest of your life for this surgery to be truly able to work wonders for you.

The total weight loss will be achieved over 12-24 months from surgery. Even that length of time is miraculously short compared to the time it took you to work up to your pre op weight.

This journey is as much, often, even more, a mental trip as it is a physical one, and patience and perseverance are two of the most important keys to success.
(((((HUGS)))))