West Virginia Weight Loss


	When we saw our surgeon for the very first time, our only real goal was to do something about our excess weight. As we progress through our weight loss surgery (WLS) journey, we develop other goals. Our first goals are to get in 60 grams of protein and 64 ozs (or more) of liquids per day. These goals seem almost unsurmountable for the first few weeks while our pouch/tummy is still so sore and swollen. Then, as it begins to heal, we are able to get in a bit more food at each meal and are able to drink more easily. Once we get to the point that we can eat and drink more comfortably, we begin to get serious about other goals. We begin to think about our goal weight once our weight loss is done and we reach the maintenance phase of our program. We think about inches we'd like to lose from various parts of our bodies. We dream about wearing a specific size of clothing... And, if we are smart, we set very realistic short term goals so that we don't get frustrated along the way. For example, a person who starts at 310 pounds may have a final goal weight of 150 pounds. But, if that final goal is the only goal they set, it can often be frustrating when we have a setback, our loss slows down, etc as it can keep us from seeing that final goal as being possible. For that reason, we set smaller, short-term goals. For this same 310 pound person, a good first goal is, of course, getting below 300 pounds! Then, a second goal might be losing their first 25 pounds. Don't forget goals relating to clothing sizes! If this same person was wearing a size 28W slacks, they might look forward to getting into a size 24W. Exercise goals are great too. If you can walk a half mile at a time, set a goal to be able to go 3/4 or the full mile at once. If you are able to do a certain form of exercise for 10 minutes, make it your goal to work up to 30 minutes at a time. Set short-term goals so that you can celebrate many victories along the way! And, don't forget to plan little rewards for yourself too! During our journey, we will ALL see periods where our loss slows down greatly or even seems to stop. Many post-op WLS patients report their first "stall" at about 2 months out and commonly again at about 5 months out. A stall is a period of time when your weight loss slows or stops completely BUT you continue to drop inches as your body resettles a bit. For this reason, it is very important that you measure yourself from very early on--preferably starting before your weight loss surgery so that you know where you actually started at and are documenting your whole loss in inches. There is a great chart at http://www.thinnerself.com/files/Expect_Chart-Inches-BP-52.htm that can be useful in keeping track of your measurements. Before pictures (full body) are also an important tool in staying inspired during these periods of stalled weight loss. If you have good "before" pictures, you can take current pictures and compare the two. While a "stall" is a period of slowed or stopped weight loss with continued dropping of inches, a "plateau" is a period of longer than 4 weeks during which you lose no weight and no inches are lost either. Plateaus can last a couple of months or several months, but are most commonly experienced by people who are much farther out from surgery and are much closer to their final goal weight. It is thought by some that your body may actually plateau when it reaches a weight that you've sustained for some length of time in your past... Most post-ops who've experienced a plateau will tell you that the only way to break it and get your weight loss restarted is to increase your protein, increase your fluid intake, and really kick up your exercise method/routine. Some will tell you that getting "back to basics" is the way to end a plateau--a week of clear liquids, followed by a week of full liquids, etc, working your way back up through the food phases from those weeks immediately following your surgery. But, as is always true after WLS, your protein and liquid intake are key.
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