This week I met someone who had under gone a gastric bypass. She has lost 120 pounds and would like to lose another 20. Its been 8 months. She told me that the doctors told her that she would lose 90% of what she would ever lose during the first 8 months. She's a little disappointed because her weightloss has stopped.
I am at the weight now (198) that I was at the 8 month point. I've gained and lost 8-10 pounds over the past 6 months and have not been able to maintain at the lower end even though I've remained essentially on induction level carbs and for the past several months I've tried to keep my calories lower 1400-1600. I'm wondering if there is something to the 8 month window for all weightloss. If I'd known, I would have been more vigilant during those early days, especially if I'm destined not to lose anymore.
What do you guys think?

Fishie, I think that while that may well be true for the gastric bypass surgery, it is NOT true for this way of life. We have folks here who have been following the low carb way of life for more than two years, had significant weight to lose, and have been losing slowly but surely the entire time they've been on this way of life.

I think some of us get discouraged after being low carb for quite awhile and seeing slow losses. I'm a very slow loser, but I feel so much better because I'm eating better than I ever have, so I'm sticking to lc just for the health benefits alone. I know I'll eventually lose the rest of this weight, I just have to be patient with myself. After all, I'm very short and I'm over 50 so I can't expect miracles to happen as quickly as they did in my youth.

Here's to you kiddo - enjoy all of this delicious food we have on this way of eating and let your body balance itself out.

shortstuff

I had gastric bypass surgery in 1999. I heard it was a year, not 8 months. And it's a general idea, not a set in stone, concrete rule. And it's not that you can't lose more after, it's just that statistically, most don't. That's a subtle, but huge difference.

The problem with statistics is that sometimes we think they mean there is a cause & effect relationship when there is really only a correlation.

So it's probably not that after 8 months the gastric bypass (or low carb diet) stops working, but it's probably other reasons that co-incidentally generally happen around the eight month mark that cause the weight loss to slow. Like boredom with dieting, or stalls, or decreases in metabolic rates resulting from months of low-calorie eating (starvation mode if you will) or loss of motivation or a failure to continue to cut food or increase exercise to compensate for a lower metabolic rate due to a much lower body weight.

I know for me, I didn't know about or understand the insulin/fat storage/blood sugar/hunger connection (circle) after my surgery. So, while I lost 120 lbs in 10 months, after that I eventually started to have a few more treats, sugar etc, not knowing that I wouldn't be able to control them and that it would trigger the carb monster again. 4 years later, I'd regained 80 of those 120 lbs, just from being addicted to carbs again. I was still not able to eat as much as I could before surgery, but I could eat a normal sized meal and that was all it took. It's not that I couldn't have kept losing after my 10 months, I think I could have if I hadn't had thought I could have a few extra sweets and that triggered my carb addiction again.


Valerie

Valerie and Shortstuff, thank you so much for your insight. It all makes sense. I definitely wasn't posting because I was considering going off this WOE, I'm way too commited and I know I would re-gain all the weight if I did. I guess I was just wondering if in fact there was a limit to how long you would continue to lose weight. One thing I haven't done is increase exercise, in fact I hardly exercise at all, so that very well could be why I am stalled in the this range. Thank you both for responding to this query.

I think attitude has something to do with losing too. I have been stalled for months now, gaining and losing the same 3 or 4 pounds. I have been careful to keep a food diary, so I know that I haven't been eating too many carbs. However, my attitude was terrible. "OH, poor me, I work so hard and don't lose, while my husband and daughter lose so easily!" last week I decided to lighten up and have a more positive attitude. I lost 4 pounds this week, with no other change (same number of carbs, exercise, and percentages of fat, carb and protein.) I don't know why it worked, but I'm happier, and so is my family.

There might be a limit, where your body settles naturally, but I think if you have spent considerable time overweight, the body has to figure that out over time, as well as letting your metabolism heal.

I didn't get to the weight number I wanted (I was headed for 135, but I've been 147 for months) however, I wanted to get into a size 12, and made it into a size 10. Which is a better deal, of course.

Another year of eating low carb, and I may lose more. I don't know at this point, but I think with continued eating right, moderate exercise, and maybe some relaxation about the process, there's no reason to think one has stopped losing if there are still reasonable amounts left to lose.

Have been reading journals here for more than a year, I remember literally hundreds of members who lost/lose even after 12-18-24 months. I know that this forum is not a scientific research group, but I think the sample is big enough to question this 8 month rule.

(Atkins mention that the average weightloss is 10 of the excess weight during induction, then 5%/month - it means an average of 18 months.)

The eight month rule... Is that anything like the seven year itch? Seriously, I think Valerie is correct in saying that coincidentally people have difficulty losing weight after the first eight months on a program, for a variety of reasons.

I really notice that my weight comes off in starts and fits, and it takes me a long time to settle in to each new plateau. Each time I think I'm not going to lose anymore, suddenly I'll drop a pound or so. And you know what? Its ok that its slow going.

I'm always going to be eating this way since I've made a commitment to this WOL, and unless a truck hits me I've probably got fifty or sixty good years left! So there is plenty of time. Its about your health, its not a race.

And this is ME, the most impatient girl in the world talking! LOL

I think the 8 month window only applies to ones who have gastric bypass surgery....a friend of mine had that done and they told her the weight loss advantage for it has a window of 8-12 months... after that you can stop losing and even gain if you're not careful... I would never get that done... too dangerous and the effects are not permanent.

I don't understand why gastic bypass patients would stop losing after 8-12 months if they are eating small amounts....the body doesn't undo the bypass, after all!

But if you look at my stats I certainly look like someone who had a 6 month "window" to lose relatively easily, and then after that have had to scrap for every pound.

I'd suggest counting calories, it has foiled my stall and I'm losing good again. Stay low carb, but move into OWL and count calories. Yes, I know its a little passe, but heck, the body still responds by losing weight when you limit the calories coming in.

Probably last time I counted calories was a couple decades ago. Everyone has moved onto counting other stuff, points, carbs, fat, but my bod hasn't gotten the message and it is clinging stubbornly to ancient fads.

I was at the 8 month mark last July. My loss has definitely slowed but it is continuing. I have lost another 6 lbs in August. I have 12 lbs to go and I intend to get there. I also think that peri-menopause is jerking me around but it will be over soon.

I don't doubt that low calorie diets work. But I don't feel like that's what I signed up for with Atkins. You can eat low carb, lower cal and technically be on WW. I may do it yet but I think it is a bit misleading. Are the first successful months of low carbing a kind of bridge to get you to the same tedious low cal deprivation that everyone has always recommended?

I don't mean to jump on your advice Nancy. This is just a pet peeve of mine. Does low carbing have a metabolic advantage or not? And if so, does it wear off after an initial phase?

May 1st is my 2 years anniversery on Atkins. I've had stalls that lasted up to 8 months, but I always start losing again. I've lost 6 lbs in the last month. Don't worry, just persevere is my advice. Nyah Levi