honeymoon period

The honeymoon period is in your head and it lasts until you cave.

If you eat right, it can last forever.  If you eat sugars and grains, it's over when you finally get tired of counting calories and start giving into them.

The simple rule: Sugar feeds the impulse for more sugar.  You'll never beat sugar at it's own game.  The only victory is through avoidance.

This has actually been a very helpful thread to me as it's a reminder that letting snacks, sugar, etc., creep in is NOT a good thing. I'm not sure that I believe in a honeymoon phase so much as a novelty phase -- oh my gosh, look how much weight I'm losing! You can keep that excitement going by enjoying all the new milestones ... and those last a lifetime.

Love this thread!!

This is a very helpful thread.. I'm only a little over 2 months past surgery, and I am still in that phase where I step on the scale every few days, and a few more pounds are gone, and it just feels very good.  It does concern me as to what will occur when that slows down.  I do think about portion sizes a lot.  I do, at times, find my portions a bit bigger than they were at the very beginning of this process, but honestly they are still minuscule compared to what I was eating pre-surgery, and my body definitely tells me when I've eaten more than I should (the pain and discomfort is really bad.)  I know that this is a lifetime decision, so I'm treating it with that kind of respect and dedication, but I also know that there are probably temptations to be taken pretty seriously too.  Threads like these are really helpful to be mindful of where the process leads us, what we have to be cautious of.  Fortunately (now at least) I've totally lost my taste for sweets (I never really was much of a sweets person in the first place) but they do nothing for me now - I hope that processed sugar never enters my life again - that would be nice :-)  Thanks for the thread, it's very helpful to read.

This is the way I understand what the term "Honeymoon Period" means....

It means when WL is the "easiest".

When is that time? Generally the first 6 months.

Why? a number of reasons:

- It's exciting

- Most can't really eat that much of anything

- Commitment and compliance is at it's highest

- Our percentage of excess fat is highest and we naturally burn more calories even while sedentary.

 

"Most" everyone will lose less weight the second 6 months, even the vigilant ones mainly because at 6 months we have lost a tremendous about of weight, between 50-150lbs. with most between 75 and 100lbs.

Our bodies are running way more efficient and were not carrying the extra weight we lost and we burn less calories.

 

Now combine that with:

- Increased capacity

- Less commitment and compliance

- Some plans/nuts actually encourage an increase in calories (really, does that make any sense?)

 

The single most common question I get is.... "I'm six months out and WL has come to a crawl"

Are you doomed? ..... nope, you can only doom yourself. Stay on it and you can do it. I watched Jimbo lose 350lbs. in 2 years, he had his Honeymoon period and stayed with it.

The biggest problem these days with the VSG is that there are many more liberal surgeries and plans shooting for 60%EWL as success.

 

My interpretation is that the Honeymoon Period is just a natural occurrence or there would be people that would have linear WL all the way to goal. Ever heard of a person losing the last eighteen pounds in one month?

 

The biggest problem I’ve seen is lot’s of plans now are 1000-1200 cals. and when WL slows/stops, it’s very hard to cut back to 6-800

 

You can believe this or not..... it’s up to you to find out for yourself. There is a VERY high percentage of people that lose weight for the first 6 months and that’s it......

frisco

Good post!  My program was 1000 going up to 1200 and I was a revision.  I lost all but the last 18/20 in 8 months.  That last 20 took 8 more months.   Than I still lost a few more.

The weight loss honeymoon phase is probably the first 6-12 months. However, I was luckier than some and I didn't struggle to lose the last few pounds, and actually struggled a bit in stopping the weight loss when I wanted to. I consistently lost around 3 pounds a week all the way to goal. I finally accepted my body would be fine at a lower weight and went with the flow, so to speak. I still feel like I'm in a "honeymoon" phase though because I feel SO much better now than I did when I weighed 130 pounds more! I feel like me now, if that makes sense.

Thanks everyone for the helpful posts! I have always been curious about this. Currently I'm 218lbs, with a goal to be at 200lbs by then end of December. I would like to be at 175lbs by my 1st year post op surgery date in May. I'm such a slow loser that I tend to underestimate my weight loss, but I think these are both obtainable goals for me.  Coming into this I didn't expect to lose all my weight super quick but more at a timely pace. I just didn't want to get my hopes up and fail. Currently, I'm down  a total of  80lbs since January with about 60lbs attributed to surgery in May.