McButterpants

I was lucky enough to have two doctor's appointments this week - my three month follow up with my local bariatric doctor and my PCP. I lamented to my bariatric doctor about my stall. How I haven't lost anything in the past 18 days. I was kind of whiney about it. She just looked at me like I grew a 2nd head. She said, "You're going great. You've lost a total of 50 pounds. What was your expectation?" I got to thinking about that - really, what number was going to make me happy? If it was 53 pounds would I automatically to over the happy side? What about 63 pounds, is that the magic number? She pointed out all the good things going on - lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, my ability to walk seemingly forever pain-free, my increased energy level, etc. All good stuff, right? So why am I so hard on myself about the number on the scale. She asked how often I'm weighing - I'm back to weighing every day. She told me to stop that, but I weighed again today. The best thing she said about my weight was this - "If you graph your weight loss, the line won't be linear, it's going to be more of stair step." And you know, she's right. I graphed my weight loss to date and it looks like stair steps. This morning I went to my PCP whom I haven't seen since late-October, about 2 weeks before surgery. Her jaw dropped when she saw me. She cannot believe the difference in my appearance. Then we started going over the labs and she was amazed. She actually said "You are glowing! You look happy. Your eyes are clear and bright. The transformation is amazing." Sometimes we get so hard on ourselves because we're not losing a the rate in which we think we should. "I'm a slow loser!" "So-and-so is losing so much faster than me!" We need to STOP! This is marathon, not a sprint. I didn't get to 256 pounds overnight, I'm certainly not going to lose it overnight. Sometimes it's good to step back and look at things from a different angle.

I'm sorry you're going thru this right now. You're right this should be a safe place to bring things up. So, my suggestion for you - get back to basics. Do those things you know worked in the beginning. For me, that would be 2 Protein shakes/supplements per day and 3 meals with 2-3 ounces of protein and a few bites of veggies. Log your food on myfitnesspal or whatever app you want to use - be honest and track everything that crosses your lips. Focus on getting Water in. If you're not exercising and are able to, WALK - it's not only good for your body, it's good for your mind. If you're open to getting counseling, do it. If not, find a support group or a good friend that you can confide in - sometimes just talking things thru helps clear things in your mind. Most importantly, be kind to yourself. Treat yourself like you would a friend - do not get down on yourself or tear yourself down with negative self talk. You have enough "negative" going on in your life now - be positive. I wish you good things.

I have the FitBit Flex (I purchased the month before they announced the release of the Force). I used to have a One. I love it, love it, love it. There are articles that I have read that state that FitBit is one of the more accurate monitors out there, but nothing is full proof. The steps are pretty accurate, but know that when you ride a bike, it will calculate steps - I take it off when I ride and I manually enter the activity. I use it as a baseline for activity - when I first got the FitBit One years ago I wore it for a few days and realized I was only getting in about 4000 steps per day. I made my goal the next week to do 5000 steps, then up from there. I figured even if it wasn't calculating my milage correctly, I can track my steps accurately. I don't synch with MFP - I log all my food on FitBit and it's a great tracker. I have not issue with MFP, I just started with FitBit and chose to log there.

I've been telecommuting in some form for 15 years - the last 8 have been full time. Most days I consider myself very fortunate - I don't have to drive to work, I get to go to work with my dog every day, I'm here when my son goes to school and comes home, there is a certain amount of freedom. There are drawbacks - you miss the proverbial Water cooler and it's easy to be "forgotten"...out of side out of mind. YOu miss the joking around the office. You can get passed up on promotions. Then there's the "I roll out of bed and start working syndrome" - I really let myself go when I started telecommuting full time. There are days where I don't shower until 5:00 PM and perhaps don't put on real clothes - my work attire can be a t-shirt and yoga pants and no one knows. This makes it easier to not notice the pounds creeping on and let yourself go. Now that I've been fairly successful at losing weight, I realize I need to be accountable for cleaning myself up and putting on big girl pants!

Walking was the only thing that helped the gas pains for me - I walked every hour on the hour. Gas-X didn't help because it was the gas they pumped into me that was causing the pain. It will be gone soon - hang in there, it will get better.

I telecommute full time - I had surgery on Thursday and was back to work 1/2 days on Monday. I probably could have done full days, but it was nice to not be pinned down to an actual 8 or 9 hours. I was able to nap, take walks, etc.

Not sure - you can go to his member page and look at his activity to try to find the thread your looking for. He has a lot of activity so be patient if you go that route. Here are a couple more articles that may help as well. http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/weight-loss-plateau.html http://www.builtlean.com/2012/05/22/weight-loss-plateau/

Here are some things I do if I need to add some carbs: Add some fat-free refried beans - maybe 1-2 tablespoons to a lunch. I make my shakes with 1% milk instead of water. I add some low-glycemic fruit to my shakes (strawberries, berry mix or peaches) - about 1/4 cup. I might have a Carb Balance Tortilla shell with dinner. Add some low-glycemic veggies to dinner - broccoli or cauliflower.

I had my 3 month follow up with my doc this afternoon. I was kind of dreading the appointment - I'm in a stall and I'm feeling a bit down. I haven't lost weight in 18 days...well, I've been playing with the same pound for the past week or so. So, here's what we discussed: 1. My weight loss is 49 pounds down since I first went to her (she is my local doc - I traveled out of the area for surgery, so her numbers are a bit different than mine). She is really happy with rate at which I'm losing; I said I wish I could feel really good about the rate. I want to lose it faster. She said the if you were to graph your loss, it wouldn't be linear, to expect more of a stair step. Lose, plateau, lose plateau, lose, plateau. Wash rinse repeat. 2. We talked about my brain and my want for faster loss. She encouraged me to go to the support group offered by the hospital. I know this, I just haven't made the effort to go. She also said I might want to think about counseling - It's probably not a bad idea. 3. My body fat percentage has reduced a little since my last visit 4 weeks ago. I've lost a little lean muscle mass, but not much. She wasn't concerned on either account. 4. She said I look a lot smaller and reminded me of the other signs of health NOT related to the scale. My clothes are looser - the jeans I bought just after Christmas are falling off. My blood pressure is lower than it's been in a really long time (112/75) and I've reduced my cholesterol by 30 points since November. She also reminded me that sometimes muscles will retain Water to help recover...something we should all keep in mind - water retention can affect us by 3-5 pounds in a day! 5. We talked about the hair loss again - she said it should stop around the 6 month mark. She reminded me that whatever I lose due to the surgery will grow back. Be patient. 6. Stop weighing every day!!!! Weigh once per week at the most. 7. She's happy with my exercise - I've been doing 60-75 minutes 5-6 days per week. I need to add weight training. I have some aversion to weight training for some reason - I really need to get on that. So, it was a good visit. I have some things to work on, mostly with my brain.

1000 calories is good, I think - I'm between 800-1100. The protein/carb mix you mention above seems a bit off, but that's just me. I would aim for a little more Protein and cut the carbs a bit. I think we all need to play with our individual numbers until we find a good fit - we're all different, we all burn calories differently. Good luck!

I'm doing about 50/day sometimes more. My Protein goal is 80-85 grams per day. I'm working out a lot, so if I limit them, I don't feel good. My body likes me to be around 50 per day

Hi there. Is this what you're looking for? http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html#.UwOFOxZCddg

From your mouth to God's ears!!!!!!!! LOL

I started losing at 2 months, a lot of people start losing at 3 and it can last thru month 6. There are lots of opinions why this happens - some say it's a by product of the surgery itself, others say it's because of low Vitamins or Protein. There are also lots of theories on how or even if you can remedy the hairloss. Do a search on this forum and you'll find hundreds of threads about this. My doctor said whatever I lose due to the surgery will grow back. She OK'd taking Biotin and Folic Acid. I use Nioxin shampoo. I also use a product called Toppik to cover up the thinning spots. I also concentrate on getting my protein minimum every day.

I was able (and advised by the nurses in the hospital) to sleep on my side on the first night.. sleeping on my back was uncomfortable.

Monkey Butt for sure. I went shorter and it helped a little. Some days I'm alarmed at the amount of hair that comes out when I shower. Then, like a good denier of the truth, I quickly stop thinking about it!!!!! My hairstylist says she can see new growth and I can see some up front, but OMG, I'm still losing. My hair lost started right at month 2...I'm at 3 months now. I hope it stops soon.

My first stall was for 10 days between weeks 3 and 4. 2nd stall was for 12 days in weeks 11 and 12.

I drank copious amounts of decaf green tea!!!!! Also, drink lots of Water to keep the hunger at bay. The first few days are going to suck - I think I started feeling better around day 4 and human on day 5. Knowing that will help - it's going to be hard at first, then you get used to it. This is a means to an end. You're going to do great!

This was interesting for me after surgery - I don't have the sensation of needing to pee like I did pre-surgery. I'm three months out and it's still the same. I don't know if pressure has been taken off my bladder or what. Right after surgery, I couldn't feel the sensation at all - I've gotten it back since then, just not the same as before.

Propel Zero or Vitamin Water Zero - I can't stomach plain water since surgery. Some days I can do water with two packets of Just Orange.

I was allowed 2 tablespoons of egg the day after surgery and it took about 30 minutes to eat that. Ugh - that's a long time to eat 2 tablespoons of food! On my Weeks 2-4 diet, I allowed myself 30 minutes to eat. If I wasn't finished with it, I stopped anyway. I didn't want to eat thru the restriction. Many days in that timeframe I wasn't able to get to my minimum Protein without a shake. My doc thinks shakes are OK to continue - at 3 months out, without a shake, I wouldn't get to my minimum protein very often.

Wow! I can tell you're a strong person - I admire that. Going thru this alone is amazing to me. I hope you reconsider telling your husband - if something happens or if there are complications, your husband will have to cope with the fact you kept this from him while potentially making decisions for you. That's a lot to ask - I know complications are rare, but they do happen and we all need to prep for them. Best of luck to you!

I have a desk job and I telecommute from home full time - not taxing on the body at all. I had my surgery on a Thursday and went back 1/2 days the following week. It was nice because I could stop, take a nap or just take a break. The following week I went back full time - it was OK, but I did get tired very easily. By the following week I was good to go full time.