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At face value it's because I lost 90 pounds over a looong three years, then stalled for a year despite trying my hardest to break the stall, and then after going on a 1200 calorie diet recommended by my doic I started *gaining* weight back. That was it. I had tried for so hard, and so long, and I feel like I gave losing weight 'on my own' my best attempt and I was sick. Sick of being fat, sick of being undesirable, sick of society not accepting me (my main motivation for losing weight at all, really), sick of chronic knee and back pain... Overall, I'm just over being fat and everything that comes along with it. I'm a big fan of fat acceptance and health at every size, but imo health includes mental health and at my size and my size-based self imposed prison, I was verging on tossing in the towel on life in general. I have a history of depression. I don't think losing weight will fix that by any means, but even though I'm only 5 weeks out I have no regrets and I'm so happy and so relieved that I finally went through with WLS after researching it and skirting around it for 8 or so years. Losing weight may not fix my mental perception of myself, but I'll be happy if it prevents a knee-replacement in the future.

And here I was self-flagellating because I thought I must be either eating too much or too little or just generally have a body that doesn't want to lose weight. I'd never heard of the three week stall, but I'm in the midst of it. I'm 4wks post op tomorrow and I've fluctuated between losing and gaining a kilo in the last fortnight. That said, I do notice tiny changes in my body ie my sports crop top that was once nearly cutting me in two is now comfortable bordering on being too loose. I'm glad I kept scrolling through this and thank you to the original poster for posting this!!! I just hope my body gets a grip on itself and starts to pull the finger out. I've ramped up my cardio and plan to start weights this weekend (baby weights, not Arnie weights!!!). You all have given me hope that I'm not going to stay this weight. Yay! Cheers RozzieJ

You were lied to. The three weeks stall is infamous. What can you do? Be patient. That's it.

So I was looking through your posts and you have this great topic posted on the 30th of July that says 4.5 months out - 80 pounds down. That means that you lost over an average of 4 pounds a week! That's incredible. Can you blame your body for needing some time to adjust? =) Stalls are crazy difficult things. I had a 3 week one when I was only 3 weeks out and I thought I was failing at another weight loss journey. Then one day it started moving again, simple as that. I think yours will be the same. Look through your nutrition records - are you getting in all your protein still? All your water? Are you creeping up on calories? I think the gastric sleeve is definitely for you. You didn't gain the weight over a six month period - to expect to lose it all that quick is not only not as healthy as losing slower, but you would have tons of loose skin! Do you measure? Are you losing inches in these three weeks? Maybe your skin is tighter than you'd be with RNY. Maybe you're healthier, have less vitamin deficiencies. Three weeks feels like forever, but in the scheme of things, it's really not. You are doing amazing. Don't give up.

I had my surgery almost a year ago, so I can share a little about what you are going through. There is a normal stall around 3 to 5 weeks out from surgery. It will last about 2 weeks. You have to remember, this is around the time when you are adding regular food for the first time. Your body is trying to adjust. You are in monitored starvation, you'll start losing again. To give a little of my background, I was 261.5 on July 24th, 2012, when I had the sleeve. In three weeks I had gone down 22 pounds and went from a size 24 to a size 18. The weight continued to go down an average of 11 lbs a month. I am now 80 lbs down without much exercising. (I am gone almost 13 hours a day with my job and have little time at home). My doctor told me when I hit 180 I would hit a wall. He was correct, but I think it is more that I was grazing a little and therefore, eating more. I have backed off of doing that and am losing again. I did not gain any weight while doing this, but did not lose either. My goal is 150, so I have 30 lbs left to lose. Most think I have lost enough, but I am 5'9" and 150 is not an unreasonable goal for me and I see the poochy abdomen and flabby tops of my thighs that could use a little weight loss. I am now down to a regular (not women's) 14 and love shopping for clothes (to my husband's dismay). This past year has been like winning the lottery. It has been a wonderful journey and I would do this again in a heartbeat. Don't despair about the stalls, they are a part of the process - learn the process and you will do well. Determine that you will NEVER go back to the way you were. Enjoy discovering the new you!

MANY people have a bit of a stall when transitioning from pureed food to solid food when they're about three weeks out. Google "Bariatric Surgery Three Week Stall". It's super common, and super disheartening. But don't be overly concerned! It's normal and if it happens, you're not necessarily doing anything wrong. Our bodies have amazing defense mechanisms developed over thousands of years to prevent starvation. When our calories suddenly dip very low we hormonally and metabolically adjust to maintain our weight as much as we can....so...ya know...we don't starve to death. And yes, this defense mechanism SUCKS for weight loss. But the good news...is that if we stay the course....and stick to our plans consistently...eventually, we do overcome it and the scale starts moving again. I promise. Dthomas....if you're not exceding your calorie goal, if you're journaling what you eat and choosing good food...your mind IS right. Your body is just throwing you a curve ball as a defense against starvation. It's temporary! Stick to your eating plan. Have patience. And have realistic expectations. Most folks are not going to have the 50 pound losses you see on My 600 Pound Life in a few weeks. Also...losing a job and the financial crunch it brings... can be really discouraging and depressing. Exercise really will help you, even if it's just walking a few miles a day. Hang in there. It gets better.

I had 2 stalls...One at 3 weeks, and one at 6 weeks. Each time, I slowly increased my calorie count, and the stall broke. I am at 850-1,000 calories now and losing about 2-3 pounds per week on average. Stalls suck, I know. However, this is a chance for your body to catch up with all of the physical and hormonal changes you have gone through. Keep doing what you are doing and the stall will eventually break. In the meantime, you should still be losing inches. Also, stay off of the scale if it helps. That evil thing has caused me to binge on many occasions pre-surgery. Two or three weeks of staying the same weight or gaining weight can reek havoc on your mindset. Stay strong my friends.

Let me start by saying I know stalls are normal. I know it won't drop off over night. I know this is a process, and I must trust it. But I can't help thinking that I might be doing something wrong here?? I am 7-8 weeks post op, and since my three week stall 😞 I will lose half a pound, then stay that weight for a week or longer, then loose half a pound, then stay that weight. This has been happening for over a month, and it is so frustrating! I haven't seen anyone else have something similar to this happen. The only thing on my plan that I haven't completely 100% followed is working out consistently. I walk as much as I can, daily, but haven't gotten to really do weights or anything because I have no idea what I am doing in the gym (meeting with a free consultation to get a better grip on what they have and what is what at the gym tonight) Could not weight lifting really cause this though?

My cycles have been all over the place since surgery 5 months ago. They'd gone wonky over the last two years so I knew I was in perimenopause, but they seem to be even wonkier. At one point I spotted for two weeks. I also seem to get very short and light periods every three weeks rather than four. Then suddenly I once had a brief burst of heavy flow. I figure that this is perimenopause mixed with post-surgical/ weight loss hormone fluctuations. I haven't done a good job of tracking correlations of stalls and cycles, though. I hope you get yours and drop some weight soon. It sounds like you're doing great!!!

It's a common thread I see running around this forum.. people asking why they didn't do this years ago. I'm even young and I'm finding myself asking the same thing. Though I'm only 25.. I wish I would have done it at 18 or 20.. admittedly, maybe I wasn't ready then.. maybe I still needed time.. especially because part of my story is finding out at 24 that I had bipolar II without the usual "standard" symptoms of women docs normally see in their 20's so I was very hard to diagnose and went through a period of about three years where I alienated everyone but my very closest friends because I was so hard to be around -- with a low of winding up needing to be admitted to a psych ward to get it all figured out. I definitely learned who my friends were (and who, surprisingly, weren't...) I am also social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and depression.. so I spent the last year and a half in counseling trying to get my mental self to match the well-put together self I present to the world thanks to years of being on stage growing up. I learned to show myself as put together - graduating magna cum laude and being responsible even if I was falling apart inside. So I needed to deal with all of that first before I felt ready to confront my weight. But finally I was ready. It started about 1 year ago. I had been feeling bad about my weight for a while. I was overweight during my childhood. My grandmothers both grew up during the Great Depression.. so for them.. giving me food was the same as giving me love.. especially high calorie foods. For them eating wasn't about hunger.. it was about enjoyment and thankfulness to have food to eat. (One was thin, one was overweight). But from them I learned to love all the wrong types of food and to love them in gigantic portions.. My stomach was already way stretched by the time I was 7 or 8. I remember weighing 85 pounds in 2nd grade because we did a math thing where we all weighed in front of the class. There was only one student, a boy, who weighed more.. during school I dealt with a lot, I mean a LOT of bullying because I was mature and just different - I'd rather read a book or write a story than go out for recess and I was reading Romeo and Juliet while they were reading Junie B Jones (For the Record I like her too even though she's a huge spoiled brat). Basically I had a generation gap with my peers since my parents were born in the late forties and early fifties and their parents were much younger.. so I was already -extremely- bullied. I didn't make my first non-internet friends until college.. and those were some of the people I found out weren't true blue friends when I went through my emotional break down a couple of years ago... So yeah.. and it didn't help that I was overweight.. that was just something else to give them to make fun of me about. As it turned out.. even though I wasn't doing even as good as I am now in therapy one year ago.. I was doing better than I had been in years and that gave me time and energy to turn my thoughts to the weight I'd been unhappy to be carrying around for years. Before college it bothered me.. but I didn't think about it a lot.. it was in early college when I hit 200 and started having trouble finding clothes that would fit me in your typical stores both like Macy's but also stores that people my age like - Aeropostale, Am. Eagle etc.. that I started to have a personal crisis about my weight and be super unhappy with it. Shopping became my least favorite thing because it was an exercise in taking whatever would fit rather than whatever I liked. And by a year ago I had started to notice I couldn't do or keep up with the same types of activities most people my age do. I love showing my dog Riff in conformation and was learning that I couldn't keep up with her jogging on our down and back (jogging beside the dog so the judge can see his or her movement properly) and that getting on my knees to present her not only hurt but was nearly impossible. I started to be even more unhappy because I couldn't do the hobbies I loved that people my age are doing. And in the meantime for the past 5-10 years I'd been trying every diet known to man.. I didn't feel like any of them were sustainable for a life time because I was unhappy with them. And rather than yo-yoing I just didn't lose. Didn't matter how well I stuck to a diet, I'd find myself losing maybe 5 pounds in 7 or 8 months of hard work.. and finally I gave up.. I was near the point of accepting I was just going to be overweight forever and that was how it was going to be. I knew my issues - I don't eat for emotional reasons, I don't eat when I'm not hungry.. but my stomach was super stretched from years of eating too much and I like big portions and the wrong kinds of things. I could go and polish off a huge plate of food enough for three meals and feel "Just about right" and I didn't have the self control to starve while I waited on my stomach to shrink naturally.. I just couldn't do it. I had heard things about gastric bypass that made me say no way never.. things like "You'll never be able to have any sugar again." or "You'll never be able to have fried foods again." While I'm happy to make lifestyle changes, things like "Never again" aren't something I'm capable of. So I ruled out surgery for a long while. Finally, a year ago I looked into it again and read about gastric sleeve for the first time.. and it was a fit.. not as serious as gastric bypass.. less prone to things like dumping syndrome.. and all about moderation rather than "never agains" more healthy choices.. less bad ones.. but I didn't have to promise I was never eating Pasta or never having a fried chicken leg again - which was something I knew I couldn't agree to. There was less risk of serious complications and it was a plan I thought I could actually live with and be happy and it went right to the root of my issue - shrink my stomach so I can get used to a normal portion size again without having to starve. Something I haven't had since I was 6-7 years old. Within two days of researching I was ready to commit. But of course getting my medicaid to pay for the surgery wasn't as easy as deciding I wanted it - even though I looked over the qualifications and knew I met them - I still had a lot of hoops to jump through. In October I started my 6 month phys supervised diet which only convinced my doctor and I that I needed the surgery even more. I ate 1500 calories a day and walked my dog most days for 30+ minutes (which was a significant step down from what I had been eating and step up from my sedentary lifestyle) and lost only 11 pounds in all that time. And part of it came back! Getting cleared psychologically was a battle too. They wanted a psychiatrist who didn't know me to evaluate me even though my own had already sent a letter of approval.. and the psychiatrist who I did see didn't really want to clear someone who was bipolar.. it was a battle, but finally I got cleared. That by itself took over two months and delayed my surgery which should have been in March 2016. I also had to have blood work, a number of physician check ups by my program's docs and so on. But finally all the hard work paid off.. on the first submission to insurance, I was approved within a week! How excited was I! And my surgery was set for May 31st 2016. However, the roller coaster wasn't over.. I had little contact with my bariatric program from the get go... they share a department, nurses, etc with general surgery.. so calling to talk to someone there is always a nightmare.. it's a 30 minute wait to get a human on the phone, calling to talk to a nurse means a 5 hour or more wait for a call back.. and it also means a very unpersonalized approach.. they're so busy and have so many people through their program that they want everyone to be a cookie cutter mold and don't want to offer people any individualized advice because "others in the program might want the same advice." Well number one - others in the program shouldn't know what -I- discuss with my doctors so how could they want it and number two healthcare isn't supposed to be about squeezing people into a mold and making the exact same treatment work for everyone... so I began to be unhappy with my program from early on.. especially when their psychiatrist and my psychiatrist got into a fight over the phone about whether I was going to get cleared. Their psychiatrist had met me only once and knew nothing about my case history while my own psychiatrist has been working with me for about a year and half.. who do you think was more qualified to say if I was stable or not? But aparently their program couldn't understand that.. However.. I was stuck.. Medicaid wanted me in state and this program was the closest to me and already an hour and a half away.. the only other options were double or triple that commute time (Chicago). So I just kinda had to stick with it.. I've gone on to be further disappointed by them at numerous occasions - namely when my surgeon said that Water aerobics is a joke of an exercise program and only for people who can't do anything else and that I couldn't hit my weight loss goal of 130 pounds doing water exercise of any kind (there's a thread floating around about that). Clearly he's never taken a hard core water exercise class or he would know that is so not true. I took my first one Friday and I was sweating in the water! Finally I did get to have my surgery though! Before surgery I had an 800 calorie diet for two weeks focusing on Protein and lean meats and veggies and reasonable on carbs. It wasn't too hard of a diet to follow beyond getting hungry because my stomach was huge. Surgery day came but I was excited rather than nervous. especially because all of us May 31st sleevers from the forum (there was about 10 of us) made a facebook group so we could keep in touch and that really helps to have other people who are exactly where I'm at in the recovery stage. I didn't have much trouble recovering from surgery. I never had any gas pain and even though I was in pain in general the first three days they gave me lots of morphine and kept me very comfortable. While my program as a whole is somewhat disappointing - I do have to say that the nurses who took care of me in the hospital couldn't have been better. They helped me walk. They helped me get up to go to the bathroom and helped me adjust positions in bed since I needed help doing all that for the first 2-3 days. I brought my laptop to the hospital with me and spent time here on the forums and doing other stuff I like -- even played some Sims. My recovery was uncomplicated and three days later I was able to go home. My internal swelling went down fast and by a week out I was so sick of liquids that I couldn't help but try a little puree and it worked just fine to help supplement and keep me from going nuts. One thing that's been very helpful to me is Fairlife Milk. it's heightened protein milk with 13 grams of protein for a cup. I drink it straight and also add it to my Soups. It helps a lot in getting in my 64 oz of liquid and my 60 grams of protein. I've been using an app called Plant Nanny which lets you grow plants based on how much Fluid you consume then you can plant them in your garden and harvest their seeds to get more diverse plants.. it makes drinking at least slightly more fun. I also wear a fitbit flex and it's synced with My Fitness Pal. I log my calories on MFP and my exercise syncs there from my fitbit automatically and tells me if I've earned extra calories from exercise (though I rarely use those). I was never given a calorie goal to shoot for but I set a goal of 800 for myself based on the pre-opp diet and what I can eat and get in 60 grams of protein without feeling too stuffed/ too deprived. I'm on my own for a lot of it because I've only met with the NUT once for 30 minutes pre-opp about 2 months and I won't see her again until in July so... I just read and do the best I can. So yeah I'm 3 full weeks out from surgery on Tuesday and also down 20 pounds since May 18th (the start of my pre-opp liver diet). I faced the three week stall at about week 2 instead of three and I was down to a new low for the first time in a week today so I'm hoping that it's broken and I'll have a bit of smooth sailing for a while from here. So.. that's my story so far. I don't know if people post in these to update but.. every once in a while I'll post back and let you guys know how I'm doing.

Hello! I'm 2 months out and I'm experiencing the same thing! I was bypassed 04/04/2019 and since then i've lost lots of weight but the pounds seem to drop all at once for a week or even less and then stall for two or three weeks, then drop a bunch in a week and then stall again for 2-3 weeks. I feel like all the weight i've dropped was in like 2 weeks total and the rest of the 2 months was just stalls. I think it's normal though, as long as we're losing weight in the end. I feel you, though, it's very frustrating. I'm 21 so yeah it may be our age too. Good luck!

Starting weight: 283 Height: 5'8" Starting BMI: 43 Goal: 150ish. I'd be happy with higher if I thought I looked and felt good. I guess it depends on where my body feels comfortable. I have been overweight all of my adult life and really, as long as I can remember. I feel like I've been on some sort of diet forever. The first diet I can remember is at the age of 16, my mother sent me to Weight Watchers. I've been on Jenny Craig, Richard Simmons. I've taken Redux and just about any over the counter "dietary supplement" known to man. I've been able to lose weight with these things but I've never been able to keep the weight off and the pounds usually bring a few friends back with them. It's really amazing when I look in the mirror. I don't think I look that bad, but when I see photos of myself I am shocked at how big I look. I'm ashamed of what I look like. I am looking foreward to the day when I have the lap band as a tool to help me keep on track. I was born with a condition known as congenital hip dysplasia (my hips weren't formed right and were dislocated). I'm told that I'm lucky to be able to walk, but I had a good doctor as a child and with many surgeries, I'm whole again. It's hard for me to participate in high impact exercise, but I walk, ride bicyle, swim and try to keep active. I enjoy reading and music. My favorite author is Stephen King. My husband and I own a travel trailer and do a lot of camping in the summer time. That keeps me active with walking and bicycling. I had my surgical consult on 1/14/05 and am currently waiting for insurance approval for adjustable gastric banding. 2/3/05 I got word that my insurance approved me for the lap band. Hooray!. 2/9/05 I've scheduled all my pre-op testing and dietician appointments. They tell me my surgery is scheduled for 4/4/05!. WOW. This is happening faster than I thought. The nurse from the office had told me yesterday that 4/4/05 was a possible date but didn't tell me they were going to schedule it. 02/11/05 I got a letter from my doctor's office and from the hospital advising me that my surgery has been scheduled for 4/4/05. What a way to notify someone. Well, at least it's official. Now the waiting game begins. I'm trying to follow the post banding diet so it won't come as such a shock for me post operatively. I'm "in training" so to speak. I think I find the no drinking with my meals and trying to time my fluid intake around my meals the hardest. 2/23/05 I had my first appointment with the office nurse who does most of the follow ups. She was doing my lap band teaching. All the pre-op, actual operative and post op advice I understood and was prepared for except for one thing. She told me to start eating with a baby spoon and a pickle fork so that I could get accustomed to small bites. I don't even know what a pickle fork is!. Is this something I'll have to do forever? I can't find anywhere on the forums where anyone has been advised this except for other patients of Dr. Duckett. I guess this will just become part of my "in training" whether I feel good about it or not. How am I gonna explain those utensils to my co-workers since I've tried to keep the whole surgery from them to begin with? 2/26/05 Had my consultation with the dietician today. It took 2 hours! Who knew it would take 2 hours to go over food? She made me feel very comfortable and she gave me a lot of hand-outs on the different types of diets should I ever stray. There's even examples of menu's. Although, that's exactly what I've been researching ever since I decided the lap band was for me. I felt very informed going in and very confidant going out. OH, and one more thing. I weighed myself today. I'm down to 272.5!. That's 9lbs gone since I've started trying to follow the lap band diet after my consultation with Dr. Duckett. WooHoo! 3/2/05 I found this on a post tonight and thought that it spoke volumes for my situation. I wanted to save it in case I forgot all the reasons I chose lap band. Once in awhile, someone will come around asking for the reasons why I chose the Band, so I'll compile my reasons here: More natural rate of weight loss: * Minimal sagging skin * No "window of opportunity" * Plenty of time to develop better eating/living habits, including exercise Least invasive surgery: * Lower rate of complications or death * Complications are easier to manage * Quicker recovery time; less painful * No cutting/rearranging of body parts * No changing the natural digestive process * No necessity of taking vitamins or supplements; I can get all I need from food Most innovative technique: * Adjustable for permanent weight-loss aid * Removable, should something more effective become available * "Cool" factor Generous but effective learning curve: * Better eating habits must be adopted from day one - no coasting * Has been labeled as "thinking person's WLS" * No punitive "dumping syndrome"; may eat like a normal person * Ability to drink normally and get in enough water * Safety-net effect; may put weight loss on hold to concentrate on other matters without gaining I never seriously considered RNY. When I heard about the Band, it was like a light bulb going on for me. By the way, I weighed myself again. 270.5! Another 2lbs gone. I don't want to get in the habit of weighing myself more than once a week, but I couldn't help myself, and I stepped on. 3/18/05 I had the upper GI and venous doppler studies today. Man, I felt like I was playing twister on that x-ray table for the upper GI. It was like, "turn left, more left, turn right, more right, now on your stomach, bend your knee, roll over." Venous doppler was a piece of cake other than the goo they use for the ultrasound. It was kind of hard to get all of it off. I haven't lost any more weight, but on the bright side, I haven't gained either. Once I'm banded, my portions will be significantly less and with the liquid diet required, I'm sure I'll get moving again. 4/2/05 I've been on the full liquid diet since 3/30/05. Sometimes I feel like I'm being tortured. I dream about food. Is that sick or what? I feel really sorry for those individuals who have to do this for longer than the 5 days I'm required to follow it. 4/6/05 I'm home and banded. I read about this gas pain, but geez it really is the worst. I'm not nauseated or anything. But the pressure in my chest and upper abdomen feels like I'm having a heart attack sometimes. I try to walk it off, but last night it was even hard to breathe. I'm trying to sip my water and eat a little at a time, but really I'm not hungry. I'm only eating out of fear that I'll get run down and not feel well if I don't. 4/8/05 Feeling better today. I've been up and about the house. The only discomfort I've had is from moving too quickly. I do have an odd sensation of bloatedness. It seems like I have it all the time. I'm trying to learn the language of the band but it's hard when everything feels like different levels of full at this point, even when I'm only consuming liquids. 4/16/05 Feeling back to my old self for the most part. I'm up and around, even starting to feel hungry. I have 2 more days of full liquids then I can move onto pureed. I can honestly say I'm really looking foreward to that as I'm getting tired of soup! I plan on going back to work on 4/18/05 and although I am physically ready, I would like more time off. Who doesn't like being home and relaxing? 4/25/05 Gee, the last week has gone by so fast, I haven't had time to blink let alone update or post. My husband's grandmother passed away on 4/18/05 so, we had to leave for Texas on very short notice. I've been on mushies and let me tell you, traveling on mushies is a difficult task. Especially to Texas where there is GREAT Tex-Mex food available. My husband's family doesn't know I had surgery, so I had to make do. I had some cold cuts, chewed really well and some very well cooked roast beef (also very well chewed). I didn't have any problems with them, other than some extra gas, but I didn't push it and tried to stay with very soft, mushy or even foods that boardered on liquids for the duration of the trip. I got on the scale today, and I've lost 3 more pounds! WOW! I never thought I would because truthfully, I didn't think I was getting enough calories in and I definately wasn't drinking enough. I've also been fortunate enough to have some sort of cold or bronchitis and haven't been feeling up to eating or drinking. I guess, I must have done something right! This journey is so unique. 5/3/05 I had read other member's NSV's but I didn't really realize the significance of them until this morning. I had dressed for work in slacks that zipped on the side. They were loose, but I didn't realize how loose they were until...I had to tinkle and when I went into the bathroom I pulled my pants down. I had absentmindedly thought that I was wearing elastic waistband pants! They came down without any problem and as I sat there, I started laughing, my husband thought I was crazy laughing there on the toilet. This has been on my mind all day and I had to share it because I've read everyone's weight loss in the first few weeks and I felt that my own weight loss was a little slower than others. (I know, we're not supposed to compare ourselves, but it's hard not to) I had resigned myself to being a slow loser. I must be losing inches and because I hadn't measured myself, I'll never know exactly how many inches I've lost. Oh well, I can feel it in my clothes and the way I move. 5/23/05 Just a quick update. Feeling good. The weight is slowly going down. 250.5 today. I think it's been 2 years since I've weighed that. Over the weekend, I cheated a little and had some Doritos. Not a lot, just maybe an ounce or 2. Just the same, shouldn't have had them. Well it's just 1 day along the road. "one day at a time" 6/5/05 I've been 248 for about a week now, just didn't update. Hope to see some more loss soon. I haven't had a fill, so I don't really have much restriction. I follow the diet and I do feel satisfied for about 3 hours. I can't say that I'm hungry a lot or "starving" or anything. Still trying hard to get all my water in every day. 6/10/05 I weighed myself today. 244.5! I've been out of town for work and I've been eating all my meals out. I feel I've made mostly good choices, a lot of grilled chicken salads though. I do log everything I eat in a program I have for my PDA, it's called Balancelog. It's O.K., although I'm sure no program's perfect. I've been staying about 1200 cal or less. :-P once in a great while I'm over, but not by much. I've also been doing better with the water because it's been so hot here. 7/18/05 I haven't updated in a while because I've been stuck for about a month. In fact, after my last post, I gained 4 lbs and had to lose them again. I've been more active with exercising and I've been doing well with my eating habits, but still I was stuck. So...I scheduled a fill. I had to convince the doctor's office nurse first, but I did it. Today was my first fill. It wasn't so bad. The doctor did it under fluoro at the hospital where I had my surgery. BUT, I'm filled to 2.8 or "just under 2.8" according to the doctor. That seems like a lot. I watched the passage of barium through the band and it went through, albeit slowly. The doctor reminded me several times to take it slow and to call anytime, day or night if I have spitting or problems. I'm a little scared. I've been on clear liquids since the fill this morning and haven't had any problems getting those down. I guess I'm just nervous. I've never had a PB and I don't want to. 7/29/05 Oh my God! Yesterday I thought I was going to die. Or at least I wished I had for a time. I've still been on mushies. The doctor told me to take it slow after that fill and I've been ever faithful to those orders mostly out of fear. I had very finely shredded tuna salad and one of those breakstone's creamed cottage cheese with fruit for lunch. It went down fine and I took my time. I had eaten both of those items before and wasn't worried. About an hour and a half afterwards, the pain started. It felt like something was stuck. I started to walk around. I even took a couple sips of water, which I know doesn't usually help but I have found it's kind of instinct. When that didn't work, I kept walking. I walked for nearly a half hour straight, sometimes leaning over a sink hoping and wishing I'd vomit for the pain to go away. I finished my work and got in my car. By this time, an hour had passed and the pain was so bad I could hardly breathe. I called my DH who called the surgeon and told me to get to the ER to be checked. The ER is an hour from my home and I was more than a half hour from my home! That drive home was the most painful torture I have ever experienced. The pain only seemed to get worse and worse. Then, about 2 miles from my house, I felt a "pop" and suddenly the pain and pressure was gone. When I got home, DH and I decided to go to the ER anyway mostly because we were scared. I had never experienced anything this extreme (nor do I again, thank you). The doc checked my band under fluoro and to my amazement, the 2.8cc he said he put in is now down to 2cc and everything is moving just fine, band has not moved. What happened to the 0.8cc? And, what the hell was all that pain? 8/13/05 Gosh how time flies. I didn't really realize that I hadn't updated my profile since "BLACK THURSDAY". I've come to the conclusion that the pain on 7/28 was probably some solid food that I hadn't chewed well enough that had gotten stuck. My Dr. thought maybe I had eaten too fast or swallowed too much air in the process, both viable possibilities. No matter what the cause, I WILL be chewing better and eating slower. I did mushies for a day or 2 after that then continued on soft foods for another week before going back to regular food. I'm doing fine now. I was amazed to find that I can still eat bread, rice, red meat, etc. I really haven't found anything that doesn't go down...yet. I haven't lost any more weight. I'm still at 234.5, but that's o.k. I feel great. I've been kind of bad at getting my water in the last couple of weeks, my work schedule has been weird. I'll get back on track and I'm sure my weight will get moving again. 8/22/05 Been doing O.K. Weighed on Friday. I'm at 232 lbs. I'm doing about a pound a week. I'm very happy with that. I'm in a size 18 comfortably right now. Today, I had to try three pairs of pants to find one that fit well enough to wear to work. The others were so big I looked bad. What can I say, I'm too cheap to buy all new just yet. I think I'm going to have to break down and buy a couple of outfits. I've been telling myself that as I got fat, I also gathered plenty of clothes that got me there. Well, I think I skipped a size or two because I can't find many in size 18 in my closet. Darn, shopping will be such a pain I'm sure. I look back and remember that when I started this journey in January and in the pic below I was in a size 24. In January that size 24 was rather snug. 9/13/05 Feeling pretty good about my weight loss. Still doing the 1-1.5lb loss per week. Went to my monthly support group meeting last night. I realized how lucky I am to be losing steady and to be going along so well. I haven't PB'd, just that "stuck" episode. I tolerate any food I put into my mouth and I have followed my rules pretty well. I try to make good choices most of the time, but I do allow myself treats. I think that's what keeps me happy and on track. I am satisfied with smaller amounts of the things I love. This is exactly what I wanted. I can eat what I want, in moderation and still lose weight. I do track my nutritional and caloric intake nearly daily (I may take a day or 2 off on a weekend, but rarely). And, I don't cheat on that log...I track everything the best that I can. I admit I could be doing better with my exercise. 228lbs. 9/22/05 Although, I generally weigh myself on Friday or Saturday I thought I'd post today because I have plans for the weekend and thought maybe I'd be too busy to post later. The last time I weighed myself I was 225lbs. That's a total of 57lbs gone. I can't say it enough...I am so pleased with my surgery and my weight loss so far. I can't even remember the last time I weighed that. I think it was more than 10 years ago to be honest. I don't feel deprived. I have more energy. My self confidance has gone up. How could it not? So many people have noticed the loss and are making comments. Lap band was the best thing I have ever done for myself and I would do it again in an instant. 10/5/05 Well, I can no longer boast that I have never PB'd. I am not proud of that fact, but here goes...Today at work I started to have that now familiar epigastric pain. I had clam chowder for lunch with a small salad and a breadstick. None of those items were new to me, so I had no fears whatsoever. About an hour after I ate, the pain started. This time I even started to sweat. I figured that I wasn't going to put up with this so...(bulemics beware) I went to the bathroom and put my finger down my throat in hopes to feel better. I only brought up mucous. This only temporarily relieved my pain, so I did this same routine 3 more times. One of those, I did bring up some undigested food. This has not been a pleasant banded day. I'm still uncomfortable, but unless I can't stand the pain I'm not doing it again. I guess it's a jello night. 10/24/05 After the last update, I went to the ER and was kept overnight for dehydration because I couldn't keep anything down. Dr. Duckett took out 1cc from my band the next day. I've been really careful ever since mostly staying with soft foods. I did have a salad over the weekend and felt pretty confidant about it. Today I PB'd again. It was the best PB I've had if that's possible. The pain started, I walked, up it came. All in all it lasted about 10 or 15 minutes. If they were all like that, I would consider it a blessing. Not that I really want them. But that torture of 7/28/05 and 10/5/05 made me want to die. I'm gonna cut this update short because I'm a little sore. I'm down to 223 lbs which is good considering my band is looser than before. 11/24/05. Wow, I forgot to check my profile and hadn't realized how llong it had been. I can remember that time like it was yesterday. I feel like the whole month of October and most of November has been brutal torture for me. I had to keep going back to liquids for one thing or another and I sincerely developed a fear of food. On 11/14/05 when it felt like I was gonna get that pain again I called the doctor's office. I didn't go into a full blown attack, but it was distracting to say the least. I felt like I was eating papaya enzyme tabs like candy in hopes to help digest whatever was the problem (although really how could tomato soup and a bit of tuna salad do that?) Dr. Duckett insisted on seeing me. On 11/17/05 I saw him and he felt that what I was having was esophogeal spasms. I suppose they may have originally been started by something getting stuck, but he felt they were caused by increased stress in my life (which I've been having A LOT of). He gave me a prescription for Valium to help calm those muscles down which I'm only supposed to take when I feel the spasms coming. So far, no more really intense ones since 10/24/05 and 10/25/05 but I fear that and would avoid that with everything in me. I've been doing much better ever since. I do have a little bit of reflux, but I think that may be from eating too late at night. I'm down to 216.5 lbs and very happy with that. I cleaned out my closet and got rid of all of the clothes that were hanging on me. That's a good feeling. 12/28/05 Well, I didn't make it to my unofficial goal of "onederland" by the end of the year but that's O.K. I've lost 69 pounds and am very happy with that. Especially considering the last three months worth of trials I've had, I'm very very happy. October started with a hospitalization for pain and inability to keep liquids down that turned out to be esophageal spasms. November was more of the same then turned into reflux that went on and on which convinced me that my band was slipped. After a long struggle with that reflux, I finally called the doctor who (I think mostly to ease my mind) checked my band under fluoro. All was well. I think he thinks I'm a nervous freak-he told my husband that once my mind was eased I should be just fine. Now, my struggle is HOLIDAY TREATS. I haven't really gained any, but I'm truly shocked. Those darn cookies will be the death of me. 2006 will be good for me. My band is in place, once I'm away from the posessed cookies that call my name I'll be fine with my choices and "onederland" here I come. Only 14 lbs to go. 1/20/05 I've been hesitant to update. Not because I'm not losing weight or anything. I've just been down in the dumps about banding. There have even been times I wish I had the damn thing out of my body. I am SICK and TIRED of having these episodes where I have pain and pressure that goes on and on. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've had it for a whole day in varying degrees. I don't have a clue what causes it. I keep track of everything I eat and NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING that I eat is consistent enough to figure out what causes this. Because the pain comes about an hour to an hour and a half AFTER I've eaten I can't say whether it's because I've eaten too fast or not chewed well enough. All I can say is that I try to pay attention at each meal, mostly out of fear. I'm averaging one of these "spasms" about once every two weeks. The doctor says it's consistent with esophageal spasms. Well, FIX IT! I'm tired of having them. I'm losing weight, but not necessarily the right way. Basically I'm starving. I'll eat normally for a week or two, then WHAMO! smasm and then it's nothing to eat for a day (or 2) but maybe tea then slowly work back up to solid foods again. 211lbs 1/30/06 Here I am, still suffering to a certain extent. A couple days after that last entry, I got fed up with the poor answer from my band surgeon to "seek counseling". I started considering the possibility that maybe these attacks were not related to my band. I saw a doctor for a second opinion and found out that I have gall stones. All of these months, at least since October, I have been suffering with gall bladder attacks. I am scheduled to have my gall bladder removed on 2/2/06. These last few weeks I have not felt well, I constantly have a sick taste in my mouth. It's kind of what I thought was reflux before. Now, I'm wondering if I had reflux at all and not some weird bile overload or even infection from the gall bladder. Who knows? I sincerely hope this gall bladder surgery solves my problems. If not, I may just have the band removed. I am tired of being sick and I'm tired of being in pain. 207 lbs 2/5/06 Well, where do I begin? I had the gall bladder surgery. They say that part went fine. Somehow during the surgery they dislocated my artificial hip. Yes, they dislocated my hip. My abdomen is sore from the gall bladder surgery. Generally, I feel better than I did before although I really don't have much of an appetite. The problem is my hip. I am not to bear any weight on it. It's been 3 years since I've dislocated it. I was doing so well. I feel really low, as if I've started all over again with my hip. I hobble around with my walker and my a$$ is really sore from sitting all the time. Weight loss is really not a priority right now, but it's amazing that when you feel so bad or are in pain it really doesn't matter. 3/24/06 Well, I'm fully recovered from the gall bladder surgery. I'm still in physical therapy for my hip. They tell me that the muscles are really weak. I'm planning on going back to work on 3/27, so I hope they're strong enough for that. Other than a little bit of pain that comes and goes, I guess I'll have to go on. I've come to the realization that all of the problems I've had since October, probably even the "black Thursday" mentioned in July 2005 was a gall bladder attack. All of those experiences were variations of the same. Any vomiting I had was only mucous and came as a last resort to relieve the pressure associated with the pain. Although I couldn't testify, I believe I have NEVER had a true PB. Is that possible? At almost 1 year out, to never PB? I would have taken a PB or 2 over the torture of those months. OH Well. Now that I can eat, I do. I'm stuck at 211lbs. Yes, I gained a couple since the gall bladder surgery, but I'm not terribly sad about it. Not happy, but not really depressed or anything. I can eat, Happy. I gained, sad. I think it's also because I'm working out with weights to strengthen muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. It's only 4lbs. I'll eventually get it off. I hope. 4/9/06 I know this is a LONG first entry for a journal, but I wanted to put my entire OH profile on here. I'm told that there's a possibility I may lose it. So...I figured I'd have it on 2 sites. What's the chances of both of them losing it? Anyway, I'm still bouncing between 210 and 211 lbs. I'm thinking that I may be experiencing my first ever real plateau. Even when I've dieted whenever my weight even slowed down I'd give up and return to my prior eating. I've been exercising more, trying to strengthen those weak hip muscles. I have had a bit of Easter candy, but I don't think enough to stall me this long. I'm sure with patience I'll break it, eventually.

I'm almost 3 months too (I'm 11 weeks), and I am down 57 pounds since the start of this, and 40 pounds since my surgery date. I just came out of a pretty rough three week stall, but I appear to have come out of it. I was stuck at 202 for so long, and I'm finally in ONEderland. I haven't been at this weight since middle school! 40 more pounds to go to reach my goal! Starting Weight: 250 Surgery Weight: 233 Current Weight: 193

THREE DAYS UNTIL SURGERY!!! Let me tell you (and myself in case I forget or get feeling sorry for myself later) that the excitement IS REAL! After today, it’s only the Optifast shakes for 24 hours. No more protein bars or soups or anything. But I can do this. I’m a little discouraged by the past couple days. I’ve been drinking over 100oz of water a day with 5 Optifast products and 2 servings of jello. The first 6 days, I dropped a pound a day. But now, I’m stalled. Is it the water? I’m not peeing nearly as much as I was in the first week despite drinking more water now than I was then. I feel like my hormones are all out of whack now. I have the worst period I’ve had since my early 20’s. Heavy, crampy and nonstop for 5 days now. I have the Nexplanon implant in my arm, which I’ve had since January 2017. After 4 months I had completely stopped having periods and it was a magnificently glorious time in my life. Now it’s like all those missed periods are getting together for one giant party. It’s awful. They also brought 5 nice pimples with them. They weren’t there yesterday, but I looked in the mirror this morning and BAM! Say hello to my little friends! I’m just feeling really down. Have I done something wrong? Why can’t I lose those few extra pounds? Am I bloated? Too much water? Too much protein? Just crazy hormones? WTH? My surgeon doesn’t have a weight loss requirement for me before surgery Thursday since I’ve already lost 53 pounds on my own, but I feel like I’m a failure before I’ve even really started. Is this foretelling my future? Am I going to be a mess who can’t even lose weight after having a sleeve? I’m excited by the surgery getting closer, but the overwhelming feeling now is that I’m disappointing everyone but myself most of all. HW: 311 CW: 257 SW: We’ll see on May 10! First goal weight: 191 lbs Second goal weight: 159 lbs Goal weight: 142 lbs 5’6” 34 yo female in NC

From what I have read, that is too few calories for someone three months post op. You won't have put on fat weight, it is more likely fluid retention plus possibly bulk from the extra food. It is only temporary, a bit like when people go through the post op diet stages, as they progress they typically have a stall or gains, but once their bodies adapt weight loss kicks in again. While WLS does typically result in a lower calorie intake, you don't want to go so low that it comprises your health: body using muscle for nutrition - you want to maintain muscle as much as possible, hair loss, lack of energy etc. Bear in mind, now that you are already in the healthy BMI range, that weight loss will be lower per week than it was immediately following your surgery. Please do listen to your nutritionist.

Hello everyone! I just thought I would stop by the forums and post my story since I haven't posted anything in the forums in a while, and since I took new after photos last night, I figured maybe it was time to post my story, in short version of course. If you have any questions feel free to PM me, I might not be able to get to replying on the forum Here we go... Starting weight and BMI: 298lbs/41BMI (5'11''...tall girl) I started looking into weight loss surgery when I was 20 years old, firstly researching it on my own...eventually going to informational meetings and talking to different people who have been through the experience or work in a profession that deal with the different surgeries. At first I was looking into the LapBand surgery, so I started my mandatory steps in order for my insurance to approve of my request. This took me one year to complete, when I sent my request into my insurance I was denied due to where I wanted to get the surgery done not being a "Center of Excellence". So I was forced to travel to a new place about 2 hours from my home where there was a place my insurance would accept. My first seminar at this hospital is when I changed my mind from having the LapBand to the Gastric Sleeve. I chose to change my mind because the information that was given about all three surgeries just showed me that the Gastric Sleeve was the best option for me. After I changed my mind I was forced (by my insurance) to re due all of my mandatory requirements in order to be approved, but they also added on 6 months of supervised weight loss this time. So long story short it took me about another year or so to get all my requirements redone. Finally on November 25 2012 I was at my final meeting with my surgeon and I got my date Dec 4 2012 (3 days after my 23 Birthday)...I finally got the date I was working for, for almost 3 years!! Surgery day came and went, I spent 3 nights in the hospital, they asked if I wanted to stay one more day due to pain I was having, but I decided to go home. The first month was difficult, I have a post op liquid diet of 3 weeks, with mushy food by the 4th week...so on and so forth. During this time I had to deal with a number of Christmas parties and New Years eve parties...it was hard, but I followed my doctors instructions to the word. Over the next few months I was back on my full foods with difficulty with certain foods (I still have this difficulties, but it isn't a big deal. Hard times with pastas and breads). I suffered from a few horrible stalls (4 in total), but I worked through them. My doctor told me that his goal for me was 200lbs. 5.5 months post op I reached my doctors goal, but my personal goal was 180, so I kept working. I joined a gym only 1 month out of surgery and was going 3-4 days a week for 2 hours at a time, until sadly I had to give up my gym membership due to back issues. This just made me work a lot harder on my diet. 7.5 months post op I reached my personal goal of 180lbs!!! Story short details...I went through so much to finally get approved...I felt like quitting so many times, yes I got frustrated, procrastinated a bit due to my spirits being low, but I stuck with it and finished all of my requirements. 2-3 years of hell, frustration and I wont lie...a lot of depression. After surgery I struggled with stalls, and my stomach not taking to solid foods as quickly as others do. It wasn't easy, I won't lie, it was a lot of working sticking with a healthy diet and a regular workout program. In the end (8 months later)..am I happy I did it? YES!!! I am so happy I stuck with the frustration and depression. Do I have any regrets? NONE! I would do this again and again if I have to. It has changed my life so much in the small period I have been on this journey. I use to have high blood pressure, I don't have to deal with that anymore. I have a blood disorder (genetic) and it has helped with that as well which wasn't really expected! Not to mention my confidence and my feeling of self worth has been greatly improved!!I have one more big thing to accomplish...which is go back to the amusement park that I was kicked off of a ride for being to big...and go and ride that ride FIRST then go on everything else this will be completed October 12, I have my tickets, I wont lie, I am a bit nervous (why? I don't know) but I am excited to see my improvement in that sense. To everyone working on getting approved...all I have to say is keep up with it, even if it gets frustrating and you really want to quit...just keep looking towards the finish line, because trust me...it is WORTH that frustration, stress and possible depression. If I had to do it all over, I would do another 3 years of appointments and requirements if I had to. I couldn't be more thankful for the journey I have been through. But it wasn't easy, the surgery didn't do everything for me...it was a lot of work and stress, but still worth it Todays weight and BMI : 179lbs/ 25BMI!!! (5'11'')

You lost 36 lbs in a month? And you think that is slow? That is 15% of your entire body weight lost in one month. That isn't slow, that isn't even average, that is actually a very big loss. A stall is common around 3 weeks post op. Do a search and you will find literally 100s of threads on the "Three Week Stall". The weight loss has not stopped, it has just stalled so your body can adjust to this new and prolonged calorie deficit. You have probably even noticed that while you haven't lost but a few pounds during this stall that you seem to still be losing inches and size. Your calories/protein/carbs look to be on point for this stage.... keep doing what you have been doing and the loss will resume! Your results are already great and show that this is working for you.

I am just coming off of three weeks where I lost no weight and in fact went up three pounds. It was really frustrating because I was eating 100% on plan. I weigh or measure everything -- every gram of salad dressing is assessed and accounted for on MFP. How can you gain weight on under 800 calories per day? But I figure it must have been hormonal weirdness and water weight. Those three weeks where I was stalled/gaining were the same three weeks that my period was late. So maybe my body just bloated up like it usually does pre-period, and then when no period arrived, it kept on going in pre-period mode? I finally got my period on Friday night and when I weighed in Saturday morning I was down 2 lbs from the week before. Hopefully things keep going in this direction. This is the only time I've gained weight since being sleeved 11 months ago. I don't know if you'll find this helpful . . . I hope so!

It depends on how long you've actually stalled. I've had TONS of stalls on my journey. My first one was at three months out and lasted 23 days. My body just had to adjust itself. It wasn't anything that I did wrong, it just had to 'catch up' so to speak. My last stall was in mid January and last 27 days up until mid February. I've lost 7 pounds in the five weeks since my weight loss picked back up. Like I said, stalls happen. Sometimes we just have to adjust what we eat slightly such as watching our sodium intake, our carbs, our fat intake, our calories, our sugar, etc. Sometimes it's nothing we're doing wrong. Think about your diet and if you feel something needs to change slightly then try it. Or, try and ride it out. It'll pass. Maybe call your nutritionist for advice (it's helped me a few times).

Google "three week stall." That is probably what you are going through. Stick to your plan, make meeting your protein and water goals your full-time job, and the scale will move in its own time. Everything about this journey is a marathon, not a sprint. Remember that! Good luck.

most people get that stall at or around the three-week mark - so it's late for you. Don't do anything besides stick to your program and stay off the scale (only weigh yourself once a week or so until you get through this). It'll break and you'll be on your way again. Since they typically last 1-3 weeks, you're likely near the end of it.

Its called the week three stall -- or the three week stall. I've seen it both ways! Its normal/common. It generally happens between weeks 2 and 4. I'm on day #10 myself.

Welcome to the site! Hang in there...i just came off an almost three week stall. They happen then they are gone and the weight begins to fall off again!!! Keep track of what you are eating to help stay the course and good luck!

Hi Everyone, Well, I am still on a stall, but I have decided that if that is what my body needs to do right now then I should help it all I can to feel comfortable enough to start losing again. So I am trying to chill out, and not worry about the scale. (I have put it away for awhile) I figure my body has always been pretty good to me, and when it feels happier it will let go of more weight. I guess it is a case of 'catch up' , and by that I mean my mindset as well as my body. So, to help my mind feel better, I took some more measurements. Whoohoo! Another three inches bite the dust!!!!! Wow in the last year and a bit I have lost over 27 inches all over my body. That is amazing. Ok, with those sorts of changes I can begin to understand why my body needs some adjustment time. Besides, this isn't a race, this is the rest of my life. So slow and steady does it. I have taken other peoples advice and found some flavoured waters that agree with me, so I have a change from squashes which is great as I was getting really bored with them. The other night my husband had steak with all the trimmings, and I had a small piece of his steak (2 x 1 inch) with a fried egg. I ate all the steak (which was so lovely and juicy) and the yolk of the egg and I was full up. Hooray. I love the fact that these small amounts of food are more than enough. I am also delighted that I am able to eat everything I try. My sleeve is so well behaved, and good to me. :wub: I am still keeping up with the daily walking and the step every other day and feel quite proud of myself that I am doing it. Usually, if I am not losing I get bored or fed up and quit for a while. My step work is improving and I am thinking of moving on to the harder stuff soon. (At the moment I just repeat the easy stuff about 10 times.) I may leave it a bit longer though as I know how long it took me to feel okish about the easy stuff. I still don't like my feet leaving the floor, but I guess it is getting easier. I have a dr's appointment for my first proper check up since my op next week, so will let you all know how that goes. Hopefully I will be able to report a bit more weightloss, but if not, nevermind.(perhaps I should change my name to tortoise!) Best wishes to everyone Phoenix

I've been thinking about Weight Loss Surgery for a long time, but could not seriously pursue it until my husband concurred, which was last fall. We attended an informational seminar in Palm Springs CA over the winter and began looking for a surgeon then. We were in CA for the winter, but moving to WA state at the end of April. My medical insurance is Medicare/Tricare for Life, so I had to use a "Center of Excellence". I was able to make an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Hunter at Virginia Mason Clinic in Federal Way WA. We met with him on May 3, 2007 and he thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of both bypass and lapband surgery. He told me that he would want me to lose 10% of my body weight prior to surgery. I weighed in at 325 that day. I started a 1000-1200 calorie diet the next day. I lost about 2 lb. a week for the first three weeks. Then the weight loss stalled and so did my enthusiasm. In a short time, I had regained the 7 lb. I was supposed to have a second appointment with Dr. Hunter in early June, but his nurse, Stephen called me early that week and told me that I didn't need to come in until I'd lost the weight. So the next day I started on a 350-500 calorie diet. Its been three weeks and I've now lost 20 lb. Last week, after several phone calls to report my weight loss thus far, Stephen called me back with a surgery date of July 20. I will have to go in about 10 days prior to that for pre-op appointments with Dr. Hunter, the dietician and the anesthesia department. :ranger: