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Butterthebean is right. It's not really considered a stall until you're three weeks at one weight. And please, put your scale away. You will drop the largest portion of weight in the first four to six months, but weighing daily will make you bonkers. I'm speaking from experience - my own, and a couple years of reading about it on the boards here. In the beginning, weigh every few days or once a week. You'll see better results and won't be driven batty by the small daily ups and downs that are perfectly normal. In maintenance, it's important to weigh daily to stay accountable, but early on it only makes you frustrated. It's not a race. The restrictive diet you're on and the major surgery you're recuperating from have you wanting instant gratification but it doesn't work that way. Slow and steady, and a heavy dose of patience, are the way to go here. Good luck, and congrats on your new sleeve, ~Cheri

Sleeved 10/31. w 257 SW 249 CW 215. Going good....working out with a trainer and doing lots of cardio. Can eat pretty much whatever I want. Eating all the protein is still impossible without the aid of 1-2 protein shakes per day. Carbs are my weakness.....eating is so much more comfortable with the carbs. Three week stall has made me lose them though and go back to protein only.

Sleeved 12/26. Down 33 pounds and two sizes. I'm lucky if I get 500 calories a day in. I average about 40 grams of protein and 40 ounces of water. I stalled at week three but didn't change a thing. I get in 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week So far so good!!

Ok, so I have had a few people asking me for updates. After 10 days, here they are: I have some amazing news. I FINALLY saw my primary care physician on January 24th, 2013 (first time since I was sleeved on 12/21/2012). He checked me out and was AMAZED at my progress. They did a blood test and checked my levels to find out that my Hemoglobin A1C went from 6.1 on October 30th, 2012 to 5.3 on 1/24/2013. Because of those results he FINALLY took me off of Metformin which I have been on since July 2011!!! I was totally ecstatic because of this! He also "officially" took me off of my blood pressure meds which I actually stopped taking after surgery. I am now medication free!!! Here are my current stats: 11/23/2012 445 lbs (at start of pre op liquid diet) 1/27/2013 368 lbs for a total of 77 lbs lost in 2 months and 4 days. To be honest with you I am REALLY bummed though. I think I have already hit a plateau. In the past 7 days I have only lost a pound or so. I was 369 for like 3 days, then I lost a pound and have weighed in at 368 for 4 days now. I don't know what the hell is going on. I know I lost a TON of weight for such a short period of time, but 1 pound in a week is unacceptable. I have changed NONE of my habits. I actually increased my exercise, and eat VERY VERY little each day. Any less and according my my NUT, I will be eating "dangerously low calorie levels." That MAY be a problem in itself, I don't know. How could I have already reached a plateau just one month after surgery? Yes, I DID lose 49 lbs in my 28 day liquid only pre op diet, and yes I have lost an additional 28 lbs the month or so after surgery, but totally stalling out has gotten me REALLY frustrated. People have been telling me that I should just chill out, that I have done absolutely AMAZING and that my expectations are WAY to high right now. I have become absolutely obsessed with losing this weight. I had this initial goal of losing 100 lbs in my first three months, but if my weight loss doesn't restart, I'm not going to reach it. I REALLY would appreciate any suggestions or comments about this.

OMG i chuckled at so many comments. I also need to look up some places on the map. Lessofmeismore... now i'm going to picture the wild dogs every time I'm bored on the stair monster! (which used to be every other day, which I'm trying to get back to after dealing with a leak, specificially since November). I avoid the boards so much now. I prefer MFP. The drama here just gets to be too much and my energy is better spent elsewhere. I know I don't know everything, but I do try to respect that fact and others opinions. However, I too get tired of "i've 'only' lost 56 lbs in 7 weeks.. what do i do with this stall? (of three days)... why no, i don't work out in any way shape or form.. why no i don't track my calories, what's mfp?" sigh.. I chuck my crabbiness up to being on a purely liquid diet from 9/4 to probably 12/31 ish. Talk about testing... so no, I surely am not a super vet ..... Just a chick trying to make it.. and yeah can probably be called an idiot too, lol.

I am a slow loser. I will be 17 weeks out on Monday and I have lost 36lbs. It is an average of 2.25lbs a week which I am happy about. I think my Dr. And Nut stress me more than I stress myself. I stay off the boards because of the negativity around slow "losing" I remind myself that everyone is different. I am losing more than I did when I was dieting and exercising so to me that is a positive. I have been walking for exercise, but joined the gym yesterday and will add in more variety. I will admit I expected to lose more in the first three months, but I didn't and I am okay with it. There is no rhythm to my stalls that I can figure. I do feel I need to drink more which I am still working on because I do feel like I retain Fluid. It is a learning process. All I do is take each day! Thanks for sharing your stories!! It gives us slow "losers" hope!

i am approximately 1 month and 2 weeks post-op. I lost around 35 pounds of weight over three weeks. Then it stopped. The scale goes up and down by 3-4 pounds every day I weigh on it, sometimes even during multiple times of weight the same day. I drink lots and lots of liquids - definitely not a hydration issue. I do not exercise very much. Surgeon says that stalls are normal and can last one month. Am I in a stall? Will it go away?

Yes, you need to invest a few minutes in searching out the stall and broken stall threads here. This is just a normal part of the process, despite how frustrated you feel. A stall is three weeks or more at the same weight. My typical loss pattern was to stay the same weight for roughly two weeks of the month, gain three pounds during my period and then lose any weight I would lose that month in the last week to ten days of the month. It was like that almost every month. I had two 9 week stalls. On average, I lost just over 6 pounds a month, but in reality I had entire months where I lost nothing or lost only one pound, followed by a month where I'd drop eight pounds. My diet never varied enough to account for the changes. PdxMan posted a really informative post on stalls some time last year, and ButtertheBean has posted one or two, also. They're normal. They happen with WLS and without WLS. The best thing you can possibly do for yourself, no matter how hard it is, would be to try to let go of any time-related expectations you have. You can't expect to lose weight every time you step on the scale. It will discourage you. So long as you generally keep heading in the right direction, you will continue to lose weight and you will reach goal. This is not a race, this is about losing the weight and keeping it off for the rest of your life. Every pound gone is one gone forever if you take this time to do the head work that should accompany the lifestyle changes you've made. The sleeve works, you just have to be patient. ~Cheri

Since 3 week stall broke about 5 days ago, I'm down 8. I'm happy again. But hunger is always there between meals now. It's hard but I need to keep pushing water in and avoid temptation to snack. I eat three meals and two protein shakes. Meals are high protein low carb. My carbs are under 20g now. Under 50g / day when I was stalled so I think I need really low carbs. Regarding alcohol, my docs/nut says to avoid it the first year. Im assuming there are a couple of reasons for that: 1) alcohol is liquid carbs/calories and 2) people tend to replace one addiction with another (i.e. food with alcohol). I've seen some YouTube sleeve blog videos where they stated that they definitely have slowing started drinking a lot more alcohol post sleeve. That being said I don't have an addictive personality and if I want to have a glass of wine or a marguerita on a special occasion, I will.

A real stall is three weeks or more at the same weight. I'd say that you're actually not a slow loser, even though you might feel that way if you compare your loss to some of the very swift losses that have been posted lately. Butterthebean has posted some really excellent articles and advice about stalls - you should search them out. They'll comfort you. It's a normal part of the journey and one that's hard to deal with because when we restrict ourselves we really expect instant gratification on the scale, showing us that our diligence is paying off. It's unfortunate that it just doesn't work that way! Hang in there. Don't fiddle overmuch with your diet or routine unless you're feeling like you want to be more active. It can't hurt your body but it might affect the scale. Just know that going in. The best way to break most stalls that carry on for more than a month is to up your calories and carbs, believe it or not. A lot of people restrict far more than they really need to. The idea is to track your food so you know the upper limit of your intake - that point where what you're consuming stops your loss - it's often more calories and carbs than you thought you'd be able to consume. Good luck. Hang in there, it's perfectly normal and you're lucky it took five months for your first one! ~Cheri

I think it is all part of this whe thing. Just don't weigh yourself so often and one day that stall will break. I try to weigh only every two weeks maybe three.

I'm in that third week stall and was starting to get discouraged by the number on the scale. I dragged out my handy dandy measuring tape and boom! Despite remaining the same weight, I've lost three inches from my waist, one and a half from my hips, and half an inch from my bust. Take your measurements! Don't be a slave to the scale. I promise it'll be encouraging when the scale won't budge.

YES!!! This Am stepped on the scale weighed 255.6. I was sleeved 12/5 weighed in at 277. On 12/21 at my first preop I weighed 255.? The frustration of being on a very restricted eating pattern and not losing weight is absolutely mental torture. I stopped weighing daily and only weigh on Thursdays so after a week of hitting every goal on my plan and seeing the scales and the measure tape stay the exact same thing for almost a month now YES I regret this surgery! I had a complication so my whole world knows about my surgery. Can you imagine what they all think! I am sticking to all my goals given by NUT because everybody talks about the honeymoon that you have the first few months and how you loose the most then. Well I have only lost the initial 22lbs and nothing for a month. This honeymoon really stinks! I think for me this was a mistake that almost cost me my life and now I am going to look like a fool before everybody who knows me because my body won't loose. I regret this surgery very very much at this stage. I feel helpless I am doing what I am suppose to do and nothing is working. Yes I know about stalls, yes I know about Water, carbs and exercise. None of that is really making a difference in my weight loss or my feelings rigth now. I really regret that everyone knows I had this surgey and now I look like fool. They probably all think I am still eating junk and being lazy but that is far from the truth. As a matter of fact I quit eating fried foods years ago, cut down carbs years before surgery. Was at 900 calories daily for a long spell before surgery. I should have known when I failed to loose much pre surgery on such a strict diet that I was not going to loose post surgery. My highest weight 386 in 2006, I lost to 270 range by 2011 and bounce around between 270 to 320 upto surgery were I was 277. Now for all I have went thru 22 lbs!!! Wow REALLY!! I sincerely am beginng to doubt I will ever be successful. I know some will say well you have already lost 130+ lbs but I had really hope this surgery would take me to a NORMAL weight. I had tried for a long time but hit this wall in the 250's and even the surgery will not let me break thru the 250's!! I thought I had broken this stall by eating really small amounts every three hours upping fluids and activity. Always hitting the Protein but all of that got me 0 lbs and inches for the effort. It is going to be really hard to get motivate to workout. " your gaining muscle" someone said, well I am sure under this fat I look like Hercules by now then. Thank You VST for letting me rant. It feels better to say it all but I am still 255.6 Arhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

I didn't gain anything when I was in the hospital.I had a three night stay too,I mean I only lost 3 lbs when I was there so 1lb a day. But everyone is different and you will also have stalls but don't be discouraged it happens to every one. I started at 300lb and dos I was 267(10/9/12) and my weight fell off steady an I just hit my stall in he middle of December I was stuck at 228 for 3 weeks. I just had my gallbladder surgery jan 10, and in 4 days I lost 10lbs just like that! I don't expect that all the time but I just fallow the flow of what my body is doing. But 5 lbs in a week is great! That's almost a lb a day! Keep up the great work!!!

Lately I've seen a TON of posts about lucky sleevers that drop 100 pounds in six months. Congrats to them and to their loss. And I would never, ever begrudge anyone the right to crow about a fantastic success. It's part of why we're all here, to share the ups and downs of this surgery! But frequently, these posts are followed by folks that feel frustrated because they aren't losing at the same pace. All too often, we forget that everyone loses at a different pace. It's easy to lose sight of the real goal (long term maintenance) in the face of the scale goals we set for ourselves. And it's also easy to forget that this isn't a race and that there's no special prize waiting at the end for reaching goal more quickly. I would like to contribute my loss pattern so that people can see that there is more than one way to achieve a goal. Being successful is about reaching your personal goals, overcoming your personal food demons and maintaining your weight loss for life. It's not about hitting goal in nine months. I encourage everyone else with a slow loss story to contribute their successes here as well. It's hard to research this surgery and find only the stories about extremes - people completely thrilled with surgery or people that regret every minute of life post op. The same goes for loss. When people search out stories on this, it's too easy to only find rapid loss or stall posts but nothing showing the more realistic and moderate journey many of us take. The sleeve is a permanent tool that does not have a special window of easy weight loss. There is no reason to feel discouraged when you haven't reached goal at one year out, or even two. There is nothing preventing you (short of your own body's natural stopping point) from achieving or re-achieving goal at any point post op. I lost 60 pounds in the first five months after my surgery. And I slowly lost 32 pounds over the next seven months. It took me another five months to shed the final 15 pounds to my goal. I lost 107 pounds over the course of 17 months. I stalled twice for nine weeks each time. I had months where I only lost one pound. I regularly experienced a gain of three pounds around my cycle, and often only lost weight in the last week to ten days of the month, after sitting at the same weight for nearly three weeks. I am a success, and at 2.5 years out (and currently pregnant) I still have good, healthy eating habits and maintained my weight loss quite easily. Even 30 weeks pregnant, I am still wearing a size 6/small (in maternity clothes, of course) regardless of how I feel about my expanding body! I learned what was important on this journey and am in better health today (not just physically, but mentally and emotionally), than I have ever experienced as an adult. Good luck to those currently on their journey, and I encourage everyone to share their stories here so that newly sleeved folks can see that slow vs. fast loss doesn't really matter in the end. ~Cheri

the three week stall ended with this past week and a 4lb loss. and now that's it again for days - the same #. I am happy to hear your story Cheri as it gives me hope that although I am a slow loser I will get there. Thank you for sharing. I truly wish I did measurements prior to surgery as I know things fit better on me even if my scale is "broken" lol.

I went for my 4 week post op visit and I didnt know about the three week stall and I talked to the PA about my weight loss stall and she told me that I wasnt losing because I was eating too few calories. She told me I had to eat at least 1000 calories a day. I managed it for a few days, but I am back down to about 850. I am getting all the protein in, but its just so hard to get those calories right now. I am trying, but some days I don't get there, but I do get my protein in.

All during my losing stage, I'd lose two lbs, gain three and lose two. I'd go up and down for about a week, then it would come off for good and on to the next one, two or three lbs. I weighed every single day, twice a day, but I never let it get me down. At support group meetings I'd hear people further out, some at goal, some not, say this is how it happens. Not a big deal. I did the up and down thing a lot more than I ever 'stalled'. I guess maybe one time I didn't lose anything for a week, then bam, two lbs gone. With 85% of your tummy gone, unless you are drinking your calories and eating no nos, you are going to lose. Enjoy the ride, it's wild! Stay away from snow shoveling!!! You might should call the doctor and let him know. Also, try water with a little fresh lemon and add a sweet 'n low or stevia. It's the only way i can drink it.....and a lot of ice!!

Stick with it friend. Just like everyone has said this is a tool. The most freeing thing for me has been allowing myself to be human. I am three months out. I weigh myself once a week. I have had stalls. They have freaked me out but then I realize this weight did not come overnight. I did this for me and allowing myself to be human and enjoying the process is great. Life is so much better. Hang in there!

Thanks Cheri. I know from prior posts that you were a slow looser and that slow does not mean unsuccessful. I understand the frustration of hearing people complain that they have only lost 30 pounds in the first three weeks after surgery LOL! I am 5'1" and shooting for 130. Like I said, I suspect I have 10+ pounds of skin. Right now I wear a size 6 comfortably. I was trying on pants last week and noticed that if it weren't for the panni, I could easily wear a size 4. I forgot that I have no hips. I am constantly having to pull my pasts up as they slide over the non-existent hips and get stopped by the lower stomach skin. My surgeon's goal for me is 110. I think he's nuts. I would be a size 0 or less. No thanks! I will try the strength training. I have equipment at home for that. All I need to do is pick it up. No extra money for a gym. It's funny, but when I do exercise there is a weight gain that accompanies it at first no matter what the calorie deficit is. Connie and Aussie: One week? Nahhh. Two weeks is a little more frustrating, but they can last 1-2 months despite the fact that you are doing the same thing you had been doing when you were losing. Both Cheri and ButtertheBean and others have posted detailed explanations on stalls. The simplistic explanation is that your body needs time to readjust after a weight loss both in chemical terms and physical inches. I sometimes think that the body is actually redistributing flesh. If you are doing everything right and not losing pounds, do not over-worry. Keep with it and you will lose. There are some that say changing up or playing with the numbers (protein, fat, carbs, exercise, etc.) will shock your body, but my experience up to now has been to wait it out. This may have changed for me since I'm close to goal. Cheri knows what she is talking about. I am with a few pounds of what I was just before Christmas. This morning I tried on a pair of pants that were super tight that I have not worn since then and I am swimming in them. The lose skin that I did not think was so bad a couple months ago is more noticeable now. I mentioned in another post that I actually have loose skin on my fingers. Don't let that scare you BTW. I'm 47 and had a 46 or 47 BMI when I started. It's so much better than the fat. Cheri - Keep us posted on that baby of yours! Named yet? I named my daughter when she was 3 weeks old - I mean 3 weeks from conception I was calling her by name. Yes, I'm weird, but she was long wanted and I have to plan EVERYTHING is advance :-P

I stalled at three weeks too. I was so frustrated. And I also gain every PMS cycle. So the scale was up a pound today. It is really frustrating but I am trying not to get upset. We can do this!!

A real stall is three weeks or more at the same weight. I had two of them and both were nine weeks long. Both started out as "natural" stalls, something you should fully expect post VSG. But like many of us, after about a month at the same weight I fell back into bad habits and had to address the bad behavior before I could get back on track. It is perfectly normal to have stalls and it is perfectly normal to have a less than perfect journey. If we had all of the tools we need to lose weight effortlessly, we'd skip the surgery and just join Weight Watchers again. The sleeve is that extra tool that helps us do the head work to overcome. So, expect stalls and expect some measure of frustration and expect that you will need to put effort into adopting new habits permanently for long term success. As for what month you stop losing there's no such thing. Really. I'll say it again: NO SUCH THING. Your sleeve is just about as large as it will get at roughly one year post op. Your capacity afterward is tiny compared to pre-op, even if it is considerably larger than immediately post surgery. We're talking about fitting in between 3/4 to 1 and 1/2 cups of food somewhere between one and two years post op. And that's it - forever - unless you try your very hardest to stretch your sleeve (though pain and real effort) what little it will stretch. So what does all of that mean? It means that there is nothing stopping anyone at one, two, three or even seven years post op, from picking up the pieces if they fall into bad habits and regain. The sleeve was and will remain a restrictive tool to help you lose weight and maintain that loss if you make the right food choices. Expect that the lower your body weight and the closer you are to your body's happy place, the harder it will be to lose weight. So yes, weight tends to come off more quickly in the beginning and to come off more slowly the closer you get to goal. That does not mean it's more difficult to lose weight. You'll use the same exact techniques and tools to lose. It's just harder for your body to give up those final pounds. I was six months to lose the last twenty. That's a bit excessive, maybe, but I was a slower loser from the start. But everyone slows down near the end - it's natural when your body has less to give up. And in my experience, people need to feel in control so they fiddle with their diets any time they don't see a drop on the scale every day. If you're tracking your food and you're not eating an extra four hundred calories a day all of a sudden, it's doubtful that your diet is the culprit. Everyone's body reacts differently but in more cases than not, the thing that shakes a real stall is upping the calories and carbs in your diet, not slashing them. Or you could just wait it out. Because with time, it'll pass and it's part of the journey. ~Cheri

The procedure was sold to me as you are saying. I tried my best to follow my water intake, protein shakes and foods off their list. My problem was that I was constantly throwing up stingy meats like chicken, lettuce and almost anything you couldn't grind down to powder consistency with my teeth. I did not throw up soups like tomato or chicken soup or mashed food like mashed potatoes. When my weight loss stalled at about 20 pounds I was told soup was bad for me - too much sodium. We played with adjustments about once every 6 weeks. Not what I was expecting. I have three doctors in the family who suggested I involve my primary care physician after a year and a half to have my band opened up. My HMR diet place in town just closed its doors and I am going back to weight watchers. My gastric surgeon said I should have had a gastric bypass and not the lap band. I would not do it again if I knew my results would be this poor.