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This surgery amazes me everyday. I am almost 70 [ATTACH]6354[/ATTACH] pounds down and feeling great. My three week stall did not even phase me bc of the great advice I have received from this forum. Over halfway to my goal

I stalled hard at 6 months. I am not almost 10 months out and the losing is slow but I only have 11 more to reach goal. Mix up your calorie count daily or every few days and mix up your exercise routine. For example, drop calories to 1/2 of what your daily average is for two or three days each week... Same way with exercise but you can change type or amount. Increase water intake - that always helps me.

Almost everyone experiences the "three week stall". Search for it and you will see. Just keep eating on plan and the weight will come off!

My husband and I are big wine drinkers. We went on a vacay in April to California and visited many wineries and joined a couple of wine clubs. Need I say more? The wine keeps arriving and I am 3 weeks out from VSG. I weighed 265 and am now 238.2 this morning, in spite of having wine several (at least four times) in the last 2 weeks. Yes, it does affect your weight loss, which I compensate for. I eat mostly protein meals, with a little veg or fruit, and I have not had adverse affects, yet. and Yet is the optimum word here. I have never done things the way that others have, and I probably will not change now that I am 58 years old. However, I think that if you use your head, and you know what you are doing, and are watching your calories and proteins and making sure your are getting in the protein that you need 80% of the time, the 20% left is up to you to do with as you will. Maybe I will change my mind on this, but I have not hit a stall yet. I have lost 27 pounds in three weeks, and maybe I could have lost more, but I am satisfied with my progress. Whatever you do has to feel right to you, as they say "know thyself".

I'm stalling now at just one month out (well it started at three weeks) and its driving me crazy!

Everyone loses at different rates. Everyone has a different sized stomach, eating patterns, carb intake, exercise routine, age, gender, diet history... and Dr. My Dr warned me that people have the tendancy to gain more weight back with the sleeve, but did not pressure me to "lose faster" or even name a goal weight. He just wanted me to follow the directions and see what happened. Even if we all did the exact same things , our weight loss would be diferent. That being said, its great to get ideas and encouragement from others. My advice? 33 in three months is respectable. It is easier to lose weight at the beginning after the surgery than later, so if there is anything you can do to tighten up your practices, then go for it. But as someone else told me, if you lose 100 pounds in 4 months, or 18 months, you have STILL lost 100 pounds, and you are at goal. Just try to enjoy the ride, and remember some folks ( like me and you) have a lot of stalls. I had a 4 week stall starting at 3 weeks. I did everything right. My body just said NO for a while. Use measuring as well as weighing to chart your weight loss... sometimes you can lose inches and not pounds. Best of luck.

I have thyroid problems and it has been an up hill battle to lose weight. I lose 10-15 lbs at the most and then stall...still trying though! I see the psych next week and also the surgeon not sure what is next but I hope with in the next two-three months to see a surgery date.

Three weeks after surgery I stalled for 6 weeks. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was doing E V E R Y T H I N G perfectly. The scale would not budge. I decided my body just needed to do whatever it needs to do to adjust at that point. It did too.

I think I need to revise my goal due to the longest stall in history (ok in my history LOL). Let's say I don't gain anything before thanksgiving! Original Weight 188 Current Weight 155.1 and holding Goal Weight.....ok 154.1 would be nice!!!! (That takes me out of the obese category and makes me just "fat") LOL I used to teach a class to bankers on setting goals. I would have never taught them to make such an easy (ya right) goal LMAO! And let's add a two mile walk three times a week! That I can actually control! Oh...except DS woke up sick so today will be a challenge....grrrrr

I started at 240 on Sept 17th, today I am 204, I have stalls that last for a week and then I go a week where I loose one pound every three days.

@retakk and Eat that Frog: If you want some reassurance and inspiration, please read my blog. The three of us are so similar; about the same weight, height, BMI and age....and I had hip, knee and feet problems and I was also self-pay. I am now a year out, at goal and I logged my journey every Sunday for the past year. Retakk....until I had this surgery, I could barely lose weight on 1000 calories a day....so don't despair. I did have some plateaus; but I had lost 30 lbs before I had my first stall and then it lasted a few weeks and started coming off again. I firmly believe this tool was made for people like us. If you cannot see my signature line, then go to www.queenofcrop.com/about and start there. I think you will find a lot of information and similarities between us. Good luck and congratulations on making this positive step in your life.

I found this on another support group site; I thought it was very informative and thought I'd share. (I just copied and pasted below) 1.Things I wish I'd known, part 1 These thoughts on "things I wish I'd known" were compiled by Lisa M on thinnertimesforum.com. Originally compiled in 2007, the "thoughts" were updated in 2010. They all come from people who have "been there, done that." Though the post is lengthy, I encourage you to read through to the end. There is much to discover here; comfort and company, hope and inspiration. Here are LisaM's notes on her efforts: "I gathered these off a thread that we had on here around about four years ago, took off everyone's names, added where the person was post-op, and put them in order by how far post-op the person was, so you can see how things change as we move further away from the surgery... If you have anything to add that you don't see here that you wish you'd known, please add to the bottom of the thread. If you recognize yourself in these words, has anything changed?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . Things I wish I’d known: Post-op less than one month: Gas pain gas pain gas pain!!! (one day post-op) • how hard it would be to eat and get the Protein in. • how hard it is to drink constantly. • what types of pain I really would go through. • what types of pain were "normal". • what type of protein I would be able to handle in the liquid stage (at this point, not much). (one week post-op) As stupid as it sounds, I wish I had known that getting the staples out was going to be more painful than anything I had been dealing with in about a week. And that the catheter was going to be such a pain to get out. Not painful; difficult... It took more time and energy to find somewhere/someone to take it out than I had energy-level wise. How annoying... (two weeks post-op) I thought I would have no appetite, but I do once I get through the morning sickness stage of my day. I didn't believe anyone when they said they couldn't tolerate Water - I am one of those people. (three weeks post-op) Post-op one month: I wish that I knew how truly hard it is to eat!! I am not hungry and it is very hard to get in all the protein that my body needs. Not only is it hard to get all the protein in, when I do eat I feel guilty. Hello!!! I know I shouldn't feel guilty, I am barely getting in 500 calories a day...but somewhere in my brain when I am eating (no matter what it is) I feel like I am being "bad". I was shocked at the post operative pain I personally went through - for about a week. It was hell on earth & I cried & swore every day about what I had done to myself. Maybe I am a wimp & have a low pain threshold but even so, there should be stronger analgesia on offer to those of us that are wimps. I also wish I'd been warned how emotional I'd be too & that sticking to fluids only is psychologically very difficult; if you used to be a "foodie". I wish I'd known how tired & weak I would be, just having a shower would exhaust me in the early days & I'd have to have a rest! At nearly a month out I'm starting to feel better about why I had the surgery, the weight is melting away & I feel better physically every day. Also at last the pain is practically gone. I'm taking note of all the other advice for later in my journey & I am looking forward to more energy in a few months & a sense o*******n when I get to my 100lb down mark. I'm also buying clothes on ebay as I've dropped two sizes already. As a guy, I really wish I had known about the catheter beforehand... as I was coming out of the anesthesia, I reached down to scratch myself and had a giant wtf moment because I wasn't expecting it. I wish I had know that six weeks post op and 35 lbs lost, and no one has noticed anything except that my face looks thinner and my boobs are smaller!! Post-op two months: I wish I understood what a challenge taking pills would be...at least at the beginning, and how all-consuming the transition is until it becomes 'just life.' I wish I’d known how getting hit on for the first time in my adult life would make me more insecure about my new (emerging) body.. not less. Post-op three months: I wish I’d known that: • Its hard to get in all the food you are supposed to every day. • Some days are easier than others. • How emotional you are when you get home. • Why your pouch is happy one day and not the next. • Plateaus.......need I say more! • That my co-workers are MORE supportive than I thought. • That I would show my scar off to people all the time - I am proud of it. • How the smell of some food turns you right off. • That there are many different rules from doctors.....and it’s ok, they are all correct. ... How much i would really miss food early out. It was crushing to not be able to run to the fridge and drown my sorrows and pain in a pint of Ben n Jerrys. ... How much i actually thought about food! I didn’t understand why i was so obese, i honestly thought i ate pretty well most of the time. ... What a pain in the butt it is to sip sip sip sip sip sip liquids ALLLL day. ... How weird it is to "eat" dinner with your family without shoveling it in like everyone else. ... Having people that don’t know you have had the surgery assume you’re becoming deathly ill or suddenly anorexic. ... How completely amazing it feels to be at the same weight I was when i got married 8 years ago and know that I could be at a high school weight by Christmas!! ... How weird it would be to look in the mirror and finally see the person i thought i was all this time emerging from the layers. i wish i knew how many times i'd stall! (like every 3rd week) and that every BODY is different, that at 3 months i'd only lost 40 pounds......... Post-op four months: I wish I had known how obsessed I would become with my weight and my appearance. Pre-surgery I was aware of how fat I was I just didn't dwell on it. As long as I was clean and semi-presentable I was fine. Now I find myself super conscious of everything I wear, every pound I lose and obsessing on how I can lose more weight in the fastest amount of time. Now I have to have pedicures, manicures, and my hair done. I feel uncomfortable without make up. I thought losing weight would make me more comfortable with my appearance and instead it has made me more self-conscious. Who knew! I wish I understood how EVERY aspect of my life would change dramatically. I wish I understood how tremendously happy I would be. I wish I understood how for me... the benefits far outweighed the risks. I wish I understood how many beautiful people I'd meet, and how much they would add to my life. I wish I understood how committed I would be, how strong I would be, and how wonderful I'd feel. I wish I understood that I needed to do this a long time ago. 1.Things I wish I'd known, part 2 of 3 Post-op five months: I wish I'd known how REALLY IMPORTANT it is to get enough protein! Yes, my doctor and my dietician both told me that, but I'd never eaten a lot of protein, so for some reason I just assumed I'd be OK if I didn't get as much as they said. Well, I got really sick. I was totally exhausted and throwing up constantly. I lost a LOT of hair. I developed pneumonia shortly after my surgery, and it took me forever to recover, I think because I wasn't getting adequate protein. I was in the hospital with the pneumonia for three weeks, and when I came home I was so weak I could hardly stand. I am proud to say that I am now getting about 75 grams of protein a day and feeling much, much better, but I wish I had known in the beginning how very important it was and what could happen if I didn't do it. I wish I'd known how quickly you'd forget about the early stuff; pain, weakness, exhaustion & struggling with only drinking fluids for a month. It's horrible I know but it will pass believe me & is soooo worth it. I'm now so fit I go to the gym every day for approx' an hour and a half, I'm lifting really big weights three times a week, I can do 90 mins of cardio work when not doing a class & I love it (I can even jog now for 15 mins). Post-op six months: I wish I'd have known not to sink so much money into protein supplements! I do kinda wish I'd have done it in my younger years, but then again, I think timing and such is part of our great plan for our life. I wouldn't want to alter who I was supposed to be and what I needed to learn by my experiences. But it would have been so cool to be thinner and still be a young thing! I wish I had known just how emotionally tough this journey is. No matter how much research, how many questions, how many support groups, or even what the Doctor & NUT tell you. I was still not fully prepared for just how emotionally and mentally hard WLS is. Until you are on the path, you really can not know what it will be like for you or how you will feel or what parts of your everyday life will be impacted. The journey is as individual as we are. Post-op seven months: I wish I had known how bad I would feel not being able to help my daughters lose weight. I have this great tool and I try to lead by example, but you all know how hard it is without the tool. On the other hand: I wish I had know how good it would feel to wear whatever I want and know I look good in it. Sometimes when I am out I have to remind myself that I am small! I was well aware of the known possibles, the published ones, the one your doc and NUT tell you about, but had I known about the myriad of problems others have had, the decision to go forward would have been even more difficult.... and I say that because I have not had many problems, nor difficulties in getting my protein in, nor wicked hair loss, nor constant dumping, nor hydration difficulties. I think my obstacles have been manageable, and overcome... which is how I treat obstacles... just a minor roadblock that you have to get through -- Such is life. I like that I recovered quickly from having an open RNY. I liked seeing 299 again, which kept me going. I like the support I received from professionals and friends. I like the friends I've made post WLS. I like the fact that I had not met anyone who had anything negative to say to me about having had WLS. I especially like the fact that I do not weigh 400 lbs, because had I not had WLS, that's where I'd be tipping the scale. So to me, this was worse than any negative that could be presented to me. Post-op eight months: --I wish I had known how much I enjoy working out regularly now that I am getting such great results for myself and such wonderful feedback from people who seem almost mesmerized about how different (read: "good") I now look having lost 16" in my waist and well over 100lbs so far this year! I wish I would have understood how losing weight would affect my relationships with other people. I wish I would have known that eating and drinking were going to become a full time job. The planning and weighing the grocery shopping and reading labels on everything you buy. I wish I would have known how difficult it was going to be to answer the same questions from people daily after surgery: How much have you lost? What did you eat today? Is that a new shirt? Did you get your water and exercise in today? I wish I would have been told how rough this surgery is mentally. The physical and mental changes that your body goes through are unbelievable. It is way more then just "losing weight". And the biggest one for me is that I never understood how hard it was going to be to say good bye to my best friend in the whole world. FOOD! It was there for me for any emotion or feeling that I had. It is like a death in the family not being able to rely on it or use it anymore. I wish I knew that I would be thinking about food constantly throughout my day. Food is on my mind now more than it was when I was 265 pounds! I wish I knew that I would be disappointed in myself for "only" having lost 70 pounds. I think if I hadn't had the surgery and lost 70 pounds I would be jumping for joy but now I can't help but feel somewhat unsuccessful. I wish I knew I would feel guilty for eating certain things even though its nowhere near the amount I used to eat (i.e. a cookie...) I wish I knew that my butt and my chest were going to become flat and my hair was going to fall out so much. I wish I knew how overwhelming shopping can be when you're not limited to the "Lane Bryants" of the world. Post-op nine months: That at 9+ months out you REALLY have to work at eating correctly... you CAN eat more and you DO have the old cravings. I did know this before surgery...I knew this during months 1-9...but I thought to myself, "nope, not me...I am going to be one of the ones that is never hungry...that never wants to eat" YEAH RIGHT! What a dork I am...It has just in the past few weeks become such a job to eat correctly and not eat crap. Post-op eleven months: I wish I had known that I am NOT truly that big boned......and therefore know not to overbuy clothes when I get to the limit my mind had made. Yep, a whole bag of my "never can imagine" size barely worn if at all, and hanging in the closet are the clothes in my "shut up......I would never be THAT small" size! I wish I had known that my tastes would change and make some of the healthy eating aspects easier than I imagined. I wish I had known that I would still somehow miraculously be able to consume mammoth amounts of salty munchies......which makes some aspects of my new life more difficult than imagined. I wish I had known not to overbuy the supplements, but rather to stock up on tea, cocoa powder, and dry milk. I wish I had known that I was not saying good-bye to food, but just setting new boundaries in our relationship. I wish I had known that I would like my body more and more with clothes on and less and less naked as I get smaller. I know it sounds silly but I wish I would have known just how chapped my lips were going to be! I also was not prepared for thinking "WHAT have I done to myself....... I must be stupid and crazy!!!!" It only lasted a day or two but I had no idea that others had this same thought! I felt as if I made a mistake and got extremely depressed. Even the next day I didn't feel that way I was excited for my journey! One year post-op: I wish that I realized how difficult "head hunger" was going to be for the first few months post op. I kept hearing about the fact that although I would be on a restricted diet, the DESIRE to eat "regular" food was going to be nearly insatiable. I couldn't eat like a normal person and I knew that, but I wanted to so bad. The mental changes that you go through to change the way you think and feel about food is a slow, phased and sometimes painful (but necessary) process. I did not understand that pre-op. I kept thinking I could deal with it without any problems at all and I was wrong. I also wished I listened to people tell me that I should not buy any new clothes (except for thrift or deeply discounted****il I was ALL THE WAY down to my new weight. Along the way, I kept thinking that was the smallest I could get, so I may as well get new clothes. I got a little wear out of the in-between sizes, but not much. I wish I had known the REAL reason why I was doing it - which had nothing to do with losing weight, but was about reclaiming my life. I wish I had known that the way I felt the first month post-op was temporary. Maybe it was better that I went in not knowing how truly awful I was going to feel for a while. Looking back on it, it passed quickly, but they don't call it hell week for nothing. I wish I had known how amazing it is to meet people who haven't seen me since before the surgery. I wish I had known that my life would change so much so fast. I love who I am for the first time in decades, and glory in the ability of this body to do so much without pain or tears or humiliation. I wi****ruly understood the COMMITMENT...100% life style change....they told me but real life is different from a zerox handout/support group once a month. I regret I had it. It is very dangerous. We never hear of those who died from Wernicke's encephalopathy, and other issues, as they are not considered by-pass related, "directly". I have Wernicke's encephalopathy, severe dry eye, ataxia, night sensitivity, and cannot keep weight on. I regret I had the surgery. Deeply regret it. I aged some 15 years. Hair is all but gone. And I am 1 year out. I would've taken the couples counseling sessions more seriously or read more into the dramatic effects it can and will have on your marriage/relationship post surgery. If you don't think it can happen to you, like I thought about my marriage, DO IT!! It will be worth it in the end and the "spouse support" is a major factor when talking of the TOTAL success of your surgery (other than the weight loss figures). 1.Things I wish I'd known, part 3 of 3 14 months: I wish I’d known: 1. that smells are so much stronger now and can make you ill 2. that skin is not always so elastic when it's going down as it was going up in weight 3. that your relationships change so much because you change, not just physically but emotionally. You have to deal with the issues you stuffed down your mouth, so the rawness of that can be hard to swallow 4. people don't always think you look good 5. some people like you better fat and don't know how to deal with you skinny 6. you really could lose your life and surgery is a huge step! I was so lucky my doc was a good one and fixed me up quick 7. How eating is a chore sometimes and you won't be hungry for food some days 8. people will think you are sick "all" the time even if it only happened 4 times in 9 months 9. that you won't see the changes as fast as some other people see them so you can get discouraged when you haven't lost as much weight as so n so 10. that the people who were attracted to you when you were fat, may not be attracted to you skinny 11. people who wouldn't look at you before, now have an interest in you 12. family can ignore your accomplishments because they are jealous or resent you took a chance on your life 13. that it would give me back my life such as playing, running, jumping, stretching, walking, etc... 14. fitting into clothes you haven't ever dreamed you would is such a HIGH!! 15. that WLS can be lonely if you don't have support 18 months: I wish I had trusted my fellow gbs friends when they said "Don't buy too many clothes...you will shrink out of them" I never believed I would ever be the size I am today. I was at 185, but I let a remark throw me off. Someone said " Oh God, your cheeks are all sunk in, you look terrible". So I purposely gained 35 lbs. regretting it now. I am dieting again to get back to 185. That is where I have no gut, naturally. Other wise, I lost 175 lbs...So, don't let a remark get to you. 20 months: Know that though Moderation is the long term goal for post op life... using 'living life with moderation' as an excuse to go off the post op plan before maintenance is unwise... active weight loss stops, and sometimes you cannot control how early it will stop or how much (or how little!) you will lose so it's wise to take that very short time (in the grand scheme of things) to stick as closely to your doctors plan as possible.. work that honeymoon phase and work it hard.. the more you lose towards your goal in that active weight loss plan the better. Take it from one whose weight loss stopped at 9 months and doctor after doctor has informed me that this is it, even though I still measure and log my food at nearly three years out and even though I work out a minimum of 10 hours a week at the gym.. and these aren't pansy workouts at a leisurely pace either.. random people come up to me and tell me how inspirational I am to them because they see how hard I work.. 'energizer bunny' at the gym is one label I'm proud to wear for sure.. 20 year olds have told me they feel intimidated because they can't keep up with me. And I'm still 'done'. And I am still classified as "Obese" on the BMI chart. I don't want any of you to end up like me. Though some days it messes with my head.. a LOT.. to see people years later, have surgery and then pass me by on the weight stats.. but it is still gratifying to me for the most part... if it wasn't, I wouldn't bother talking about the problem some of us have. And yeah, not all of us have this issue but you won't know till you're there, you know? :/ Two years: I wish I’d known that it would become a daily struggle for me to keep on track. I was told it gets harder and I have to work at it every day. The good thing is this tool works and forces me to eat well in order to feel good. I wish I knew how badly I would hate the sagging skin. I thought I would be ok with it and it would be better than having all of the extra weight, but it really became and still is an issue with me. The thing I can not tolerate the most is my calves...all of those who know me know that I am so called teeny tiny, but my calves are huge. I have to roll them up in my pants...literally. When I wear shorts, and my legs are relaxed, I have calf wings...seriously. I am not exaggerating. the nurse at my pcp told me yesterday that she can't believe how big they are in proportion to my body. I was laying on the table and my calves were flopped there skin laying there....looked like slabs of meat with the skin hanging off. At least she was honest with me. She told me my tummy and chest look great…I think because she felt bad after she talked about my legs. No worries...I know they are gross. Anyway, skin is a big thing with me and I just wish I knew that I was going to need help with it...mental help that is. I don't regret surgery though...not for a minute. Three Years: I wish I had known how great life really is after you reached the various goals...then perhaps I wouldn't have struggled so much over the journey Then again, it's hard to appreciate what you have if you didn't struggle for it. I wish I would have known just after losing my first 50 pounds my ankles would stop giving out on me! I wish I would have known how many friends I would have lost. I wish I would have known the hardest thing to deal with was how much my face and facial features changed! Four Years: The reasons why I believe depression came on about a year after surgery, the first year is so exciting and challenging I dont think you think about much... until all the loss and changing comes to a slow roll.......... Why I got depressed! I think it is because of so many life hurts, and turning to "comfort foods" and putting up the wall of fat around me to protect me for several years. Now that the weight is gone, and my eating habits have changed where I dont turn to food to soothe my feelings and emotions have been left stranded. I know I am a codependant person, and the idea of turning to drugs and alcohol has been a teetering source of comfort that alarms me. So I stop doing that, now what? How do I deal? In comes depression because I feel lost, hopeless, scared, develop anxiety, lose friends and feel abondoned, you are constantly criticized by family, friends, neighbors about how SICK you look... what is someone to do who at one time was invisible to the stares and comments? Someone who wasnt a threat to the people around you? These are some of the experiences which I feel led me to fall into depression. It is because of my experience I strongly urge people to stick with a therapist for 2 years after surgery, on at least a monthly basis just to "check in" emotionally. Five Years: I wish I had known I would love the person I would become, and that I had worth. It would have saved a lot of tears, if I had known that. The tears, though, are part of the reason I became this person. Without being fat, and without GBS as a catalyst for the implosion of my entire life post-op, I would not have as much respect for the person I have become. I wish I had known that GBS wasn't bulletproof much earlier on in the process. I certainly heard the words, but I didn't listen to them, because I just knew I would be the one who didn't try sugar, and I just knew I was the one who was capable of only eating the calories I needed after the surgery was over. My own humanity came as a distinct shock. I wish I had known the depression that I went through at about two years post-op wasn't because of the surgery, but because the surgery didn't fix my life. I still had the same life, I just could no longer tolerate the fact that it didn't all change along with my body. As a result, I tried a number of drugs for depression, and in hindsight, it was to medicate myself into staying in that life that I had outgrown while I was shrinking.

After a 2 week stall I lost 1.5 lbs and now three days later I've gained 3. No reason for that to have happened. Go figure. That's an example of why you shouldn't weigh every day or obsess over numbers.

At three weeks I hit my first stall which lasted a month and very slowly dropped 8 pounds. I read as much as I could about the stalls here and tried to be patient. That is much harder to deal with. At the end of this first stall, I discovered that I now fit into one pants size down from 18 to a 16, and I went from an XL to a medium in blouse size. On the flip side, once the scale moves again, the relief is a great feeling. Remotivated and I am now released from my doctor to go back to the gym. That should help further with loss of inches and weight loss, and most important, health!

Thanks Amazon and Jennifer! I lost the most in the first three weeks or so. I know that some of that was from the 13 lbs of Water I put on due to all the fluids they pumped into me during surgery and the next 24 hours, lol. I have lost steady and have not yet suffered any stalls. Going to the gym three times a week and using my fitness pal app on my phone has also helped!! Where are you at in your journey?

I don't know if I can offer advise but my story is similar. I started out gung whow for three weeks then hit a stall for 10 days and it has been slow going from there. I eat 600-800 calories a day and am only having protein with what ever carbs in food(yogurt). I exercise every day drink at least 64 ounces of water. I have at least 40 more pounds to lose and I thought also that I would be losing a little faster. I can only asssume that my metabolism is so low now that I need much fewer calories to maintain. I don't know what another explanation could be. Hormonal is the other side, many say their hormones are awack in the beginning, maybe this is playing a part to. All I know is that we have to keep doing what we are doing and not give up or give in. Keep eating healthy, exercising, drinking water, tracking food/erercise; with this we can only succeed. If we ask ourselves in 6 months from now how we are doing I am sure we will say that we have lost XXXXX amount of weight and feel great!! I think that is what it is all about! Hang in there we CAN do this!!

Hello, I am so thankful for all the info on this site! I am a 51 year old, wife, mom, grandma and friend. I run a small investigation firm in Northern California. I had my surgery 10/18. I am a Kaiser SSF patient. Dr. Khayat and his support staff were amazing! I felt informed or overinformed all the way thorugh. I was very frustrated by stalls. Failing the first psyche exam and filling conditions. But with all that I still had surgery in record time. In May, I attended orientation (289lbs.). On July 2nd I attended lifestyles 1 and began pre-op diet (273lbs). September 19th I got my date! On the day of surgery I was 258lbs. Today I am 243.2. Feeling good mostly. From what I read I am on track and have had a pretty normal recorvery. Day two at home was horrible. I have been very tired. Today is my first day of work. But that might not be possible if I did not have my own office at home. I could not go out in the field for very long at this point. even though I am practically pain free aside from a little left side discomfort. I came home form the hospital day after surgery. With a big bottle of liquid vicodin. THANK GOD. I used the entire bottle in 6 days at 31/2 hour intervals. It was supposed to be 4 hrs but on day two I learned that 31/2 hrs kept me pain free. I was still uncomfortable and so tired. I slept, drank liquids and protien. Got in 64oz liquids and 60gm Protein each day! I feel hungry until I take a bite. So it may not be hunger. I am still learning what I really feel for sure. I walk around the house often as I drink or eat. I use 3oz cups for Water 1oz cup for Protein Drink (Premier). Easy to keep track too. I track daily. Tried drinking from a regular cup Saturday and I felt bad and burpy. Back on little cups Sunday. It really works for me. I have been pain free since Thursday (a week from surgery). Today I will drive. Doctor is not releasing me until Friday but I am confident all meds and anasthesia free. I walk often. But tire very fast. I have had one nightmare experience. Its graphic but Ill give the polite version. Not the one my family heard...LOL! On day 7 my first BM. OMG it was like having a baby out my bottom. I have had three babies and this was like horrible labor pains and pushing for two hours. For a very little ripping painful rock hard pooh. UGH!!!! Thought I would die. Felt the pain for two days after. My doc said I did not need stool softeners if I got all my Fluid in. He was wrong. I am a twice a day milk of mag'er now. Not risking that again. I love the Kaiser SSF doc and support staff. Everyone from admitting to surgery staff, nurses, aides, etc were postive. Only one complainer in the whole bunch. They were hella funny and supportive too. It was great. My husband stayed in the room with me. Wasnt nesecarry I guess but in my family when we have surgery someone stays the night at least the first night or two. Just wishing my brain was as slow as my body. I am thinking of everything I want to do but cannot keep up. Its frustrating. Would not change a thing. So looking forward to a happy energetic lifestyle. I am looking forward to sports and activities with my adult kids and the grankids my husband and I are raising. I cant wait!!!!!! Feeling blessed in California!

OK, so I'll break this down a bit more since you missed the humorous intent of the statement. If you stall for two or three weeks, then weighing yourself once a week or every couple of days will only demonstrate to you that you are in a period of plateau. If stalls and plateaus make you crazy, then all you are doing is torturing yourself. If you move to a schedule of only weighing yourself monthly, then, more than likely, you'll still have stalls, but you'll never know they happened, so there is nothing to ever get upset about. I feel that setting arbitrary dates that you want to reach arbitrary weight goals is setting yourself up for failure, as it has been demonstrated in thousands of posts on this forum that we have no control over how fast/slow/what amount of weight we lose in any given time period. So rather than becoming fixated on being at a certain number of pounds on a certain date, we should be more focused on reaching a goal weight when we reach it. If the other way works for you, go for it. My hope is that everyone here is successful. I just like to offer an alternative view that some may find helpful.

Three weeks is a milestone where almost every single WLS candidate goes through a stall. I think other ones occur, but not sure that they are as predictable as the three week stall is. Sweetie, you have lost 18 lbs. in nineteen days. Please tell me, how much should you have lost? What is an amount in those nineteen days since your surgery that you would be "happy" with? More food for thought: You can't rush perfection. If you do, you'll have severe skin left over anyways from it, so avoid that if you can! Anyways, it took you years to put it on, how long do you think it's gonna take to get it off? Slap me if you must, but... think about what I said pls. Oh and btw, you will have an influx of emotions in this journey whenever you lose quickly. Your body is making hormones for you at your largest and doesn't quite 'catch up' with the amount you lose so quickly. It takes time to recalculate. So best thing I can tell you is this ... be patient as you can... work the program (i.e. dr's orders - Protein, Water, exercise, regular BM schedule, sleep as well as logging your food) .... and best of luck to you, always. xx

Exact same thing happened to me great weight loss, three week stall, gained two pounds. Then stall broke have lost the weight plus and am back on the losing road.

Three week is notorious stall date. I think your body says "Whoa, nellie! I'm losing fast here and I'm gonna take a minute to readjust!" If you are tracking and know you are getting the right amount of calories and you are drinking the right amount of Water, you'll be rewarded soon with a drop of that two pounds and then some. Also, if it's that time of month, lots of people bloat up a little and then drop it in the next couple of weeks. It takes a calorie deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound, and the same is true for gaining a pound. So unless you ate an extra 7,000 calories last week, it's water weight. I was fortunate to not gain at the third week, but I lost only a couple of ounces, compared to the pounds I lost in the previous and following weeks. Best wishes on your journey. Life is grand on the goalies bench - looking forward to seeing you on it soon! Lynda

Katie and bandalyons.. Good luck.. Keep us posted.. Jakat .. Looks like we started softs the same day... I was in a three week stall.. I wasn't eating much during puréed stage.. But I've been on soft since Thursday and the scale is starting to move again, i am so surprised how few restrictions there are.. its so great to eat real food again.. even if it is only 3/4 cup of food.. I was getting really bummed.. But nut thinks body was starving.. Go figure.. ) but I'm 31 pounds down ( this includes 2 week pre op), and down 14 inches on my one month surg-a-versary ... I've been chatting with Rachel (zebra) and she is doing awesome as well.. Hope everyone is doing well.. Keep us posted on your progress.. Where ever you are.. All the best!!! Stephanie...

My three month update Still tired of the stalls.. I have lost 51 lbs since surgery and 68 lbs from a week before surgery. I started this process on November 9 last year and have lost 101 lbs since

Finally after over three weeks my stall has ended. I started out post op at 220 lbs, now I am 169. So happy this morning. Sent from my iPhone using VST

In week two of the three week stall.