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I’m only two weeks out, but from reading these forums, it seems that nearly everyone experiences a stall at about the three week mark.

According to my surgeon there should be no physical reason that anyone can't get in at least 3 premier Protein shakes the day after surgery so it sounds like you are right on track. Since you mentioned you are neurotic, here is a heads up: Just keep focusing on following your program by getting in all of your protein and fluids, taking your Vitamins and supplements when and as instructed, and exercising when cleared and you will lose weight. Just keep in mind that the numbers on the scale may be erratic at first because of IV fluids and swelling. Also, you will stall and most people experience their first stall about three weeks after surgery. Embrace the Stall! http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall

Hi Lauren and WELCOME!!! First off....... Congrats to you for doing your 'homework"!! Ask lots and lots of questions!! Do your research! This is major surgery, and knowledge is your best tool! Ok.. ansers to your questions, and I'm 9 months out... 1. Did you find it hard to eat slower and chew more when you go to solid foods? I worry I won't be able to slow myself down Yes.... I was a FAST eater, and didn't chew my food well. For someone who is overweight, i think this is a common thing with us. But, yes, you can slow down because if you eat too fast, you hurt, and some of us vomit ( me ) it's unpleasant, so you quickly learn how to eat right. 2. for people who have had their sleeve for over a year or so, is daily life harder? how is it to go out? Life is actually better than in the beginning. You know your body better and you know to listen to it. When I go to a restraunt I "behave" better, eat slower, chew my food better because I don't want to embarrase myself by running to the bathroom and getting sick. So actually eating out is better for me. At home I tend to forget, and then I have troubles. 3. has anyone stalled, and what have you done about it? I am 9 months out, was VERY obese, and the last 6 weeks has been my first Stall. I'm working on it by being more active, watching what I eat closer, and being that I'm 9 months out I can eat more. But I have gotten away from eating my Protein like I should so I'm working on that and lost 2 pounds this week!! ) 4. was recovery difficult, and how soon did you return to work? Recovery was difficult for me. I spent a FULL 5 days in the hospital because I was vomiting so badly. It subsided when I got home but the first three months I was sick with vomiting or slimes or dry heaves... was not pleasant!! I was on a LOA for Knee replacement surgery, so I had no time adjusting when I went back to work. Now for the other questions.... I had my surgery right after I turned 50. I have what my best friend calls "Good Skin"- Isn't that "thin" skin..... if ya know what I'm talking about... But..... I was so badly overweight, my Highest being 373 I think....... and when I went into surgery I was 354. I dropped most of my weight by 6 months. I lost a total of 148 pounds to date. I lost muscle because of the fast weight loss and I was bad about exercising ( because I was sooo big ) But I exercise almost daily now. And it has improved some. Your questions and concerns are legit- and you need to write down questions as you think of them and ask when your doctor/surgen or forums like this to help you. I did LOTS of research prior to my surgery. This is a TOOL....... you have to learn how to work it. It's not a miricle cure. good luck to you and your decision, feel free to ask anything thats on your mind! g'luck to you~~:thumbup:

You've been doing great, keeping on since January! I did a very low carb diet for a month before my surgery (on my own authority). So I commend you for your dedication to do this for three months! I don't know if this will work for you, but this did work for me and didn't stall my pre-op weight loss (30 lbs). Every two weeks or so, I would have a carb-filled meal (usually Pasta, a love of mine), completely guilt free. After that "whatever I want" meal, I got right back on the wagon for the next two weeks of Proteins and low-carb veggies. It helped me feel less deprived and dedicated to staying on track. Now that you're approved, hopefully you won't have to keep it up for another 3 months. I promise, everything you do now is such a big help for after surgery.

I had surgery on 8/24. I lost 17 pounds during my two week preop diet and then 13 pounds since surgery. I have been in a three week stall. I am not losing anymore weight even though I am following the diet and walking a mile a day. It has me a bit worried.

I'm 10 months out and down 101 lbs. Just to add my two cents here, my recovery was no problem at all. My body hates anesthesia so much, but other than that no complications at all. The first month is drag for sure, and on my plan I was able to eat a scrambled egg, or rather three bites of it, on day 14. You don't feel good at first, but hey, it's only for a short time. Just follow the program they give you and listen to your body. Now, I love going out because I don't really cook, and one meal can last up to 4 meals for me! How great is that? There are stalls along the way, but I think most of the time the body is trying to figure out what is happening. Expect a stall at week three or so, when you first lose a lot of fluids, and then your body retains for a week or so. Lately I have upped my exercise to get through stalls. I rarely exercised before surgery and now you can't mess with my exercise time. I almost have to or I don't feel right. There are so much better things about life now. Just moving around is so much better. This morning I took a bath and rose of the bath so smoothly, I felt so light. It was great! Going into a store and getting "regular" clothes and the cute styles and clothes actually looking good on me. I flew twice in the past few months and what a difference! No one was dreading to sit next to me this time. And how I see myself, how others treat you is even different, even though that is not right in the perfect world, it is reality. I could go on and on, but I think you get the drift. This is a great journey, for all of us to enjoy along the way! As far a pre-op diet, my surgeon just asked me to be below 1000 calories a day so that I would not have a fatty liver for surgery. Great success to you!

The good news is you've done absolutely nothing wrong. It's very normal to stall at around 3 weeks out from surgery. 99% of us did it, and if you search "Three week stall" on this forum or even Google, you'll get a thousand results. Stay the course, keep getting in your liquids and Protein and it will pass. Promise.

I'm 4 months out and I've been stalled for a good couple-three weeks. Moving again today though. All of a sudden - whoosh! Down a kilo! Yippppeee! Hang on in there

I am and it's driving me nuts. I stalled at week three and then week five I dropped ten. Now I'm on week seven and I feel like I'm stalling again. I'm losing a pound here or there. Maybe my expectations are off! I know I don't want to lose it too fast. All together from pre surgery to after surgery I've lost 35 which is amazing...I know! I can tolerate any food also, but I'm doing really good to not introduce bad stuff back into my new stomach and life! I'm getting in 4 miles of walking at least three times a week. I want to get a trainer again and join a gym, so more to come!

I stalled on week three post op and stayed stalled for 5 full weeks. I reviewed my diet with my nutritionist since I was keeping meticulous records in My Fitness Pal and she had some advice for me that may or may not have helped. I am now more careful to watch my fat macros. Apparently eggs, cheese and nuts, while technically on the menu, added too much fat and not enough protein. I also upped my calories from the 600s to the 800s and increased my protein intake to a minimum of 80g a day. Fortunately, I learned to like the Protein20 drink (available at Costco in a 12 pack) and that extra 90 calories gives me 20g of protein and hydration which I was always struggling to meet. Since my weight loss returned last Saturday I have only lost about 5 pounds in 9 days, so it seems slower than the first 3 weeks when I shed about 25 lbs pretty quickly. I was also pretty bad about getting in exercise, but having surgery and then plummeting into sub-zero temperatures in the middle of a pandemic didn't exactly encourage daily walking. Now that it's nice I try to get in a long daily walk and/or 30 minutes on the elliptical. I would encourage you to take some measurements, too, during the stall if you haven't already. I have a friend who had the bypass surgery 3 weeks after me and she claims to have only lost 11 lbs, but her weight loss is noticeable in her hips and thighs. Seeing a tape measure drop may indicate that fat is being burned, but that water weight is being replenished. I feel your pain. The stall is the worst thing to make you feel like you've failed and that your body has betrayed you.

Tips? Yes, focus on getting in all of your Water and Protein (64 grams of protein seems low) and stay off the scale. You are healing. Your body is in flux. Your primary job right now is staying hydrated and getting in enough protein. None of us lose at a constant or steady rate. We all experience stalls. Most of us experience our first stall about three weeks after surgery. Also, you are correct: 4 days does not make a stall. Just follow your program, stay off the scale, and embrace the stall. http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall

yea - some people do experience "stair step" weight loss (which sounds like you're experiencing). Luckily I only had stalls every two or three months, because I know they're aggravating. At 1000 calories/day, I wouldn't worry about it. You'll start losing again. Maybe just try weighing yourself once or twice a week? (I know that's hard for a lot of people, though...)

Are you at a weight that you were stuck at previously in your life? Some of us have had weights we were at for months or even years, that’s why many of us have closets full of two or three....or even more sizes of clothing. If this is the case for you, you may be fighting through a stall that includes one of your previous set points and I feel like that takes a bit more patience to get through. If this is not the case try changing something. Are you eating the same things every day? Are you eating the same amount of calories? Try eating a bit more one day then less the next. Maybe try intermittent fasting for a week. Try some new exercises if you are doing the same ones. All of this considering though, the body will stall out during weight loss for 90 percent of us. It is so discouraging when it is happening, and we all understand that! Remember too as you get closer to your goal weight, it will become harder to lose weight. Try to remain positive, focus on what you are doing to improve your health each day right now rather than how disappointing it is that the scale isn’t moving. If you continue to follow your plan, the stall will eventually break when YOUR body is ready!

Yeah, I had the three week stall and it lasted a couple of weeks. WIth my pattern of loss, I am now seeing that I can just expect to stall for a couple of weeks, lose 3-4 lbs in a hurry, and then stall again. So I think I just need to get used to it.

There seems to be an infamous three week stall. I personally just hit it and it lasted 3.5 weeks. Many supporters here had warned me and although you expect it, it makes you doubt if the sleeve is going to work for you. Keep doing what you're suppose to and your body will adapt and before you know, you will start losing. Eat your protein and lots of fluid and you will be rewarded. We all lose at different rates. For me it seemed the stall started when I went from liquids to solids. As if my body was in starvation mode and held on to everything I put in my mouth, once it realizes that you will continue to feed it, it let's go of the choke hold. This was a very depressing time for me, one night I just let it go emotionally on this very site and the next day I had lost. Good luck to you...

Alyce, Our doctor's plans vary a bit, but here is where I was at post-op (I am at 8 1./2 months now). I came home on on Day 3, permitted to drink full liquids. At week two, I went on to purees, which include applesauce, but sugar free. Sugar is still an issue for me now. I just can't afford to give my calorie balance (800 per day) over to sugar or starrch). At week three I started soft foods, and at week four I graduated cautiously to cooked whole foods. I would not accuse you of cheating, myself, but just advise you to be patient withh your team's plan. Oh, and that week three stall is coming up, just so you know.

Thank you! So far, I don't really have any non scale wins. My clothes are as tight as they were three weeks ago. Did any of your stalls last several weeks?

I'm 6 weeks out and my first week I lost nothing then I lost 25lbs in the next 2 weeks. Then of course I got the dreaded three week stall. It doesn't come in a continuous flow

I had VSG on the 16th too! I am down 16 pounds since surgery day, 28 total from the start of the process. I hit the “three week stall” this week, but that is ok. I am supposed to start puréed on Monday but I am traveling for work. I will be living out of a hotel Monday through Thursday for the next two weeks, so I am going to experiment with tiny amounts of puréed foods this weekend. I am so excited to be off of full liquids. I don’t think I will be able to have soup again for months, lol. 🤮🤮🤮 Age: 37 Height: 5’6 Starting BMI: 37 VSG: 4/16/18 Starting Weight: 231 Surgery Weight: 229 Current Weight: 213 (17 days post op) GW: 160 MFP: Fit4LifeAR

My week three stall lasted for 15 days. Finally started losing again at a good pace. Hang in there!

Everyone is different! Lots of things in play. Did you do a pre op diet? If you lost weight pre op your first week post op won't be a high because you already lost the big Water weight drop people often lose the first week of any diet. I lost an amazing amount my first week (17lbs) but I didn't have a pre op diet, even so my doc said at my one week follow up not to trust that loss and not to stress if it went up. It didn't, but I hit the "three week stall" right after at two weeks while my body caught up. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

28 pounds six weeks out is a great number - congratulations!! 700-800 calories a day may be a little low. RNY is all about lifestyle changes. And lifestyle changes have to be sustainable. Long term sustainable. That's the prime directive. The sustainable test has helped me enormously in making dietary and exercise decisions from the day I had my surgery right up to this minute. I've averaged about 1300 calories a day since October 20, 2011. Two weeks ago and 100+ pounds lighter, the surgeon told me she didn't want me to lose more than an additional ten pounds and to up my calorie intake to 1800. That sounded a little high to me so I'm shooting for 1500. Crazy as it sounds, there are more days than not where I'm finding it very difficult to hit the 1500 mark. I have (I think) a great appetite but I just can't hold that much and I'm truly not t h a t hungry. I am absolutely confident that I could maintain a 1300 calorie average (there are days when I hit 1700-1800) but we'll have to see what happens with the weight. So far it's holding around 170 for the last three weeks. So based on long term sustainability, you might consider upping your calories to say 1000 a day for a month or two and see what happens. Most doctors recommend a weight loss goal of two pounds a week. Gradual calorie increases until you reach that average will take you where you want to go and do it in a healthy manner. Stalls are all part of the process and nothing to worry about. I love your decision to stay away from the scales for a week. Two would be even better! Stalls often last a couple of weeks but sometimes more. Stay focused on following the protocol, stay active and stay away from the scales as much as you can! You're gonna love the new you and congratulations again on a great start!!

I am so glad I have your experiences to help me through this process. I'm close to five weeks post op and it really encourages me to know about the three week stall, etc. Im going on my third week of the three week stall but gradually lost six lbs. Hovering so close to reaching to onederland and you guys give me a lot of patience! Thanks!

I've only ran into two people who were negative towards me. My uncle and my coworker. My uncle said that it was the easy way out and that its too dangerous and kept pushing me to not have it. I finally told him I was going through with it, it was my decision, and that the surgery he was thinking about was 15 years ago. I told him they have come a long way. My coworker I still have problems with to this day, and probably should speak to HR about them. She made it very clear that she was against it and that eating the right things and exercising would work (even though she knows how much I was working out every day and watching what I ate, because she told me that I needed to get a new hobby after work and stop eating salads because it makes her feel bad), but still decided to ask questions. So I thought by answering the questions, I could make her see why this was the best decision for me. She still seemed to have her doubts, but I figured it was more related to concerns due to the amount of get well messages she text me while I was in the hospital and the week after. When I finally came back to work, she had told everyone that I work with that I had the surgery. There is only myself, my boss and this one individual in my office, but she had gone to other offices and departments to share with them why I was out. It wasn't really her business to share, and the only reason I shared with her is because I thought I could trust her, and like I said there's only three of us in the office. So when I first returned, I was treated like someone close to me had just died. Everyone just had a look of sympathy and treated me like I was about to break at any moment. Then once I proved that I was fine, with the help of some others that had gastric bypass, everything seemed to get back to normal, and I even started receiving compliments. Then I hit a stall. I was very frustrated and after days of her continuously asking how I was doing, I caved and mentioned that I was stuck. BIG MISTAKE. Next thing I knew, I had another woman who had the gastric bypass several years back (who doesn't even work in the same building as us) came to my office and sit down and tell me that it sometimes happens but keep doing what I am doing. Another woman was trying to give me advice. The third just wanted to keep complimenting me to try and make me feel better. So I was blown away that my coworker yet again went and told other people my business. So when I confronted her about it, she told me that she just sees me struggling so bad and would never be able to do what I am doing. I am not struggling, and I told her that I'm not and that I don't know why she assumes that I am. And she said well you can't eat hardly anything. I told her its not that I can't, its that I don't want to. Also when they remove the majority of your stomach, the idea is so that less amount of food is required to fill you. I just am so frustrated with this woman. I should have known better then to ever open my mouth to her, but being such a small office, I felt compelled too. Its come to the point of not sharing any information at all. When she asks how I'm doing, I just ignore her and remind myself how far I have come and how great I feel. I have let me boss know of my frustrations, and spoke candidly to my HR person just in case she starts gossip again. My advice, share the information with only those you want too. Something I read was that the sleeve patients lose slower then bypass patients, so depending on how much you need to lose you may be able to get away with not telling anyone. I know my cousins coworker had it done, people assumed she did, but she insisted it was just diet and exercise. I was lucky to have so many people support me and it (I don't count the majority of them telling me I wasn't that big, because just saying that meant I was big and needed something done). And another big thing is just let the negativity just roll right off you. If you try to be a positive thinker, it will out weigh the negativity anyone is trying to throw your way.

Stalls are a normal, natural, and necessary part of the process. Almost everyone experiences their first stall around week three. (@@Babbs always posts the best explanation.) This will not be your last stall by a long shot. Just keep following your program. Make sure you are getting in all of your Protein and fluids, and take your Vitamins as directed. You will be fine. Embrace the Stall! http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall