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Oh Tracey, the much-dreaded 3-week stall is just a week late for you. Search this site for "three-week stall" and you will feel so much better--we all have it in one way, form, or fashion. It will pass. Just keep doing what you're supposed to do and hang in there. The time AFTER the stall breaks is some of the fastest loss you'll experience, so fun times are ahead!

That is awesome! I was stalled for about three weeks too but when I went to put on a pair of capris, they fell off of me, I cheered back up! So I guess when you are stalled, get out the tape measure! Congrats!

In the long term losing 2 pounds a week would be 104 pounds this year. That's not an insignificant amount. You are not going to see a huge drop on the scale every time you step on it. Not everyone loses all of their weight in nine months - many more people take more than a year to get to goal. In fact, with less than 100 pounds to lose, I'd expect your journey to be slower, anyway. That said, your body is still in shock. Put that scale away! You're already nearly 20% down. You're being too hard on yourself. You've just lost 17 pounds in two weeks! That's something you will not repeat the rest of your journey, so pat yourself on the back and be proud of your accomplishment. I took 17 months to lose 107 pounds. On average, I lost just over six pounds a month. In reality, I had two weeks every month where I didn't lose (and usually gained three pounds for my period!) and even hit two nine week stalls along the way. Weight loss happens in fits and starts. Be happy for the losses and try to stay positive during the slow Patches. You just had 85% of your stomach removed and would be crazy to think that you're somehow NOT going to lose weight with this major life change. Chin up. In six months you'll be sitting back reading posts by people recently sleeved and wondering why they expect it all to happen so quickly - and at that point you'll be more than halfway to goal and feeling great about yourself. ~Cheri

I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while, because I always have to sit and get my thoughts organized and think about what I want to say. And quite truthfully, I have been to lazy to organize my thoughts and try to put them down in any coherant manner! But today I am taking a few minutes to sit and rest (have been cleaning house and baking all day long, preparing to go to work) and I thought, I really need to write down how I am thinking, doing, feeling, etc. It is Friday, and it is my weekend to work. Have to work tonight at 7:00 PM till 7:30 AM tomorrow morning, and again tomorrow night and Sunday night. So my weekend will be totally taken up with work. Will get off Monday morning at 7:30 AM, and have a couple of days off. I always get frantic before I have to work 3 or 4 nights in a row, trying to get my house clean, my laundry caught up, everything done that I know needs to be done, so that I don't have to worry about it while I am working, and think about getting it done when I get home. (I sleep at the hospital where I work when I work consecutive nights like this weekend. So won't even be home again till sometime Monday morning.) Today I weighed myself and saw that I am still gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 pounds that I have gained and lost a gazillion times since the beginning of December. And I asked myself "WHEN am I going to get serious and really TRY to make it past this stall that I have been in for almost three months now?" It is so easy to try "just a bite" of whatever is handy, or whatever I am baking, etc. And before I know it, I have eaten a couple hundred calories, just "trying a bite"! Today, I have decided that I need to get serious. I know, I have said this before, but today I mean it. I am starting to get concerned that I will never reach goal if I don't REALLY get serious about this whole weight loss thing. I mean, for YEARS and YEARS I have played the weight loss game. Lose a few pounds and then eat something that I know I shouldn't, and start the deadly weight gain again. So today, I went to the (dreaded, filthy, overcluttered, badly needing to be cleaned out) basement, and hauled my treadmill and exercise bike upstairs, where I would have to see them EVERYDAY that I am home, and get on them and do something good for myself! I just last week finished re-painting and decorating our bedroom, and there is now room for both of them in our bedroom. So I am placing them there, and going to MAKE myself get on each of them every day I am here at home. Furthermore, I am also going to start a log, and keep track of how much time I put in on each. I used to have a boss that always said "that which gets measured gets done", meaning the things that are important to you to accomplish need to be measured to make sure you are making progress toward getting them done. So fellow sleevers, wish me well! I need encouragement to get this thing accomplished. I REALLY WANT to make it to goal! I want to make a permanent change in my lifestyle and be healthier and happier. I just need to get off my behind and get serious, and get busy. That's it for today. Hope you all have a great weekend! (P.S. The baking I mentioned is for my daughter. I don't bake much for us anymore, cause I tend to eat it. I made pastries for her card party tonight, but they are ones that don't taste good till after they are baked, so I didn't even try them! Good for me!)

njd, yes it's seems it's pretty normal. I had stalls early on. In fact, I've had a stall and lose pattern through out! Only recently I seem to just have a slow steady pattern. But I've read that most people stall within the first three weeks! It might be our bodies adjusting. Hang in there. It will break. Just be sure and focus on nutrition (protein) and fluids and be sure you're moving. It's so frustrating when it happen, but just hang in there kiddo!!!

It IS very frustrating and we all totally get it. Its that dreaded "I didn't go through all this to just lost 30lbs" I am just coming out of the same 3 week stall (lasted about a week and a half) so have faith in your decision and just know it'll start up again. My surgeon and doc said that I probably won't lose at the same rate I did in the beginning, but then 25 lbs in three weeks they considered losing to fast. (I didn't!! but they did) so they said that the rate I am losing now is much healthier. Its still coming off quickly, but not at 2-3 lbs a day. Just remember your body is in shock and you have to give it time to heal. Remember to take care of yourself! Good luck!

Definately hit the 3 week stall hon-same thing with me. Don't panic your doing great! It'll pass, focus on staying hydrated and eat your three meals, work out and your stall will pass. GL

Just got over the three week stall - mine lasted 12 days - the good side of it all is when it is over you wake up one morning and bam - your pants fall off - everyone notices your new "face" and the pounds start to fall off again - not as fast but slowly but surely. I have been trying not to weigh myself as often and sticking to the NSV - they are so much better - gotta go - my pants are falling off me again - must readjust for the tenth time this morning and it is only 7:30a!

As many of you know, my weight lately has been hanging around the same number. I broke into the 160's about 5 weeks ago and stayed at 169 for three weeks, then dropped to 166.5 and have been there for two. It just seems like this stall lasted longer and was immediately followed by another stall. I was feeling a little down yesterday when I realized it was time to measure. I measure every two weeks. Lo and Behold I am down 2 inches in the hips and one in the butt and also a half in my thighs! IN TWO WEEKS! No weight change either. Baffleing. I even measured twice. How can this be? I dont know but I will take it. I guess all that zumba and walking with a weighted vest is paying off. I will be smiling all the way to gym tonite! My big celebration for today is that I am wearing a size 10 jeans for the first time in 22 years or so. I havent been this small since before I got pregnant with my first child at the age of 22. WOW. Tears of joy. I may not be able to wear all size 10 jeans but by golly I am wearing these! They dont have a lot of spandex either. Very little in fact. I also bought a size 10 blazer and it fits well in the sleeves and all! OMG! I was a size 20 when I started this so I guess I am half my size! I am almost in single digits!!!!! WHAT???? Somebody help me to comprehend this! I am doing this! I love my sleeve!

My girlfriends and I call the elliptical the ellipti-hell. I've always hated the darn thing. I know I need to get on it sometimes, but I have better luck motivating myself to do other things. Personally, I have horrible, destined-for-replacement knees, so I hit the stationary bicycle like crazy and am trying to work up on the treadmill. The impact on the treadmill is a big issue for me, but I think it's important to get some at least. I usually do 30 minutes of intervals on the bike and 15 on the treadmill. I'm back to doing an hour of yoga twice a week with a trainer and am just going back to strength training, which I'm planning on doing three times a week. I'm so, so stalled ... have only lost one pound in two weeks and going a little batty from that. Eager to start seeing the scale start moving again. CC

I wanted to post my experiences from the first three weeks post-op. Everyone is different, but it helps to hear about other's experiences so here goes.... Week 1: The hardest thing was working my way up to the 8oz per hour that I was supposed to be drinking. Honestly, some days that is still a struggle if I'm not paying attention! But all in all this was a good week. I slowly weaned myself off of pain meds (except at night because laying down was hard for me). I walked a mile each day and slowly met my liquid goals. I was tired and sore, but I felt like I was making a great come back. Week 2: This was the WORST for me. It had little to do with the actual surgery, except that anesthesia managed to crack one of my teeth. That tooth proceeded to develop an abscess, which hit me like a ton of bricks the night of my one-week post-op anniversary! OMG! I have never felt pain like that. It was all consuming... like I couldn't remember a time when I hadn't been in pain and I couldn't imagine a time in the future when the pain would go away. I got those pain meds back out and drank them religiously every four hours. I had to wait four days to see a specialist and have a root canal. I don't remember anything about those four days except a haze of pain and being stoned out of my mind on percoset. I guess the good news is that my surgeon had warned me that week 2 would be tough because I would feel exhausted. I have no idea if I was exhausted or not so maybe ignorance is bliss?!! Week 3: I feared this week. I had heard so many stories about the "third week stall". I hadn't lost that much weight in the first two weeks (wk 1=7lbs and wk 2=1.5lbs -- nothing to be ashamed of, but not LOTS of weight) and I didn't want to go in to my follow-up with my surgeon looking like a slacker (or cheater as the case may be). But, I set up myfitnesspal.com to allow 800cal/day, 90g protein, 30g carb, and 35g fat and I tried my best to stick to it. Alot of days I didn't make 800 cal (some days I didn't even get half of that) and I think my highest protein intake was 50g. But, I managed to consistently stay under 50g carb and 50g fat, which, while higher than my goal, was still not too shabby. I managed to lose 3.4lbs in my third week and I'm happy with that. At the same time, I have been really lucky! I have yet to find a food that I can't tolerate. I don't drink plain water much, but its more because it doesn't taste good to me anymore, I can still drink it and be fine. I tried some sugar-free, fat free ice cream and while it went down fine, I ate it too fast because I didn't want it to melt so I've stayed away from that since. But, everything else from salmon to veal that I've tried to eat has gone down and stayed there! I will say that I chew everything to within an inch of its life and I've always tended to take itsy-bitsy bites, so maybe that helps. So, to summarize: I started my pre-op liquid diet at 248lbs. By the day of surgery I was 240lbs. After week 1 I was 233lbs, after week 2 I was 231lbs, and now I'm 228lbs. These are not HUGE losses, but they are consistent and at this point I will take that! Loving the sleeved life so far!

Yeah at three weeks there still not much choices to eat so I'm not even paying attention to carbs. I'm just eating what's on my list. Tomorrow I will start paying attention to the carbs in my food choices. I'm also at a stall so the carbs might be playing a role in that.

This happened to me and I got SO upset, I thought I was doing everything wrong. Don't stress, try to walk, and enjoy the foods you can eat--as long as you follow all the reccomendations, you're doing everything right and it WILL come off. I was stalled for almost two weeks and then I lost another three pounds quickly and easily. It will happen!

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.

I am at eight weeks and three days, so pretty close to two months. I had lost 29 pounds as of Tuesday and 30 pounds as of today. I have a lot of stalls for several days, to a week, and then it seems I lose a pound a day for a few days. I usually notice a loss right after I change things up, like go out to dinner, or take a break from exercise for a day. I weight myself every day but I also don't care if the scale doesn't move for a week. I know it is happening, and I'm going to get to goal. I weigh daily because I don't want to find out too late that I am doing something wrong causing a gain. Don't worry or obsess, and if you don't feel like weighing, then you don't have to.

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...

Since you are exercising so well maybe you are toning and gaining muscle weight. I am a little over 6 months out and I have stalled also. I have lost 4 lbs in the last month and a half but I have lost a ton of inches and went down another pants size. I have also started Zumba three times a week and I know my muscles are getting back to normal. I hope this helps some. I have 15lbs to lose and everyone is telling me it's going to be the hardest to get rid of.

I hit the 15lbs lost since surgery mark today and I have already been thru a one week stall. I eat pretty much what I want to within reasob of course. I am keeping my calories under 700, my protein above 60, my carbs under 40 and my fat under 45. So far so good. For dinner tonight I had three saltine crackers and a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. If you want to see the rest of my food logs for the past several weeks you can friend me on myfitnesspal.com. My user name is "MyNanner"!

I'll be four weeks wen and I try to stay at about 1000 calories a day. I've tried just about everything and nothing has disagreed except too much sugar. I love Reece's and had two Reece's hearts, I know bad but I paid the price. I was only 277 at 6'1" going in to surgery and I'm at 256 now I've been at around 260 for three week sloooooow going. A normal day is coffee in the morning with sugar free apple sauce 1 cup, maybe a little beef jerky or some almonds for snack then some soup for lunch or a yogurt. Then supper I can eat more than a cup of salad or soup or small peice of chicken. Not going to lie I do eat the occasional corn chip or cookie the kids have. Which I know I shouldn't. Try to drink all day. I love the morning orange sugarless powder to add to my water, tastes just like Tang and the closest to orange juice with no calories. From walmart. Hope this helps. Your not alone. Your prob in a stall.

Ok - I have failed this challagne - miserably - with a three week stall including a two lb gain. But the stall finally broke last week with an almost 6lb lose. I am not too disappointed. Ready for the next challange. Bring it on!! SW...194 CW...185.4 GW...180

Hi Sleevers, Depression, I am 9 months post op and I have hit at major stall. I have lost 127 pounds. I am so worried is this it? I have alot to go. I started at 356 pounds and I down to 238 pounds but I have not gone anywhere in 3 three weeks. I am starting to get some serious panic attacks, where the walls are closing in. I am so terrifed the weight is going to come back. I am excercising and I was obessed I strained by stomach muscles excercsing and my dr has me relaxing. Any suggestions would be appreciated. My next surgeon appt is in 2 weeks. I am thinking about going to my primary doctor to help get through this panic attacks. Please help in Florida.... Connie

Put that scale away! You just had surgery and are going to make yourself crazy for no good reason. It's going to take your body a while to adjust and get used to the program now that you've gone and removed 85% of your stomach. I dropped all of my first month weight in the last two weeks of the month. Any number of factors could cause a small bounce up on the scale and after a few months you're going to understand when to expect it and you'll figure out why it happens to you. The entire time I was loosing was a cycle of short stalls with rapid losses and I gained weight every single month around my period, too. Right now all liquids are liquids and you should be sipping something all day long. I had trouble with plain Water and drank room temp Crystal Light, warm Soup and unjury for the first few weeks. Everything you put in your body counts towards your liquid intake goals. Don't expect to get much of anything in for a while, and don't beat yourself up over it, either. It's hard in the beginning! I didn't regularly hit my Protein, liquid AND calorie goals until about 4-6 months out. You are not going to fail. You just removed most of your stomach and can't even drink half a cup of water in one sitting! This isn't a race and the weight won't drop off overnight. Take it easy, don't stress yourself out and let yourself heal. And put that darn scale away until three weeks out from surgery! You're going to stall once you hit mushies anyway and it will frustrate you to no end. Guess what, though? In four months you're going to be posting about how much weight you've lost and how your clothes are too big. Give it time. Good luck, and speedy healing. ~Cheri

I am writing this because I've been complaining about my lack of weight loss and stall. I went to see my Dr yesterday for my 6 week follow-up. I have finally broken the dreaded three week stall that started the day I started on solid food which was the day of my two week check-up, it lasted for almost 4 weeks. According to her scale I have lost 4.5 lbs in just the last few days. I was still discouraged with the low loss, but she was not unhappy at all. They are aware of the three week stall, she also made me realize that the pounds I lost prior to surgery are and should be counted as surgical loss. Many people don't lose any weight prior to surgery and therefore enjoying a sudden drop. I have less weight to lose than many others, so my loss will be slower. She was so encouraged and made me realize that I am already over half way there to meet her requirements. Using her little calculator and making all these configurations, she said if I lose 50% of my excess body weight(average) I am over half way there, although the nutritionist and I have set a lower weight, she said if I lose a mere 20lbs, I will be what is considered a successful sleeve according to national averages. So my current 29lb loss is over half way??? I do not plan to stop at another 20lbs, but it was encouraging to know how well I am doing and will do since I am just 6 weeks out. Her visit was just what I needed. I love my Dr. :-) Thanks to all of you who gave me encouragement when I was feeling down. That's why I love this venue.

I am three weeks out. Just started mushy foods. I had lost 26 total at two weeks out. Then I hit a stall for a week. Today I weighed and i'm down three more pounds. I had talked to the doctor and they said your body is just adjusting to everything and this will happen. I am sure you are losing inches still. So don't worry, you'll be fine!!