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So after a bit of a stall in weight loss, I hit a milestone today. I am now down a total of 40 pounds from my start weight. The last two pounds took their sweet time comng off but today I was so excited when I got off the scale I was jumping up and down -naked, in my dining room. Thank god my kids were still asleep. Now only 80 lbs more to go. I am third of the way to my goal and I'm use over a month post op. This week I made some discoveries I want to share: First- If I'm going have any money left to buy nice clothes by the time I reach my goal weight I need need to figure out how to get clothing now for my change body that doesn't break the bank but I still feel good in. I bought a pair of size 18 jeans two weeks ago-$25 on sale - too big now. All my other jeans too big to wear out of house cause if I move around too much they fall down, or they look too frumpy because too big. So...I found a new second hand store that had just open near by a friend of mine took me too on Wednesday. It was nicer then most and had some really nice clothing for cheap. I got three pairs of designer jeans-one still had original price tag of $65 -size 16, all for under $20 TOTAL! - They were really tight on Wednesday, had to lie down to get zipped, but not so bad today. I actually got them on and up while standing up with no problem. Second- Oikos Key Lime Greek Yogurt-If you crumble up a small bit of graham cracker on top, It tastes very much like a Real Key Lime Pie. 11 grams of protein and 150 calories. I felt like I was being so bad but I wasn't. Third- When I was putting makeup, to go to meeting at kids new school, on this morning I noticed I had cheek bones again!!! So cool. I actually skipped to my friends car in my new not too tight jeans. Take care everyone.

I know I read somewhere there are certain stalls that almost everyone hits (like the three week one) so I hope someone posts that info again. I'd love to see it. I'm six weeks post op. I hit my three week stall, which lasted just over a week. last week I lost 7 lbs, now I'm stalling again. I hope this is not an every-other-week thing!

I am currently in a stall and it hasn't quite been 3 months since my surgery. I had the usual 3 week post-op stall that lasted well over two weeks. Now I've hit another stall that is currently at three weeks long. Is this fairly typical? To have them this often? Just curious as to how many stalls you all have had. Thanks in advance for any input!

cscake, I stalled at week two and stayed stalled for nearly three weeks then suddenly the wt started dropping off again. I've stopped weighing myself because it's never in a straight line. I stall, jump around a few lbs and then drop. If I weigh every day I go crazy, so I followed the advice of so many veterans here and ditched the scales!

Wow this motivated me! My heaviest weight was 265, goal weight 150, I'm 5'8" and I'm doing the couch to 5K program. So many similarities. However, I am 4 weeks post op and I didn't lose any weight before surgery, so I'm still at 241. I feel I'm a little stalled, but I have not been in the gym every day. I'm still trying hard to find time to work out with a full time+ job and three kids. Sigh. Any advice? And thank you for posting this. I'm 10x more motivated than 10 minutes ago!

I am 5'3 and was 216 my day of surgery. I have been a relatively slow loser and 4.5 months post surgery I have "only" lost 41 pounds and am currently on a three week stall at 175. I don't mind losing slow, but do fear that I won't lose any more.

I only lost about 12 pounds the first month. I am now 4.5 months post surgery and I have lost 41. Truth be told, I'd rather it be slower. I am not having any loose skin issues as of yet, so I don't mind it being slow and steady. I have been stalling for three weeks at a time, currently on one now and stuck at 175. My doctor says he wants between 10 and 15 pounds per month.

It's been awhile since I've been on here. There have been several gaps of time when I have "slacked" off in my motivation. TBH, what I struggled with was not being able to get ENOUGH calories with how active I wanted to be. I had finally made the decision to have my band unfilled and that was to occur this past Thursday. But strangely enough, even though it had been since summer of 2009 since I had been adjusted, I started having issues the week right before my appointment. It was a gradual build-up over three days to the point where I was struggling to get down fluids. I had to make an emergency appointment to get the band unfilled. This didn't upset me - it's what I was planning, anyway! The nurse practitioner couldn't believe that it had been 2-1/2 years since my last adjustment and I had zero issues since then. I joined a weight loss challenge with my employer at the beginning of the year that lasts 12 weeks. I stalled in my weight loss right before the issues that led to my emergency unfill. After the unfill, I had a major WOOSH and lost everything plus a couple more pounds. So, since the last week of December, I have lost 8 pounds. I HAVE to get about 1800 calories everyday, or I can't lose weight. VLCD (very low calorie diets) don't work with me for the level of fitness I am working on. I used to be running a lot and weight training. I couldn't get past a certain point in my weight loss because my body kept kicking into the starvation response. Considering that it's easier for me to get calories now, I'm eating healthier, and it's working like a charm, I'd say my theory was right. But we'll see. Currently, I'm doing the Insanity workouts, eating up to 1800 calories a day (split into 6...3 meals, 3 snacks), drinking Shakeology as one of my snacks, taking health supplements, and drinking lots of water. I feel fantastic. I do feel that the Lapband was a necessary evil and given the choice to do it all over again - I would. Over the course of my journey, I have learned SO MUCH about fitness and nutrition that I never took the time to really delve into before the band. I knew I was eating unhealthy, but really didn't have a clue of the best way to approach nutrition. I'm positive that I can take off the rest of my weight and keep it off. The surgeon that did my unfill said if I'm able to stay at a stable weight for several months, then I should consider removal. The Lapband was a great tool...but I think at this point, I may have outgrown it. How is everybody else doing? I'd love to hear updates.

Truthfully, I could care less if I'm a slow loser or a fast loser, so long as I'm a loser (of weight, that is)! I started at a 53 BMI, and I've lost 81 pounds in 4.5 months. IMO, that's the perfect rate of weight loss for ME. One thing about losing slowly is that it gives your skin more of an opportunity to rebound so you will hopefully have less loose skin when you get to goal. Losing slowly also means you are probably losing more fat than muscle, which is great! Less muscle to have to rebuild. And, numbers on the scale do NOT tell the whole story. I look for the NSVs or non scale victories. Are my pants looser? Can I walk further, do more, do I have more energy? All of those things add up, not just the pounds lost according to the scale. If you look through the gallery, ANY gallery, you'll see people who are 172 pounds that wear a size zero and people who weigh 172 who are a size 10. The differences are in height and muscle tone, usually. So the scale doesn't tell the whole story. Muscle does weigh more than fat. Muscle also helps us burn fat, so building strong muscles is important. I stall when I work out, then a few pounds will whoosh off in a day or two. But, when I work out, I lose inches. By doing basic workouts, walking, bicycle, light weight lifting, I have lost two pants sizes in the last three weeks. I also haven't lost an ounce in over a week. Am I worried? Nope. I keep eating my Protein, drinking my Water, and working out. The weight loss will happen, but I want to be a solidly built 170, not a flabby 170. The bonus of working out is the energy boost. IMO, everything looks better when you get that serotonin boost from working out and, BELIEVE ME, I can use that energy boost right now!

During the holiday (Nov-Dec) I stalled on my weight loss too. I didnt gain much (maybe two pounds) and while that doesnt seem much to me it was a lot. I had to reflect on why I wasnt loosing. I put off excercise until tomorrow and I snacked between meals. I dont regret it because I think the whole process is a learning experience. So once the kids got back to school I got back to putting me on the list. I work out even when I dont want to. I make myself go to the gym and if after 20 minutes I am still not feeling it I tell myself I can leave. I havent had a fill since October and was beginning to think maybe I needed one and told myself to wait until February after a month of listening to my body. I am now three weeks in and I am down 4 pounds and I actively look for signs that my body is full. (I ignored them during the holidays must have been that loud Christmas music) So I dont think that I need a fill at all I just needed to clean my ears.

Hang in there! I'm One Month out today too. I was discourged because I have stalled and been the back and forth with three pounds the last two weeks. I inched forward today and am down a total of 16 pounds since surgery- I lost 21 pounds in pre op diet, was hoping post op would be easier/quicker weight lost but its hard. I have no restriction and going on will power and walking only til I get my first fill Feb 8th. My sister reminded me that the beginning is hard and it will come off. Don't stress over it. She had got stuck at the same weight for a few weeks,she said it pissed her off, weeks with no lost - then droped 5 pounds the next week. 6 two weeks after that. No change in what she did, her body just took a while to catch up. She had surgery in sept. and is down 70 pounds now. I also know exactly how you feel with the added stress of returning nursing school term. I start back on the 30th. I still have another year to go with Nursing school. I am very proud and excited for you and me- to have been doing this and school is amazing. My uniform fits a little better then before. I am actually looking forward to being back in class and clinicals because I can control my food better. I have three small kids and this house is a dieters nightmare. So at least at school I can bring my protein shakes and I can do that can still go to clinicals. Sometimes is easier then eating other foods. I bought this battery operated smoothie maker on amazon for $6. I tried it out and it works. Has a little plastic whrilpool blade. Plus a bunch of ready made shakes for my locker at school. Try to relax! I know = like that is really an option. The stress of nursing school can be crazy I know- I have so much read and class hasn't even started yet, ( Mother/Baby and MedSurg this term) Plus stress also makes our blood sugar go up, -lead to retain more weight- lossing less. Plus school doesn't always have best options for dining, so just come prepared. Bring your on shake or greek yourt,soup in a cup sugar free jello, whatever yoiu need. Good luck with school. Hang in there you will do great!! Remember it is not a quick fix but a change for life and may take a little bit of time for our bodies to figure all this new stuff out. So relax and hopefully let weight slip away when it ready. Suzi

I am curious, maybe a little disappointed, but I promised myself I would NEVER write about a stall. Well technically, I'm not. This is my three week weigh in. I expected no or very little loss based on what I have read here. I started solids last Wednesday and knew I've been consuming more calories, maybe 500-800 daily. My weigh in this morning shows a 2 lb gain. Has this happened to others? I know I am a slow loser. I lost 5.5 lbs during my liquid diet and 8.5 over the next two weeks. I read where many lose upwards of 25 lbs during that time. I am patient, but I can't imagine a gain.. Has anyone else experienced this? My Dr did make me throw away my hydrochlorothiazide which is a diuretic, could this be the cause? I have consumed a lot of ham/cheese roll ups this week as a source of Protein and low calories, maybe the salt is causing Fluid retention? (TMI) Also having a constipation issue. Using benefiber without any real relieve yet. Any suggestions? . Words of encouragement anyone ?

I'm not disputing any of the advice you got here - all of it is good. But I'd also point out that these longer stalls do happen to a lot of us. My body hit happy weights at 190 and 160 and it took FOREVER to get past those two points. It was like my body was so happy that no matter what I did I couldn't lose weight. And the sad news? Once I was within 20 pounds of goal it took a whole SIX months to lose that last 20 pounds. Some months I only lost one pound the entire month, and some it flew off in short bursts of five at a time. Oh, and once I hit goal? I immediately bounced up three pounds and it took another three weeks of two Protein shakes a day to get them off again!! Sometimes, as much as we hate it, the best answer is to keep plugging away and wait it out. So my advice is to track that food again using a more traditional calorie counter, not the points system. Find what works for you without causing a gain. I discovered prior to surgery with metabolic testing that my basal metabolic rate is significantly lower than the average and that I need a lower calorie diet to lose weight. If you're eating the standard 1200 calorie diet now, it might be too much. Or even too little, based upon your exercise regimen. Make sure the issue isn't denial about what you're eating. That's my biggest culprit every time. I may only be able to eat one cookie at a time but I'll be darned if I don't get carried away sometimes and eat one at a time four times a day! Record every crumb you put in your mouth and if your intake isn't the issue it's likely that your body is at a happy spot. Persistence will pay off and eventually you'll be down to goal, even if it doesn't happen quickly. It took me 17 months to get to goal but man, life here is sweet. You'll be there if you keep trying. ~Cheri

Just disappointment and magically wanting that weight off I think. I understand why people need to vent although, IMO, a stall isn't a few days of not losing. A stall is 2 weeks or more without losing. Not losing a pound a day is not a stall (although it feels like one the first time that happens!) until you haven't lost for a couple of weeks. That's a stall! I had my first one of those at 5 weeks for 3-1/2 weeks living on less than 500 calories a day. Anyway whether it's three days at the very beginning or 3 weeks, it's tough to put up with without venting.

Hey all. First off, let me say the past few days I haven't been the most faithful to sticking to the plan, food wise. Now that that is out of the way... Well, I'm almost 8 weeks out and going through, or might be finally pulling out of, a two-three week stall. The first week I contribute to my lovely TOM, but the second week left me baffled. I exercised, got my Protein, drank my Water and the scale wouldn't budge! Well, my family celebrated Christmas on Sunday (yeah, three weeks late!) as well as my aunt's birthday. We had it at my mom's and they decided to order pizza instead of cooking. I took a piece and ate the cheese and a few bites of the bread. They also brought a birthday cake, so I had a small bite from my mom's piece. Go to the scale the next day and you know what happens? The scale moves down two pounds below my lowest so far after fluctuating between the same three pounds for what seems like forever! I thought, "well okay... maybe it's just because I finally broke the stall." Well, Monday and Tuesday, I went back to my routine of protein, water, exercise, etc. Get back on the scale Tuesday... I gain the two pounds I had lost. Wednesday, I went up another pound and a half. My roommate decides to make the cheesy garlic breadsticks that have been in our freezer for forever and a day. Now, I have a hard time resisting carbs and always loved carbs more than anything else. My snack as a kid was a piece of bread with butter on it, folded in half like a sandwich. I have home movies of me as a toddler, walking around and eating just a plain piece of bread. I've been adamant to keeping as many carbs out of the house as possible because of this problem. Anyways, the breadsticks are small, so I eat one and then a half of one later, careful to chew thoroughly until it's almost pureed consistency. Get back on the scale today... and the weight I had regained and then some are gone again! Sheesh. I don't know what my body wants sometimes! I try to keep the healthy habits up, and when I slip is when my body decides to lose the weight? This doesn't mean I'm going to revert back to my old ways, because to be honest, my body wouldn't be able to handle it. I just don't understand that I stall for over two weeks eating as much protein, drinking as much water as possible, and when I cheat, that's when the pounds come off? I hope it's just a coincidence because while I do want to lose the weight, I don't want my insides to be unhealthy because of what I put in my mouth, even if it does make me lose the weight. Has anyone else have something similar to this happen to them? P.S. I normally don't weigh myself this obsessively. I usually weigh every third day, but I wanted to see what was happening weight-wise based on what I was eating. Sort of like an experiment.

I'm in. I must say that I was in a while back but forgot to look for the initial post. Shae SW: 212 GW: 197 CW: 206 I was stalled for about three weeks, did LilMissDiva's boot camp and lost almost 7 lbs in 4.5 days.

Hi Jnee, I think it's really really important for each of us to remember this is not a race, nor is it any type of competition where we should ever feel bad that we are not losing as fast as it may SEEM others have. Trust me, I said the word SEEM on purpose because in this case perception is NOT reality. Those little tickers you see at the bottom are for the user only IMO. It's fun to see that XX poster has lost YY Lbs... but that is not an exact representation of the individual story. That person likely could be adding on weight lost PRE surgery. I did, and that's fine because those are all Lbs I worked hard to lose, but it may not be immediately evident to someone viewing it from another computer screen, know what I mean? I'll use myself for example, I do try to explain in my signature that I was 272 Lbs on surgery day. I hit my first goal to be a size 8 about 6.5 months later. I was 203 lbs that day. So... it took me 6.5 months to lose 69 Lbs. That's just about 12 Lbs per month average. Is that super fast? I don't happen to think so, not really. Guess what though, you better believe I'm super happy about that and darned proud! It was so hard to do that, and every single day was a struggle for me. I'm not going to feel bad because someone else could've lost that 69 Lbs in 3 months. They aren't ME, and they're reason for losing so fast could be drastically different than mine. Here's my opinion on why I think you have stalled for three months. Yes, this is a true stall, anything more than 3 weeks long is a real stall. I think your body has become way complacent with your routine. Our bodies will do this, they will only want to burn per day what you are giving it to sustain. It is something our bodies cleverly designed over all the years of starvation prevention. Not much we can do about this except trick it once in awhile. Any weight loss expert will tell you, you're going to have to bounce your calories around once in awhile. Not so much every day, but perhaps even on a weekly basis. I've learned a lot over the last year and a half in regards to keeping our metabolisms running on full steam and now my body is a serious calorie burning machine. I don't even know if I'm sure I know how to turn it off!! Not really wanting to, I just go with it. LOL Also, our bodies do get used to the amount of exercise we do every day, and the intensity. You're going to have to bump this up every so often. Love it or hate it, this is what I've found worked miracles for me. It provides so many benefits, the best being getting fit and gaining good health. Believe me there are so many good reasons to enjoy a good workout and to keep pushing your body to do more. I hope I have helped! I know we ALL can do this! Longer, harder, faster, stronger and a little shake up from time to time will get you to goal. No matter how long it takes.

I think it was right around my 5th week when I got so sick of being exhausted that I actually started looking at eating like a job. I had to have two protein shakes a day, ate 6-7 times a day, I had to have mashed potato to get higher calories and I was able to eat meats. I would always start with my meat and could only eat about 1/2 cup of solid food at a sitting. However, I could drink a whole EAS protein shake over 35 minutes. It was hard and truly felt like a full time job. Now alot more of the swelling in my sleeve has gone down and I can eat about 3/4 cup of solid food at a time. I still eat 5-6 times a day. I have to, otherwise I don't get enough. My doctor is aware and is fine with that because not everyone can function on three meals a day. I have had only one pretty long stall at 3 weeks, which is quite common. Now I lose 1-2lbs/wk and sometimes 3. Like LVikingFan, I wonder what your Vit D is?? Also, I'm an RN and have worked with post op patients on a medical/surgical floor and i know that surgery truly takes alot out of a person. You not only had a procedure you also had a bleed so I would expect that you would be very tired for quite a long time. I would advise you to keep reporting to your doctor about your fatigue. I hope what I have told you helps.

Thanks Sleeve of Steel. I've been mainly walking now, since I don't really live close to a gym, but once school starts up again, I'm going to their gym. I'm probably saying the wrong phrase, lol. I guess I took net gain from profits or sales terms, and put them in a sleeve-situation! Let's say you eat 800 calories in a day and do some exercise that burns 300 calories. I'm calling that 500 (800 in minus 300 out) calories a "net gain." I'm bad with phrases. I'm surprised your doctor says to start 1200 calories immediately. A lot of people I see on here don't reach that until a few, or several, months out. I didn't get the three week stall, so I'm guessing this is my body just being stubborn and going to be doubly frustrating and making me stall longer than I should.

I was within a pound of my original goal at six months, which was to be down about 92lb before I lowered it another 10lb to better match where by body composition was going, but I wasn't focusing on any particular time target. I can't offer any particular tips as this is just how it worked for me and I did all the wrong things (except exercise - that was a constant) according to the no-carb evangelists. The best way to get to goal quickly is to start closer to it and according to popular perception, have a Y chromosome (guys seem to lose quicker than gals, though I suspect that has more to do with higher average "should be" weights driving higher ending metabolic rates.) The exercise is a major part of it, and seems to be common in most who have been successful long term - I suspect that building/maintaining a higher metabolic rate thru the exercise, particularly strength/resistance training to build/maintain muscle mass, is more valuable than a very low caloric intake, and certainly is long term for weight maintenance according to the consensus of studies on the topic. You shouldn't expect to lose weight consistently, as the loss gets harder as time goes on - your caloric deficit shrinks as your metabolic rate drops some with the loss, and most particularly, your exercise burns less as you are moving less weight around. Typically, you would expect to see declining loss numbers as you proceed, and some will be more or less consistent on this depending upon stalls and the like. I lost at a fairly smoothly declining rate - 33 the first month (when we all typically have our largest drop due to the adjustments our bodies are making) followed by a couple months at 14-15 down, then three months at 10 down and the seventh into the goal range was down 9. This past month since then I've only lost a couple of pounds, but more importantly to me is that my body composition has continued to move in the right direction, dropping around another 3% in body fat down into the mid teens (mid-normal range for men). I never had any stalls of note (only one week in the middle where I didn't lose anything) which I suspect may be from not going too far into starvation mode from being ultra low cal/carb. Philosophically, I would rather lose what I need to lose over 18 months rather than 6 months, if there were some way of being assured that I would actually lose it all - rapid weight loss isn't the healthiest condition for our bodies, but it's something that we put up with to make sure we lose it this time. Post-op, I quickly settled into a 900-1000 calorie per day routine as something that was comfortable that satisfied and provided requisite Protein along with enough for some additional essential nutrition - some fruits and veg in there, and some complex carb added later to help fuel some workouts as intensity increased. Seeing that my loss rate was reasonable, I made no effort to drop my intake to the 6-800 cal levels that some docs advise, but did let it rise slowly over time into the 1000-1100 range as I worked to add nutrition. I generally have focused more on proper diet leading toward long term weight maintenance habits, but consistent with continuing the loss to goal, than in speeding toward that goal - for many, if not most, of us VSGers, long term weight maintenance will be a bigger challenge than the loss itself.

Okay guys I'm three weeks out. I've just been doing my elliitcal machine for about 15 to 20 min every morning. I've noticed that I'm extremely tired afterward which lasts all day. I mean I'm just wiped out and I'm back to work. I was wondering if I'm working off too many calories for my body to run. I consume between 600-800 calories, and I burn off about 250 calories with the elliptial which leaves me around 400 calories a day. Unless I drink my calories I cant get any more calories in a day. My carbs are around 30-50 a day. I drink more than 64 ounces a day, I stay thirsty. What could I be doing that's wrong. Also I stall out for about three days, well i did this week and last week. Should I just stop exercising until I can consume more calories, or what else could it be that's leaving me so tired? Do I need to up the carbs with that small amount of time on the elliptical? I havnt noticed a big difference in my weight loss, I worked out every morning and my weight was still stuck for three days, but TOM was here also. But last week I was stalled for three days too with no exercisse, then I lost two pounds in one day. if i'm going to stall anyway regardless of exercices what do I do, is working out making a difference?

I have this very concern as well. I'm averaging between 600-800 calories and work off about 200-300 a day, and that means my body is getting a net calories of 300-400 a day. I was extrememly tired by the third day and i thought either I need to stop exercising or up my calories. I can't fit anything else in my sleeve unless I drink more calories. I'm on my 3rd week, and I've stalled for three days in week two and week 3, so i'm not sure if I need to stop working out until I can get more calories in so my body will have more fuel.

Yesterday was three weeks post-op, and the scale hasn't moved for a few days. I figure that this is (insert dramatic music here) the dreaded 3-week stall. If it weren't for you wonderful people on this forum, I would've been convinced that I was eating too much (600 calories a day?), had already stretched out my sleeve, I was a complete failure already, I would be the only one the sleeve wouldn't work for, and the Earth was falling into the Sun. But no. Because of you all, I knew what to expect. Last week, I took measurements, I've put away the scale until next week, and I'm going to keep plugging away at following the rules. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I have seen anything from none at all to two to three weeks (maybe more) reported - I don't know if anyone has done a study on it or calculated averages, but maybe that would be a good topic for someone's grad school paper. Further, I don't know if anyone can say whether stall frequency or duration can be linked to any particular dietary program or surgical technique - I haven't been as low cal or low carb as many people do and haven't experienced much in the way of stalls on the way down, but can't say whether the two are associated or just coincidental. But, in general, long term weight loss is usually characterized as more stairsteps than a straight ramp. The linked article below gives a good explanation of what is happening, but the short answer is that as frustrating as it can be, you should rejoice because it means that you are now starting to move into actual fat-burning mode. http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html

SN: Forensikchic SW: 179 GW: 164 CW: 176 pounds to lose: 12 I am down three pounds this week! I was stalled at 179 for two weeks straight but finally the scale is moving again. I just hope I dont stall again for weeks. I am working on my running program and its going better than I expected. Yay me! Come on peeps! Lets get to our Valentines goals!