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Stalls and Constipation are the two things we all will get. Plenty of good advice given here. Try any and see if it works for you. As for me, at the outset it was stool softners and the costco version of benefiber.

I can relate to being afraid of gaining weight after working so hard to lose it. We all deal with that here. But it's a fine line between being mindful about it and developing disordered eating habits. I can speak to this because it happened to me. I was dropping weight like a champ, then I hit stall after stall, and each one lasted longer than the previous one. And I would panic. And I would restrict the amount I ate, I would kick up the intensity and frequency of my work outs. I would have anger and confusion and fear anytime I either didn't lose or I gained a little (turns out, I'm one of the ones that gains 3-5 pounds during a stall and then just sits there for weeks and weeks. Then when the stall breaks, I drop like 6-7 pounds all at once). I had to actually go to a therapist that specializes in bariatric disordered eating (not easy to find, btw) to get my head on straight. And it's still a struggle sometimes. Especially since these last 11 pounds absolutely fight me tooth and nail and just don't want to come off. I said all that to say just be very careful. I never started out intending to have these issues. I thought I'd have the surgery, lose the weight, get healthy, and bada-boom bada-bing, life would be great. But it's never that cut and dry, is it? We can become obsessed with losing the weight, seeing how low we can get the scale, getting into that lower size, looking thinner, never gaining weight again, getting that bmi just a little lower.....and before you know it, you have a whole new eating disorder that's even harder to get out of and we're doing even more damage to our bodies without even meaning to. And we can justify what we're doing because HEY, we got off our meds, we're getting healthier, we're losing the weight, we're EXTENDING OUR LIVES damn it!!! And that's harder to overcome and harder to recognize and going too far than being obese is. We knew we needed help. We knew we were doing wrong. That's why we had the surgery. But now? Now it gets harder to see what we're doing because HEALTH!! WEIGHT LOSS IS GOOD!!! NO MORE MEDS IS THE GOAL!!! JUST A LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OFF CAN'T POSSIBLY BE BAD!!! So please please just be really careful with where you're at now and where you're wanting to get to. Lastly, on the days you're working out (especially the really hard weight days) increase your protein and calories. Your body thinks it's starving, so you need to reassure it that you're not. The heavier the work out, the more your body needs. You can't run a car without gas and you can't run your body without food. So give it what it needs, in the amounts it needs, and it'll do what you want it to. Make sure you also have a larger amount of fluids than you normally would on those days, too. Dehydration can really do a number on the body, as well.

I get low blood sugar too when I drink enough water it’s frustrating it’s not something) I’ve had to deal with too much and it feels like I’ve just flopped from one end of the problems to the other without getting to reap the weight loss reward. Hopefully your stall breaks and that’s all it is, a stall. I recommend getting a tape measure and doing measurements of yourself at least bc I’ve been losing inches even if the scale is refusing to budge.

unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", most of us lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month, and then it's about 10 lbs +/- for a few months, then it'll drop down to 5 lbs +/- for a few more months, then about a pound or two a month until the loss finally stops. So yep - you are perfectly normal. and yep - stalls are also perfectly normal. The best way to handle them is to make doubly sure you are following your plan to a "T", and stay off the scale for a few days. As long as you're compliant, the stall will eventually break. EDITED to add: I see you're now under 200 lbs. Yep - things really slow down at that point. The last 20 or 30 lbs were a BEAR for me to lose - but I kept at it, and they eventually came off.

I would assume that your medical team will provide you with the stages they would like you to go through. everyone one here were given widely differing sets of instructions post op, so it may get a little confusing with all the differing accounts. best to pick one program (easiest one would be the one provided by your team) and follow that. remember they are guidelines, so if you are unable to do a stage or meet a goal or have issues, do something else. don't force it. and get in touch with your team with that said, here was mine (almost 5 years ago): week 1: clear liquids week 2-3: full liquids week 4: purees (i skipped this one, i just did full liquids for another week because purees were YUCK! lol week 5-6: minced ...after that i was cleared for everything/anything (just reminded to chew alot).

Don’t think the small amounts you eat in the beginning is how much you’ll eat forever. After surgery your stomach muscle is very tight so it can’t tolerate much. But as it heals, and you start to introduce more foods, it slowly starts to soften (not stretch) & is able to tolerate more. I was told, though I began with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from the puree stage, by about 6 months I’d be up to about a cup. Which was pretty accurate for me. I’m 5 years out & from about 2 years, I was pretty much eating a recommended portion size. Check the nutrition panel of processed pre prepared foods and google recommended portions of other foods or ingredients to give you an idea. Generally about 3-4ozs of protein & a cup of vegetables, 2 eggs, a small apple, etc. Some days I can’t/not interested in eating that much, other days it’s the perfect portion. The liver shrink diet is not to actually shrink the liver but the fat around the liver. This is to allow your surgeon to have better vision of & access to your tummy during the surgery. This diet does differ surgeon to surgeon, patient to patient. Generally it’s two weeks of a shake three times a day. However, some are four shakes, others two shakes & one lean protein & steamed vegetables meal. Others are only for a week or a couple of days. Mine was keto for two weeks (I started a couple of days earlier). Some people lose seemingly a lot of weight, others only a few pounds. It’s one of those things linked to how much weight you carry. It can be tough as you may experience withdrawal like symptoms (from stopping/reducing sugar, carbs, caffeine) for about 5 days. Apparently my surgeon’s patients who did the two week all shakes called the first week hell week. While tough, remember it is only for two weeks and the big picture benefits & wins makes it so worth it. All the best with your surgery.

Normal. I have always stalled out on average every 2 months or so. And the stalls last progressively longer each time. And I gain 2-4 pounds with each stall, then drop like 6 pounds all at once when it breaks. Just get used to it lol It's literally never ending. But it's very normal and all part of the process.

Thanks for the response! Yeah I feel your frustration. When I last saw my doc I was a month into the stall and she said she wasn't worried about it at the time. It's another month or so before I have my next check-in. I was just going to tell them then, but maybe I will get in touch sooner.

Hi! I had VGS on 8/23/23. 4 weeks from surgery TODAY! I feel great. The past few days have been weird, though. I can't eat or drink as much as I have been able to the past 2 weeks. I used to be able to somewhat easily get down a protein shake in 30 minutes. Now it takes me a few hours. Does that sound right? I don't feel sick or anything. It just feels like I am going backwards. Should I be concerned about this? Anyone had similar experiences? Thanks for your help!! Melanie

I am 67 years old and just had VSG surgery on 1/24/24. I had a very easy recovery, I think. Obviously my incisions were tender and my left side hurt when I bent over. But other than that I felt pretty good. A little tired (after effects of anesthesia?) on a couple of days during the week after but a quick nap was the solution. I had no need for the pain medication I was sent home with. I took Tylenol once but it was for a headache. I am 6 1/2 weeks out and have lost 15 pounds. I had the "3 week stall" at 2 weeks and it lasted for 2 weeks but I am back to losing slowly. It appears I am going to be a slow loser, but I was that way before the surgery any time i tried to lose weight. I was (and am) most concerned with reducing my risk for diabetes, which is in my family medical history. I would also like to get off of blood pressure and cholesterol medication. I asked my doctor when I first went for my consultation if I was too old...he said "Absolutely not. My oldest VSG patient so far was 80 at the time of surgery." So I stopped worrying about age being a factor. And I feel great and have tons of energy. You'll do fine!!

What a fine man he is, with great taste in tea! 😂 Like everyone says though, it can mean you get more dehydrated but I think so long as you aren't ONLY drinking tea, it should be fine haha. I think the decaf isn't bad at all from what I can remember! Thank you! I am finding it okay! I had a little bit of a stall, but that is expected! But I am just happy to be feeling better!

Your feelings are valid @Nan CC, surgery is stressful and the idea that we have done so much for so little loss in the beginning is discouraging and depressing!! I have some thoughts to share about your experiences... 1. That hunger you are experiencing is normal. It doesn't go away for everyone. I woke up in the recovery room ravenous which pissed me off because all they kept saying is I wouldn't be hungry! And I ended up more hungry than I'd been in years!! The first two months I was hungry all the time. True hunger. I think it is because the body is panicking and trying to figure out what is going on. Plus we've been lied to, that growling sound is often not hunger, but just our system digesting and moving air and fluid through our system. After surgery our internal digestive process sounds louder to us for some reason. Maybe because we are paying more attention?? I don't know. But I had true hunger constantly. One thing that will help this is a PPI (proton pump inhibitor). Our tiny tummies are still making enough acid for a normal tummy and that can irritate it as it heals. That gnawing hunger can often come from this and gets worse at night... 2. No, you aren't supposed to automatically feel full with 1/4 cup of food. A lot do, but not all by any means. The reason for this primarily is because all the nerves that communicate fullness to us were cut during surgery. It takes at least 3 full months for those to heal enough to accurately communicate again. The 1/4 cup portion size is to keep you from inadvertently overeating and stressing your healing stomach. At about 8-10 weeks you may notice you can eat more, that's because the internal swelling has gone down. By then you should be able to start gauging your fullness signals. They are often different post op and can look like sneezing, a congested or runny nose, hiccups, pressure in your breastbone, nausea, etc... By 3-4 months out you may be eating more like 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food at a time. Not everyone progresses that way, some have high restriction all the time and have to stick to smaller portions. But the key here is to start building that relationship of listening with your body and learning that the feeling of hunger does not mean you are starving. If you are eating 1/4 cup of food 5-6 times a day, you are getting enough nutrients for your stage in the process. As @AmberFLmentioned, I suggested Millie's sipping broths (you can get a sample pack of all the flavors on Amazon) they help a LOT when you want something, the warmth and savoriness can really soothe the extreme hunger until it balances out on its own. 3. Stalls are normal and can happen early and often. I lost about 15 lbs in the first 3 weeks and then proceeded to stall for 6 weeks and gain and lose the same 4 lbs!! I was horrified and really worried my surgery wasn't going to work. I lose weight VERY slowly, my body is resistant to losing, and I have diabetes and such like you, which I think makes losing hard too. This stall was normal, even though it didn't feel normal. DS patients are known for losing dramatic amounts of weight and my surgery weight was 307, there was no good reason for the stall. But my body needed to take a break and recalibrate and heal, so it did. Finally after those 6 weeks I SLOWLY started losing again. Then at the beginning of February the weight loss finally started to pick up! A lot of people lose a ton at the beginning, I didn't. Apparently my body needed 3 months before it felt safe to start dropping weight steadily... All you can do is get good movement, good sleep (sleep is crucial to weight loss), good hydration, eat every few hours, and stay off the scale for a bit...it will break when it is ready to. 4. Hunger does eventually return to normal, or whatever is normal for you... I'm almost 4 months out and mine is back to what is normal for me. I still have to eat every 3 hours, if I don't I feel drained and irritable and my weight loss slows... I drink plenty of fluids during the day, it helped with the hunger. I feel my fullness signals clearly now, I think all that healing is finally done. I just have to eat slow enough to allow those signals to get to my brain (it takes longer than you think!). Broths, milk, coffee, tea, flavored waters, all these will ease hunger pangs, but the best cure is time and learning to heal your relationship with your hunger so you can feel it and not feel stressed about it. The great thing about eating every 3 hours is the next meal is around the corner, so I can drink something and tell my system to wait until mealtime. This helps heal the insulin resistance too by allowing your body to go through the full insulin response cycle post meal. I'm sorry this feels so hard. I hope your stall breaks soon! And I hope it helps to know you are not alone. ❤️

Heya! I think every Dr/Surgeon must do things with a slight variation, but it is always best to follow the advice given by your own Dr/healthcare team - it is often tailored to you e.g., in terms of weight, health conditions etc. I had my dietician appointment today and we went through when I am starting the LRD, which will be for 2 weeks, and then went through the different food stages which for me are: Week 1 - Liquid Week 2 - Puree/slush Week 3 - Mush (thick/lumpy foods) Week 4 - Soft foods Week 5 - 'Normal' foods

Day 3 post-op from band removal to gastric sleeve. Yikes, this was way worse than what I thought. They took longer to get that band out-appears previous surgeon was making sure that bugger wasn't moving. 2 days of sleeping and sipping water. Can't even think about food. I hope this gets easier as the week goes by.

I am two months out and each program is very different. Follow the nutritionist. I had a two week stall and you just keep doing what they tell you. My protein is 60-80 and water is 64-100. I try to get closer to 100 because that is when I see more weight come off. Everyone is different trust the process! Congrats to you!

I pretty much had an immediate stall, but I think it was where I went hard on my pre-op diet. Eventually, the scale started moving again. Also, after the trauma of surgery, your body will panic until it realizes the change are ok. That can include inflammation and a lot of fluid retention, especially if you've received IVs in the days following surgery. During that time, you can still be burning fat, but the fluid retention offsets that on a scale, which makes it extremely frustrating! It's typical to experience a big stall around the 3 week mark and again around the 3 month mark, each can last a 2-3 weeks each, so prepare for that. If you lost some weight during pre-op, you may be hitting that dreaded stall early. The weight loss will look more like stair steps than a straight downward line, with the occasionally brief increase in weight. So if that happens, don't be alarmed. Just stick with the plan, track your calories and macros, and check in with your doctor if something feels off. Eventually, once your body realizes its safe to let go of that weight, and you're not in a starvation/survival situation, it will start to drop! Best of luck to you!

Two days out. Nausea is the worst thing. Pretty persistent. No pain whatsoever. The restriction mimics the first days of the VSG surgery. Barely sips of water today. I'll follow a clear liquid diet for 3 days, purees until 2 weeks out, and then soft foods until I can tolerate solids. Definitely wondering if I made decision. The nausea feels like I have lump in my stomach- the kind of feeling you know you'd feel better if you just gagged yourself. I did get 3 different nausea treatments, but had an allergic reaction. So Im trying benedryl (for the all over hives) and emetrol intsead. Not as effective, but its def more tolerable

@BlueParisim hoping the stall ends soon. It makes it easier to see that everyone else hit a stall for a bit too. I bounce around between liquids and a few solids here and there and I just take it really slow. I’ve been doing better with liquids so overall not too bad here. Gave you tried the vitamin patches? They were on the list of vitamins my dr gave me before surgery. That’s what I take because I’ve always had an issue with iron making me really sick. Maybe try those?

I had the sleeve and work at a desk job, I took 3 weeks off and loved every single min! my hubby took the first week off and took the kids to school for me that week. I was so tired from barely eating and recovery. I "could've" gone back after 1 week but I enjoyed the time off, as I was paid for it anyways.

I'm still stalled and starting to get very very down about it. I'm scared I'm just going to be stuck at this weight forever. I'm so so upset.

My surgery was scheduled March 13th! I'm currently 3 weeks post-op and things have started to become tricky with the pureed diet! I hope your surgery went well and you're doing great!!!

Hello! I had the sleeve gastrectomy 9.5 months ago. I've been working on exercising and eating right, but I've been in a bit of a stall these past 5 weeks. I went down from 290 to 170 pounds, but I've been stuck at 170 for 5 weeks. I've been eating 1200-1500 calories a day and still not losing weight. I've done some research, and apparently, your body adjusts to low calories after a while of eating at that rate. At the beginning of my post-op phase, there were some complications on my end. I didn't eat ANYTHING for two months straight, not even protein shakes, and I was only hitting about 20oz of water daily (which landed me in the ER, but I'm fine now lol). I've looked online, and it says for my height, age, and weight, a good maintenance level would be 2100 calories. I'm eating well under that in a deficit and heavy weight lifting, so I don't know why my body won't drop anything. I'm worried that my body adjusted to the 0-calorie few months I had, then the 500-1000 calories three months after that. I've only started hitting my 1200-1500 calories in March when I joined the gym. I know the stall is not due to "muscle gain" because I'm not eating in a surplus, and I'm only eating 65-80 grams of protein in hopes of simply maintaining while I drop fat. I also read online that apparently people who go through rapid weight loss have even lower calorie maintenance than the average person, and that makes sense, but surely it cannot be under 1200, right? The majority of bodies need 1500 to operate. I'm so confused! When I ask my surgeon about calories, he says not to worry about them and eat healthy, which I'm doing. It's just frustrating because I want to work on building muscle, but I want to lose some more fat before that. I guess my question is, does anyone know anything about calories after surgery, and/or how many calories are you eating after surgery to help lose weight?

I had surgery 3/22/2024 and have only been able to drink a few ounces an hour. This morning I woke up hungry and drank a 12 oz Protein Drink with 35 minutes, I have NOT been able to do that since before surgery. Have I inadvertently stretched my stomach? My eating yesterday was still only 3-4 oz per meal and Water in between. I really don’t want to mess up this surgery. I am 8 weeks post op and I thought my stomach could only hold 4 oz - but the drink is 12 oz.

Perfectly normal. As @Shanna NYC said they usually occur at week three but can occur before or after that. They usually last 1-3 weeks. And it may not be the only stall you experience. They are the time your body takes to assess where you are now & what it needs in regards to digestive hormones, metabolism, etc. When your body is ready to move forward again the stall will break. Can’t force them to break though some people say they did but they don’t know how long their stall would have lasted. Just stick to your plan. I agree stay off the scales for a week if nit seeing it move is messing with you. Try taking body measurements as some times the scale doesn’t move but your measurements do as your body realigns itself & yes including your fat deposits.

I have my revision sleeve to RNY as well on 1/22 and took me full 3 weeks to feel better. How are you feeling now? I loss 8.5/9 lbs after 1 week of surgery, week 2 and 3 I hit the plateau. Finally broke the plateau yesterday. So starting my week 4 and loss addition 1.5 lb. Total of 10 lbs or so.