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Hi there Be patient my friend - the “three-week-stall” can happen any time from day 3 to month 3! Three weeks is common, but 10 days is as well. Stick to your programme and suddenly, you’ll see the weight drop away. Even better advice - start measuring.make careful note of WHERE exactly you measure (take photos, side on, of where the tape lies!) - often in a stall, that is when I drop a pants size or shirt size, so being able to measure other than with a scale is useful! X

I had a three week stall, and I think an 8 week stall (both fairly short) and now I'm in my worst one I have ever had, those other ones were annoying but this one is what the vets talk about. It totally happens, we do everything right and they happen. Don't worry, your body will get used to this and everything will be fine.

Switching to semi-solids can cause the body to adjust, give it time. Just be cautious and follow the macros - protein grams and liquids. Sometimes constipation goes along with changing from liquids/soft to solids. Up the liquids to 100 oz if you can - and by that I mean half that as just water. There is the 'dreaded three week stall' that happens somewhere between 2 and 6 weeks out, it is just a reset so don't get worried. You are doing great. Weight loss is not linear and not constant.

My three week stall has lasted about 2.5 weeks so far, not breaking yet. This is from my NUT: Plateaus are common even after weight loss surgery and they often will happen at points where your body has wanted to stall in the past. In the first 6 months after surgery, they are usually 1-3 weeks in length. They can last even longer than that after 6 months post-op. Have faith that you are on track! Focus on how clothes are fitting and if you are losing inches more than pounds. Know that stress and poor sleep can also influence the scale in addition to diet and exercise.

Totally can relate! When I first stalled, I told myself, “The three week stall is totally normal and happens to nearly everyone!” Then a week passed and I repeated the above to myself... then week two passed, and I started researching, but not finding definitive answers, how long the three week stall typically lasts. Then week three passed and I started to get really frustrated and debated calling my surgeons office. The truth is there is no set time for how long the 3 weeks stall will last. Some it only lasts a week for... others stalled for a month... but it does break eventually. Just remember that there is likely no possible way you could be consuming enough calories to be gaining weight or not losing at this point... so whatever is causing it is not your fault.

My three week stall seems to have officially ended! It started just shy of three weeks post op for me and lasted for about 3.5 weeks.

Question for all of you... how many calories is everyone averaging? I’ve been on my three week stall for about 3 weeks now. 😩😩 I’m six weeks out and I’m averaging about 600-800 calories a day with around 60-80g of protein. I’ve been hitting my fluid goals and trying to be active (though I could do better on working out). I know stalls are normal but 3 weeks seems like an excessive amount of time to be stalled for so soon after surgery.

Honestly, 25 pounds in 2 weeks is a lot! And the three week stall is just part of it all. I lost 2 pounds in the last 2-3 weeks and was feeling the same way you are ( I’m 3 1/2 months post op) and then I lost 4 pounds on Monday. Try not to weigh yourself everyday.

The three week stall is sorta infamous seems like that’s where you are.

Just over eight months out. I’ve lost 132 pounds. 117 since surgery, 15 on liquid diet pre op. I lost nothing during July, having a three week stall.

The three week stall is very common. I'll bet you're losing inches though

Five days is technically not a stall. Im on a three week stall so far and I must say, it has been completely demoralizing. I really feel for the people that have this go on for months. There is more to it than eat less than x amount of calories and exercise for sure. It is so easy to encourage others to stay positive during a stall but when it’s happening to your own self....not so much. I’m tempted to just not weigh myself for a few weeks because when I see the same weight or worse, it’s up a pound, I want to cry. Sigh.

Hi! I’ve read so much about the three week stall, so I’m not really going to talk about how annoying and frustrating that can be... because it sure is. I’m so nervous to ask my question. So, I started puréed foods Monday. Per the NUT, that includes scrambled eggs, no-fat refried beans, etc. I feel that I can eat more than I should. I can eat an entire scrambled egg with a little (0.3-0.4 oz) low-fat cheese or 3-4 oz of refried beans/yogurt in one sitting. I feel like that is a huge amount! I eat slow, chew (even though it’s soft/puréed), and have never felt nauseated. Per my NUT, I’m supposed to eating 3 meals per day and drinking two snack protein shakes. I’ve been meeting my water requirement and am getting 500-600 calories a day. Is this too much for me only being (almost) 3 weeks out? I’m sure there will hopefully be more restriction once I get to more solid type foods, but I’m just so nervous. The NUT told me not to worry about calories at this stage and just focus on protein/water intake. But what can I say, I like to worry.. Thanks for your help!

Good on you for managing expectations. We littlies tend not to lose 6-10lbs a week like some of our fellow travellers. I was “low bmi” but a bit higher than you - 5 foot 7, 230lbs. I had open (not laparoscopic) bypass surgery, and had to have a messy gastric band removal. Off work for 4 weeks (over Christmas - New Zealand summer holidays) and was a size down in trousers and 20lbs lighter when I went back. Averaged 4 lbs a week for the first 8 weeks, 3lbs a week for the next 10, 1.5lbs a week for the next 10. Odd three-week stalls here and there (when I tended to drop a trouser or bra size, so I don’t mind stalls). It felt like it was slow at the time, especially early on - no-one other than my partner really noticed for 4-5 months, but actually people’s reactions now show how fast this 7 months/80lb loss, has been...

At about three months out....I had a three week stall. I was pulling my hair out (and it was coming out, believe me...lol) trying everything to kick my weight loss into gear again. Barely eating 1000 calories (I typically eat 1200), exercising like a maniac, being stupid and listening to bad advice in desperation.... starvation, cutting my healthy carbs, all sorts of stupid...I did it...and got no where. STUCK. For three freaking weeks. Finally gave up, said, feck this...and went back to my regular healthy carb based 1200 calorie Mayo Clinic Diet. Figured I'd either eventually lose weight, or just maintain my loss, call it a day... and feel sane again. Started losing again slow and steady. Did I mention slow? LOL...but steady...and I felt terrific. I'm at the end of my weight loss phase these days...which is evidence that even the most flawed dieters can be successful if they don't give up! You can be an absolute screw up....and as long as you wake up each day and make an effort....and move your habits just an inch or two in the right direction every day...you'll get there. You really will. Be patient with yourself. Love yourself. Let little screw ups go and move on...they're not world ending. Focus on permanent habits. Try for good change EVERY day. Let the little **** go. It's not worth torturing yourself and throwing in the towel over. We don't have to be perfect. I have gotten extremely comfortable with my forever diet...no more crazed desperation, no more rushing shite, no more frantic yaya.... just lots of really good healthy food, lots of exercise I enjoy....and 75 or so naughty calories a day. A livable, healthy, balance. (for me) So...this week, I thought I really blew it... Cause I had a McD's ice cream cone after the fireworks with the fam, I ate half a veggie burger at Burger King on Tuesday with my bestie after my tattoo (with the bun and some of my bestie's fries!), ate a ton of awesome treats at our pool party...though it was all pretty dang healthy:) And....ok, I'll be honest...was kinda relaxed about my food journal. Hubby and kiddo were around and it was vacation...so I relaxed a little. So, I'm thinkin...well crap...it's not gonna be pretty this week. Stepped on the scale and lo and behold....I lost a little over two pounds...in one week...which this far out is freaking incredible!!! ( I started thinking about the walking I did at the air show and fireworks, and all the pool party prep and swimming, lawn mowing, gardening, pulling weeds for party...and yep...I worked that two pounds off my butt pretty easily given the extra hours of exercise) That said? Isn't it nuts how you can work so hard and get no where...and relax a little and make awesome progress sometime? Sometimes it feels like we're at the mercy of a sick joke. LOLOLOLOL! I will never understand how the weight loss Gods work. They are a cruel, twisted, unpredictable race of beings. Hoping everyone's having a terrific summer:)

I hit a three week stall. Now I’m at a 5 week stall. Each seems to want to last a week. I’ve lost twenty pounds in 5 weeks BUT I’ve gone from a size 16 to a 12 SO I know that during these stalls, inches are being lost, the body is doing good things! It’s not just about pounds! You can tell her that. (Let her know I’m no kid! I’ll be 54 in a few months. It’s slower for those of us who have seen a couple rounds!). :)

I would give it a couple of years before resorting, or going back to, any of these fad diets. One of the greatest strengths of your WLS is that it works well irrespective the diet that you use, so there is no need to jump into one of these diets to try to "improve" your weight loss. As long as you are getting adequate protein to maintain your muscle mass (which at 65 g for an average to shorter woman, you are), and your caloric intake is low enough to provide the caloric deficit needed for burn your stored fat, you will lose. Two of the things that have been shown time and again over the decades to torpedo WLS results is consuming empty calories (calories with little or no nutrition tied to it, i.e. junk food) and drinking your calories, both of which you would be doing by adding that junk to your protein drink. You don't want your calories at a "normal" level - you want them at a deficit (though not ridiculously low - where you are at with 5-600 at this stage is just fine as that is very common at this point for successful patients. Keeping your calories "normal" is how we all got here needing WLS. As noted above, search for "three week stall" as that is very common in these circles no matter what diet is used - it is part of the normal physiological response to the sudden caloric deficit that you now have. That you may not have lost much immediately after surgery is likely just part of the normal water weight fluctuations that occur around surgery time, and if you lost a fair amount of weight before surgery, then you already have lost that big slug of water weight that we all lose when we start one of these programs - particularly if you were playing keto games then, which only accentuates that water weight loss (only to gain it back when you stop.) In short, adding empty calories isn't going to "boost your metabolism", but is a good way to inhibit your long term progress. The best long term results that I have seen over the years is to take this opportunity to learn how to eat a normal, healthy human diet balancing meats, fruits, vegetables and whole grains that that are associated with good long term weight control rather than the diet of the day, which is a good way to help ensure regain once diet fatigue sets in, or it goes out of style and a new latest diet has to be found.

So many people try starving themselves.....and shoot themselves firmly in the foot. Your body doesn't want to starve to death, and it has a ton of amazing defense mechanisms built in to prevent this from happening....evolutionary coping strategies created by famines and poor hunting season...give our bodies all sorts of hormonal strategies for adjusting metabolism to deal with starvation and NOT LOSE weight. But here's the thing...if your body adjusts your metabolism down to deal with starvation...when you eventually do eat a semi-normal diet someday...it's gonna be a problem. You have a chance to rebuild your metabolism here. You don't want a sluggish metabolism that has learned to cope and survive on 500 calories a day. You want a hot burning furnace that runs all systems at optimal levels and gives you a ton of energy for exercise, burning fat and building muscle....at normal calorie levels as soon as possible. (that is the focus of my group's research...we are encouraged to eat 1000-1200 calories as soon as possible....initial studies support that more calories sooner leads to more sustained weight loss at 5 years post surgery, I'm part of a larger study meant to confirm these results in a larger test group) Bariatrics is an emerging field and there are a lot of ideas about how patients should lose weight post surgically. Old school models are extremely calorie restrictive. There are a lot of folks out there who have lost well on very restrictive plans. Some who have regained, some who have not. Ultimately...there are a lot of ways up this mountain. But, to me...the research makes sense. I want a hot burning metabolism that runs on quality fuel and gives terrific performance. I started eating 1000 calories per day at three weeks. I eat 1200 per day now and am never hungry and have a ton of energy. My weight loss has been steady. (a couple stalls, but par for the course) Another tip....Look up "three week stall"....it's extremely common to hit a stall at three weeks.

I did nothing to break it. I actually expected it cause it was my third week and there’s always the infamous three week stall. I just rode it out. i lost 22 lbs. from my highest in 3 weeks prior to my surgery date (includes 2 week liquid diet) I lost 19 lbs. from surgery day. I have not gone to gym yet, plan on starting tomorrow. I know the scale will jump a bit due to working out as well

I had a three week stall around three months out that was brutal to my morale. Just nothing happening no matter how hard I tried to adjust everything. I finally gave up and stopped looking at the scale for a while. Continued to eat 1200 calories, figured whatever happens, happens......eventually the scale started moving again. Has been a nice slow consistent loss since. But yeah...when you're doing every single thing they tell you to do...and lose nothing for a while....that's tough! And it happens to nearly everyone.

MANY people have a bit of a stall when transitioning from pureed food to solid food when they're about three weeks out. Google "Bariatric Surgery Three Week Stall". It's super common, and super disheartening. But don't be overly concerned! It's normal and if it happens, you're not necessarily doing anything wrong. Our bodies have amazing defense mechanisms developed over thousands of years to prevent starvation. When our calories suddenly dip very low we hormonally and metabolically adjust to maintain our weight as much as we can....so...ya know...we don't starve to death. And yes, this defense mechanism SUCKS for weight loss. But the good news...is that if we stay the course....and stick to our plans consistently...eventually, we do overcome it and the scale starts moving again. I promise. Dthomas....if you're not exceding your calorie goal, if you're journaling what you eat and choosing good food...your mind IS right. Your body is just throwing you a curve ball as a defense against starvation. It's temporary! Stick to your eating plan. Have patience. And have realistic expectations. Most folks are not going to have the 50 pound losses you see on My 600 Pound Life in a few weeks. Also...losing a job and the financial crunch it brings... can be really discouraging and depressing. Exercise really will help you, even if it's just walking a few miles a day. Hang in there. It gets better.

Pretty normal - go for a hunt on these threads about the three week stall, and the three month stall and you’ll see they are both common! It will pass, just stick to your plan. 50lbs in 12 weeks is amazing, of course! No diet gets you that! Bit hard to tell cos your profile doesn’t give us your weight or goal - but rest assured, stalls are normal. I often find I lose SIZE in a stall!

Thank you so much! I had no idea there was a such thing as a three week stall!

The three week stall is very common. Hang in there! HW: 225 SW: 214 (5/2/2018) CW: 207 GW: 145

It sounds counterintuitive, but increasing your caloric intake with healthy choices can help to break a stall. I saw weight loss again after adding in an afternoon smoothie made with protein powder or high-protein yogurt like Fage. Your body needs to have a sufficient amount of calories to function properly. The stall is sort of like your body's way of taking a break after running a marathon. Try to be patient and keep the faith. Almost everyone has the "dreaded three week stall." For some it's very brief, and for others it lasts a month. Most of us do then resume weight loss.