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I was banded July 9th, about one month ago as I said above. I lost the easy weight right away the first couple of weeks, then the last 2 weeks, is when I stalled out. Im just going to be more careful of sugar and carbs and keep on eating well. I actually cancelled my lapband surgery and posted two threads saying I was really having a hard time deciding if I should get the lapband if I wasnt not overeating. Three folks attacked me saying I needed to journal and that I was in denial and so many said I must be overeating and just didnt know it that I rescheduled the lapband, but I was never convinced that I was overeating before I got the lapband, so how is it going to help me?? Well, I get my first fill Aug 16th, maybe that will help and the fills will surprise me. On another board, we had a turtle thread for slow losers. Maybe we can start a thread like that. I see some who lose huge amounts and I look and their surgery was 5 months ago, and Im like wow. And hoping for a miracle for all of us. The skeptic part of me wonders. lol. I wish I was as postive about the band as everyone else here seems to be. Im sure willing to be converted to a happy bandster.

No tricks really, just follow my doctor's plan. I try to get in about 800-900 calories a day, 70+ ounces of water, 80+ protein and no more than 45 carbs a day and I never have more than 15 carbs per meal and I don't bank cards. So, if at breakfast I have 6 carbs, then I can't bank the other 9 for lunch but I can have a snack that have 9 or less carbs in between. This is something the my nutritionist taught me and has worked well! I exercise no less than three times a week if not more and I usually take off from it on the weekends. I do arm and leg machines and do 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the bike. Sometimes I will do 30 on both. Like I said before, really no tricks, just follow your doctor's plan and the weight will come off. There have been weeks that I have lost nothing and then some weeks where I have lost alot. You will have stalls, they are a part of the process but don't give up. Your sleeve is a great tool and you have to trust in it! Good luck on your journey!

I'm so proud of you. This will be a great "before" to your amazing "after." After your surgery when you are having trouble getting down all your fluids and you're having buyer's remorse, or when you hit the three-week stall, you can look back and draw motivation from this. You are a very strong woman and YOU GOT THIS.

My 'three week stall' hit at 2.5 weeks and didn't lose an ounce- the scale actually went up twice- for 2 weeks. Then I dropped 5lbs over night. Just try and keep your protein high and keep your fluid intake up and the scale will go. BTW- I had lost 26lbs when mine hit and I'm currently in another stall and have been since Christmas. It sucks- but it's all part of the process

people seem to have biggest drops the first month or two (other than during the infamous "three week stall".

Oh I was really frustrated my first week!!! It felt like I didn't lose anything for days at a time and then only a pound and then nothing again! I think my system was in shock and went into lock down. I'm only 11 days out now but things have started moving. I think I have to put the scale away - the three week stall sounds crazy making.

I agree, this does get to me, HOWEVER... Sometimes I feel like the search funtion isn't that great. I remember when I was a noob trying to read about the dreaded week three stall and I did find SOME posts, but not a lot. I'm certain there was more on this site about that topic but I was having a hard time uncovering it so I try to be understanding and my week three stall was extreme, it last three weeks for a total of nearly 4 weeks with incredibly minimal weight loss, I can see why that would disturb people as it did me. What I REALLY get sick of are "omg I ate a whole can of soup" (why did you sit down with a whole can of soup?) and posts about hair loss I don't know why those particular posts grate on my nerves so much but they do.

Hi Maddie, A three week stall is a long time. I know you're frustrated! You're just now six weeks out, so you are starting on 'everything'. Carbs can bring you to a halt fast depending on what you are eating. To kick start a plateau, I'd always up my Protein and Water, do a little exercise and it worked like a charm every time. Protein for me was normally 60 - 65 and I'd go to 70 - 80. My calories when I was where you are were between 500 and 650 per day...and I did good to get that much in. During my losing period I averaged 675 per day. I had great restriction, I still do. I call cottage cheese, the Breakfast of champions, I love it. 1% of course. Eggs; steamed shrimp (i keep a bag on hand for lunch), tuna, I measure 2 TB of lite mayo for a can; whatever meat you want at night; stay away from bread, rice, Pasta, all sweets, nothing until you reach goal; chips; if it's in a bag or a box....chances are, you shouldn't have it!!! The exception, Special K Crackers, a few with tuna rather than bread are ok - recommended by my dietitian. They even have a little Fiber. I have two glasses of skim milk per day. I get liquid and 16 grams of protein, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak!! Greek yogurt, the plain, has TONS of protein in it, add Stivia or some other artificial sweetener to it, or sugar free jelly....a little fruit, be creative, just nothing you shouldn't. Great source of protein. I hope these suggestions help!!! Three weeks is a long time, you can overcome this, I promise you!!! Good luck, this tool works, just work with it!!! Also, I still weight and measure EVERYTHING....and keep an on line food log, it's good to know exactly how much you are eating and to keep track of your protein and calories!!! Just a suggestion!!

You've lost 65 pounds!! You should be celebrating that! Stress and negativity will get you absolutely nowhere. You need to find things to Celebrate. Did you take your measurements? If not, start now. Even when I wasn't losing, I saw a decrease in inches. As to why you haven't moved to a smaller size, the larger sizes take a lot more pounds to lose out of. For example, when I started I was in a size 20/22 pant (and squeezing into them because I didn't want to buy anything larger!). Because I was squeezing into them, I didn't change to a smaller size until I had lost 40 pounds. Now, the sizes are much closer together. I can lose 10-15 pounds and move to a smaller size. I think if you accept from the start that you are going to have stalls and whooshes (times when the pounds fall off), you'll be a lot happier that you had the surgery. Are you seeing a therapist? I used food as a coping mechanism, as a pick-me-up when I was stressed. When I no longer had that as an option I started to feel anxious and a bit depressed. That coupled with the release of hormones that were stored in the fat that I was losing resulted in depression and anxiety. My therapist was able to help me find more healthy coping mechanisms. I was a slow loser and felt lucky if I lost 2 pounds in a week. I figured that I didn't gain it all at once, so I wasn't going to lose it quickly. I also have Hashimotos (thyroid autoimmune disorder), which affects my metabolic rate by about 10%. It also helps to look at the actual numbers for how you lose weight. I would guess at your weight that your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is about 1,800cal/day. If you are eating 600 calories, your deficit is 1,200 cal/day. Calculating that out for week would result in 8,400 cal deficit for the week. One pound equals 3,500 calories, so you would probably have around a 2.4 pound loss for the week. If the number is higher, that means you are losing Water weight. The first few weeks of the pre-op diet the majority of what you are losing is water. You can go for about 3 months eating 600 calories without it affecting your metabolic rate. After that you need to start increasing your calories. That happens pretty naturally with the surgery as after 3 months you can eat a bit more. I wouldn't factor in exercise unless you are really exceeding an hour threshold. For example, I ran 10K today, which burned around 1,200 calories. I may eat an extra 500 calories to compensate, but I probably won't see a huge loss from that. You also need to make sure you are getting enough Protein. My minimum requirement is 60g, but I try to hit 70-80. What happens if you don't eat enough protein is that your body will start using your lean muscle mass for fuel. That will result in fewer muscles. Muscles increase your metabolic rate, which is why you should make sure you get your protein for the day and why you should start some type of weight resistant training. That can be done at home using your body weight for resistance. For my program I have never counted calories. The only 3 things I ever concerned myself with were protein (60g+), water (60ou+), and exercise (60min). As long as I did those three things every day I had steady losses. Stalls are frustrating, but really nothing to stress about because we all have them and there's very little you can do to stop them. Lastly, here's a really good article on why we stall: http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html#.Uu0i3X-9KSN It should be mandatory reading for all WLS patients!

I stalled for two weeks at about three weeks out from surgery. I kept exercising and I dropped four pants sizes in those two weeks but not an ounce of weight. I also I had to put the scale away. I was weighing myself several times a day. I was becoming really upset. Now I only weigh myself every couple of days. It's much better that way, so u don't see the weight fluctuations, which do happen. When my stall finally broke, I lost 13 pounds in 3 days. I have been slowly loosing ever sense. Just follow your program and your stall will come to an end. I have learned to patient, we didn't gain weight overnight, so we aren't going to lose it over night. Keep us updated on how you are doing. Good luck!!

I am almost three months out from surgery and have only lost 52 lbs including the 18 lbs lost in pre-op phase. I've been in a stall for a week but I continue to walk 4 miles a day seven days a week. I feel like I am losing inches but the scale doesn't lie. Breakfast is 2 scrambled eggs and 1/2C fruit. lunch is 4oz of lean Protein. dinner is 4oz lean protein and 1/2C cooked vegetables. The hardest part is getting in 64 oz of Water and I have to force myself to reach that amount each day. My plan doesn't allow yogurt until six months out. I do drink two mugs of caffeinated coffee in the morning which I'm not supposed to be doing. One cup of caffeinated coffee is allowed at six months. I do have a container of sugar free Jello in the evening and during the day I have one or two low fat cheese sticks. Hopefully soon the weight loss will resume. I'm getting a bit discouraged with my progress. The surgeon predicted I'd lose 17 more lbs but I'd like another 30 lbs more than that. At this rate it will be a year before I can reach my goal. One good point is that I've been taken off blood pressure medication, have had my statin Rx dose reduced by half and had my CPAP pressure settings lowered.

Shame is a real emotion. I have to acknowledge its presence so that I can move beyond it. Like I said in my original post I am making a game plan to do better next week. Shame should motivate a person to strive to do better the next time. That is how it is working for me. I was just trying to lose 20 lbs by Feb. 14. I did have a stall at week three post op. Besides the stall I have lost weight every week. Once I weigh myself tomorrow I will be even closer to that goal. If I feel disappointed about my meeting a goal that is fine. Disappointment is a frequent companion in life. I am not shocked by the shame or disappointment I am just acknowledging its presence this week. Did I say I was going to just give up? No people. I am just saying I had a rough week.

I copied and pasted, below, some of my early posts from the first few months after band surgery. I was so enthusiastic and on board with my new lifestyle. I was fully committed to learning everything I needed to know in order to succeed. I did not want to hear anything from anyone who was saying their band didn't work out. There were people who posted that they followed band rules and lost their band due to slips, erosion or esophageal dilation. I countered that very few complications are band caused. I suggested that perhaps they over ate, ate too fast...you get the picture. I was wrong to do that. It's true that early in our band journey we NEED to hear positive reinforcement that we made the "right" decision. That's why you won't see me post negative information on a post from someone who is doing well, newly banded or had decided to band and isn't asking for help deciding. If I posted in a way that seemed insensitive or overtly negative anywhere but on the complications forum, I apologize. I try to avoid that, but I'm human. I believed, as many of you do, that if I did all the right things, I'd keep my band for the rest of my life. I cannot convey the disappointment and even grief I'm feeling over the impending loss of my band. I'm also feeling a lot of anxiety about post removal. That might be bleeding thru in my posts. I'm in constant discomfort, unable to eat much of anything and generally not feeling very well at the moment. My point in this post is to encourage everyone who has WLS to listen, sympathize and file away posts about band complications. As I've stated in more than one post, the information might help you save your band one day. I don't want to scare anyone. I just want to share my experience within a community that might benefit from it one day. Don't be afraid to read my message. It can't hurt you. This was 2 months post op: Tonight I am going to a play with friends...I subscribe and we go out about every two months Nov-July. Yesterday I figured I should try on some of my smaller (size 24) clothes to see what I should wear. NONE OF THEM FIT! THEY ARE ALL TOO BIG! I am between a 20-22 so all the 24-26 and 3x are going to the donation pile or to my ebay collection. I went to the Talbot's outlet and bought two pairs of 22 WP shorts, very nice for $27 including tax. I now have one pair of jeans, a pair of capris and two shorts that I can wear. We always go to Maui in October and was trying on my dresses that I take with me and got into some of my Blue Ginger dresses I haven't been able to wear for a long time...some of the others are way too big.... Any way enough rambling on! Happy day for me! My first fill: I got my first fill today and it went very well...no pain and so far so good with water. I lost 5 lb in almost 5 weeks and due to travel plans in September and October opted to go ahead and get it now. My surgeon's office does them under flouro and it took about 10 min to do...port was flat on the abdominal wall and very easy to access. It did feel weird as she was numbing me up, but other than that couldn't feel it. I am hoping to up my loss to about 1.75 lb per week or 7-8 lbs per month with this fill... whew...glad to have that under my belt! A post on accountability: This morning it occurred to me that I have not lost any weight since the 30th of August. My first impulse was to post something on the forum regarding a stall, frustrated, etc, but then I got to thinking about it HONESTLY. I have not logged my food since the middle of July! I looked back and I remember thinking that this is so easy, I don't have to log every bite! WRONG! I lost consistently (even without a fill) 1-1.5 lbs per week while logging. Since I stopped logging I have lost a total of 6 lbs in 6 weeks, but nothing for the last two weeks. I don't think I am eating as much as I am burning, but how do I know??? This could be the 20% stall, but without documentation of my intake, I cannot really tell. My highest weight was 290 about 2 years ago. 20% of 290 is 58 and I am down 51 lbs from that weight so it is close enough to be called that, but most likely it is what I am eating, rather than how much. I have been eating more carbs... There have been numerous social events, so I have been drinking a bit of wine... And I have had some dessert... here and there... So now I recommit to journalling my food intake so I can assess why I am stalled and what to do to change it WITH SOME CERTAINTY.... I have lost an inch or so since the stall started, so it isn't really a stall, but a great opportunity to refocus my efforts towards meeting my goal of 1.5 lbs per week on average. I do have restriction and I need to do a better job of utilizing it to my advantage. Me, defending the band: Many folks who are anti-band will use a study that was published in 2003 and followed lap-band patients from 1997-2002...that would be like car and driver only reviewing cars made from 1920-1970 and holding them to today's standards of road-worthiness... The bands in use today are much more "user-friendly" and the surgeons who "install" them know a lot more about the causes of complications like those cited in the early study and MOST complications are caused by overstuffing the pouch and eating around the band (grazing, sliders etc) as well as over zealous docs who overfill bands. Go to the WLS failure forum, complications forum or regrets forum and read about the issues the people who have chosen many different surgeries experience, then you can be satisfied with your decision, whatever it may be. I also question why certain individuals feel the need to hang out here and tout their surgery. If they were as knowledgeable as they claim, they would be publishing a book on their surgery, pointing out the benefits vs the risks, and it would speak for itself. Here is an example of a study on VSG and it's failure rate...I found this doing a quick search and now it is out there and will be quoted by the VSG haters to support their position.... The exact failure rate of sleeve gastrectomy is unknown. Using the Spanish National Registry for bariatric surgery, Sanchez-Santos et al[7] reviewed 540 patients who had undergone SG either as a primary or staged procedure over a six-year period. The authors reported excellent overall outcomes; however, 15 percent of the subjects were considered failures based on weight recidivism in the first three years, with 3.3 percent of patients submitting to a second bariatric procedure. Younger age, lower body mass index (BMI), and thinner bougie size were attributed to improved sustainable outcomes. Similarly, Himpens, in an article by Deitel et al,[8] presented his early five-year results after sleeve gastrectomy at the First International Consensus Summit for Sleeve Gastrectomy in 2007. In 46 such patients, he reported a disappointing 37 and 23 percent inadequate weight loss and second procedure rates, respectively. More recent unpublished presentations by Himpens indicate failure rates as high as 30 percent in five years.[9] Studying the Austrian experience with SG as a stand-alone operation, Felberbauer et al[10] reported a seven-percent failure rate at three years based on a cutoff of 25 percent excess weight loss (EWL). Applying the traditional 50-percent EWL criteria, the failure rate increased to 25 percent.[10] Me supporting a struggling poster: Good for you Tanya....that is why the forums are here, to share and hopefully keep us from getting too complacent and not utilizing our chosen tool. The side note that I have been meaning to post since the day after I wrote this is that though I haven't lost pounds, I have lost a full size, so it isn't about just the weight. Perhaps it is time for a fill or a talk with your nutritionist to help you to get back on track... Congratulations on your recommittal and I will look for you to post your success!! This was me the first year. I was afraid to hear what might go wrong, just like many others. This is a support site for ALL banded people, not just those who don't have complications. Seeing the words can't hurt you, but ignoring signs of trouble can. Just an FYI to those who keep calling me a "basher", "full of bs as usual", "100% incorrect"...every time you call me a name, I will respond politely. I will also continue to post. I don't back down when attacked, but I refuse to attack back.

Yes, it is normal. None of us lose at a constant or steady rates. Stalls are a normal, natural, and necessary part of the process. You will experience stalls and most people experience their first stall at about three weeks after surgery. Embrace the Stall! http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall

Well, guys and gals, I finally made it! I say finally.. that is kinda funny really. I was obese for over 20 years and it took me exactly 13 months to.. not only get to a normal weight but my dream weight!!!!! I use the word finally because these last 15 pounds have been S L O W compared to the rest of it. I lost an average of three pounds per month for May and June....then I kicked it up a notch and cut my carbs back and lost a whopping 7 in July.. stall for most of August, then bam! Lost the last 3 pounds this weekend! Lordy, I hope it stays off. Here at the end, I tend to lose 2 or 3 pounds then gain 2 back and it takes me 2 more weeks to lose it again. So I am trying to go into maintenance a little too soon for me. Now that it is okay for me to go into maintenance, I am scared to death of gaining any back. I hope it settles out and I weigh between 130 and 135 for the rest of my life.. I never want to see a number above 135. I am having plastic surgery for my loose skin in November. I am having a lower body lift, a thigh lift and an arm lift. I should lose about another 5 or 6 pounds when the swelling subsides from that. I am hoping after that, to have the best body I can have and not ever weigh over 130... I dont think I would be upset if it went over 130... just not over 135. So, in summary, I am hoping the final weight hangs between 125 and 130. I wear a size 4-6 right now depending on the type of pants and a small shirt.. some xtra small. I would think I will be a solid 4 in everything, not just dress pants. I have one pair of jeans in a 4 that fit perfect. Otherwise in jeans, I wear a 6. In slacks and shorts, a size 4 and some 2's because of the way the slacks are made. I think I will turn out to wear a 4 in most things with the occasional 2 or 6, depending on how its made. Sooo happy to be back into my college size!!!!!!

almost everyone has their first stall within the first month after surgery. In fact, we call it "the three week stall", because it often (but not always) happens during week 3. If you search for it, you'll find tons of posts about it. Just stick to your program and it will break. i stalled weeks 2 and 3 and it finally broke during week 4. Then I dropped like 6-8 lbs within a couple of days.

Finally after over three weeks my stall has ended. I started out post op at 220 lbs, now I am 169. So happy this morning. Sent from my iPhone using VST

Okay, I'm actually a little over three months out now. My surgery was 15 July with Dr. Aceves. I was down 45 pounds at my 3 month mark. My starting weight was 242 pounds and I'm 5'1" and change. I started in an uncomfortably tight 18/20 and I'm now wearing loose 16s. The 14s are still uncomfortably tight, but I'll be in them by next month. My shirts were XXL and XL and are now L. No more Xs on my shirts! I've lost a bra size (both band and cup) and I'm finally able to wear my wedding band again. My shoes went up half a size when I went over 220 pounds, and now all of the shoes I bought are too loose and slip off my feet. I stall every month, twice a month. I lose about 15 pounds a month but I lose those pounds in two and a half weeks. I'm a type 2 diabetic and I'm insulin resistant, and my weight loss is "slow" compared to a lot of people sleeved at the same time. It's normal for me to stall for ten days and then drop six pounds in the next four days. Milk is not my friend. After a lot of work to pinpoint what was causing my digestive issues, the answer is MILK. Even lactaid upsets my stomach. My Protein shake, cottage cheese and plain yogurt do the same to a much lesser degree. I was looking for alternative and my doctor suggested goat or sheep milk, saying that they don't have lactose. I'd switch to almond milk or soy milk (if I could tolerate the taste!) but I'm about to move to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and I wanted to go with an alternate I could find once we move. Goats and sheep abound in Tashkent, but soy milk and almond milk do not! The great news is that goat milk isn't too bad once you get used to the aftertaste. At first it felt like I was drinking milk while munching on chevre. Since switching a few days ago, I've been able to drink my Protein shakes with only minor intestinal distress. I've also broken through a two week stall and lost 2 pounds, so things are moving again. I am losing hair. Not too much yet, but there is definitely more hair on my shirts and in the drain catcher. I've been taking Biotin (5000 mcg) since preop and I get all of my Vitamins in - I think the newly increased loss is due to my lower protein intake. While I was unable to drink my shakes I wasn't getting enough protein. I hope that I'll be able to pull through this without too much additional loss. My diabetes is well under control with just diet and exercise. I sleep better and longer than I did before surgery. I'm also more energetic and move a lot more than I used to, without getting sore or tired. Sometimes I don't see much of a change, but then I'll see a picture of me from this summer flip by on our screensaver and realize that I've come a long way already. My face is definitely thinner, and I only have a little more to lose before that dreaded double chin is completely gone. I have no regrets and would have this surgery again in a heartbeat. I wish I lost a little faster, but even at this slow rate, I'll be at goal by spring. ~Cheri

I know everyone's surgeon/nutritionist's post op/lifetime eating plans are different. I see most folks are told to eat 3 meals plus snacks in between and second most popular seems to be ~6 small meals a day. My plan is 3 meals a day no snacks and to only supplement protein with protein shakes if need be, not on the regular. I admittedly have been having snacks in between meals like a cheese stick or something strictly high protein, everything I consume has protein, no empty calories. I cannot fathom how to get the required protein in only three post-op sleeve size meals a day. The only way I can imagine is if you eat something every meal that you add protein powder to. My manual even states that at the point I am now I should be able to get in all the required protein through food alone. I say BS if you aren't allowed a snack in between. I was curious if anyone else has this type of plan and what you think, even more curious if you follow it and how you do it? I am still losing and just had my first stall the past two weeks which broke this week, even during my LB stall I was still losing circumference so I know I'm doing OK I guess I want reinforcement. My surgeon's office also said they expect their patients to eat 600-800 (which is where I'm at) calories a day and after everything I've been reading and from this forum I think that is wrong. It seems the most successful of the bunch are into the 1000 cal/100gms protein range. My surgeon and his handiwork are excellent and I'm very pleased, but the nutritionist and bariatric nurse I feel are not progressive sticking with older ideals. I didn't go through this and pay all this money to have a couple of thin years then not be able to keep it off because I can't stick to starving myself! Just a little frustrated!! =/

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

Hi. I'm new to this site but had my VSG 8/14/14. With the liquids, you are doing the right thing with trying different temperatures. You may want to take smaller sips. At one point my sips were just getting the tip of my tongue wet. What really helped me was walking while I drank my Water. I don't mean a stroll. I was moving my legs! The moving helped the water pass without feeling like someone kicked me in my chest. May I suggest that you put the scale away. You are three days out from surgery. Standing on the scale every day will do nothing but drive you batty. I still don't have a scale in my house because I am compulsive. I would weigh several times a day if it was right there in my home. In the beginning I just waited until my surgeon visits to find my weight. I was never disappointed. I didn't have that dreaded 3 week stall everyone gripes about. I weighed in the doctor's office during the week 1 visit and weighed again during the week 3 visit. Guess what....the weight was down. No stall. After a few weeks, I picked Monday as my official weigh in and just plot my weight once a week on a graph. Some people plot their weight once a month. This way I don't get caught up in the day to day fluctuations your body will make. Before surgery I wrote a list of NSVs I wanted to achieve. This way I could Celebrate something in the event the scale doesn't move from one week to another. Who cares that I didn't lose 1 pound this week because I was able to button a pair of pants that I haven't worn in yearssssss!!!! Just find other ways to celebrate.

Just be patient. It is impossible to eat as few calories as we eat post surgery and not lost weight. Your body is just adjusting. I have learned from many others on this site that happens to most of us within the first month and is often around week three and called the three week stall for that reason. If you do a search for the term you will see how common it is. Stick to your plan and you will be losing before you know it.

My "three week stall" started at two weeks and lasted almost 5 weeks even though I was exercising, getting protein, water, etc. And then I lost 15 lbs very quickly and the scale is still moving, just not quite as fast. Just give it time, it WILL happen if you follow the guidelines.

Dont get upset when you hit the three week stall. Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

What? Me? Really? Yes! It’s true—I’m back with a blog update. I’d love to give you some grand reason for my disappearing act, but the truth is just that life has just gone on. Being banded was a huge life altering experience and for many months it affected everything. In a way, it defined me, just as being fat has defined me for the past 20 or so years of my life. Being banded affected my daily routine—what I ate, how I moved, work, the gym, doctors appointments. And then slowly, it affected me less. Life went back to normal. I stopped feeling sore, I went back to the gym, I started being able to wrestle those big dogs I work with again, and I stopped agonizing over every morsel I put in my mouth. My band became a part of who I am and stopped being everything I am about. And as life went on without me having to stop and contemplate my band every other minute, I stopped having new and exciting things to say about it. That’s not to say that everything has gone back to the way it used to be, although my life is not yet as completely altered as many of my pre-band fantasies projected it to be. A lot has happened in my life both related and unrelated to my weight-loss journey. I believe last I left you guys, I was plagued with a big pain from a little kidney stone. Who knew something smaller than a pencil eraser could cause so much trouble? Well, in case you were wondering, the kidney stone did not pass on its own. After my trip to the hospital and the very happy drugs they pumped me with, my pain was gone. I followed up with an urologist anyhow and it was a good thing since he informed me that being pain free did not mean being urolith (big, fancy, medical word for a kidney stone) free. And low and behold, the night after my appointment, I had another bout of excruciating pain. The pain came and went for the rest of the week until my follow-up appointment at which point my doctor and I decided to schedule lithotripsy—a non-invasive surgical procedure used to break up kidney stones using shockwaves that pass through the body wall. Unfortunately the first available appointment for the procedure was not for another 2 1/2 weeks. The pain was sporadic in the mean time, and while I had some hefty pain meds, I was unable to use them at times—ie when at work. So, I used Ibuprofen instead—after all the PA at my docs office said it was okay given my situation as long as I took certain precautions. Well, I don’t think I took enough precautions, or I just took too much Ibuprofen because after a few days my stomach got all funky and I was sick for a good 2-3 days. I stopped the Motrin of course, and got better. Finally I went for my scheduled procedure and they took an x-ray to locate the stone, then hooked me up to an IV and knocked me out. I woke up shortly after and everything went smoothly. Of course the lithotripsy only broke the stone up to smaller pieces and didn’t get rid of it, so for another week and a half I waited for the stone to pass—with even more pain than before, as well as several bouts of nausea. At last, my stone was gone, and with it, the pain. In addition, I felt energetic and just plain good for the first time since it happened. I turned the stone in for analysis and did some extra urine tests and next week I return to my doc for the results as well as a discussion on nutrition to help prevent further stones. I’m a little worried about how that will go and how his nutrition advice will work with my band. Obviously drinking plenty of water is paramount for both my situations, but I have a feeling he’s going to tell me to cut back on my protein which will not bode will with band eating. He says he’s seen many bandsters getting kidney stones 3-4 months after surgery and on the one hand, that probably means he knows our nutrition restrictions, but on the other hand, it probably means the diet change helped in the formation of the stone. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. Despite the passing of my kidney stone, I am—sadly—not yet a paragon of health. I’ve been having some trouble with my shoulder. At first I just suspected a pulled muscle or something, but given my kidney stone-ibuprofen snafu, could not treat it properly with anti-inflammatory meds like Mortrin. I finally sucked it up and got myself to the orthopod who examined me and took an x-ray. He said the x-ray looked pretty good, but he did see a small bone spur which probably caused some bursitis. Normally he would have just had me treat it with NSAIDS (if it was that easy, I wouldn’t have needed him) but instead he gave me a cortisone shot. Sadly, it didn’t work. He also gave me a prescription for physical therapy if it didn’t work. I think I’ll probably have to use it, but I’m going to try my sister’s acupuncturist first (I saw him once before and he actually predicted my kidney stone by feeling my pulse—well not a kidney stone exactly, but he told me the “kidney” part of my pulse was weak—how crazy is that?) Of course, I think I’m starting to sound like an 80 year old, going on and on about my health problems. I’ve been sicker since getting my band than I was before—how did that happen? In other—non-medical—news, in the end of August, I finally moved into my new place. Having my own refrigerator to stock with all my own food has been helpful. I pretty much live off rotisserie chicken. I’ll have a quarter of a store bought chicken, no skin and I’ll pair it with some fruit, or carrot sticks, or tonight, a small baked potato. Yum, yum. My lunches vary, sometimes I’ll have a lean cuisine, or I’ll have a salad from the salad bar down the street. My usual breakfast is either a protein bar, or if I get up early enough, a 100 calorie whole grain English muffin with 1 egg, 1 egg white, and piece of low fat cheese. I do still have snacks. I believe in eating when I’m hungry. I’ll usually go for either a yogurt, or a high protein snack bar—Slim fast makes a yummy caramel nougat one, and South Beach has a chocolate raspberry one I love. Like a bad girl, I have taken to drinking diet soda again, but only 2-3 times a week instead of 5-6 times a day like I used to and of course, plenty of water is still a must. I stalled with my weight-loss for a while, not because I didn’t have restriction, but because I was making bad choices and eating a lot of junk food again. So, I started going to Weight Watchers. The band helps me monitor how much I eat, and WW gives me the tools to help me make better choices. Having to figure out how many points everything is makes you stop and think before eating it. I only have so much room in my new little tummy pouch, and I need to make each bite count. That’s not to say I’ve given up all the good stuff—I still eat the foods I love…pizza, bagels, ice-cream, etc, but not on a regular basis. I really feel like I eat like a “normal” person now. I can eat a slice of pizza, without eating 3. I can have a turkey burger and leave half for the next meal. Anytime I order out, my food lasts a good 3 meals instead of finishing the whole thing and wanting more. It’s amazing how normal that is for me now. My loss is picking up again and I still have hopes of making my goal of losing 75# by my sisters wedding which is October 25. I’ve got to lose another 5 lbs and I’ve got 10 days to do it. Holly, this entry is getting long. I have more to say about how I’m feeling about the changes the last 6 months have made to my mind, body and soul, but I’m working on page three of this thing now, so I’m going to cut it here, and save the rest for another entry. Here’s to not letting another 3 months go by before that happens Tootles.