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DAY 49 29 days post op I survived the dreaded three week stall without stalling... But I certainly have slowed down. Went from losing a pound a day to about a little less than half a pound a day. Less than I was losing. More than I would be losing before surgery. What I am curious to know is if this is the new normal or if it will pick up again.... Or slow down more. UGH! My control freakishness needs to know! Looking forward to my one month appt tomorrow and hopefully clearance to eat fresh fruit, nuts, seeds etc. oh and salad! I'd love a salad. I am certainly not able to eat enough to get all my Protein and non protein foods in yet, but I'd love to have an option. A troubling item on the horizon- a few days ago I started feeling a twinge on my right side under my rib cage. At first I thought I pulled something, but now I am wondering if it might be my gall bladder. I am taking medication to prevent stones but I wonder if there is some inflammation or something. I will mention it at tomorrow's appt. if it I my gall bladder and they have to take it, then I want them to take it this year since I already met all my insurance maximums. Stay tuned for an update post appt. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hitting the beginning of week 3/ending week 2. I am on pureed now and it felt like heaven to have some real Food no matter how disgusting it looks. I had had it with cream soups and protein shakes, it just made me nauseous. I really struggle to get in that one protein shake and I try to get the rest of my protein in with food. I'm eating maybe 1/4 cup sometimes to 1/2 cup sometimes at a time. I eat slowly, but I definitely feel like I feel hungry at times. Maybe it's head hunger. I eat three times a day but I read in the beginning you should eat four to six meals a day because you're only getting in 1/4 to 1/2 a cup each time but I'm not there yet . I'm probably going to hit the three week stall soon so I'm not even going to get on the scale, it's no big deal to me. I know I'm losing by my clothes. They are hanging off of me. Last I weighed I was 248 about a fifteen pound loss from surgery date. Getting in 60+ protein most days and close to 50 ounces of water. I didn't get any rest after surgery. I'm a single mother and I had no help so immediately I was cleaning and cooking. I wish I could have rested but I must say I think it sped up my recovery and kept me active because my energy is pretty good now and I rarely have dizzy spells except sometimes at night which could be low sugar, low pressure, or hot bouts. Immediately after surgery I was hit with hot flashes and bad night sweats so I keep water and g2 by my bed at night. It's hard but no regrets!

Me! The "three week stall". My scale didn't move for 7 days! Extremely frustrating. My doctor said its normal! He every cleared me to go to the gym at my 1 month appointment. Follow my journey at jenvsg.blogspot.com Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@Seastars You said "I just didn't think losing weight with the sleeve would be this hard. I read posts about the three-week stall, but that's AFTER someone loses, like, 30 pounds or so!" My 3 week stall was at 23 lbs, and I started with a BMI of 41 and no pre-op diet so no weight loss. My high weight was my day of surgery weight. I'm in my 5th week and still not at 30 lbs lost. And don't forget that men tend to lose faster than women, especially if they start at a much higher weight. Hang in there...I'm still eating 500-600 cals/day, I can't get to 800 and I think it may be inhibiting my weight loss. I'm walking, using the elliptical, doing some arm and leg weight work, etc...it'll come off.

Not everyone has pounds melting off. You have lost 34 pounds total and that is a lot of weight. Your body doesn't know preop from post op weight loss. It is healing and adjusting. Make sure you are getting your Protein, Water and enough calories in so your body doesn't go into starvation mode. I average 125g protein, no worries! Only 800-1000 cals (max 1200 on a heavy workout day), but that is per my dietician's precise instructions. Your take on "Your body doesn't know preop from post op weight loss" is interesting. I lost 21 pounds in the month before surgery, so it sure seems like post-op - with reduced hunger and forcibly smaller portion size, not to mention a two-week liquid diet - I'd be losing MORE than that, you know? I mean, the surgery is meant to make us lose weight, not just maintain it. But that didn't happen. The loss I had was mostly from crazy cardio. I just didn't think losing weight with the sleeve would be this hard. I read posts about the three-week stall, but that's AFTER someone loses, like, 30 pounds or so! I guess my frustration is exacerbated by the fact that I self-paid. This was a very, very expensive 12 pounds. :/

Hi there I just wanted to check and see how everyone is doing. I have about 25 more pounds to goal. I am not as strict with myself as I should be ... Just broke a three week stall. Down over 120 lbs now... Labs ok Vitamin d low, every thing else ok Flabby skin on arms, thighs, belly. But oh well flap on!! I still can't eat a lot, and my acid reflux can be a beast. Nexium once day helps Still have at least one Protein shake a day...struggling with Water The journey continues.

I wasn't told about the weight gain from the IV, my NUT didn't tell me about the three week stall, but I'm pretty sure I remember being told that stalls were normal.

30 lbs the first month is possible, but it's definitely at the high end of the range. It seems like a lot of people here lose 15-25 lbs (some more, some less). So her expectations sound high to me. I only lost 16 lbs my first month, and I've lost almost 200 lbs altogether. regarding your second issue - a stall during the first month is super common. Almost everyone experiences that. It's called the "three week stall", but it can happen any time in the first month. Mine lasted two weeks (weeks 2 and 3 post-op). I just stuck to my plan and dropped something like 6 or 8 lbs during week 4, when the stall finally broke.

You're welcome for sure! Hmmm....that's weird. I can't see Babb's post anymore either. @@Alex Brecher , where did Babb's posts go? SO STRANGE!!! This board has been wacky lately. I flagged her as a spammer in error and deleted all her posts. We are working on restoring them. Oh no! I hope you are able to restore her posts soon. She always has some great insight and I love her explanation of the three week stall.

That's rough, I'm sorry you're going through that. Have you tried those throat numbing lozenges? I've been really cautious with anything that goes into my stomach. I'm also at the three week stall. I'll be glad to get through this amd exercise again.

Ho everyone. It's been a wild ride since surgery on May 9th. Here are the stats. HW - 380 Started process at - 365 SW - 351 CW- 298 What I've learned: Surgery was tough but not nearly as bad as I feared. No pain ever really but had bouts of nausea and acid that were pretty trying but well worth it. This takes time! The exhaustion for the first six weeks was pretty bad but I learned to just plug along. Rest when needed! My sleeve is the boss of me! A couple of times I ate compulsively and I paid the price! A good learning tool to eat thoughtfully! Plan meals and sit down to eat. I've learned to eat when I'm hungry and not when I'm not. Focus on Protein first! I can do so much more even though I've suffered a pretty severe knee injury. I walk a minimum of 10k steps a day. Take a longish walk every night and ride a bike three miles per day. Weigh yourself as often as you like but don't obsess about numbers! The three week stall sucked but after two weeks of stall - whoosh! Five pounds gone in a day! The scale can suck! One day at the end of my stall I actually went UP 10 pounds. Then a few days later was down nearly ten! Could be Water weight or constipation just ride it out! The constipation can be a killer! Take miralax, stool softener a or whatever surgeon recommends if you suffer from this! Tell people if you want don't if you don't! This is a personal process and sharing can be good sometimes but not so others. Get help when you need help! Come here to BP and don't be afraid to call surgeon or NUT for support! All in all I feel great! I can do things I never could have done before! Being under 300 is like being a kid again and I'm going to enjoy every moment. I wish I'd have done this when I was 30! Best to all of you. This is truly life changing!

By definition, a stall is longer than a week. The "three week stall" is called that because it usually happens about three weeks after surgery, not because it lasts three weeks. The three week stall is where your body replenishes the energy/fluid that is stored in your liver that was depleted during the pre-op diet and post-op. It is possible that your body is doing the same thing now. It is also possible that your body just needs to take a break to rearrange, rebalance, etc. It has to do that periodically. As it dismantles the larger structure, there are going to be periods where you won't see changes on the scale. You still may see changes in your body, though. Please read this link: Embrace the Stall http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall There is a reason I posted it above.

I'll add my two cents here. Inner Surfer Girl is right -- we all hit this. I've read this a lot before I had my VSG and then I lived it... I'm about 2 months out now -- I too did really well in the first few weeks -- lost about 25-30 pounds in the first month, then stalled for almost a month. Now I'm back to losing consistently again. Everyone's journey is a little different, and they call it the "three week stall" because on average that's about when it hits. From what you wrote you've done extremely well losing 40 pounds in 2.5 weeks. Your body fights this though and needs some time to adjust -- it's going to hold on for a while. Nothing's wrong, you might stall for a week or a month. In my experience I completely stalled for about 10 days, then I'd lose a pound -- and stall for a week, then maybe another pound, stall for a week. It's frustrating after losing weight so fast at first but you'll be back to losing in due course. Oddly, I found (since I weigh every morning consistently) that I'd usually spike up unexpectedly the day before I'd lose. I swear one morning I was up 3.5 pounds and I hadn't done anything differently! That 3.5 pounds (and more) was gone the next day. There isn't much you can do but follow your surgeon's recommended program. So don't fret, it's part of the journey. I like to think of it as a long hike down the side of a mountain -- much of the path leads down, but some parts are level (or even uphill) and you still have to walk them to get to the lowlands below. Good luck on your journey.

looks like you're having the dreaded "three week stall" a bit early. I did, too. I had it during weeks two and three. Week four I dropped like six lbs within a few days. Almost everyone gets that early stall. No worries - just stick to your food plan.

There's something called the three week stall. Heard about it on other forums. Keep doing what your doing and it will happen.

I'm headed for the three week stall as well. Stay strong! Sent from my SM-N920P using the BariatricPal App

I practiced the behaviors I knew would be important after surgery. I got a myfitnesspal account and a digital kitchen scale and got in the habit of weighing or measuring my portions on myfitnesspal and logging everything. I stopped drinking with meals and for 30 minutes after. I gave up caloric and carbonated drinks. I started walking 20 minutes per day. And I read all the threads here and on other wls boards -- not just things that were of immediate concern to me, like what to take to the hospital or insurance approval, but I read all the post-op threads so I knew what to expect: things like the three week stall, gas pain from surgery that is only relieved by walking, stuff like that.

It's a common thread I see running around this forum.. people asking why they didn't do this years ago. I'm even young and I'm finding myself asking the same thing. Though I'm only 25.. I wish I would have done it at 18 or 20.. admittedly, maybe I wasn't ready then.. maybe I still needed time.. especially because part of my story is finding out at 24 that I had bipolar II without the usual "standard" symptoms of women docs normally see in their 20's so I was very hard to diagnose and went through a period of about three years where I alienated everyone but my very closest friends because I was so hard to be around -- with a low of winding up needing to be admitted to a psych ward to get it all figured out. I definitely learned who my friends were (and who, surprisingly, weren't...) I am also social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and depression.. so I spent the last year and a half in counseling trying to get my mental self to match the well-put together self I present to the world thanks to years of being on stage growing up. I learned to show myself as put together - graduating magna cum laude and being responsible even if I was falling apart inside. So I needed to deal with all of that first before I felt ready to confront my weight. But finally I was ready. It started about 1 year ago. I had been feeling bad about my weight for a while. I was overweight during my childhood. My grandmothers both grew up during the Great Depression.. so for them.. giving me food was the same as giving me love.. especially high calorie foods. For them eating wasn't about hunger.. it was about enjoyment and thankfulness to have food to eat. (One was thin, one was overweight). But from them I learned to love all the wrong types of food and to love them in gigantic portions.. My stomach was already way stretched by the time I was 7 or 8. I remember weighing 85 pounds in 2nd grade because we did a math thing where we all weighed in front of the class. There was only one student, a boy, who weighed more.. during school I dealt with a lot, I mean a LOT of bullying because I was mature and just different - I'd rather read a book or write a story than go out for recess and I was reading Romeo and Juliet while they were reading Junie B Jones (For the Record I like her too even though she's a huge spoiled brat). Basically I had a generation gap with my peers since my parents were born in the late forties and early fifties and their parents were much younger.. so I was already -extremely- bullied. I didn't make my first non-internet friends until college.. and those were some of the people I found out weren't true blue friends when I went through my emotional break down a couple of years ago... So yeah.. and it didn't help that I was overweight.. that was just something else to give them to make fun of me about. As it turned out.. even though I wasn't doing even as good as I am now in therapy one year ago.. I was doing better than I had been in years and that gave me time and energy to turn my thoughts to the weight I'd been unhappy to be carrying around for years. Before college it bothered me.. but I didn't think about it a lot.. it was in early college when I hit 200 and started having trouble finding clothes that would fit me in your typical stores both like Macy's but also stores that people my age like - Aeropostale, Am. Eagle etc.. that I started to have a personal crisis about my weight and be super unhappy with it. Shopping became my least favorite thing because it was an exercise in taking whatever would fit rather than whatever I liked. And by a year ago I had started to notice I couldn't do or keep up with the same types of activities most people my age do. I love showing my dog Riff in conformation and was learning that I couldn't keep up with her jogging on our down and back (jogging beside the dog so the judge can see his or her movement properly) and that getting on my knees to present her not only hurt but was nearly impossible. I started to be even more unhappy because I couldn't do the hobbies I loved that people my age are doing. And in the meantime for the past 5-10 years I'd been trying every diet known to man.. I didn't feel like any of them were sustainable for a life time because I was unhappy with them. And rather than yo-yoing I just didn't lose. Didn't matter how well I stuck to a diet, I'd find myself losing maybe 5 pounds in 7 or 8 months of hard work.. and finally I gave up.. I was near the point of accepting I was just going to be overweight forever and that was how it was going to be. I knew my issues - I don't eat for emotional reasons, I don't eat when I'm not hungry.. but my stomach was super stretched from years of eating too much and I like big portions and the wrong kinds of things. I could go and polish off a huge plate of food enough for three meals and feel "Just about right" and I didn't have the self control to starve while I waited on my stomach to shrink naturally.. I just couldn't do it. I had heard things about gastric bypass that made me say no way never.. things like "You'll never be able to have any sugar again." or "You'll never be able to have fried foods again." While I'm happy to make lifestyle changes, things like "Never again" aren't something I'm capable of. So I ruled out surgery for a long while. Finally, a year ago I looked into it again and read about gastric sleeve for the first time.. and it was a fit.. not as serious as gastric bypass.. less prone to things like dumping syndrome.. and all about moderation rather than "never agains" more healthy choices.. less bad ones.. but I didn't have to promise I was never eating Pasta or never having a fried chicken leg again - which was something I knew I couldn't agree to. There was less risk of serious complications and it was a plan I thought I could actually live with and be happy and it went right to the root of my issue - shrink my stomach so I can get used to a normal portion size again without having to starve. Something I haven't had since I was 6-7 years old. Within two days of researching I was ready to commit. But of course getting my medicaid to pay for the surgery wasn't as easy as deciding I wanted it - even though I looked over the qualifications and knew I met them - I still had a lot of hoops to jump through. In October I started my 6 month phys supervised diet which only convinced my doctor and I that I needed the surgery even more. I ate 1500 calories a day and walked my dog most days for 30+ minutes (which was a significant step down from what I had been eating and step up from my sedentary lifestyle) and lost only 11 pounds in all that time. And part of it came back! Getting cleared psychologically was a battle too. They wanted a psychiatrist who didn't know me to evaluate me even though my own had already sent a letter of approval.. and the psychiatrist who I did see didn't really want to clear someone who was bipolar.. it was a battle, but finally I got cleared. That by itself took over two months and delayed my surgery which should have been in March 2016. I also had to have blood work, a number of physician check ups by my program's docs and so on. But finally all the hard work paid off.. on the first submission to insurance, I was approved within a week! How excited was I! And my surgery was set for May 31st 2016. However, the roller coaster wasn't over.. I had little contact with my bariatric program from the get go... they share a department, nurses, etc with general surgery.. so calling to talk to someone there is always a nightmare.. it's a 30 minute wait to get a human on the phone, calling to talk to a nurse means a 5 hour or more wait for a call back.. and it also means a very unpersonalized approach.. they're so busy and have so many people through their program that they want everyone to be a cookie cutter mold and don't want to offer people any individualized advice because "others in the program might want the same advice." Well number one - others in the program shouldn't know what -I- discuss with my doctors so how could they want it and number two healthcare isn't supposed to be about squeezing people into a mold and making the exact same treatment work for everyone... so I began to be unhappy with my program from early on.. especially when their psychiatrist and my psychiatrist got into a fight over the phone about whether I was going to get cleared. Their psychiatrist had met me only once and knew nothing about my case history while my own psychiatrist has been working with me for about a year and half.. who do you think was more qualified to say if I was stable or not? But aparently their program couldn't understand that.. However.. I was stuck.. Medicaid wanted me in state and this program was the closest to me and already an hour and a half away.. the only other options were double or triple that commute time (Chicago). So I just kinda had to stick with it.. I've gone on to be further disappointed by them at numerous occasions - namely when my surgeon said that Water aerobics is a joke of an exercise program and only for people who can't do anything else and that I couldn't hit my weight loss goal of 130 pounds doing water exercise of any kind (there's a thread floating around about that). Clearly he's never taken a hard core water exercise class or he would know that is so not true. I took my first one Friday and I was sweating in the water! Finally I did get to have my surgery though! Before surgery I had an 800 calorie diet for two weeks focusing on Protein and lean meats and veggies and reasonable on carbs. It wasn't too hard of a diet to follow beyond getting hungry because my stomach was huge. Surgery day came but I was excited rather than nervous. especially because all of us May 31st sleevers from the forum (there was about 10 of us) made a facebook group so we could keep in touch and that really helps to have other people who are exactly where I'm at in the recovery stage. I didn't have much trouble recovering from surgery. I never had any gas pain and even though I was in pain in general the first three days they gave me lots of morphine and kept me very comfortable. While my program as a whole is somewhat disappointing - I do have to say that the nurses who took care of me in the hospital couldn't have been better. They helped me walk. They helped me get up to go to the bathroom and helped me adjust positions in bed since I needed help doing all that for the first 2-3 days. I brought my laptop to the hospital with me and spent time here on the forums and doing other stuff I like -- even played some Sims. My recovery was uncomplicated and three days later I was able to go home. My internal swelling went down fast and by a week out I was so sick of liquids that I couldn't help but try a little puree and it worked just fine to help supplement and keep me from going nuts. One thing that's been very helpful to me is Fairlife Milk. it's heightened protein milk with 13 grams of protein for a cup. I drink it straight and also add it to my Soups. It helps a lot in getting in my 64 oz of liquid and my 60 grams of protein. I've been using an app called Plant Nanny which lets you grow plants based on how much Fluid you consume then you can plant them in your garden and harvest their seeds to get more diverse plants.. it makes drinking at least slightly more fun. I also wear a fitbit flex and it's synced with My Fitness Pal. I log my calories on MFP and my exercise syncs there from my fitbit automatically and tells me if I've earned extra calories from exercise (though I rarely use those). I was never given a calorie goal to shoot for but I set a goal of 800 for myself based on the pre-opp diet and what I can eat and get in 60 grams of protein without feeling too stuffed/ too deprived. I'm on my own for a lot of it because I've only met with the NUT once for 30 minutes pre-opp about 2 months and I won't see her again until in July so... I just read and do the best I can. So yeah I'm 3 full weeks out from surgery on Tuesday and also down 20 pounds since May 18th (the start of my pre-opp liver diet). I faced the three week stall at about week 2 instead of three and I was down to a new low for the first time in a week today so I'm hoping that it's broken and I'll have a bit of smooth sailing for a while from here. So.. that's my story so far. I don't know if people post in these to update but.. every once in a while I'll post back and let you guys know how I'm doing.

I'm sorry no one told you to expect a stall for a couple of weeks starting about three weeks post op, but that's what happens to the vast, vast majority of people after weight loss surgery. You aren't doing anything wrong. Keep following your program, stay off the scale for a couple more weeks, and you'll find yourself dropping weight again. Seriously, use the search function here and look for "three week stall" "third week stall" or something like that. You can even Google "three week stall weight loss surgery" or "week three stall post-vsg" and you'll see tons of people posting about it all over the internet, not just here. Don't have a breakdown! Again, I am really sorry no one thought to tell you about this but it is perfectly normal and you will do great. Keep going.

I had my surgery in Feb and experienced about a three week stall where my weight loss was very slow and then it picked up again. Right now I've been at the same number on the scale for almost 2 weeks and it's very frustrating. Has anyone else experienced another stall 3-4 months after surgery? I'm still working out 5-6 days a week and getting all my Protein and everything it's just frustrating. Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thanks for the advice guys. I refuse to let a stall break me and ruin my progress... just scares me to know it'll come. But you all have excellent advice. I guess I have a while before that three week stall being that I'm 5 days out from surgery. And it helps to know it may be quite a while before I have a really horrible one that takes a long time to break.

My first one was at three weeks. Stalls are like lovers. Your first will probably not be your last.

You're in the very well known and discussed three week stall. It happens all the time, and there are literally hundreds of threads just on this forum alone about how a person is panicking since their weight loss has stopped. Stalls will happen ALL THE TIME over the next year for everyone that is losing weight. No way to tell how long they will last, or how often they will happen, but as long as you are sticking to your doctor's guidelines for food, Protein, and Water intake and doing some gentle activity (ramping up to real exercise as soon as you are cleared to do so), the stalls eventually break and you'll be just fine. Stalls are the body's way of taking a breather and ramping up for the next round of weight loss. No one loses weight steady; it's always going to be lose some... stall for a week. Lose some more; stall for three weeks... rinse and repeat. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/351046-embrace-the-stall/ And no, you can't stretch your pouch or sleeve out from eating and drinking foods you're supposed to be eating/drinking. Even if you overate, you'd likely just throw up. The stretchy part of your stomach is gone if you had the sleeve surgery. Your stomach will eventually relax once the swelling has gone down and by a year out, it might hold slightly more volume than at 3 months, but it won't grow back or otherwise stretch.

So im dealing with the dreaded three week stall. It is VERY annoying and although i know it will pass it is still a little frustrating. How long did your three week stall last????

I was sleeved May 2nd - this has been the hardest process but best decision of my life! Through the most strict "diet" I've ever followed I only lost 30 lbs...since the start of my 2 weeks pre-op, I've lost 27 lbs. I've hit my "three week stall" but the inches are melting off! My mother in law was actually my inspiration for the surgery - she had it about 3 years ago and has lost 200+ lbs. so my husband had no worry and nothing but support for me when I told him this was what I was doing. Also, he gets home before me so does the majority of the cooking...it has been a really tough journey and the stall is disheartening but so far, no regret Best of luck to you all!!