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First of all, 12 pounds in 3 weeks is right on target, so you're doing fine! Many people gain weight immediately after surgery because of all the IV fluids, which can skew your early results. Many people have a stall in the first month (commonly referred to as the "three week stall" because it often starts right around week 3, but that varies from one person to the next). If you follow your surgeon's plan, you WILL lose weight. I know it's hard to be patient, but you have to be. What did your surgeon say about exercise? Some surgeons actually discourage strenuous exercise in the beginning because, as you've discovered, you don't have enough energy while you're eating so little. Are you walking at all? It is good to walk a little, even if it's just around the house or up and down the street, but you don't need to be going to the gym or anything at this point. Did you exercise regularly before surgery? If not, you'll probably need to start slowly.

One important piece of advice/knowledge that it seems nearly no bariatric program gives out is that stalls do happen, very commonly around the 3 week mark. If you use the search box on here and search "three week stall", you will find THOUSANDS of posts from people who had surgery and then suddenly hit a period of time (anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks) where the weight just won't come off. It is something that is very common but is almost always a temporary situation. If it happens to you, keep calm and keep to your doctor's diet plan. One of the easiest adjustments to make to help get out of that stall is to increase your physical activity a little. Stalls/plateaus are likely to happen but they do not signal the end of your weight loss. It's only temporary. Also, start exploring protein shakes/drinks/powders now, if you haven't already done so. This will be where the lion's share of your protein is going to come from post-op and you will want to find one (or two or three) options that you like before you have surgery. Otherwise, it's a miserable experience to try and find what you like immediately after surgery. If you slip up on your diet, that does not mean it is the end of the world, but it IS something to be concerned about. It is something you will want to take corrective action on right away. The surgery is only a tool and if you don't make use of that tool, then you won't see the results that you want. If you have a slip-up, communicate with your doctor right away. Seek advice and assistance from your medical team (doctor, nutritionist, counselor, etc.) so that you can stay on track. Communication is key especially in this difficult time where in-person appointments are not always easy to come by. Don't compare your weight loss to anyone else's. Every single person's physiology is unique. Your metabolism is different from mine and from everyone else on this site. As long as the numbers on the scale are going down, you are succeeding. Never forget that. Lastly, this journey is a marathon, not a sprint. It is, quite literally, a lifelong journey. Use every pillar of support that you have to achieve success. Congrats on completing your pre-op program and I hope that you get your surgery date soon!

I am a little over 4 months post op and my nutritionist said that I should be eating 1200 calories a day. I actually was not eating enough and found when I upped to 1200 a day I started losing again. She said that our bodies are really not intended to function long term on the lower calories. If you had a three week stall, I would strongly consider taking a couple of weeks and trying to experiment with your calories and find a level of calories that your body likes. Mine likes to get around 1200-1400 and I lose about 0.8 every day that I hit that target, of course if I go over, then it doesn't but if I have a really low day in the 800 range, I also gain. I know that this is not what a lot will say, but I find that it works well for me and I wanted my lifestyle to be something i could maintain forever and I know that I could never last long term eating 800 calories a day. I intend to eat 1200-1400 per day for the rest of my life with the occasional day that will go over that.

Three week stall ... it's not an urban myth . Google it.

you're in the "three week stall". Almost everyone has it - do a search for it on this site

almost everyone goes through the infamous "three week stall". If you do a search on this site for you, you'll find over 15,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding...) just stick to your plan and stay off the scale for a few days if you need to. The stall WILL break.

I wouldn't worry about it I think your experiencing the dreaded third week stall! I was sleeved July 25 and right around the third week i stopped losing and would go up a pound or two and then it would drop! I too seemed to be doing everything right! Eating like 600 calories, getting my water in, all my protein and nothing happened! I ended up actually upping my calories to 700-750 and with in a couple days it started dropping! Someone explained the three week stall on here that made me feel so much better! The first couple weeks your body loses cause of the lack if calories and by the third week your body kinda says whoa!! And holds on to everything, then it adjusts and realizes that the lack in calories is the new norm and starts losing again !! The other person explained it much better but that's my short version! Lol. Good luck just keep doing what your doing and it will work itself off! I'm now 38lbs down since my sleeve!!

Welcome to the site! Hang in there...i just came off an almost three week stall. They happen then they are gone and the weight begins to fall off again!!! Keep track of what you are eating to help stay the course and good luck!

That is wonderful! I'm hoping to break a three week stall soon and join you.

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.

look up the "three week stall". Almost everyone gets that. Yours just arrived a little ahead of schedule. Stick to your plan and it will break.

^^^ I can't believe I didn't catch that! I just re-read the OP's message and ...yep!...right on time for the infamous three-week stall!

My surgery was July 13th and I have lost 42.5 pounds so far but 15 were pre-op. So I am a bit disappointed even though I know I shouldn't be. I had a three week stall that began at the three week mark.

It's called the "dreaded three week stall". Most people go through it. Hang in there, the weight will come off soon!

I think our obsession with stalls (by any name) is understandable. We start out as WLS patients with mega-losses real fast. Then we hit the (pretty common) three-week stall. Then, depending on how heavy we were to start with, we settle down to a 10-15 or even 20 pound monthly weight loss for 3-6 months. Then things slow down. But along the way, when we're weighing daily, we see a graph line (or imagine one) that looks like a trail made by a drunk chicken stumbling up and downhill on his way to the river. And here's a simple conclusion about why the graph looks like a drunken chicken's trail: Our bodies are not robots. Nor are they gas engines that always get X miles per gallon (or X pounds lost per daily calorie intake). Our bodies are complex carbon oxygen machines that are constantly producing hormones and running fancy and changing biochemistry combustions and repairing our bodies and losing weight and none of those things is linearly coordinated. Our bodies produce 60-70 hormones that have specific functions. But those aren't all produced at the same rate all the time and vary according to our ages, activities, diseases, times of the month, times of the day, and they can produce interactions among them, too. For instance, here's just one of the simplest things about Water weight most of us do know about. Remember the pre-op diet that most of us had to do for a couple of weeks? The point of that diet was to reduce the size and slickness of our multi-lobed livers so our surgeons could operate on our stomachs located right next to the liver. The heavier and slicker the liver, the harder it is to man-handle it during surgery and the likelier it is to get nicked or torn during the experience (nicked or torn liver = very, very bad thing). Anyway, the point of that pre-op diet was to use up all the glycogen (look it up) that's stored in the liver. And when the glycogen is used up, we also lose a large amount of water in which that glycogen is stored. Hence, our very rapid weight loss during the pre-op diet (and that's lost at the beginning of almost every diet in the world). Here's another thing: I think about the number of extra capillaries and nerves that my body grew when I was fatter but that I no longer need now that I've lost 77 pounds. What happened to those things? At what point does my body break those down? And when and how are those waste products excreted? And how does that process affect the arc of my weight loss graph? I got lots more questions, too! So here's the bottom line: Our bodies do not lose weight in a straight, linear progression to goal. That is a fact. We all know that. Why not? Because (as Elode said), it's complicated. It's very, very complicated.

Almost everyone experiences the "three week stall". Search for it and you will see. Just keep eating on plan and the weight will come off!

I also had the three week stall. As well as a couple others along the way so don’t be discouraged if this isn’t the only one. I am almost 8 months out now and while the loss has slowed I am still losing. Just stick to your plan and the weight will just start dropping again.

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

here - I just did the search for you (on the three week stall). 17,501 posts at the moment: https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=three week stall

Hi Vivis, I am six weeks postop. I had a stall in weeks 2 and 3, but I started to lose again in week 4. It was tough. However, despite the stall, my total weight loss, as well as average weekly weight loss to date, is on track with statistics I have seen. So, please do not worry. The posts above are awesome and wish I had them a few weeks ago! I am writing to add that it was comforting to me during my stall to read as many prior posts as I could about the "three-week stall." Type "stall" into the search engine above and there are about 17,000 reassuring posts! Every post made such a difference to me.

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

It is quite common and physiologically normal - it would be abnormal for one to lose more in the second or later months than in the first month. What is happening is that when we go on to a serious caloric deficit, we that deficit is made up mostly from our short term energy reserves of glycogen (basically stored carbohydrates), which burns quite rapidly (around 2000 calories per pound lost.) Once the glycogen is depleted, the body needs to replenish that supply to a functional level and we frequently stall or pause for a short time - the "three week stall" that we often read about here. Once the glycogen stores are back up some and our body gets the idea that this caloric deficit thing that you are doing to it is a serious thing, it starts drawing from our longer term energy stores of fat - which is what we are really here for. However (there's always a "however"!) fat burns more slowly than glycogen (around 3500 calories per pound lost) so the weight comes off more slowly now, but we are doing what we came here to do - burn fat. Note that this has nothing at all to do with "ketogenic" diets or miracle "fat burning" potions - it's strictly the result of being in a prolonged caloric deficit. As a side note, I lost 32 lb the first month and 15 each of the next two months. with roughly the same caloric intake, so right on profile.

happens to about 90% of us. If you do a search on this site for the "three week stall" (yes, it's so common it even has a name), you will find over 17,000 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding. just stick to your plan and stay off the scale for a few days - and know that it will eventually break and you'll be on your way again. It usually lasts 1-3 weeks.

It's happened to almost everyone else. Sometime between week 2 and week 3 weightloss stops for anywhere from several days to a few weeks. Stay off the scale for a while if it is going to stress you out. You aren't doing anything wrong, and weight loss will start up again, but you can't force it. Just use the search box here and search the forums for "three week stall" or "week three stall" and you will see what I mean.

There is a point where many may: have more capacity to eat more food/stomach relaxes get their hunger back weight loss slows or stops start gaining weight reach goal and navigate maintenance are past the "honeymoon" usually past a year or more may be earlier find themselves in a new "stage" different from the beginning stages after WLS finding the old methods used to take off weight may or may not work are finding a way to stay the same weight after gaining or losing too much the issues are no usually longer about what Protein drink to buy, the three week stall, the funny taste of food, gas pain, eating in public, hair loss, insurance approval..... come to the conclusion that the process NEVER ends, it is a lifetime of learning and doing and sharing and counting and moving... and that is the new normal. Realizing what is meant by "the sleeve is a tool" and it is only part of the process, you can gain all your weight back if you don't start forming a new life and just resting from the work and eating "normally" after getting to goal will result in weight gain for many. These are some of the issues I see arising for "vets" and distinguishes them from "newbies"... which we all were once... You can't know how the sleeve and the rest of the body and mind will be until you experience it for yourself over time. 1-2-3-5 years later, things change. We don't know about 10 years because there just aren't many out there with current style sleeves to talk to. But some at 6 months are getting some of this experience, I think after a year or two you really see the Vet issues even clearer. Some don't come back here, so hopefully they are doing great, are living life and not gaining or losing too much.... the ones of us that are still here are experiencing the stuff listed above... some are having NO problems at all. I love my sleeve and my life, and at this time (2 1/2 years out) I am still not at goal, but very close and believe I will make it to goal pretty soon, and have some plans on how to maintain I think I can follow. Taking the long view has been very helpful for me....If I took the view that if I didn't lose all my weight by 6 months without pulling all my hair out or I was a failure if I didn't lose 30 pounds in the first month, then this experience would have been hell. I have some good support friends here that have been here for years... we chug along together, and check in often, share research, worries and challenges, and we will share the pleasure of accomplishment as well. I plan on staying in contact during maintenance when I get there. Maintenance may well be the most difficult part of this journey. Keeping the weight off is the trick. Someone here said it best... reaching goal at 3 years feels just as good at reaching goal at 6 months. Who cares as long as you get there!