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Reposting something I posted elsewhere: First, the most common reason for any stall, including the dreaded 3-week stall is simply that you are retaining more Water. There are a few reasons this happens, but around the 3-week mark it comes down to the fact that your body is adjusting to a low carb intake after converting from glycogen to ketones for energy. More water is needed to burn glycogen, so you were retaining more water pre-surgery than you are now that you're using primarily ketones for energy. At about the 3-week mark, your body eventually recognizes that the water loss is long term, so other mechanisms have started kicking in to start holding on to more water. This water loss due to the change between glycogen and ketones is the primary reason for "keto flu", and something that increases your risk of dehydration early after surgery. The other "reasons" for plateaus really don't apply as much at the 3 week mark, but will become more important later in the process. Let's cover those too though so you're prepared: As you lose more weight, your overall metabolic rate will slow down. People sometimes think fat is not metabolically active, but that's not true. Less fat means your metabolism slows down, even if you retain the same amount of muscle. As you lose weight, it takes less effort to move, so the amount of calories you burn from activity also drops quite a bit. As you progress, you'll be able to eat more and especially if you're not tracking intake closely by weighing and measuring your food, you can easily be eating a lot more than you think. This one may be TMI for some, but you may simply be retaining more stool. This is going to be hard for some people to hear, but I can tell you one thing it's not, and that's hormones. Yes, various hormonal processes negatively impact weight loss in a myriad of ways, but they don't overcome basic physics: if you eat less than you are burning, you'll lose weight. What these hormones can do if they're out of whack, is not good things like slowing your metabolism, increasing your hunger, screwing with water weight, or even fooling you into thinking you're eating less than you are. So, with all that sciency stuff out of the way, what do we actually do if we're in a stall? Well, I think it depends on when it happens and how long it lasts: If it's early (a.k.a. the 3-week stall), just keep doing what you're doing and you should be fine. I know people don't like that advice, but as I said, it's just water, so don't worry about it. Later on, especially if the stall is lasting longer than 2-3 weeks. that's when I think it's important that you look closely at what you are actually burning, as well as really tracking what you are eating. If you don't know your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), you should. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is to get the balance right between intake and output to make sure you're not eating too much, so fixing this starts with knowing your BMR and accurate food logging. There's a lot of anecdotal advice thrown around about "ways to break a stall", but there seems to be little scientific evidence for any of it. Most of it certainly won't hurt to try, e.g. breaking up your routine in terms of diet or exercise, but just understand that this change may or may not have had any impact. If it makes you feel better to be proactive, go for it. Longer term, there is one piece of solid advice that's backed up by lots of research: Even if you don't really like working out, do it anyway. Those WLS patients that make a regular habit of exercising for 45 minutes to an hour most days a week are significantly more likely to reach their goal and maintain the weight loss. (One caveat here: significantly changing your exercise routine can make you retain water and possibly even add muscle, so don't freak out if you see a stall or even a gain.) I'll take that exercise advice one step further and say you really should be doing some form of strength training. This is also backed up by lots of studies, but the great thing about strength training is that it makes your burn more calories even at rest (in other words, it increases your metabolic rate). There are lots of other benefits, but the metabolic benefit is the most germaine to the stall question. Those that do strength training are less likely to stall during weight loss.

I just saw my surgeon last week...3 1/2 weeks post op. There's a gym opening right next to my office and I mentioned joining and he told me to just walk for the next 6-8 weeks. At the 3 month post op point he said working out would be fine but to focus on the arms/legs and strengthening muscles and stay away from stomach crunching type exercises like sit ups....which I would have stayed away from regardless of him saying anything.

The U.S HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion created a generic recommendation for all Americans: For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Preferably, aerobic activity should be spread throughout the week. Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of 300 minutes (5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits. To provide more structured advice, I'd need to understand a few things. First, what do you hope to accomplish from an exercise program? Some common goals might include: Improve overall health (e.g. lessen risk of heart disease, diabetes, etc.) Get stronger / Make day to day living easier Help control weight regain (notice I didn't say lose weight as you can't out exercise a bad diet) Improve mental health / reduce anxiety & depression Sleep better / Have more energy Improve body composition (more muscle mass = more calories burned even at rest) Look good naked Next, are their specific activities you like or don't like? Some people hate gyms, others love them. Some people like to "play" to get exercise (think sports/outdoor recreation), while others love the solitude of walking/running by themselves. Basically what I'm asking is for you to do some self-reflection and think hard about what you think might work best for you. Finally, can you be more specific about what resources you have available? You mentioned a gym (which is not entirely needed), but beyond that? Do you have or can you get: A heart rate monitor (e.g. fitness watch or strap) A place to walk outside or access to a treadmill Other exercise/recreation equipment such as a bike or stationary bike, kayak or canoe, Nintendo Ring Fit Wii Fit, etc. A set of exercise bands and/or dumbbells, Sufficient space to workout at home if you don't go to a gym I'd also really like you to fill out your profile here on Bariatricpal. Details matter. In addition to that, it would be helpful to know some things like: Your age How you'd rate your current fitness level If you have any specific physical or health issues that might impact what exercises/activities you're able to do In short, the more details you can provide, the more tailored I can make a recommendation. Best of luck.

I'm 3 1/2 weeks post op from gastric sleeve surgery and everything is going great. I'm following the protocol to the letter and gradually losing weight. Saturday night my significant other and myself took my two nephews to dinner. I was able to order a bowl of soup/broth with no issues. During the course of dinner I used a spoon and took a taste of the queso that my nephews had ordered. My significant other then proceeded to lecture me about food choices. I told her that soft cheese was ok on my current protocol. This didn't seem to make much difference to her. It sort of hurt my feelings but I didn't say anything. Am I overreacting or should I be thankful that I have someone watching over me so carefully. She has been 100% supportive of me in all ways. I just guess I felt like it was unnecessary for anything to be said at all. It's not like I wolfed down a basket of chips and ate the whole bowl of queso. I was kind of proud of myself as I thought "wow...that's the least amount of queso I've ever eaten in my life!

Stalls are demons that play with your mind. So very annoying too. You will eventually get very used to them. You will say to yourself ' I have not lost for two weeks and am only eating 600 cals a day, I must be over eating' In the last year I think I had 4. Which were 2 x 2 weeks and 1 x 3 weeks and 1 x 9 weeks. Its just your body having a rest and reset. The first one usually comes in at 2-4 weeks after surgery. Someone said there are 17 thousand posts about this stall on this site alone.

The first thing my doctor said was that my BMI was at 31 and that insurance would not approve me. Then she brought up another procedure called Lynx. Some kind of magnetic bead thing that would keep the opening of your stomach closed unless things passed through. I don’t want it. I had the lapband and it’s was the worst and I feel like anything they put in your body that can be removed, it’s not going to help me. My bariatric doctor thinks I have a small hiatal hernia. They took me into radiology and made me drink the dye, but everything looked normal. In a week they are going to look down my throat to see if there is in fact a hernia. I have new insurance this year, but it’s still the same company. If I don’t have a hernia, I’m going to push for the revision or any other options. I can’t keep taking anti acids multiple times a day on top of vitamins, medications, etc.

Do you have what's app group link. My bariatric pal app isn't working. My surgery is Jan 23rd I'm starting my two week liquid diet today.

it's when you go through a period (usually about 1-3 weeks) when you don't lose any weight - or maybe gain and lose the same pound for a 1-3 week stretch - even though you're sticking to your program.

When people talk about stalls what exactly does that mean? Are stalls weeks, months, or what exactly.

I caught myself doing the same thing before I learned it was common and called food funerals. And I can say for one I did not do that great on my pre-opt, and after surgery my doctor said my liver looked perfect and I did well on my pre-opt. Really all I did was cut down and three days of liquids before date. Haha. Everything works out as it's supposed to it. Good luck! you got this!

I was initially told that my surgery would be 4 weeks out. We were going camping and I went out & purchased all of my favorites planning on indulging myself for a week. Not so fast... his office called the 1st day of our trip and said I could have my RNY the next week! That put the kibosh on my plans....🤣

My first stall happened about 2 weeks post surgery and lasted about a month. Now, I seem to stall about every other week. *shrug* As long as I'm staying on track, I'm not worried. The weight is coming off - even if it's a bit slower than I'd like.

I was able to drink anything, gulp even, with no issues - the night I spent in the hospital! I'm incredibly thankful for this, because it has helped keep me from getting dehydrated. I had a little bit of gas, but not much and walking took care of it. I had a tiny bit of nausea for the first couple of days, but nothing concerning and the zofran took care of it. I have yet to vomit (knock on wood). Thankfully, we only have to drink liquids for a few weeks.

I’m a bit nervous since I’m five months past surgery tomorrow and I’ve only lost a little over half of my excess weight. I spent most of October and November in a stall, did well in December and so far in January I’ve lost a little bit but not a lot. I still have 17-18 kilos to go to get to a healthy BMI, and I’m not going to get there in a year if I will only lose a kilo a month from now on. I lost a total of 19 kilos in the first five months, most of it in the beginning and then in December.

It took one year and two weeks post surgery (plus 7 months pre-surgery), but today, nekked, on my own scale, I hit ONEderland, 199.6 lbs. Yipee! I know it's transitory and I'll bounce back and forth for a while, but this is the first time my scale has shown under 200 lbs for about 25 years. I've gone from a size 30-32 to an 18-20. My hair is growing back. My brother is moving back home after 30+ years as an expat. I've booked a southern Caribbean cruise for April and he's going with me. All is good! Just when I finally got all skinny leg pants, I discovered that the "in" style is again baggies. Well, there are some things you just can't win.

So you're barely over a week out - it's major surgery and it does take some time to bounce back from the body-shock. Some have a rougher time than others post-op, which sounds like where you're at. It's definitely not an easy recovery regardless, and some people experience very real hormonal disruption that can really bring on some horrible emotional turmoil. Regret right after surgery is actually pretty common. And I know it's a broken record, but it's honestly true - it gets better. Hard to hear when you're in pain, feeling weak, and are trying to navigate a brand new and often overwhelming new life change, I know, but even folks who had a rough time like you will, months later, attest that it gets better and is worth it. If you could have lost the weight without surgery you would have. We all would have. Never having long-term success is what brought us all to taking the surgical help. Be kind to yourself and like SleeveDiva2022 suggested, a bariatric therapist might be a good idea.

I'm post-op 10/19. Stalled 2 weeks then bam down 4.5#. Down 40#. After 7 weeks it has jumped by at least 3#. Patience. I'm on regular food now and using Myfitness to see how much protein fat, calories and carbs I'm getting.

Congratulations! Looks like your results will be fabulous! I had my surgery a couple of weeks prior to yours and will be having a lower body lift as well as an arm lift on January 25th. Thanks for the tip on the drain belt; I plan to order one.

Had my first Secret RF (same as the ones you mentioned) session Friday afternoon so my fingers are crossed. My doctor focussed on skin laxity (sounds nicer than saggy skin) this time so nothing done to my forehead. In 4 weeks we’ll do wrinkles & scaring. At the third session we’ll decide which we’ll do & if I need a fourth session. Secret RF uses different size heads (not sure if the others do too) for the different procedures & the heads are disposed of after each session (& aren’t cheap). She kept changing the needle depth on different areas of my face. Also my doctor used a stronger prescription local topical anaesthetic (20+% vs the lower over the counter 5% many non medical clinics use). Even inside my mouth & tongue were numb 😆. It really was pain free. Occasional little poking feeling lasting a much like if you tap your cheek bone with your finger nail. Redness was much less than derma pen - that lasted for days. No pain, heat or discomfort after either. Pxts are 30mins after treatment, the next morning & this morning. Of course it does take three months to see real effects which is your natural skin cycle though they claim some can see small change in a couple of days. Don’t know if I’m crazy, or wishful thinking, but I think my cheek is a little smoother& firmer today. Jowls are still there though. Wish I had taken a pxt before the session.

"journey" "3 week stall" "only x lbs" (in a dismissive way in referring to lbs lost) and, similar to @Tomo, i have a pet peeve about the ANGST folks unnecessarily put upon themselves when comparing their own results to others without CONTEXT. Yes, Sally may drop 30 lbs the first month because she started off at 350 lbs, vs Jane who lost "only" 10 and started off at 200. And yes, Joe, who is also 350 lbs lost 50 lbs, but he is like 8 inches shorter than Sally and is a dude. and there is brenda who lost 5 lbs cuz she has a medical condition and hasn't yet learned how to adjust her lifestyle around it. we all have the same goal: to lose weight. in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter sh*t if i lost faster/slower more/less than some random stranger on the internet. *rant over*

your stall is actually late - most people have their first major stall around the three week mark (in fact, if you search this site for info on the "three week stall", you will find over 17,000 posts on it. And no, I am NOT kidding...) actually, I just decided to do the search for you. Here you go - 17,501 posts now! https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?q=three week stall

OK I had my DS surgery 11/15/22 I've lost 28 lbs. I've lost 2 lbs in the past 2 weeks. I thought this was gonna drastically drop off. I'm doing my protein shakes ,and water. Why am I at a stall already Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am 14 months post gastric sleeve, now in maintenance, and I have weighed myself every single day. Small fluctuations don't bother me, nor do stalls - I just like to know what's going on! If it will bother you not to see consistent losses then I recommend leaving it as long as you can between weigh-ins. But you do you!

I started with a bmi similar to yours three weeks ago. I had my surgery on 12/27. I was scared and my brain was chaotic for the weeks leading up to the surgery day. I suggest just taking things a day at a time. Follow your surgeon's plan for you and try to keep your mind busy with other things. That being said, I was prepared by the day of surgery for any rate of weightloss going forward. All I can do is my best. I have given myself the tools to succeed and I am following directions to the letter.

yep, what they said 👆🏼 ...the largest pound "droppages" (is that a word??) happen in the first 1-2 months. i lost 21 and 17 lbs the first two months respectively and then roughly 10lbs each month thereafter until goal (lost as little as 9 lbs in month 6 and as high as 13 in month 4) i weighed 235 two weeks before surgery (BMI 43 cuz im a short 5'2") and 223 on surgery day. am 4+ years out and have gratefully stayed below goal the entire time (so far). this AM i weighed 120 even.