Search the Community

Happens to almost everyone, and you'll hit several of these on your journey. No need to go back to liquids. Just keep following your program and stay off the scale if you need to - and remember that it WILL break. it always does.... (it's probably just coincidence that the dreaded "three-week stall" happens around the same time that you start eating real food)

I am sort of looking forward to the three week stall, in a weird way. That means I am three weeks out from surgery. My body is really healing and adjusting. I am ready for that. I start week three next Monday. ( Meaning it is two weeks post op- starting the third) I have only lost about 10lbs since surgery, but I am down 43lbs from my highest weight so I am still happy. Just taking it all one day at a time. I am following orders best I can. Each day it gets a bit easier. One day I will have a "normal" day (the new normal) and it will probably shock me. So ride out the stall and keep on keeping on!!!

There are folks that have lost that much. Hang around and poke around and you'll find them. I am at 6 weeks. I have lost a total of 51 pounds today, so right at 25% of my total 200 I want to lose. 20 of those were with the pre op diet, but the other 30 are all me. That's 5 pounds per week, on average, since surgery. I had a three week stall even. I absolutely 100% believe it can and will work for me. BUT it's not just surgery. YOU have to change too. I'm visiting with a counselor, I'm working out with a trainer twice per week and I have a gym membership now. Crazy! LOL

do a search on this site for the "three week stall". I can pretty much guarantee you'll find hundreds of postings on it UPDATE: I just did the search for you. There are 17,500 posts on this topic, to be exact.

Losing 5 pounds a week is slow? You're doing fantastic! And as @@HighHeelShoes said, you might be on the dreaded three-week stall/plateau that most of us hit. Just keep to the eating/exercise schedule and you'll do fine! And don't knock yourself by comparing how fast other people are losing. Congratulate yourself for how much you have accomplished!

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.

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!

completely, utterly normal: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=three+week+stall

LOL! You are a ball of liquid. You're chock-full of IV fluids you were pumped with while in the hospital. Be patient. You're about to drop a lot of weight. Then you'll hit the "three week stall" which everyone does. And then that'll end and you'll lose weight faster again.

Yup. So normal it has a name. The Dreaded Three Week Stall. And you are right at 3 weeks. Many, many threads about it in this forum if you want to read up about why it happens. Just keep doing what you're doing, and it will pass. Good job on your weight loss so far!

You have just gotten started. You're not going to lose all of your weight in a few months. You should be making lifestyle changes that you plan on keeping to for the rest of your life. If you stick to your plan, meet your protein and water goals, and get up and exercise, you will lose weight. But it all won't come off tomorrow, or this month, or maybe even this year. Google "three week stall." That is your issue right now.

almost everyone has their first major stall within the first 4-6 weeks of surgery. It usually happens during week 3 (thus we refer to it as "the three week stall"), but not always. Mine was weeks 2 and 3. It usually lasts 1-3 weeks. Just stick to your plan and the weight loss will start up again. btw - if you search this site for posts on the three week stall, you'll find over 15,000 posts on it. And I'm NOT kidding. It happens to almost everyone.

Get your fluids in. Then Protein. Search in here for three week stall. Happens to a lot of people. Also keep in mind your body just underwent a major shock. It may need time to adjust. Don't just track success on the scale. Measure and track inches. Do monthly photos to compare. And also track your non scale victories.

My scale isn't moving either. I'm just silently screaming at it knowing I shouldn't be paying attention to the scale right now. I feel like I am a fairly even-tempered guy, but I was about to throw our scale off of the terrace by the end of the second week of my "three week stall." But, it finally passed, and I have been in a free-fall ever since. I bet that's going to happen for both of you before too long as well! Now, if I can just get to my next milestone before the stall rears its ugly head again!! :-) Hang in there!

Thank you SO much for sharing this. I cried when you were talking about your kids and the Snacks and having the energy to do the things you want to at home. I can relate to both of those things so much. While I am 100% doing this for me, I am so hopeful for the impact that it will have on my family. I think the part where you described that first small gain was exactly what I was talking about. I am just anticipating that " Oh No....I can't gain this back!" moment and just need to be prepared for it and not freak out. I'm just so thankful that we can all communicate on here and know better what to expect. I can't imagine having hit the "three week stall" not knowing that it's common. Now I think I'll be able to be better prepared emotionally. Thanks again for listening and sharing.

It is very common. It is called the three week stall. As long as you follow the plan (protein, liquids and exercise when u are able), the stall will break. It can be frustrating so if it really bothers you, stay off the scale for a week or two. There will be many more stalls along the way. Good luck!

I just came out of a three week stall and suddenly dropped 7 lb. in a little over a week. We have to remember that stalls are necessary. They serve a purpose other than simply annoying us. The body can't adjust to the weight loss as quickly as the scale drops. It needs the stalls to 'catch up' physically. This is the time your body is reshaping. Use the measuring tape instead of the scale and you will see the changes happening there. Accept this as a good thing and know that when its ready, it will start to drop again on the scale.

I've just overcame a three week stall that irked me so bad! Yes I was happy for the weight I'd lost to date, but I really don't think my body type is one that should have long stalls. So, when I go a third week and no loss, I investigate everything I'm eating/drinking and how much, when and how its all prepared and I re-evaluate my workout routine. I tweak it to fine tune to what I know works for me and it seems to get things moving back in the right direction. Losing weight comes with a lot of patience and getting to know your body. You have to find what works the best for you and continue to do that through to the end. Logging your food and writing down a certain routine for workouts (if you workout - not everyone does) so you keep track of what you are doing. If you are still stalled, try changing some things or trying new ways. Good luck!

Up your protein and your stall will probably break quickly. That's what got me out of my three week stall. I don't say that lightly because I continue to have to work hard at getting in protein. I FINALLY found two protein supplements that I can tolerate on a regular basis (Jay Robb whey protein powder and Isopure ready to drink clear whey protein drinks). If it wasn't for those, I'd be getting about 15 gm a day. I still can't eat enough to get in a decent amount. In addition to the protein being good for your body, it also has a way of squeezing out room for the non-protein foods you might otherwise eat. Now that I can eat anything I want, I am finding myself straying from pure protein foods, like meat. Even something as simple as choosing green beans or sweet potatoes interferes with the amount of protein you can eat. I choose to eat side dishes here and there to keep my diet more interesting, so the supplements are a must for me.

Hey all. First off, let me say the past few days I haven't been the most faithful to sticking to the plan, food wise. Now that that is out of the way... Well, I'm almost 8 weeks out and going through, or might be finally pulling out of, a two-three week stall. The first week I contribute to my lovely TOM, but the second week left me baffled. I exercised, got my Protein, drank my Water and the scale wouldn't budge! Well, my family celebrated Christmas on Sunday (yeah, three weeks late!) as well as my aunt's birthday. We had it at my mom's and they decided to order pizza instead of cooking. I took a piece and ate the cheese and a few bites of the bread. They also brought a birthday cake, so I had a small bite from my mom's piece. Go to the scale the next day and you know what happens? The scale moves down two pounds below my lowest so far after fluctuating between the same three pounds for what seems like forever! I thought, "well okay... maybe it's just because I finally broke the stall." Well, Monday and Tuesday, I went back to my routine of protein, water, exercise, etc. Get back on the scale Tuesday... I gain the two pounds I had lost. Wednesday, I went up another pound and a half. My roommate decides to make the cheesy garlic breadsticks that have been in our freezer for forever and a day. Now, I have a hard time resisting carbs and always loved carbs more than anything else. My snack as a kid was a piece of bread with butter on it, folded in half like a sandwich. I have home movies of me as a toddler, walking around and eating just a plain piece of bread. I've been adamant to keeping as many carbs out of the house as possible because of this problem. Anyways, the breadsticks are small, so I eat one and then a half of one later, careful to chew thoroughly until it's almost pureed consistency. Get back on the scale today... and the weight I had regained and then some are gone again! Sheesh. I don't know what my body wants sometimes! I try to keep the healthy habits up, and when I slip is when my body decides to lose the weight? This doesn't mean I'm going to revert back to my old ways, because to be honest, my body wouldn't be able to handle it. I just don't understand that I stall for over two weeks eating as much protein, drinking as much water as possible, and when I cheat, that's when the pounds come off? I hope it's just a coincidence because while I do want to lose the weight, I don't want my insides to be unhealthy because of what I put in my mouth, even if it does make me lose the weight. Has anyone else have something similar to this happen to them? P.S. I normally don't weigh myself this obsessively. I usually weigh every third day, but I wanted to see what was happening weight-wise based on what I was eating. Sort of like an experiment.

You will find you are also losing inches. I had my three week stall also. Your body has to have time to catch up somehow. Keep up the good work!

Oh Tracey, the much-dreaded 3-week stall is just a week late for you. Search this site for "three-week stall" and you will feel so much better--we all have it in one way, form, or fashion. It will pass. Just keep doing what you're supposed to do and hang in there. The time AFTER the stall breaks is some of the fastest loss you'll experience, so fun times are ahead!

So I am 3 weeks out from surgery and have read up enough on this site to realize that I am right in the middle of the dreaded "THREE WEEK STALL"!!!!! I am so thankful for all of you that have written about this because at least I know to expect it and to embrace it :-) But I am curious how long you have all stalled for? Currently I have been the same weight for one week. I hope it breaks soon and my weight starts going down. I know we are all different but I am just curious what the duration of the stalls have been you have experienced.

Completely normal. So normal, it even has a name: "The Dreaded Three Week Stall". Keep trying to find soft proteins you can tolerate, get all your liquids in, and it will pass. Most all of us have gone through it! Hang in there!

I did have the traditional three week stall that many people on here talk about. I went a whole week without losing a pound, and then bam...it picked right back up! No worries carriecat, you will start up again!