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Do NOT compare yourself to others. Everything will be different from your recovery to fluids to weight loss and stalls. Just trust the process and you will lose weight.

Like the title says. I’ve lost 110 pounds and have another 20 to go to be a ‘normal’ BMI. 14 months post op. However my calorie intake has shot up as I’m hungry again. Now eating between 1300 to 1500 a day. I’m tall (5ft 9). I guess I’m panicking that the days of 1200 calories and lower are gone and from here on in it’s about slow weight loss and/or maintenance. I feel like I’m heating so much at 1500 calories but logically I know I’m not. But it’s frightening. I work out two to three times a week and walk loads. Am I eating too much now? Did anyone else panic as more calories came into your eating habits.

Really having a hard time not falling back into my old way of thinking and eating (or not eating, as it were). My husband pointed out today that I'm restricting again. He said he noticed it Friday and all through the weekend. I've been in a lot of pain because I pulled 2 muscles in my back, have had a lot of stress the last week, and instead of going to over eating like I used to, I fell back into my new "old" habit of restricting. I was worrying I would overeat, and I guess I went right back into my new "fall back" habit of just not eating much of anything. My husband made notes on what he saw me eating and I had 450 calories and 18 carbs on Friday, 413 calories and 14 carbs on Saturday and 344 calories and 10 carbs on Sunday. I honestly didn't even notice it, and that really freaks me out. I can fall back into it that easily and it doesn't even faze me. I drink so much water now (flavored only, because plain water is EW) that I honestly didn't even feel hungry. I hate that I swapped one disordered way of thinking for another. PLEASE pay close attention to your feelings, thoughts, and habits. DO NOT tell yourself that because you're fat/obese/overweight or whatever that you can't develop an ED. Trust me, you can. And it can sneak up on you and smack you in the head when you don't expect it to. I thought I was doing so well. Been logging my food, not cheating, not restricting, doing my therapy, and then BAM. Here we go again. Be kind to yourself, but be mindful and aware.

I didn’t have my period for about 2 years prior to surgery…i assumed i was in menopause. 2-3 weeks post surgery, i was surprised when it showed up. It was pretty heavy…for me. It lasted about a week and a bit, compared to the 3-4 days when i used to get it (previously i would have 1, maybe 2 days of tampon-worthy flow followed by 2-3 days of “spotting”). This period was tampon-worthy for a good week. After that first post-op one, i got my period like clockwork every 4 weeks, lasting 3-4 days again like i used to. I’m 4 years post op. 🤷🏻‍♀️

My team actually had me hold off on the ursodiol until the 2 week follow-up. They didn't explain why, but I suspect it's just because that's a pretty large capsule.

It's hard to know ahead of time how you may feel 3-4 weeks post-op. Some people are fine or even have more energy than before, and some can get tired pretty quick due to the low caloric intake. You may just have to bow out of some activities based on your energy levels. I'd honestly be more worried about lots of eating out (if that's what your family does during this time), and your ability to follow your program.

Hello, glad your recovery is going well. As far as the sweetness, you can try to add more milk to the shakes or even water. This will thin them out and cut the sweetness. Or, as @ShoppGirl mentioned try clear protein drinks which you can also add water to cut the sweetness. I liked gatorade zero with protein the best but it was sweet. In the liquid stages, my shakes and everything counted as liquids. So your shake is counted towards your liquids and your protein. Again, thinning it out adds more liquid to your count too. It is hard to hit your goal only a week out. I hit my protein and fluid goals around 2 weeks and have been able to maintain them since. You will get in a groove and be hitting goals before you know it, be patient. OHHH those chewable vitamins are the absolute worse. I couldn't get past the smell, let alone the taste and texture. It was horrible, I worked with my team. I tried every brand and flavor I could found, all gross and I wasted so much money. They were not that concerned, at my 2 week follow up the surgeon cleared me to take pills/capsules as long as I could handle them. I was fine and have been taking capsules ever since. Maybe reach out to your team and ask for help.

I would’ve been fine by then but everyone is different. Is it possible to play it by ear?? I would assume you would have a pretty good idea a while in advance. Are they flying or driving?? Will you be working too or is entertaining all you will have to do each day?? I say play it by ear because some of us have very little to no pain and are back to relatively normal within a week. Others it takes a while longer. If I had to guess I would say it’s most likely you will be fighting a little fatigue still at three weeks if anything. Can you just drive separately so if you absolutely need a nap you could go home and then meet back up with them?

Hi all, I am one week post op (Sleeved on 10/11/22). I am feeling like I cant get in the rythm of what is right for me. Pros: - Been getting all fluids down - Have not had much pain, only where they pulled stomach out -Been able to walk and move around - Only had gas pain for 3 days -Normal bowl movement Cons: - I don't like the taste of sweetness. So I am having a hard time getting my protein in from shakes and protein water. Any recommendations for other sources of protein? -I've been able to have some strained soup/ broth. But I am only able to take like 4 table spoons over an hour. How is it expected to get all protein in while trying to get water in as well through out the day? - The bariatric advantage multi vitamins are terrible. I am not able to take them so I started taking 4 Flinstone vitamins a day. I know these are not good enough for a person who just had bariatric surgery. I am taking my gallstones pills, calcium, iron, and b-12 with no problem. Are there any other recommendations for Bariatric Multivitamins? Smaller or better tasting? Any input is appreciated. I feel that protein and supplements are very important with the new change to my body. Thanks guys!!!

You may get worn out depending how much activity you plan on doing. But, at about 3 weeks out you should be fine to entertain.

screwed up menstrual cycles seem to be very common in the first few weeks or months after surgery. It's supposedly due to the fact that estrogen is stored in fat cells, and it starts flooding your body during rapid weight loss. It'll stabilize once your weight loss slows way down. a couple of people mentioned Depo-Provera. I don't know about the side effects after WLS as I didn't have WLS until I was post-menopausal, but I was on Depo when I was in my 30s. I gained about 45 lbs on it, and I switched to another birth control method after my ob/gyn couldn't guarantee that the weight gain would eventually stop. It has to do with its effect on hormones.

Sorry for the novel folks, but maybe before getting to tips and tricks, let's talk a bit about what causes plateaus: 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.

Aliana I think you are confused and need to reread the ENTIRE thread. I have not lost 21 pounds in a month. I wish!! Surgery Aug 12 wishing that week I was at my family dr who weighed me in at 367. this morning……almost eight weeks later… I WEIGH 364. Sooooo my math says 3 pounds since Aug 19 dr appointment. so I have lost 3 pounds in 2.5 months. It’s very frustrating to me when people say oh well you’ve lost 21 pounds in a month when that’s clearly not the case and like I had mentioned before it was water weight my body likes to hold onto every drop of water. I mean we’re even at the point now we’re doctors and dieticians are saying somethings wrong so it’s not just me being crazy

Hi all, Just a shout out to the November 2021 guys - how is everyone doing now? I'm exactly 11 months post op now, 5lbs below my original goal of 160. I lost 10lbs last month after losing only 3 the previous month so stalls are clearly still a thing - I thought that was me done but apparently not! My ideal weight (what even is that???) is 147lbs apparently, which is now 8lbs away, so the closer I can get to that the happier I will be, but I'm not setting an official new goal of anything, seems clear the loss will just stop when it stops. Then starts the *really* hard work. I hope everyone is happy with how they are doing. Please check in and let me know - seems like yesterday we were just starting this journey together. 😍

You have lost 21 pounds in a month. That is very good for weight loss surgery. As for the timing of it, it seems like sometimes the loss happens in a weird way, like not evenly. Some people will lose 5 pounds steadily every week, but other people will lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks and then lose nothing for the next 2 weeks. It can be weird like that. But overall, you have lost 21 pounds in 1 month, which is good.

You took the words out of my mouth. Having a week 5 stall.

I can tell you what my dietitian and exercise guide told me. There are 3 things to try, eat more calories, eat more protein and make sure you are getting enough vitamins. I seem to stall and even gain weight when constipated, so usually my stalls have been fixed by doing a laxative. Not every day though, like once a week. Good luck and if you find something that really works well, please share!

I started my period 2 weeks early while on pre-op diet. Started the day of my surgery. That was NOT fun. Nurses told me that it is a common thing among women during rapid weight loss pre-surgery. Now about 5 weeks later, I'm a week late. I have felt PMS'y for the entire week (actually about 10 days) without the relief of a period starting. It's maddening, but I am reassured by my bariatric staff that this is all usual.

Thanks for the info guys. I'm not curently on birth control, never have been. My weight loss is starting to slow down since i'm almost 10 months in from surgery i'm maybe only losing a Kilo per week and then some weeks nothing. Me and my husband want to start a family next year.

YES PLEASE!! I’m going on my third week of one so I’m right there with you. I’ve been hearing “just stick with the program” which I’m doing but surely somebody has some wisdom out here!!!

It's crazy to me how different doctors have different schedules for the post op diet. I also had the sleeve on 10/11 and have another week of liquids to go before I can do pureed/soft. Though, it makes me happy to hear you can handle the foods. Gives me hope that when I get started maybe I won't face many issues. Congrats!

I am a year and a half out and have been around these boards for the same amount of time. This has popped up quite a few times for many women having unusual or missed cycles, spotting, heavier, lighter, cramping etc. it seems to stabalize as the weight loss slows down. I am on birth control and I had breakthrough bleeding and longer periods for about three months as best as I can recall.

I am about 7 months post-op and on the pill. I have been on the pill for years, only changing it when I had to get off estrogen for surgery. I like to skip the "period pills" and never had a problem doing so. Sometimes I would get a little crampy but didn't get my period. NOW after surgery, if I try to skip the period pills. I still get my period and then it goes kinda crazy like I will have it off and on for like 2 weeks. Then it goes away and by that time I am back to the period pills in my pack. I notice when I take them normal and just suck it up and have my period when those pills hit i stay normal and have no issues. It is annoying me, I am thinking about moving on to the IUD but that weirds me out so I haven't decided yet.

I've been doing pretty well. My stall is finally over. I was stuck at the same weight for about 3 weeks, now it is falling off. I'm down 30 lbs since surgery and 53 lbs total. I have had some issues with constipation and my hair has been falling out (which I don't have much to spare anyway because of the alopecia from PCOS). My knees haven't hurt at all and we are going to Disney next month. I am still dreading fitting into the rides, but I'm hoping it goes well. I was pulled aside in front of everyone in line to get checked in a test seat to see if I fit last time we went to Universal. Everyone was watching, and it was super embarrassing. I don't want to go through that again.

Ok guys types and tricks to breaking stalls!! AND GO!!