Search the Community

I am a little over three weeks out from my surgery and I am experiencing a stall. I am exercising and following the orders from my surgeon's office. Does anyone have suggestions of how to get over this stall? I only weigh myself once a week, so that I do not drive myself crazy. I know that if I continue to do what I am presently do the stall may work itself out without any additional steps taken, but if I can do something to send it on its way faster let me know.

Perfectly normal. Search 3 week stall. Also it may be best to step away from the scale for a few weeks. Your body is adjusting to a lot of changes at once. Until it figures out you are dying, it's not going to five up the fat. Stay the course and follow your program.

Is anyone stalling again? I'm stalling at 167 pounds I've lost 48.4 pounds so far. I had my surgery on August 4th, I've stalled once in the 3 week stall, but I really want to lose 33 more pounds maximum!! Idk if I could do it in 5 months! Is it the way I'm eating? I eat everything but in small amounts some days healthy some days not. I still eat carbs, but still get my protein in. I don't track calories but I have not gained any weight, and some days I eat nothing and other days I eat a pretty good amount. So is anyone else stalling? And do you think it's possible/logical to lose 33 more pounds in 5 months? What do you guys suggest!

Is anyone stalling again? I'm stalling at 167 pounds I've lost 48.4 pounds so far. I had my surgery on August 4th, I've stalled once in the 3 week stall, but I really want to lose 33 more pounds maximum!! Idk if I could do it in 5 months! Is it the way I'm eating? I eat everything but in small amounts some days healthy some days not. I still eat carbs, but still get my protein in. I don't track calories but I have not gained any weight, and some days I eat nothing and other days I eat a pretty good amount. So is anyone else stalling? And do you think it's possible to lose 33 more pounds in 5 months?

I think we all had the same fears before hand. The 3 days before diet (Clear liquids only) and the 10 days after surgery are not a lot of fun. But basically I am talking about 2 weeks in a lifetime. 8 months later I lost 125 lbs without really being hungry. My blood pressure is back to normal without medication (110/58 with resting pulse of 56). I have lost 12 inches off my waist, I fit comfortable in airplane seats, and can stand on my feet all day! Most of us go through the "what did I do to myself" phase for a day or two. You will probably hit the "3 week" stall and then stall again as your body adjusts to the new normal on caloric intake. You will probably begin to want to exercise, as you won't have excessive eating as a stress reliever anymore. This operation won't fix your life or "make" you happy. But if you follow the program (you can read A LOT about folks NOT following the program on this forum) you will have a significant tool to lose significant weight. Complications, while possible, are extremely rare with this surgery. Make sure you pick a "bariatric center of excellence" for you surgery. I went to 3 different surgeons and I picked the guy who told me that he has never had a patient who had a leak. Best of luck to you.

Hello-surgery date 12/2 been losing every day until I hit the three week date last Friday haven't lost or gained in 6 days. Started soft foods all is going good my question is how long does the "3 week stalk" usually last

After my surgery, on 8/17, I purposely did not weight myself until my first post-op appt. I knew I would be swollen, etc. and I had read about the 3 week stall. I thought I would give you my weekly weights and show you how I've lost. It certainly hasn't been consistent, but overall I am very pleased. 9/7/2015 234.4 -3 9/14/2015 230.2 -4.2 9/21/2015 228 -2.2 9/28/2015 224 -4 10/5/2015 223 -1 10/12/2015 217 -6 10/19/2015 215.2 -1.8 10/26/2015 214.6 -0.6 11/2/2015 213.6 -1 11/9/2015 214.2 0.6 gain 11/16/2015 210.4 -3.8 11/23/2015 208.4 -2 11/30/2015 203.4 -5 12/7/2015 206.8 3.4 gain 12/14/2015 204.6 -2.2 12/21/2015 200.2 -4.4

With all due respect, no. Just...no. Gaining weight this early out is COMPLETELY normal. It's not possible to gain 6 pounds of fat by overeating as early out as she is. You could be eating McDonald's shakes at this stage with chocolate chip Cookies and still lose weight. You are dead wrong. It's part of the 3 week stall. She is just one of the lucky ones that gains while the body adjusts. She will start losing weight again once it passes. You just stay the course and let your body do its thing. Don't get discouraged! You're doing great! i completely disagree with your statements. You are entitled to your opinion but the surgery itself does not cause fat to melt. It's the severe restriction of calories. The truth is the scale doesn't lie but we can lie to ourselves. It takes like 3,000 extra calories to gain a pound (not including Water weight). So if someone is gaining weight they must be sneaking in extra calories and most likely through carbs. The poster in question has admitted she is a vegan and on top of that is not even able to eat vegan Protein. So I'm guessing her diet is mostly carbs at this stage. These are my opinions, of course, take them or leave them as anyone seems fit. The flaw in your logic is that you aren't accounting for water weight. We are advised to drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water a day. That's four POUNDS of water a day. Retaining any amount of that can cause large fluctuations on the scale that have nothing to do with calories or gaining fat. To gain 6 pounds of actual fat, the original poster would have had to ingest 21000 EXCESS calories in 4 days (PS: it takes 3500 excess calories to gain a pound, not 3000 as you said in your post). That's an average of over 5200 EXTRA calories a day at only a week post op. I don't know about you, but I was struggling to get in over 400 calories a day at 7 days post-op. There is no way the original poster is physically capable of consuming something like 7000 calories a day this early out. Unless she's hooked up to a milk shake IV or something. This is clearly her body responding to the trauma of surgery and retaining water. No, I actually addressed water weight. Drinking 4 lbs of water a day is nothing because most of it goes right out. Hint: You know you are fully hydrated when your urine is clear. I know what you are trying to communicate and I fully know about stalls as well. It's just that a stall means no movement, not regain. If the poster had edema or heart and circulation issues then this may factor in to the excess water weight. However, the poster has already admitted to her diet habits. In the long run 6 lbs is no big deal. However, if it is from consuming too much then it's better to catch it at the beginning.

With all due respect, no. Just...no. Gaining weight this early out is COMPLETELY normal. It's not possible to gain 6 pounds of fat by overeating as early out as she is. You could be eating McDonald's shakes at this stage with chocolate chip Cookies and still lose weight. You are dead wrong. It's part of the 3 week stall. She is just one of the lucky ones that gains while the body adjusts. She will start losing weight again once it passes. You just stay the course and let your body do its thing. Don't get discouraged! You're doing great! i completely disagree with your statements. You are entitled to your opinion but the surgery itself does not cause fat to melt. It's the severe restriction of calories. The truth is the scale doesn't lie but we can lie to ourselves. It takes like 3,000 extra calories to gain a pound (not including Water weight). So if someone is gaining weight they must be sneaking in extra calories and most likely through carbs. The poster in question has admitted she is a vegan and on top of that is not even able to eat vegan Protein. So I'm guessing her diet is mostly carbs at this stage. These are my opinions, of course, take them or leave them as anyone seems fit. The flaw in your logic is that you aren't accounting for water weight. We are advised to drink a minimum of 64 oz. of water a day. That's four POUNDS of water a day. Retaining any amount of that can cause large fluctuations on the scale that have nothing to do with calories or gaining fat. To gain 6 pounds of actual fat, the original poster would have had to ingest 21000 EXCESS calories in 4 days (PS: it takes 3500 excess calories to gain a pound, not 3000 as you said in your post). That's an average of over 5200 EXTRA calories a day at only a week post op. I don't know about you, but I was struggling to get in over 400 calories a day at 7 days post-op. There is no way the original poster is physically capable of consuming something like 7000 calories a day this early out. Unless she's hooked up to a milk shake IV or something. This is clearly her body responding to the trauma of surgery and retaining water.

With all due respect, no. Just...no. Gaining weight this early out is COMPLETELY normal. It's not possible to gain 6 pounds of fat by overeating as early out as she is. You could be eating McDonald's shakes at this stage with chocolate chip Cookies and still lose weight. You are dead wrong. It's part of the 3 week stall. She is just one of the lucky ones that gains while the body adjusts. She will start losing weight again once it passes. You just stay the course and let your body do its thing. Don't get discouraged! You're doing great! i completely disagree with your statements. You are entitled to your opinion but the surgery itself does not cause fat to melt. It's the severe restriction of calories. The truth is the scale doesn't lie but we can lie to ourselves. It takes like 3,000 extra calories to gain a pound (not including Water weight). So if someone is gaining weight they must be sneaking in extra calories and most likely through carbs. The poster in question has admitted she is a vegan and on top of that is not even able to eat vegan Protein. So I'm guessing her diet is mostly carbs at this stage. These are my opinions, of course, take them or leave them as anyone seems fit.

With all due respect, no. Just...no. Gaining weight this early out is COMPLETELY normal. It's not possible to gain 6 pounds of fat by overeating as early out as she is. You could be eating McDonald's shakes at this stage with chocolate chip Cookies and still lose weight. You are dead wrong. It's part of the 3 week stall. She is just one of the lucky ones that gains while the body adjusts. She will start losing weight again once it passes. You just stay the course and let your body do its thing. Don't get discouraged! You're doing great!

Thanks. That helps. It feels just weird to me! I change nothing from week to week. The first week it happened I was like what the heck! My 3 weeks stall came early. Then it happened again and I was like seriously... I've see so many posts on stalling, and I am fully aware that can still easily happen at any time. I've seen people who feel like they lose slow, or even fast, but not this funky every other week pattern!

Answer: It depends. (anyone who tells you otherwise is lying) It all depends on your level of activity, total caloric intake, Protein intake, hydration level, individual metabolism, and frankly, a whole lot of "I'm your body and I'll lose more when I damn well please." Don't get discouraged. The 3 week stall is a rite of passage. You're one of us now.

I'm having the three week stall. Had great loss, 17 pounds in three weeks, and now, the stall. How many days does it last??

I was talking more along the lines of the surgeon or NUT just saying something like this: "You're going to lose quite a bit of weight the first couple to a few weeks after surgery, then it will probably come to a halt for a while because of these reasons". Also, explaining that you aren't going to lose 100 pounds in a month. I guess i'm just asking why they don't tell these patients who don't do years of research before hand (which is most people) about REALISTIC weight loss expectations and the 3 week stall. How hard would that be? Why do we see so many people with these crazy expectations of weight loss who think the second the scale doesn't move something is immediately wrong? I can tell you for certain that when the information given has to do with weight loss, they will listen.

Something I'm curious about. Did any of you're NUTS or surgeons talk to you about stalls? Specifically the 3 week stall? Seems the only way we learned about it was on forums like these. They either don't know about it, or don't bother to mention it to many people. I really wish they would warn people to ease the panic that sets in when it ultimately happens.

A Protein shake with a banana half at 3 weeks would have been a bit heavy and very sugar rich for me at 3 weeks. My stomach tolerated everything. Some people become lactose intolerant after surgery for a while. Maybe try Nectars which is lactose free and mixes with Water. You could also water it down more than they recommend to start. Make sure you are eating/drinking really slowly. It should take you 15-30 minutes. Take a sip, go do something, come back, take another sip. I would take a few laps around the house or yard between sips to get in my exercise too. Leaving the food between bites/sips means I can't mindless eat. Fish is normally pretty high in protein. I pureed chicken salad, tuna salad and egg salad with an immersion blender. I used Hellman's light mayo, some mustard in the egg salad. You could mix the chicken or tuna salad with a little lite mayo and/or yogurt. Maybe add a tiny bit of Protein powder to it. I know some people eat with a baby spoon early on to help avoid the habit of too big of a bite at a time. Yes, the 3 week stall is normal.

@@whoahbabyy It sounds like the normal 3 week stall everyone talks about on here! I doubt if the 2 bites of things on Thanksgiving caused it. I think your lack of fluids & protein is probably more of the reason, your body wants to slow down it thinks its starving. Your doing great, & the walking is the best thing!!! Don't let the holidays get you down! Maybe walk a little more the day before & after!

I am still on a stall! It's driving crazy. I've been walking but I've been slacking on my fluids and protein. I've also had mashed potatoes on thanksgiving (like 2 bites) and bites of cranberry bread over the holidays. The holidays are horrible. I'm so easily tempted. This can't be the reason I'm in a 3 week stall!

Type "3 week stall" in this site's search box (or "Google" it). You are far from unique, it is very common. Don't beat yourself up over it. Keep yourself well hydrated and make sure you eat enough Protein.

Do a search for 3 week stall. This is perfectly normal. Also if I may add, you may want to work on increasing your Protein intake. Meeting your protein and Fluid goals is the one the best things to help make the weight loss happen. Just be patient and stay the course. The weight loss will happen, I promise.

Everyone loses differently. That said, I lost 85lbs in the first 90 days. I just recently experienced a full 3 week stall, not a pound was lost, even after working out harder, drinking more fluids and carefully watching my intake. My body just had to readjust. I just noticed 2 pounds gone this morning. You will lose it fast, but do not worry or fret when it stalls. It will stall, you will want to do more to get it going again, but you have to let it run its course. I stopped worrying about it and it did start falling off again. Your loss is fast, but it may be that way for you. Best of luck!

I can't believe I'm 6 weeks post-op. I have mostly felt good. Had a couple weeks with some real fatigue and a 3 week stall with no loss. Things are moving along again and I'm feeling pretty great and I made it to onederland - barely - but it counts. 199.7. I'll take it! 30lbs gone. I am so happy I did this. And I can have faith that I'll survive future stalls. It helped to stay off the scale for a couple weeks. Aren't we lucky we have this chance?!

Completely normal. It's a normal, necessary part of the process. Every one of us has gone through it around that time. It even has a name: "The Dreaded 3 Week Stall". Hang in there, work your program, and it will pass! It won't be you're last, either Here comes the science: A "stall" a few weeks after surgery is not uncommon, and here's why. Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs. of Water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when a patient is not getting in enough food, the body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. Then when 2 lbs. of glycogen is used a patient will also lose 8 lbs. of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs. that most people lose in the first week of a diet. However, when the body stays in a caloric deficit state the body starts to realize that this is not a short-term problem. Then the body starts mobilizing fat from adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But the body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. As it puts back the 2 lbs. of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs. of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though the patient might still be losing energy content to their body, the weight will not go down or it might even gain for a while as the retention of water dissolves the glycogen that is being reformed and stored.

@ - you didn't share a lot of info - pre or post-op? Search "stall" and read about the 3 week stall on BP. They happen, its part of the ride! Like a roller coaster, after the big drop or so, there are the "bunny slopes".