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@AnotherGuy, great post! Stalls are super frustrating.. About losing muscle. One of my surgeon's goals is to avoid/reduce muscle loss. He says that if you are losing muscle, you need to up the protein intake, to have a 'positive Nitrogen balance'. The basic idea is if you don't get enough protein, the body breaks muscle mass. Every month he tests my body composition using an InBody scale (same one found in gyms), One month post-op I was losing weight, and he bumped my daily protein from 100 to 120.. one month later I didn't lose muscle mass (according to him ), and he bumped up my daily goal to 135g/day. This is my report from 3-4 weeks ago.

Congrats on the weight loss 👏🏼 My program sounds quite similar to yours - As in we can have almost anything we can tolerate including rice, pasta, bread etc. I just don't eat them much right now. May incorporate them later on. We just don't have much focus on calories. Focus is more on serving sizes and protein/fluid intake. Don't have any numbers for carbs or fat intake either. Only thing is how did you manage to eat 1200 calories post week 4? I am almost week 9 but I still can't manage to eat more than 750-850 calorie range. Either that or I need to figure out how to incorporate foods high in calories 😂 Only calorie rich food group in my diet would be cheeses I suppose. But I also don't wanna overshoot fat intake. How was your fat intake first few months?

How far out are you? I used to in my 20s body build I have arthritis pretty bad now all over. I have done the body for life before - it is workout with a good plan that is pretty much what we are to eat post op anyway. 6 small meals a day with high protein low carb and low fat. I still have my original book from the early 1990s that I’ve pulled out dusted off and have been reading again lol that was seriously my Bible back then. I have a torn shoulder that needs surgery but I am going to try to work the muscles around it to see if it will support it - I may just end up giving myself a migraine for a week idk but I am going to try. My arthritis has improved greatly since loosing the 30 pounds and eating so much better and cleaner now. Good luck and thanks for your update!!!

Your dietician isn’t happy because you could literally die if you don’t follow the program for the first 6 to 7 weeks due to breaking your new stomach open and having food seeping into your body cavity. No offense, but this is not good advice to all of the other new surgery patients on this page. People should absolutely adhere to the medical plan their doctor puts them on and follow the diet strictly for the first six weeks.

Same here, I am averaging about 2lbs per week. If I work out less it's less than a pound. I am OK with that though as I hope this helps with some of the shrinking of excess skin as it gets filled in with muscle. Sent from my SM-G998U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Amy....my surgery was the day before yours and I have experienced the same thing in the past month or so. This past week however things have gotten moving again. I have lost 4 pounds in the past week. I actually INCREASED my calorie intake and INCREASED my walking. I have been focusing on drinking more as well. I started out at 293 and am today 208, about the same loss as you. It is also important to make sure you are counting EVERYTHING. It is too easy to leave out cheese, dressing, condiments, oil or margarine used in cooking etc. Your true calorie intake may be bigger than you know.

When I had my TT I had the 360 so I had 4 drains, 2 came out at 3 weeks and the other 2 at 4 weeks. It is a pain in the butt but worth it because all that stuff that comes out would either come out your incision or make more swelling. Sounds like you are doing well. Isn't plastic surgery amazing?

In addition to everything that @anotherguy said, which was an EXCELLENT post by the way, I've learned that often I have to start eating MORE to break a stall. Like for example currently I am only taking in 1,000 calories/day and probably exercising off 500 of those and my body is like "What the hell?" so the scale doesn't budge until I add calories. Shake the body up. Make the body feel secure.

Hi. My surgery was on 28th of September. I weight 220 pounds (100 kg) in surgery date and I am 5’7 (172cm) tall. My goal weight is 149-157 pounds So far I am down many clothing sizes and about 52 pounds ( 24 kg). So 10-15 more pounds to go to hit my goal. I have not lost any weights for 2 weeks now. Getting a bit stressed by that. I do Pilates and weightlifting 4-5 times a week and I am active. I walk a lot and use a bike more then the car. All of my blood work came out great, and I am eating enough protein and so on, but I just found out that I have inactive thyroid and possibly fatty liver. That came as a bit of shock to me. Does anyone have experience with thyroid problems ?

I'm in about the same boat. Starting weight (on day or surgery): 300.5 Current weight: 305 Eating regular food but have completely stalled for nearly 3 weeks now. Have been walking up to 2 miles per.dsu, 3.times per week. Would do more.byt this darn RA flare is killing me.. But I know when I lift, I lose fat .

My Nutritionist told me I could eat a little mashed or baked but only a few times a week and not much. But sweet potatoes are a free for all I can eat them as often as I desire - within my calories and 6 meals a day of course lol

Today I am 5 weeks 1 day post op and I have to weigh and measure weekly as per my surgeon and nutritionist. Today is that day. I’m loosing 2-3 pounds a week and I’m 70 pounds from goal. I’m on regular food now except crackers raw veggies etc. I’m just bored and not interested in food. Here’s my stats - I’d love to hear how you Dec surgery buddies are doing! I get to start the gym on Sunday! I’m walking 3 miles a day around the house right now. So ready to go to the gym and see if I can start loosing more than 2-3 pounds a week!  SW 227 Current weight 195 Inches lost total 32 5’6” my height 52 YO Sleeved 12/22/2022 Stalled for 14 days 10- days post op

Hi Everyone! I’m getting the sleeve on Feb. 1 - just 6 days away. I’ve been on the pre-op diet for just over a week, and I lost 10 pounds on it so far. I’m not having hunger pains, but I do have some extra fatigue. I just try to remind myself that this is a temporary stage on the path to greater health and wellness. Good luck to everyone on this journey!

I like to break stalls with epic poops 💩

Hello All, Sometimes it is nice to know that you are in a group of the "world's best" at something. It is my opinion that we are the world's best at losing weight. I do not mean to imply that once we have had bariatric surgery, we are good at losing weight. I am willing to say that, prior to your surgery, you have lost (and gained) tens and tens of pounds over your lifetime. You have tried at least six or more diets and you were probably successful in losing a significant amount weight on each of them. I have done this too. The problem is we are world class weight gainers also ...ugh! Thankfully, we have weight loss surgery to help us eat fewer calories. However, each time we lose weight, we must face the "STALL." You know, that period of time when we don't lose weight even when we think we should. Everyone dreads these time periods. If you are interested, I would like to share with you some information that has helped me over the years to overcome and understand stalls. First, I am not a doctor nor am I offering any sort of medical advice. I am simply trying to provide you with information from my own personal experiences. You are free to believe or not believe. Every single person is different. If you know something that works, please share. I would love to learn from you. Until then, here are my thoughts. Vary your exercise routine. This is pretty simple. One must understand that we come from a long, long line of survivors. Just think, there is a very good probability that several of your ancestors survived the black plague which eliminated almost half of the population of Europe. Over time, our bodies have learned to adapt to new "challenges" so to speak. Here is a secret to assist weight loss: YOU MUST CHALLENGE YOURSELF to avoid your body's natural ability to adapt and become more efficient to your routines. If you are doing any kind of exercise, you will need to vary this exercise every few weeks. For instance, I am currently using an elliptical machine for cardio. Every two weeks, I change my routine. I went from just moving for 30 minutes at any speed for the first two weeks to adding intervals of going as fast as I can for one minute and then slowing down for three minutes. I have also changed the interval times. For example, I went fast for 30 seconds and then slower for two minutes for a period of two weeks. Next week, I will be changing to a stationary bike for cardio. In a few more weeks, I will be heading outdoors for walking/jogging, etc. The point is to change it up so your body must adjust to new challenges. Build muscle. These are the facts. Muscle burns more calories, even while resting, than fat does. Did you know that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson eats more than 5000 calories per day? The man is a beast and definitely is not fat. He is able to eat so much because he has a huge amount of muscle mass. That muscle burns a lot of calories. Check out what he eats in a typical day here: The Rock's Diet. I wish I could say the phrase "build muscle" and, magically, I would build muscle...*sigh* Until then, I must incorporate strength training the old fashioned way. I lift weights. At the moment, my routine consists of body weight type of exercises, pushing and pulling. My goal is to preserve as much muscle as I can while losing weight. I want to burn the maximum amount of calories possible...even while sleeping. YouTube has many, many videos to help just about anyone. Keep track of your food intake. I measure my food and keep a daily log. I know how much food my stomach can hold and I do not over eat. But my personal opinion may be different than yours when it comes to caloric intake. Personally, I cannot live for the long term on 800 calories per day. Many of us were/are eating about 800 calories or so per day after surgery. I have no plans to eat only 800 calories per day for the rest of my life to maintain my goal weight. Therefore, I have increased the number of calories I eat per day. At the moment, I am eating around 1500 calories per day. I am about six weeks post surgery. The bulk of my calories comes from protein. I try to add calories to my day without adding a lot of volume to my stomach. Here are some things I do in order to add calories. Once per day, I drink a protein shake instead of water. Also, I will add the following ingredients to meals throughout the day (not all at the same time, mind you): olive oil, avocados, sour cream, cheese, mayonnaise and peanut butter. These are generally healthy fats which allow me to consume more calories at every meal. I try to eat approximately 400 calories three times a day and then supplement with a few snacks in between meals. I typically eat 5 to 6 times per day. Set realistic goals. If you do not know, one pound of fat is 3500 calories. To lose one pound of fat, you must create a deficit of 500 calories per day for each day of the week...500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories lost. Create a deficit of 1000 calories per day and lose two pounds per week. 1500 calories = 3 lbs. per week. This is the idea...a 500 calorie deficit per day equates to one pound loss per week. A typical male burns about 2000 to 3000 calories per day (typical female: 1600 to 2400.) You can play with these numbers all you like but the reality is: it is very hard to lose a large amount of fat in one week. Last week I lost three pounds. I believe that this result is fantastic. That loss is a 10,500 calorie deficit for the week (equivalent to NOT eating 37.5 Snickers Candy Bars.) I believe this is a heroic effort on my part...I celebrated with a quiet "YES" and a fist pump while standing on my bathroom scale. Fist bumps to all of you who have shared the same win. NOT an exact science. Things change. There is not a perfect formula. When you lose weight, you lose fat AND muscle. This is NOT avoidable. No one is able to lose 100% fat. It is not possible to do so, therefore mentally prepare yourself for some disappointment. If you do not have strength training in your schedule, you will lose more precious fat burning muscle than you would if you incorporate strength training. Either way, you will burn fewer calories per day when you, eventually, weigh less. It makes perfect sense. At 300lbs. you may have burned 2500 calories per day. At 250lbs you may only burn 2200 calories per day. You were bigger so you burned more calories. Therefore, it is harder to create a calorie deficit when you weigh less because you are burning fewer calories. Again, this concept really sucks but it explains why we lose less weight as we get closer and closer to our goal. Okay...so this turned into a much longer post than I originally anticipated. Some of the words above make it sound like I have it all figured out. But alas, no. I have issues too. I gained over 100 lbs. in the last six years eating pizza with extra cheese and trying to diminish the world's supply of beer. I am somewhere in the early stages of this particular weight loss journey. My goal is to make this my last weight loss/gain journey. I truly wish all of you the very best life has to offer. The struggle is real and I know, like me, you are fighting every day. I look forward to all of your comments and learning from your experiences. Best, AnotherGuy

My 1 week liquid diet starts tmr!!

I had RNY a year ago and strangle enough my enzymes also went up don't know why as not on meds do have low thyroid and take those medications having more tests next week

Has anyone had elevated liver enzymes post RNY while taking Seroquel? I had surgery 4/6/21. Labs came back this week with liver enzymes off the chart high! Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

Well I have been in a stall since Oct 25th and after sending her (m NUT) my logs of food she pointed out some errors and had me make those adjustments. So far it seems to be working as the scale started moving again since she told me that a few weeks ago. Down 4lbs since. Plus I was just sharing what MY office/plan says to do. Every should follow their own.

Sep 1 reporting in again. I have been in a major stall for 2 weeks, only 2 lbs lost. This is new. I am behaving, was trying to increase to 750 cals but have gone back to 650 cals in hopes of making those scales move. Stuck at 79 lbs lost, can't get to 80. This will be the first month I won't meet my personal goal. Was hoping to lose 12 lbs in this fifth month, not going to happen! Still hoping for 10.

I've had a person from hospital call to verify information on Tuesday. Today another from hospital called to verify all my medications I take & if I had any questions. I asked her can I control the temperature in my room or not. Last time I was there in 2018 for gallbladder removal it took 7 days in a regular room. Then a month later I got food poisoning and was in icu for another 7 days. It was freezing in both areas and was happy could turn up the heat. When I talked to hospital nurse she said she had 2 sweaters on and a heater and wasn't sure about temperature being controlled in room or not. I asked a few more questions about the 26 page packet the doctor gave me. She said she's never seen one from a doctor and will visit me & make a copy. LOL.😂😂😂 I'm one day away from my clear liquid diet only. I ordered a bunch of stuff from Walmart to have delivered tomorrow morning for my 2 week post op diet.

I'm with @JAKE H - if you can, try out CrossFit. The exercises look intense but can be scaled down to the level where you are, and you build up. Most CrossFit classes are a combination of pure strength (today was barbell power cleans) and then a high-intensity workout (today was short runs, dumbbell cleans, and pull-ups or ring rows). That said, I don't do CF every day. 7 days a week is too much. I usually do CF 3-4 days a week, go for a decent run (5k) twice a week, and do mobility work (with a program called ROMWOD) 3-4 days a week. And sometimes my body goes on strike and I do sweet f🤬-all for a day or even two. The result is that I have very little loose skin (a little around my chest and some in the front of my stomach), and my metabolism is at full rev most of the time.

Im 10 weeks post op. Started at 256, SW 244 and I am 216 today. Lol. I have been on a stall and flunctuatung by 2 pounds for weeks. Slow loser as well. I feel like I am doing something wrong but everyone seems to say I am fine so I am trying to just be ok with it and stick with my plan.

Yes. Absolutely. My nutritionist has actually broken stalls for me by telling me to go a day without tracking my food and just eating to satisfied. She also is trying to get my consumption up because at some point my "set point" will reset, and she wants it to be a normal-ish amount of food, not 700 calories a day or something. I'm currently at 1600-1700 a day and it's almost time to bump up.

I am 1 week shy of 3 months. Started at 260, have lost 35 lbs so far. I am a slow loser compared to others. However, take this with a grain of salt, everybody loses at a different rate. Depends on gender, muscle mass, exercise, calory deficit, etc.