Help! I have stalled majorly!

[ajwatson11 0]

Hello all! I am asking for good advice about how to jump start weight loss. I have currently lost 75 pounds and thats great, im not complaining about that. I have however been around the same weight for about 6 months. I am so sad. I have started exercising more but that hasn't helped. I also recently became vegetarian to see if that would jump start it, but i've seen little results.

What should i do? I want to continue to lose weight. My goal is/was 145lbs. Should i resign to the fact that maybe i won't get there?

Please help, any advice is appreciated.

Ainsley:crying:

[Maddie 9]

Try shaking up your diet more, like adding some calories for a few days and then backing down, or adding more carbs for a few days. That can stimulate your metabolism. Also, if you are exercising more, you could be gaining muscle mass and since muscle weighs more than fat, try to notice if your clothes are fitting differently.

Keep trying, you will find something that works.

[goodlife 3]

Are you tracking your food?

How many calories are you eating each day?

What does a typical day of eating look like for you?

[ajwatson11 0]

Hello and thank you to you both.

Maddie - It's not just the pounds that aren't decreasing, my size has stayed the same as well. I am trying to stay positive, but i'm just getting discouraged.

goodlife - I haven't tracked my eating since the first week after surgery. I found it extremely difficult because I would have 1/24th or 1/10 of something I made at home and it didn't seem worth it.

i would say the average day looks like this:

-breakfast: Protein shake, granola/oatmeal

- lunch: 1/2 Peanut Butter sandwhich / leftover dinner / salad

- dinner: whatever i have on hand - salad, veggie casserole, fruit casserole, bean quesadilla, Pasta, etc

- snacks: veggies or fruit (maybe with ranch dressing), few crackers. . .

I've obviously had days where I made bad food choices, but this is pretty much what I've been eating for a while now.

I have just increased Protein, trying to get at least 60g a day.

[coops 1,790]

Hello...

the whole stall thing really sucks and is very discouraging! :thumbup:

I keep getting mini ones and I am only 10 weeks post op, I find them frustrating and annoying but I try to look at it this way; I haven't gained...

BUT... what a fantastic weight loss you have had already! I bet you are looking and feeling great and that makes a huge difference in itself. Do you want to lose another 29lb or do you need to? Sounds daft I know, but that might help the positive train of thought???? :crying:

Another positive... when you do reach your target weight, look how easy you will maintain it....????? :tongue_smilie:

Just an idea ... what about Fluid? Are you drinking plenty of Water? Especially if you have increased your exercise?!

Hope you see some movement soon, keep us posted x

[ajwatson11 0]

Thanks so much coops!

Everything you are saying makes a lot of sense. . .

Technically for my height and weight I still fall into the "overweight" category so medically speaking I probably need to loose a few more pounds, but that being said I don't have any weight related medical problems (anymore) so I guess health wise, no I don't need to lose more weight. I just want to.

I do feel better and more energized. I am thankful for the surgery and the weight I have already lost, it's just frustrating when you thought/wanted to lose more and all of a sudden you stop losing.

I am probably not drinking enough, in fact i know i'm not. I have improved, but have been unable to get in the full 64oz a day (even 32 is sometimes hard for me). This was something I had a difficult time with even before surgery.

Thanks for all your encouraging words.

New plan:

- continue on vegetarian ways

- increase Protein and fluids

- keep exercising

- try not to be discouraged

Love you guys.

[Maddie 9]

You may want to consider cutting the carbs.

In one day you had, bread, crackers, fruit twice, oatmeal, either a tortilla or Pasta. That's a lot of carbs!

[coops 1,790]

Hey Ainsley,

No problem, glad to have helped... it is easier for me to think outside the box and be more objective... I am trying to focus on the positive stuff as my weight loss is slow and inconsisitent and I just feel that looking at what I have done as opposed to what I haven't done is much better!

I think, and I am no expert, that the Water thing might be your key... just drink as much as you can and see what happens... let me know how you get on... I know it really helps me.

In my (humble) opinion, now that you have no medical issues, you have already reached your goal!! What an acheivement that is for you... I know my main goal is to be healthy in this body; to be able to be fit and active is as important as what the scales read or what clothes size I can wear!

As regards medical weight, I feel it is very personal to everyone; my medical weight is so low, I can't even imagine what I would look like there (119lb) and I have never been that weight in my adult life!! So, I have set myself two goal weights; the first being reasonable and the second being ultimate!! But as long as I don't gain I will be pretty much happy...

Let me know how you are doing xx

[coops 1,790]

another thing Ive just noticed, our weight loss goal on the ticker reads the same and our BMIs are similar too... happy days!! x

[mp8btpc 33]

I think tracking the food on a site like fatsecret.com has made a huge difference for me this last week. I can see exactly the ratio of calories, Proteins and carbs. Yesterday it got close to the end of the day and I had not gotten as much Protein as I would like and so when I got a little hungry, I made myself a scrambled egg and had a slice of deli ham. The calories were minimal yet it upped my Protein quite a bit.

The website also has you log in your activities from walking, running, tennis, shopping or cleaning house and it calculates your total calories burned based on those things and just your normal calorie burning from being alive. Each day will give you a total number of calories you saved or went over by using the amount you burned and the amount of calories you entered in food. I LOVES IT.

One day I had wayyy to many carbs. I just try to keep my carbs a bit under my protein and am now staying away from white carbs as much as possible (i did have a bite of my sons birthday cake though).

I am still a sleeve newbie so this is just what I am trying. Try shaking up the exercise to something totally different like running in the sand or walking up a hilly road.

That said your loss has been great but I think you could probably get a few more pounds off and get that BMI down! I have faith in ya. Great job thus far...i know it is far from easy.

Edited September 12, 2010 by mp8btpc

[ajwatson11 0]

You may want to consider cutting the carbs.

In one day you had, bread, crackers, fruit twice, oatmeal, either a tortilla or Pasta. That's a lot of carbs!

Hey Maddie:

I am sure that I need to watch my carbs and I thank you for your answer. In my response to what I ate, on average, everyday I don't actually eat all that in a day. I was giving a few options of the choices I make for every meal. It would be pretty obvious that I had a carb problem if I ate crackers, sandwhiches, fruit, oatmeal, granola, etc everyday. Sorry for the confusion and again. Thanks for your concern.

[ajwatson11 0]

I think tracking the food on a site like fatsecret.com has made a huge difference for me this last week. I can see exactly the ratio of calories, Proteins and carbs.

Hey! Thanks so much for your reply. I will check out the website. When I was doing my pre-surgery diet I used dailyplate.com but afterwards it just seemed so hard because I was eating like 1/24th of something. idk. . . I will figure it out and try counting.

Thanks. :001_smile:

[cwalker 12]

Hang in there, try not to get too discouraged, it does work if you shake things up alittle, like Maddie said, it works for me everytime. You are really doing great and the weight will come off when you're body is ready to let it go.

[clk 3,519]

Like the others said, hang in there.

I'd definitely track my food for just one week. See where you are, because it sounds like yes, you do eat more carbs than some (on some days, not all, of course) but that you also don't eat a lot of calories. If you're active, you need to feed your body or it will hang on to every pound for dear life.

Challenge yourself. Make it your goal to record everything you eat for just one week. Get in your calories, Proteins and Water. Instead of guesstimating your food, weigh everything for that brief time.

I bet you'll be suprised and find that you're either eating way more than you think, or that you're hardly eating enough at all.

Then's the time to mix it up a bit - add more carbs and calories for a few days then drop them back to normal and see if that jump starts your metabolism.

Good luck, and great job on your success so far. I'm sure you'll get down to your goal if you keep trying.

~Cheri

[JanePatrick 0]

I really like http://www.sparkpeople.com for tracking my stuff, and if a normal serving is 1 cup it will let you track as much of that 1cup as you want, say.12 of a cup since our servings are much smaller. It can be a pain to track, but once I have done it, I am usually surprised at the stats for the day, plus it keeps me honest with what I remember eating vs what I did eat.

As for vegetarian, what are you eating for Protein? I notice that people who are newly veggie don't make changes other than cutting out any meat products and that can hamper weight loss because they usually add in high carb food to make up for the meat portion of a meal.

In the Food & Nutrition forum I wrote on a post the following::

"If you are not opposed to the more "processed" vegetarian fare there are tons of options. In our house we use the following Brands a lot.

Home Quorn

Welcome to Morningstar Farms

Worthington Loma Linda

BOCA Foods | Wholesome Veggie Burgers, Chik'n, Breakfast and More

gardein - garden protein

Nates Meatless Meatballs (could not locate link for these)"

You can make any recipe that contains meat and substitute in the "fake" meat. It tends to have a good Protein count, as well as being low in fat/carbs. The hard part is trying them out to see what you like and what you don't. :confused1: