Talk me off the ledge- weight loss crawling

[meggiep 57]

So....even though I know with my mind that anything I am experiencing happens a lot, will pass, inches are still going, blah bah blah...

I am still pretty bummed about how my month has gone weight wise.

I lost 12 pounds in the first 8 days after surgery- taking me from 262 to 250. Then I was at 250 for 8 days- which made sense to me as I had lost 18 pounds during my two week pre-op and I knew a "stall" or time of no loss is common. (I know a stall is defined as 2 weeks or more w/o loss but 8 days sure felt like 2 weeks to me!) Happily after the 8 days I started losing again and lost 4 pounds in my third week taking me to 246. Then I started slowing again- I lost 0.2 pounds three days in a row, 0.4 pounds yesterday, and 0.2 pounds today. The frustrating part for me is that I have expanded my walking to an hour a day PLUS Water aerobics at night- I am really working it and am tired every night and feeling that good working out feeling- which also always makes me thing I am sure to lose weight that day- so the .2 is disappointing. If you suggest I weigh once a week- well, this early in the process I would be sad at 1.4 pounds in a week too, as hard as I am working out and as faithfully as I am working the sleeve.

I have gotten my 80 grams of Protein and my 64 ounces plus of liquid since day five. I am dedicated to the principles I hold as key- less than 30 grams carbs 80 grams protein, 64 ounces plus water, exercise, and (not as easy for me) Vitamins. I have not had a day that I did not stick to the principles. I was on liquids for three weeks post-op and have transitioned well to purees.

The one thing I think I have done wrong is I settled quickly in to taking in about 600-660 calories a day day after day. WHen I first added purees I actually ate exactly the same thing five days straight.

I am a bit scared to up my calories...and if I do is it for a day? A few days? How do you add calories when you have trouble fitting in the food you do eat?

I felt so well prepared for all this but yet I still felt myself being bummed out and wistfully wondering- if I lose slowly during the honeymoon period then I wont meet my goal!

[Beadingnurse 116]

Take a deep breath Meg and back off that ledge!! If I am doing the math right...you have lost 33 lbs in 6 weeks or so?? That is terrific and when did you ever lose 33 lbs in such a short time before? Your body has gone through a lot in the past 6 weeks and it is natural for it to need time to adjust to what is going on. It very well may be that you won't be the fastest person here on losing weight, neigher am I, but as long as you have a slow and steady weight loss you WILL get to your goal!

I would try to calculate your calories though...you might not be eating enough. I use myfitnesspal.com as a free online calculator and it is fast and I can always find the foods I am eating. I've read others say on here that bumping their calories up a bit might stimulate the weight loss but you will have to figure out how much you are eating to do that. I calculate mine everyday and I am generally in 800 calories a day range but go up to 1,000 on a few days.

It is easy for me to say but it sounds like you are doing the right things so just have faith in the plan and you will get to your goal.

Good luck!

[StacyS 20]

You know, I've always hated when I've posted something about a stall or not losing and people would tell me to be patient and the weight will drop! But I'm gonna tell you the same thing... it will start to drop! In the beginning our body is going through so many changes that it's in shock! Give your body time to adjust and realize that it's HUGE organ is now a little bitty thing and it needs time to adjust!

The best thing you can do right now is keep doing what you're doing! In time your body will understand and will realign to the new you! Trust me when I say this... I was stalled for almost 3 full weeks!!

[meggiep 57]

Take a deep breath Meg and back off that ledge!! If I am doing the math right...you have lost 33 lbs in 6 weeks or so?? That is terrific and when did you ever lose 33 lbs in such a short time before? Your body has gone through a lot in the past 6 weeks and it is natural for it to need time to adjust to what is going on. It very well may be that you won't be the fastest person here on losing weight, neigher am I, but as long as you have a slow and steady weight loss you WILL get to your goal!

I would try to calculate your calories though...you might not be eating enough. I use myfitnesspal.com as a free online calculator and it is fast and I can always find the foods I am eating. I've read others say on here that bumping their calories up a bit might stimulate the weight loss but you will have to figure out how much you are eating to do that. I calculate mine everyday and I am generally in 800 calories a day range but go up to 1,000 on a few days.

It is easy for me to say but it sounds like you are doing the right things so just have faith in the plan and you will get to your goal.

Good luck!

I do log- on fatsecret- and I have been having 600-660 a day -day in day out. I do think I should bump for a few days but honestly it is not that easy! I start the morning with my Protein drink - including 1/2 cup milk I get 34 grams Protein and 19 calories. I have not had success eating sooner than 2 hours after that- then I have a soft scrambled egg with 1T milk and 1T shredded cheddar ....then once I can drink again I head out for my hour walk and some errands...then I eat again- 1/4 cup of chicken salad or 1/4 cup yogurt or cottage cheese- then within the hour I a on my way to Water aerobics- once home I eat again....then maybe one more time that day if I stay up really late but 1/4 cup of anything I am allowed just does not add up calorically!

Reminding me of my weight loss really does help...I have lost 35 pounds since day one of my pre-op, and I really do consider that the beginning.

I know so much- in fact I am always in there reassuring others but I obviously have not listened to my own advice!

I also just read the blog of someone who lost 84 pounds in the first 84 days - for real! I know that we can't compare ourselves to others but it is hard not to have scale envy!

[kellyw74 258]

Awww Honey, you are doing great! 33 lbs in in 31 days...are you kidding me? That is FANTASTIC!! You step back off that ledge my friend. You should not be ashamed of your acomplishments at all! Did you take measurements, I bet you will find you are losing a lot of inches if you are doing all of that work in the pool and walking!! That is awesome Meggie!! Good for you to be so diligent.

When have you ever lost 6 lbs a week on average? I bet probably never!! Pat yourself on the back and be proud.

You also have lost more than me since our surgery day! I am not losing like I did a couple weeks ago, but I am fine with it. I would rater lose 1-2 lbs a week instead of a day. That was freaking me out to lose weight like that! I didn't think that was healthy. I lost 14 lbs in 7 days. No way could that all be fat!!

You also could be gaining musle working as hard as you are. That will reflect on the scale too!

If you are really worried about it, eat a little more. Like a extra shake or some cheese. I am not talking like a pizza (yum), I mean like a couple hundred calories for a couple of days and see what happens. Your body probably just thinks it is starving and needs a little more food.

The scale will eventually move. It has to. You can not keep doing what you are doing and not lose! It is impossible!

Hugs,

Kelly

[sarsar 824]

I honestly think you should try bumping up your calories especially with the amount of exercise you are doing. Try that and see what happens. Btw, I think you are doing awesome with your weight loss!

[anonynurse 13]

Try bumping calories OR just try eating a different variety of stuff. Bodies get used to routines very fast. If it "knows" it is getting ABC for Breakfast, DEF for lunch, XYZ for dinner with an exact amount of fluids etc etc, it may be pretty comfortably appropriating those things.

Truthfully though I think it is too soon to holler "Slow loser! Slow loser here!" or even "Stall!" You are doing fantastic.

What I honestly would suggest is changing up what you eat, still tracking it and stop weighing yourself every single day. :hug:

[JackieOMonroe 123]

This reminds me of my weight loss on Optifast and HMR. When I did those VLC diets, my weight loss looked approximately like this:

Week 1: - 10 lbs

Week 2: - 2 lbs

Week 3: - 1 lbs

Week 4: - 5 lbs

Week 5: - 2 lbs

Week 6: - 2 lbs

Week 7: - 0 lbs

Week 8: - 4 lbs

Week 9: - 1 lbs

See what I'm getting at? My weight loss was all over the place even though I was doing everything right. I would change NOTHING. I ate only what I was supposed to eat, counted every calorie burned at the gym, kept a weekly food and exercise diary, etc. It made no sense to me! I felt like my body was betraying me! The bottom line was that my body was going to do what it felt like doing. All that I could do was help it out in every way I could. I would lose the weight, but I couldn't force it to happen on my schedule.

Weight loss is not an exact science. Since we all know that weight loss is based mainly on calories in-calories out and can be approximated, I think that we all try to break this down into a mathematic formula that will tell us exactly where we should be, right down to the exact day we should be there. As you've discovered by now, weekly weight loss is predicted about as accurately as a meteorologist predicts the weather. Try to see each ounce lost as another sunny day. You may have cloudy days where zero pounds are lost and you may even have rainy days where you've gained a little. Just remember, keep your sights set on those sunny days. SUMMER. IS. COMING.

[meggiep 57]

Isn't it funny? I know these words, have said these words to others- but they still have helped me so much today!

Essentially after reading your wonderful words I was able to tell myself "Snap out of it! You idiot you have lost 35 pounds in 45 days! "

I will definitely add some calories- I think that is a problem for me with adding the exercise- and I will measure myself too though I have never been a measurer.

I will up my Water too- I noticed my fingers are a bit swollen today.

[Michelle Cicerello 6]

Aww Meggie, your doing fantastic!!! 35 pounds is nothing to shake a stick at!! I have found when I am not loosing anything on the scale, I am loosing inches, and thats really noticable - like everyone else said, change up what your eating and see if you can bump the calories for a day or two

Sorry I have been missing in action, its been a busy exhausting week - I am still here and doing well

Miss you and Kelly

HUGS!!!!

[NewBeginnings 2]

Isn't it funny? I know these words, have said these words to others- but they still have helped me so much today!

Essentially after reading your wonderful words I was able to tell myself "Snap out of it! You idiot you have lost 35 pounds in 45 days! "

I will definitely add some calories- I think that is a problem for me with adding the exercise- and I will measure myself too though I have never been a measurer.

I will up my Water too- I noticed my fingers are a bit swollen today.

Meggie I thought the same thing. I step on that scale and see a point something loss and get mad. I'm thinking what am I doing wrong. I even emailed my dr's office and said something must be wrong. I'm eating all the time, i'm starving and i'm not losing. I'm glad to see i'm not alone. Just like everyone else said, when have you lost 35 pounds in such a short amount of time. We are all nuts to the scale or we would not have gotten the surgery in the first place. Your doing great. 35 pounds is something to be really excited about.

[KellyL 173]

I'm sorry I know it's difficult, I'm going through it too, and I just feel so helpless, because I am working really hard just to get in what I am getting in now, I can't see getting more calories in either. That's what gets us down I think, we get insecure when the scales don't move even though we are doing what we've been told to do and following the guidelines.

I don't have any words of wisdom for you, but I wanted to let you know, you are not alone. We'll get through this together!!

[meggiep 57]

Aww Meggie, your doing fantastic!!! 35 pounds is nothing to shake a stick at!! I have found when I am not loosing anything on the scale, I am loosing inches, and thats really noticable - like everyone else said, change up what your eating and see if you can bump the calories for a day or two

Sorry I have been missing in action, its been a busy exhausting week - I am still here and doing well

Miss you and Kelly

HUGS!!!!

Guuurrrrrl I was about to send out a search party! Glad you are doing ok!

Meggie I thought the same thing. I step on that scale and see a point something loss and get mad. I'm thinking what am I doing wrong. I even emailed my dr's office and said something must be wrong. I'm eating all the time, i'm starving and i'm not losing. I'm glad to see i'm not alone. Just like everyone else said, when have you lost 35 pounds in such a short amount of time. We are all nuts to the scale or we would not have gotten the surgery in the first place. Your doing great. 35 pounds is something to be really excited about.

Ok you have me beat- I had to smile at you emailing your doctor- I thought I was immune from all of this and had so much knowledge that I would be able to think my way through slow loss, etc. WRONG! I am just a emotional and obsessed as anyone else!

I'm sorry I know it's difficult, I'm going through it too, and I just feel so helpless, because I am working really hard just to get in what I am getting in now, I can't see getting more calories in either. That's what gets us down I think, we get insecure when the scales don't move even though we are doing what we've been told to do and following the guidelines.

I don't have any words of wisdom for you, but I wanted to let you know, you are not alone. We'll get through this together!!

Thank you so much- it does help to know that!

I went on my walk and made a point of really pushing the fluids today. I am going to try to get in a lot of small meals today to boost my calories. And I will just keep on keeping on! What else can I do? I realized today that a frustrating point like this is usually when I would say to heck with it and blow a diet. Well hello to my sleeve- that is simply not possible. SO I will squeeze another meal in before the pool...and a couple more when I get home and see if it helps.

One of the things that makes it hard is my doc used a 32 bougie- I thought it was 34 but was looking over some of my notes yesterday and realized it was a 32. I simply cannot fit more than 1/4 cup in and sometimes less. There just are not many calories in 1/4 cup of anything I can eat right now. Sigh.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Hi Meggie, no I'm not going to repeat what everyone else here has already mentioned. Stalls suck and I hate them too. But guess what, I'm going on 9 months out and I've endured around 4 so far. Guess what else? I came right through them and I think I'm doing rather good. Does anyone disagree? Gawsh I hope not!!!! One last thing, I've lost about 80 Lbs in about 9 months now. That's less than 10 lbs per month at this point. I STILL think I'm doing good. Does anyone disagree with that too? Better not!!! I worked my butt off literally for that!!!

My only advice: try to bump up your Water intake. 64 is the bare minimum. I get in about 120 oz per day. Now granted this might be impossible at 1 month out... it would have been for me, but slowly but surely try to bump it up a few more oz per day. Drinking tons of Water will wash those fat cells right out. Also, when your scale is moving super slow, you are losing inches. Then you will see some good drops for a few more weeks. That is how the majority of us lose weight. Call it unlucky or whatever you want, but it is what it is. One last thing, it sounds like you are really on that workout bandwagon, and that's great! But your body is probably not real happy with the low calories you're feeding it. If you're doing a few hours per day like it sounds, you really need to up your calories by a few hundred. I usually do this by getting in an extra Protein shake. It helps and since it's Fluid its easy to get down.

I personally think you're doing fantastic. Now get back out there and keep doing your thing!! xx

[feedyoureye 3,087]

SUMMER. IS. COMING.

I love that!

May I also make a vote for "Summer is here!" as well? Don't forget to enjoy the present people!