Why Oh Why Can't I Lose Weight!

[Felicia 28]

Okay let me start off by saying I do not mind people giving me some truthful harsh criticism. I have been stuck and I can't get out of this bad place. I am exercising anywhere from 3 - 5 miles of brisk walking a day. Am I doing too much, not enough, I don't get it. Now as far as eating I make my Protein Shakes with skim milk. Should I cut the milk out? I have also been eating cheese a lot, because it has tons of Protein. Maybe that is causing this I have no idea. I chew everything very well, and I can honestly only eat small amounts. Maybe 2 cheese sticks, or a yogurt and I am full. I don't graze or anything. Seriously I know my surgeon is going to be pissed at me but I don't know what to do. I am thinking of going back to strictly protein shakes but the ones made with Water and do that for a week or two. How many carbs should I be getting in a day? Anyone have any ideas or anything at all. I can't stand this stall any longer, and believe me I am measuring myself and there isn't much of a change there either. Please HELP me!

[PdxMan 4,292]

Sounds to me like you are doing everything right ... except for one thing ... searching the forum! This is part of the 3 week stall and is a good thing. Really. Pretty much everybody goes through it and it is a necessary part of the progression. You've just had major surgery, lost 13 pounds in less than a month, and your body is going WOA! It just needs a few days to get things in order as to how it is going to start feeding off of itself.

Search the forum for stalls and you will see. There is lots of advice. I think you will find that cutting calories is one of the last things you want to do, BTW.

Congrats! You're doing great.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

I have a concern/question about the word "grazing"

I have my shake in the morning w/skim milk. Its kindof late cuz i'm retired and sleep in til about 9:30. Later i"ll drink some Water, have a popsicle, broth and around again, but this is done through out the day very slowly.

Is this considered grazing? Or is grazing eating amounts of food through the day that the sleeve can handle, just keep on eating more and more?

kathy

[Felicia 28]

Grazing is just picking at food all day long. A handful of chips, then 30 minutes later a couple Cookies, then 45 minutes later a few bites of ice cream. Like that on and on throughout the day. It's bad because your consuming more calories than you think. I don't think your grazing. You are doing just fine.

[skinnynursebetty 23]

I was in the exact same postition as you at the same time. The scale will start moving again. It may take some time, more than just a few days but it will move. There is no way it can't . I was so frustrated doing just what you are doing working out 6 hrs a week running and doing weights. I think you will start noticing the inches. I sure noticed I was tightning up even when the scale wasn't moving and that my clothes fit better. It's just frustrating to not see the scale move. I really don't think your surgeon is going to be mad at you. You need to be honest with him and tell him what you are doing and that you are frustrated, and I think he will say just wait it will start going down again. Try not to be so hard on yourself and stressed about it. I think that only hinders the weight loss more at least for me I feel it did. Once I stopped obsessing about it the weight loss started again. I was in a stall for almost 3 weeks losing only a pound a week early out, but it has started moving again and it will for you too. Hang in there, stay positive and keep working out!!! Have a great holiday!

[DebiC 181]

You are worrying too much. You just had surgery and may still have some Water weight. How can your surgeon be angry at you when you are doing everything you are supposed to? We all lose at different rates. I thought that starting out so much heavier than most I would lose faster, hasn't been the case. Just keep doing what you are supposed to and you can't help but succeed. In fact if you are eating too little your body will shut down to conserve the organs and you will lose even less weight!!

Good Luck.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

i also am upset about my lack of weight loss. 0 lbs I had surgery on 12/15/11 -home the next day, drinking one shake a day, not 64 oz yet of H20 and popsicles. I know thats nothing, but it seems like thats what i've been told to eat. hopefully today i will be more successful and have 2 Protein shakes.

I see my NUT on Friday, along with my surgeon. hope they can make me feel better. I know all this work is not in vain, i just want to see some results.

one sec off topic - i had laporscopic (msp) surgery, i know i have "stuff" that will dissolve, but do i also have staples to be taken out by surgeon? is this the same for all. i know i will find out friday, just curious. thanx

kathy

[UXgrrl 29]

@Felicia - I know it is so hard, doing all this work, being good, and not seeing the reward on the scale. I stalled for 6 days in my 2nd week (apparently I hit my 3 week stall early, LOL) and it was very depressing, especially since I am still adjusting to my new lifestyle. Plus I was having serious energy problems which made it difficult to get back to normal life, making it even easier to get depressed. Remember that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of adipose tissue (fat). You're being very diligent about Protein and nutrient intake; I have a theory that our bodies, right after surgery, and sucking up every ounce of nutrients and Protein we put in it and rebuilding tissue like crazy after years of sub-optimal nutrition. (I can't back this up with proof but it makes sense to me). I also read on this board somewhere that the switch from glycogen burning to fat burning requires a detox period during which your body tends to hoard a little extra Water than usual... again, can't prove this, but based on what I know about metabolism it makes sense. Plus... TMI warning... how's your poop? If I have a BM I almost always notice a lb or two drop on the scale the next day.

I did the math once... 3500 calories to lose one pound. I figured that I required 1800 calories a day to maintain my weight. I'm hovering around 600 calories a day intake... this means a 1200/day deficit. That means 1 lb every 3 days. If I'm weighing every day, I'm only going to see a loss a couple times a week. My conclusion is that I should only weigh myself once a week. So far I haven't been able to stick to that

@likasulema - Most likely you were stitched up using dissolvable stitches internally (which will just dissolve away over time) and the outside was either done with dissolvable stitches too (if you can see them) or more likely, incision glue. At least that seems to be the consensus on this board. Neither one will have to be removed by your surgeon.

[runner 53]

In another post you said that you have cheated a few times. Have you stopped cheating? (I'm trying to be helpful not critical so don't be offended)

Are you getting enough Protein? That is really important

My dr has cheese on the list of things I can never eat again I'm not sure why he thinks it's so bad, I will have to ask him at my appointment

I'm sure it will start to fall off soon. It could be the 3 week stall.

[babigrl111 38]

Felicia, I am right there with you. I lost 9 lbs in the 3 days following my surgery on December 9th, and only 1 lb since then (im 12 days post-op). Im sure its just like pdxman says, its just our bodies needing to catch up on loosing weight quickly, and we will start to lose again. Keep your head up, and feel better! I've put my scale away so i cant weigh myself daily (like i have been), and am only going to weigh myself once a week, on Fridays.

[Catracks 865]

"Remember that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of adipose tissue (fat)."

We no LOL. A pound is a pound. I think what you meant to say is that a pound of muscle is preferable to a pound of fat and that is what you are trying to replace some of the fat with. I also think that muscle is heavier by volume (i.e. a square inch of muscle is heavier than a square inch of fat).

I was reading this so I know what to expect post surgery. Now I won't be freaked out when I stall.

[Felicia 28]

@ runner, I was cheating, if that what you call it. It was in no way cheating like i used to but I was cheating none the less. I got it into my head that maybe I wasn't eating enough calories to lose weight. So yeah I was cheating but honestly I was still not even getting close to 1000 calories a day, I couldn't lol.

I am just concerned that I am doing something wrong, like maybe the cheese has too many carbs or too much fat. I'm just so fed-up with the scale not moving that I keep telling myself I MUST be doing something wrong! I am not writing what I eat down so I am going to start tallying my stuff up because I want to see if I have some problems somewhere. I hate stalls.

I keep trying to tell myself that it happens and to not be mad but I am. My poop is good LOL I try not to get too excited when I poop and lose weight though because poop will happen again and I will weigh more again.

Thanks for all your replies though I really appreciate it. I was still wondering how many carbs people are eating? Is there a magic number I should try to shoot for?

[MeMeMEEE 206]

You are getting quite a bit of exercise and sounds like your calories are low. Maybe shake it up calorie wise?

Also, keep in mind the 3 week stall everyone is mentioning.

[MeMeMEEE 206]

Just noticed you aren't tracking but are going to begin - I recommend myfitnesspal.com - lots of sleevers there and also if you have an android or iphone you can track that way too - including scanning bar codes!

[Sweetybabs 13]

I am 4 weeks post op today! I too have lost 13 pounds since surgery. You are doing everything right... so continue. Our body just went through major surgery and it has to heal. My surgeon said do not measure you success my the scale at this point..but in inches.. and he was right. The inches are coming off..even though the scale seems to be moving at a snails pace!

Also... don't forget the amount of liquids the gave us in surgery..we had to lose all of that too!

Best of luck!