I Am So Discouraged

[wanttolose32 15]

I am 4 1/2 weeks out from my sleeve surgery, I am at a stall right now and will not seem to kick start. It has been over a week. Now mind you, I am not expecting it to drop off suddenly, but I figured maybe a little more than it has and my worst fear is that it will noit start back. I have been trying to get all my Protein in everyday. I am still working on my willpower, Yesterday a rep brought ravioli and it was so good but as I am eating it I knew this was not a good choice. I can not seem to get out of my bad habits and it is frustrating me, I want to be good and lose weight and be healthy and have babies and get off all my medication butt even with this wonderful tool, I can not get myself straight and I know that is what is stalling me. I have started walking a mile everyday so I feel like that is helping. I try not to weight myself all the time but every couple a days I can help it. Please I need some incouragement or advice or something. I want to cry.

[brandymarie81 108]

We all go through stalls. Just remember that when you are stalled your body is still changing. When I hit my stall weeks I notice that is when I actually start looking slimmer. It will happen. I promise. I am not as good as I should be all the time...but I am still losing. I did this to get healthier and still enjoy food like I used to...well mostly...I eat much smaller portions...I also eat my Protein first..noone is saying that you cant eat things that you enjoy, just do it in moderation. Example: I went on a date last night with my son...we went to Chili's and I ordered a salad...ate the chicken off of it...and few bites of lettuce and I was done...I had a coupon for a free desert (chocolate molten) so we ordered it..I had 2 bites of it and was totally satisfied. I woke up this morning with a .6 drop on the scale. Could it have been more? yes. Was it worth spending that wonderful evening focused on my son? yes. The other thing that you have to keep in mind is drinking your Water. I don't get in the 64oz that I know I should..but I get in 40 of straight water and then the rest of the day I drink tea. I will choke down those 40oz of straight water to the point where I think I am drowning...but I know I have to do it. My reward is the tea I get to drink for the rest of the evening. Have my habits changed? YES. Do I still enjoy the things I used to? HECK YES.

[Bubbaloo10 55]

I had surgery right about the same time as you (April 16). You're down 36 lbs and I am down 38. I weigh every day (yeah, I know I'm not supposed to) and I've seen a steady loss each day until this morning when I was the same weight as yesterday. I'm not worried if that happens, and neither should you. We all know we will hit stalls at various places along the line. It goes with the territory. However long it takes you to break out of the stall, don't worry. Just keep working the program, get all your calories and most important 70+ Proteins per day. Exercise will help, as much as you can do without landing in a smoking heap on the floor. You're doing fine. About that ravioli....I find that a little ravioli or spaghetti about once a week helps to keep the calories up. If I stay strictly to a bariatric specific food program, I don't get enough calories, so I don't think it's a bad thing. If you have to have something like that from time to time, go ahead and enjoy it. My rule of thumb for a blowout meal like that is this: less than 300 calories (easy to do when eating only 4 oz. per serving), less than 1/3 fat, and at least a few grams of Protein. You can always make up the protein with a diet shake or whatever you do for protein. Don't beat yourself up. You are doing fine.

[LadyIvy 159]

I have been in a stall for a week now, so I understand how you feel. However, I have lost another 2 inches all over my body in that week. It is very frustrating, but we are making a major lifestyle change. This doesn't mean binge dieting, it means making the healthy choice 95% of the time. I don't know about you but in the past I managed to lose some weight by torturing myself with every rule in the book. In the end it always failed because I finally snapped and just went overboard. If it makes you feel any better. I was sleeved April 9th and am only down 27 lbs. I know I am doing well, my body just likes to be slow. Its why I needed the surgery in the first place. I get between 700 and 900 cals a day and do 5 30-40 minute work outs a week. Since this stall has lasted a while, I decided to flip things around a bit to break it. If you google weight plateau, you will find a lot about your body quickly adjusting to a certain diet or set of activities and how you have to convince it to shift back into weight loss mode. Lots of great ideas on the net. There is absolutely NO WAY you will not get smaller if you keep doing what you are doing. The human body is amazingly adaptable and sometimes that works against us. Take a few days break from the scale and examine your habits so you can switch some behaviors around and shock your body into responding again. I tell myself every day, after I break through this stall, the weight loss is going to go quickly again.

[Grateful05 8]

I too needed advice from this post. I am going to increase the amount of Water and Proteins I am getting. When I was trying to get in 64 oz of Water I felt bad everyday but the weight was continuously coming off. I walked over 2 miles today. I too had surgery on April 16th. I was told that I could increase my food intake to 3 1/2 cups per day. I realized yesterday that is too much. I will however stay on the Protein shakes and lots of water and Decaf tea. I really hate sugar substitutes all of them have after taste to me. Maybe I'll go agave, honey or plain when making my tea.

Sorry got off topic. Anyway be encouraged you have dropped more pounds than I have and this surgery is too serious to give up so quickly. We can make and it feels good to speak with others that understand.

[Ambly 0]

The thing I tell myself when I think "I've ONLY lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks?" is that there will be less loose skin to deal with later on if Im not losing at an extremely rapid pace. Im happy that the scale keeps going down, unlike before the surgery. Before, when I would have a mini panic attack every time I had to get weighed at the doctor and saw my weight steadily creeping up each time. You're doing just fine, try not to compare your weight loss to others' and keep focused on your progress through this journey.

[Musharooni 62]

Try focusing on what other good things are going on in your world because of your decision. I am weeks away from walking a mile, but I know physically I am so much better off than I was pre op. I can climb the stairs at work without wheezing like a dying 98 year old man, I am moving faster and my general health is better all around. So I know you have to be feeling better if you are putting in a mile a day.

I have found that we need to find something else to focus on besides food. When those bad choices are there, don't allow your brain to take you to the good guy/bad guy place--you know where you have the good guy fighting the bad guy in your head over eating the things we shouldn't. Focus instead on the positive things that will happen if you don't indulge. Surprisingly, the amount of time you spend obsessing over the bad will gradually lessen if you work with your tool.

If you do take a wrong step, don't let it dominate you and especially don't let it give you reason to throw in the towel. Get up, dust yourself off, and start over.

Remember--YOU ARE THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR SHIP & THE MASTER OF YOUR DESTINY. You can do this!!!

[dianac29045 2]

You could try to do 2 Protein Shakes and a small dinner for.a.few days and change your work out for those same few days. had a buddy that did that.when his.weight lose stalled. sorry for all the periods, my phone is dumb. also, if you have a smart phone, there is an app called My Fitness Pal, you can log your food each day and it gels you if you eat like that every day for five weeks how much you would lose or gain.

[sylviajara 2]

I learned that eating only protien , 4to5 times a day ,and protien shakes along with Water, helps me get out of the stall. The dr says the more time u eat a day helps loose the lbs, so I eat chicken alot.

[wanttolose32 15]

You guys, this has been so helpful and encouraging and inspiring. Thank you so much. I am going to keep doing what I am doing, up my Protein Shakes and keep walking and just give it time. I appreciate this so much you will never know. I love this site, the overwhelming support gets me through each day. Thanks again.