Frustrated At 8 Weeks Post-Op

[carriecat 12]

I know everyone goes thru stalls...I've already had a few. And, I am down 43 lbs. since my very first doc visit on March 30th when I started this journey. However, I'm not sure I'm buying the whole 'your body goes into starvation mode' excuse anymore. I know 43 is a lot, and I'm not trying to say I'm failing. I just don't understand how I can go from eating way too much food like I had been for 30 years to eating just a few bites and not lose even 1 lb. during the week. The last 2 weeks I have started walking about an hour every day in the heat and humidity. I come home from my walk soaking wet with sweat. I just don't get how I can make such a drastic change to my eating habits and exercising and stay the same from one week to the next.

A friend of mine had the sleeve 2 weeks before I did and she's almost down 10 lbs more than me. She doesn't work and has time during her day to cook and prepare and exercise, but I think I'm still doing ok with working full time and taking care of the kids and their activities. I just don't see how it's physically possible NOT to lose every week. I get that we sleevers don't lose as quickly as bypass people, but it should still be something.

Again, I'm very happy about losing the 43, I just thought it wouldn't be as frustrating. I know this is the new life I'm living, and not reversible, but I just am frustrated and so confused. I'm drinking my shakes, eating Protein, some carbs, but even if I have a 1/2 of a wrap, I'm not eating the whole thing plus fries anymore. I just don't get it. Can anyone explain to me how it's possible????

Thanks guys!

[ShannonK 266]

I understand your frustration! I think of how MUCH I ate before - and when I stalled at 2 weeks out for 10 DAYS!! - it felt unbearable!! I think we just have to look at the NSV - how do you feel? Look at your Water intake and know you ARE doing better than before. I think I am like you, I sometimes can't believe this is ACTUALLY going to work for me....because I failed at everything else concerning my weight! I am TRYING to weigh only once a week, and be thankful for the weight I have lost and how much better I feel.....you will be fine.....good luck!

[flipflop 28]

I feel the same way! I'm only 12 days out and have been stuck for three days! Hard to understand...

[MinaT 669]

I don't understand it myself. I'm 9 weeks and I went another week without losing, after going 1-1/2 weeks going up and down a pound, up 2, down 2 the next day.

My son went through everything that I have been eating and I'm between 450-600 was my max calories a day. I'm doing the gazelle an hour a day, swimming 1-2 hours, going to for walks. I'm staying at 20-30 carbohydrates a day (sometimes less) 60-70 Protein.

Yesterday was my birthday and my husband and son kept nagging me about getting ice cream or yogurt and my son said listen Mom, you are doing everything right and it's like before, when you would diet hard and we would go out to eat and you would blow your diet and end up losing weight. Eat some no sugar added frozen yogurt and you will weigh 2 pounds less tomorrow.

I don't know why I said yes to them. I haven't cheated once on this diet, I don't even allow myself the sugar-free puddings anymore, I get almost all my carbs with my Protein shakes or vegetables. I said yes. I went to bed literally frustrated that I ate 1/4 cup of no sugar added FroYo (which tasted not that great) but they were happy with their chocolate and I was mad that so they could treat themselves, I had to agree to have some, otherwise I wouldn't eat it. I told them no more of this, because if they want yogurt, ice cream etc. it's up to them, but stop bringing me into it. They both felt bad, something I promised I would not do to them, because let's face facts, this is my journey and they have been supporting me but they shouldn't have to go without because I have to.

Well, guess what....I weigh two pounds less today and I was still under 600 calories yesterday and only hit 30 grams of carbs.

It makes zero sense. It makes no sense when it says "you are in starvation mode" on myfitnesspal.com It makes no sense that consistently, for the past 6 weeks I have had a deficit in my calories vs. exercise and yet I am not losing as fast as I want to.

What I can tell you is this though, bones are appearing where there was just chub, my arms are getting tight, the middle of my back is getting a chiseled dip and I look smaller, my clothes are hanging different this week than last week.

It messes with my head a bit. I give a lot of pep talks to people that post the "I am failing" especially when people tell themselves enough they are failures, they can find ways to actually fail, they give up and I won't give up and I don't want others to give up. I can't say I'm a failure at this, because I know eventually the weight will fall off and I worked too hard to fail.

Our biggest issue is using the scale consistently as a judge, jury and sometimes executioner to our self-esteem.

I moved the scale from the bathroom (which gets kicked and moved and the steam in there and every time I brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, before a shower before bed I wanted to hop on it. Seeing the weight gain from first thing in the am or throughout the day would cause my head to spin. I don't have the discipline to not reweigh myself when it's in my face, so I moved the scale to my spare bedroom. I weigh once a day, I get up, after my first Pee, I go in the spare room, shut the door, take off my nightgown and weight, so it's only once a day and it's upped my mood a bit.

Look at the whole picture, it's so easy to judge your success to someone elses. How many people look at my "total" weight loss and think wow, look at all she lost and she had surgery in June...I lost 10 pounds a month Pre-approval. If you look at my overall weight loss, guess what....it still equates to about 10 pounds a month. I started the plan in November had surgery in June and we're in August now! I lost faster after surgery (because I had to lose all that Water weight from the IV etc.) but we all got so used to that 1 or 2 pounds a day the first week and now, our body has to readjust.

I promise you, if you keep getting in your nutrtion, drink your 64 ounces of Water, chart your cals. carb. Protein and you do the right thing, the inches will fall off, if you add exercise into the mix, the fat will fall off and be replaced by lean muscle, and eventually the scale will reflect this.

I will reread this next time I start to wig out about the stupid scale.

Good luck.

[Back~To~Amy 307]

I'm sorry you are frustrated right now. Please try and remember that this is your journey and your journey is unique to you. It is really hard not to compare your weight loss with others. I know. I'm 9 weeks out and still struggle with that.

Your weight loss/gain really is all about your body and technical things probably way beyond anything we could ever understand. I weigh every day without fail. However, I only record my weight every Monday. When I weighed in on July 30th, I was up 2 pounds. What did I do "wrong" that week? Absolutely nothing. I wasn't happy, but it happens. However, when I weighed in this past Monday, I was down 5.6. What did I do different from the week I gained? Absolutely nothing. It is just how my body is processing my eating habits. If you think about it, it really is just crazy "body stuff" going on. You can wake up and lose 2 pounds over night. Could you really do that? No, not really. It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a pound so a 7000 calorie deficit to lose 2 pounds. So without a TON of exercise, you can't lose 2 pounds overnight. Again, it is just the body doing what it does.

Try and look at the big picture. If there is nothing medically from keeping tyou from losing weight (and it doesn't appear there is), the weight will come off at some point if you are following a healthy, low calorie diet and exercising.

Hang in there! Best of luck to you as you continue your journey.

[geno5150 168]

_{The human body is a really amazing invention. Contrary to what common sense would tell you, the metabolic process is much more complex than calories in vs. calories burned. It will average out to that over time, but there is a lot of action going on in your body all the time- not all of it is burning excess fat.}

_{The body is also very adaptable, so having it trained to eat a ridiculous mount of food for 30 years and then suddenly stop doing that does cause the body to try and preserve itself, i.e. "starvation mode" until it has no choice but to start burning excess fat to survive. While these transitions take place, and it will happen a lot as it takes tiem to retrain the body after 30 years of doing it the "wrong" way, you will experience stalls. As long as the stalls don't last for months at a time, you don't have anything to worry about.}

_{You also should not compare you weight loss to anyone else, unless they are your identical twin and have the exact same diet and activity level. Everyone is different and the only barometer you need is how you look in the mirror. If it looks better every month, then you are doing OK.}

[AJDuke 39]

Just a thought.... I have not had surgery yet, still waiting on insurance approval. But I do know that muscle weighs more than fat. If you have started exercising maybe some of the fat is coming off and you are putting on lean muscles. Have you tried measuring yourself to see if you are loosing inches? Just a thought.

[carriecat 12]

Thanks everyone......I know in my head that this happens, but it just seems impossible. I never did any measurements prior to surgery, so I have nothing to compare it to. Never thought about the muscle thing. I didn't think walking would build up that much muscle.

Thanks for the positive comments and I'm glad I'm not the only thinking that I somehow broke my new stomach. LOL.

Hopefully I will be able to come on here Sunday and post a loss on my tracker!

[JD7176 84]

I'm right here with you and this isn't the first post I've seen lately for folks around 8-9 weeks. I've been stalled for 2 weeks, even gained a pound (I weigh 2x a week). I'm frustrated, somewhat angry, disappointed, but I'm trying to keep the faith.

[fattymcfatterson 107]

Ok, as an upcoming sleever, I have a question. Will those of you who are in a stall or frustrated do some math for me and post it please? I would LOVe to see what your AVERAGE pounds per week lost is. I am working on my goals and my goal is to average 2 lbs per week, which is what is recommended to help prevent excessive loose skin. It's a healthy goal for any other form of weight loss, so it is what I plan on using. Just curious as to what your expectations are versus a healthy losing average. Thank you!!

[JD7176 84]

Ok, as an upcoming sleever, I have a question. Will those of you who are in a stall or frustrated do some math for me and post it please? I would LOVe to see what your AVERAGE pounds per week lost is. I am working on my goals and my goal is to average 2 lbs per week, which is what is recommended to help prevent excessive loose skin. It's a healthy goal for any other form of weight loss, so it is what I plan on using. Just curious as to what your expectations are versus a healthy losing average. Thank you!!

I'm 8 weeks post op, have lost 35 so thats a little over 4lbs/week average. I'm happy about what I've lost at well, but when you're losing, losing, losing and then it stops it's kinda hard to take. It's almost like all the other diets you've tried, been successful for a short time and then failed. I know that this won't fail if I do what I'm supposed to do, but it is a hard wait.

[tlaff79 117]

I am 9 weeks out and have lost 55 lbs so an average of 6 lbs a week. I know that's a pretty good number but somehow I thought it would be faster than this....sigh but I will keep on keeping on!

[Back~To~Amy 307]

I'm 9 weeks out. Including my 2 week preop diet, I've lost a total of 49 pounds. So over am 11 week period, my average weight loss is 4.45 pounds per week.

[Toomanytacos 251]

On 8/8/2012 at 9:10 AM, geno5150 said:

_{The human body is a really amazing invention. Contrary to what common sense would tell you, the metabolic process is much more complex than calories in vs. calories burned. It will average out to that over time, but there is a lot of action going on in your body all the time- not all of it is burning excess fat.}

_{The body is also very adaptable, so having it trained to eat a ridiculous mount of food for 30 years and then suddenly stop doing that does cause the body to try and preserve itself, i.e. "starvation mode" until it has no choice but to start burning excess fat to survive. While these transitions take place, and it will happen a lot as it takes tiem to retrain the body after 30 years of doing it the "wrong" way, you will experience stalls. As long as the stalls don't last for months at a time, you don't have anything to worry about.}

_{You also should not compare you weight loss to anyone else, unless they are your identical twin and have the exact same diet and activity level. Everyone is different and the only barometer you need is how you look in the mirror. If it looks better every month, then you are doing OK.}

I have to ask. IT's driving me crazy when I see HUGE weight loss numbers such as yours. There is only a one month span of time from your surgery date to when you posted this. And it says you lost like 111 pounds. PLEASE tell me you didn't lose that much in a month or two. Because if so, I will cry. Did you lose some of that, and if so how much BEFORE surgery? How much time did you lose that 111 pounds?