Stalled for 6 weeks!

[queenwendy 121]

I had my surgery 4/23, I have lost 105lbs but I have been stalled for 6 weeks! I can't seem to get going again. I joined a gym and started exercising, I'm watching my Protein intake too and nothing is working. I do know my appetite has increased, I can definitely eat more now. It's just so frustrating! I still have 50 more pounds to lose and my year check up will be here before I know it and I feel like I'm failing!

[Bufflehead 6,358]

How many calories are you eating per day? As you lose weight, you need fewer calories to either maintain or lose, so if your calories stay the same, you may stop losing weight.

And I know it's an old saw, but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. IMO it's critical to stick with carefully planning your food intake and weighing or measuring everything so that you know exactly what you are getting. I know when I do that I have much more success. Good luck to you!

[queenwendy 121]

I'm staying around 900 calories. I Did actually loose 2 lbs this morning so that's something at least

Edited March 2, 2015 by queenwendy

[LisaLouBop 181]

105 lbs in 10 months? That's amazing!!!!!

You must be so proud of yourself, what an accomplishment.

I've lost 43 since my journey began, the last 4 lbs have been since January 2nd - 4 lbs in 8 weeks... UGH..

I'm feeling your pain with regards to the stall.

I'm going to make it through this stall and so are you...

[Bluesea71 698]

Hi Queenwendy - I got your message. I'm not sure if you put 2:2 together and realized I'm the same person who you have been chatting with in the "April 16th" thread this past year!

Here's the thing. I've had plenty of stalls along the way. I think the longest one has lasted 3 weeks. And yes, it messes with your head. During this whole process, I have been a sloooow loser. I typically haven't lost more than a pound a week the entire time! At first I used to get upset and compare myself to others. I then realized that I am on my own journey and the weight would come off on its own. Here's one thing I will say though - of those on BP who have lost over 100 pounds (with more to lose) did they do it in less than a year? The few that come to mind that I can think of took around 15 months or more to do it. Maybe it's time to reevaluate your goals. The fact that you have lost the amount of weight that you have is a HUGE accomplishment that you should be SO proud of!!!! Isn't it funny how we so easily downplay what we have lost and focus on what we still have to lose? Look at your before/current pictures?!? You're smokin' hot! For me, I think there's still that fear that I won't be successful at this journey. I think it's important for us to remember that maintaining our loss is just as important. As far as specifics you can do, try tweaking what you're eating. Reduce carbs and up your Protein uptake. I actually find that I lose less weight when I exercise. Go figure. I am adding muscle weight but boy, it sure messes with your head when you put in the effort and see ZERO results reflected on the scale! You may need to increase your calories if you're exercising a lot. I think this is where focusing on fitness is more important than what the scale says. Weight wise I'm smaller than I have been since high school but (I think) I appear much heavier because my fat/muscle ratio is out of ratio to what it was when I was last this size in high school. I'm trying to focus more on fitness and less on what the scale is reporting at this point. Which is REALLY hard to do.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Bluesea71

[katesuccess 990]

I'm in agreement with the above posters @queenwendy - and so happy for you to have made such great progress this year! Way to go!! Our stats are similar from what I can tell. I'm 5'5", and was sleeved 4/29/14 at 287lbs (53 years old - not sure about you). I'm now am 173--BUT until this past week I'd also had a stall of about 6 weeks with only maybe a half pound loss, and it was making me really frustrated. I feel your pain, girl!

You already know to LOG THAT food and PLAN, plan plan and suck down lots of Water. I keep around 750-800 calories but let myself go over with a half Protein shake if I get to the end of the day and am still under 70 grams of Protein. After that long stall I found my frustration was allowing me to get lax, and leading to thinking things like, "well, i'm not losing anyway, one more (4 more?) Hershey's kisses won't matter" -- but of course they do, and they add up fast. As soon as I started really tracking every smidgeon again and planning and disciplining myself to only have one small square of dark chocolate each night, keeping under 750, also upping the intensity of my workouts,I started to lose again, and have lost 2.5 lbs in the last week. Since I eat almost no starchy carbs I'm finding it helps my satiety to up my protein to closer to 80 gms per day too.

It's also possible that the present loss i'm experiencing is just what my body was ready to do. Studies now show that, particularly for women, that whole calories-in/calories-out thing is crap. Women apparently have far great metabolic flexibility and so our bodies efficiently adjust to living on less, so changing it up or being patient while the bod gets ready to lose again are about all that seems to factor in.

Hang in there, and don't get too bummed about it. That 105 pounds you lost is GONE, gone gone! Stop by the grocery store and check out what FIVE 20# bags of potatoes looks like in your cart -- it'll make your day! Or pick up that much weight in the gym some time, and think how incredible it is that you're not carrying that around any more.

Great job on your hard work!

Kate

[Bluesea71 698]

Queenwendy - I have been recording my loses in a journal since the beginning and went back so I could give you an accurate report of what's been going on. The closer I get to goal, the more painful and slow the process gets. Forget those days of losing 5-10 pounds a week! You may have noticed in the latest Easter challenge that I'm hoping to lose 5 pounds in the next 6 weeks. I will be lucky if I actually make that goal! I'm currently 153 and I went in my journal to see how long it took me to loose weight the last several months. I weighed 170 on 10/17/14. That means it took me 4.5 months to lose 17 pounds!!!!! I lost over 60 plus pounds the first 4.5 months post surgery! It's frustrating for sure when things start slowing down but it does happen. I now know I average about 5 pounds loss per month. What's even more frustrating is after every 1-3 pound loss is typically a stall that lasts a few weeks. I've just learned to accept it and roll with the punches!

[queenwendy 121]

Thank you bluesea71 and katesucess for the support. I have been pushing through this. All I finally did lose another 4 pounds but yes I'm saying the same again. So I totally understand what you're saying. I think I still have my fat brain, and it talk me down when I agree I should be very happy with how far I have came. Thanks again it helps a lot!

Edited April 1, 2015 by queenwendy

[jgj 29]

I feel so discouraged by my stall which has been six weeks. I am noting that I can eat a lot more and am tending to go back to my pre surgery habit of eating my stress. I feel so down about it. Any words of wisdom?