I need help - 1 yr out but 6-mos stall and not at goal

[songsmith 334]

I don't know what to do. I had the VSG 02/15/2016 and lost fine right after surgery (though slowly). That was okay. I've historically been a slow loser and I'm 56 and was right at 40BMI (SW was 235). Right now I fluctuate between 181 and 177.

For SIX MONTHS. I've been at the same weight range for SIX MONTHS.

I'm moderately active (walking) because of leg injuries.

I drink at least 64 oz. of Water a day and get in my Protein (and basically follow a low-carb diet with around 50 carbs per day).

If I eat over 700-800 calories I gain.

I'm afraid of slowing down my metabolism by eating so few calories. My surgeon's dietitian doesn't seem to care. I feel like I need to shock my system to get it started. I'm afraid to up my calories to see if that does it because I sure as hell don't want to shoot over that 181. I'm so afraid of gaining the weight back at this stage. My goal is 140-150.

What are people six months or more post-op doing? I thought I understood dieting, but I'm at the end of my rope.

Oh, and I have no thyroid (cancer) and take synthroid for the hormone replacement.

Thanks in advance.

[Jesm1029 101]

I think your calorie intake is to low I consume 1000-1200 calories and I would try to up my excersize I also get about 80grams of Protein in this has all helped me break through stalls

[songsmith 334]

Thanks. I'm so scared to up my calories. I get between 50-80 g Protein a day depending on what I eat. Any suggestions for exercise I can do when I can't use my legs much? (Doctor glares at me otherwise.)

I guess I needed someone to tell me to try to take in more fuel and that I won't balloon up to where I was. I've never had problems with stalls prior to surgery except when my thyroid decided to turn into Mothra! I was always able to break them.

Any idea about how long I should give it to see if that solution works.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Have you really been eating 700-800 calories a day for a whole year? You kill your metabolism with low calories.

If your calories are that low, your calories for carbs are way to high,

Eat only dense Protein for a week. NO carbs. See what happens. Then keep your carbs to under 25.

Only eat real food. NO Protein Bars, no shakes. Just dense protein.

Also find some place to have your RMR tested so you know how many calories you can eat.

Edited April 5, 2017 by OutsideMatchInside

[songsmith 334]

Pretty sure I have. I went off over the holidays and gained about 10 pounds. I had stopped logging, so went back to eating as I had and started logging and weighing again. I was eating the same things I had before in (I think) same amounts. Lost the weight gain. Then have only maintained since then.

I didn't realize how long this had been going on because I had a bad thyroid (cancer) for a long time before my surgery and had experienced long, long stalls because of that. I guess I was used to it, so it didn't register this shouldn't still happen. Then, like I said, I screwed up over the Holidays.

But, yes, basically since about July I have been at the same weight (other than the 10-pound gain and subsequent loss). It's possible my portions were larger before the holidays I guess, but I really don't think so.

I get all my Protein from real food and don't do shakes or bars because I'm cheap. I eat veggies and the occasional fruit (no more than 1 oz.) with Greek yogurt for Breakfast. I don't eat bread or rice or potatoes or sugary stuff.

Two mistakes I pinpointed was drinking Fairlife milk with my Decaf in an effort to get in more protein (I forgot about the calories involved) and eating too much cheese when we didn't have other protein in the house. I have cut out cheese because that's so high in calories and I don't think it was helping me. Also stopped the milk. Right now I'm trying to decide between upping calories, staying this low or trying to reset my sleeve.

So, it's possible I was consuming more calories than I thought even though I wasn't "eating" a lot. But in my tracking of food I have noted I just can't seem to lose if I go over the 800 mark.

[Kiba 47]

Same issues happened with me, had my metabolism tested, it was INSANELY low, trying to re-educate my body to sustaining a normal lifestyle of 1200 calories but I haven't lost a pound and am constantly active. One of the main issues I've read with this surgery is lots of people lose the weight from the forced healing process of eating SO little -- once your fully healed, you can eat more but your metabolism doesn't understand what happened.