Month long stall...then gain!

[avatarkorraa 4]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some advice/support with regards to my eating habits and dealing with a stall. I'm 9 months post op VSG and I had my surgery on Sept 16th 2016. My highest weight ever was 310 pounds, my surgery consult weight was 285 pounds, and I was 265 pounds the day of surgery after the pre-op liquid diet. I'm now 183 pounds for a total loss of 102 pounds since my pre-op liquid diet, and 82 pounds since the day of my surgery. My goal weight is 150 pounds and I'm 5' 7".

Now I'm not new to stalls at all - I've gone through every stall in the book so far. I've had major stalls at 3 weeks post op, 1 month post op, 3 months post op, 6 months post op, and now here I am stalling again at 9 months post op. But what has me really worried this time is that I thought I had finally broke my stall a few weeks ago but my weight shot back up again today, and I even gained weight!

I've been stuck at 183 pounds since the beginning of June, but I weighed in two weeks ago at 178 and I was thrilled. I had been eating 600-800 calories a day, 70-100 grams of Protein, and below 20 grams of net carbs (most days being around 15). I thought I had broken through my stall but after seeing 178 that one time, I weighed in over the next few days around 180-181 even though my eating habits didn't change. I got really frustrated and told myself I'd do a little experiment...I thought maybe I wasn't eating enough, and even my nutritionist advised me to increase my calories and carbs because I've been eating this way since the very beginning post op. Starting last Friday, I tried for one week to eat 900 calories a day, still keeping between 70-100 grams of protein, increasing my Water intake to over 64oz a day, and eating slightly higher carbs (below 30 net carbs per day) to try and break the stall. (By net carbs I mean I subtract both sugar alcohols and Fiber from my total carb count). So I did that for a week and promised not to weigh myself for the whole week until again next Friday, and lo and behold when I weighed myself today I gained weight and am now back at 183 pounds! I don't know if I'm losing inches because I don't measure myself - but my clothes size has stayed the same and I feel like my progress pics since last month look the same. :/ Maybe that's just me though and I'm psyching myself out, but I'm feeling so upset and frustrated and depressed, I don't know what to do!

I weigh and measure everything I eat down to the gram and track everything on myfitnesspal everyday. I eat clean - no ice cream, pizza, chips, etc. or other junk whatsoever. Some staples in my diet are Premier Protein shakes, chicken, shrimp, low fat cheeses, nuts, low fat greek yogurt, protein granola, Peanut Butter, and eggs. I always stick to non-starchy veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, brussel sprouts, cucumber, green Beans, and spinach. Things I eat occasionally are half a slice of a high fibre/high protein low carb pita or loaf, a Protein Bar on long days at work where I do some heavy lifting for an extra boost, or a high fibre/high protein muffin cake (Smartcakes) sweetened with erythritol as a treat (just tried these very recently though - while they have good stats I don't know if I'll continue to buy them or avoid).

During my little 'experiment' this week, I increased my carbs mainly from healthy sources: small amounts of strawberries, high fibre whole grain cereals, and lots more veggies like broccoli and cucumber. I ate more frequently in the day by adding an extra snack or small meal to up my calories to 900 a day, but I never eat less than 3 hours apart. I never eat and drink at the same time and always wait at least 30 minutes between drinking and eating. On days I'm low in fibre I'll add fibre-enhanced crystal lite to my water to get in enough fibre each day as well (still can't tolerate plain water yet sadly - makes me really nauseous). I cook using cooking spray to make sure I'm using as limited amounts of oil as possible. I take my PPI, Multivitamin, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3 + Calcium supplements everyday as well.

Here is myfitnesspal account where I have my food diary visible, so any advice on what I'm eating would be really appreciated: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/avatarkorraa

As for exercise, that's been a bit of a challenge because I've been experiencing some severe chronic fatigue and muscle weakness ever since my surgery. I feel really exhausted, light-headed, dizzy, and weak all of the time, and even simple tasks like walking up the stairs has become more much challenging since surgery. I know people are supposed to feel like they have much more energy after WLS, but sadly for me it's been quite the opposite (and I'm very young too to boot - only 21 years old). I don't know if this is because I'm not eating enough or because of some other underlying health problem, though. My labs are all perfect but I do suffer from PCOS sadly, and I have pretty low blood pressure. I'm not completely sedentary though - my job requires me to do some moderate heavy lifting once a week (which is difficult to do in the state I'm in now but I try my best) and I'm certainly not housebound or anything as I'm always out and about running errands. I really do want to implement some sort of formal exercise program into my daily routine though, but sadly I have next to no energy all the time and my muscles and joints are in a lot of pain everyday. Eating closer to 900 calories this week helped me feel a little more energized, but not by much. In the meantime I'm following up with my doctor to see if there's something I can do about this so I can start exercising soon, because I really want to .

Anyways, any advice/support would be really appreciated! I really want to reach my goal of 150lbs but it's so hard not to get discouraged during times like this. Seeing the scale shoot back up to 183 pounds today really scares me and I just don't know where to go from here, and I'm honestly too terrified to eat anything now. Thank you so much for reading and I wish you all the best on your respective journeys!

Edited June 30, 2017 by avatarkorraa

[Joann454 1,329]

Dang, it sounds like you're doing everything right. Have you had your thyroid levels checked? TSH?
I'm pretty new so I don't have much advice. Sure looks like you're doing everything to the letter.

[LittleLizzieLilliput 919]

It looks like you are following the full protocol. At this point I agree that you might want to discuss this with your doctor. There could be something else going on. Especially with such low energy. You should be high energy now. Thyroid, Iron, etc. All that stuff needs to be checked.

Good luck, I hope you guys are able to figure this out quickly!

[Introversion 1,876]

1 hour ago, avatarkorraa said:

I tried for one week to eat 900 calories a day

Take my advice and use it (or discard) as you wish.

The last time I ate in the 900-calorie-a-day range was about 4 months post-op. I increased my caloric intake in a stair-step pattern and stayed off the scale while I did it.

Months 1 to 4: up to 800 calories a day

Months 5 to 6: up to 1200 calories a day

Months 7 to 9: up to 1500 calories a day

Months 10 to 12: up to 1700 calories a day

Months 13 to 18: up to 1800 calories a day

I am 2 years and 2 months post-op and eat in the 2000 to 2300 range per day. I weigh 118 pounds and have maintained that weight for nearly one year. I only weighed myself once a month during my weight loss phase.

Your body will stall long and hard if you don't give it what it needs. 900 calories a day is inadequate for someone who's nearly a year out.

Quote

There are different “zones” of calorie intake covering everything from weight gain to weight loss, the most dangerous of which if the fourth zone, called the “red zone,” “starvation zone” or “under-eating zone.”

This fourth zone isn’t efficient when it comes to weight loss. “When one eats so few calories that they enter this ‘starvation zone’ (for most people that means eating anything below 1300 calories per day), the body starts to slow down as a protective mechanism against potentially fatal side effects. This slow-down gets worse as time goes by, so after only a few days of low-cal eating, your body will already feel the effects of decreased resting energy expenditure–or basal metabolic rate–and less efficient calorie burn. Your body can even start to store, or hoard, the calories in case this starvation state persists.” Even further, that 1300 calorie per day minimum is only a baseline–if you exercise vigorously for more than three hours per week, you’ll have to up that number a bit.

http://www.eatthis.com/unexpected-reason-youre-not-losing-weight

[thisisthenewme 358]

Hi there, wow you are really working it girl. And congratulations on your hard work thus far!
Couple of things: I agree with the last post. 900 cal's a day seems like way to low. Your dietitian is ok with that? At 3 months out I'm sure they told me I should be eating 1200. I eat about 1300-1450 a day and I'm very satisfied. I eat basically whatever I want. But I'm also gluten and dairy free due to severe food sensitivities. I just came out of a long (4-5 week) stall and all I did was try to increase Protein and be more mindful of exercise. I've been doing 20 min cardio walk on my treadmill a couple times a week and family walks couple nights a week too. Honestly I don't workout very much, just try to stay active. I've lost 2lbs the last two weeks! I'll be 10 months out on July 3 and I've lost 89lbs.
I agree that you also need to find the reason for being so tired. And could possibly be the lack of calories [emoji20]
I'd also like to mention. Be careful about your goal. I'm 39 and twice in my life I was able to get to where I am now, 203-205lbs. This weight actually looks 'good' on me, as I carry weight well, and could probably be happy here forever. The two times before I wanted to be 175 and kept fighting and fighting. Not realizing in the moment I was happy the way I was. This time is different as I'm really confident I will keep losing as losing weight has never been this easy, but honestly, anything after this weeks weigh in will be icing on the cake! I've never been under 200lbs in my adult life.
Maybe take a little break from weight loss and just work on your energy levels. You're so young and have lots of time! Don't be so hard on yourself.
Keep up the hard work and I hope it all works out for you!

[Greensleevie 451]