Soft Foods and Now I'm gaining:

[Monique1123 28]

Hi Everyone!

I was hoping I could get some guidance! I feel like ever since I've been told that I can eat soft foods my weight has stayed the same!! My surgery was on July 14th and 1 week later my dr approved me to start soft foods since I was recovering well. Now, one week later I got on the scale only to see that my weight is the exact same!! Now, i've already been told about the dreaded 3-week stall but mine is happening at 2 weekss 😭

Nothing has changed besides eating soft foods and usually, I can only squeeze in dinner. For 2 weeks post op, my eating schedule has been

AM Protein Shake which takes hours for me to finish.

Water

Gatorade W/ Protein

Water or Crystal light with unflavored protein water.

Dinner, eating my protein first then vegetables, and usually ONLY last a couple of bites because I'm not hungry, to begin with.

Any suggestions as to what could be going on?

[CKmommy 27]

Did you lose anything in the pre-op liquid diet? I lost about 15 and then like 10 the first week. After that it was 2 weeks before I lost anything. I called crying. They told me to just trust my body because it had just went through trauma. It is like what in the world did you just do to me?!? It will come off! Stay off google and don’t compare to other people. Stress can affect weight loss too. It gets easier!

[Monique1123 28]

Yes! I lost 12 pounds on liquid and then 13 the first week after surgery. Now I’m just stuck here 😩. It’s so frustrating cause it’s like I want to work out or do something to assist but I can’t ! It’s just discouraging when you are losing so much and then come to a stop despite doing everything right! Thanks for your response :-)!!

[ABGT500 1]

Monique,

Thank you for sharing this. I'm having the same issue, surgery on July 14, too.

Hearing both your stories is really helpful!

[CKmommy 27]

Have you ever lost that much in less than a month? I’ve had to learn to keep perspective too 😊

[John M 8]

So I've tried some rigorous diets in the past. My weight has fluctuated around 450-470 for years. Twice I've got down to 320-330lbs. Both times I basically did a self induced gastric bypass diet (not a healthy one). But basically liquids, very very little solids and a lack of nutrients. The first time I lost 120lbs in the first 6 months. I didn't step on a scale once while doing it, I just noticed my pants getting bigger. In fact I had no idea how much weight I had lost, the day I decided to check I expected to be 30-40lbs down. When I seen over a hundred pounds gone I was baffled, I thought the scale was broken. That made the next couple months very easy to continue and motivate myself to keep going. Now, again not promoting my diet of choice, it was very unhealthy. I used to joke about it being my cigarette and Water diet because I would eat soo little. So of course when I bottomed out at 320lbs and I was in the gym 5 days a week and trying to eat a 1200 calorie dietician approved diet. I was super frustrated each week when I weighed and wasn't losing any weight. Two months went by and i hit 315lbs in the morning but by evening I was back up to 320-323lbs. A cycle of endless repeat and no reward. It was probably caused by the muscle mass I lost along with the weight from not eating barely any nutrients or Protein throughout the first few months. Despite exercising and trying to regain muscle even at 1200 calories a day I was eating more than my body was burning off. Eventually I got frustrated and fell off and bounced back up to 360lbs. I was proud I kept a lot of the weight off for a good two years but I eventually went back up to 450lbs. I won't go into the second time because it was a repeat of a lot of the mistakes I made the first time. The same end result and the same discouragement that brought me back up to 470lbs. That is why I decided to go for bariatrics. Because I could lose the weight myself but I couldn't do it healthily, steadily and keep it off. Obviously the older I get the harder it gets to put your body through hell to try and be skinny.

I can't speak from post-op surgery because I'm only 1 wrek post-op. But the reasoning for my rant was to say. Both times I found the best strategy was to not weigh myself regularly. It's hard not to want to see the results, but I found discouragement was the worst remedy for trying to keep going. Starving yourself for a week or two and seeing 1lb or less just makes you feel like this isn't worth it. This is pointless or hopeless. Something isn't right. What am I doing wrong? I found the best result was when I just set my mind to what I needed to do and didn't worry about what the scale said. While I fully intend and encourage you and myself to do things healthy and not try to cheat to success. I do not plan to step on a scale unless my doctors office really needs me to, and I might even then ask not to know the results. At least for the first few months. This battle is hard enough without the constant self doubt and feelings of failure.

I wish you all the best!

[Kayla Joy 15]

So I've tried some rigorous diets in the past. My weight has fluctuated around 450-470 for years. Twice I've got down to 320-330lbs. Both times I basically did a self induced gastric bypass diet (not a healthy one). But basically liquids, very very little solids and a lack of nutrients. The first time I lost 120lbs in the first 6 months. I didn't step on a scale once while doing it, I just noticed my pants getting bigger. In fact I had no idea how much weight I had lost, the day I decided to check I expected to be 30-40lbs down. When I seen over a hundred pounds gone I was baffled, I thought the scale was broken. That made the next couple months very easy to continue and motivate myself to keep going. Now, again not promoting my diet of choice, it was very unhealthy. I used to joke about it being my cigarette and Water diet because I would eat soo little. So of course when I bottomed out at 320lbs and I was in the gym 5 days a week and trying to eat a 1200 calorie dietician approved diet. I was super frustrated each week when I weighed and wasn't losing any weight. Two months went by and i hit 315lbs in the morning but by evening I was back up to 320-323lbs. A cycle of endless repeat and no reward. It was probably caused by the muscle mass I lost along with the weight from not eating barely any nutrients or Protein throughout the first few months. Despite exercising and trying to regain muscle even at 1200 calories a day I was eating more than my body was burning off. Eventually I got frustrated and fell off and bounced back up to 360lbs. I was proud I kept a lot of the weight off for a good two years but I eventually went back up to 450lbs. I won't go into the second time because it was a repeat of a lot of the mistakes I made the first time. The same end result and the same discouragement that brought me back up to 470lbs. That is why I decided to go for bariatrics. Because I could lose the weight myself but I couldn't do it healthily, steadily and keep it off. Obviously the older I get the harder it gets to put your body through hell to try and be skinny.
I can't speak from post-op surgery because I'm only 1 wrek post-op. But the reasoning for my rant was to say. Both times I found the best strategy was to not weigh myself regularly. It's hard not to want to see the results, but I found discouragement was the worst remedy for trying to keep going. Starving yourself for a week or two and seeing 1lb or less just makes you feel like this isn't worth it. This is pointless or hopeless. Something isn't right. What am I doing wrong? I found the best result was when I just set my mind to what I needed to do and didn't worry about what the scale said. While I fully intend and encourage you and myself to do things healthy and not try to cheat to success. I do not plan to step on a scale unless my doctors office really needs me to, and I might even then ask not to know the results. At least for the first few months. This battle is hard enough without the constant self doubt and feelings of failure.

I wish you all the best!

Please keep us posted on your progress. I feel invested in your story! Thanks for sharing. I needed to hear it for my own journey.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using BariatricPal mobile app

[Arabesque 7,197]

We call it the three week stall but it can happen before or after that point. It’s just your body taking a breath & playing catch up. It’s been going through a lot - surgery, change of diet, reduced caloric intake, etc. You’ll likely experience other stalls too as you progress. Stick to your plan & you’ll start to lose again. It may take a week or 2 or 3 or so. But you will happen.

I like Dr Weiner’s videos. Hope this one helps you. (The question is a little long but the answer is great.) Good luck.

[Monique1123 28]

13 hours ago, ABGT500 said:

Monique,

Thank you for sharing this. I'm having the same issue, surgery on July 14, too.

Hearing both your stories is really helpful!

*Crosses fingers!* Hopefully our bodies will be back to losing in no time!

[Monique1123 28]

12 hours ago, John M said:

So I've tried some rigorous diets in the past. My weight has fluctuated around 450-470 for years. Twice I've got down to 320-330lbs. Both times I basically did a self induced gastric bypass diet (not a healthy one). But basically liquids, very very little solids and a lack of nutrients. The first time I lost 120lbs in the first 6 months. I didn't step on a scale once while doing it, I just noticed my pants getting bigger. In fact I had no idea how much weight I had lost, the day I decided to check I expected to be 30-40lbs down. When I seen over a hundred pounds gone I was baffled, I thought the scale was broken. That made the next couple months very easy to continue and motivate myself to keep going. Now, again not promoting my diet of choice, it was very unhealthy. I used to joke about it being my cigarette and Water diet because I would eat soo little. So of course when I bottomed out at 320lbs and I was in the gym 5 days a week and trying to eat a 1200 calorie dietician approved diet. I was super frustrated each week when I weighed and wasn't losing any weight. Two months went by and i hit 315lbs in the morning but by evening I was back up to 320-323lbs. A cycle of endless repeat and no reward. It was probably caused by the muscle mass I lost along with the weight from not eating barely any nutrients or Protein throughout the first few months. Despite exercising and trying to regain muscle even at 1200 calories a day I was eating more than my body was burning off. Eventually I got frustrated and fell off and bounced back up to 360lbs. I was proud I kept a lot of the weight off for a good two years but I eventually went back up to 450lbs. I won't go into the second time because it was a repeat of a lot of the mistakes I made the first time. The same end result and the same discouragement that brought me back up to 470lbs. That is why I decided to go for bariatrics. Because I could lose the weight myself but I couldn't do it healthily, steadily and keep it off. Obviously the older I get the harder it gets to put your body through hell to try and be skinny.

I can't speak from post-op surgery because I'm only 1 wrek post-op. But the reasoning for my rant was to say. Both times I found the best strategy was to not weigh myself regularly. It's hard not to want to see the results, but I found discouragement was the worst remedy for trying to keep going. Starving yourself for a week or two and seeing 1lb or less just makes you feel like this isn't worth it. This is pointless or hopeless. Something isn't right. What am I doing wrong? I found the best result was when I just set my mind to what I needed to do and didn't worry about what the scale said. While I fully intend and encourage you and myself to do things healthy and not try to cheat to success. I do not plan to step on a scale unless my doctors office really needs me to, and I might even then ask not to know the results. At least for the first few months. This battle is hard enough without the constant self doubt and feelings of failure.

I wish you all the best!

Thank you so much for your response!

When I saw that I was losing weight daily, it kind of got addictive. Now it has completely backfired since I'm staying at the same weight and completely discouraged me. However, I can agree with CKmommy since this is the lowest I've been in 4 years and I've never lost 20 pounds in a month before. I think I will try a new approach of weighing every Wednesday or just feeling how my clothes fit me.

[Monique1123 28]

12 hours ago, Arabesque said:

We call it the three week stall but it can happen before or after that point. It’s just your body taking a breath & playing catch up. It’s been going through a lot - surgery, change of diet, reduced caloric intake, etc. You’ll likely experience other stalls too as you progress. Stick to your plan & you’ll start to lose again. It may take a week or 2 or 3 or so. But you will happen.

I like Dr Weiner’s videos. Hope this one helps you. (The question is a little long but the answer is great.) Good luck.

Thank you! This was very helpful!!