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A previous nutritionist I worked with, used to do this. Every 3 days, you will do 3 days with a lower calorie intake, and the 4th day, you will up by 200 calories, and it seemed to work at that time. My other nutritionist (yes, I have a few attempts ) will do carb cycling where you consumed more carbs one day/week and then lowered it.

Sorry you're dealing with this. Sounds like your team has ruled out most of the physical issues. but I wanted to throw a few more things out there that might be worth considering: Have you ever been evaluated for sleep apnea? This disease can absolutely wipe you out physically if left untreated. It would be odd for it to start post-surgery, but maybe it was masked before for some reason and you've had it for a while? Obviously eating a severely restricted diet means you're not getting a lot of calories in. Now this is as designed to drive weight loss, but your body should adapt to that and use fat to fuel your cellular processes. This should mean, if everything is working properly, that you get plenty of energy from the chemical decomposition of fat. Depending on what specifically you're eating, there could be something going on diet related here that may not have that process working as designed. Your gut microbiome is often overlooked as a source of issues, primarily because it's not well understood by physicians. What I mean here is that it's possible you don't really have the proper balance of good bacteria in your gut to deal with what I assume has been a significant shift in how you eat. At the very least, adding in both prebiotics and probiotics could help shift your microbiome in the right direction. This one will sound bad, but it's possible this is psychosomatic. If you're not familiar with the concept, the mind is an extremely powerful thing and can absolutely make you feel like you're exhausted, even when there's no physical cause. This does not mean you're crazy, or faking it, or anything like that. The physical manifestations of psychosomatic illness are very real. FYI, stress is a huge driver of this process, so working on stress reduction would be a good first step. If needed, there are even doctors and therapists that specialize in treating psychosomatic diseases.

Hi, I am 8.5 years post-op. I've needed IV iron infusions 2x now and am likely going to need them again now. I see a reproductive endocrinologist (trying to freeze my eggs) who put me on synthroid for hypothyroidism. I also have fibromyalgia. I never lost nearly as much as I wanted to with DS but also started grad school within 6 months of getting the surgery and then lost both my parents within 3 years of each other and starting school. So it's been a challenging 8 years! I'm now refocusing on losing weight and my health (both physical and mental health!) and making that my sole focus for the next 6 months as I was laid off. I'm working out, going to therapy, counting calories, and seeing a slew of doctors. Happy to be a sounding board and cheerleader to you as you navigate things!

I just came out of a 4 week stall. I added weight training, really paid attention to my calories and carbs (added up and wrote everything down...you would be surprised how even healthy food and drinks have calories and carbs we don't even think about) and I changed up my workout a bit. And then my stall broke and I even finally made it out of the 300's.

Yay, glad that things are going well! I have not warmed up any of my premier drinks, I should try that! I have added it to decaf coffee as a creamer, but your idea sounds awesome. My taste buds keep changing per week it seems. This week I like sf raspberry lemonade for my cold drink and apple cinnamon tea as my hot. I've also tried a few fairlife protein shakes and I might be leaning towards liking them more than premier even though I love premier. Mostly its because its less thick and so far I haven't gotten the occasional chunk of protein in my drink. I've been in a stall now for almost 3 weeks so not fun at all. I saw my dr, dietitian and exercise specialist and they all said I have done everything right and hitting all protein and water goals so the only thing to do is to increase calories until the stall breaks. So they want me to get to 900 to 1000 a day, I was at around 750. Its so hard for my brain to wrap around that since my whole life I've been told that to lose weight you need to eat less and exercise more. I do understand the stall too and that my body is very good at protecting itself. So I'm going to listen to the experts and just be patient and I know it will pass. Just sad because I was already a slow loser and now I've lost only 4 pounds in almost a month. How is everyone else doing?

Sorry ahead of time, this is going to be a long post! Let's talk a bit about what causes stalls/plateaus: The most common reason for any stall (including the dreaded 3-week stall), is simply that you are retaining more water. There are a few reasons this happens, from hormonal shifts, tissue repair, illness, or changes due to glycogen vs. ketone metabolism. This post would be even longer if I spent too much time here, but suffice it to say that for many people (especially early in the process), they are just retaining water and not actually failing to lose fat. As you lose more weight, your overall metabolic rate will slow down. People sometimes think fat is not metabolically active, but that's not true. Losing fat means your metabolism slows down, even if you retain the same amount of muscle mass (which most people don't). This means that as you lose weight, it takes less effort to move or even just live, so the amount of calories you burn both during exercise and just living also drops quite a bit. On the intake side as you progress after bariatric surgery, you'll be able to eat more. This isn't a bad thing and is by design, but obviously you should be able to see the problem here. Your metabolism has slowed down and now you can eat more. This can lead to you basically eating as much as you're burning. When that happens, weight loss stops. Especially if you're not tracking intake closely by weighing and measuring your food, you can easily be eating a lot more than you think. Some studies have shown people underestimate caloric consumption by several hundred calories on average. This is more than enough to cause a stall. This one may be TMI for some, but you may simply be retaining more stool. Feeling constipated? That will definitely impact your weight. This is going to be hard for some people to hear, but I can tell you one thing it's not, and that's hormones. Yes, various hormonal processes negatively impact weight loss in a myriad of ways, but they don't overcome the basic fact that if you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you'll lose weight. What these hormones can do if they're out of whack, is bad things like slowing your metabolism even more, increasing your hunger, screwing with water weight, or even fooling you into thinking you're eating less than you are. So, that's all great, but what do we actually do if we're in a stall? Well, I think it depends on when it happens and how long it lasts: If it's early (a.k.a. the 3-week stall), just keep doing what you're doing and you should be fine. I know people don't like that advice, but as I said it's just water, so don't worry about it. Later on, especially if the stall is lasting longer than 2-3 weeks. that's when I think it's important that you look closely at what you are actually burning, as well as really tracking what you are eating. If you don't know your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), you should. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is to get the balance right between intake and output to make sure you're not eating too much, so fixing this starts with knowing your RMR and accurate food logging. There's a lot of anecdotal advice thrown around about "ways to break a stall", but there seems to be little scientific evidence for any of it. It certainly won't hurt to try things like breaking up your routine in terms of diet or exercise, but just understand that this change may or may not have any impact. If it makes you feel better to be proactive, go for it. Longer term, there is one piece of solid advice that's backed up by lots of research: Even if you don't really like working out, do it anyway. Those WLS patients that make a regular habit of exercising for 45 minutes to an hour most days a week are significantly more likely to reach their goal and maintain the weight loss. (One caveat here: significantly changing your exercise routine can make you retain water and possibly even add muscle, so don't freak out if you see a stall or even a gain.) I'll take that exercise advice one step further and say you really should be doing some form of strength training. This is also backed up by lots of studies, but the great thing about strength training is that it makes your burn more calories even at rest (in other words, it increases your metabolic rate). There are lots of other benefits, but the metabolic benefit is the most germaine to the stall question. Those that do strength training are less likely to stall during weight loss and are more likely to reach and then maintain their goal weight long term.

Do you track your food intake? I would say if not, start there. If you are eating 1200 calories a day, try to cut it to 1100 a day. Not a huge amount but maybe enough to give your body a push to burn it. My Dietician says a lot that sometimes people aren't eating enough which will make you stall or gain. He will have people up their calories for a few weeks and then cut them back down to trick the metabolism. I honestly don't know if any of it works but these are things he has suggested in our support group.

I am struggling to loose as well. In the last 2.5 months I have only lost about 4 pounds. I still have a have a big restriction so getting a different calorie count would be difficult. Apart from a small amount of fruit carbs and a odd slice of bread, my carb count is low. I think I must be in the slow loss phase now. Upping exercise would be a cruelty to me. I am so cold already, going out walking more than I do, we are going into the miserable dark, wet, cold, windy part of Winter and I hate it with a passion. Going swimming is not an option as I have so much loose skin now, I would be more embarrassed than when I was 333 pounds. I am considering the gym but its not my thing. Excuses, excuses, I know. I am going to see my dieticians early next month so will see what they have to say. I always think its something that I am doing wrong rather than right. I love this skinny woman that I have become but I would like to get under 200 pounds also. Onederland is so close, I can see the finish line ......

My doctor never gave me goals or macros, beyond "eat protein first, stop when you aren't hungry anymore, don't eat on a schedule, eat only when hungry". That's been working well for me. I've lost 170lbs total, 120 of which is post surgery, and I'm still slowly losing. Most days I get 700-900 calories a day, though I don't track unless I hit a 3+ week stall. I'm not sure what to do when I get to maintenance but then again I'm not sure when I should stop losing anyway. I'm 5'7" at at 161lbs (large frame) and while I look fine in clothes, when I see myself naked with all the extra skin, I can't decide if I am still overweight, too skinny or what since I'm bony all over but also comically saggy and wrinkled. I don't like stressing out about it though so I'll just keep doing this until either my surgeon tells me to eat more or I get hungry enough to naturally go into maintenance I guess?

honestly, i just ate more. i was sub 800 calories when i reached goal (127 lbs at 7 months post op) i was also exercising like a fiend...but i was doing the same level if exercise during the last couple months of weight loss phase, so not sure how much of an effect this was on my appearance, all other things being equal. im 4 years post now and average about 1900-2000 cals a day, exercise levels now just a fraction of it once was, and weighed 119.4 this morning. and i look x times healthier than i did at 127 over three years ago. so go figure. 🤷🏻‍♀️ edited to add: full disclosure... i had plastics to address lose body skin at 14 months post op, so that def helped! i also am currently addicted to botox...but this addiction formed well after i had already joined the land of the living, looks wise. 😂 i mean, im 50 yrs old. my less than firm face is more likely due to to age than wls.

Hi Everyone! I'm feeling motivated to give an update on my pregnancy. At 17 weeks, I have determined that my nausea and discomfort after eating sweet foods is in fact dumping and not morning sickness. I was confused by this because I had not attempted to eat sweet foods prior to my positive pregnancy test - which I was already 7/8 weeks before the morning sickness that I was experiencing at night (minus sweets) registered as possible pregnancy. My surgery was March 8, 2022 and my LMP was July 11, 2022. So far, I have gained 7 pounds and I feel good about this number but I would be lying to you if there wasn't a mental aspect to seeing the scale moving in the opposite direction that I have worked so hard to get down. I understand this is mostly just baby and all that being pregnant entails - but it's still a battle field. For my last pregnancy, which ended in loss at 26 weeks, I had gained approximately 40lbs by this stage. I am listening to my body and eating when I need to eat. I'm surprised at how easy it has become for me to hit my protein goals, I guess I have just found what works for me. The calorie goals follow naturally if I hit my protein goals. I still have to be careful to not over indulge in unhealthy options or give in to my cravings when they occur. I realize that if I just eat something (preferably within my macros) when I'm feeling that craving, it usually removes the hunger and the craving at the same time. I still have great restriction and I'm thankful for that - though my eyes and head often have me order way too much when eating out. I always have left overs that I don't always eat after taking it home. My pregnancy is moving along with no issues so far (knock wood). I have experienced some much loathed constipation and as a result have been incorporating Metamucil throughout the day and a meager portion of high fiber cereal each morning to counter act this. The doctor said Milk of Mag was too strong to take. I'm still on daily iron which hasn't helped this issue one bit, but I'm sure is helping baby.

You lose weight more when you eat less; this is the only way it works. You can’t lose weight when only exercising, for sure. Do you watch your eating? Do you have a diet? Do you follow it? I think she is essential for losing weight. Exercise is good, and it shapes your body well. But it burns calories so slowly that it is not an efficient way of losing weight. I suggest you choose a good efficient diet and don’t do so much exercise if it had for you. More healthy suggestion for helping to lose weight here on Orlando Magazine

My plan with Kaiser says no. I'm 41 days out in stage 5 & they still advise to not drink any sugary calorie filled drinks.

My lunch 2.2 oz salmon sashimi, with 2 oz rice with a 1 tsp of seasoned vinegar. I dipped the fish in lemon juice, soy sauce and wasabi. 177 calories total. Total weight meal 118g. I ate it all.

Thanks! I do eat a range of things but honestly I make a lot of substitutions when possible like: regular bread when eating out but always keto bread at home (never was going to give bread up), regular fries when out vs airfryer fries at home, and yesterday I ate grilled chicken tenders vs fried tenders because the calories made more sense (even though I wanted the fried ones). Oh and I am dead serious about picking desserts over salads when the calories are on par 🤣 so I do watch calories (and sugar) more than what appears to be the “healthier” choice.

I am 7 week post op. And consume 900-1000 cal. But my nutritionist said I was ok to go up to 1200 because I was feeling woozy or tired. I have not had any complications and am down 17 BLS. Did stall for three weeks but started to drop weight again this past few days again. Remember the calories you consume today compared to what you consumed in the past. For me it is about a third . So it is good. It is a marathon not a sprint. Wishing you good health on your weight loss journey.

You can change the max calories too. Scared but excited.

I just had my first appointment Oct. 31st at Tennova and they gave me a small packet for a 1200 calorie diet (pic included). I'm trying to figure out a meal plan but maybe I'm just confusing myself?? I had a stroke a year ago and my mind just doesn't seem to work the same. If someone could look over my list and help out I'd really appreciate it!

Surgery day I was 250 lbs I'm starting week 7 and I am down 17 lbs . I have stalled for 3 weeks and I think I just might be coming out of it. Having such low calorie intake and body is still in healing mode. ( Body uses energy to heal ) . Make us all week and tired. In a funk kinda thing.. look for the small wins. They will help you smile and feel better. I just cut a new hole in my belt to make smaller because my pants fall down. ( Second time doing this) woooo hooo! I now can reach my shoes with out a shoe horn. Didn't even notice that. My wife told me me she saw me do that. . sweet!!! The little wins are very important. So look for them and enjoy your journey. Celebrate it !! Wishing love and good health on your weight loss journey!!

I'm down 17 lbs and starting week 7. Been in a stall for about 3 weeks( feels longer) but I keep reading it is ok. And the journey is a long road . I'm happy so far. I keep getting stronger after feeling very week and low energy( 1000 calories a day will do that to you ) I have increased my calories recommend by my nutrition specialist. 1200- 1300 is ok see how I feel. . it has helped. I have had no issues with my wounds and feel I am healing very well. I have added more walking and light stretching excise with super light weights. And feel better and better. So reading your post I believe you are doing super. What I learned is not to over think it. Consistency is our best tool. The journey to better health is a marathon the weight loss is a bonus. Plus the little wins add up . I can actually reach my shoes with out a shore horn, pants fall off with out a belt. ( Today I cut a second hole to make belt smaller) !! Whoo hooo!! Wishing continued success and good health!!! Cheers from Toronto Canada!!

The BariatricPal Store carries a huge selection of Bariatric friendly Protein Snacks & Desserts at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/bariatric-high-protein-low-calorie-snacks-and-desserts Here are some other bariatric friendly ideas as well: Chips and Crunchy Snacks: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/protein-chips-and-crunchy-protein-snacks Chocolate Bars & Candies: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/bariatric-friendly-chocolate-bars-chocolate-candies Cakes, Cookies & Wafers: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/cookies-wafers Sugar-Free Candy: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/sugar-free-candy Cheese Snacks: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/cheese-snacks Meat & Jerky Snacks: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/meat-snacks Fish Snacks: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/fish-snacks Protein Bars: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/protein-bars Pretzels: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/pretzels Nuts: https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/nut-snacks

I usually just order one item (usually dessert if it’s less calories than a salad 🤣) and never even finish it. How I was conned into sharing an appetizer is beyond me.

I don't formally exercise because I don't like the guilt or stress feeling if I don't do it a certain day. So this time around, I have embraced a lifestyle that is based on movement, meaning I just keep moving in my daily life. Whether I'm at home doing chores or at work. For example, when I watch a movie, I will do exercises, like crunches or sit-ups. I keep a pair of dumbbells by my couch. Sometimes I wear leg weights all day. And some days, I feel so tired probably because I'm not taking in enough calories, and I won't do anything but stretch all day. I practice the "One in One out" rule to have no clutter in my home so I do a lot of walking back and forth to get what I need. Things like that. While others depend on exercise to lose weight. I don't. I can't "outrun my fork" lol. The exercise is to just to keep me healthy. The weight loss is from my diet.

I would just say make sure you increase your calories to around 1200, switch up your exercises once in a while, watch the sugars because they can definitely slow weight loss, keep protein between 70-90g per day, watch the fats (and try to have the majority you consume as healthy fats), reduce caffeine if possible, avoid carbonation, definitely keep fluids up. And after all that, just give it time, have patience, and really pay attention to your NSVs (Non Scale Victories). Those are keeping me sane right now during my VERY long and annoying stall.

I have never been able to eat much at one sitting so I have 4 or 5 small meals a day. Breakfast -100gms of protein yogurt and a large latte Lunch - 25gms cheese, 25 grams deli meat and a satsuma or cucumber and tomato or 1 slice of super seeded bread with ham and soft cheese A homemade milk shake Supper - 50 gms meat, 2 tbsp veg and gravy. Or 150 gms chicken curry with a tiny salad or 100 gms fish with a sauce and a tbsp of veg. I am still unable to eat pasta and rice and have never liked potato products, Supper 2 - I will eat any leftover food from my earlier supper plate then have a low cal ice lolly. I am a lolly addict. I openly admit it. If I have room and need more protein, I will have a protein pudding or 25 gms of cheese and a piece of fruit I record about 60 - 80 grams of protein a day and 900 - 1200 calories a day. At the end of this month, I am 1 year out. I am trying to up my protein and calories because when I have a busy day, I get very tired. I am one of the lucky ones, I have little appetite