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Hiya Olivam, I am really interested in your post... I am a really slow loser and I seem to hit mini stalls every other week or so and have been doing so since October - I am now 8mths out, was sleeved beg July last year. I often wonder if I am not eating enough, my dr says to eat three meals a day with no Snacks, and with this sleeve, I find it hard to eat 1000 cals with only three meals? i did start to have one protein snack but that didn't really change things. Any advise would be gratefully rec'd ... I don't want or like feeling negative but I am really struggling at the moment! Thanks in advance...

Thanks for answering, Diva! This really helped me understand the plan. I've been following it for two days and have lost three pounds, breaking my stall! My menu yesterday was (if you could check and let me know if I could improve): 70 oz of water (I'm 8 weeks out so it's still hard to get in a ton of fluid) breakfast: Protein shake ready-made (Premier from Costco) snack: low-fat cheesestick lunch: 3 oz of tuna with a little mustard, steamed spinach dinner: hardboiled egg "salad" made with a little mustard and low-fat mayo, steamed broccoli snack: sugar-free popsicle

*lexie* Good for you you're doing awesome! I had my surgery on the 19th and by October 1st I had lost 15lbs post op- and on Oct 1st my stall began! It too lasted 14 days. I made sure I got in all of my water and tried for my protein goal daily, I also increased my walking from 1 to 1.5 mile- finally this past week the scale started moving again. I read a lot about stalls, so I gave myself a three week waiting period, if I was still stalled after three weeks I would've started being crazy. Luckily, it ends. Personally I feel great- lots of energy, no food issues. The only strange thing is I have had a swollen gland on the side of my neck since surgery. I was thinking maybe I was scratched when they pulled the tube out- but it's been a month. Is anyone else having this issue?

Hi All: I have been busy keeping busy watching all the new posts and wishing everyone well from here in CA. I wanted to write a follow-up to life after the sleeve procedure almost three weeks out this Thursday. First of all I wake up every morning and tell myself this is a JOURNEY, not a RACE! With immediate success with weight loss during the pre-op phase and even rigth after surgery, you get this feeling like "Wow, At this rate, I should be down 100 pounds in no time." Reality check, you didn't gain the weight in two months so it isn't going to come off that fast. For those that are feeling a little let down because the weight loss is slower than you expected, please, please do not get discouraged. I know that I started at 240 On Oct 1st and don't know what I weighed on surgery day. As of today I am 214. While on the surface you might say that is fantastic, let me tell you the whole story behind this weigh loss. After surgery I am assuming I immediately lost weight. How could one not... you aren't eating or drinking anything. I think we are sort of like spounges that after preop and the one week post op, we are all rung out. There is literally nothing left in you. Then you start to feel better and you get rehydrated. Guess what, rehydration will start to actually make you gain weight. Now the former fat girl in me starts to panic at this point. I say to myself, "you just paid an ungodly amount for this surgery and you are gaining weight?!" Again,we revert back to what most of us know and are familar with and that is yo-yo dieting and the initial rush of weight loss followed by a serious let down of regaining the weight. Got a news flash for you.... you are not gaining weight and you are not reverting back to your old ways. It is almost impossible for you to gain weight back with 7/8 of you stomach being gone. Anyway.. back to my story. So I start to rehydrate and gravitate around the 216-217 mark on the scale. At week two I start back on soft foods (actually truth be knowns, I started back on a lot of things that were not on my doctors short list.) For me, I am really looking at this as a life long change and I am taking my time along the way to get to know the new me and the new stomach. Tast buds to change and things that I loved before don't work for me know. This is not to say I am eating like a crazy woman (again, you won't be able to because trust me, we you get beyond three ounces of anything you literally start feeling like you are having a heart attack with chest pains, cold sweat, dizziness. I think this is normal. For me the best advice is if this happens to you, stand up and criss cross your arms over you head. It passes but it shares the daylights out of you.) So back to my diet, The good things I have been eating are fish, greek yogurt, meatballs with a small amount of sauce, ground beef, chicken chewed really really well, eggs, oatmeal, Soups, potatoes, cheese. What I have experimented with (and when I say experiments I mean like one bite.. doughnut, ice cream, cookie and three tortilla chips with salsa. These were favorites from my past. While us sleevers don't experience dumping, at least for me the sweets don't sit well with me and have actually lost a lot of there appeal. My sampling of foods for me was a good exercise to see what works and what doesn't. I think I have a realsitic view of what I can eat and how much. I have really had to educate my immediate family on not being the food police with me. A simple explanation of "I know my body or at least an learning new things every day about it... I appreciate your love and support but I also need you to trust me. If I have a bite of something that does not look like "diet foos" please don't freak out and judge. I can only eat 3 oz at a time and I know that eating my proteins first is what works for me. I am human and my head is still going to send me triggers that I want something so let me try and learn along the way. I am no longer a fat person that is going to go through life on a yo-yo diet. The surgery I have done is permanent and restricts my intake so while there are food choices that I can make, I cannot undo the procedure or sabotage the journey to being health and happy as I did in the past. This weigh loss is going to happen." After a week of going up a couple of pounds and then holding at the same weight I am starting to lose again (not five pounds a day but a steady progress.) Kepp the faith for those of you who are entering week two or three, you probably will experience a stall. It is normal. You did not make a mistake in your decision nor are you the one rare exception in the bunch that got sleeved and won't lose the weight. Remember... it is a JOURNEY not a RACE. A year from now, we will all go back through the posts and say "Remember when I was complaining about the pre-op diet, freaked out about my surgery day, in pain the first day or so, nervous about starting food, mad at the weight stall, excited about the change in sizes and the comments that friends and family are making. We are all going to get there and in our own time. Sending my love and support to my fellow November sleevers. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! - Marshawn

I hit a stall. Like so many others, I didn't think it would happen, but three weeks comes around and nothing happens! Stay the course.. I think I am moving downward again. Have lost 20 pounds and have not had any slime or food issued yet. Scares me that the transition to solids has been so easy. I need to work on slowing down when I eat. I have been able to eat an entire container of yogurt which concerns me. I fear he left me too large a stomach!

Revs, I was wondering when you write again and you didn't fail us....Please don't stop your rants. I think I have woman-crush on you. I agree with some of the other posters here...I just kind of move along when the repeated questions are asked, "Which Protein shake is the best?" or the irrational "My hair is on fire, what should I do?" "My incision is bleeding and oozing a green colored liquid - is this normal?" "2nd day post-op and I'm up 5 pounds WTF?" "3 weeks post-op and stalled - has this happened to you?" I agree with Revs on the point of putting forth effort to look thru some old posts - Yes, stalls happen at three weeks and if you spent any time on this site, you would see that everyone stalls at some point and the three week stall is real. OK - I'm off now...I'm going to weigh myself for the 5th time today to see if I've lost anything.

Hi all, I just had the six month follow-up, with Kaiser in So. San Francisco. I was a little non-plussed. There was lab work for everything imaginable under the sun, but they didn't really cover it very well, IMHO. This was a group meeting with the dietician, and an MD. There is supposedly a three month meeting, but many of us did not get the invite. Although I did have a 3 month followup with my surgeon Dr. Le. I was surprised that almost half the group had the bypass. I am so happy I did not take that route. I had a stall for almost two months, but I finally started losing again. 5 lbs, this last week. So for any of you who get stalls, don't worry, you will get through them. This was my second stall in six months. I am glad I did not worry and had faith in the process. It was this forum that helped me not to worry. Our bodies change alot after this procedure. Alot of us at six months out have been feeling fatigued. It's normal. Our bodies, like I said, have been going through alot. We were giving the warnings about snacking. Snackings fine if you make sure your not adding back those calories, and grazing. My snack is popcorn, and I was given hell for it being a waste. But, screw them. I have given up everything. I am going to eat my popcorn Snacks. They are low in calories and they count as my bad carbs for that day. I only have them a couple times a week. Anyway, the best luck to you all on your journey. Hugs, Les

it's the infamous three week stall - right on schedule! Fear not - almost all of us experience that. Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days. Rest assured your weight loss WILL start up again. Stalls usually last 1-3 weeks, and you'll likely encounter a few of them on your journey.

Sleeved Oct 7 and I have hit that dreaded three week stall. I haven't lost any inches in a week and no weight loss for four days..I'm also still exhausted. I feel like I could sleep all day and all night! I'm so depressed because I feel like this isn't going to work for me like everything else. Anyone ever feel this way?

HW 320 SW 313 12/17/13 CW 285.4 Weeks three and four have been a slow go but since it is still going down almost every other day I guess I won't call it a stall.

Stalls definitely happen, even if you have a perfected daily routine. (I like Reverie's term that weight loss is not "linear.") I was clicking along, losing pretty regularly, but hit a wall when my doctor and I agreed to eliminate another of my daily medications. Good news for me about daily meds, but it messed with my metabolism, which I think had grown accustomed to how I was living my daily life. The after-effect was that I went up and down fighting a half pound or so for nearly three weeks. Like you, I had tried adjusting this or that, in hopes of getting the scale moving again. In the end, I changed the foods I was eating (more solid Proteins, fewer slider foods), and bumped up my Water intake. And bingo - that was the key. I lost four pounds within a few days, and the scale is moving downward again. As others have suggested, look at every aspect of what you're doing daily. Is something different? Is everything still the same old thing? Maybe that's what needs to be changed. Bodybuilders achieve success by muscle confusion, by changing up their routine frequently. I'm beginning to think weight loss works in similar ways. If the daily numbers end up the same, how you get there may be the key. shake up your daily life a bit, but maintain end-result consistency, and see if it doesn't help. Good luck! Dave

I was sleeved on 6/17/15. I was 294lbs on the day of surgery and have lost 16lbs. I gained 10 lbs after surgery but lost that in a few days. Currently I'm at the dreaded week three stall. I started the puree/soft stage on Monday after being on a all liquid diet for two weeks. I stay on this stage for three weeks. I've been meeting my 60g Protein goal and drinking least 60 oz of Water. I started walking on a treadmill for thirty minutes to help me get out of this stall. I'm going to continue with my surgeon/NUT plan and try not to get to anxious but I'm a worrywart by nature so its hard.

Stalls are frustrating. Unfortunately you may experience a few as you’re losing & they may last 1-3 weeks (some do last longer - if yours does check with your dietician to see if you need to tweak your eating plan) but they are just part of the journey. There are lots of variation in the plans people follow. Some are given caloric goals while some aren’t (I wasn’t). Some are given portion size recommendations. Some aren’t. Some who are given caloric goals are encouraged to eat 1200 calories from solid foods. If you are worried, check with your dietician. Even on 1200 calories you will lose weight. As @lizonaplane said the goal is not to feel discomfort or your restriction. The goal is to recognise your real hunger & eat enough to satisfy that. At three years out, I still ask myself do I need the next bite or just want it. Remember it takes time for your full signal to kick in. So when you do feel full you’ve likely eaten more than you need. Exercise accounts for 10-20% of your weight loss. Have 50lbs to lose, exercise will account for 5-10lbs. There are lots of physical, psychological & emotional benefits to undertaking regular exercise. But it’s your choice as to what & how much or often you do. I’m not an exerciser. Did very little while I was losing but I still lost all my weight plus more. I do some gentle stretches now & a few wall push-ups but I argue with myself every night about doing it. 😁

Okay, take a breath. The weight will come off, but not in a couple of weeks time. You are just post op and your body is swollen and trying to adjust to the trauma of surgery. During the surgical case they give you IV fluid and you are going to get rid of that soon as well. Please be patient. I went through the same thoughts/feelings and it is much better now. You will go through plateaus and stalls when your body is trying to keep up with the loss. The three week stall is infamous, but it does get better. I'm 5 weeks out next Monday and still learning. I remember how I felt when I was where you are and I thought if I had to drink one more protein anything I would choke someone. . Take one day at a time. It gets better and there are a ton of ppl on here who have been there and will listen/encourage you. I'm keeping you in my prayers that this will turn around soon for ya.

Stalls are very normal. I stopped losing weight after my one week post op check... I was stalled for 2 weeks. Then It started moving again. I am 4 weeks out today. At one wee was down 14... nothing at two or three then from three to 4 I lost 6 so I am now at 20 down. It will come. Tour body is just adjusting and going into starvation mode. It will come around. Just stay on track

Many have eperienced this. Its a stall, they can initially appear anywhere from week one up to who knows. Most of the initial stalls are experienced between week two up to about week six and can last anyway up to a week to three weeks or so. Keep following your post op plan, and the scales will reflect your efforts again soon. By the way it would be helpful if you filled in our profile...Surgery type, surgery date weight, current weight, height etc - it provide context to questions etc.

I enjoy reading this thread. I tried 5:2 for several weeks and it helped me break a stall. I've since returned to three meals a day, but I do see the benefit of this method.

I am new here, I haven’t been on a public forum in a long time (and for a reason) but I thought it might be helpful to write out my bariatric surgery journey as best I can. I don’t know anyone who has had the surgery with chronic illness, disability, multiple medical conditions, etc. let alone anyone with M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) which is a kind of immunodeficiency. I’ve lived with this from childhood and also battled with my weight longer than I care to remember. This is long and hard to talk about without going into intense detail. I wasn’t not diagnosed with M.E. Until I was in my early twenties. It was a long road to get there and led to many questions and many other medical conditions down the road. At some point my weight skyrocketed out of control and I was at a loss as to what to do. I was diagnosed with metabolic disorders but meds made me sick and doctors don’t discuss weight. They only vaguely agree that the metabolic disorders cause weight gain. And at most prescribe risky weight loss drugs. At some point I was just too sick to know what to do. The reality is I always will be sick. It was easier to eat carbs when I didn’t feel well enough to tolerate much food. I was always a clean plate person and hate waste. My weight grew to over 215lbs and my body couldn’t take it. I needed to do something even if it took every ounce of my being. I didn’t know then what I know and doctors know now about M.E./CFS. But I studied holistic health and nutrition, trying everything to no avail. I ended up trying a combination of low carb/Atkins and calorie counting (weight watchers points) slowly I lost weight (I was 5’ 4” then 5’ 2” I kept losing inches due to degenerative disc disease and arthritis in my spine , I’m now about 5’) I got down to the lowest I’d ever been at 123lbs. But it crept back up by 10lbs. But I had to accept it. I started having trouble eating certain foods and feeling very sick. I had some major stress events happen, several surgeries on my feet and tendons, and also Major surgery (hysterectomy) I wasn’t eating the best I could for reasons I couldn’t control. Eventually my weight hit 160lbs about when I moved with my mother to a new state. I was on a beta blocker and reduced my calories further and did strict low carb again. But reached about 134lbs. I couldn’t sustain it. Not that long ago, months, my sense of time is terrible I can say what happened but not the order or time. I fought as hard as I could and would go on nature walks until I learned more about the birds and became a birder and took to loving photographing them. I went as often as I could and it wasn’t often enough. I found out the hard way that Myalgic Encephalomyelitis causes something called post exertional malaise. Doctors only now are starting to understand it and it explains a lot. Activities from simply writing out this message, taking a shower, making a meal to exercise, make my medical condition worse and cause lasting damage that I lose bits of my self. And doing no I enjoy hurts like a punishment. My weight started a sudden drastic climb from 134lb to 160+ and I went to doctors and specialists hoping for an answer why. And then again it continued to climb to 180lbs. I had thought about bariatric surgery the first time but wanted to do it on my own. But this time I couldn’t, my body just wasn’t burning enough calories and how little could I eat without getting too sick. I was eating healthy the same portions as my mother, almost the same meals, I prepared us lunch almost every day and she is the same height but at most 100lbs. It was fight for surgery or nothing. The first time I saw a bariatric surgeon he talked at me and didn’t listen, my weight was slightly below BMI to qualify with comorbidities, i had plenty. But nothing acceptable by my insurance. I had just had to have surgery for another problem and could hardly eat. But I kept gaining. And I gave up on that doctor. I forgot to say I found out at some point that the reasons some foods made me sick was my gallbladder and surgery was recommended so I decided if I have to have that then I should pursue bariatric surgery since recovery is quite similar. eventually it reached 200lbs and I was on the edge of being nearly 40 BMI. I decided to see another endocrinologist about my medical conditions. She couldn’t help me since the meds make me too sick and I explained how I eat and count calories and yet my weight skyrocketed. I was about to quit when I decided to say I was fighting for bariatric surgery. She said go to Cleveland clinic. It’s a far distance from me and I needed medical assistance for rides there. But I got in to see Dr. Szomstein and he right away was ready and willing to help me, I was a hair from 40 BMI at the first appointment. He didn’t quite understand all my medical conditions if at all but he knew what to do. He said I should have RNY Gastric bypass due to severe GERD and I was thankful for that since it would reduce calorie absorption as well. I was almost not expecting approval from my insurance. I had months of my doctors noting my efforts to lose weight and letters from the endocrinologist and surgeon. They had me go for pre op tests and medical clearance. I still didn’t expect anything. i was in target when my mom and she got a phone call. Scheduling surgery in two weeks and for me to start the liquid diet that day. The surgery date was April 29th. I was so unprepared my gastroenterologist had wanted me to have a colonoscopy before surgery and that didn’t happen (he wasn’t happy with that) I knew I was possibly in for hell with this, but it was either surgery or give up. surgery day I was like this is easy. But I hit a bumpy road. Without going into too much detail right now. I didn’t expect it’s impact on my chronic illness. Waking up from surgery was like a long tunnel I couldn’t get out of. I was partially aware of things around me during the entire surgery just sped up like a weird dream. In the hospital room when most people get up and walk, my body couldn’t move at all. And when I tried once I crashed hard. Every chronic pain in my body was screaming all at once in the hospital. I was having severe pain in my chest, they blamed on gas I knew it wasn’t. I was struggling to breathe and needed the oxygen longer. My surgical drain kept getting full too fast. The catheter hurt. I high pain tolerance and yet this was slamming me everywhere all at once. They tried me on liquids by day three and I just wanted out. I got home and had trouble breathing and was very weak. I struggled to do laundry and get groceries. Then I started spiking fevers. My body doesn’t react with fever when it needs to, my lungs are sometimes too weak to cough when I need to. My temp went over 102 at night then dropped to low grade by morning. I ended up being told to go to the ER but I couldn’t get to Cleveland clinic. Long story short it was another long three days in hospital, pneumonia, acute uti, and critically low potassium. My temp was normal. They pumped me with potassium and antibiotics but had no concept of pain control and knew nothing about post bariatric surgery diet of protein drinks and liquids. They brought me a regular meal for breakfast. By day three I wanted out. I left with a diagnosis of Aspiration pneumonia, and esophageal dysphasia and told to see an ent (who then told me to see a neurologist) and a incidental finding of a pelvic adnexal mass that I am see my euro/gun about. Swallowing is painful, the pain in my chest never went away it waxes and wanes and gets out of control painful at night. I am still mostly liquids. I was supposed to start purée some time ago. I tried some things that were palatable but the first tiny bite I got Nauseous and couldn’t push it even sitting drying to consume either liquid or purée took nearly an hour and the purée was just not working. I don’t regret it yet I do yet I don’t. I’m still trying to get answers to some things. Other things I won’t go into detail now. This is much too long. I saw the doctor for follow ups twice. This time he ordered a upper GI fluoroscopy, and then a endoscopy. The first is this Wednesday. I’m struggling to get in at least 50 grams of protein a day. I lost around 27lbs but am in a five day stall. I think that’s as much as I can describe for now. But my one issue no one ever addressed is no nsaids aka Ibuprofen for life. I took it three times a day to take a bit of the edge off my chronic pain. My muscle relaxer doesn’t do much and it’s impossible to grind and swallow tablets. Thankfully diphenhydramine comes in sleep melts. But I have no pain management now. And I can’t function to walk as much. I try to keep on my feet as much as I can to at least do what I need to do. But now when I crash each day I crash hard. I got extremely sick doing laundry when I had to do three loads and threw up more than once. (I have a bit of ptsd when it comes to throwing up) but this is too much to write here and now. I just am finding myself alone in this, my mom can’t quite understand how it is. And I don’t know anyone else who has chronic illness that has had gastric bypass surgery. I’m not worried about food, I can make my mom a meal and not want to eat it. Actually my taste is nonexistent. I had trouble with it prior as well as my sense of smell. But so much just tastes nasty and bitter. (Didn’t help I ended up with nasty oral thrush I can’t shake) i feel weird putting this all out there. So I hope that sometime say can relate to someone somewhere in some way. christine

I agree that 30-40 lbs is unrealistic. It is too bad someone told u that. I lost 16 lbs in my 1st month and was told that was great and I should be happy, so I was OK with it. Every month the lost pounds add up. I prefer to weight about every three weeks so I am unaware of stalls and my clothes keep getting bigger. Yes, excersise is a huge part so we can get that muscle. Hang in there, it is a fun journey

I am not able to take in that many calories. I've tried three meals a day and a snack. I just can't get it in. Maybe that's why my weight lose is down to about 2 pounds a week. I'm the same. I am 7 wks post op and have lost only 28 lbs. I gag or throw up all meat and gag easily at most protein. I basically have been living off of Cream of Wheat w/unsweetened almond milk, coffee w/cream for AM, unsweetened applesauce, organic crackers with peanut butter. Just started trying to eat 1-2 cheesesticks a day to get my protein in. I am going to start logging all of my food to really see what I am eating. I desperately want this to work, but since my weight loss is so slow, I am scared this is not going to work for me. I feel like I should have lost 40-50 lbs. by now. Started at 248, 219 this morning. Have chronic headaches and the canned shakes trigger headaches. With every bone in my body, I will do everything I can to be successful. I know I must get that protein in, and take my vitamins. They make me gag too or make my stomach feel sick so I don't take them often. I'm wondering what average weight loss if for most folks at say 8 weeks? I would love to know if people stalled already at 8 weeks. I know I'm doing something wrong and want to change that now to get better results. Is everyone exercising? Taking all of their vitamins daily? Eating 50 grams plus of protein a day? Could eating a primarily carb diet cause my weight loss to be slow?

Duodenal switch! Wow you rock! That's a tough one. Ugh the smells, the smell of coffee makes me gag, but I never drank coffee anyway. Lots of smells make me gag, it's lovely. I'm three months out too, I hate the waiting to drink part, mostly because I have trouble getting my fluids in. I have an issue with carb cravings, that's why I stay as far away from them as I can, but if I have any kind of sweet thing, it takes me a week to stop craving sweet stuff or even crackers but I don't give in, I know my triggers. This only happened because of a bite of my daughter's birthday cake! Ugh. I hope everyone is doing well, I'm in the midst of a stall that started about 4-5 days ago

MyssJones Yes the stalls suck. I have gone three weeks and lost nothing then lose 4 pounds. I wish it were more consistent. How have you been otherwise? Does your stomach tolerate foods well? Any constipation issues?lol, that's my biggest problem.

Good morning, everyone! I am at 2.5 weeks, down 22 pounds and I am wondering if I have hit a stall as well! But I'm averaging a pound a day, (since surgery) even though my weight has stayed relatively flat for three days. I did have "dumping" on Saturday, so lost a lot on Sunday, so this is probably catch up!! Yesterday, I ate some white bean chicken chili (yummo) leftovers for lunch and I was severely uncomfortable all afternoon. My bad, though! I didn't weigh because I was in a hurry to pack my lunch, I KNEW I should have stopped before I finished the portion I gave myself, and today, having weighed out 3 oz of it, realize I probably ate 5-6 ozs yesterday for lunch! My nutritionist says everything is puree, as long as you chew, chew, chew...so I just focus on chewing as much as possible before swallowing (YMMV). I have really had no issues with any food...except eggs! Which I was really looking forward to during the liquid stage! Oh well. I will try again later! Have a great day, everyone!!

I hit a two week stall and just started on dandelion tea this morning. It's a diuretic, a natural diuretic, and so far today I've she'd three pounds of water weight...I'll you know if it stays off! I finally hit 176 today from my surety weight of 265.4 on 11-27!

WOOHOOO....congratulations and welcome to TWO-derland...your stay will be short and sweet I am sure! Absolutely claim that half a pound...I'm on day 3 (or 4) of the three week stall, so even if I lost 1/10 of a pound, I would be claiming it! Yahooo!!!! Way to go!