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The same thing happened to me, the 3 week stall, lasted almost a week. It does make you wonder if you'll lose anything else but keep following the program and it will happen. Your body is trying to regulate itself is all.

I hear you. My surgery was 3/24. I was 199.7 lbs on surgery day. 2 weeks after, I was 188.9. That was my lowest. I've been at 190.3 for the past week, and it hasn't budged AT ALL. I've had no issues with getting my minimum 80g protein and 64 oz. water. I've been diligent about eating only every 3-4 hrs as instructed. My calories have never gone over 550 and I walk at about 2.5 mph for anywhere from 30 min - 1 hour 5 days a week. Taking multivitamin with iron, B-12, calcium, and stool softener daily. I want to stay off the scale, but in my head, I'm like how long will this last?!?! Does the 3 week stall typically happen around week 3 or does it typically last for 3 weeks? Just ready to see progress again. I wish I had answers for you, but you aren't alone! Hang in there!

The infamous 3 weeks stall! I think most of us over here had it. I'm glad yours broke so quick. My advice to you it to try not to stress so much about stalls and focus on following your program. Good luck

This sounds about right. There’s something doctors and others call a “3 week stall” where your body is recovering water lost and rebuilding the stores it expended during the first week or so of very low calorie/healing. The stall can happen earlier for some (it happened at the 10 day mark for me), or a week or two later. Regardless of when it happens, it usually lasts 1-3 weeks (mine lasted a week) and breaks as long as you stick with your guidelines. YouTube has some great info videos on this stall, worth checking out!

Thank you! After doing a bit of digging through the forums, I see the typical "3 week stall" all over the place. I'll just keep on keeping on and look forward to the results! Thanks again for the reassurance and encouragement! Sent from my SM-S918U using BariatricPal mobile app

I also had this happen during the 3 week stall which is about which point you are at. I went up and down those same 3 pounds for 3 weeks and then the stall finally broke. It was depressing to be doing everything right and not see any results but its actually normal. So do your best not to stress too much and just stick to your plan and you'll see results again soon enough. Take care!

It really is weird. Like I love the ricotta cheese in our lasagna, I made the ricotta bake the same way, it's definitely not the same. Then I made buffalo dip and that's not the same either, it's good, but now the texture gags me lol. I can't stand gatorade zero anymore, well the one that I like, I'm gonna try orange. Going grocery shopping later and craving an orange flavor. The fruit punch is really strong, I have to do the same thing. I think im gonna try making a slushy with it later to see if I like it that way with a lot of ice. Have you tried it that way? I had no soreness or pain really. Glad you feel better! The stage I'm on is puree/soft foods. What exactly is considered soft foods? I'm really craving pickles and cucumbers. Next stage is soft solids. I figured out that pudding mixed in with cool whip doesn't sit good or Kodiak pancake in a cup lol I know it's too early for that. That's probably why, but im gonna still avoid it. Shrimp sounds really good too lol. I think im at the 3 week stall as well. Do you count the ounces too? Well the ounces keep moving but that is it. It's frustrating and it's hard to avoid the scale. Weight was dropping, now it stopped. But how? We're not eating much.

It's crazy how much tastes change! I used to love pickles and now I can't stand them. The first week or so postop I couldn't do cold water and didn't really want room temp water so I drank a lot of gatorade zero. I tried the gatorade zero protein, but could not deal with the after taste. Last week though everything started to taste really sweet so I went back to water and have no issues now with cold water. When I feel like I want something other than water, I just grab a crystal light packet and add it in. Fruit punch is my favorite flavor, but I have to double the water I mix it with because it's pretty strong. Monday was 4 weeks postop for me and it's amazing how much difference 10 days can make! Physically, I feel totally fine - no remaining soreness or pain. My doctor cleared me for soft foods including "chewing non-soft foods to an applesauce consistency" so I haven't stuck to any specific foods but still trying to figure out what works for me which is mostly chicken and shrimp. I finally hit the (delayed) 3 week stall and haven't seen the scale move at all this week, but I'm keeping my motivation up with exercise and hope to see that big dip soon.

My 3-week stall happened at 2 weeks and lasted for almost a month. Hang in there. And I agree, eating less than 500 calories PLUS exercising sounds like a great way to make your body hang onto every calorie it can get.

I had the same experience and at about the same time. I think it only lasted for about a week though so enjoy it while you can. Then I hit the 3 week stall and everything slowed down for about 3 weeks. After that my energy started going up again and stayed above my pre surgery level ever since. I hope your energy levels stay high and don't worry too much about the exercise. Usually the more I exercised the more energy I had and it didn't affect hunger at all. Good luck and take care!

Everyone is different in the way they loose weight. Men on the whole, tend to loose quicker than women. You are doing really great with the weight loss and getting your protein and liquids in to you so well. The weight loss will slow down as you begin to eat more normal foods but then your restriction will kick in to keep you honest. After a while the hunger comes back and that's when all we have learned will be needed to keep us on track. Enjoy this honeymoon period you are in, be ready for the 3 week stall.

That is the infamous 3-weeks stall which is common. It happened to almost all of us over here. Don't worry and just carry on.

I've been watching a Dr. on you tube who explains it perfectly....his name is John Pilcher. He has a few videos, you should watch the one where he talks about the 3 week stall. As long as you're following your program you're fine:)

Many people on here have said they are weighing heavier after their surgery and say its because they are pumped full of water to hydrate them for the weeks after when its tough to drink for many. So you are really lucky that you have no issues there. Water can weigh heavy so just give it time and this will pass! You feel like you are failing., Please don't. How many calories a day are you logging ? If you could have compared yourself to me at the same stage, I was lucky to get in 300 a day. I was so ill. My body was hanging onto every calorie it could get hold of. People were racing ahead of me BUT, in the end it didn't matter, as I healed my weight dropped. I got to where I am now happy with myself. Listen to the nurse, give yourself 6 months to a year to do this. Its not magic. You have to put lots of effort in to get to the weight you desire. You may also be in a early version of the dreaded 3 week stall. Hang in there and keep away from the scales if you can.

My advice for what its worth would be, 1 Rest when your body says so, have a nap whenever you can. 2 Don't rush the process, your stomach has a massive wound in it and will be swollen and sore, hence the need for liquid and puree stages. 3 Remember the 3 week stall, you won't panic when you stop loosing weight. 4 Don't compare yourself to anyone else. This is your weight loss journey. No two journeys are the same. Good luck and keep us posted of your progress

My "3-week stall" started at week 2 and lasted a month. Just keep doing what you're doing and trust the process. This is the first of MANY stalls that you will have. If the scale drives you crazy, you're on it too much.

Your body is adjusting, just follow your plan and it will pass. There is an iconic "3 week stall" which you seem to be right around there. Around 3 weeks post-op a lot of people hit a stall. Basically staying at the same weight for a little bit, just still to your plan and it will pass.

Reposting something I posted elsewhere: First, 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, but around the 3-week mark it comes down to the fact that your body is adjusting to a low carb intake after converting from glycogen to ketones for energy. More water is needed to burn glycogen, so you were retaining more water pre-surgery than you are now that you're using primarily ketones for energy. At about the 3-week mark, your body eventually recognizes that the water loss is long term, so other mechanisms have started kicking in to start holding on to more water. This water loss due to the change between glycogen and ketones is the primary reason for "keto flu", and something that increases your risk of dehydration early after surgery. The other "reasons" for plateaus really don't apply as much at the 3 week mark, but will become more important later in the process. Let's cover those too though so you're prepared: 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. Less fat means your metabolism slows down, even if you retain the same amount of muscle. As you lose weight, it takes less effort to move, so the amount of calories you burn from activity also drops quite a bit. As you progress, you'll be able to eat more and 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. This one may be TMI for some, but you may simply be retaining more stool. 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 basic physics: if you eat less than you are burning, you'll lose weight. What these hormones can do if they're out of whack, is not good things like slowing your metabolism, increasing your hunger, screwing with water weight, or even fooling you into thinking you're eating less than you are. So, with all that sciency stuff out of the way, 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 BMR (Basal 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 BMR 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. Most of it certainly won't hurt to try, e.g. breaking up your routine in terms of diet or exercise, but just understand that this change may or may not have had 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.

"journey" "3 week stall" "only x lbs" (in a dismissive way in referring to lbs lost) and, similar to @Tomo, i have a pet peeve about the ANGST folks unnecessarily put upon themselves when comparing their own results to others without CONTEXT. Yes, Sally may drop 30 lbs the first month because she started off at 350 lbs, vs Jane who lost "only" 10 and started off at 200. And yes, Joe, who is also 350 lbs lost 50 lbs, but he is like 8 inches shorter than Sally and is a dude. and there is brenda who lost 5 lbs cuz she has a medical condition and hasn't yet learned how to adjust her lifestyle around it. we all have the same goal: to lose weight. in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter sh*t if i lost faster/slower more/less than some random stranger on the internet. *rant over*

I was sleeved on 12/21 and my weight has stayed the same since day 4 PO. I am following Dr.s orders. I had a 3 week LRD with no actual food - so I figure this is my 3 week stall. Just keep doing what you are supposed to and the weight will come off.

Hey, I had a VGS on 22nd Nov and now 4weeks PO. I’ve lost 22lbs so far (11lbs of this on the LRD pre surgery). I was hoping for a little more progress than where I’m at currently, I’ve been sitting at a loss of 22lbs for the last 2 weeks - I know of the 3 week stall period, just want to see if anyone had had similar losses to me in their first 4 weeks to see if I’m on track, as often posts I see it seems everyone has massive losses in the first month or so and mine seems a little low :( starting weight was 250lbs ans I’m 5ft 8in for reference - thank you

Have you tried adding more calories? I thought I was hitting my first stall and without realizing was adding 50 calories per day, and after 3 days lost a pound. I have been doing good with food, not yet at 64oz of fluids, especially with the 30 min rule, that really becomes 1.5hrs without drinking a couple of times a day. Starting a walking routine tomorrow since I will be starting week 3, have a conference for 3 days so during the day would not walk much, hoping that will distract the 3 week stall. Either way will start weekly weigh ins after Tuesday. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Ugh, the 3 week stall is now extending well into week 4! I've gaining and losing the same 2 pounds since last Thursday 😭 Trying hard to trust the process... Hope everyone is doing well!

Had my 2 week follow up, everything is going great. I have to start my gall bladder medicine today and in 2 weeks my B12 injections. Everything I have had to eat has settled good, and I'm consistently drinking 50-55oz which he said was good. I have not been doing much activity, I figured I will start when the dreaded 3-week stall comes around and that will trick it lol, let's see if that works lol

Had my 2 week follow up, everything is going great. I have to start my gall bladder medicine today and in 2 weeks my B12 injections. Everything I have had to eat has settled good, and I'm consistently drinking 50oz which he said was good. I have not been doing much activity, I figured I will start when the dreaded 3-week stall comes around and that will trick it lol, let's see if that works lol