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@kelly jojo First few weeks, we are usually bloated. After surgery I gained over 10 lbs due to the IV. Your body is healing and adjusting. I was told not to take my weight too seriously until I was fully healed (6 to 8 weeks). Try to be patient and stick to your program. 3 lbs a week is actually good at your weight (10.5k calories less), that's 12 lbs in a month if continues at that rate. If losing 3 lbs a week is upsetting then beware of the infamous 3-week stall where you may not lose anything for a few weeks.

Hey everyone, here's my update: Surgery was 10/11. I was 259.8 (heaviest weight) right before I started my 1 week preop diet. Down to 248 right before surgery. Current weight is 219. I'm now on a regular diet since week 6 (currently week 7 since Tuesday). I can only tolerate about 3-5 bites before I'm too full. I eat 4-5 times a day to get my protein in and prevent myself from getting sick due to my stomach being "too empty". I'm averaging about 500-700 calories a day most days. I still struggle to slow down when eating, especially if I've waited too long to eat. Work in progress. I have started back the gym this week. I have made a goal of doing a 5k in the spring, and I have gotten a trainer to help me until I get situated and comfortable around the gym. I had the dreaded 3 week stall. It lasted 3 weeks. Broke this week. I think the gym helped. I still struggle to get my fluids in. However, I feel great. I have turned the corner and gained energy. My mood is better as well. I have decided to take a weekend trip somewhere (that part is not decided) as a reward for getting into Onderland when I get there. My reward for going to the gym 4x a week for the next 2 weeks is a new pair of shoes (I really need them because my shoes have gotten too big since the weightloss, its a bonus to use them as a reward though). My NSV: I can put on my shoes without wanting to be taken out by a sniper. My back pain and knee pain are gone (I hadn't had the pain long though, so it went away quickly versus someone who had longer chronic pain). I have energy and smile more!

Definition of "stall" varies pretty widely, but generally 3+ weeks with no loss is a stall. So if you haven't seen the scale move in a few days, that's really not a stall at all, especially so early out when you are still very much healing from surgery. And in fact, many surgeons and dietitians HIGHLY recommend not weighing daily, as your weight absolutely WILL fluctuate from day to day. And, as others have said, the 3 week "stall" is pretty notorious. Stick to your plan, consider weighing once a week instead of daily, and just give it time.

I have been good and trying not to weigh myself every day but today I got on the scale after 4 days of not looking and my weight did not go down, it actually went up .2. I just got done with a 3 week stall 2 weeks ago and mentally I am having a really hard time dealing with possibly being in another one. Its so hard to stay positive when you work hard to do everything as right as you can and then it feels like you are failing. I can't just stay off the scale because I need to know if I'm in a stall so I can at least try things to help but being in a stall is the worst thing ever. I have been hitting all of my goals, have increased my exercise a little bit, not drastically. As in I walk 30 min instead of 24 on the treadmill. I have been trying to do my strength exercises, but not with any actual weights, just my own arms. So its not likely to be an exercise and muscle gain equaling me out. I have been on the low end of my water and calories so I'll increase both but honestly if I was just on a regular diet right now, I would just give up. I'm glad I can't give up really, so I'm appreciative of the surgery but still sad.

You look so good!That's awesome! I am currently in the 3 week stall and trying to not freak out and just do what I know to do and hoping it passes like you said.

Veterans of weight-loss surgery, what kind of plan do you go into Thanksgiving with? Do you count calories, weigh your food or just eat tiny portions of what you want? Do you go out of your way to make WLS-friendly sides and desserts? I just broke a 3 week stall and I don't want to go back to that weight ever again. Any tips and tricks are appreciated!

this is part two… part one brought me to surgery with my weight loss adventure .. (quick warning, i tried not to be graphic but an infection is referenced) now I am someone who weighs almost every day for several months but i have trained my brain to be chill about the number… just watch for trends because bodies are sometimes heavier for non fat related reasons… i have seen my body go up, down and drop drastically and rise rapidly all while loosing weight as a trend… now i am in my early post op and start with my surgery weight of 351.4 on 11/3/22 sat, 11/5/2022 - day 2 post op after first night home - i dropped to 349.4 - considering swelling and fluids I was satisfied because I thought that I would have been up.. sun, 11/6 - 348.4 - spent lots of time walking in my yard gathering pecans with my picker upper stick for a few days - more than 5 gallons worth mon, 11/7 - 347.6 struggling with fluids, slight pull feeing while sitting and standing but otherwise good! tues, 11/8 - 349.2 - more sore but not really in pain.. i attributed this to walking a bit much the day before and trying to get more fluids… tried to power through and keep being as active as i could… (today i also had bathroom success lol) Wednesday, 11/9 - 349.2 - incision area hurting more and thought that I truly overdid it and took a lazy day… mild temp of barely 99 Thursday 11/10 - 347 - more pain in big incision area and it was warmer, mild fever 99.8 degrees- still blaming myself for pushing myself to be so active post op. took a super lazy day (even made someone get a birthday cake for my son who turned 19) friday 11/11 - 345.4 - something was wrong. pain was so much worse getting up and down and even sometimes moving. temp went to 100.8 in morning and i was feeing off. called dr and waited for call back. incision area looked ok but felt warm and kinda harder than it did.. not much redness… by 1 pm temp spiked to 101.7 even with tylenol. called again to dr and said something was wrong … they called in antibiotics and made appt for monday to see how i would respond. 11/11 - trip to town going to antibiotics- my husband drove .. we went into aldi to pick up a couple items before going to kroger to get meds and another grocery order ( we were feeding guests on saturday playing a game) and i actually have little memory or the store trip just bits and pieces … i told my husband i had a big problem and my pants were wet.... my infection, well, ruptured while in store.. we went to kroger to get antibiotics where i took one in the parking lot then i fell asleep immediately in the car for the ride home (unusual).. when finally hope after another stop i slept through, i groggily made my way in the house, cleaned myself up with hibclens and stumbled into bed without bandaging my still seeping wound and wrapped up shivering … and immediately went back to sleep… my mom called an hour or two later and i answers on my watch.. groggy and not very coherent.. hard to love, hard to talk, slurring words.. she called my husband who was doing another errand and he eventually came home and checked on me .. i was not medicated as he thought and still seeping a lot and he bundled me up and brought me to the er despite my slurring attempts to protest that i was perfectly fine and just wanted to sleep.. the er had a full waiting room, but when the staff talked to me and saw the state of the towel against my incision area - i was not only taken back but in a room immediately… my bad veins were acting up.. 7 different iv attempts and had to get an arterial pull for blood.. multiple bags of fluid, potassium iv, multiple antibiotics, a ct with contrast, .. in other words a long long night.. 11/12 - 7 am my surgeon came to er and i was more coherent than most of the night… i had a large infection and was a little dehydrated … but with the treatment already received and the iv antibiotics combined with oral, he thought i would be ok and i could go home with a bandages wound and see him monday morning. i slept for a few hours when i got home, then woke up sore and still hurting some but better than i had felt in a few days. bandages changed every couple hours due to drainage. when i got home before 9 am i weighed myself out of curiosity and i was 352. it made me laugh because they really did pump me full of fluids!! every day after got better. less pain, discharge stopped monday and slowly the fluids started to come off. i am now 17 days post op and i am down to 335.6 for the second day in a row. might be that famous 3 week stall early. but i am fine with that because it usually means good healing is finally taking place and the scale with catch up eventually. i can move better than pre surgery and 100% better than six months or a year ago. my stamina still sucks but is improving even with the infection (two types of streptococcal bacteria) I am doing good and on my way to the life that i keep telling myself I deserve to live. i want to make plans and do things for the first time in a few years. i am no longer afraid to go to a store because it hurt my back so badly and turned my face from pale white to tomato red due to the physical effort… i can actually go in without the immediate pain! so far even with the setback this is one of the best things i ever did for me

Today is exactly 2 months from my surgery. I only lost 8 pounds thanks to a 3 week stall but I did lose 7 inches total from all of my measurements. Last month I lost mostly on my stomach and lost 4 inches just in that one spot. This month I lost mostly on my thighs and calves probably because my only exercise is walking on the treadmill. I'll take any and all progress though! I hope this next month is better then the last but as long as I keep going down, even if its super slow, I'll be happy.

I'm 3 weeks and a couple days out now and I think I'm hitting the dreaded "3 week stall" or at least for me, the 3 week slow down. I was losing 1 pound a day before and the past few days it's been closer to .1-.2. I'm okay with this still even if it does come to a halt for a while. My stomach healing seems to be going backwards though. It has started cramping a lot while eating and drinking, and even occasionally when I'm just sitting here doing nothing. My team told me to go back to liquids for a couple days, so I've been doing that. ☹️ I was supposed to start soft foods next Tuesday but now it looks like I won't be able to.

The '3 week stall' happens to many! You will get out of it as long as you follow your plan. I'm gonna paste a great reply made by @SpartanMaker in a different post that explains why you may be stalling!

3 week stall... it is very common and will pass. If you search it on here you will find TONS of people talking about it. Just keep following your plan.

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.

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?

Well, I've lost 82 in 6 months. If I wasn't in a 3 week stall, I probably could have gotten there. Stupid stall....

(Bump bc I don't wanna make a new thread) I mentally prepared myself for my 3 week stall, but bc I had to stop taking birth control to avoid blood clots, my period also came at the exact same time week 3 started. Not only did i stall, but I have a ton of water weight, so I 'gained' a bit. Luckily I know what's going on& i know that's gonna go away & so I don't feel too bad about it, but MAN your first stall is really a bummer. I just gotta keep going

Hey July peeps. I’m past my 3 months since surgery. I too had a 3 week stall and I’m losing slow but steady now. I feel really good. I lost 20 lbs prior to surgery and another 43 since. I’m feeling good. I’ve gone from size 20W to 14W. My energy level is low; I think cuz I’m on 600-800 calories a day. I’m walking most days and still doing light weights but I’m not building stamina. I have an appointment with a nutritionist tomorrow and I’ll get my labs done on Thursday. I’ve found that I bruise way too easily right now too. I’m talking severe bruised on my forearm just cuz I put on long gloves as part of a costume. They’re going to be checking into that too. Other than that I’m very happy with the slow but steady progress. I hated the stall. I’m the one in the ivory dress with the pink ribbon. Those are the gloves that killed me.

I tried some creamy blended soup, but I got bad gas pain and bloating from it. It was Panera broccoli and cheese (blended to make sure no solids and watered down a little). Only had about 2 oz. Going to try a different one and see if that helps. Sugar free Jello makes me break out. So I am surviving on protein shakes and water. Which isn't awful because I'm one of the ones that have 0 hunger post op. I feel like I could never eat again and be ok. Which is great in some ways but also means I feel full whenever I try to drink anything. I'm looking forward to pureed/soft because I am craving normalcy. Sitting at a table with the family and taking a bite of something. I am dreading the 3 week stall, but I am happy to be on the road to a more normal diet pattern.

Sorry for the novel folks, but maybe before getting to tips and tricks, let's talk a bit about what causes plateaus: 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.

I had surgery on the 12th and towards the end of my second week I started to gain a few pounds. It is off again now. I think that are body was just healing and hydrating. I have heard about the dreaded 3 week stall from many, but I was still shook when it happened.

Oh girl, I'm right there with you. It's a total mind f*ck. I tell myself I won't weigh. Then I weigh. I hit the dreaded 3 week stall and am frustrated. I'm about to put my scale in a closet in another room to take away the fact that it's staring at me in the bathroom every morning. I think we are just so anxious to be further along in the journey, with the results to show for it. For me - I also think there is a bit of amazement that it is working and fear when the scale doesn't move that maybe it's NOT working. I just need to chill, trust the process and focus on what I can control. Water, protein, vitamins and nutrition in general, and movement.

I weigh myself every day and the scale has not really moved in the last 4 days. So I might be in the dreaded 3 week stall. I think that you can gain weight even with the low calories but I don't think its fat, I think its water weight or constipation. Eventually your body will get the clue and let go and you will see the scale move. I would call your dietitians though and let them look over your food log and see if they have any suggestions. My dietitians said usually the stalls are caused by either not enough calories, low protein or not taking vitamins. But I would talk to your team and see what they think. It should at least help your anxiety and give you some input from the experts. Good luck!

Just keep drinking! Also there’s a short weight loss stall near you. Not to worry about, ignore the scale when it happens. Look up 3 week stall on here to see more. You’ve got this!

I hit my 3 week stall at 2 1/2 weeks. It's normal. It'll break and you'll lose weight again. Just stick to your plan and watch for the non scale victories. Those are a huge help.

Good idea Kevin. I'm doing ok. I haven't lost but maybe a pound in the last 2 weeks. It's a bit frustrating but I suppose I'm hitting my 3 week stall a little late. I have lost a total of 28 lbs since surgery. I want more to come off. I need to relax and let the process work. I'm eating right and I exercising. It seems that I stall when I start exercising. I'm talking about walking mostly 2 miles + a day. I did kill my self by doing half squats and some light weigh arm exercises. Boy am I out of shape.

I'm having the same thoughts! My doc did warn me about the 3 week stall so hopefully they'll be understanding and helpful.