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Oh Tracey, the much-dreaded 3-week stall is just a week late for you. Search this site for "three-week stall" and you will feel so much better--we all have it in one way, form, or fashion. It will pass. Just keep doing what you're supposed to do and hang in there. The time AFTER the stall breaks is some of the fastest loss you'll experience, so fun times are ahead!

Just got over the three week stall - mine lasted 12 days - the good side of it all is when it is over you wake up one morning and bam - your pants fall off - everyone notices your new "face" and the pounds start to fall off again - not as fast but slowly but surely. I have been trying not to weigh myself as often and sticking to the NSV - they are so much better - gotta go - my pants are falling off me again - must readjust for the tenth time this morning and it is only 7:30a!

Yeah, I had the three week stall and it lasted a couple of weeks. WIth my pattern of loss, I am now seeing that I can just expect to stall for a couple of weeks, lose 3-4 lbs in a hurry, and then stall again. So I think I just need to get used to it.

There seems to be an infamous three week stall. I personally just hit it and it lasted 3.5 weeks. Many supporters here had warned me and although you expect it, it makes you doubt if the sleeve is going to work for you. Keep doing what you're suppose to and your body will adapt and before you know, you will start losing. Eat your protein and lots of fluid and you will be rewarded. We all lose at different rates. For me it seemed the stall started when I went from liquids to solids. As if my body was in starvation mode and held on to everything I put in my mouth, once it realizes that you will continue to feed it, it let's go of the choke hold. This was a very depressing time for me, one night I just let it go emotionally on this very site and the next day I had lost. Good luck to you...

Ok - I have failed this challagne - miserably - with a three week stall including a two lb gain. But the stall finally broke last week with an almost 6lb lose. I am not too disappointed. Ready for the next challange. Bring it on!! SW...194 CW...185.4 GW...180

I am writing this because I've been complaining about my lack of weight loss and stall. I went to see my Dr yesterday for my 6 week follow-up. I have finally broken the dreaded three week stall that started the day I started on solid food which was the day of my two week check-up, it lasted for almost 4 weeks. According to her scale I have lost 4.5 lbs in just the last few days. I was still discouraged with the low loss, but she was not unhappy at all. They are aware of the three week stall, she also made me realize that the pounds I lost prior to surgery are and should be counted as surgical loss. Many people don't lose any weight prior to surgery and therefore enjoying a sudden drop. I have less weight to lose than many others, so my loss will be slower. She was so encouraged and made me realize that I am already over half way there to meet her requirements. Using her little calculator and making all these configurations, she said if I lose 50% of my excess body weight(average) I am over half way there, although the nutritionist and I have set a lower weight, she said if I lose a mere 20lbs, I will be what is considered a successful sleeve according to national averages. So my current 29lb loss is over half way??? I do not plan to stop at another 20lbs, but it was encouraging to know how well I am doing and will do since I am just 6 weeks out. Her visit was just what I needed. I love my Dr. :-) Thanks to all of you who gave me encouragement when I was feeling down. That's why I love this venue.

Honestly, I eat about 1500 calories per day, and am at 3 weeks two days. I try to eat all healthy foods, but have had a piece of chocolate or two. I am down nearly 30 lbs since surgery, and have yet to hit the three weeks stall. I cant imagine the people who eat only 5-600 calories per day, and I'm sure they are staggered that I eat 1500. Its a crazy world, and we are all different!

That's right - mostly likely the dreaded three week stall, which hits most everyone to one degree or another. This article - http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html gives a good explanation of what's happening. The bad news is that when you resume losing it will likely be at a somewhat slower rate, but the good news is that now it will be primarly fat, which is what we are here for in the first place. So rejoice, and enjoy the trip.

The thing is that the scale isn't moving. I'm at 218 lbs. I'm aware that there's a stall. But isn't this rather early for the infamous three week stall? I will not despair, I will not despair. Boo!

Your story seems similar to mine, no adverse moments in my journey with the exception of a three week stall and constipation issues. I have actually only lost 13 lbs in 5 weeks. :-) I'm looking foward to my 6 week follow up appointment next week and a real weigh in at the Dr's. I hope our journeys continue uneventful.

You will find you are also losing inches. I had my three week stall also. Your body has to have time to catch up somehow. Keep up the good work!

I know I read somewhere there are certain stalls that almost everyone hits (like the three week one) so I hope someone posts that info again. I'd love to see it. I'm six weeks post op. I hit my three week stall, which lasted just over a week. last week I lost 7 lbs, now I'm stalling again. I hope this is not an every-other-week thing!

I am 5'3 and was 216 my day of surgery. I have been a relatively slow loser and 4.5 months post surgery I have "only" lost 41 pounds and am currently on a three week stall at 175. I don't mind losing slow, but do fear that I won't lose any more.

Hey all. First off, let me say the past few days I haven't been the most faithful to sticking to the plan, food wise. Now that that is out of the way... Well, I'm almost 8 weeks out and going through, or might be finally pulling out of, a two-three week stall. The first week I contribute to my lovely TOM, but the second week left me baffled. I exercised, got my Protein, drank my Water and the scale wouldn't budge! Well, my family celebrated Christmas on Sunday (yeah, three weeks late!) as well as my aunt's birthday. We had it at my mom's and they decided to order pizza instead of cooking. I took a piece and ate the cheese and a few bites of the bread. They also brought a birthday cake, so I had a small bite from my mom's piece. Go to the scale the next day and you know what happens? The scale moves down two pounds below my lowest so far after fluctuating between the same three pounds for what seems like forever! I thought, "well okay... maybe it's just because I finally broke the stall." Well, Monday and Tuesday, I went back to my routine of protein, water, exercise, etc. Get back on the scale Tuesday... I gain the two pounds I had lost. Wednesday, I went up another pound and a half. My roommate decides to make the cheesy garlic breadsticks that have been in our freezer for forever and a day. Now, I have a hard time resisting carbs and always loved carbs more than anything else. My snack as a kid was a piece of bread with butter on it, folded in half like a sandwich. I have home movies of me as a toddler, walking around and eating just a plain piece of bread. I've been adamant to keeping as many carbs out of the house as possible because of this problem. Anyways, the breadsticks are small, so I eat one and then a half of one later, careful to chew thoroughly until it's almost pureed consistency. Get back on the scale today... and the weight I had regained and then some are gone again! Sheesh. I don't know what my body wants sometimes! I try to keep the healthy habits up, and when I slip is when my body decides to lose the weight? This doesn't mean I'm going to revert back to my old ways, because to be honest, my body wouldn't be able to handle it. I just don't understand that I stall for over two weeks eating as much protein, drinking as much water as possible, and when I cheat, that's when the pounds come off? I hope it's just a coincidence because while I do want to lose the weight, I don't want my insides to be unhealthy because of what I put in my mouth, even if it does make me lose the weight. Has anyone else have something similar to this happen to them? P.S. I normally don't weigh myself this obsessively. I usually weigh every third day, but I wanted to see what was happening weight-wise based on what I was eating. Sort of like an experiment.

Thanks Sleeve of Steel. I've been mainly walking now, since I don't really live close to a gym, but once school starts up again, I'm going to their gym. I'm probably saying the wrong phrase, lol. I guess I took net gain from profits or sales terms, and put them in a sleeve-situation! Let's say you eat 800 calories in a day and do some exercise that burns 300 calories. I'm calling that 500 (800 in minus 300 out) calories a "net gain." I'm bad with phrases. I'm surprised your doctor says to start 1200 calories immediately. A lot of people I see on here don't reach that until a few, or several, months out. I didn't get the three week stall, so I'm guessing this is my body just being stubborn and going to be doubly frustrating and making me stall longer than I should.

Just finished a three-week stall myself, followed by a 10-pound loss. So don't give up, it WILL happen.

I was down about 32lb the first month, starting at 292 & BMI around 42. I'm now down about 100 at seven months and just about at goal (we'll see how the body comp settles out - that's the actual goal.) Whether you stall or not at the typical three week mark, your loss will slow markedly at that point. Initially you are burning mostly glycogen (some stored carb and protein) which burns at a rate of around 2000cal per pound. Once those stores are consumed, you actually start burning the fat that we are trying to lose, but it comes off slower, at around 3600cal per pound. I never had the dreaded three week stall, but the loss curve sure flattened out some right at that time.

I had my three week stall, and added in working out on the treadmill almost every day. That stall broke, but then I stalled again. I was going up and down the same three pounds when I had just broken into the 200's. My pulmonologist told me to ease up on the workouts and the weight would start dropping again. And, he was right! Since I've backed off the treadmill some, I am dropping again. Why? Because I'm not building up the muscle as fast as I was. At my BMI, the muscle is important, but I want the pounds to come off. I DO NOT want 280 pounds of muscle! LOL OTOH, while I was working so hard, I could almost see the definition in my legs and butt getting better and I dropped 2 pants sizes, so there are pros and cons to each way of doing things!

Renee, How close are you to TOM? Lots of ladies notice a couple of pound increase just before because we are retaining Water, then most see a loss immediately afterwards. That three week stall is a booger, isn't it!? I was so worried about mine, but just kept doing the water, doing the Protein, and then I had a big drop, 4 or 5 pounds, IIRC. I hit another one at the end of my 2nd month/beginning of the 3rd month, so I upped my walking and gained a pound. My regular doc told me that I wouldn't lose until I backed off the walking for a few days. I rolled my eyes when he told me that muscle weighs more than fat, but he's right. And, during that second stall, I lost inches in a hurry! That's when I dropped the second pants size, so always check your measurements when you stall on the scale. Also, always look for those NSV's (non scale victories). I've had tons of them lately and I make sure to keep my eyes open for them. Something as simple as being able to slide into a booth in a restaurant will thrill me, although I might not say anything to my dining companions. I was thrilled to be able to buy a belt...and then it was too big the first time I wore it! I had to adjust my car seat because I not longer need to sit way to one side so that the seat belt latch doesn't dig into my tush. Those are all somewhat silly, but they are the things that make me go YEAH! Good luck to you all!

Michell, Everyone here is right. That three week stall is a bugger!! Just keep doing what you know you have to do: work on getting in your Protein and your Water, walk as much as you can, do a little light weigts for your arms (to avoid the jiggle arms) and don't worry about it. I'm a classic control freak, but I've found that I have to let go of what I can't control here and let my sleeve do it's job. I'm on MFP as well (Lissa912 if you want to friend me) and, at two months and three weeks out, I've lost nearly 60 pounds. I've been floating between 295 and 299 for over a week, but I didn't let it frustrate me because my clothes were getting bigger and bigger. Have you read about NSV's yet? Those are Non scale Victories. Check out that thread in success stories and definitely keep your eyes open for them. It makes letting go of the scale obsession so much easier when you start seeing all the other positive things that happen besides dropping pounds! Good luck on your journey!!

You are doing fine. Some folks gain weight from the IV in surgery. I gained 10 pounds during the first two days. It will come off. There is also a three week stall that is soooo disappointing... get ready for that too... and you do not feel real restriction until you get to dense protein at 4-6 weeks, so do not freak out. Just hang in there, the body is just trying to figure out what the heck you have done to it... You will start losing soon. Just make sure you drink your water, stay away from a lot of salt and walk walk walk. Good luck!

Most patients experience a stall of little to no weight loss immediately following surgery. It's even nicknamed the three week stall since that is where it often hits. It sounds like it got you a little earlier. I have also noticed that those who have a lot of weightloss on the pre-op diet take a little longer to get the scale moving post-op. I would relax, follow your doctor's diet,drink plenty of liquids, measure your food and stay away from the scale for week. I know it's frustrating but the scale will start to move in good time. Amanda

Thanks for the encouragement. I am at least learning my triggers so I can manage them better. I am currently in my first stall I think. I lost 1/2 pound last week. That hasnt happened yet for me till this week. I didnt eat crazy, I just thought about it. I never had the three week stall so I guess its my turn. I hope next week is better. Good luck with your BF.