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What were you expecting to lose? If you're looking for 30+ lbs the first month, that's pretty rare unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life". For most of us "average" WLS patients, that much loss the first month is pretty unusual. Most of us lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range. Plus most people don't lose much the first week because of the "gain" from the IV fluids you get in the hospital (which of course is just water) - and then there's the infamous "three-week stall" that many of us experience, where you can go a couple of weeks (usually 1-3) without any loss, because your body is kind of recalibrating after the surgery - so you may be experiencing that as well. you're not going to lose the weight any faster than if you ate the same thing without surgery. With the extreme calorie deficit we have the first few months out, you'd probably lose about the same regardless if you had surgery or not. The difference is, it's much more easy to sustain that deficit with the surgery. Most people probably could not go for months on end eating something like 800 calories. But with the surgery, you can. Your hunger is suppressed, your stomach is tiny, etc. The most I could ever lose before surgery was about 50-60 lbs. With this, I lost over 200, and have kept it off for eight years. No way could I have done that without the surgery.

OHHHH dear one- the conversations we've had today on this forum about stalls!!! I am in one as well. Mine started at...guess when....three weeks!!! Yes, it's referred to around here as the "three week stall." I found a great explanation for it today from one of our seasoned sleevers. Check it out: (This was a post on another thread by "Tiffykins.") This is why you are in a stall. It's normal and expected. Your body will never go into a stall as long as you have body fat to burn: Weight Loss Stall or Plateau A weight loss stall or plateau is an extended period of time during reducing efforts where is there is no weight loss according to the scale and no loss of inches according to the tape measure. This is why it is so important to take your body measurements before surgery, so you'll have a reference as your weight loss progresses post-op. We suggest you take measurements of your chest, waist and hip, neck, upper arm, thigh and calf. Be aware it is very common for your weight loss to "stall" shortly after surgery. Diana explains the reason for this below. The Inevitable Stall By Diana C. A "stall" a few weeks out is inevitable, and here's why. Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs of Water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when you are not getting in enough food, your body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. And when you use up 2 lbs of glycogen, you also lose 8 lbs of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs that most people lose in the first week of a diet. As you stay in caloric deficit, however, your body starts to realize that this is not a short term problem. You start mobilizing fat from your adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But your body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy -- like, to outrun a saber tooth tiger. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. And as it puts back the 2 lbs of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though you might still be LOSING energy content to your body, your weight will not go down or you might even GAIN for a while as you retain water to dissolve the glycogen that is being reformed and stored. Breathe, and fuggedaboudit for a few days. What You Can Do About a Stall or Plateau If you are experiencing a post-op weight loss stall or plateau further out there are a few possible causes. First, check that are you really in a stall. If the scale has stopped moving you may be losing inches, so check your measurements. Too Many Carbs? Carbohydrates can start sneaking into your foods without you being aware of how quickly they are adding up. For more information on carbs, see our section onCarbohydrates. If you are struggling with your weight loss you may want to examine your daily carb count. You can try to keep your carbs under 50g a day and see if that makes a difference in your weight loss. Do not eat carbs before bedtime as it triggers insulin and initiates fat storage. There are some great web site resources you can use to keep track of what you are eating.

Our bodies are complex systems, not simple machines. @@Babbs has a great explanation of the technical/biological reason for the three week stall.

The dreaded three week stall. Just stick to your plan. My three week stall lasted a frustrating three weeks, but many only stall for a few days to a week. It’s completely normal and you are doing the right thing by focusing on inches! 😀

Having not lost weight for nearly two weeks after surgery, I was starting to stress even thought I had heard of the three week stall. I then read this article and discussed it with my husband who's a meat science who confirmed its accuracy. A breath of relief and kept doing what I was supposed to and weight started dropping quickly again. Thought I'd share if someone else was experience and wondering what was going on. Here's the link: The article I read

This is something with a two part answer. The first is that, on average, we will be slowing down continually as we lose, simply because it takes fewer calories to move ourselves around all day at 300 lb as it did at 400 lb, and even fewer at 200 lb, etc. We will likely see stair steps, and some weeks or months will be lower or higher than others, but the overall trend is declining. The second part is that we will usually experience a big drop the first couple of weeks or so (and then typically get the dreaded "three week stall") and the proceed lower at a somewhat reduced rate. This is because our initial loss it mostly water weight associated with burning off our short term energy reserves of glycogen (basically stored carbohydrate) which gives us the "easy ten" lb that we typically lose when we start seriously dieting. After the glycogen is used up, we start to draw from our fat reserves, though there is often a pause or stall as the body changes gears.

I use the term 'three week stall' because that tends to be when that first stall happens but for some it does so earlier or later.. as long as you follow your program it will drop pretty dramatically when it ends.

Don't forget to track how much and what you are eating. I like using My Fitness Pal. It really helped me in the beginning because it made me more aware of what nutrients I was getting in. My focus has always been to try to hit at least 80 grams of Protein. And, I had a three week stall that started week 3. They happen. I know it can be discouraging to NOT see the weight come off, but it will. I also learned early on to not weigh myself daily. Our bodies will fluctuate in weight day to day, even morning compared to night. Why? The food and fluids we eat/drink that is still in the system will increase our weight temporarily (and don't forget the other bodily functions). Pick a day and time to weigh yourself once a week. I swear it will help keep your sanity intact.

I hit my first stall during weeks 2 and 3 post-op. Then I dropped six pounds during week four. It's not uncommon at all (in fact, do a search for "three-week stall"). your body's going to do what it's going to do. Some people lose weight fast, others lose it slow and steady. So many things can affect it (I'm definitely a slow loser, but I've lost 153 lbs in total). Just stick to the plan and you will definitely lose!!!

yes. Do a search on this site for the three week stall. There are over 17,000 posts on it (and no, I am NOT kidding...). Happens to almost all of us... Just stick to your program, stay off the scale if you have to, and trust the process. Your weight loss WILL start up again...

they happen to most of us. The first major one usually hits sometime during the first month post-op. We call it the "three week stall" because it's most often the third week, but not always. mine was weeks 2 & 3. they typically last 1-3 weeks, but I've heard of them lasting longer (although USUALLY 1-3 weeks), Just stick to your program and stay off the scale for a few days - and know that it WILL break.

It's a common thread I see running around this forum.. people asking why they didn't do this years ago. I'm even young and I'm finding myself asking the same thing. Though I'm only 25.. I wish I would have done it at 18 or 20.. admittedly, maybe I wasn't ready then.. maybe I still needed time.. especially because part of my story is finding out at 24 that I had bipolar II without the usual "standard" symptoms of women docs normally see in their 20's so I was very hard to diagnose and went through a period of about three years where I alienated everyone but my very closest friends because I was so hard to be around -- with a low of winding up needing to be admitted to a psych ward to get it all figured out. I definitely learned who my friends were (and who, surprisingly, weren't...) I am also social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and depression.. so I spent the last year and a half in counseling trying to get my mental self to match the well-put together self I present to the world thanks to years of being on stage growing up. I learned to show myself as put together - graduating magna cum laude and being responsible even if I was falling apart inside. So I needed to deal with all of that first before I felt ready to confront my weight. But finally I was ready. It started about 1 year ago. I had been feeling bad about my weight for a while. I was overweight during my childhood. My grandmothers both grew up during the Great Depression.. so for them.. giving me food was the same as giving me love.. especially high calorie foods. For them eating wasn't about hunger.. it was about enjoyment and thankfulness to have food to eat. (One was thin, one was overweight). But from them I learned to love all the wrong types of food and to love them in gigantic portions.. My stomach was already way stretched by the time I was 7 or 8. I remember weighing 85 pounds in 2nd grade because we did a math thing where we all weighed in front of the class. There was only one student, a boy, who weighed more.. during school I dealt with a lot, I mean a LOT of bullying because I was mature and just different - I'd rather read a book or write a story than go out for recess and I was reading Romeo and Juliet while they were reading Junie B Jones (For the Record I like her too even though she's a huge spoiled brat). Basically I had a generation gap with my peers since my parents were born in the late forties and early fifties and their parents were much younger.. so I was already -extremely- bullied. I didn't make my first non-internet friends until college.. and those were some of the people I found out weren't true blue friends when I went through my emotional break down a couple of years ago... So yeah.. and it didn't help that I was overweight.. that was just something else to give them to make fun of me about. As it turned out.. even though I wasn't doing even as good as I am now in therapy one year ago.. I was doing better than I had been in years and that gave me time and energy to turn my thoughts to the weight I'd been unhappy to be carrying around for years. Before college it bothered me.. but I didn't think about it a lot.. it was in early college when I hit 200 and started having trouble finding clothes that would fit me in your typical stores both like Macy's but also stores that people my age like - Aeropostale, Am. Eagle etc.. that I started to have a personal crisis about my weight and be super unhappy with it. Shopping became my least favorite thing because it was an exercise in taking whatever would fit rather than whatever I liked. And by a year ago I had started to notice I couldn't do or keep up with the same types of activities most people my age do. I love showing my dog Riff in conformation and was learning that I couldn't keep up with her jogging on our down and back (jogging beside the dog so the judge can see his or her movement properly) and that getting on my knees to present her not only hurt but was nearly impossible. I started to be even more unhappy because I couldn't do the hobbies I loved that people my age are doing. And in the meantime for the past 5-10 years I'd been trying every diet known to man.. I didn't feel like any of them were sustainable for a life time because I was unhappy with them. And rather than yo-yoing I just didn't lose. Didn't matter how well I stuck to a diet, I'd find myself losing maybe 5 pounds in 7 or 8 months of hard work.. and finally I gave up.. I was near the point of accepting I was just going to be overweight forever and that was how it was going to be. I knew my issues - I don't eat for emotional reasons, I don't eat when I'm not hungry.. but my stomach was super stretched from years of eating too much and I like big portions and the wrong kinds of things. I could go and polish off a huge plate of food enough for three meals and feel "Just about right" and I didn't have the self control to starve while I waited on my stomach to shrink naturally.. I just couldn't do it. I had heard things about gastric bypass that made me say no way never.. things like "You'll never be able to have any sugar again." or "You'll never be able to have fried foods again." While I'm happy to make lifestyle changes, things like "Never again" aren't something I'm capable of. So I ruled out surgery for a long while. Finally, a year ago I looked into it again and read about gastric sleeve for the first time.. and it was a fit.. not as serious as gastric bypass.. less prone to things like dumping syndrome.. and all about moderation rather than "never agains" more healthy choices.. less bad ones.. but I didn't have to promise I was never eating Pasta or never having a fried chicken leg again - which was something I knew I couldn't agree to. There was less risk of serious complications and it was a plan I thought I could actually live with and be happy and it went right to the root of my issue - shrink my stomach so I can get used to a normal portion size again without having to starve. Something I haven't had since I was 6-7 years old. Within two days of researching I was ready to commit. But of course getting my medicaid to pay for the surgery wasn't as easy as deciding I wanted it - even though I looked over the qualifications and knew I met them - I still had a lot of hoops to jump through. In October I started my 6 month phys supervised diet which only convinced my doctor and I that I needed the surgery even more. I ate 1500 calories a day and walked my dog most days for 30+ minutes (which was a significant step down from what I had been eating and step up from my sedentary lifestyle) and lost only 11 pounds in all that time. And part of it came back! Getting cleared psychologically was a battle too. They wanted a psychiatrist who didn't know me to evaluate me even though my own had already sent a letter of approval.. and the psychiatrist who I did see didn't really want to clear someone who was bipolar.. it was a battle, but finally I got cleared. That by itself took over two months and delayed my surgery which should have been in March 2016. I also had to have blood work, a number of physician check ups by my program's docs and so on. But finally all the hard work paid off.. on the first submission to insurance, I was approved within a week! How excited was I! And my surgery was set for May 31st 2016. However, the roller coaster wasn't over.. I had little contact with my bariatric program from the get go... they share a department, nurses, etc with general surgery.. so calling to talk to someone there is always a nightmare.. it's a 30 minute wait to get a human on the phone, calling to talk to a nurse means a 5 hour or more wait for a call back.. and it also means a very unpersonalized approach.. they're so busy and have so many people through their program that they want everyone to be a cookie cutter mold and don't want to offer people any individualized advice because "others in the program might want the same advice." Well number one - others in the program shouldn't know what -I- discuss with my doctors so how could they want it and number two healthcare isn't supposed to be about squeezing people into a mold and making the exact same treatment work for everyone... so I began to be unhappy with my program from early on.. especially when their psychiatrist and my psychiatrist got into a fight over the phone about whether I was going to get cleared. Their psychiatrist had met me only once and knew nothing about my case history while my own psychiatrist has been working with me for about a year and half.. who do you think was more qualified to say if I was stable or not? But aparently their program couldn't understand that.. However.. I was stuck.. Medicaid wanted me in state and this program was the closest to me and already an hour and a half away.. the only other options were double or triple that commute time (Chicago). So I just kinda had to stick with it.. I've gone on to be further disappointed by them at numerous occasions - namely when my surgeon said that Water aerobics is a joke of an exercise program and only for people who can't do anything else and that I couldn't hit my weight loss goal of 130 pounds doing water exercise of any kind (there's a thread floating around about that). Clearly he's never taken a hard core water exercise class or he would know that is so not true. I took my first one Friday and I was sweating in the water! Finally I did get to have my surgery though! Before surgery I had an 800 calorie diet for two weeks focusing on Protein and lean meats and veggies and reasonable on carbs. It wasn't too hard of a diet to follow beyond getting hungry because my stomach was huge. Surgery day came but I was excited rather than nervous. especially because all of us May 31st sleevers from the forum (there was about 10 of us) made a facebook group so we could keep in touch and that really helps to have other people who are exactly where I'm at in the recovery stage. I didn't have much trouble recovering from surgery. I never had any gas pain and even though I was in pain in general the first three days they gave me lots of morphine and kept me very comfortable. While my program as a whole is somewhat disappointing - I do have to say that the nurses who took care of me in the hospital couldn't have been better. They helped me walk. They helped me get up to go to the bathroom and helped me adjust positions in bed since I needed help doing all that for the first 2-3 days. I brought my laptop to the hospital with me and spent time here on the forums and doing other stuff I like -- even played some Sims. My recovery was uncomplicated and three days later I was able to go home. My internal swelling went down fast and by a week out I was so sick of liquids that I couldn't help but try a little puree and it worked just fine to help supplement and keep me from going nuts. One thing that's been very helpful to me is Fairlife Milk. it's heightened protein milk with 13 grams of protein for a cup. I drink it straight and also add it to my Soups. It helps a lot in getting in my 64 oz of liquid and my 60 grams of protein. I've been using an app called Plant Nanny which lets you grow plants based on how much Fluid you consume then you can plant them in your garden and harvest their seeds to get more diverse plants.. it makes drinking at least slightly more fun. I also wear a fitbit flex and it's synced with My Fitness Pal. I log my calories on MFP and my exercise syncs there from my fitbit automatically and tells me if I've earned extra calories from exercise (though I rarely use those). I was never given a calorie goal to shoot for but I set a goal of 800 for myself based on the pre-opp diet and what I can eat and get in 60 grams of protein without feeling too stuffed/ too deprived. I'm on my own for a lot of it because I've only met with the NUT once for 30 minutes pre-opp about 2 months and I won't see her again until in July so... I just read and do the best I can. So yeah I'm 3 full weeks out from surgery on Tuesday and also down 20 pounds since May 18th (the start of my pre-opp liver diet). I faced the three week stall at about week 2 instead of three and I was down to a new low for the first time in a week today so I'm hoping that it's broken and I'll have a bit of smooth sailing for a while from here. So.. that's my story so far. I don't know if people post in these to update but.. every once in a while I'll post back and let you guys know how I'm doing.

You were lied to. The three weeks stall is infamous. What can you do? Be patient. That's it.

Very typical. It's called the three week stall, the average time people experience their first weight loss stall. You need to eat more calories though.

You are in the most common stall that there is... the "three week stall" that happens to almost all of us. Go up to the top of the vst page, in the search bar and look up three week stall. Also, you will go through a "surge" of hormones. I don't remember when nor how long it lasts, just that omg I am so f'n hormonal, I felt like I was crazy. Just know this - it too shall pass. Change your perspective. Concentrate on your "levels" .. by that I mean protein, how many oz of water you get in, etc. You will have many ups and downs in this journey and through out each trial, you will learn how to best equip yourself for the next hurdle. You CAN do it! And the weight's going to start zooming off... watch. If I could, I'd bet money on that. And I'm not a betting woman... Hang in there sweetie! OH and I (for a while) only allowed myself to weigh every Monday morning. Otherwise, it drove me nuts. Now, I don't care what the scale says as much. It varies (for me) up to 5 lbs a day depending on the time of the day. Limit scale time to once a week if you can!

The infamous three week stall. Mine lasted three weeks. Just keep doing exactly what your doing, it will pass.

Crystal light won't affect the stall. The stall is your body's way of adjusting. Mine lasted two and a half weeks and some have lasted up to several months for others. You want to up protein and be patient. I drank Crystal Light and still do but alternate between that and plain water, with plain water being my main source of liquid. You shouldn't have any restriction on liquid at all. I did cut out the protein shake, which helped me, not sure how much meat you eat so feel unsure you want to cut that out. Walking more now helps, and I'm losing a pound a day. I have no issues, even eating one small scoop of ice cream with a cookie last night, and waking up a pound and a half lighter. (First and last time eating ice cream for a long time, I had no dumping syndrome.) The stalls are hard but normal. There is no dreaded "three week stall", it's just one of several plateaus you will hit. I will say you may wish to not drink crystal light due to fake sweetener that's in it, still having said that I drink it once in a while when water is too redundant. I personally don't think you ought to return to all fluids - you need to eat every three or so hours to keep your metabolism working. It's the yo-yo dieting that ruined the ability to lose to begin with. Just stick with 1-2 oz of food. Measure out 4oz, put half away and eat when you feel hungry. My doctor told me to expect a severe stall after I started solid food and that's exactly what I got. I'm down 53 pounds since May 1st. Good luck.

Google "three week stall".

first week is from the IV fluids they gave you in the hospital. Some people gain as much as 10 lbs from that (I can't remember how much I "gained" - maybe 4 or 5 lbs). It can take up to a week for it to work its way out. Also, almost everyone has their first stall within the first 4-6 weeks after surgery. It's usually the third week (thus, the "three-week stall"), but not always. Mine was weeks 2 & 3. During week 4, it broke and I dropped like 6-8 lbs practically overnight.

I love how simple things are such great accomplishments! Congrats on your towel covering up all of you! That's awesome. I'm waiting to see if I will have a three week stall (I'm at 2 weeks tomorrow post op). If there is a stall, your post has relieved me. Thank you!

So I had my sleeve done 11/6. I am on a liquid stage right now. Had to go out to any event to Celebrate my son's birthday and were around family that did not know I had surgery. I had Soup and then tried to eat a few bites of mashed potatoes so that it appeared I was eating like everyone else. I was only able to eat three bites of mashed potato. I'm just wondering once I get to real food next month. Is there going to be a point where I'm going to be able to eat an amount that is not so noticeable that everyone's gonna ask why only take five bites of food ? I'm just wondering if it's always only going to be a few bites of food or what? I want to eventually be able to go out and have normal social life without all the questions or why I'm not eating? So that's my only concern. For now obviously just being on shakes and yogurt etc. i'm already down 20 pounds since my surgery date. Still doesn't really feel good to eat yogurt even then I do better with just liquids. I go back to work this week and I feel fine other than that. I've been able to get up and walk around and be active almost since the first few days I've been home. So no complaints here. More just questions about the future. Happy that I will never be able to sit down with a huge plate of food And eat til my stomach hurts. Just knowing that makes me much more sure about my future. Making better choices and this tool helping for portion size it's really a win-win. Now I'm approaching this three-week stall keep hearing about but I have no complaints 20 pounds even for one month it's nothing to complain about. So far every day still more and more weight is gone. My doctor told me last Friday that that weight loss would slow down but I've lost another 3 pounds since then. Cheers to that!