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Surgery 12/14/23 RNY. I turned 51 ten days later. I will be 4 months post op 4/14. Doing well, had a stall and now my hair is thinning in spots. I’ve been exercising since I came home. Only issue is some constipation.. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Welcome! Plateaus are absolutely normal. Just look through these forums under 3 week stall. It's called the 3 week stall, but can happen at any time and can last anywhere from a week or more. Remember your body is adjusting to all these changes. It definitely can be discouraging, but its so normal and doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong at all. It can be hormones, the body making up for such rapid lost, a good BM etc. Dare I say that most if not all of us have experienced this. Stick to your plan and stay off the scales for a few days. Sometimes the daily weigh in messes with us. Best of luck. You got this.

The Week 3 stall is real! I stalled and gained 6lbs back between weeks 3 and 5, and just now lost it back in the last week. I've had several people tell me weeks 3-6 will generally have a stall and a slight regain due to your body panicking over the rapid weight loss, and readjusting its baseline, so it is part of the process. I've also been told a second stall/regain will occur around the 3-month mark, and last up to 4 weeks, so prepare yourself for that. I'm bracing for that coming up soon. Keep in mind the weight loss won't be like a straight line, more like stair steps with the occasional bump back up before dropping again. Just stick to the diet, and switch to weighting weekly to prevent obsessing over it (like I did haha). Also, several months from now, as you approach your goal weight, remember that gaining muscle through exercise will make the number on the scale go up, but that's a good thing. Muscle weights 1.5x as much as fat, so as you gain it, you will continue burning off fat, which is the "bad weight". About 1 year out, you won't worry as much about the scale, and will celebrate the wins in smaller clothing sizes, more energy, and better endurance/stamina! Regarding the caloric intake, my surgeon and team recommended I keep aiming for 800-1000 calories per day, but I am a 6'1" male, so my base caloric rate may be higher than yours. I would check back with your doctor or nutritionist to be sure, but I think 1200 is closer to the target after 1 year. Also prioritize water and protein first, followed by unsaturated fats, then try for any carbs/sweets/starches/breads and saturated fats last. My plan has me targeting less than 50g of carbohydrates per day, not low enough for keto, but enough to keep the sugar cravings and fat retention down. You may need to check your macros as well. Best of luck to you on your journey!

I met both of mine pretty much right away, but I know a lot of people struggle with this the first three or four weeks. Getting your liquid goals are the more important of the two since being dehydrated can land you back in the hospital. One thing I've done for a long time is to drink 16 oz of water every morning as soon as I get out of bed - before I eat breakfast, drink coffee, or whatever. Even doing 8 oz right off the bat might help..

first of all, 18 lbs in three weeks is normal. Most of us lose around 15-25 lbs the first month post-op. Thirty pounds in three weeks is way above average - did they start out at 400+ lbs or something? If so, that would explain it. Starting BMI is a huge factor in how quickly you'll lose weight - at least at first. soup and cheese both have a lot of sodium in them. So does store-bought bread. That three lbs might be water retention from the sodium.

I had gastric bypass 4/19 and hit my first stall. I know this happens and was prepared by my medical team to expect it but I’m still worried. My personal experience has been SO easy, I’m almost worried this is the other shoe to drop, so to speak, and 20lbs is all I’ll lose after surgery. Thoughts?

Everyone recovers differently. One friend was back after a week, another was three weeks while I was four. Is it possible to extend your leave if you need, or return part time or with reduced daily hours? Can you work partly at home? Better to have a plan in place your employers are happy with just in case you need it. All the best with your surgery.

Oh yes I get the comparing yourself to others. That is REALLY HARD. I say celebrate the 18lbs in 2 weeks (when have you ever lost even close to that on any diet?), get to know how the three week stall hits almost all of us (and can last a few weeks) and then settle into your programme and enjoy the big losses to come. 3lbs gain in a month is nothing to worry about - honestly. I am really surprised that you're allowed bread at such an early stage. My plan was protein then veg and no carbs for many months. When I did start earing bread it sat in my stomach like a lump of lead - so did pasta and rice. Less so 2 years on but I honestly only use them like a weapon in certain situations - not for daily consumption even now. I wish you all the best

I'm officially off my blood pressure medication! I haven't taken it since the day before surgery because my blood pressure was normal in the hospital and low when they released me, but the final decision needed to be made by my primary care. I went to see her today and was at 110/78 so she officially removed the med from my chart. All my readings have been normal the past three weeks, which feels like a miracle. I've been on it for at least 10 years, and even with medication I usually measured 130/85.

Yeah that happens. I did that with my pre op diet. I am starting my walking on Monday morning. I am 6 days out so I don’t want to do too much but I want to get started. I can’t wait for week three 😂

So we’re all about 4 months out give or take. How’s everyone doing? I’m in week 4 of a stall and it’s starting to get to me

Please add the option to list a second surgery to our profile if possible. I’m thinking it’s kinda confusing to people that I am asking questions about pre op when I had surgery three years ago. Also please add the SADI surgery to the list of surgeries as well.

Question. How do they determine “excess weight.” Is it calculated from a certain BMI?? I tried to get an answer to this three hears ago when I was awaiting the sleeve and I still haven’t figured it out.

2 weeks, 1 month, three months & has been every 6 months for the last 2 years. The next appointment I have to make will be around my 5 year anniversary in May. Don’t know how long this will continue but it’s reassuring that they’re keeping an eye on me & are there if I need them. I actually look for ward to the appointment as I get on well with the doctor who does these appointments & we always have a good chat as well as the follow up.

This is absolutely normal. Almost everyone experiences stalls multiple times. So many factors contribute. Keep to your programme and you will hopefully be back on track really soon!

Will do, thank you! I'll start it today. I can't have anything else in my diet. Just my three shakes (to which I add skimmed milk). Everything else adds calories and they said it's a complete meal replacement shake diet only, so unfortunately I can't have anything else 😞 Do you think things would still be okay if I ate maybe broth and soup but went on just shakes for the last two weeks? I just don't know.

There's typically a couple stalls that lasts for 2-4 weeks that happens after surgery. I've heard them typically referred to to the 3rd week and 3rd month stalls when they typically start, but can happen any time. Our bodies have to recalibrate things after substantial loss, and it will hold on to fat and/or fluids until it knows its safe for it to lose more. As long as you stick to you calories, macros, and fluid requirements laid out by your doctor, the weight loss will resume. Restart your diet and track everything closely. Also go back to weighing yourself weekly instead of daily to reduce stress. Additionally, if you are working out more than you were pre surgery, keep in mind you may also be gaining some muscle weight, which offsets the number on the scale. If your clothing sizes are getting smaller, you're still on track! It is very frustrating as I just came out of one, but I did slack off on tracking my eating closely over the holidays. Even though I didn't feel like I was eating that much more, I had crept back up around 1600 calories a day by having a treat I thought I had earned. I didn't realize it was so calorically dense and was a big mistake for me. I was using it to feel better after having covid over Christmas and New Years, but it did throw me off track and made my stall worse. I'm back on the strict diet this week and its starting to drop again.

I can relate to being afraid of gaining weight after working so hard to lose it. We all deal with that here. But it's a fine line between being mindful about it and developing disordered eating habits. I can speak to this because it happened to me. I was dropping weight like a champ, then I hit stall after stall, and each one lasted longer than the previous one. And I would panic. And I would restrict the amount I ate, I would kick up the intensity and frequency of my work outs. I would have anger and confusion and fear anytime I either didn't lose or I gained a little (turns out, I'm one of the ones that gains 3-5 pounds during a stall and then just sits there for weeks and weeks. Then when the stall breaks, I drop like 6-7 pounds all at once). I had to actually go to a therapist that specializes in bariatric disordered eating (not easy to find, btw) to get my head on straight. And it's still a struggle sometimes. Especially since these last 11 pounds absolutely fight me tooth and nail and just don't want to come off. I said all that to say just be very careful. I never started out intending to have these issues. I thought I'd have the surgery, lose the weight, get healthy, and bada-boom bada-bing, life would be great. But it's never that cut and dry, is it? We can become obsessed with losing the weight, seeing how low we can get the scale, getting into that lower size, looking thinner, never gaining weight again, getting that bmi just a little lower.....and before you know it, you have a whole new eating disorder that's even harder to get out of and we're doing even more damage to our bodies without even meaning to. And we can justify what we're doing because HEY, we got off our meds, we're getting healthier, we're losing the weight, we're EXTENDING OUR LIVES damn it!!! And that's harder to overcome and harder to recognize and going too far than being obese is. We knew we needed help. We knew we were doing wrong. That's why we had the surgery. But now? Now it gets harder to see what we're doing because HEALTH!! WEIGHT LOSS IS GOOD!!! NO MORE MEDS IS THE GOAL!!! JUST A LITTLE MORE WEIGHT OFF CAN'T POSSIBLY BE BAD!!! So please please just be really careful with where you're at now and where you're wanting to get to. Lastly, on the days you're working out (especially the really hard weight days) increase your protein and calories. Your body thinks it's starving, so you need to reassure it that you're not. The heavier the work out, the more your body needs. You can't run a car without gas and you can't run your body without food. So give it what it needs, in the amounts it needs, and it'll do what you want it to. Make sure you also have a larger amount of fluids than you normally would on those days, too. Dehydration can really do a number on the body, as well.

I had my surgery 7/10 and am traveling for work. Thankfully I was able to acquire some protein shakes and triple zero yogurt but man was it a pain to track down. Does anyone have any travel tips and tricks to make sure you’re getting enough protein, hydration, and able to take all the post ops meds and vitamins?

That's a great view. I walk one to two miles every other day. Part of the reason for the gastric bypass is I have a torn meniscus ligament in my knee. It's going to require a full knee replacement. The surgeon won't consider doing the surgery until I'm at 40 BMI. That's the reason why I can only do 1 to 2 miles, anymore than that is just unbearably painful. Tha days I don't walk, I get on the rowing machine I have at home. I try to exercise at least 6 days a week. It's not high intensity or anything as of yet. Great to see your stall has passed. My weight loss is very slow. But, it is moving.

My weight loss has stalled since November 5th. I know this is normal since loads of other people have mentioned experiencing a week 3 stall, but it is still disheartening to lose nothing for 11 days when I know I'm following the diet, focusing on protein, drinking fluids and keeping my portion sizes appropriately small. I hope this plateau breaks soon because it is demoralizing.

Exactly as @catwoman7 said, perfectly normal. You can experience a few of them along the way too. They usually last 1-3 weeks. They are an important part of your weight loss & are when your body shuts down & takes stock of the changes you’ve made & your weight loss so far. It works out your new needs in regards things like digestive hormones, metabolic rate, etc. The stall will break when your body is ready to move forward again. Don’t stress your body more by trying to change things beyond what your plan requires. Yes, even knowing this, they’re still frustrating.

I had surgery on December 4. I rapidly lost about 13 pounds. Since my appointment on the 19th I’ve only lost an additional 4 pounds. I’ve been drinking more water add I’m still on soft foods. Is this normal or not? I’ve also been utilizing my treadmill and weights three times a week.

unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", 14 lbs in three weeks is pretty normal. Most of us "average" WLS patients lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first MONTH, so you'll end up somewhere in that range. as for stalling at three weeks post op, do a search on it on this site. I just did. There are literally 17,501 posts on it. Happens to almost everyone. To get through it, stick to your plan and back what off on weighing yourself. Maybe weigh just once or twice a week until it breaks. And it WILL break, as long as you stick to your plan. Usually lasts 1-3 weeks. And it'll likely be the first of many stalls.....

No, but I did cut back on the amount of seeds (too much fat) and put drained and rinsed white beans this morning. It's definitely a work in progress to figure out what to eat. The bean taste was subtle so I think I will get used to it, and I may add some ginger to cover it. Frustrated to be on day 6 of a stall. My doctor told me I needed to increase my activity level, so I've been going on an hourlong walk and hitting 10k steps or more every day for the past...yep, precisely 6 days. Wondering if there's a correlation, like the extra activity made my body temporarily panic. I'm just trying to ignore it and carry on. The good news is I've had a lot fewer issues with stomach sensitivity this week, so I'm feeling brave enough to try some new recipes and incorporate more veggies.