Ticked at my scale and confused

[JanePatrick 0]

So, the first 15 days after surgery I lost 30lbs and then wham a screeching stop. The next 10 days were nothing other then 1lb up 1lb down up down up down to infinity. 3 days ago, I thought I had broken through as I went down 3lbs, then the next day I gained a 1lb and today gained a 1lb.

I am eating 600-700 calories a day with about 80g Protein and lower on the carbs. I am not cheating I am eating healthy foods.

I also weigh 449lbs and because of my size it probably takes more calories for me to sit and blink all day than what I am consuming, so how I can gain weight is beyond me.

Other than some walking I have not started true exercise yet, but today I put on some new jeans that 10 days ago were so tight I could not breathe let alone wear them. Today I could slip them on over my hips while they were fully buttoned and zipped and I need a belt ?

HOW am I losing inches from my waist but the scale says I am actually gaining weight? I am not making any new muscle yet so its not that. I also had my friend and daughter get on the scale to make sure it wasn't broken.

I expected to stall a bit at the 3 week point but this is to odd, and I am so worried that I will not lose anything more than the 30 I already lost. Anyone else have a bad relationship with the scale this early out, but still notice the clothes getting looser?

[GeorgieGirl1957 0]

You're doing great and you're going to zoom downward when you finally get to exercise. I had the same fears as I am one of the larger folks here, too. But things are happening. Even when the scale doesn't move, I am experiencing the same kind of clothing surprises even when I think I am not losing. My friends who have been there and done that say it's completely normal, albeit, weird.

GG

[Tiffykins 673]

When we lose the bulky, bumpy fat, we're building lean muscle and sadly a pound is a pound. Be it a pound of feathers, or a pound of gold, it's a pound. Same concept goes for fat and muscle. Fat takes up more room, muscle is lean and that's why we lose inches, but the scale doesn't move.

Your body is going through a lot of adjustments, and is trying to figure out what the heck you've done to it.

Also, muscles need Water to repair. So, while we're losing weight, working out, building that lean muscle mass, your body will retain Water so the muscles can repair themselves.

All the numbers will work out in the end. Just keep doing what you're doing, and don't rely solely on the scale to determine your success.

[Globetrotter 1,340]

I am grinning right now, not because I find your post funny but because your post could've been my post - and was! - just a while ago. I am 8 weeks out and at first I lost 20 lbs in the first 2 weeks post-op, the Clear Liquids phase. Then it too came to a screeching halt and didn't pick up until week 5 when I started working out (30 min. sllooooow walking on treadmill), then it started to come off really well. Then I experienced the false gains that come along with Constipation and Water retention from the salty sodium filled meats I have to eat (all that's available). So I will tell you what all the encouraging folks told me: The body does strange and wonderous things while it is recovering from major invasive surgery, you WILL lose weight it is nearly scientifically impossible that you wouldn't, and don't forget to drink drink drink. I am on a 600 cal diet per my surgeon and I did notice that once I upped my fat intake and my water intake, the weight loss resumed. Good luck and welcome to the other side!!

[NinaX 6]

Without being an expert I would say you are eating way too little! Like you say; your body needs more calories just to sit and blink which means that your body is put into starvation on 600-800 calories per day. This means that your body's natural response will be to in panic hold on to every fat cell there is. What diet advice where you given by your surgeons office? Again, if find it very interesting that advice and requirements differ so widely. Here in Sweden the advice given post-op is that dieting days are over and that after operation you should try as much as you can to loose the calorie counting and diet thoughts, but as regards to calories per day the advice is more like at least 1200 - 1400 per day in the beginning - you will still loose weight. So my advice is to increase the daily intake for a week and see what happens. Best wishes and good luck!

[Roseib 13]

I hit a stall at 5-7 weeks out. I was eating about 350-500 calories a day and about 40+ Protein grams and had gotten to the point where I could no longer stomach Protein drinks. I tried powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken Protein but the sodium in it made me get edema in my legs. SO I tried adding in calories and protein like people on the board suggested and I dropped 5 pounds in 5 days. Ended up losing 15.5 pounds in 5-1/2 weeks despite 3 weeks having no loss. So I'm an advocate of adding calories and protein.

HOWEVER, I'm not sure what to do now. Went for 2 month postop Monday and admitted adding in a protein snack to get my calories and protein up and reported how it triggered good weight loss and was told to go back to the 3 meals a day my doctor wants. Now I'm back to 390-450 calories a day and 40+ protein grams.

The PA told me to eat chicken, ground beef, tuna 3 times a day and I told her I can't eat enough with the restriction I currently have to get the calories up to 600 and 60 grams protein in.

The rationale she gave for 3 meals was that the body breaks down fat between meals and if I stick in a snack it will revert to processing the snack and not breaking down fat. This seems ridiculous to me if I'm eating every 5 hours or so 4 times/day, 3 "meals" and a snack. I upchuck filtered Water and all other Protein Drinks and shots and milk makes me sick. Putting Protein powder in Soup still doesn't give me enough protein. Homemade chili gets me 20 grams protein but I can't eat it every meal. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Sorry to get off track of your question, Jane, but I'm sympathetic to where you are and am in somewhat the same place farther out.

[NinaX 6]

Roseib: 390-450 calories per day? Seriously? Again, that is seriously putting your body into starvation mode. I'm not implying that your surgeons office and dietist experts are incorrect, I can only give you my thoughts and share the guidance given by the swedish dieticians; 6 meals per day minimum! Breakfast, snack, lunch, Snack, dinner and Snack. If you noticed better weight loss when adding calories and number of meals I would go by that if I where you. Good luck and best wishes!

[JanePatrick 0]

Roseib-Sometimes doctors can be great and know what they are talking about, other times....not so much. 450 is just to low to function correctly. My Dr orders at 600-800 cal a day other peoples are higher. I find that I am doing better daily when I am nearer 800 or perhaps a bit over, but some days it is such a chore for me to get in 800 calories.

Listening to your body is another important aspect of all of this. I a firm believer in 5-7 small meals parsed out through the day. MY body does better when I eat small and regular. The key is that the meals are small small (although now its not that hard to stick to small with such a tiny stomach).

As long as you are eating healthy foods, not snacking on crap, then I don't see what the issue is with 5-7 small meals as opposed to 3 standard meals a day. Your body told you what works by losing that weight once you upped the calories (just don't up them to much) and you need more Protein than 40g. Maybe you might want to try a different nutritionist? Their advice is so varied and different depending on their style training beliefs and experience that you might want to try a few if you can afford it.

To everyone else that posted, thank you for the encouragement, it can be so hard to stop thinking in terms of the scale and you helped me put things into perspective a bit more. It helps to know others have the same things going on.

On a up note, I am wearing a shirt and pants that are brand new, that I got over a year ago, that have never fit well enough to wear out, and I am headed out the door with them on even though the scale says they should not fit me yet! Yay!

[BeenThereWasThat 2]

This sounds a lot like me too. One person early on gave me the advice to take measurements because when the scale is being a jerk you can head to the tape measure for some joy. I've lost 70 pounds and 44 inches in 2 months...not too bad and if it weren't for the inches I would have lost it.

Honestly my body is also weird in that I will loose weight 5-7 pounds and then stall out. During the stall I notice that my clothes are looser it is almost like I drop the weight and then my body reacts.

It is hard now but I am sure a year from now we will look back and go "WOW that happened so quickly!"

[Roseib 13]

Thanks for the suggestions, NinaX and Jane. I poured over my Protein charts and recipes I've collected and have a menu plan this week to maximize calories and Protein -- but still need a snack -- so that's what I'm doing. I didn't lose at all last week following the PA's instructions, but swtiched to a snack again this weekend and dropped a couple of pounds right away. Guess I'll continue with the snack for now.

It sure is true that it comes off quickly, although it sometimes seems so slow. I sometimes read posts and think how envious I am that someone lost 65 pounds in three months. Then I think, wait a minute, I've lost 63 pounds in three months. I guess I'm so eager to lose, that I sometimes forget just how much I have lost in a relatively short period of time.

[educationrulz 18]

Congratulations Jane on the positive changes you are seeing - despite what the scale says. Keep at it and you will see results with the scale too.

As for the issue of how many meals per day, I've never understood the three meals per day thing. Although that's what I typically did preop, I knew it wasn't for the best. I tended to overeat at each meal. Most diet plans tell you to break your meals out into smaller meals throughout the day. We know that when athletes are training to be in peak physical conditions they eat multiple meals throughout the day - typically high Protein stuff. So why any medical person would suggest that we stick to three meals a day is beyond my comprehension. I sometimes think that people assume this philosophy will keep patients from overeating but it's bad advice especially soon after WLS. My postop diet has progressed from 6 to 5 to 4 meals a day in the normal diet phase.

Now, in practice, I don't always get in my 4 food meals a day these days. I tended to get in more meals in the earlier phases because on liquids and soft foods you need to replenish more often. Now that I can eat dense Proteins, it stays with me longer. Like a lot of others here, I just don't want to eat for a long time after a full Protein meal. I do try my best to get that 4th meal in the form of a healthy snack or a Protein Drink. I noticed that when I added in the extra meal as a Protein shake my weight loss sped up noticeably. I now get in my Protein Shake every morning between Breakfast and lunch, and sometimes do another Protein Drink after dinner. I seem to be zipping right along now.