Week 5. How many calories should I be eating daily?

[300PoundsDown 101]

I am getting ready to start week 6. I began at 417. I initially was losing 1 pound a day or more. I have been stuck at 380-382 for almost 3 weeks. I basically stopped losing weight after 3 weeks. I am tired of hearing it's just a stall. It's been 3 weeks!! I need someone to tell me what amount of calories I should be getting in.

[Caliblonde 25]

I had the same stall! I had surgery at 404 pounds, and stalled when I hit 366. I literally had 3 weeks of the same d*#! number on the scale every single day!!!!!!! I talked to my doctor and my surgeon about it and they both told me the same thing, when you lose a pound a day for 30+ days your body needs to take a breather to catch up. I'm at week 9 and my stall is now broken and I'm back to losing a pound a day again.

Initially I was just pushing liquids and not worrying so much about my calorie intake. I was maybe getting 200 calories per day. Around 6 weeks out I started pushing my calories up, and was getting around 400 calories per day. Now, I'm around 500 - 600 calories per day.

[Jinjin 21]

I am at 5 weeks out and at my second stall. I know I need to up my H20 intake. From what Ive heard on here STALLS are very common but a pain I know

[Escape_Pod 358]

I'm nearly five weeks out and consuming around 600 - 800 calories / day. "meals" are still really small, usually just about 2 tablespoons of something pureed, but I'm supplementing with 2-3 Protein shakes made with 8 oz milk (if i have a 3rd it's made with Water.)

There's a lady in my support group who stalled for 6 weeks - I might have killed someone after that long!

Hide the scale, use your measuring tape (sometimes you're losing inches while the stall stays stuck), and keep doing what the surgeon told you. You'll be due for a nice good-sized drop as a reward. Hang in there!!

[FeistyRedDragon 1]

I might have had a stall too recently but the scale inches down slowly so it is hard to tell... I am going into week 8 (I think. I lose track of the weeks... lol.)

I think the advice to put away the scale and get the tape measure is a great idea. I say this myself checking it every day... lol. We are so used to being very hung up on the numbers... especially as "larger" people most of our lives. That number plays into so many head games.

BUT if you are feeling frustrated... here is something I found. About a year ago I lost about 50 lbs working with a trainer and eating more healthy. This was from a starting weight of about 330 but it took me almost a year and a half just with really intense exercise (two times a day going to work out.) When I finally got to about 290 I started to get some new smaller clothes. About 6 months later after moving across the country, I had gained about 20 lbs back and those clothes didn't fit so well anymore.

After my surgery I saw those (Not "skinny" clothes exactly) clothes, and I decided to just try them on. The first few months after surgery is kind of hard to know how much you are going down size wise. And I was surprised to see how much better they fit! Especially a few that were tight around my midsection... Even with my tummy a bit "swollen" they were still loose and more comfortable.

I guess I am saying, while we have these "stall" times when we feel frustrated find something from your "old" self and remind yourself of how far you have come and how far you are going to go. Just that little action of trying on those clothes gave me a boost... I was like, "Oh, I am losing weight" even though the scale had been moving So SLOWLY over the past month!

Good luck!

Summer