I have had a stall since day 9 of surgery ( 11 days so far.) I am eating plenty of Protein, exercising, drinking lots of Water, very low carbs...so the invariable "what did i do wrong" question has creamed into my mind every day. today i was reading on weight loss stalls and i think i finally get it. It's slightly technical and a bit wordy but overall it explained to me what was happening to my body.

I found this on a Duodenal Switch website called DSfacts.com

"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."

Hope this helps some of us struggeling with the...WHY ME? phase

Gayle

Awesome find . . . thanks for sharing!

Thank you. My scale hasn't moved in days so it was helpful to read this.

I like this explanation. It makes more sense. I was sleeved on the 1st and I am in the stall phase too so I appreciate the post.

Nicely said.

I hit my blip today, up .4 and 2 weeks out tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing this !!! You just took the biggest weight of disappointment off my shoulders.

Just came off 3 week stall and have dropped 4lbs in 4 days...the last few weeks played havoc on my mind but should of known eventually it has to come off ....eating right and moving so just have to be patient

I am 4 weeks out. Lost like crazy for the first two weeks. Now I haven't lost a thing for 2 weeks. I keep questioning myself. I am eating too much, I am not eating enough? Do you know who many calories we should be eating? Right now I am eating about 600-750 a day.

I am 4 weeks out. Lost like crazy for the first two weeks. Now I haven't lost a thing for 2 weeks. I keep questioning myself. I am eating too much, I am not eating enough? Do you know who many calories we should be eating? Right now I am eating about 600-750 a day.

At two weeks I was eating about 400 cals, but you are doing just fine. The weight will come off when its good and ready. Relax and enjoy the ride...bumpy though it is!

My nut won't give me a calorie count. She said just keep the protein at 60 to 80 and low carbs and the rest will fall into place. Hoping for all of us. To get past this stall!

Thank you!

You know what's interesting..... My place doesn't seem to know this. I'd love to share it with them, but they don't really care for common folks to help them learn.

If I were to start this journey over again, I would look for a place that has at least one person who'd have WLS. No one who works with my program has so they'd not been personally invested. It makes a difference.

I have had a stall since day 9 of surgery ( 11 days so far.) I am eating plenty of Protein, exercising, drinking lots of Water, very low carbs...so the invariable "what did i do wrong" question has creamed into my mind every day. today i was reading on weight loss stalls and i think i finally get it. It's slightly technical and a bit wordy but overall it explained to me what was happening to my body.

I found this on a Duodenal Switch website called DSfacts.com

"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."

Hope this helps some of us struggeling with the...WHY ME? phase

Gayle

So what do we do to get the glycogen to leave our muscles and start the process all over again?

I am 4 weeks out. Lost like crazy for the first two weeks. Now I haven't lost a thing for 2 weeks. I keep questioning myself. I am eating too much, I am not eating enough? Do you know who many calories we should be eating? Right now I am eating about 600-750 a day.

For 4 weeks out I was at about 350 calories a day but I think it depends on your source of Protein. I was using the EAS drink that has 17 grams of protein in 110 calories. And it was hard for me to get things down so 3 of those drinks was enough of a battle. But I agree that you are doing fine. I've lost very slowly and I really believe a part of that was because my first 2 months were less than 500 calories a day. I know how bad I felt and I think it's unnatural. I'm at 700 ish a day now and feel much, much better. Still losing slow, been in a long stall, but I feel much better so I can wait this one out.

I didn't get to move to puree until week 5. You may be moving through the food groups faster too.

So what do we do to get the glycogen to leave our muscles and start the process all over again?

Just keep doing the program- high Protein, low carbs, lots of Water, exercise- what this says is that you really are still losing but your body is pulling water to build the glycogen- then will lose the glycogen and water again- on and on over and over. It just explains that you may stall while that process is happening, and it will mask the losing that is going on. This is why measuring is a really good idea as you will notice you lose inches during the stall.

I love that article and have posted it over and over her and on evry FB group I am on- it really helps!